Witchfinder General (film) - Home Video Versions

Home Video Versions

Censorship and musical rights issues kept a complete, pristine version of Witchfinder General from being released on videotape, laserdisc or DVD for many years. Although uncensored theatrical prints have been available for archival showings in the U.S. for several years, video releases of the title were repeatedly compromised.

In 2001, a DVD was released in the UK by Metrodome consisting of two versions, the complete "Director's Cut" containing the four minutes of previously censored violence, and an "Export Version", also with the violence intact but including brief shots of nudity added to certain sequences. In both versions, the four minutes of violence have been taken from what has been described as "a grainy VHS source." Some critics complained that watching the film in this manner was an often "jarring" or "distracting" viewing experience. In addition, the soundtrack of the newly inserted nude shots had "brief snippets of audio repeating itself because of the timing involved in inserting the previously cut footage".

In the U.S., while censorship of the film has never been a factor, the film nonetheless experienced numerous delays in appearing on home video in its originally intended form. When Orion Pictures acquired the rights to many of AIP's titles in the 1980s, they were unable to also purchase rights to the musical soundtracks of some of the films, and added synthesizer scores by composer Kendall Schmidt in lieu of the original music. Witchfinder General was one of these "problem" titles. For years, Paul Ferris's acclaimed full orchestral score was not available in the U.S. on home video releases, although it was included on theatrical and syndicated television prints. The HBO videotape release from the late 1980s utilized the Orion version, which also included the nude inserts. Tim Lucas noted that the spoken soundtrack to these newly added "spicy" shots "doesn't match it correctly."

In 2005, writer Steve Biodrowski reported that a "definitive version" of the film had been restored and would be released in the U.S. on DVD by MGM-UA in August of that year, as part of their Midnite Movies series. After Sony purchased the rights to the MGM film library, James Owsley (Director of Restorations at MGM) advised Philip Waddilove (one of Witchfinder General's producers) that the date of the DVD release was postponed until October 2006. In an interview conducted in August 2005, Waddilove revealed that he had learned Sony had "little interest" in the film and no official announcement of any pending DVD release had ever been made. Waddilove noted that "the principal at Sony doesn't greenlight DVDs of anything older than ten years!!" However, the film was indeed released under the Midnite Movies banner on September 11, 2007 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The release includes the complete, uncut version of the film with the Ferris score intact. Price's opening and closing narration tacked on to the AIP Conqueror Worm version, as well as the alternate nude sequences, were not available on this release, but they were included in the UK Blu-ray release from Odeon Entertainment issued in June 2011. The Blu-ray utilized the same high-definition transfer as the 2007 MGM DVD and was completely uncut.