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The British Censors and Horror cinema (Antecedents (The censorship goes…
The British Censors and Horror cinema
Antecedents
HC has always focused upon fluctuating boundaries of taboo.
Relies upon transgression
It demands that the audience's sensibilities be affronted, that decency be damned, and that rules be broken.
The censorship goes back to the beginning of the century.
1920 > BBFC considers banning The Cabinet of Dr Caligari
1922 > Board bans Nosferatu
1930 > Dracula (1931) & Frankenstein (31) suffered minor modifications
In WW2 > distribution of Horror films was suppressed.
1950 > The H category is replaced by X rating (Adults only)
1979 > The Driller Killer had been passed for certification
1971 > The X certificate, age limit increased from 16 to 18
1970 > BBFC bans two milestone horror films which changed the face of the genre and which now are accepted as major works of art throught the rest of the world. La house on the left (1972) and The Virgin Spring (1960)
Early 1980's> A rise of unregulated videotapes provided an opening for such material to enter the country on a large scale for the first time.
1984 > the government allows certificates that had been issued being viewed in the home
1988 > James Ferman retires from the BBFC. Replaced by Robin Duval
Feb 2000's >
The problem
How to make acceptable a brand of film-making which, at its very best, strives to be thoroughly unacceptable?
In britain, the answer > neutralize and anaesthetize cutting-edge horror movies.
Generalities of censorship
"of course we had to see blood" > they thought they had no necessity to see blood
Contradictory nature > Horror film only acceptable if it's not horrific or not aimed at a popular audience
Conclusion
Whether the BBFC will ultimately prove itself the ally or enemy of horror in the twenty-first century only time will tell.
One thing is for sure - whatever havoc it may wreak, the future could not be any more terrifying for lovers of the genre than the hundred- year - reign of terror from which we are only now emerging.