Banned horror movies create a disturbing allure. Some see it as a warning to never watch the film. Others see it as a challenge to see how much of the film they can take before they turn it off.
There are many banned horror movies that were prohibited upon release but later got the ban lifted. However, there are some that are so grotesque that they remain banned to this day. Here are 5 banned horror movies that should without a doubt stay banned for good.
5. I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
Many banned horror movies receive the reboot treatment years after the fact. This happened with 1978’s I Spit on Your Grave, which was re-made in 2010. This remake was not banned, but if you watch both movies back-to-back, it’s easy to see why Meir Zarchi‘s original was prohibited across the world. The story centres on Jennifer (Camille Keaton), a writer who is repeatedly assaulted, humiliated, and left for dead by four men.
The attack scene is truly disturbing to watch as it plays out for an uncomfortable amount of time. However, relief is given as the horror shifts to action as Jennifer exacts her revenge on the despicable men, systematically hunting them down one by one. Today, this film is widely available to watch. However, at the time, it was one of the most controversial films ever made, and was resultantly heavily cut or banned in many countries, including Ireland, Norway, and West Germany. It is still subject to censorship in Ireland, Malaysia, and Singapore.
4. Faces of Death (1978 and sequels)
1978 was seemingly a major year for banned horror movies. Word was out that horror would not be allowed to elevate to such extreme levels and reach wider audiences, or in some cases, any audience at all. As a result, John Alan Schwartz’s Faces of Death faced heavy banning and censorship upon its release.
This anthology horror movie has been credited as inspiration for movies like V/H/S, Trick ‘r Treat, and Bad Candy. However, its imitators were far less brutal and shocking. Faces of Death is less a series of unfolding horror stories and more a gratuitous look at death, exploring a plethora of deaths, ranging from TV material to homemade super 8 movies. The controversy came with the filmmakers touting the film as a horror movie that shows real deaths, leading to bans in over 46 countries. Even with this now being debunked, the realistic nature still causes significant controversy.
3. The Human Centipede 2 (2011)
After Saw kickstarted a new horror genre that became known as “torture porn”, The Human Centipede took things a step further, producing a truly disgusting and disturbing slice of shock cinema. But that wasn’t enough, the second movie upped the ante and was banned across many countries as a result. Lacking in story, The Human Centipede 2 feels like its only aim is to shock and awe. And it works.
Today, this movie is available to watch almost anywhere thanks to significant cuts. However, there is a “Full Sequence” edition that is still banned in certain countries. The United Kingdom is perhaps the country that took the biggest stand against this film due to its explicit content, including sexual violence and graphic gore. It was deemed by the country to be potentially harmful and in breach of the Obscene Publications Act.
2. Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
No list of banned horror movies would be complete without the 1980-released terror flick Cannibal Holocaust. Ruggero Deodato‘s sadistic film actually has much more of a flowing narrative than typical horror movies. It tells the story of an anthropologist who journeys into the Amazon rainforest on a rescue mission. Upon arriving, he recovers footage shot by a film crew documenting their disastrous encounters with local cannibal tribes.
Cannibal Holocaust is extremely difficult to watch, even for the most die-heard of horror fans. Its found footage style makes it feel so real that many believed that it actually was. In fact, Deodato was arrested by Italian authorities shortly after the film’s February 1980 premiere in Milan on charges of obscenity and suspicion of making a snuff film. Today, it is often credited as the pioneer of the found footage genre, a sub-genre of horror that would blow up with movies like The Blair Witch Project, and Paranormal Activity. Yet, at the time, the film was not praised for this – it was shunned. The film was quickly banned in over 50 countries, including Italy, the UK, and Australia. These bans were due to its extreme gore, realistic violence (including staged sexual assault scenes), and actual on-screen killing of animals, which led to legal action against the director. And it is with the latter point that this film should stay in the realm of banned horror movies – forever.
1. A Serbian Film (2010)
A Serbian Film occupies a controversial space in cinema, often categorized as horror not for traditional genre elements like suspense or supernatural themes, but purely due to the disturbing nature of its horrifically graphic content. While director Srđan Spasojević has defended the work as political allegory critiquing Serbia’s exploitation, the film has faced widespread bans across multiple countries and sparked ongoing debate within film criticism circles.
The controversy reached a critical point in May 2011 when Angel Sala, director of Spain’s Sitges Film Festival, was arrested and charged with exhibiting underage pornography after screening the film at an adults-only showing. Though the charges were later dropped, this arrest demonstrates how the film crosses boundaries that extend beyond artistic disagreement into legal territory. The question remains whether a work can be considered art when its primary impact is revulsion rather than insight, and whether certain ethical boundaries in filmmaking exist that should never be crossed regardless of claimed intent.
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