Comparison between the Animal Cruelty Free Cut and the original uncut version, both included on the U.S. Blu-ray of Error 4444

- 18 cuts
- Cut duration: 169.8 sec (= 2:50 min)

Red Spell Spells Red is a weird Black Magic exploitation flick from Asia, as there were plenty of them in the 80s. Certainly no such highlight as e.g. the Shaw madness The Boxer's Omen, but genre fans get their money's worth here with some tasteless moments. After rather poor international availability, the worldwide HD premiere has been released in late November 2022. American fan label Error 4444 has scanned a theatrical print for the occasion, and the corresponding Blu-ray is available exclusively from Error 4444's label shop.

Included on the disc, in addition to the original uncensored version, is an Animal Cruelty Free Cut as a bonus, created from the same HD scan. As the name suggests, all moments with questionable snuff scenes of animals getting killed have been removed here. In this case, that makes up about 3 minutes. The scenes in question still make sense without the crude detail shots, so the Animal Cruelty Free Cut can definitely still be recommended. It doesn't change anything about the unnecessary harm done to the animals during the filming, but those who can "enjoy" the film better this way still get a nice alternative here.

Note: We also looked at the laserdisc from Winson in Hong Kong. As a separate comparison showed, it is identical in frame to the Uncut HD scan from Error 4444.

Running time information is arranged according to the scheme
Animal Cruelty Free Cut Blu-ray / Uncut Version Blu-ray

First, a few comparative screenshots of the Hong Kong laserdisc, which was also uncut. It already had a much better quality than e.g. the widely circulated U.S. bootleg, but still loses hands down to the new HD scan.

Winson Laserdisc	Error 4444 Blu-ray

00:44 / 00:44-00:50

After the face with mask has emerged from the bushes, another short cut to the magician is missing. He has a frog in his hand, slits it open and lets it bleed out a bit before adding it to the pot.

5.3 sec

18:41 / 18:47-18:52

The piggy is attacked in two shots. In between the stabbing woman with the native is shown again. She turns away in disgust.

5.3 sec

33:32 / 33:43-33:44

Before the close-up of the leg, you see an impaled bird on top of the tree. The blood from the animal drips down onto the leg.

1.3 sec

33:33 / 33:45-33:46

Another shot from the same perspective.

1.3 sec



41:34 / 41:47-42:19

After the talk at night, the follow-up scene at the market begins with various close-ups in which pigs are stabbed bloodily in the head and killed that way.

32.7 sec

41:38 / 42:23-42:30

A few more shots of the dead animals.

6.6 sec

42:03 / 42:55-42:57

The women take a few more steps forward and so you see them dragging a dead animal behind them.

2.7 sec

43:51 / 44:45-44:49

In one brief shot, a rooster is decapitated, after which another man picks up the torso.

4 sec

53:10 / 54:08-54:13

The man still takes a bite at the end of the shot and in between you see the native again.

4.7 sec

53:11 / 54:14-54:50

Again the man tears some meat out of the chicken, followed by another cut to the native. Then the man eats the innards in detail. The animal also twitches again.

36.7 sec

55:09 / 56:48-57:44

After the shot of the people on the bridge, a cockfight is shown in slow motion. Several men cheer on the two animals.

56 sec

55:37 / 58:12-58:13

When the girls join in, a shot of the men starts a little early.

0.8 sec

55:39-55:41 / 58:15-58:20

The Animal Cruelty Free Cut recycles a short shot of a man cheering from the previous cut for the transition between two shots of the girls. This also means another shot of cockfighting is missing.

Uncut version 3 sec longer

Animal Cruelty Free Cut	Uncut

56:15 / 58:54-58:55

Another cut of the men shows that one of them (on the right) is holding the rooster in his hand.

1 sec

64:51 / 67:31-67:32

The scorpion is crushed a moment earlier.

0.5 sec

65:03 / 67:44-67:49

More hits with the stone in close-up.

4.9 sec

65:05 / 67:51-67:52

With a small jump cut, another detail shot is removed.

1.7 sec

65:16 / 68:03-68:05

And again.

1.4 sec



72:27 / 75:16-75:17

After the amulet reflects some light, the scorpions are hit by a small fireball.
However, similar shots shortly thereafter remained untouched.

1 sec

There is a small curiosity at the end of the film: The Blu-ray had the complete opening credits, but uses a clean picture master at the end. For a minute here, you only see a still image, while the Hong Kong laserdisc still had credits.

Winson Laserdisc	Error 4444 Blu-ray

BTW, this also is a teaser for our comparison to Centipede Horror, which Error 4444 has also released as HD premiere and incl. Animal Cruelty Free Cut. For this title even the opening credits are not in the HD master and were only stored individually in the bonus material.