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Originally Posted by Vampix  I agree, some cuts are completely pointless. Like the 2 second cut to Cannibal Apocalypse to eliminate the sight of some burning rats, while the censors leave in the scene of a chicken being slaughtered in the U rated, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  |
Just dropping out of lurk mode to field that one.
It's something to do with the cruelty to animals act, or whatever its called. The BBFC cannot legally pass material which is liable to fall foul of UK law.
According to the BBFC, animal deaths in films are fine so long as its quick and "humane". The rats in Cannibal Apocalypse would have suffered greatly from being splattered with napalm, whereas the chicken death was (presumably) quick and painless. Hence why it stays in whilst tha rats get cut.
There was a similar contradiction in "Faces of Death", the monkey brain eating scene had a relatively innocuous scene, showing the monkey being strapped up, was cut whilst the actual death and subsequent brain eating was left intact. Because the monkey was liable to have been "in distress" when it was being strapped up, the BBFC were forced to cut it. Whereas the "death" scene was faked using a dummy head, so was left in the film.
The world of the censor is indeed a strange one!