10 Infamous Video Nasties
2. Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
A lot of labels have been attached to Ruggero Deodato's Cannibal Holocaust over the years but the one that sticks is "the most controversial film ever made."
The movie details the search for a missing documentary crew and what their footage reveals about their time studying an Amazonian cannibal tribe.
With a title like Cannibal Holocaust, the movie stood no chance with the notoriously strict British censors and was denied a theatrical release.
However, Cannibal Holocaust was a film so controversial that it even came to court in its native Italy. The usually lenient Italian censors threatened to prosecute Deodato on Obscenity charges, fearing all the tribal footage was real. This resulted in a court case wherein actors were called as witnesses to prove they were still alive.
Back in the UK, the cloud of controversy over the movie guaranteed its removal from the video market. Along with others on this list, it became one of the core titles often mentioned in the press. With such a reputation, the film didn't see re-submission to the BBFC until 2004 and 5 minutes and 42 seconds of cuts were ordered.
In subsequent years, Cannibal Holocaust has been embraced as a daring film ahead of its time with the found-footage aspect. Despite the controversy, it has a lot to say about human nature and how the Western world perceives different ways of life.
The movie was released with only 14 seconds cut in 2011