Human Centipede II given UK ban by BBFC

Quote :

The sequel to ‘The Human Centipede’ has been refused a UK cinema release.

The imaginatively titled ‘The Human Centipede II’ was rejected by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) on the basis that it is "sexually violent and potentially obscene".

This ban also means that DVDs of the film will not be allowed to be legally supplied in the UK. Although it will probably be available online in some capacity, the horror flick is destined to be shunned by regular film fans.

The original film was released, uncut, as an 18 certificate last year. The follow-up has "unacceptable material" throughout which cannot be remedied with cuts, according to the BBFC. The filmmakers have six weeks to appeal against the decision.

Other films to have been banned in the UK include ‘Freaks’, ‘The Wild One’, ‘Black Sunday’, ‘The Trip’, ‘A Clockwork Orange’, ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’, ‘Visions of Ecstasy’, ‘Mikey’ and ‘Grotesque’. Many of these films were eventually released, so perhaps we may see ‘The Human Centipede II’ at some point in the future.


Full explanation from the BBFC:

"The first film dealt with a mad doctor who sews together three kidnapped people in order to produce the ‘human centipede’ of the title. Although the concept of the film was undoubtedly tasteless and disgusting it was a relatively traditional and conventional horror film and the Board concluded that it was not in breach of our Guidelines at ‘18’. This new work, The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence), tells the story of a man who becomes sexually obsessed with a DVD recording of the first film and who imagines putting the ‘centipede’ idea into practice. Unlike the first film, the sequel presents graphic images of sexual violence, forced defecation, and mutilation, and the viewer is invited to witness events from the perspective of the protagonist. Whereas in the first film the ‘centipede’ idea is presented as a revolting medical experiment, with the focus on whether the victims will be able to escape, this sequel presents the ‘centipede’ idea as the object of the protagonist’s depraved sexual fantasy.

The principal focus of The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) is the sexual arousal of the central character at both the idea and the spectacle of the total degradation, humiliation, mutilation, torture, and murder of his naked victims. Examples of this include a scene early in the film in which he masturbates whilst he watches a DVD of the original Human Centipede film, with sandpaper wrapped around his penis, and a sequence later in the film in which he becomes aroused at the sight of the members of the ‘centipede’ being forced to defecate into one another’s mouths, culminating in sight of the man wrapping barbed wire around his penis and raping the woman at the rear of the ‘centipede’. There is little attempt to portray any of the victims in the film as anything other than objects to be brutalised, degraded and mutilated for the amusement and arousal of the central character, as well as for the pleasure of the audience. There is a strong focus throughout on the link between sexual arousal and sexual violence and a clear association between pain, perversity and sexual pleasure. It is the Board’s conclusion that the explicit presentation of the central character’s obsessive sexually violent fantasies is in breach of its Classification Guidelines and poses a real, as opposed to a fanciful, risk that harm is likely to be caused to potential viewers".

David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said: “It is the Board's carefully considered view that to issue a certificate to this work, even if confined to adults, would be inconsistent with the Board's Guidelines, would risk potential harm within the terms of the VRA, and would be unacceptable to the public.

“The Board also seeks to avoid classifying material that may be in breach of the Obscene Publications Acts 1959 and 1964 (OPA) or any other relevant legislation. The OPA prohibits the publication of works that have a tendency to deprave or corrupt a significant proportion of those likely to see them. In order to avoid classifying potentially obscene material, the Board engages in regular discussions with the relevant enforcement agencies, including the CPS, the police, and the Ministry of Justice. It is the Board’s view that there is a genuine risk that this video work, The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence), may be considered obscene within the terms of the OPA, for the reasons given above".

Damn, just reading about the "sandpaper masturbation" is a good enough reason to stop me from ever seeing this. :pale:

So the sequel is about a guy who wanks while watching the first installment?

FFS.

I think there's a line between simply making a horror film and being "provocative" and brainstorming deranged stuff like this and putting it in front of a camera just because you can.

CJB wrote:

So the sequel is about a guy who wanks while watching the first installment?

FFS.

Typical, ain't it? Hollywood finally comes up with a novel idea for a sequel, and what happens? It gets BANNED. As the masturbator would put it, that's rough. ;)

This will be on movie download forums/blogs and the BBFC cannot police those.

For the record, I don't think the movie should be banned, I just think the filmmaker is well and truly taking the piss.

Or should that be "taking the poop"?

Not sure I'd ban it either ... I might have to cause to wonder about the mental state of anyone who actually fancies seeing it, though .

I'm usually against censorship, but that sounds absolutely grim.

So that's where Ambler went.

Censorship.

Mae West wrote:

How do you feel about censorship?
I believe in censorship! If a picture of mine didn't get an X rating, I'd be insulted. Don't forget, dear - I invented censorship. Imagine censors that wouldn't let you sit in a man's lap. I've been in more laps than a napkin! They'd get all bothered by a line like "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?"

You might say I created the Hays Office. I'm a kind of godmother to the Motion Picture Code. Now they use nudity and talking dirty to take the place of a good story. I didn't have to take off my clothes. Men imagined what was under them.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2007/sep/21/greatinterviews

SALO II: Electric Boogaloo

I just vomitted.

So gross ....

I thought Cannibal Holocaust sounded vile but this is right up there with it.

My question is ...

WHO THE FUCK THINKS UP THIS SHIT?

But actually .... its just ... wrong.

Those sequences of events aren't even gruesome. They're actually so absurd that it sounds hilarious and I kind of want to see it.

While, as stated above, I sort of agree with the banning of this filth, I do find it strange that the BBFC have taken this action while giving Gregg Araki's Kaboom a pretty soft 15 certificate, despite the fact that it contains plenty of gleefully promiscuous sexual activity, foul language, and drug abuse, as well as a woman getting stabbed in the head and a man trying to suck his own dick.