The Most Controversial Movies Ever Made
What constitutes a controversial film? In my rulebook, it must be controversial in its time. As times changes, movies that used to be controversial may not be so any longer...or at least not so controversial. To be controversial, it has to achieve a certain amount of notoriety. That excludes completely unknown underground movies, such as Sexandrodes (1987).
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- DirectorD.W. GriffithStarsLillian GishMae MarshHenry B. WalthallThe Stoneman family finds its friendship with the Camerons affected by the Civil War, both fighting in opposite armies. The development of the war in their lives plays through to Lincoln's assassination and the birth of the Ku Klux Klan.A classic in movie editing, yes. But in all likelyhood the most controversial movie ever made. The very racist portrait of blacks makes it controversial. But even more so for the revival of the Ku Klux Klan. The clan was gone, but this movie alone sparked its revival.
- DirectorTod BrowningStarsWallace FordLeila HyamsOlga BaclanovaA circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.No special effects: Real human freaks of nature on display in this dark, ghoulish horror story. Disturbing to watch, even today. In its time, this was a controversial as one could imagine.
- DirectorJames WhaleStarsColin CliveMae ClarkeBoris KarloffDr Henry Frankenstein is obsessed with assembling a living being from parts of several exhumed corpses.The original Frankenstein was disturbing in its time: A story about a humanoid monster made from body parts. The end with the monster burning in the mill was quite grisly. As a result the movie was either heavily censored or banned many places outside the USA. It could not be shown uncut many places as late as in the 1960s. It may be fit for Saturday afternoon entertainment today, but times has changed.
- DirectorTobe HooperStarsMarilyn BurnsEdwin NealAllen DanzigerFive friends head out to rural Texas to visit the grave of a grandfather. On the way they stumble across what appears to be a deserted house, only to discover something sinister within. Something armed with a chainsaw.One of the movie that came to epitimize the video nasties, really a brilliantly made film. You really don't see a lot of on screen violence. It is, most of it, kept off screen. Yet you believe you see much more than you do. The iconography is unbelivable strong - The images of chainsaws, hammers and hooks and the presence of bones from slaughtered animals as well as human bones, along with a razor-sharp editing makes it strong stuff. As there is very little to censor, it was banned outright in many countries - but surfaced with the advent of video for a few years in these countries, till video censorship was put in place.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsPaolo BonacelliGiorgio CataldiUberto Paolo QuintavalleIn World War II Italy, four fascist libertines round up nine adolescent boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of physical, mental, and sexual torture.Pasolini was a renown director and artist - highly respected. So much greater was the shock when he released this, his last movie. Based on a novel by Maquis De Sade and moved to World War II Italy, it descibes depraved acts of sex, sadism, carnage and faeces. Very graphic (short of hardcore sex), it was destined to be banned or cut to ribbons. In UK, even private showings of it, was banned. In Australia the parliament passed a bill a few years ago to have this movie banned for video/DVD/BD release. It was found to be important enough as a work of art for The British Film Institute to release it on DVD in UK, after the BBFC censores waved all cuts.
- DirectorMeir ZarchiStarsCamille KeatonEron TaborRichard PaceAn aspiring writer is repeatedly assaulted, humiliated, and left for dead by four men she systematically hunts down to seek revenge.Better known as I Spit On Your Grave. Gorgeous woman in skimpy outfit vactioning alone in the countryside and the hillbillies wanna party. She doesn't and end up having the worst day of her life. Repeated lengthy gang rapes ensues - very graphically depicted. And a bloody revenge follows. The Irish Parliament recently passed a bill to have this movie banned outright from video/DVD/BD in Ireland. To this day it remains banned or cut in many countries.
- DirectorTinto BrassStarsMalcolm McDowellPeter O'TooleHelen MirrenA dramatization of the ascent to Caesar and subsequent reign of Caligula, one of the most notorious leaders of ancient Rome. We see his ambition, his scheming, his perversion and decadence, his brutality and his lunacy.Or Caligula as it is known outside Italy. What is this? Asked the critics. Hardcore sex, famous movie stars and graphic gore. This movie produced by Penhouse editor Bob Guccione was just asking for trouble. It took heavy surgery by the BBFC censors led by James Furman before it could be certificated for release in UK. Many other places it was banned outright. Opulent, bombastic and fairly heavy handed portrait of the Roman emperor, 156 min long. The R-Rated version of it runs just 103 min. The cast is led by a manicial Malcolm McDowal as Caligula. A few years ago the BBFC took everyone by surprice by releasing this movie uncut on DVD with an 18 certificate, and not an R18 usually bestowed pornographic films.
- DirectorRuggero DeodatoStarsRobert KermanFrancesca CiardiPerry PirkanenDuring a rescue mission into the Amazon rainforest, a professor stumbles across lost film shot by a missing documentary crew.Long before The Blair Witch Project made hand-held movies popular, this one did it. Mock documentary about a film crew in Amazonas encountering natives being savage, as well as behaving as savages themself. Grisly graphic gore and sexual violence, executionfootage that may or may not be real is included as well as scenes of animal slaughter. Most infamous is of cause the woman mounted on a stake, entering her genetals and exiting her mouth. A brillant illusion. And of cause handheld footage that may have given it a much more authentic feel, but mostly it made me sea sick.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsSandra PeabodyLucy GranthamDavid HessTwo teenage girls heading to a rock concert for one's birthday try to score marijuana in the city, where they are kidnapped and brutalized by a gang of psychopathic convicts.Started out as Krug And Company, later known as Last House On the Left. About girls on thier way to a rock concert kidnapped, raped and for some, murdered, This rather primitive movie shows sexual assault and humiliation and a rather graphic retribution. Imitated by many, some even with the star of the movie, David A. Hess as the psycho. He retreads the same role in Night Train Murders and the much more graphic House On The Edge Of The Park.
- DirectorSrdjan SpasojevicStarsSrdjan 'Zika' TodorovicSergej TrifunovicJelena GavrilovicAn aging porn star agrees to participate in an "art film" in order to make a clean break from the business, only to discover that he has been drafted into making a pedophilia and necrophilia themed snuff film.A Serbian Film is a rare bird. It has the look and feel of real underground. Filmed in Serbia, a country not even on the map when it comes to this kind of movies. It is off to a slow start, but don't be fooled. It really has (almost) everything, incest, necrophilia, rape, murders, paedophilia, graphic and sometimes hardcore. Just to be sure that all the world's censors will have a field day with this brillant piece that emerged from what feels like very deep underground to make its rounds on the worlds film festivals. Many Swedish DVD sellers refuse to carry this movie.