Who doesn’t like horror movies? Some people shut their eyes and ears and yet curiously nudged the other person, “What’s going on?” (ME!) But have you ever discovered any Banned Horror Movies?
You might have had curious thoughts like, why are these banned? What exactly is in the movie? I don’t know about you, but I have.
Hence, I have watched a few banned horror movies and made a list to share with you to have you experience the same thrill as me.
So, if you are also curious about these banned horror movies, let’s go through them without further ado!
Top 10 Banned Horror Movies In Nutshell (2023)
In the table below, I have mentioned ten banned horror movies, their brief overview, and IMDb ratings.
| Rank | Movies | IMDb Ratings |
| 1 | Slender Man | 2.9 |
| 2 | The Bunny Game | 3.4 |
| 3 | Human Centipede 2 | 3.8 |
| 4 | Grotesque | 4.7 |
| 5 | A Serbian Film | 5 |
| 6 | Hostel 2 | 5.5 |
| 7 | I Spit On Your Grave | 5.6 |
| 8 | Cannibal Holocaust | 5.8 |
| 9 | Possession | 7.3 |
| 10 | The Exorcist | 8.1 |
In the list below, I have mentioned the 15 most banned horror movies that were discarded from the theatres and banned in several regions:-
1. Slender Man
As the name suggests, Sender Man is originally a fictional character who is an unconventionally tall and slender figure. He has appeared in several projects. The most notable film is his stalking, kidnapping, and torturing people.
And one of his main victims is children. The Slender Man is quite an icon in pop culture.
2. The Bunny Game
The Bunny Game is about a sex worker, Bunny, who gets a lift from a truck driver. However, there are a few flashbacks through which we discover him being a serial killer.
He further kidnapped her and brutally abused her both sexually and physically. Due to the graphic torture scenes, the US restricted The Bunny Game’s theatre releases.
Moreover, UK’s film critics also addressed it as unsuitable for classification.
3. Human Centipede 2
The second instalment of Human Centipede is written, co-produced, and directed by Tom Six. It revolves around a psychiatrically impaired man who obsesses over the film’s first edition. And hence, ends up making his own version.
Due to the film’s heavy sexual themes and violence, it was banned in several regions. Moreover, the region that they ended up releasing edited it a lot.
4. Grotesque
Grotesque is a Japanese horror film that was written and directed by Koji Shiraishi. It revolves around a young couple kidnapped on their first date and further tortured for the villain’s sexual pleasure.
In fact, not just torture them but let them heal, then torture them again, and the loop continues.
Due to the film’s violent nature, the United Kingdom banned it from theatrical release. Moreover, the DVDs were banned too.
5. A Serbian Film
Directed and Produced by Srđan Spasojević, A Serbian Film revolves around an adult movie star. Since his financial condition is not good, he ends up agreeing to do an art project.
However, to his dismay, the film has severe paedophile and necrophile themes. Upon its release, A Serbian Film received plenty of backlash for its violent display and therefore was banned in the following countries:-
- Philippines
- Spain
- Australia
- Malaysia
- Norway
- New Zealand
- UK
- Bazil (Temporarily)
6. Hostel 2
Written and Directed by Eli Roth, Hostel 2 is the second instalment of Hostel. It showcases three art students from America who went to a Slovak village, where they were kidnapped and taken away in a facility.
That facility includes crazy rich people who paid to torture and kill other beings.
Due to the showcased brutality, Hostel 2 was banned from several countries and later released in the USA. However, the box office collection was way less.
7. I Spit On Your Grave
Written and Directed by Meir Zarchi, I Spit On Your Grave revolves around a fictional author who’s based in New York. And like many writers, she was also facing writer’s block and moved to a quiet cabin.
However, soon her peace turned into a nightmare when a group of goons barged into her rented space and sexually assaulted her in the most brutal way possible.
While she experienced the most tragic death, her spirit returned to haunt her sinners.
The horror film was declared the worst film to date since 30 minutes of the film covered violent rape scenes. While some critics addressed the film as “garbage of crap,” others praised the performance of the lead actress, Camille Keaton.
8. Cannibal Holocaust
Led by Robert Kerman, who portrays an anthropologist from a rescue team. And while he was exploring the Amazon Rainforest in search of a few filmmakers, he stumbled upon their lost documentary.
Moreover, these filmmakers had actually gone in search of Cannibal Tribes in the RainForest and further went missing. Therefore, they made the film inside a film.
That being said, the director of the Cannibal Holocaust had several charges. And one of the prime charges was the actors actually killed on set.
However, (allegedly) the charges were dropped.
9. Possession
1981’s Possession is about a married couple and how the wife suddenly starts acting out of character and asks for a divorce. The screenplay was written during the director’s own faltering marriage (which resulted in divorce).
The film was not that successful at the time of its release in both the US and Europe. In fact, it was heavily edited as well. However, later down the line, the film was praised a lot.
10. The Exorcist
The Exorcist is loosely based on real-life events. The story revolves around a young girl named Linda, who randomly starts talking in tongues and acts weirdly.
And despite her mother’s immense efforts to bring her back to normalcy, nothing works until one day, she takes Linda to a priest who believes a ghost possessed her and further needs exorcism to be performed on her.
Overall the film received mixed reviews. But several regions banned the film due to people fainting and throwing up during unwatchable scenes.
In fact, many parents prevented their children from watching The Exorcist.
11. Traces of Death
The 1993 documentary, Traces of Death featured footage of violence and people dying. Moreover, it depicts footage from other violent films as well!
Again, it’s impossible to get through the film without feeling sick to your stomach, which is why Traces of Death is banned in multiple regions.
12. Mikey
At 10 years old, Mikey had spent most of his life switching foster homes until another family adopted him one fine day. Little did they know Mikey’s previous family had died without any solid explanation, and the current family was also in danger!
Film critics had collectively decided to ban the film as it could negatively influence small children. In fact, there were reports of 2 ten-year-olds killing another kid.
13. Pink Flamingos
Don’t be fooled by the title “Pink Flamingo.” The film is far from pink. In fact, it’s DARK in capital letters. It portrays animal cruelty, with the main character eating a dog’s feces.
Further, it has plenty of sexual content, including homosexuality, dark humour, and much more.
14. The Evil Dead
The Evil Dead revolves around five teenagers travelling to an abandoned cabin to find a cassette. And once they play the cassette, it releases the demonic spirit, which ends up possessing 4 of them.
The survival of the fifth one gives you a second-hand heart attack for real. Overall the reviews were split again into two parts: some people couldn’t take the film too seriously, whereas others found it too sickening to watch.
15. Faces of Death
Another documentary featuring death scenes; while the infamous scenes were not authentic, the rest of the movie showcased real death scenes.
As you might have guessed by now, Faces of Death received backlash. However, it was a commercial success at the box office.
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Conclusion
That’s a wrap on the banned horror movies list, which are banned in several regions due to unwatchable content the movies promote.
The movies mentioned above are the 15 most tortuous movies that one could watch. Hence, they were banned in several regions due to their uncensored graphics around man-eating, sexual violence, murder, torture, etc, you name it.
However, note that the list is curated while considering current data (2023) so in case of the latest information, I’ll keep the page updated!
FAQs
While many of us have watched The Exorcist at least once in our lives, the goosebumps-inducing masterpiece is no longer available anywhere.
Some of the most brutal horror movies include Heridatory, Midsommar, The Innocents, Goodnight Summer, etc.
Human Centipede hasn’t been banned in the US. However, it doesn’t have any ratings from the critics either.
