Lost Scenes

Rundown and images from rare slasher scenes never or hardly seen!
 

April Fools Day (1986)

The film's original third act was completely excised in favor of the joke revelation everyone knows and not quite loves. While that was always in the film, the third act went on much longer after the film as we know it ends. It went as follows, according the novelisation and other sources:

After everyone leaves the island the nexy day, Nikki, Chaz, Rob and Kit sneak back to the house to prank back Muffy. Nikki is attacked by someone dressed as Buffy and is almost killed, but she escapes realizing this is no joke. When she finds Kit and Rob they tell her to wait by the boat while they go to the house to get Muffy - but they find her dead with her with her throat slit. Then Buffy shows up and chases them up into one of the bedrooms. Rob gets wounded and just as Buffy is about to finish him off, Muffy appears (she faked the throat cut knowing they would come back to scare her) and attacks Buffy. To her horror, she realizes that Buffy is really Skip. Skip is about to kill her in order to get the inheritance. But Rob recovers and stabs Skip in the back with a pair of scissors, killing him. Then Kit and Rob go downstairs just as Nikki and Chaz show up. While this happens, Muffy begins to cradle Skip's head in her lap and talk to him about how they will share her father's inheritance, going insane.

Astonishingly, while this holy grail of lost scenes has remained unseen and largely a mystery until now, an image from it depicting the dead true killer was used on the back cover of Paramount's plain vanilla DVD release, apparently unnoticed. In addition, another scene has always existed on the back cover of the Australian CIC Video release.

Children Of The Corn (1984)

Remember when Linda Hamilton is crucified alongside a corpse of a cop - the "blue man"? It was actually a payoff for a cut sequence at the beginning of the film, a police station massacre! Below is an image scanned from an old Fangoria issue illustrating this. There is another major scene missing, that of Isaac having a prophecy. The second image I have may have come from that, but nonetheless is quite strange. It was an image on the back of Australia's Children Of The Corn VHS release. Assorted longer scenes are also present in the UK TV version (anyone got a copy? No one taped it!? You douches!). It's incredible that out of the three versions Anchor Bay has put out on DVD (bare bones, Divimax Special Edition, AB UK release) no one bothered to include any of this material when much of it is so easily accessible if you're a Brit (and I'm not!).

Don't Open Till Christmas (1984)

Some may argue that Edmond Purdom's British slasher has little merit. Not us - the twist on the formula, having someone kill Santas instead of the other way around was refreshing by '86. In any case, alot of work was put into the film (it went through three directors, so this is the least of possible lost scenes!) and the DVD of Living Doll (made by the same chaps) features an hour long behind the scenes segment on Don't Open! Glimpsed is original footage of the peep show murder sequence. Purdom and Dick Randall are unhappy and decide to replace the two actors.

Happy Birthday To Me (1981)

More then a few cuts were made to the classic campus slasher. It's not, perhaps, what was cut rather then how choppily the cuts were made, that cause beef with the film's fans and critics alike. Below is what the MPAA ordered out:

• The opening throat slash features blood pouring down the neck.

• Slightly gorier brain surgery scenes.

• The impact of the bench press scene.

• A longer shot of blood shooting out in the death-by-motorcycle.

• Two impacts of the fire poker attack on the doctor, one causing a blood spurt and the next causing blood to spray the closet door.

Those whacky Brits, usually downtrodden by the BBFC in the Video Nasties campaign of the 80's apparently have a slightly more uncut version then the US where the weight lift and fire poker murders are concerned. However, all the lost shots (like bike face below!) can apparently be viewed in an uncut version circulating on Ebay under the keyword "rare print".

He Knows You're Alone (1980)

After MGM picked up the film for distribution they got the director Armand Mastroianni to shoot an additional scene specifically for the trailer: lead actress Caitlin O'Heaney in a bra sitting down in front of a mirror combing her hair while the killer's shadow looms outside the window. It ends with the killer smashing through the mirror from the other side. It was the shock punch of a moment that the film itself never had - and probably could have benefited from - by being inserted into the ending in place of the hastily ambiguous one they chose to go with. Fear not, the Trailer (availible on the DVD) is viewable on YouTube.

Splatter University (1984)

This photo was on the back of the US video box to Troma's fun flick Splatter University. A cut scene? No, just a specifically shot promotional image - there's nothing like that in the film!