What is the definitive version of Possession (1981)? : r/horror

, is a visceral exploration of marital collapse set against the paranoid backdrop of a divided West Berlin. Long censored and famously labeled a "video nasty" in the UK, the uncut version restores over 40 minutes of essential footage—including the infamous, award-winning subway scene—bringing the total runtime to approximately 124 minutes The Uncut Cinematic Experience

He smiled as if admitting the first of his crimes. "Yes and no. There are rumors—an artist in Prague with her signature, a woman by the Thames who speaks to gulls. But those are not the things I'm afraid of." He walked over to a cabinet and opened it, revealing a stack of canvases wrapped in brown paper. "This is the uncut edition," he said. "Her notebooks, the sketches, the things she painted over and then painted again. People sold them, hid them, burned them. But this—this is how she wanted them kept, together."

Labeled a "video nasty" in the early 1980s, the film was banned for its intense violence and disturbing sexual themes.

He unwrapped one, handling it like contraband. Beneath the paper lay a small, crescent-shaped painting, no larger than my palm. The brushstrokes were frenetic, violent in a manner that made the image breathe. Embedded in the paint—there, a sliver of bone, a seam of hair, a tiny watch spring curling like a sleeping thing.

: Features a 4K restoration with HDR grading that emphasizes the cold, steely "Berlin blues" intended by the director .

In 2024-2025, several labels (including Second Sight, Mondo Vision, and Metrograph) have released versions of the film. However, refers to a specific, limited-run collector’s set that contains elements no other version possesses.