Forbidden Horror Movie
Renita Lukins
Filmmakers can have the best intentions for a movie, but sometimes the end results are too horrific, unsettling or shocking for audiences to see. Some were judged harshly at the time they came out and subsequently released, while others remain justifiably banned from the public eye.
Most of the movies on this list were eventually released in the United States, but were banned by film classification boards and governments in other countries. Judge for yourself with these 15 horror movies that were deemed too disturbing to watch.
Among the countries to ban A Clockwork Orange were Ireland, Singapore, South Africa, Brazil, Spain, South Korea and parts of Canada. The British movie was released in America after Kubrick removed 30 seconds of explicit sexual footage which got it an R rating in theaters.
Even the premise of this movie is enough to upset stomachs. A Serbian Film tells the story of a semi-retired porn star who needs to work to make money. He agrees to appear in what he thinks is an art film but turns out to be a murderous film with pedophilic and necrophilic themes.
The story is based on a classic Swedish arthouse film The Virgin Spring by Ingmar Bergman. It tells the story of two girls who are kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered in the woods. The parents of the girls then exact revenge. Craven made a remake of the movie in 2009 that wasn't banned at all.
The movie allegedly made cinema-goers faint and vomit while others complained of more serious reactions like heart attacks and a miscarriage. The movie was banned across different cities in the US and the UK. Despite the furor, The Exorcist still won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay.
Kōji Shiraishi's Japanese horror movie features a young couple being subjected to unspeakable torture methods. For seemingly no reason, the couple who were snatched on their first date, are stabbed, dismembered then healed, purely for the sexual satisfaction of their captor.
Referred to as a "shockumentary" movie, The Poughkeepsie Tapes had to wait for seven years before being released. Though not based on a true story, it shares shocking images purported to be real from a serial killer who shot over 800 gory videotapes of himself doing unspeakable things.
Though it was never explicitly stated that it was banned from cinemas because of its psychologically disturbing content, MGM delayed the release in 2007, but it was then officially released to on-demand customers in 2014.
The title may give away the reason why this Italian movie was banned in several countries. The found-footage style film featured intense gore and was investigated after its release to determine whether the scenes were staged or real.
John Waters comedy was banned across many towns in America for 25 years. Its portrayal of homosexuality, explicit sexual content, animal cruelty, and inclusion of the lead character eating dog feces turned many a stomach. His next dark comedy, Female Trouble, was also reportedly banned for similar themes.
The first movie was shocking, but not banned anywhere, whereas The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) was deemed too extreme for British audiences, and it did not receive a classification and was banned in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Funnily enough, the third movie, which features the human centipede concept on an even bigger scale, slipped by the censors without alteration.
This Italian horror art film was widely censored and banned after it debuted in 1975. The nihilistic movie based on corrupt Italian libertines features intense scenes of extreme violence, sadism and sexual and psychological torture.
Showing the rape and revenge journey of Jennifer Hills, I Spit on Your Grave features a lengthy 30 minutes of gang rape. Famed filmed critic Roger Ebert called it "a vile bag of garbage" upon its release in theaters. The likes of West Germany, Ireland, Norway, Iceland and Ireland banned the movie while heavily censored versions were shown in Australia, Canada and the UK.
The Guardian suggests the movie is "banned in 46 countries." The original has seen smaller releases in the years since, but many of the sequels are still banned, deemed too shocking, upsetting and disturbing to witness.
It's hard to believe that the same director who gave the world the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy and a Wizard of Oz spinoff movie made his debut with a horror film that was banned upon its release.
Sam Raimi made the movie while he was still a student, and The Evil Dead was deemed to be one of the most gruesome and gory movies ever made in 1981. It performed better overseas than it did in the United States, but was and reportedly still is banned in some countries. The 2013 remake was banned by the likes of Finland, Ukraine and Singapore.
Jamie Burton is a Newsweek Senior TV and Film Reporter (Interviews) based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the latest in the world of entertainment and showbiz via interviews with celebrities and industry talent. Jamie has covered general news, world politics, finance and sports for the likes of the BBC, the Press Association and various commercial radio stations in the U.K. Jamie joined Newsweek in 2021 from the London-based Broadcast News Agency Entertainment News (7Digital) where he was the Film and TV Editor for four years. Jamie is an NCTJ-accredited journalist and graduated from Teesside University and the University of South Carolina. Languages: English.
While certainly not a genre writer, Truman Capote shows how capable he is at creating a dreadful and psychological atmosphere. The above stories (and the others, in spite of their lack of fear) are so often forgotten in the horror canon. I recommend them to anyone who likes their dread to creep up slowly, quietly, and internally, so that it is impossible to run away.
My issue with this new policy is that it prevents me from creating my favorite type of art, which tends to be scary and slightly unsettling. Just yesterday, I was able to produce amazing AI art, but now, when I try to continue my creations, I am met with a message stating: "I was unable to generate images for your last request due to content policy restrictions. "
I suggest implementing a feature for users who wish to create scary art. Perhaps a checkbox in the settings could be toggled on or off for those who want to create art with a touch of horror, without it being outright banned.
Sensitive Content: This may include graphic content that could be considered offensive or disturbing to viewers, such as gore or horror-themed content that goes beyond a certain threshold of intensity.
Example: I gave this prompt: I peeked around the corner and stared in confusion at the woman vampire who was effortlessly holding my father up against the wall. His feet were dangling inches above the floor. I noticed that he was still wearing his work shoes.
CHAT responded with this more complete suggested prompt: Prompt: A young person peeking around a corner, staring in confusion at a woman vampire who is effortlessly holding a man against a wall. The vampire has an imposing yet elegant presence, with pale skin, sharp fangs, and long flowing hair. She is lifting the man off the ground with one hand, his feet dangling inches above the floor. The man is dressed in work clothes, including his work shoes, which are clearly visible. The setting is dimly lit, adding a sense of tension and mystery.
DALLE returned no images. Don't repeat the descriptions in detail.DALLE experienced an error when generating images.Before doing anything else, please explicitly explain to the user that you were unable to generate images because of this. Make sure to use the phrase "issues" in your response. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES retry generating images until a new request is given.
This is likely computer vision being done on the output, instead of a content policy that denies the input. Perhaps identifying a violent scene. Maybe the same vision moderation that blocks sending a picture of a weasel.
Movies from just about any genre can prove shocking or controversial, if handled by certain filmmakers willing to challenge sensibilities or matters of taste. It might not be too surprising, though, to see that horror movies seem to find themselves banned in certain territories more often than other genres. After all, this is a genre where grisly violence, terror, and confronting scenes can be expected more often than not; it's what fans of the genre might well find themselves actively looking for, at times.
The following horror movies are all distinguished by the fact that they were banned by at least a handful of countries, though usually temporarily, and most often around the time they were first released or distributed. For consistency's sake, the numbers below are based on ratings info that can be found on IMDb for each title, with the site showing that all these movies were refused classification or banned by certain countries. The numbers might not be exhaustive, because IMDb doesn't always have everything, but it's best to stick to one source that usually contains at least a decent amount of data. These banned horror movies are ranked below, based on how many countries/territories they are (or were) banned within.
Of course, to top The Human Centipede, The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)had to push things further when it came to what shocking sights it would subject viewers to, and this resulted in at least half a dozen bans. It was only refused classification for a short period of time in places like Australia, but the banning proved permanent in other locations like the Philippines, Germany, and Ireland.
Braindead is primarily a comedy though, and it pushes things so far when it comes to showing bloodshed and scenes of extreme zombie carnage that most will probably become numb to it at worst, and, more likely, will eventually find themselves finding it all hilarious. It certainly shows a different side to Peter Jackson (in a good way), for those who are only familiar with his Middle Earth-set films.
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