Alternate versions

When originally released to theaters in Britain, the UK censors removed 49 seconds of footage including an ankle stabbing, Shelley chewing off her own hand, an eye gouging, Shelley's body being dismembered, body blows with a poker and a wooden post, and shots of blood spurts, and it was this version that was released on video originally. Despite the cuts, it became one of the most notorious of the UK video nasties and was subject to many obscenity trials before being withdrawn on video in 1984, when mandatory video censorship was introduced to the UK. It was not until 1990 that the film surfaced on video in the UK again, due to wrangles between the distributors and the BBFC over how much footage should be cut from a legal video release. In the end, a further 1m 6s was removed, in addition to the previous theatrical version cuts. Most of the scenes depicting excessive gore were shortened or removed, with the tree rape scene being particularly targeted for cuts. The fully uncut version was finally released on DVD in 2001.

The 2012 Blu-Ray release has several subtle digital alterations to remove visible lighting and camera equipment, hair in the camera gate, and steadies the matte painting shots of the moon on the horizon, along with the ending stop-motion sequence. In addition, Rob Tapert standing in the background when the Oldsmobile drives over the bridge has been digitally erased.

The film's gore sequences, as well as the infamous Tree Rape scene, were heavily edited to receive an 'Adults Only' certificate when released in India in 1984.

The original U.S. release prints began with a disclaimer stating that the film was not recommended for anyone under 17 due to it's violent content (a similar disclaimer can also be found on the original posters for the film) and the New Line Cinema logo.

When originally released on theaters in Ontario, Canada. The Ontario Censor Board made cuts to the film's gore. VHS release was uncut.

Forty-eight seconds used to be missing from the German version. There were 2 German versions on the market:

• Tanz der Teufel (banned/uncut)
• Tanz der Teufel 1 (heavily cut)

Now the fully uncut version was released in 2016.

The Swedish version, originally cut by several minutes was re-released in 1997 completely uncut, including the infamous tree-rape scene

The 1998 Anchor Bay Video collector's-edition and limited-edition (35,000 copies) releases have a stereo soundtrack.

In March 2001, the BBFC decided to release it completely uncut in the UK.

The Anchor Bay releases are complete and uncut.

A small scene was cut from the U.S. release:

• After all of Ash's friends have turned into demons, he goes outside and begins to panic. Frustrated and angry, he kicks in one of the front windows. Eventually settling down, he re-enters the cabins and again confronts the monsters.

The uncut UK and US Anchor Bay DVD releases in 2001 had a Dolby Digital 5.1 and a 6.1 DTS-ES remix. The image is also matted to 1.85:1 aspect ratio from the original 1.37:1 frame, by the request of 'Sam Raimi (I)'.

The initial German version for people under the age of 18 (FSK 16) missed 17 minutes of footage compared to the uncut version. Now the fully uncut version was released in 2016.

In the old Swedish sell-through VHS version, the decapitation of Ash's girlfriend with the shovel, the scene are cut about a full minute. First the deadite launches herself at him, the screen flicks red, and Ash wipes of some dust and returns to the cabin.

The 1999 US Elite DVD release is missing a brief shot of lightning hitting a tree that was removed at the behest of the director, as he thought it looked too fake to retain. However, the 2002 Anchor Bay DVD release restores the shot and has remained ever since.