Censors Reject 'Sadistic' Japanese Horror Flick

A Japanese horror film has been refused a certificate by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) because it contains graphic torture scenes, including amputation and eye-gouging.

The BBFC said that Grotesque, which had been seeking an 18 certificate, featured "sexual sadism for its own sake" and that it had "minimal narrative or character development" compared to other torture-themed horror films such as the Saw and Hostel movies series.

BBFC Director David Cooke took the decision along with senior colleagues. He said that Grotesque "presents the audience with little more than an unrelenting and escalating scenario of humiliation, brutality and sadism".

The plot of Grotesque involves the main character abducting two victims, keeping them prisoner and restraining, stripping and sexually assaulting them before inflicting horrific injuries upon them until they die.

The BBFC's decision means that selling or supplying the film will now be illegal.

Around 10,000 films are rated by the BBFC for DVD release every year. The organisation rarely refuses to pass films. Only three titles have been denied an 18 certificate within the last four years.

These include the 2004 film Murder Set Pieces, which was rejected last year, and Terrorists, Killers And Other Wackos, which was made up of real-life clips of execution and torture, which was rejected in 2005.

Recently, the BBFC controversially passed the horror film Antichrist, by Danish director Lars Von Trier, without any cuts, despite the film containing graphic scenes of sex, violence and genital mutilation.

It is being currently shown in Belfast's Queen's Film Theatre, running from the 14th to the 27th August.

Already described as "the most shocking film in the history of the Cannes Film Festival", Antichrist is being released in the UK on a wave of simultaneous critical acclaim and derision.

(KMcA/BMcC)