I posted a note on the Asian Cinema board recently about how some old Warner VHS releases of Shaw Brothers movies were squeezed to fit more of the scope frame into the 4:3 TV format. Today's widescreen TVs are designed to take full advantage of DVD technology but if you want to watch an old VHS, one usually has to switch the TV to 4:3 mode to maintain the correct image. However, when the VHS has been squeezed, watching it in 16:9 mode will more or less "correct" the image, enhancing the presentation (you don't have to watch the tape in zoom mode (lowering the resolution and introducing combing) or 4:3 mode (resulting in a smaller image). The example I cited was Warner's RETURN TO THE 36TH CHAMBER.

Following on this post, I've just noticed that this phenomenon extends to Sinister's NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE and perhaps some other presentations. I don't know if anyone's put together a list of squeezed VHS presentations that benefit from 16:9 correction but I thought i'd post notice of this so that any Mobius readers can have an excuse to raid their boxed up VHS collections for a trip down memory lane. I find it refreshing to go back to some of the old tapes after years of DVD perfection. As you know, VHS was perfectly suited to hiding the artifice of the special effects that graced many a favourite Euro-Horror.

Victor

POO!, I've just sold my Sinister "Night Evelyn".

Sinister's VAMPIRE"S NIGHT ORGY ( at least my copy ) has the same transfer. I have watched it that way and it really helps. I think they may have remastered it since I bought mine back in the early 90's.
The cut version of DRACULA VS FRANKENSTEIN on United American is sqeezed as well ( but is such an abortion is is better left in it's box ).
I have a squeezed Spanish trailer for another widescreen Naschy flick, VENGANCE OF THE MUMMY.
There are other examples but they escape me at the moment.

I posted exactly the same comments here many years ago about EVELYN (the SWV release also benefits from anamorphic squeezing).

The same is true for some of the old UK Vipco VHS rental releases of the early 80s, like SHOGUN ASSASSIN* and ZOMBIE FLESH-EATERS, which expand to their true 'scope proportions in anamorphic mode on a 16x9 TV. I'm not sure of the original distributor, but my "squeezed" bootleg VHS of Antonio Margheriti's AND GOD SAID TO CAIN also expands to around 1.78:1 (which I imagine is still cropped, but at least the cropping isn't as abominable as it could have been).

* In fact, it may well have been mentioned on Mobius some time back, but Vipco's current "full-frame" DVD variant of SHOGUN ASSASSIN is this same "squeezed-to-1.66:1" transfer, so might actually represent the superior option for widescreen TV owners than their non-anamorphic letterboxed 2.35:1 disc, which loses resolution when zoomed to 16:9.

One wonders if Sinister's squeezed and cropped cassette of SCHOOL THAT COULDN'T SCREAM would stretch out to 2.76:1...

My old copy of Sinister's "The Devil's Commandment" was squeezed. I suppose that title, the American version of "I Vampiri" would only be of interest for the extra footage shot and inserted into the film for the raincoat crowd of the day.

Eric, I forgot about Sinister's SCHOOL THAT COULDN"T SCREAM. I had that one too ( but ditched it as Shriek Show's dvd was A OK ). It was still cropped at the sides...same as VAMPIRE'S NIGHT ORGY. Most likely none of these revealed the entire image when unsqeezed, but looked a heck of alot better when viewed that way.
I find myself reaching for the remote when I see squeezed credits on a film showing on broadcast / cable televison. It's fun to unsqueeze!