Horror movie banned in several countries was so disturbing festival director was arrested for airing it

Horror movies are like marmite, you either love them or you hate them.

You may be a fan of horror, and a good film in the genre should do exactly that: horrify you.

But believe it or not, some films can make the mistake of going that bit too far.

It's up to you on where you draw the line, as separate countries will have their own rules and censorships, as some movies can be cut down or even banned.

Unearthed Films

For example, this 2010 exploitation horror film once led to a film festival director getting arrested for screening it.

Named A Serbian Film, it has built a reputation for being one of the most extreme, disturbing, and disgusting horror films in the world.

The film follows a semi-retired porn star who agrees to take part in an 'art film' before leaving the business once and for all.

However, he quickly discovers that he has been hired to make a snuff film with themes of paedophilia and necrophilia.

One particularly disturbing scene involves sex with corpses, and another includes the rape of a new-born child.

Horrific reading, even worse viewing - you can view the trailer here:

With such intense graphic violence and sexual content, A Serbian Film has been banned in many countries such as Australia, Malaysia and Norway.

Directed and produced by Srđan Spasojević, it was first shown in the US in March 2010 as part of the South by Southwest festival.

But when it was due to be shown in the UK in the August, there was intervention from Westminster Council – they wanted it to be classified by the BBFC first before it was shown at the Film Four FrightFest.

A whopping 49 compulsory cuts, totalling in at almost four minutes, were ordered. A Serbian Film ended up being pulled from the festival instead.

The film ran into bigger trouble when it was shown at an adults-only screening at the Spanish Sitges Film Festival in October 2010.

The movie was banned in the country for ‘threatening sexual freedom’.

Unearthed Films

So when the film festival showed it, festival director Angel Sala was charged with exhibiting child pornography in May 2011 after complaints from a Roman Catholic organisation.

The charges were later dropped.

Talking to IndieWire about these charges, Spasojević said: “On the one side, it’s very funny that someone can still find movies and editing so mysterious, like some kind of devil’s work.

"Of course, on the other hand, it’s very sad. It proves my film was right. One of the things the film’s saying is that we’re not living in the free world. The way the film was made also represents our resistance to political correctness, to fascism.

"These kind of reactions are fun, interesting, stupid and very, very sad. It’s evidence that we’re not free people.”

A Serbian Film has just a 45 percent critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes with an audience score of 43 percent.

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