I'm super intrigued by what I've read of this film...however, it looks to be out of print and I can't find it on Netflix. Does anyone know what the ultimate DVD version of this film is? Would it be the out-of-print Anchor Bay DVD? Does that include the uncut version? Any advice?

The Anchor Bay DVD is as complete as any version I've seen. Just beware of the old VHS release, on another label, which was the disembowelled US theatrical release version.

I have the Anchor Bay edition of this and watched it again maybe three months ago. This is a favorite of mine. I turned a buddy of mine on to it, describing it as (and I stole this from some review) "SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE directed by David Cronenberg." My friend watched it and said "I have no idea what I just saw, but I want to see it again."

I'm SO excited to see this - I had read about the film awhile back in the book SLIMETIME and thought, "Well that sounds interesting!" but didn't think much about it. Then today a friend of mine posted some screencaps he did from the film and I was automatically fascinated...that led me on a quest to find a viewable copy...I ended up just purchasing a used, out of print Anchor Bay DVD of it (which actually comes with a double feature of Mario Bava's SHOCK). I hope I'm not disappointed! I did watch the trailer a moment ago and was even MORE intrigued!

Has anyone listened to the commentary on the film? Is it interesting?

I still can't believe I haven't seen this movie already!

I think you've got yourself a keeper there. They aren't really similar in execution, aside from the theme of madness that permeates both films, but they're definitely two classics that one should own.

Funny how these coincidences work out - I read this thread thinking "never heard of it" and now I read that in the ongoing monthly late-night cult screenings at one of my local art house cinemas, Possession will be showing. A number of these cult movies are shown from DVD or other such sources, but this one appears to be from 35mm, which is nice.

So I gather this is not to be missed then?

Alan, where do you live - where is the screening?

Check out this thread at the Andrzej Zulawski forum.

The Korean DVD is cut. The US, Japanese, and Spanish DVDs are uncut but the Japanese and Spanish releases have some different music than the US version. The AB disc has more saturated colors.

It's not my favorite Zulawski film (that would be THE IMPORTANT THING IS TO LOVE), but it's high on my list and marvelously over the top. One of my favorite moments is when Isabelle Adjani is so worked up she has to calm herself down by slicing her arm repeatedly with an electric knife, which curbs her screaming and lowers her voice to a hushed whisper that's even scarier.

Now that I think about this, I seem to remember the underground miscarriage scene in the AB disc is missing a shot of two eyes staring up from the palms of Adjani's hands, which was in the Japanese laserdisc release.

"Almost... almost..." Anyone who hasn't seen this movie has a wild ride awaiting them.

Oh man, I'm so excited - I got all my friends talking about this movie. Surprisingly, no one has heard of it! We were sending the trailer around to all of our friends and we were so entranced by it. I still can't believe I haven't seen it already - I guess I thought it was some boring and angst-y romance melodrama. I'm hoping that it will become one of my new faves and will join the ranks of my other brain-damaged favorites like BONE, DEATH GAME and THE BABY!

Probably many thousands of miles away from you I think... there are a couple of screenings in various places here in sunny Scotland.

After reading Tim's description above, I really, really have to see this.

I licensed the release for ANCHOR BAY and prepared the supplements with Andrei Zulawaski and Dan Bird, the commentator. Zulawaski told me at the time our release was the only complete version of the film and he was very happy with the DVD. I am not sure what scene Tim is describing, I do not remember that image in the release so perhaps the Japanese had an alternate cut of the abortion scene. Zulawaski absolutely approved the release and transfer of the ANCHOR BAY release.

As I have not seen the film since I oversaw the DVD release I cannot comment on any other release.


Norm Hill

The Anchor Bay DVD looks good to me, though the commentary leaves much to be desired if you are looking for interpretive help.
I showed this movie to a friend once, who was of the opinion that a movie has to make sense for it to be good.
As soon as it was over he made us watch it again with the commentary.
Suffice to say, he HATES Zulawski for not explaining the movie, and especially for how he describes Carlo Rambaldi's "creature" (made right before Spielberg's E.T.!).

My friend is still wrong. This movie is excellent.