10 Video Nasties That Shouldn’t Have Been Banned

Possession is arguably the most prestigious of all 72 banned movies. The film wasn’t made by an unknown independent horror film-maker, or an Italian film-maker who knows that gore sells a movie. It was made by Polish director and European Arthouse auteur Andrzej Zulawski, and it starred famous actors Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani. It became the most popular of Zulawski’s movies, and majority of its popularity came from the movie’s censorship and banning under the Video Recordings Act.

Possession is a film about the slow destruction of a marriage. It’s highly metaphorical in nature and, through the use of horror, it shows the painful breakdowns that people experience during such turbulent times. However, because of its horror elements, it was paraded as a body horror film akin to a Cronenberg movie, instead of the arthouse drama movie it actually was. Because of this reputation, and not its content, Possession was banned outright until 1999 after it was released uncut for cinematic release.

In reality, Possession couldn’t be further from a Cronenberg body-horror flick; it was much more slow, atmospheric and subtly horrific than something like Shivers, The Brood, Scanners or Rabid – which weren’t banned in comparison. Luckily, Possession’s banning gave it a whole new audience instead of just being forgotten like Zulawski’s other movies. So even though it shouldn’t have been banned, it’s one of the few films where being banned ultimately helped it flourish.