I hate to tempt my readership, but word is getting around that Warner Home Video's TWISTED TERROR COLLECTION box set contains the uncut versions of Ken Wiederhorn's EYES OF A STRANGER (1981) and Wes Craven's DEADLY FRIEND (1986). Both films were originally rated X for graphic violence by the MPAA and, being contractually obliged to carry R ratings, were subjected to additional cutting. Neither film excited much enthusiasm at the time, and while the passing years haven't exactly been kind to them either, these uncut versions are said to play marginally better. So, once again, art triumphs over the politics of the past.Also included in the set are John Carpenter's very good Hitchcockian TV-movie SOMEONE IS WATCHING ME!, Oliver Stone's first major studio release THE HAND, the final Amicus anthology film FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE, and Larry Drake's post-L.A. LAW vehicle DR. GIGGLES. The set would be a lot more attractive without DR. GIGGLES -- Warners missed a great opportunity to release CRAZE (1974), which surely would have filled the "Twisted" bill, or even Hammer's CRESCENDO (1972) -- but even so, now I'm thinking I may have to snag one of these for myself.
