Murder Set Pieces (2004) R1 US 'R' version ADDED

[Mark_Meakin]

Title:Murder Set Pieces (2004)(Dir)Nick Palumbo
Country:US
Region:R1
Distributor:Lionsgate Entertainment
Case Type:Keepcase Amaray
Aspect Ratio:1.85:1
Anamorphic?:No
PAL or NTSC?:NTSC (83:38) UNRATED VERSION FROM FRIGHT FLIX (90:41)
Soundtracks:English Dolby Digital 5.1 & English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles (are they optional?):(Yes) Spanish
Cuts:'R' version
Commentaries:Director Nick Palumbo Audio Commentary with lead actor Sven Garrett.
Extras:Trailers:Saw III ,The Punisher (2004)-Extended,Crank,The Descent & Grim Reaper (6:47)
Notes:Heavily cut & re-edited 'R' version as the likes of Blockbusters would not stock the original cut.
Easter Eggs:None
Source:I own the disc an ex-rental Blockbusters copy .

[Mark_Meakin]

I did a comparison with the 'unrated' version' on Worldwidedvdforums a good while back.:-

Regarding cuts to the R version (cuts approx time in brackets):-
The opening titles of the 'R' version are drastically toned down,losing the "Jewes are not the men to be blamed for nothing."quote,the grainy 9.11 footage & childrens rhyme as well as all the graphic colour footage of the photographer's victims.We see one brief B & W shot of a mutilated woman in the 'R' cut and the sequences of the killer ranting in german (1min 20sec)
The throat-cutting of the the first prostitute in the threesome is reduced losing footage of blood running down her breasts (4 sec approx),The photographer then smears the dying womans blood on the second prostitutes bare buttocks (7 seconds approx)who he then brutally chokes for far longer in the DC (17 sec approx) and the R version loses footage of her squirming legs during the extended choking as it shows her private parts.When she later regains consciousness the 'R' version totally removes a shot of her naked,bound & gagged (22 sec approx)
The Killing of the prostitute in the bath is also drastically cut.In the uncut version she is dunked headfirst in the water roughly 7x but only 3x in the 'R' version.She is also held under the water for much longer in the DC (12 sec approx)As soon as the razor is held to her throat the 'R' cut resumes on the weight training scene,eliminating spurting blood,an additional dunking and footage of her flailing hands smearing her blood on the bath tiles (17 sec approx).
During the sequence featuring Gunnar Hansen,the photographer has a "dream" featuring a mutilated corpse cut from the 'R' cut (5 sec) and the other bodies are only shown in B&W in the 'R' version & not colour like the DC.
The footage in the strip club is reduced by about half (1min 30sec approx) losing the more explicit frontal nudity of the two pole dancers notably the one who lapdances for the photographer.
The following rape scene is drastically cut in the 'R' version losing all the shots of the girls bloody face & all the thrusts till she is knocked unconscious.The 'R' version only shows a few thrusts after she is knocked out (30sec approx)After he finishes further footage is cut of him slapping her buttocks and walking naked to the bathroom.(28sec approx)A further set of cuts are made to conversation,when he wields the knife losing all shots of the bloodied moaning girl & the dialogue"Relax,You'll be in hell soon enough"(40 sec approx)
The next cut is to the fellatio scene (another victim as we discover in some 'R' cut alternate footage running about 20 sec when the photographer is seen picking her up in his car)the 'R' version removes any implication of oral sex with the severed head,making it look like he lifts it quickly to his face & drops it from the car window (30sec approx)A shot of the severed head in the road & the following footage of the photographer eating chunks of a female torso are totally missing from the 'R' version (44 sec approx)
The later unpleasant rear entry rape over the weights bar,is also totally missing from the 'R' cut along with the following sequence of an unclothed doll (2 min)
The sequence with the two female models in the park loses the more explicit poses in the 'R' version & some more rear nudity & fondling (25 sec)
The hammer scene is heavily cut (50sec approx) as the 'R' version only shows the photographer picking up the hammer,a C-U of the victims face & a shot of him bringing down the hammer once followed by a brief scream (eliminating the nudity,gore and victims loss of bodily functions)The entire following sequence is reduced to about one shot of the naked woman strung upside down in the 'R' version losing footage of him placing the pig mask & rope on her head & spinning her around.His dialogue "Stop moving" & "Don't go anywhere is also cut (41 sec approx)Shortly after a further cut (13 sec approx) is made to footage of the girl spinning around.
When he shows the girl in the chair his nazi medal,the 'R' cut only shows an out of focus shot of the girl losing more frontal nudity (13 sec approx)
When the photographer puts the sharpened teeth in his mouth the sight of him licking the victim in the chair is totally removed & we just see a brief shot of him lunging at the woman in the 'R' version eliminating more nudity (13 sec approx)
The playground sequence & subsequent murder of the young girl is TOTALLY cut from the 'R' version (2 min 35sec approx) and is replaced by an alternate scene of a Tarot card reader in the 'R' cut running about 3 minutes & a dream sequence prior to that featuring a young girl( resulting in another nose bleed) lasting about 20 seconds.
The following footage of the two dead girls including one in a dumpster (the 'R' version cuts away before you see what is inside)and one lying dead holding an apple is also totally cut from the 'R' version (25 sec approx) as well as the subsequent footage of a bloodied girl trying to escape from the knife-wielding photographer up some steps (45 sec approx)The "zombie" sequence where a decomposing naked woman snaps pictures of the photographer is also totally removed from the 'R' cut due to nudity(33 sec approx)
A sex scene with the photographer & his girlfriend is slightly trimmed in the 'R' cut (12 sec) but the 'R' version contains additional unique footage of the photographer shaving in the bathroom.The following footage involving the mother & baby is heavily cut losing any footage of the traumatised child.The 'R' version cuts away just after the photographer takes out his razor after knocking the child's mother to the ground (2 min approx)
During the Twin Towers footage,several shots of the second dead young girl with the apple as well as her opening her eyes are totally missing from the 'R' version ( 17 sec approx)
The chainsaw scene loses the more graphic footage (30sec approx)of the blade cutting into the victims head,heavy bloodflow & footage of her squirming legs.When Jade discovers the entrance to the basement the 'R' version loses a brief bit of gory footage after the photographer turns of the chainsaw (3 sec)
The 'R' dvd loses 3 of the 5 shots of mutilated bodies in the basement and a shot of the victim hung upside down also is reduced during the sequence where Jade shines a torch around the basement (15 sec)
The footage of a mutilated woman handcuffed by one wrist loses all the more gruesome shots along with Jade touching the remains.There are only two extremely brief shots of the body in the 'R' version (29 sec)
There are three cuts to the scene where the photographer slashes Jades back (6 sec approx)and the face slashing is totally removed from the point the photogapher grabs Jades face resuming on her picking up the scissors (12 sec)
The 'R' version removes footage of blood spurting from the photographers torso when he removes the scissors (5 sec)

[Mark_Meakin]

I've added the RT for the uncut Fright Flix release as it was not on the database.Not really my idea of entertainment but it was interesting to compare the different versions.

[Samuel_Scott]

Thanks Mark. The DC cuts originally came from my copy on release.

I also added the Polish, Austrian and Dutch releases, all of which are the Unrated version.

[Mark_Meakin]

Cheers Samuel.