Having watched the new cut, here\u2019s what is different in the version now available to audiences. Warning: Some spoilers to follow.<\/p>\n
Face Peel<\/p>\n
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The film opens with text explaining the circumstances of Riley\u2019s disappearance and the context for how the footage was recovered. We see the young blonde cowering in a cabin bedroom before venturing off-camera into the hall.<\/p>\n
Later, this sequence is repeated, but Mia has discovered another tape (courtesy of Charlie Talbert\u2019s Wilson Miles), which includes additional footage that features more graphic shots of Riley\u2019s dead co-hosts. In the original cut of the film, these murders were only briefly glimpsed, and the amount of blood and gore was limited.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the new cut, there\u2019s a whole new sequence featuring the film\u2019s supernatural protagonist Tarion (played by Derek Mears, as well as David Greathouse and Jon Michael Simpson) ripping the face off one of the men. The camera lingers on the gory practical effect, which is so forceful that the body is lifted off the floor before falling back to the ground\u2026minus a face.<\/p>\n
In a post-screening Q&A, Stuckmann explained that reshoots for this sequence alone took a half day to complete (from set-up to clean-up to resetting for additional takes). That was a luxury (both time and money) that the production simply didn\u2019t have the first time around.<\/p>\n
Hellhound Action<\/p>\n
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Part of the film\u2019s mythology includes hellhounds that protect Tarion and its progeny. While there were dogs in the festival cut of the film, Stuckmann elaborated that the additional funds allowed them to bring the dogs back for more action. Fun fact: the hounds are real, not CGI; they come from Sweden; and they were trained to perform very specific actions in the film.<\/p>\n
Mia first spots a dog eying her when she\u2019s out on the porch late at night, watching old videos of her sister. Later, she\u2019s confronted by a dog at the prison outside Wilson Miles\u2019 jail cell. It\u2019s possible that this brief scene has been touched up because the effect of the monster\u2019s hand resting on the dog looks better. Sullivan\u2019s hair is also styled differently in select shots from this sequence, which matches her hair from the reshot climax (see below).<\/p>\n
The biggest new addition, however, is the film\u2019s final sequence. After Riley has been rescued from Norma (Robin Bartlett) \u2018s cottage, Mia and Riley fight over Riley\u2019s demon seed baby. In the climax, Riley plummets through the cracked bedroom window and, as Mia watches and screams from above, her sister\u2019s still alive body is attacked by *multiple* hellhounds who rip her to shreds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My memory is slightly hazy about how much of this carnage was visible in the original cut, but in this new version, Stuckmann treats us to close-up shots of the dogs ripping at Riley\u2019s face and body. Much like the face rip from earlier in the film, this gore is much more explicit, and the camera lingers on the glorious practical FX.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Sequel Potential?<\/p>\n
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