10 Horror Movies That Got Banned From Certain Countries

10. Thriller: A Cruel Picture - Sweden

This Swedish film from 1973 certainly doesn't hide the fact that it gets nasty; it's right there in the title.

Thriller: A Cruel Picture was directed by Bo Arne Vibenius and stars Christina Lindberg as a young girl named Madeline who is forced into prostitution by an older man.

As you can imagine, things only get worse for Madeline, as she forced into a world of sleazy clients, drugs, and violence. Her pimp Tony even cuts out her eye. So far, so grim.

Madeline then decides enough is enough and decides to exact revenge on those who have wronged her. This isn't particularly pleasant either, as it leads to a whole bunch of shooting and one guy getting strangled by a horse. At least that's pretty inventive.

Despite getting an American release (albeit under a different name and with heavy edits), Thriller: A Cruel Picture was initially banned in its own home country. The Swedish censorship board finally relented and released the movie, but only after its runtime was cut down from 107 minutes to 82.

Films about sexual abuse have obviously always struggled to clear the censors, even as far back as the mid-1970s.