The movies of Norman J. Warren that have been cut or banned in Australia.
See also, LOVING FEELING (1968) and HER PRIVATE HELL (1968) in the Film Censorship Database No. 2.
Satan’s Slave
Directed by Norman J. Warren / 1976 / UK / IMDb
In November 1977, a 2386.00-meter (86:58) print of SATAN’S SLAVE was censored by 121.50-meters (04:26) for an R-rating. The cuts were made to remove ‘excessive violence’.
Roadshow Distributors was the applicant.
The daybill image of the topless women was censored by the addition of a white bra.
Possible video release
SATAN’S SLAVE is rumored to have been released on tape in the early 1980s by Gold Lion Video.
We have yet to see a copy, so this remains unconfirmed.
Seized by customs
There is one report of a customs confiscation of SATAN’S SLAVE.
1991 October – VHS.
See also NEKROMANTIK (1987) in the Film Censorship Database No. 1 for more information regarding this case.
Pay-TV screening
Around 2000, Foxtel’s Arena channel screened SATAN’S SLAVE as part of Tabitha’s Graveyard Shift program.
The print appeared to be the same as the British version released on DVD by Anchor Bay.
Australian, British & International versions
Simon reports.
Anchor Bay (uk) – DVD – 84:07 (PAL) – British cut with BBFC trims restored
Norman J. Warren and David McGillivray provide an interesting commentary on the DVD where they explain why there was a ‘British cut’ and a stronger ‘International cut’.
Despite being the tamer of the two, this did not stop the BBFC from demanding cuts to the former. In their commentary, they point out the scenes that were removed. However, Warren does mention, during a whipping scene (32:00), that one or two of the strikes were still missing.
The ‘International cut’ was a result of distributors and salespeople suggesting that a hotter version should be filmed for overseas markets. To do this, they came up with the idea of reshooting the scene at 7-minutes where Stephen (Martin Potter) attacks Janice (Gloria Maley). A comparison with the ‘British cut’ can be found at Movie-Censorship.
Norman J. Warren confesses to never liking the scene and finding it quite unsavory. It is for this reason that Anchor Bay’s ‘DVD should be considered the ‘Director’s cut’.
The Stephen and Janice scene from the ‘International cut’ was supposed to be included as an extra on Anchor Bay’s DVD but was dropped at the insistence of the BBFC. In 2012, American label, Scorpion Releasing, issued the full version as on DVD part of their Katarina’s Nightmare Theater series.
The significant (04:26) cuts that the film received for an Australian R-rating may indicate that Roadshow picked up the ‘international cut’ for distribution.
Other scenes of violence that may have been trimmed include.
48:30 – John’s broken body after he has thrown himself off the building.
53:00 – The sacrifice of the naked women, which shows a large crucifix being run over her body.
63:45 – A very graphic scene of Stephen stabbing a woman until he disembowels her.
70:15 – Stephen slashing Frances with glass.
71:45 – Frances pinned to the door with a knife through her mouth.
76:40 – Stephen’s death by a nail-file in the eye
Prey
Directed by Norman J. Warren / 1977 / UK / IMDb
In September 1979, a 2314.70-meter (84:22) print of PREY was passed with an R-rating after 6.4-meters (00:14) of ‘excessive violence’ was removed.
The applicant was Greater Union Film Distributors.
Censored footage
Matt reports.
Anchor Bay (uk) – DVD, 77:43 (PAL) – censored
The 00:14 of cuts would have been taken from the climactic scene.
73:08 to 74:17 – Anders (Barry Stokes) and Jessica (Glory Annen) are having sex. He begins to get rough as he starts to change into his Alien form, before killing her with a bite to the neck.
Jo (Sally Faulkner) enters the room and sees him over the body. He turns and looks at her.
Anchor Bay’s 2004 DVD was missing 03:46 of footage, including a continuation of this cannibalism scene where Anders is briefly shown eating flesh. An image of this shot and the rest of the cuts can be found at Movie-Censorship.
Presumably, the initial version submitted the Film Censorship Board was the same as the uncut Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray.
Further reading
The aforementioned cannibalism scene was shown in TERROR ON TAPE (1983). It is identified under the American title, ALIEN PREY.
See the separate entry for this title in Film Censorship Database No. 1.
Terror
Directed by Norman J. Warren / 1978 / UK / IMDb
In April 1980, a 2314.70-meter (84:22) print of TERROR was censored by 8.9-meters (00:19) for an R-rating.
The cuts were made for violence, which was described as being:
Frequency: Frequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
The violence in the censored R-rated print was described as being:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous
Penda Investments was the applicant.
The British Anchor Bay DVD from 2005 runs 79:24 (PAL). The film contains several gory death scenes, but it is hard to judge which of these would have been targeted for 00:19 of cuts.