2. Cannibal Holocaust (1979)
One of the most famous films to run into censorship bother with the BBFC, Cannibal Holocaust probably epitomises the films that have had censorship bother in this list. The tale of an Anthropology Professor who travels to the Amazon to find out what happened to a disappeared Mondo-esque documentary film crew. He ends up collecting some film reels from the natives which reveal their descent into cannibal based depravity and savagery. As THE quintessential Video Nasty in 1983, nobody dared to seek film reclassification until 2001. Remarkably, the film was passed as an '18' with nearly 5 minutes of cuts - some to defuse the sexualisation of violence, and the rest of the cuts were for animal cruelty scenes which are in contravention of the BBFC's policy. The film was then put before the Board in 2011 by Shameless Screen Entertainment. This time there were much less cuts, with the BBFC conceding that the film did not seek to glamourise appalling acts such as rape, forced abortion, murder and other violence - director Ruggero Deodato presented them as disturbing and horrific. What was still not conscionable in the film were the real life animal cruelty shots and with them removed, the film was granted another 18 certificate with a total of 21 seconds cut. The cuts alleviated most of the killing and eating of a giant turtle, a monkey having his head cut off and the killing of a Coatimundi. I have watched an uncensored version of Cannibal Holocaust, and believe me, you are not missing out in the new, censored, Shameless release. Watching the full suffering of the poor animals does in no way add to the enjoyment of the film.
