Horror has always tested the limits of what audiences can
endure, but some films have gone so far they sparked bans, protests, seizures
by censors, and decades‑long debates. This list looks at 20 of the most
controversial horror movies ever made, focusing on the scenes, themes, and
real‑world reactions that turned them into legends of infamy. Use it as a ready‑to‑record
script for Cinema Awards Archive—perfect for deep‑dive videos on
censorship, “video nasties,” and boundary‑pushing horror history.
1. The Devils (1971)
"The Devils" is based partly on the true story of
a 17th‑century priest named Urbain Grandier accused of witchcraft after a group
of nuns claimed to be possessed by evil spirits. Director and producer Ken
Russell's take on this historical account includes graphic violence, sexually
explicit scenes, and controversial religious depictions, which led to it being
banned in numerous markets.
In the U.S., it was given an X rating only after being
heavily cut, including one particularly controversial scene in which nuns have
sex with a life‑size statue of Jesus Christ.
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2. The Last House on the Left (1972)
The late director Wes Craven is the king of slasher movies,
creating the "Nightmare on Elm Street" franchise and directing the
first four installments of the "Scream" series. But it was his
directorial debut, "The Last House on the Left," that arguably
ruffled the most feathers.
The controversial film follows two 17‑year‑old girls who are
lured to the apartment of a group of escaped prisoners, where they're raped and
tortured. The story, which Craven and company claimed was true, pushed the
boundaries of how realistic sexual violence and other forms of physical
violence could be depicted on screen. "The Last House on the Left"
was banned in multiple countries, including the U.K. and Australia. In the
U.S., the film's tagline ("Can a movie go too far?") brought it added
notoriety. Today, of course, it's considered a horror classic.
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3. The Exorcist (1973)
Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) is a normal adolescent
girl—until she becomes possessed by the demonic entity Pazuzu, who turns Regan
from a sweet, happy child into a vomit‑spewing, tongue‑speaking servant of
hell. In William Friedkin's masterpiece of horror, it's up to Fathers Damien
Karras (Jason Miller) and Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow) to exorcise Regan of
this evil force before it tears her and her mother (Ellen Burstyn) apart.
"The Exorcist" sparked a torrent of notoriety and
controversy: at screenings, with ratings boards, and among religious groups. It
was banned in parts of the U.K. until 1998, and the trailer alone was banned in
America after its strobe effects resulted in seizures and vomiting from test
audiences.
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4. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
It may be hard to believe that the original "The Texas
Chain Saw Massacre" and its villain, Leatherface, almost didn't see the
light of day, considering how deeply cemented in horror movie history they are
today. The movie, which was marketed as being based on true events like
"The Last House on the Left," felt all the more realistic thanks to
its largely unknown cast of young people who are attacked in an abandoned house
they're seeking refuge in.
Director and producer Tobe Hooper struggled to find a
distributor for "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" and wanted his film to
be seen as widely as possible, so he limited the quantity of fake blood on
screen in the hopes of securing a PG rating from the MPAA. Unfortunately for
him, the violence and terror depicted (bloody or not) yielded an R‑rating and
the movie faced more extreme reactions abroad, getting banned in countries like
Australia and the U.K. James Ferman, the secretary of the BBFC in 1975, described
the movie as "the pornography of terror."
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5. Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
Based loosely on the 18th‑century novel by the Marquis de
Sade, Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini's final film depicts a group of
depraved fascists who kidnap nine young boys and girls and subject them to 120
days of mental, physical, and emotional torture.
A controversial work by a controversial artist,
"Salò" is considered by some film scholars to be a classic and an
essential work. However, it was banned in several countries due to its perverse
and extreme content, especially because the plot centers on minors.
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6. Faces of Death (1978)
With its unique combination of staged scenes and historical
footage, "Faces of Death" presents audiences with many macabre
deaths, all narrated by a fictional pathologist named Francis B. Gröss (Michael
Carr).
Some of the movie's most infamous sequences were acted, but
because of the real footage used (including scenes from slaughterhouses and
concentration camps), "Faces of Death" was banned in many countries,
like Australia, New Zealand, Germany, and the U.K., where it was deemed a
"video nasty." There are (somewhat dubious) claims that it was barred
in 46 countries.
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7. I Spit on Your Grave (1978)
In Meir Zarchi's controversial 1978 flick "I Spit on
Your Grave," a young woman is brutally assaulted and left for dead by a
group of men, leading her to go on a warpath to get revenge. Due to its graphic
depictions of sexual violence, the film was met with significant controversy in
the United States over its rating. The Motion Picture Association of America
had awarded an edited version of the "I Spit on Your Grave" an R
rating, but the organization eventually sued the producer in 1984, claiming
they added in more scenes of sexual violence after the rating was handed
down—scenes that would have given the film an X rating.
Critic Roger Ebert also became a loud and outspoken
detractor of the movie, calling it "a vile bag of garbage" and saying
watching it was "one of the most depressing experiences of [his]
life." "I Spit on Your Grave" was also dubbed a "video
nasty" in the U.K. and banned or censored in other countries. A 2010
remake and its two sequels were met with similar ire.
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8. Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
"Cannibal Holocaust" is one of the most notorious
films of all time. The Italian horror movie follows an anthropologist on a
rescue mission in the Amazon when he finds the lost footage from a documentary
crew who had mysteriously disappeared. The crew intended to document the
region's Indigenous cannibal tribes, and the footage disturbingly reveals just
what happened to them.
When it premiered in 1980, "Cannibal Holocaust"
was so controversial that, 10 days after it first screened in Milan, director
Ruggero Deodato was charged with obscenity, and the film was seized. Later,
Deodato was even charged with murder over rumors that actors were filmed being
killed, though the charges were dropped when that proved to be false.
"Cannibal Holocaust" was also banned in several countries over its
gruesome depictions of violence, including real animal killings. Decades later,
the movie is considered to be the pioneer of the found‑footage horror genre,
paving the way for movies like "The Blair Witch Project" and the
"Paranormal Activity" franchise.
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9. Possession (1981)
In "Possession," married couple Mark (Sam Neill)
and Anna (Isabelle Adjani) are thrown into increasing emotional disarray after
Mark finds out that Anna has been cheating on him. But things become strange
and surreal as Mark's emotional torment threatens to overtake him, and Anna
hides a bigger and much darker secret than the affair.
Despite a warm reception at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival,
"Possession" was lumped in with the colloquially termed "video
nasties" in the U.K. in the early '80s due to what was considered its
extreme, disturbing nature at the time. That's when the director of public
prosecutions created a list of 72 films believed to contain extreme sexual
violence and gore, which set them up to be prosecuted under the Obscene
Publications Act. "Possession" was initially banned in the United
States as well—eventually, in 1983, it was released with a version cut 40
minutes shorter than the original.
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10. The Evil Dead (1981)
A group of young friends sojourns to a cabin in the woods,
only to stumble upon a flesh‑bound book known as the Necronomicon. The contents
of the book unleash a torrent of evil body‑possessing spirits called Deadites
upon the group. Ultimately, it's up to one of them, Ash Williams (Bruce
Campbell), to fight the Deadites or become one.
The first film in director Sam Raimi's popular "Evil
Dead" franchise was met with controversy due to the gruesomeness and
sexual violence it depicted. The British Board of Film Classification asked
Raimi to tone down the most excessively violent and gory scenes, which led to
49 seconds being cut from the original version. Still, it was given the most
restrictive ratings in the U.K. and U.S. and, like "Possession,"
declared a "video nasty." It took until 2001 for an uncut version of
"The Evil Dead" to finally reach U.K. audiences. At the time of its
release, the movie was outright banned in countries like Finland, Ukraine, and
Singapore.
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11. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986)
Released from his stint in prison for murdering his own
mother, serial killer Henry (Michael Rooker) has a day job as an exterminator
and moonlights indiscriminately murdering random people. The gritty violence
and realism of "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer," loosely based on
real‑life serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole, caused censorship
challenges upon its release, though director John McNaughton refused to make
cuts to get it an R rating.
He refused to brand the movie with the X‑rating the MPAA
gave it; ultimately, it was released as "unrated" and ended up
contributing to the MPAA's revised NC‑17 rating.
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12. Nekromantik (1988)
Robert Schmadtke (Bernd Daktari Lorenz) is a street cleaner
who specializes in gruesome accidents in this uniquely twisted horror movie. He
brings a decaying corpse home for the sexual gratification of himself and his
wife, Betty (Beatrice Manowski)—however, much to his dismay, she soon prefers
the corpse over him.
This West German exploitation horror film has garnered a
cult following in the decades since its release, but its depiction of a subject
as taboo as necrophilia caused it to be banned in several countries, including
Iceland, Malaysia, Finland, and parts of Canada. It finally received a release
in the U.K. in 2014, 26 years after it was initially banned.
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13. Dead Alive (1992)
Before Peter Jackson directed the "Lord of the
Rings" trilogy, he helmed one of the most appalling splatter flicks of all
time. "Dead Alive," known as "Braindead" in its native New
Zealand, follows a hapless young man named Lionel (Timothy Balme) whose
overbearing mother is bitten by a deadly Sumatran rat‑monkey, leading to a
string of undead murders and mayhem.
While the BBFC ultimately gave the film an 18‑and‑older
rating, the board originally considered the gore lighthearted enough to warrant
a less restrictive rating. However, other countries found the content worthy of
heavy censoring (like in the United States, where it ultimately received an R
rating) or altogether banning (as was the case in Finland, Singapore, and South
Korea).
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14. Irréversible (2002)
Set in reverse‑chronological order, Gaspar Noé's
"Irréversible" follows a sexual assault survivor, her boyfriend, and
her former lover, all of whom set out to take revenge on the random attacker
who assailed her one brutal night in Paris. Ever the provocateur, Noé's film
was deemed by Roger Ebert to be "a movie so violent and cruel that most
people will find it unwatchable."
Generally, "Irréversible" received mixed reviews,
which tended to praise the direction and performances while criticizing the
film's brutal depictions of violence. Like "Inside," it's also
associated with the New French Extremity movement.
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15. Inside (2007)
In this French horror film, a pregnant woman finds herself
tormented by an intruder while home alone at night, and she must find a way to
fight for both her survival and that of her unborn child. Considered to be part
of the New French Extremity movement—a series of transgressive and
controversial movies released towards the beginning of the 21st
century—"Inside" received mostly positive reviews and was called
"the last great slasher movie" by Screen Rant.
But the extensiveness of its gore, violence, and torture of
a pregnant woman resulted in some backlash; even reviews praising the film
acknowledged it "crosses the line."
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16. Martyrs (2008)
It's impossible to talk about controversial horror films
without discussing "Martyrs," a movie about a woman who escaped
unimaginable abuse as a child and seeks revenge on her supposed captors: a
seemingly normal, nuclear family. After slaughtering them, her friend, also a
survivor of abuse, arrives to help clean up the crime scene, and the two slowly
uncover a secret world of mutilation and torment.
"Martyrs" incited a number of walkouts at its
premiere at the Marché du Film in 2008, and alleged vomiting in Toronto.
Significant controversy followed the film in its home country of France, and
while it was purchased for North American release by the now‑defunct Weinstein
Company, Bob Weinstein was reportedly so repulsed by it that it went straight
to DVD.
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17. Antichrist (2009)
The tragic death of an infant child at the accidental hands
of his parents (unnamed in the film and played by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte
Gainsbourg) puts the mother in particular in a deep state of grief, leaving her
psychiatrist husband desperate to treat her. He takes her to a remote cabin in
the woods in an attempt to help her, but it only causes her to become more
unhinged and sexually violent.
No stranger to controversy, director Lars von Trier's
"Antichrist" was met with polarizing reactions from critics, with
some calling it "a masterpiece of abject horror," others deeming it
"colossally boring and pretentious," and some questioning if it was
"a work of genius or the sickest film in the history of cinema?" Von
Trier made different cuts for potential distributors at the Cannes Film
Festival to avoid censorship.
The team behind "Antichrist" chose not to apply
for an MPAA rating in the U.S.; instead, they released an unrated version to
six stateside theaters. Seven years after its release, "Antichrist"
was banned in France when a court ruled that the initial rating, allowing those
16 years old and up to see it, was "a mistake" amid pressure from a
Catholic traditionalist group.
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18. Grotesque (2009)
A doctor with extreme degenerate desires kidnaps a young
couple and forces them through a gauntlet of torment and horror, which slowly
but surely crushes their hopes of survival in this Japanese exploitation horror
film. Due to its extensive sequences of torture, "Grotesque" was
banned in the U.K., which subsequently caused the film to be pulled from Amazon
Japan.
Ultimately though, that may have been what director Kôji
Shiraishi wanted. "I'm a little disappointed, but actually that means the
movie I've made has the power to cause a controversy, so I'm happy in that
way," he told 3:AM magazine, noting his producer told him to make a movie
"so violent that it almost can't be shown."
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19. A Serbian Film (2010)
A retired and financially insecure porn star agrees to take
part in an art film in order to support his family; it turns out to be a snuff
film of horrific content. Suddenly, the porn star is faced with cruelty and
violence beyond his comprehension and he finds himself fighting to survive.
Upon its premiere, "A Serbian Film" was met with
immediate controversy and backlash due to its gratuitous violence and sexual
content—it is considered by some to be one of the most disturbing and nastiest
films of all time. Even more than 10 years after its release, "A Serbian
Film" is still banned in several countries, like Spain, Australia, and New
Zealand.
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20. The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) (2011)
The sequel to Tom Six's notorious body‑horror film "The
Human Centipede" is a metatextual continuation about a man who becomes so
obsessed with the original film that he embarks on his own quest to create a 12‑person
human centipede.
Due to its shocking depictions of violence, sexual violence,
and gore, "The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence)" was heavily
censored or outright banned, including in the U.K. (for four months),
Australia, and New Zealand. At the movie's North American premiere at Fantastic
Fest in 2011 in Austin, Texas, one audience member needed paramedic assistance
after watching the film.
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