- The film has had a rough time in the UK. Before 1984, when videos were not subject to censorship in Britain, it was released with the killings intact, although a minute of non-violent footage was missing from this version. It then got a reputation as one of the most notorious of the "video nasties", a media-fueled hysteria which led to the UK adopting some of the most stringent video censorship in the Western world. This reputation arose largely because of the video cover, which showed the infamous drill-in-the-forehead scene. After 1984, it became illegal to release a video without a BBFC video certificate, and the films' reputation was such that no-one even bothered trying until 1999, when a version omitting 54 secs from the head-drilling scene and 2 earlier murders was approved for an 18 certificate. The full uncut version was finally passed by the BBFC in November 2002.
- The 1999 UK release is not only censored but omits most of the end credits.
- The uncut version of this film had been banned on three occasions by Australian censors, in September 1982, July 1983, and November 1984. It was finally awarded an R rating in September 1985, after some violence was trimmed, most notably the scene depicting a drill through the forehead. This version was released widely on VHS. The Australian DVD released by Umbrella Entertainment is still the cut version even though a sticker on the cover clearly states PREVIOUSLY BANNED NOW RELEASED UNCUT. The artwork shows as rated MA but the disc shows rated R. The actual runtime is 94.20min whereas the unrated 2 disc region 1 version runs for 95.57min.
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