Comparison between the DVD by Studiocanal and the DVD by VCL / MAWA.

The Blu-ray by Studiocanal is identical with the DVD, both are included in the publisher's Mediabook.

John Carpenter's vampire western genre mix, starring James Woods, was already released in 2008 by VCL/ CinePlus on Blu-ray. However, this was only a cut version with a terrible picture quality, which is why many fans were wishing for a good uncut HD release. In 2014, Studiocanal announced a new release and advertised its HD picture. The result is indeed a solid release with good audio and picture quality. Studiocanal seemingly used the same master as the French Blu-ray, which was published by M6 and Warner.

As it turns out, the master has not been altered in the violent scenes, but it still is slightly different from the uncut version. Both the Studiocanal and the French Blu-ray are lacking the same scene, which makes it very probable that they are indeed identical. The missing part is four seconds long and does not have any censoring background. Interestingly enough, the two versions are exactly as long as the uncut version. This is because the new master is not only missing one shot, directly afterwards it repeats a previously shown scene which makes up for lost time.

Many viewers will probably not even notive this, especially if they have never seen the uncut version. However, it is still a pity. As the double mistake seems to be inherent in the master, it is improbable that Studiocanal will exchange their movie version at this point.

0:00-0:22/0:00

The Studiocanal intro is missing on the uncut DVD by VCL/MAWA.

+22,08 sec.

1:30:16/1:29:54-1:29:58

The cut starts when Cardinal Alba puts the cup with Jack Crow's blood to Valek's mouth. When Valek drinks, Alba turns away in disgust. The next, in which the cardinal removes the cup again, is missing as well. The cut version does not start before the cup leaves the picture again.

The audio track was not altered and continues to play normally.

4,4 sec.

1:30:21-1:30:27/1:30:04-1:30:05

The shot of Father Guiteau appearing stops in the cut version 1,5 seconds before its regular end. A previously shown sequence can then be seen again: Crow can be seen on the cross, he is looking angrily at Valek. Valek is looking up to him, then Guiteau appears and gets into position (this time the shot is complete).

+4,4 sec.