1.A Clockwork Orange (UK, 1971)
Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of the novel by Anthony Burgess featured three long drawn out rape scenes and among scenes of graphic violence. Kubrick responded to the intense media pressure on the feature - and death threats to his family - by imposing a ban on the film, which lasted until his death.
2.
Last House on the Left (1972)
Convicts kidnap two teenage friends who are forced to perform sexual acts on each other, are raped, disembowelled and finally strangled. On shooting the rape scene actress Sandra Peabody was so traumatised that she reportedly left the set.
3.
Last Tango In Paris (1972)
Director Bernardo Bertolucci was served with a four month suspended sentence in prison for the film, best known for the sadomasochistic ‘butter scene’ in which Marlon Brando prepares his accepting victim for anal rape. It was heavily edited for British release, banned in various countries including Italy, Portugal, and Chile for thirty years.
A court in Bologna that banned the film summed up the reasons: "Obscene content offensive to public decency... presented with obsessive self-indulgence, catering to the lowest instincts of the libido, dominated by the idea of stirring unchecked appetites for sexual pleasure, permeated by scurrilous language... accompanied off screen by sounds, sighs and shrieks of climax pleasure."
4.
The Exorcist (USA, 1973)
A young girl is possessed by demons in this horror was branded “religious porn” and “the scariest film ever made” by critics. Controversy over the story line intensified into accusations that the editors used subliminal imagery to tap into the unconscious mind.
After the implementation of the Video Recording Act 1984 the film was refused a release and no video copies were to be sold in the UK.
5.
Salo /The 120 days of Sodom (Italy, 1975)
A small group of children are kidnapped in Fascist Italy and used as tools for Nazi’s pleasure including anal rape, suicide, tongue extraction, scalping, eye gouging, genital mutilation, incest, murder, and coprophagia.
The film was banned in Australia until 1993, and then re-banned again in 1998. Filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini had little time to respond to the film’s controversy because he was brutally murdered soon after its release.
6.
I spit on your grave/ Day of the Woman (US, 1978)
The film depicts the graphic rape of an unfortunate swimmer, who resolves to take revenge on her victims. This leads to her hanging, castrating, axing and disembowelling the assailants who perpetrated the original crime.
The film was censored before its US release and banned entirely in many European countries, including Ireland and West Germany. Critic Roger Ebert described it as “a vile bag of garbage”.
7.
Life of Brian (Britian, 1979)
The parallels between the life of the eponymous hero Brian and the life of Christ, which are made explicit throughout the film, culminate in its notorious conclusion in which a crucified Brian whistles along to his fellow sufferers singing ‘Always Look On The Bright Side of Life’. The church and religious groups accused the film of blasphemy and attempted to get it banned.
While it did get a national release, several British town councils banned the film locally and some bans continue to this day. In 2009 the Welsh town of Aberystwyth lifted their thirty year ban after Sue Jones-Davies, who played Judith Iscariot in the film, became mayor.
8.
Kids (US, 1995)
The 17 year old anti-hero of Kids, Telly, knowingly infects girls from his teenage peer group with HIV by insisting on having unprotected sex with them. Drug taking and acts of random violence perpetrated by the young cast shocked critics and the public.
The film’s depiction of underage sex and drug use led some to label it exploitative and question Clark’s motives for his frank account of children’s sexuality.
9.
Baise-moi (France, 2000)
A chance meeting two women, Nadine and Manu, who have both experienced violence, leads to them embarking on a road trip which revolves around sex and murder and results in them achieving national notoriety. Eventually Manu is recognised in a shop and shot by its owner, while Nadine is arrested by the police before she can carry out an attempt to kill herself.
With the lead roles taken by two former porn actresses, the film was criticised in France where outrage followed a decision to give it a 16 certificate. In Britain, the film was released with an 18 certificate after ten seconds of cuts. The Poster was banned by London Underground because of its potential to cause offence to French speakers.
10.
Antichrist (Denmark, 2009)
Antichrist depicts the anguished reaction of a couple to the death of their son, who falls from a window while they are having sex. They go to stay in a cabin in the woods, named Eden, in an attempt to escape their grief but their efforts to recuperate end in disaster. The wife attacks her therapist husband with a block of wood before drilling a hole in his leg. She commits an act of genital self mutilation with a pair of scissors and is finally strangled by her husband who sets fire to her body.
At least four people fainted during the film’s preview screening at Cannes and the director faced an angry crowd at the official press conference. The British media have labelled the film ‘torture porn’ and questioned whether it should have been granted an 18 classification without cuts.
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