Quote:
The laser disc surprised me as I believe the first couple of reels were switched, so that the pre-credits sequence appeared right after the opening credits instead of before.

Actually, the release prints were like that, and the edit is pretty obvious. When Bill Lustig was re-mastering the first batch of Hammers, I pointed this out and suggested he re-edit it the way Hammer clearly intended it to be, but he thought it was too much trouble, or possibly some betrayal of what a devout fan might expect ("Hey, wait! That's not the way I saw it when I was a kid!")

The placement of the credits really doesn't make sense either cinematically or dramatically. The precredits sequence has a cohesive mood and pacing to it, plus a specific style of music; the credits not only have a different type of music, but they're supered over a shot of the little devil doll which is spattered in blood-- which doesn't happen in the opening sequence until the end-- which, in the release print, isn't seen until after the credits.

It is a neat little picture.