A BELL FROM HELL (1973) - Missing Scenes

After Troy and I recorded our podcast covering this excellent film I was informed by Robert Monell that the DVD we were using as a reference was actually incomplete. He told me that it was missing a few scenes for some reason and I was flabbergasted! A frantic search had me rechecking my sources looking for details with no luck. But then FaceBook friend Eric Cotenas messaged me with a YouTube link to a copy of the (rather dark looking) Unicorn VHS version of the film with the missing footage. It seems that at around 47 minute 25 second mark is where it can be found so you can use this video to either watch the entire film or jump to that spot to see the three short scenes that were trimmed. They take place at the party John throws for his aunt and cousins. After John and Esther dance around the room these scenes have more dialog between the family members that spell out the 'romantic' entanglements that contributed to John's stay in an asylum. This information is missing from the Pathfinder DVD we used which cuts bluntly from the dancing to the dinner table deleting this rather dark discussion as well as the aunt assuring one of the girls that 'After the verdict we'll sell the house'.  This is a shame as this shows how worried the editor of the print used for the DVD might have been about the film's main character being presented as an attempted rapist. This is odd considering that the DVD cut has more gore and nudity than the version with the missing two minutes of intriguing information delivered with dialog. Here's a link to a spot with details of the missing scenes or you can watch them below -



Also, Mr Cotenas had this note - "I think The Bells is the export title as the font matches the rest of the title sequence and the shot is uninterrupted whereas the Bell from Hell title may be a somewhat more accurate translation but appears in a plain font over a cutaway shot. Perhaps the preparers of the English version were thinking of Poe."  This dovetails well with Troy's idea that someone might have been trying to sell this film as another Poe adaptation!

So, as Mr. Monell stated, there is no truly satisfactory digital version of this film. I once again call for a definitive release on Blu-Ray as soon as possible! It's just not acceptable that you have to watch multiple version of a movie to see the complete film.

Thanks to Robert Monell and Erc Cotenas for their help.