Let's not beat around the bush: The Invitation is not a good film. The colorless look due to the heavy use of blue filters, which some filmmakers seem to think is necessary for vampire-related material, fits the bloodless story well. The whole thing doesn't really pick up speed at any point and when the situation escalates towards the end, it's surprising how little you care about it all. Lead actress Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones) is the least to blame, there is no starting point in the story that makes you really sympathize with her in this cold atmosphere. One of the most surprising things is the weak development of the main villain, who can be easily overpowered with a few physical attacks at the end. Meanwhile, Ready or Not shows how the concept of a bride confronted with strange to deadly customs of her new family can be entertainingly executed. Better watch that movie.

For the theatrical release, The Invitation was censored down to a PG-13 rating, but still only managed a meager box office haul of $25 million in US theaters, and $34 million worldwide. Ideally, they want to increase that a bit more with the unrated version that was released in home theaters as a selling point. Director Jessica M. Thompson already knew that this would be coming before the film was released. Thompson had revealed the fact even before the film's release. With such a timing, the marketing team is certainly up in arms on a regular basis. In any case, the unrated version offers a little more violence, a little more sex and a little more swearing. But it doesn't lift the film out of irrelevance either. Luckily, owners of the Blu-ray have both versions at hand to choose the preferred version for themselves.

Comparison between the theatrical version (PG-13) and the Unrated version (both included on the US Blu-ray by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment).

28 differences, consisting of
14 extended scenes
10 scenes with alternative footage
 2 scenes with dialog censorship
 1 recut

The Unrated runs 52.04 seconds longer than the theatrical version.

Extended Scene
0:03:10: In the unrated version (UR), the severed head falls to the floor and rolls towards the camera. In the theatrical version, this is completely missing. Also, the sound in the UR is a bit more "muddy" when she jumps off the railing, which also makes the decapitation more clearly apparent.
2,44 sec.

Alternative Material
0:24:23: In the flashback, the UR shows the severed head on the ground, while the Theatrical Version shows her throwing herself down with the statue.
The Theatrical Version runs 0,6 sec. longer

Theatrical Version	Unrated

Dialog Censorship
0:36:38: Grace uses a more harmless F-word in the Theatrical Version than in the UR.

Theatrical Version: "What the frick is a shrike?"
UR: "What the fuck is a shrike?"
No time difference

Alternative Material
0:57:32: Naked Viktoria gets out of the water even longer in the UR, so you can also see more of her body. In the Theatrical Version, on the other hand, Evie placates the maid longer, saying that the wound is not that bad.
No time difference

Dialog Censorship
0:57:39: Bei Evie's frightened reaction in Theatrical Version is missing the F-word: "What the fuck?!". So that underage lip readers don't get their money's worth, a different take of Viktoria was also used.
The UR runs 0,44 sec. longer

Theatrical Version	Unrated

Extended Scene
1:02:28: A bit more exposed back of De Ville.
1,4 sec.

Alternative Material
1:02:32: De Ville spoils Evie some more, in the Theatrical Version the focus is more on kissing.
( Pictures only from the UR )
7,32 sec.

Extended Scene
1:07:20: Only the UR shows the maid's throat being slit and blood dripping into the large goblet.
2,36 sec.

Alternative Material
1:07:23: As the camera slowly pans from the terrified Evie to the scenery she is looking at, in both versions you can only see out of focus how the maid in the background continues to be involuntarily robbed of her blood. Nevertheless, the Theatrical Version has once again used a picture filter that makes the whole thing even less recognizable.
No time difference

Theatrical Version	Unrated

Extended Scene
1:07:34: Again, how the maid bleeds from her throat into the goblet. In addition, Victoria and Lucy laugh diabolically (this comes later also partly in the Theatrical Version).
5,08 sec.

Alternative Material
1:07:40: In this sequence, there is a quick collage of the maid's further bleeding out and various reactions of the guests and impressions of their unsavory eating behavior. The UR is sometimes more explicit here, but in terms of runtime, the Theatrical Version doesn't let on here.
The Theatrical Version runs 0,28 sec. longer

Theatrical Version	Unrated

Alternative Material
1:09:09: UR: close-up of the severed head, Theatrical Version: close-up of face and eye.
The Theatrical Version runs 0,28 sec. longer

Theatrical Version	Unrated

Extended Scene
1:29:11: Again, De Ville cutting open his arm.
1,12 sec.

Extended Scene
1:29:18: He twists his arm a bit and blood flows. Gravity apparently works on vampires, too.
0,64 sec.

Extended Scene
1:31:17: A few frames more of the master of ceremonies burning.
0,24 sec.

Extended Scene
1:31:32: Again, he burns more.
0,96 sec.

Extended Scene
1:31:59: After more fidgeting, he finally succumbs to the flames.
3,6 sec.

Extended Scene
1:34:10: The UR shows a slightly longer close-up view of Viktoria and Lucy standing impaled in front of each other. By the way, the Theatrical Version exclusively shows a view of the spear beforehand, which actually would have been useful info in the UR as well.
4,04 sec.

Theatrical Version	Unrated

Dialogzensur
1:35:42: Renfield uses the F-word in the UR: "I am going to enjoy cutting your head off and feeding it to the fucking wolves!". This creates a small cut in the Theatrical Version.
0,56 sec.

Alternative Material
1:35:50: Renfield dies a little more intensely in the UR.
9,28 sec.

Theatrical Version	Unrated

Recut
1:36:48: The badly battered De Ville can be seen lifting Evie up. But this comes a little later in the Theatrical Version, so it was just repositioned.
1,48 sec.

Alternative Material
1:36:51: Essentially, the way Evie is held up by De Ville differs. The UR shows more of the hand at the throat and a full view of her dangling in the air.
The Theatrical Version runs 0,36 sec. longer

Theatrical Version	Unrated

Extended Scene
1:37:27: A few frames longer as the severed arm stump falls off bloodily.
0,2 sec.

Extended Scene
1:37:29: The arm stump falls to the ground.
0,44 sec.

Extended Scene
1:37:46: Evie looks much longer at Walter, who is dying screaming in the flames, and he is seen three times in the fire here, only once in the Theatrical Version.
9,84 sec.

Alternative Material
1:38:08: Fire CGI effects from hell. And apparently they seemed to think the whole thing would come across less intensely in the Theatrical Version. Maybe because it looks like breakdancing there, while Walter looks rather desperate in the UR.
The UR runs 1,2 sec. longer

Theatrical Version	Unrated

Extended Scene
1:38:13: Again a fiery view, it's longer in the UR.
1,24 sec.

Alternative Material
1:38:19: Evie looks longer at the flames and then walks away. In the UR, however, you don't see the flames, only the Theatrical Version shows them (without you being able to recognize Walter in them) and is thus longer overall.
The Theatrical Version runs 0,32 sec. longer