ran theatrically in some European countries in the late 1980s. Plans for the film's theatrical release in America were shelved when production studio DEG, the distributor of Rampage, went bankrupt. The film was unreleased in North America for five years. During that time, director Friedkin reedited the film, and changed the ending (with Reece no longer committing suicide in jail) before its US release in October 1992. The European video versions usually feature the film's original ending. In retrospect, William Friedkin said: "At the time we made Rampage, [producer] Dino De Laurentiis was running out of money. He finally went bankrupt, after a long career as a producer. He was doing just scores of films and was unable to give any of them his real support and effort. And so literally by the time it came to release Rampage, he didn’t have the money to do it. And he was not only the financier, but the distributor. His company went bankrupt, and the film went to black for about five years. Eventually, the Weinsteins’ company Miramax took it out of bankruptcy and rereleased it. But this was among the lowest points in my career." Reception In his review, film critic Roger Ebert gave Rampage three stars out of four saying, "This is not a movie about murder so much as a movie about insanity—as it applies to murder in modern American criminal courts...Friedkin['s] message is clear: Those who commit heinous crimes should pay for them, sane or insane. You kill somebody, you fry—unless the verdict is murky or there were extenuating circumstances." In retrospect William Friedkin said: "There are a lot of people who love Rampage, but I don’t think I hit my own mark with that". Home media As of 2010, the film has been released on DVD only in Poland, by SPI International. The American edit of the film was released on LaserDisc in 1994 by Paramount Home Video. Friedkin's original cut featuring the alternate ending and some additional footage was released on LaserDisc in Japan only by Shochiku Home Video in 1990. References Friedkin, William, The Friedkin Connection, Harper Collins, 2013 External links 1987 crime drama films 1980s crime thriller films 1987 films American crime drama films American crime thriller films American films based on plays American independent films Films about cannibalism De Laurentiis Entertainment Group films 1980s English-language films Films based on American novels Films directed