UK film board rejects Japanese horror 'Grotesque'

August 19, 2009

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has refused to issue a certificate for Grotesque. The move makes it illegal to sell the Japanese horror film in the United Kingdom.

BBFC director David Cooke described the piece as containing "unacceptable content" and being "little more than an unrelenting and escalating scenario of humiliation, brutality and sadism". He said that cuts were "not a viable option".

The movie includes scenes of castration, disembowelment and amputation. The BBFC has only rejected a handful of other films in the last four years out of the 10,000 it reviews for DVD release every year. These include the sexually violent Murder-Set-Pieces and Terrorists, Killers And Other Wackos, a film showing graphic clips of real-life torture and killing.

Cooke said Grotesque ' s "chief pleasure... seems to be in the spectacle of sadism (including sexual sadism) for its own sake." The BBFC's only other recent rejections have been two pornographic films seeking the R18 rating. Grotesque's creators had hoped the film would receive an 18 rating, which is below R18.

Cooke also said that the film was different from other violent horrors due to its "minimal narrative or character development."