Film Censorship: Fantasm (1976)-Fantasm Comes Again (1977)

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Fantasm

Directed by Richard Franklin / 1976 / Australia / IMDb

In July 1976, a 2350.00-meter (85:54) 35mm print of FANTASM was banned because of 'indecency'. Later in the same month, Filmways Australasia censored it down to 2212.40-meters (80:52) and received an R-rating.

Image courtesy of moviemem.com

 

 

 

Censored video releases

The early 80s Video Classics release of FANTASM was censored, and presumably matched the theatrical print. Thanks to Stephen F. and Darron B. for the cover scans.

In 1990, FANTASM was re-released on the Movie Greats label with a running time of 77:43.

 

 

 

X-rated FANTASM

July 1984 saw FANTASM passed twice with X-ratings. The reason given was sex, which was described as being:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous

The applicants for this 87m tape were FG Film Productions, and Video Classics. It needs to be confirmed if either of these companies released an X-rated version. On the 2004 FANTASM DVD commentary, the Producer Antony I. Ginnane claims that the uncut version has never been released on tape.

Violence is now forbidden in the X-rated category; however there was a brief period from 1984 to 1985 when it was allowed. The rape scene and violence in FANTASM would now prevent it from being awarded the new X18+ rating.

 

 

Uncut DVD release

A 79m version of FANTASM was passed by the OFLC in March 2004 with an R18+ (Medium Level Sex Scenes, Some Sexual Violence) rating. This was for the Umbrella Entertainment DVD release from March 2004 where it was double-billed with the sequel FANTASM COMES AGAIN.

Umbrella re-released it in November 2008 as part of a six DVD collection titled OZ-PLOITATION BOXSET VOL 2.

 

 

The actual running time of the Umbrella release was 86:53. This is a highly recommended DVD as it contains uncut versions of both films. It also has a featurette titled FANTASM PENETRATED, and a commentary track with Producer Antony I. Ginnane in which the censorship problems are discussed.

Many thanks to Manny for sending in this transcription of the relevant parts.

 

 

Australian censorship and the R-rating

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM PENETRATED Featurette
"in those days the film censorship authorities were extremely draconian. They thought they were god. They didn't like the R-rating, it was imposed on them, so they did everything they could to sabotage it. They simply didn't like sex, and once you got past a certain level of nudity, or a certain level of simulated sex, bingo, bango, you had to cut it. It was a nasty bunch of self-dealing, megalomaniacal monsters"

 

 

FANTASM: Banned in Queensland

Director: Richard Franklin
FANTASM PENETRATED Featurette
"I think the film was banned in Queensland because my parents drove me to Tweed Heads [NSW] to see it. My Mother thought it was wonderful, but she always does"

 

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM PENETRATED Featurette
"The beauty of it [the Queensland ban] was that it was so much publicity for the rest of Australia, that whatever we lost in Queensland, we certainly mad up for South of the border"

 

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM Commentary @ 17min
"....[Queensland] banned FANTASM after five days of it running at the Capri Cinema in Brisbane, and to this day it has never had a theatrical release. It ran four and a half days and was pulled"

 

 

Hardcore in 1970s Australia

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM Commentary @ 5min
"At the time Australia had a very tight censorship regime as well, and none of the adult movies, the triple X movies, that had become sort of porno-chic in the States, the DEEP THROATS, THE DEVIL IN MISS JONES, and the like, had actually played down in Australia. They were not allowed into the country, but the actors, the principal actors that were in those films were known to Australians, and had a certain sort of controversy about them. So we figured if we could cast FANTASM with what we called the 'Superstars of Triple X', and bring them down to Australia, we'd have a piece of material that would be very controversial to Australian audiences which was what we were primarily aiming for in terms of recruitment"

 

 

Censorship of FANTASM

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM Commentary @ 11min
"......the Australian release print [of FANTASM] which was trimmed by the Australian censors, and we'll get to that in a minute, by about three, to three and a half minutes, and as you go ahead, there are a couple of sequences that received quite aggressive cuts. The rest of the sequences were just trimmed by a few seconds here or there"

 

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM Commentary @ 17min
"The idea was to allow the sexual content to be to a level that would allow it to pass the then availing Australian censorship"

".....but there were still some restrictions, and clearly at that point of time there was no ability to bring anything triple X into a conventional theatrical release"

"....we did end up having to cut the film down by two to three minutes"

 

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM Commentary @ 24min
"...it was harder than you think for Vince and Richard to shoot in such a ways that we didn't run into censorship problems"

 

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM Commentary @ 49min
Over "FRUIT SALAD" segment with John Holmes and Maria Welton

"....this sequence is one of the most cut in any version that have been floating around in the U.S. or elsewhere when we get into the underwater sequence"

".....when they [John Holmes and Maria Welton] got into the pool together that was heavily cut in earlier versions that were around. I think it runs about one to three seconds, where as you see it goes much longer"

 

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM Commentary @ 56:30min
Over "FRUIT SALAD" segment with John Holmes and Maria Welton

"....this [Welton pulls Holmes penis to her mouth] was all cut from the version that was previously circulating"

 

Note: There is a brief shot of the erect penis of John Holmes, and what looks like an underwater penetration scene during the FRUIT SALAD segment with John Holmes and Maria Welton. Although Antony I. Ginnane does not mention it, I would have thought that the rape of Rene Bond in the NIGHTMARE ALLEY segment at 34min would have been a target of the censors.

 

 

No hardcore FANTASM

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM COMES AGAIN Commentary @ 16:30 to 22:30
I'll summarise what Antony I. Ginnane has to say about the existence of hardcore version of FANTASM. What you see on the FANTASM DVD is all the footage that they shot. This was because it was primarily aimed at the Australian market where at the time hardcore was banned. However this did not stop some overseas distributors asking for hardcore footage.

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Fantasm Comes Again

Directed by Colin Eggleston / 1977 / Australia / IMDb

The original FANTASM has lost five minutes at the hands of the censors, so it was no surprise when this sequel was also banned.

The Australian International Film Corporation had FANTASM COMES AGAIN banned in August 1977. The 2682.60-meter (98:03) 35mm print was banned for reasons of 'indecency'. A Reconstructed Version was finally passed with an R-rating in December of the same year. The running time had been reduced to 2614.00-meters (95:32).

Image courtesy of moviemem.com

 

 

 

Censored video releases

Video Classics released FANTASM COMES AGAIN on tape in the early 80s in what we assume was the same censored theatrical print. This tape was reviewed in February 1984, and the censors confirmed the R-rating and list is as running 90m. Thanks to Stephen F. for the cover scan.

It was released again in 1990 on the Movie Greats label with a running time of 89:09.

 

 

 

X-rated FANTASM COMES AGAIN

August 1984, saw FANTASM COMES AGAIN passed with an X-rating. The reason given was sex, which was described as:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: High
Purpose: Gratuitous

The applicant for this 99m VHS was FG Film Productions. It needs to be confirmed if this tape was released. On the 2004 DVD commentary, the Producer Antony I. Ginnane claims that the uncut version has never been released on tape.

 

 

Uncut DVD release

FANTASM COMES AGAIN made its DVD debut in 2004, when Umbrella Entertainment issued it on a double-bill disc with the original film.

Umbrella re-released it in November 2008 as part of a six DVD collection titled OZ-PLOITATION BOXSET VOL 2.

 

 

The actual running time of the Umbrella release was 98:31. This is a highly recommended DVD as it contains uncut versions of both films. It also has a featurette titled FANTASM PENETRATED, and a commentary track with Producer Antony I. Ginnane in which the censorship problems are discussed.

Many thanks to Manny for sending in this transcription of the relevant parts.

 

 

The 1971 introduction of the R-rating

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM PENETRATED Featurette
"FANTASM COMES AGAIN was not the success that FANTASM was. There were probably plenty of reasons. Certainly the most overt was that the market had changed substantially in Australia in twelve months."

"You have to remember how censored Australian cinema was prior to the R-certificate. Apart from South Africa, we were the most censored country in the world. A lot of people [at the time of the original film] hadn't seen naked people doing naked things."

 

 

Lost hardcore version of FANTASM COMES AGAIN

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM COMES AGAIN Commentary @ 16:30 to 22:30
I'll summarise what Antony I. Ginnane has to say about the existence of hardcore version of FANTASM COMES AGAIN.

"What you see on the FANTASM DVD is all the footage that they shot. This was because it was primarily aimed at the Australian market where at the time hardcore was banned. However this did not stop some overseas distributors asking for hardcore footage. They decided for FANTASM COMES AGAIN to give themselves an option of offering hardcore footage to those who requested it"

"For the shoot, none of the actors were employed on the basis of providing hardcore as it would cost too much. However a couple of days after filming ended they shot around nine to ten minutes of hardcore footage in an Los Angeles motel room. This could then be edited back into the film should distributors request it. However it was never used because the couple of distributors who requested it refused to pay the extra post production costs. The hardcore material, with the film can labelled FANTASM '99, was lost when the lab where it was stored went out of business. The material has never been seen since."

 

 

FANTASM COMES AGAIN R-rated Censorship

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM COMES AGAIN Commentary @ 67min
During the Bill Marigold sex scene in THE KISS OF LIFE segment
"I don't know what the Australian censors had against underwater ballet, but this was trimmed by about a minute and a half for the Australian release print."

Note: Although Antony I. Ginnane does not mention it, I would have thought that the rape in the DOUBLE FEATURE segment at 30min would have been a target of the censors.

There is a brief rear shot of Serena's vagina in the TRUE CONFESSIONS segment at 92min. This would have probably been trimmed from the Australian print.

 

 

Not Banned in Queensland

Producer: Antony I. Ginnane
FANTASM COMES AGAIN Commentary @ 78min
We did not get banned in Queensland as we did with the first. At the federal level the film was cut largely to the same degree as the first one, but the second one did play in Queensland, although it was cut.

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