Verglichen wurde die R-Rated ('84 Entertainment) mit der Unrated (Vinegar Syndrome) Fassung.

Witchmaster Avery Lauter is waiting inside an old house for his body to be revived. However, this does not really work, since all lodgers die in violent ways. Devon Lauder, the owner of the house, assigns the parapsychologists Agnes and Felix Goldberg to get rid of the ghost. They are being accompanied by three police officers who are supposed to protect them. The medium Whitney soon notices Avery's presence and even housekeeper Elwin seems to be up to no good. Accordingly, Avery kills the people one by one and it is up to Cop Tony and Whitney to foil his plans.

With the 1986 movie "Witchboard", director Kevin Tenney had a surprise hit. The story revolves around a young woman who - with the help of a Ouija board - gets caught in the clutches of an evil spirit. Three years later, he made the (inofficial) spin-off "Witchtrap" on a remarkably smaller budget. On the box, they even stat that this is not a sequel to "Witchboard". That's a pretty unusual marketing strategy, given the fact that a lot of times, studios try to sell movies as a pseudo-sequel to successful hit flicks. Storywise, the two flicks have nothing in common except from an evil spirit. "Witchboard" tends to lean towards trash - for example when Tony spurts out one-liners or we see Whitney being shaken around on the bed. One of the highlights is Linnea Quigley as technician Ginger - including an obligatory nude scene under the shower. The effects are surprisingly good so that fans of 80s horror can give this one a watch.

As you can read on imdb, "Witchtrap" had to be cut a litlte bit in order to receive an R-Rating. All releases so far - be it on VHS, DVD or Blu-ray - were all based on this R-Rated version. For a new Blu-ray-release in the US, Vinegar Syndrome worked together with Kevin Tenney, who gave them his uncut 35mm-version so that they could come up with an HD-reconstruction of the Unrated version. The murder of ginger under the shower was extended with two shots, there are more shots being fired at Elwin (including a detailed shot of his headshot), the murder with the flying ball was extended and in the end you can see the axe flying into Agnes' head. Interestingly enough, there is also an extended dialog between Agnes and Felix which was probably just taken out to trim the flick shorter. The shots during Felix' head explosion that imdb talks about were not extended - neither was the scene with Levi whose head is being rund over by a car. In the bonus material, Tenney explains that the 35mm version that was used is the only complete cut, therefore it is questionable, if these scenes actually exist.

In comparison to the German Blu-ray, the US disc offers more natural colors and a greater image section. The bonus material on the US-disc is better and offers an audio commentary, several interviews (among others with Kevin Tenney and Linnea Quigley), as well as a short film shot by Tenney that includes some of the "Witchtrap"-cast.

The German Blu-ray was given to us by Beyond Media. Thanks a lot, guys!

Runtime:

R-Rated: 86:28 min. (PAL)
Unrated: 91:24 min. (NTSC)

[00:00:26][00:00:27]

Alternative title: "Witchtrap" in the R-Rated and "The Presence" in the Unrated version.

R-Rated Version: 6 sec.
Unrated Version: 6 sec.


[00:35:24][00:36:54]

The shower head is being pulled out of the neck wound. Ginger gasps.

Unrated Version: 1 sec.


[00:47:16][00:49:18]

Agnes asks, if Felix is in a moment of introspection or if he is searching for mistakes. He replies that he is asking himself one thing. Agnes asks, what this thing is and then the R-Rated Version continues.

Unrated Version: 11 sec.


[00:49:34][00:51:53]

Agnes says, that after nine years of hard work they finally have the possibility to shoot a ghost on video in order to prove their theory right. They ask Felix if he knows that this could lead them to a great reputation and research funds. She can even imagine a job at a university or a psyhcological research facility. Felix responds that they will much rather be a part of the "Tonight Show".

Unrated Version: 39 sec.


[00:51:03][00:54:05]

After Frank is being shot in the head, blood splashes out of the hole and he falls to the ground.

Unrated Version: 6 sec.


[01:04:41][01:08:24]

Elwin is being hit by a bullet. Tony shoots again. The R-Rated Version thus only shows the entry wound.

Unrated Version: 2 sec.


[01:04:52][01:08:38]

A bullet hits Elwin in the stomach. The R-Rated Version continues when he is being hit a second time.

Unrated Version: 1 sec.


[01:05:06][01:08:53]

Tony shoots Elwin in the head.

Unrated Version: 1 sec.


[01:10:42][01:14:44]

A short close-up shot of the axe stuck in Agnes' head was cut out.

Unrated Version: 1 sec.