Most horror fans are well acquainted withthe “torture porn” — or splatter — genre. It’s the nasty side of horror where the story takes a backseat to gratuitous violence, extreme gore, and the total degradation of the human body through torture and mutilation. In the United States, the genre has become synonymous with films likeSawandHostelthat deal in blood, guts, and increasingly creative and disgusting kills, but these are far from the only way to get a dose of the extreme. Though, sometimes, these films are consideredtooextreme, andsuch is the case with 2009’sGrotesque, a film so depraved that theBritish Board of Film Classification(BBFC) deemed it unfit for classification, barring it from being legally distributed in the United Kingdom.
The film has never been re-reviewed for release in the almost 15 years it has been banned, despite it not seeing the same reaction from other parts of the world. So, what aboutGrotesqueis so grotesque? Why did the UK toss into banishment? And did it deserve its fate?
Grotesque (2009)
An unnamed doctor has always had everything he’s ever wanted, but that has only made him develop more extreme and depraved needs. He kidnaps a young couple in the prime of their life together and forces them into a game of torment that slowly extinguishes their hopes for survival.
What Is ‘Grotesque’ About?
Grotesqueis the brainchild of directorKoji Shiraishi, a horror director best known for films like 2005’sNoroi: The Curse, 2007’sCarved: The Slit-Mouth Woman, and 2009’sTeketeke.Many of his films lean towards the supernatural, so a film likeGrotesquewas somewhat out of his wheelhouse. Though, perhaps after working with an artist likeHideshi Hino(the director of the infamousGuinea Pig 2: Flower of Flesh and Blood), it shouldn’t be all that surprising that Shiraishi wanted to try his hand at some extreme splatter.
Grotesqueis the story of a young couple Aki (Tsugumi Nagasawa) and Kazuo (Hiroaki Kawatsure), who are captured by a doctor (Shigeo Osako) during their first date. They wake up in a dingy basement, bound and gagged, and the doctorwastes no time getting down to business.The doctor is putting the couple through a test of love, wanting to see how far they will go for his own sick gratification.He stabs Kazuo with a screwdriver and sexually assaults both Aki and Kazuo after they admit to being virgins. He uses a chainsaw to cut off their fingers (and to cut off Aki’s arm), castrate Kazuo, and remove Aki’s nipples, making necklaces for his victims with the parts.
Then, the doctor apparently achieves his goal. He is satisfied with Aki and Kazuo’s devotion and will to live, putting them in a clean, hospital-like room to recover. Aki and Kazuo share a heartfelt moment where they decide to stay together after everything they’ve been through, and right after, the doctor comes in and tells them he’ll be letting them go. They’ve given him the excitement he was looking for and now, he’s going to turn himself in and give the couple his fortune (upwards of 700 million yen, or about $4.5 million USD) so they can live comfortably upon their release. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? The villain rots in prison for life and while our young couple may be absolutely traumatized and missing some body parts, that hefty payout can pay for good therapists and artificial limbs.
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Just kidding! The doctor returns them to the basement for one final test.He attaches the end of Kazuo’s intestines to a hook and gives him a pair of scissors, telling him if he can walk across the room — disemboweling himself in the process — and cut the ropes binding Aki, she’ll be free to go. However, it’s a trap. Kazuo’s injuries are too great, and the ropes around Aki’s wrist are reinforced with wire that a weakened Kazuo can’t cut. Both Aki and Kazuo die, but they manage to fight back a little first, with Kazuo stabbing the doctor in the foot with the scissors and Aki spitting on him and telling him he stinks like a skunk.It ends with the couple being buried by the doctor before he goes out to find his next victim.
The BBFC Deemed ‘Grotesque’ Too Gory to Release
From that brief retelling, you might be wondering why this was a line in the sand for the BBFC. After all, films likeSawandHostelwere considered fine, released with an 18 rating without cuts.There’s actually a simple(ish) answer to this, provided by the BBFC’s entry forGrotesque.The BBFC statedthatSawandHostel, unlikeGrotesque, “contain a more developed narrative,” which “provides contextual justification for even the strongest scenes.”So, basically,Grotesqueis just the thinnest story necessary to explain why the torture of two people is happening, while the other films mentioned havemore complex narratives that give their torture meaning. Because torture, mutilation, and killing are fineifthere’s a reason! Duh!
However, the lack of plot wasn’t the only reason the film was banned. The brutality of the film and the emphasis on the humiliation and degradation of the victims also played a part in the BBFC’s decision. Sometimes, the BBFC will allow a film to pass with an 18 rating once cuts have been made that take out excessively offensive material.However, in the case ofGrotesque, too much of the film fell into the offensive category for compulsory cuts to be made.The BBFC noted that some scenes might encourage similar behavior in viewers by desensitizing them to violence or exciting them through the humiliation, pain, and degradation of people, which is against the BBFC guidelines. Since the whole film is an exercise in depravity without real reason, it’s no surprise it found itself in hot water with censors. Though, it’s definitely debatable whether it portrayed the demon doctor in a “positive” or “sympathetic” light. Aki straight-up calls him a loser that stinks.
Lastly,Grotesquewas never slated to be shown in theaters.It was instead circulated on DVD, which comes with its own set of rules and guidelines.Films that are straight to DVD or Video On Demand (VOD) are more likely to be seen by children accidentally, and thus often come under more rigorous examination and harsher ratings. WithGrotesquebeing firmly rooted in harsh themes, gore, and assault, it would be hard to believe that it would have made it through to a DVD release.
‘Grotesque’ Is No Worse Than the Likes of ‘Saw’ and ‘Hostel’
I have to start with this:Grotesqueis reallyno worse than your average gorefest.The idea that the gore in the film is too much is simply ridiculous.SawandHostelwere made earlier with better effects and more graphic dismemberment, but maybe in 2009,Grotesquefelt more nasty. Rewatching it in my efforts to write this article, though, the gore is even a little silly at times. There’s a scene where the doctor is cutting the fingers off of his victims with a chainsaw, and when the blade hits skin and bone, the sound effect used is akin to a squeaking, expanding balloon. Sure, if you’re especially sensitive to blood and guts,Grotesquemight make your stomach churn. But Lawrence Gordon (Cary Elwes) sawed off his own damn foot inSaw! The gore may be “uncontextualized,” but it’s no worse thanJigsaw spouting off his rhetoric as someone dies in his traps. Some people even sympathize with Jigsaw, butSawwas never banned for the potential danger it could unleash on the public.
The really uncomfortable and disgusting part is toward the beginning of the film, and it’s when the doctor is sexually assaulting Aki and Kazuo. It’s hard to watch, there is no denying that, and theBBFC guidelines regarding sexual violence in filmnote that it is one of the most concerning aspects of classification to viewers. However, many other films contain similar material that have made it through the BBFC with an 18 rating, such as 2010’sA Serbian Film, albeit with extensive cuts for some of the worst scenes. However, the film contained similar depravity even with the edits. It’s harder to believe that a film like 2002’sIrréversible, which features an extremely graphic depiction of rape, can receive an 18 rating completely uncut.
Grotesqueisn’t agoodmovie and some will find it reprehensible. Many people generally find splatter films likeSaw,Hostel, orGrotesqueimmoral and depraved, and that’s okay. They aren’t everyone’s cup of tea.However, it doesn’t mean those filmsshouldn’t exist or that they should be banned.It’s every person’s responsibility to curate the content they want to see, but they should be allowed to curate it for themselves. Who knows, maybe in a few years, we’ll seeGrotesquebe reconsidered for classification, likeHuman Centipede 2was, and people can finally decide for themselves if it was truly worth a ban in the first place.
