Hardcore Exploitation?

[Someone Weird]

Almar, with the BBFC passing 'Caligula' uncut, does this give you folk at Shameless any food for thought? And perhaps the chance to try and push the envelope a bit more with the BBFC?

Obviously something like 'Caligula' is very well known, but the fact remains it is a hugely controversial movie passed uncut 18 with xxx scenes including ejaculations.

Say for arguements sake that if you wanted to release something like 'Play Motel' in the future, would you therefore approach them with the xxx edit or the soft...or both? Bearing in mind the xxx are brief inserts and contain no spunk shots. Are there any titles you would like to release that contain hardcore or alternate hardcore cuts, which like 'Caligula', could be looked upon more leniently by the censors as, whilst containing hardcore, they are not your typical R18 product. Just a thought.

[Almar@Cult Labs]

I was told a couple of weeks back that Caligula might get through uncut but I have to say I took that with a pinch of salt. It's incredible really that Venus in Furs gets cut but not Caligula so you know what? I don't know!

We'll push the films that we think deserve to be seen that might have excessive violence/sex as part of the mix that makes them a worthwhile film. We're not interested in just trying to pick up any old nasty stuff for the sake of it but from Night Train Murders to Caligula it's interesting times.

[vincenzo]

Strangely enough it's more likely these days that Venus In Furs would receive cuts than Caligula (I never dreamed I'd ever say that). Simply because the BBFC mainly target 2 specific areas in films - stylized sexual violence (especially forced/pleasure rapes or torture/degredation scenes involving bound naked women) & animal cruelty. Caligula doesn't contain either. However I'm still pretty astonished that some of the scenes have got through intact for an 18. Especially the bordello orgy.

I can't see I Spit On Your Grave flying though the BBFC with beaming smiles though - and Death Wish II certainly won't either.

[Angel]

Yes it didn't surprise me that Venus in Furs was cut again. Sanctimony was cut for the same reason in 2001.

I agree I Spit on Your Grave & Death Wish 2 would not pass uncut today.

[vipco]

I thought Death Wish 1 was the film the censors had problems with.

[mark meakin]

Originally Posted by vipco

I thought Death Wish 1 was the film the censors had problems with.

Compared to the sequel it's a model of restraint.Winner went too far in Death Wish 2.

[vincenzo]

Death Wish originally got through uncut (just) for cinema and was only cut for the first DVD release (29 secs from the rape scene). Now restored in the Paramount release.

The 2nd one had MAJOR problems with the rape/assault scene and is still heavily cut over here now (over 3 mins). I agree with Mark. It's an appalling OTT sequence and I can't see this passing uncut for quite some time.

[mark meakin]

Instead of being seen as the unpleasant act it's depicted as in better films,the scene in DW2 is seeming designed to titillate rather than shock.

[vincenzo]

Yes I agree. The rape in the original Death Wish is pretty brutal stuff but fairly quick and not exploitative. The rape in the sequel plays almost like a softcore scene in parts and goes on forever (and pointlessly).

I always found the entire rape/murder of Barbara Leigh Hunt in Hitchcock's Frenzy to be one of the coldest ever filmed.

[Angel]

Death Wish 1 was also passed uncut in the US with an R.

Death Wish 2 was cut in most countries in the world when it was released in 1982. I'd like to know which countries passed it uncut at the time? As censorship was very different back then ie countries that are very liberal today were less liberal back then. Surprisingly it has been passed uncut in Australia now though originally they cut the film similar to over here.