OK, I checked the German T1 DVD, and it does have cue burns at the reel changes. So this does seem to be from a German theatrical source. (The Orion logo has the German theatrical distribution company notice optically superimposed at the bottom, and as I said before, there is absolutely no mention of Harlan Ellison anywhere in the closing credits.)
The letterboxing is also inconsistent from scene to scene; the telecine seems to have been electronically letterboxed at about 1.55:1 (and it's one of those transfers where the bars are at a slight angle and "bob" up/down into the next line partway across the screen), but in some shots the actual in-camera hard-matting extends further down at the top or up at the bottom.
This reminds me of old Hong Kong video transfers that were taken from theatrical prints, and looked blown-out and overly contrasty, with dark scenes being too dark and bright scenes being too bright (because the higher contrast of theatrical prints did not transfer well). If anybody's ever seen any HK movie transfers with burned-in Chinese+Engrish subtitles, cigarette burns, 1.85 films having fully visible in-camera "hard matting" that shifts position from scene to scene, that's what this transfer is like. Poor quality or no, it's from a theatrical source.
It also reminds me of some of the old Academy screeners that came from theatrically-timed print sources (like The Dark Knight).
Also, does anybody have the original Thorn EMI/HBO transfer? I read that had burns too, but I believe it was also overbrightened, as a lot of 80s transfers were.