10 Horror Movies That Got Banned From Certain Countries
Horror movies are meant to be scary, but these ones were seen to have crossed the line.
Every country has some sort of censorship protocol surrounding cinema. Depending on the laws, restrictions, or cultural sensitivities of the land, certain films will be allowed to be shown, altered slighted, or banned outright.
Horror is usually the genre that suffers from prohibition most often, for obvious reasons. It's hard to picture certain conservative nations being comfortable with the screening of films where people's heads explode on a regular basis.
As a result, some of the most famous horror movies of all time have been deemed improper, denying certain film fans the chance to revel in their glory.
This list is all about the movies that were told no by at least one country. Some of them are now available there, but only after many years of waiting or a little trip to the editing suite.
Not all the films on this list were banned for obvious reasons, as censorship can be a very sensitive subject depending on where you are. For the most part though, it was the excessive violence, gore, and references to the occult that got these very well-known flicks put on the naughty list.
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.