when the film was first released in the united states, mgm wanted to market it as a "farce". mgm head editor margaret booth and head of theatrical post production merle chamberlain cut 12 minutes' worth of material, and along with adding the animated prologue among other changes, the character of professor abronsius was re dubbed to give him a goofy, cartoony voice that would suit the "kooky" tone of the film. this version was slightly retitled as "the fearless vampire killers, or pardon me, but your teeth are in my neck". this was the version most commonly seen in the u.s. until it vanished from circulation in the mid-1970s. in the early 1980s, mgm unearthed a print of roman polanski's original cut and sent it to various repertory & revival houses for screenings. polanski's cut has garnered new interest and reevaluated opinions from critics and fans of polanski's works, who have previously bashed the film in its mutilated u.s. cut. since then, the original version of the film is the one more commonly available today and has been released on vhs, laserdisc, dvd and blu-ray, and occasionally airs on tcm.