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Linda Blair was 12 years old when she was cast as ‘Regan’, a girl possessed by a demonic spirit.
What happens when a movie is too scary? The latest threat is that he could be banned.
While horror movies can be fun and exciting, they can also go to a higher and more disturbing level and this can lead to them being banned for offensive content.
Here are six horror movies that were so shocking that theaters couldn’t show them.
This article contains explicit language.
1. “The Exorcist”
It’s a film that always makes the “must see horror movie list” and made headlines around the world upon its 1973 release.
The horrifying depiction of a girl’s demonic possession and subsequent exorcism has fascinated people around the world.
In the US, audiences faced long lines in the snow to get into the movie.
The press reported that people fainted, vomited and had to be helped out of the screenings.
The film was rated “R” (Restricted) without review by the Motion Picture Academy of America. The rating allowed viewing of the film by minors accompanied by an adult.
Other countries were less lenient.
It was initially banned in Singapore for violating rules that prevent “films that denigrate any religious group” and “language that denigrates religion or is religiously profane”. Later broadcasts with cuts were allowed.
It was also banned in Malaysia.
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People braved the cold and waited in lines outside theaters for hours to see The Exorcist.
The British film regulator, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), has for years been stricter than many of its counterparts in other countries. It awarded “The Exorcist” an “X” certificate, which allowed people over the age of 18 to see the film uncut or altered.
However, he reclassified “The Exorcist” in 1984, and the controversial horror classic was pulled from store shelves four years later. The film remained banned for another 11 years, although it was still occasionally shown in cinemas.
In 1999, the BBFC lifted the ban, deciding that the film, “while still a powerful and compelling work, no longer has the same impact as it did 25 years ago.”
Despite the controversy, “The Exorcist” became the first horror film to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.
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Cannibals Holocaust director Ruggero Deodato has been charged with murder in Italy after being suspected of murdering his actors.
2. “Cannibal Holocaust”
For movie buffs, this 1979 Italian horror thriller was one of the most notorious films of the 1980s in the genre.
Contains real animal slaughter and extreme violence.
At the center of the plot is a rescue team that locates the film crew in the Amazon jungle.
Director Ruggero Deodato has been accused in Italy of murdering his actors after they disappeared from public view. He took one of them to court to refute it.
He was punished for animal cruelty, and the film was banned in Italy for three years.
The film was censored for several years in 40 other countries, including Australia, Norway, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The United States, known for being more lenient with controversial films than other countries, banned it five years after its release in 1980. But it was pulled from theaters again after a week at the suggestion of 1985. It was not released officially in the US until 2005.
In 2001, it was released in the UK after almost six minutes of footage had been cut. However, in 2011 the BBFC withdrew almost all previous editions.
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Horror movies can be exciting, but censors worry that they depict violence in sadistic and unhealthy ways.
3. “Grotesque”
This Japanese film, part of the exploitation horror genre, was released in 2009 and depicts the brutal torture of a young couple by a sadistic doctor.
The distributors were hoping to get an 18+ certificate for the film because it contains scenes of extreme torture.
The UK regulatory system banned it due to its high level of sexual violence, highlighting the lack of context or character development behind it.
He said the film offered audiences “little more than a merciless, escalating scenario of humiliation, brutality and sadism” and refused to award it a certificate.
He also said that giving the category would pose a “risk of harm” to those who watch it. It remains banned in the UK, Malaysia and the Philippines.
The film was initially somewhat less controversial in its home country, but after the UK ban some retailers removed the DVDs from their websites and it was released unrated.
He received the 18+ certificate in Finland, France and Italy. It is also available to watch in Sweden and the Netherlands, as well as in the United States.
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Tom Six, director of The Human Centipede 2, called his film “the sickest of all time.”
4. “Human Centipede 2”
You may have guessed the plot of this film from the title.
The first part of this franchise was released in 2009, a Dutch “body horror” film about a German surgeon who kidnaps three tourists and performs a disturbing surgical experiment on them.
The sequel follows a man who becomes so obsessed with the 2009 original that he tries to replicate the plot, but takes it much further.
The film’s writer-director Tom Six boasts that his sequel is “the sickest movie of all time.”
The film received significant attention for its graphic depiction of violence and body horror and faced heavy censorship around the world, where it was sometimes edited to remove objectionable content.
The Australian Classification Review Board did not give it a rating, but after seeing a modified version they rated it suitable for over 18s.
The BBFC refused to rate the sequel in June 2011. But after its distributor agreed to 32 cuts, the board gave it an “18” rating for the DVD release.
In 2012, the DVD version was classified as “unacceptable” by the New Zealand Office of Film and Literature Classification.
It is still banned in Ireland and the Philippines.
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The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was the first in a series of films with similar titles.
5. “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”
Banned for many years due to its depiction of violence, this 1974 film was one of the first to be labeled “video nasty”, a term used for tapes containing scenes deemed offensively violent or pornographic.
It is based on the story of mass murderer Ed Gein, who used the body parts of his victims as decorations for his home.
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The film was denied certification for years due to its depiction of violence and was one of the first to be called “video nasty”.
The Australian Classification Board refused to classify this film for some time.
It was banned for a time in other countries, including Brazil, Chile, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand and parts of Germany.
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A short vacation in an isolated cabin turns into a horrible nightmare for Ash and his friends when something in the basement.
6. “The Devil Wakes Up”
Released in 1981, this American supernatural horror film built a reputation as a popular cult film.
The plot revolves around five students who spend their vacation in a secluded cabin in a remote forest area.
Finding the audio tape, they unknowingly release the demonic spirits that start killing the students.
The release of the film caused a lot of controversy because it contained a large amount of blood.
It was banned for a time in Iceland, Malaysia, Singapore, United Kingdom, Ireland and Chile.
Most countries released heavily cut versions.
The film became a franchise with two sequels written by original director Sam Raimi and a fourth film in 2013.
It also has its own comic and video game version.
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