If only VCI had *some* sort of access to a previously released, uncut version for comparison. :rolleyes:

Sheesh.

Seems so. it sounds like they got a hold of the PG rated rerelease. It also looks as if the transfer is dark and grainy. The film's low budget, sure, but it didn't look THAT bad.

Someone in quality control seems to have fallen asleep at the wheel, methinks.

If you're going by DVD Drive-in's review, I don't put too much stock in them when it comes to image quality. The old disc's color was digitally pumped to the point of shadow solarisation, so their reliance on it as a point of comparison may be inapt.

Wasn't the film always rated PG?

I could've sworn that it was rated R during it's initial run. I could be wrong, though.

Here's an original pressbook on ebay clearly indicating PG:

http://cgi.ebay.com/CHILDREN-SHOULDNT-PLAY...1QQcmdZViewItem

I remember the tv-spots when it frst opened and wanting to see it since it was only PG. Unfortunately, it was only playing at a seedy downtown theater so Mom said 'no'.

The new disc (which was on its way to me before this news hit) runs 86m 10secs. It looks a whole lot better to me than a tape I had but that's my only point of reference. Even if it does somehow replicate the film as I recall it from repeated screenings on NY's Channel 9 in the late 70s/early 80s (typically their 6:30pm-8 Saturday night movie) I'm annoyed with this news of cuts.

Same cuts I've been told are in my R2 disc?

This may end happily yet

Now that is some spin.

This is very good news, regardless of what may or may not really have happened behind the scenes. I've always had a fondness for VCI, considering the three decades they've been around, and remember renting their earliest VHS releases all those years ago. The quality of some of their transfers over the years may have been a bit dubious here and there (and there are still a few of their recent releases that probably deserved better attention), but for such a small operation to do a recall on a title like this (just as they did on "BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE" some years ago) definitely shows somewhat of a respect for the customer. I guess I just cut them a bit more slack since I know how small they are. We've all seen bigger operations like Anchor Bay, Dark Sky and Media Blasters completely ignoring the outcry when fans found out that they released edited or screwed-up prints (Sleepaway Camp, Texas Chainsaw Massacre-audio, Warlock Moon, and others) - unless they became completely unplayable as was the case with a bunch of AB titles.

When a tiny operation like VCI immediately acknowledges such an issue and does the right thing by stepping up and admitting fault and fixing it (although I agree they probably should have caught this before it hit stores), it's very refreshing. I wish the bigger independent DVD companies could learn some of this concern for their product and their customers.

Got the 'improved' disc.

I think this was mastered from a 35mm print. It's got the 'cigarette burns' and wear around the reel changes, the unsubtle color (jacked here), the impenetrable contrast (not to mention it's presented several points darker than 'native' in an attempt to minimize some very persistent underlying roughness). It loses focus a few times in a way that looks to me more like a problem in telecine than a flaw in the original photography - this transfer's a mess.

I also get the feeling that CHILDREN was a blow up from 16mm, though IMDB says not. It looks that way, and had an even lower budget than the same team's DEATHDREAM a couple years later. DEATHDREAM's 16mm.

I can post some grabs if anyone would like me to, though I'm not sure that 'looks like utter s**t' needs much in the way of accompanying illustration.

Someone on another board asked that I cobble this together, so I may as well let everyone share in the fruits of my 'labors':

I can only go by other people's screengrabs for the old editions, but here goes. I only took the last grab myself.

1 - Old, non-anamorphic release by VCI.
2 - Recently recalled VCI disc
3 - Anchor Bay UK edition
4 - Corrected, new release by VCI.





As you can see even at this reduced size, none are pretty.