BBFC Problem Films

[vincenzo]

Yes the BBFC rejected Maitresse for its first cinema release years back but never cut the horse scene when it was resubmitted (and cut) a few years later. As with the equally vile & irrelevant pig slaughter in Salon Kitty they must have labelled it a quick kill (which it actually isn't).

[Angel]

Yes the BBFC don't normally cut slaughterhouse footage even if it was carried out for the film. Time of the Wolf being another example.

[Gojirosan]

Originally Posted by vincenzo

vile & irrelevant pig slaughter in Salon Kitty

Yeah, what is with that! I wouldn't mind if there was a point, you can't even tenuously suggest that it's trying to create a mood in keeping with the story, it's just kind of shoehorned in. Ridiculous. A great film otherwise too, IMO.

[vincenzo]

Originally Posted by Angel

Time of the Wolf being another example.

The Cannibal Man as well. Another film I enjoyed which could do with an uncut UK release.

[Christian]

Ferman's retirement came at the right time as DVDs became popular so all those video nasties and obscure movies could finally be re-discovered by a new generation. And I'm sure the reason A Clockwork Orange was finally released was not because Ferman retired but because Stanley Kubrick had died, as he was the one who removed it from distribution in the UK

[Angel]

If Ferman hadn't retired though I doubt he would have passed Clockwork Orange uncut, at least not for home viewing anyway.

[vincenzo]

I doubt it either. In the Censored book Ferman said he would 'cut deeply' into the rape scenes if the film was ever submitted to him. Thankfully he'd left the building by the time it was.

[Christian]

Funny to think how different censorship is in this country in just one decade. In the documentary in the Box of the Banned 2 set, some former employees of BBFC stated that Ferman thought of himself as a filmmaker and him slicing up movies was his way of creating his own.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Ferman's retirement and the glut of releases in 1998 was the reason I got into horror as I had money in my pocket, time to spare and found all these interesting looking DVDs in the shops that I'd heard so much about but had never seen. With things like The Exorcist and TCSM at the cinema and The Evil Dead and A Clockwork Orange released on DVD, there was a massive variety of fascinating films to buy and my obsession has only grown!

[Christian]

Unfortunately many of these films (such as The Driller Killer) failed to live up to their legacy. Some I wish I hadn't seen as their reputation was far more interesting.