00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most controversial
00:15scary movies that caused protests, censorship, bans, or all three.
00:2710. Texas Chainsaw Massacre
00:37Forget Texas. Leatherface's name barely made it to theatres at all. At the time, his
00:42chainsaw-wielding hijinks pushed the envelope where violence on the big screen was concerned.
00:47And censors pushed back. Hard. Distributors wouldn't touch it with a 10ft pole, let alone
01:02send it overseas. Then, when people finally did get their eyes on it, most were horrified
01:07by what they saw, calling it gratuitous, disgusting, and unfit for general audiences. While later
01:14reviews would turn the Texas Chainsaw Massacre into the horror darling it is today, it spent
01:19the first few years of its existence as a total pariah of filmmaking.
01:289. Martyrs
01:41A damnation of religious zealousness mixed with some gross-out body horror, it's no surprise
01:47Martyrs has a sour legacy in the viewer reception category. The French film is best experienced
02:02without any prior knowledge. But fair warning, you should proceed with caution. And maybe
02:08a bath bag. The heaping amount of bloodshed against women left many first-time viewers
02:18aghast, with some allegedly walking out of the film's premiere. Given the religious connotations
02:24too, Martyrs stirred up a lot of fuss over whether it was appropriate for a theatrical
02:28release. In a way, we guess you could say it was its own martyr of the horror genre.
02:348. I Spit on Your Grave
02:47Perhaps the most infamous revenge tale ever cemented to film, I Spit on Your Grave is
02:52gruesome to the point of excess. Even though that's the point, the cinematic merit didn't
02:57fly with some moviegoers, who felt the violence was needlessly over the top. Both the infamous
03:02half-hour attack on Jennifer, and the hour of bloody vengeance that follows. The movie
03:08almost got an X rating on its original release, but that's still better than overseas countries
03:14like Germany, Norway, Ireland, and the UK, where the flick has never seen an official
03:19theatrical release at all. Guess that's one way to get ahead of a controversy.
03:327. Freaks
03:35Ironically, the very people Freaks tried to highlight are part of the reason full scenes
03:51are now lost media. The film, following a travelling circus of misfits, was made at
03:56a time when physical differences weren't treated with the same understanding that they
04:00are today. As a result, many found the movie's content repulsive or exploitative, especially
04:06since Freaks tried to actually humanise its namesake characters. The film's thriller elements
04:28proved so divisive, in fact, that large swaths of the finished edits were trimmed from the
04:33theatrical release in order to make it more palatable. The lost footage has yet to be
04:38recovered, leaving Freaks as an unfinished gem.
04:506. Antichrist
05:01With that kind of name, it's no surprise this horror flick dives heavily into religious
05:06undertones. What most people didn't expect was a fast and loose sexual fantasy masquerading
05:12as a horror film. There are scenes in Antichrist that defy description, whether it be because
05:17it's so scary or so freaky. Either way, the film faced many cries for censorship from
05:22just about every country it managed to see the light of day in. Faithful non-believers,
05:28horror junkies, whatever, everyone had some issue with Antichrist. If you ever see it
05:33for yourself, you'll understand why. It'll be the most off-putting two hours of your
05:37life.
05:435. The Last House on the Left
05:56While Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I Spit on Your Grave continued the trend of sensationalized
06:01violence in horror films, it's this Wes Craven flick that arguably started it. The story
06:06is infamous by now. A girl is abducted, subjected to unspeakable crimes, and eventually killed.
06:15Later, the perpetrators take shelter with the parents of their latest victim. Cold and
06:23bitter revenge ensues. Admirably, The Last House on the Left does not shy away from the
06:29grisly realities of the situation. But it also happened to be so graphic, it had literal
06:34protesters outside of movie theaters. Although, in hindsight, that may have just made it even
06:42more popular.
06:464. A Serbian Film
06:51That's not a typo. It's really the name of the movie. Don't worry, main character
07:04Miloš is just as confused when he's cast in a film featuring some highly questionable
07:10scenes, like the kind highly questionable that we can't say without being demonetized.
07:26Actions speak louder than words, so we'll leave it at the fact that you can't even watch
07:31a Serbian film in the Philippines or Ireland, not China, Spain, or Australia either. Honestly,
07:37it might be faster to list the places that it isn't banned. You know you're dealing with
07:41crazy subject matter when whole countries come together to keep your movie away.
07:513. Sarlo or The 120 Days of Sodom
08:09How far is art allowed to go? That's one of the many questions brought up in this spine-tingling
08:15think piece. Evidently, most of the audience said that the line is somewhere in Sarlo's
08:20first 10 minutes. The issue is that the movie goes on for another hour and a half, filling
08:25the screen with some of the most vile themes and imagery ever conceived. No wonder it's
08:39had more controversies than premieres. It can be difficult to appreciate Sarlo's thematic
08:43weight when it's surrounded by such depraved content, a fact that contemporary audiences
08:49were unable to get over. It's caused it all. Bans, protests, clutched pearls, the whole shebang.
08:552. The Exorcist
09:11Just like the power of Christ compelled the demon out of Regan's body, it also coerced
09:28most moviegoers to grab their pitchforks. The Exorcist's unrelenting depiction of a
09:33demonic possession was already a tough sell, but then the movie had to go and come out
09:38around the holidays, right in time to stir up a web of religious backlash. Some showings
09:58were cancelled on the grounds of its demonic content alone. Others managed to slip through,
10:03but with strict rules prohibiting the entry of minors. One protectionist was even arrested
10:08for showing the film, with authorities calling it obscene. Given all that, it's amazing The
10:13Exorcist still made as much money as it did. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to
10:30our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos. You have the option
10:36for occasional videos or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings
10:41and switch on notifications. 1. Cannibal Holocaust
10:46It's not every day that you find a movie so incredibly disturbing, it's actually illegal.
10:56That's not hyperbole. The finished film was seized by Italian authorities prior to release,
11:02and the filmmakers were all charged with obscenity. It's just that bad.
11:07Depicted in part as the remaining footage of a journalistic expedition, Cannibal Holocaust
11:25features a series of bloody encounters with, you guessed it, cannibals. It's gross,
11:32and notoriously difficult to track down on account of how many times it's been banned
11:36by governments. If you do manage to get past the boycotts and find a copy,
11:40consider yourself one of the lucky, or unlucky, few.
11:44Did any of these horror films deserve the backlash? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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