What editions are available?
- Theatrical (98 min.)
- Unrated Director’s Cut (102 min.)
When Killer Joe was submitted to the MPAA for rating it was sent back with the infamous NC-17 rating. After an unsuccessful appeal with the MPAA Killer Joe was given a limited to theaters as a NC-17 rated film. The film was released uncut on Blu-ray but a R-rated cut was released on DVD.
“Cutting would not have made it mass appeal. Cutting it would have been the equivalent of what members of the United States government and military leaders said about the Vietnam War. They said, “We have to destroy Vietnam in order to save it,” and that’s what I would have done to Killer Joe. To get an R rating, I would have had to destroy it in order to save it and I wasn’t interested in doing that.” – Director William Friedkin on why he refused to censor his film
Source: Rope of Silicon
The director’s preferred edition: Unrated Director’s Cut
Comparison of the editions with courtesy of Movie-Censorship.com
