Yesterday, the BBFC announced that it would be banning Tom Six's Human Centipede (First Sequence) sequel Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) .
We asked our cult horror expert Sam Ashurst to drop writer/ director Tom Six a line to get a reaction to the ban.
Here's Tom's statement:
“Thank you BBFC for putting spoilers of my movie on your website and thank you for banning my film in this exceptional way. Apparently I made an horrific horror film, but shouldn't a good horror film be horrific?
My dear people it is a fucking MOVIE. It is all fictional. Not real. It is all make-belief. It is art. Give people their own choice to watch it or not.
If people can't handle or don't like my movies they just don't watch them. If people like my movies they have to be able to see it any time, anywhere, also in the UK.”
We're not big fans of censorship here at Total Film - we believe that people should be able to make up their own minds about what they see.
We certainly don't think that the BBFC should be passing critical judgements about films they've previously passed. Labelling Tom's first Centipede film as 'tasteless and disgusting' while banning the follow-up seemed to be an unnecessary kick in the teeth.
It also seems odd that they're taking it so seriously. The first film was fairly tongue-in-cheek (if you'll pardon the expression) and there's no reason to believe the follow-up would be any different.
Whatever the reasoning behind the slightly strange statement, one thing’s for sure – the BBFC have sent a strong message to filmmakers.
We’ll have to wait and see what the ramifications will be for the horror industry, and the film industry in general.
