Banned Horror Films: When Cinema Crossed the Line

How films with violence and taboo subjects got banned in different countries.

Horror films have repeatedly run into bans over scenes of excessive violence, sexual deviance, or realistic depictions of cruelty. Regulators in various countries restricted the release of such films, citing risks to viewers and violations of social norms.

How cinema provoked bans, and which scenes triggered restrictions — read on in this DeTalks article.

Cannibal Holocaust: The Road to the Banned Horror List

Cannibal Holocaust tells the story of four documentary filmmakers who traveled into the Amazon jungle to film material about cannibalism and vanished without a trace. Professor Harold Monroe arrived to search for them and found the expedition's film reels. The footage showed the crew burning down a Yacumo village, disrupting a ritual, and committing violence against local residents.

The cameras captured the conflict escalating, after which tribe members killed the crew, with filming continuing until the final moments. After the professor's return, the footage was screened in New York, and it was concluded that the film shouldn't be shown publicly given the cruelty it documented.

The film was banned or restricted in over 50 countries, including Italy, the United Kingdom, and Australia. After its premiere, the film was pulled from theaters, and director Ruggero Deodato was summoned to court over suspicions he had made a 'snuff film' (footage of real killings).

Regulators cited excessive cruelty as the reason for their decisions, including scenes of torture and rape, as well as the use of real animal deaths during filming.

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom: Violence as a System

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom depicts events in northern Italy during the fall of the fascist regime. In it, four representatives of power — a magistrate, a banker, a duke, and a clergyman — set up an isolated space at a villa, where they bring a group of teenagers. The rules governing their existence are built on total submission, humiliation, and systematic torture.

The film is structured in several parts, each depicting new forms of violence, including sexual abuse, forced degradation, and physical punishment. In the finale, the perpetrators watch the victims' torture as a kind of ritual, underscoring their complete loss of humanity.

The film was repeatedly banned and pulled from theaters in Italy and other European countries. As early as 1975, a censorship board banned its screening, and after a limited release, the Milan prosecutor's office opened a case against producer Alberto Grimaldi for distributing pornographic content.

The legal proceedings dragged on for several years, during which the film was alternately permitted and pulled from theaters again. Certain scenes had to be cut before it could be shown again.

I Spit on Your Grave: Violence and Revenge

The plot follows writer Jennifer Hills, who travels to a remote area to work on her book. Her time alone turns into a conflict with local men, who subject her to prolonged sexual assault.

But Jennifer survives the attack and later plans her revenge. The plot unfolds as a sequence of events in which she tracks down her attackers one by one and metes out brutal punishment.

The film was restricted or banned from release in various countries due to its detailed depiction of violence. Censors focused on the film's lengthy assault scenes and the subsequent acts of revenge, which were shown largely uncut.

In the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, the film faced restrictions or was released in edited versions at various points. In Ukraine, certain installments of the franchise were denied a theatrical release for failing to meet public morality standards.

The Human Centipede 2, or Escalating Cruelty

The film follows Martin, a lonely man obsessed with the franchise's first installment who tries to recreate what he saw on screen in real life. He kidnaps people and holds them in a confined space, attempting to build a 'centipede' out of several victims.

The plot centers on a sequence of violent scenes, improvised procedures, and coercion that lead to the deaths of some of the captives. The film's visual style emphasized realism, focusing on the characters' physical suffering.

The British Board of Film Classification refused to give the film a rating, effectively barring it from release — landing the film on the list of banned films. After more than thirty cuts were made, the film was cleared for release with an '18+' rating.

In Australia, Ireland, and a number of other countries, the film was either banned or released only in edited form, with authorities citing its potential harmful effect on viewers.

The Exorcist: Fear and Religion

The film tells the story of a girl named Regan, whose behavior changes drastically following an apparent possession. Her mother turns to doctors, but exams turn up nothing, and physicians can't find a physical cause for her condition. A priest eventually gets involved, initially suspecting a mental disorder, but later agreeing to perform an exorcism.

The story centers on a struggle against a demonic force, marked by the child's aggressive behavior, physical changes, and the death of one of the priests. But after the ritual concludes, the girl's condition returns to normal.

During its theatrical run, journalists reported cases of audience members becoming ill during screenings. The film was banned or restricted for religious and moral reasons. In Singapore, it wasn't cleared for release due to its treatment of religious themes. In the United Kingdom, the home video release was pulled from the market in the 1980s, and the restriction stayed in place for over a decade.

In the late 1990s, the ban was lifted after a reclassification review concluded the film had lost its original level of impact on viewers.