It’s quite rare for a movie to be banned by a single country, let alone a number of them, but sometimes a director will release a piece of work so violent or disturbing that the relevant authorities need to step in.
These are movies that are not suitable for the whole family and were often banned for a number of different factors, but the main focus is almost always violence, although animal cruelty is a good way of getting banned for a long time, depending on the country. These are the films that were so over the top that they were ultimately banned either forever or for a few years.
A small disclaimer: these movies are not for the faint of heart, and anyone wanting to watch any of them should do so knowing that what they witness may disturb them.
A Clockwork Orange
This infamous dystopian crime thriller was the creation of none other than Stanley Kubrick, and it;s a movie that’s gone down in history for its themes of violence, specifically sexual violence. It centres around a group of young men living in a strange, dystopian world, and it was a movie that was given an X rating when it was released. This means that it wasn’t up for viewing in countries like the UK, who only allowed screenings in 2000, decades after it was released.
Cannibal Holocaust
Often considered one of the most violent films of all time, Cannibal Holocaust is infamous for its director being arrested on the grounds that he committed many of the atrocities found within the film. There was great effort put into making the movie seem legitimate, such as hiding the real names of the actors involved, but once the director was in court, he was forced to explain how he pulled off many of his scenes.
In fact, he had to fly in one of the actresses who was killed in the movie to prove that she wasn’t, in fact, deal in real life. The movie was outright banned across the world, and is still barred in many countries, with the UK only releasing it in 2001 after making a series of heavy edits, but it’s probably a safer bet to instead play great mobile games instead.
The Exorcist
This well-known movie of a small girl possessed by the devil was enough to cause a huge stir in the movie world. Audiences were sickened by the incredible effects, but it was its themes of Satanism and demonology that caught the attention of authorities, who banned the film in 1973. Even the original trailer wasn’t spared, with the director commenting that Warner Bros. Were concerned that viewers would not be happy watching the trailer.
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre follows a group of young adults as they’re hunted down by a masked maniac wielding a chainsaw. When it was first released in 1974, it was deemed too violent for the mainstream audience, and countries like the UK were quick to ban it before finally allowing it to be played after 1999.