Horrorfilms have always been a battleground of censorship, with public interest groups like the Motion Picture Association closely monitoring the content of horror films before slapping on a rating that could drastically alter a film’s audience. The worst offenders were, for many years in America, slapped with the catch-all X rating. In the late 1980s, thanks in part to director Steven Spielberg, that rating system became somewhat more nuanced, with the NC-17 rating coming to the fore for the goriest horror films or content deemed pornographic.
Horror films always seemed to be the genre most prone to testing these boundaries, given their requisite violence and gore, but often it was elements of the story that the MPA (earlier the MPAA) would red flag. For many films that meant heavy editing in order to fall under a lower rating, as mostmovie houses were unwilling to screen filmswith adults-only ratings. Add to that the differing laws between countries distributing a film internationally, and directors and editors have often created multiple versions of a film to meet those criteria.
10Horror Castle (AKA The Virgin of Nuremberg) (1963)
Horror Castlecame early in the long lineage of Italian horror films, which were abig influence on American horror masters John Carpenterand Toby Hooper and helped pioneer a new era of deliciously torturous violence in film.
Elements of the film’s provenance were essentially faked, with director Antonio Margheriti using the pseudonym Anthony Dawson, and the pulp novel it was based on was alleged to be by a British writer — though it likely was not. No matter, as the film’s infamous torture scenes still provided plenty of bloodcurdling terror.
The Virgin of Nuremberg Was Heavily Edited for Release Abroad
Surprisingly, the film’s original X Rating had more to do with the story than the gore, as it was spun around a disfigured holocaust survivor who brings a torture museum back to life to exact revenge on some evildoers. That meant the film needed plenty of editing to meet censors' requirements, especially in Germany where the whole Nazi subplot had to be re-wired thanks to Post-War laws in the Rhineland.
In America, it was titledHorror Castleand released under an X rating — and heavily shamed by the critics — all while thrilling exploitation horror fans.
Rent Horror Castle on Prime Video
Related:Goriest Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked
9A Serbian Film (2010)
A Serbian Film
A Serbian Filmranks high on the not-safe-for-life scale, owing to some seriously sinister content spun around the Serbian porn industry. Proceed with caution if you’re brave enough to watch this film, which tells the story of a former porn star roped back into making an “art film” that involves acts so lewd they cannot be mentioned in this article.
Honestly, NC-17 Wasn’t A High Enough Rating for This Borderline Snuff Film
After the film’s “protagonist,” Milos, gets roped into terrifyingly criminal acts on film, he tries to get out of participating in this straight-up-criminal smut — only to be kidnapped after a honey trap and waking up to find that he was made to performfilthy acts and murder while he was drugged and unaware.This touches off some serious ultra-violence that is, at times, laughable thanks to its incorporation of sexual acts. On second thought… don’t watch this one.
StreamA Serbian Filmon Vudu
8Blood and Black Lace (1964)
Blood and Black Lacewas an absolute visual feast, made early in the era of Italiangiallofilms in 1964. These films were murder mysteries delivered in the form of unadulterated horror, andBlood and Black Laceis one of the most memorable thanks to a production design that’s colorful and sumptuous — before becoming blood-stained. The film starred Hungarian bombshell Eva Bartok, and today is praised by film historians for innovating elements of the thriller genre.
A Film That Was Part Erotic Fiction, Part Horror
Eroticism in Italian horror films was actually one of the biggest triggers for censors in the ’60s and ’70s,with depictions of sexualityoften getting more harshly rated than violence.Blood and Black Lacewas a prime example, as European audiences of the time were often more forward-thinking than American ones when it came to the depiction of sex on screen. Historically, though, the film’s greatest importance was as the first ever stalk ‘n’ slash movie.
StreamBlood and Black Laceon AMC+
7Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964)
Two Thousand Maniacs!was part grindhouse, part sexy romp, and part hicksploitation, casting 1963 Playboy Playmate Connie Mason as one of a group of tourists who visit the South from the Yankee North.
Though it took place in the present day, you wouldn’t know it when a group of Confederate revivalists torture and kill their Northern guests as part of a centennial celebration. This one is odd, indeed, referencing Brigadoon with a score that vacillates between corny movie organs and some down-home bluegrass music.
This Horror Exploitation Film Brought Post-Civil War Fears to Life
In the film, 6 tourists are tortured for each event of the centennial celebration, and the torture scenes were far too graphic for 1964 audiences, warranting an X rating domestically and heavy editing to be distributed abroad. The film’s DNA can be found injust about every Rob Zombie film,and was refashioned decades later as2001 Maniacs.
StreamTwo Thousand Maniacs!on Tubi
6Satan’s Blood (1978)
Satan’s Bloodwas one of the greatest horror flicks ever to come out of Spain, centering its story around a couple who visit the country home of some new acquaintances they just met in Madrid. When a storm keeps them at the home overnight,they realize their hosts are satanists.Its X rating came as the result of a brutal sexual assault in the first scene, that required the film to be edited to reach certain countries.
A Super-Sleazy Horror Film With Seriously Graphic Scenes
The majesty of the host couple’s satanic ceremonies is next level, replete with incredible costumes and amazing torture props. Director Carlos Puerto incorporated the darkest chapters of Spanish history with plenty of nods to the Inquisition, but the non-stop nudity and sexual violence shows that he was just as interested in shock value as telling a story about inhumanity.
5Frontier(s) (2007)
Frontier(s)
Frontier(s) follows a group of friends fleeing from political unrest in Paris, who find themselves trapped at a secluded inn run by a neo-Nazi family. As they struggle to survive, they encounter the brutal realities of their captors' sinister intentions, leading to a harrowing fight for freedom. This intense thriller explores themes of survival and human resilience in the face of extreme adversity.
Frontier(s)caught an NC-17 rating for release in the United States, after the French-Swiss independent horror feature made a big impression on European audiences and won international distribution in 2008.
This film featured horror themes founded in reality, after a far-right candidate wins the Presidency in France,sparking riotous insanity in Paris.A gang of Muslim Arab youths must escape the nationalist chaos that targets them, and plot a heist to finance their way out of the French capitol.
Frontier(s) Has Shades of Eli Roth’s Hostel
After escaping Paris, the gang finds their way to an inn near the Swiss border, where two of the men are seduced by innkeepers. Needless to say, the innkeepers have ulterior motives of the neo-Nazi variety, and they trap their guests into a complete nightmare that includes submachine guns, forced abortions, and the slicing of Achilles tendons. In other words,Frontier(s)has everything you want out of a European horror flick.
Related:Slasher Films vs Splatter Films
4When the Screaming Stops (1973)
When the Screaming Stops(released outside of America asThe Loreley’s Grasp) was another of Spain’s overlooked horror products.It was more like ’50s horror flicksin its use of a creepy sea monster to terrorize the Rhine River town where it takes place, but its kills are pretty hilarious, using super-fake looking effects and fire engine red fake blood.
The Outdated Aspects of This Spanish Horror Film Create Its Gory Charm
CountWhen the Screaming Stopsas a film to be enjoyed somewhat ironically, as the insane editing, clunky kills, and laughably bad gore score high on the unintentional comedy scale. How this film once garnered an X rating is anyone’s guess, but it’s certainly worth a watch if you love outdated exploitation horror films from this era.
StreamWhen the Screaming Stopson Tubi
3Black Sunday (1960)
If you noticed more than a few Italian films on this list, that’s because of the country’s rich history of horror, especially during the era of horror masters like Dario Argento and Mario Bava. Bava may be the most influential auteur of this era, andBlack Sundayis the greatest evidence.
This horror masterpiece came early in the era, made in black and white in 1960, but stilldepicted enough violence and sexuality to be bannedin the United Kingdom and released under an X rating in America.
Bava’s Directorial Debut Was One of His Finest Efforts
Black Sundaywas still a resounding success in the States, depicting the story of a witch once burned at the stake by her brother, who resurrects 200 years later to take revenge on his descendants. Bava was an artist with the camera, who had worked for years as a cinematographer before this directorial debut, andBlack Sunday’s exceptional sets, costumes and cinematography make it a prime example of Bava’s brilliance.
Stream Black Sunday on Prime Video
2Santa Sangre (1990)
Santa Sangre
Santa Sangrecame from the mind of avant-garde director Alejandro Jodorowsky, as a joint Mexican-Italian project with Claudio Argento, younger brother of director Dario Argento, producing the film. Jodorowsky, as he often did, cast his sons Axel and Adán in the same role at different ages, playing a young man named Fenix who grows up part of the circus, resulting in massive psychological trauma.
Jodorowsky Effortlessly Mixed Styles and Genres with Santa Sangre
If Alfred Hitchcock and Luis Buñuel collaborated on the same film, it might look something likeSanta Sangre,which spins a hallucinogenic storyaround harlequins, harlots, and circus freaks, with graphic sexual imagery that could only make it to screens with an X rating in America.
The relationship between Fenix and his armless mother (yes, she lost them in a trapeze accident) is truly twisted, and the characters conjured by Jodorowsky makeBig Top Pee-Weeseem like a trip to the County Fair.Santa Sangrehas aged like a fine wine, with few psychological horrors since rising to its heights — or dropping to its depths.
StreamSanta Sangreon AMC+
The Evil Dead
The Evil Deadmay seem a bit camp by today’s standards, but that’s only because the version available now is tame compared to Sam Raimi’s original cuts of this gore fest. Raimi’s original efforts required a few passes after censors rejected several versions of the film. The film’s comedic undertones did little to assuage concerns about the in-your-face nature of Raimi’s super gory practical effects.
No Censor Could Hold Back This Splatter Masterpiece
Raimi gave zero fluff about the censors when makingThe Evil Dead, but thanks to a rave review from horror scribe Stephen King, it eventually won distribution from New Line Cinema under an X rating. For release in the more strict UK, 49 seconds of the film were cut, and the film still runs with an NC-17 rating to this day.
It ranks as maybe the greatest splatter film of all time, and has spawned an enormous franchise that’s still shocking audiences with severe gore that always maintains that classic Raimi silliness. Some films are simply too good for the censors to hold back with an X or NC-17 rating.
