Film Censorship: O

The Oblong Box

Directed by Gordon Hessler / 1969 / UK / IMDb

In September 1972, a 2494.18-meter (91:10) 35mm print of THE OBLONG BOX was banned because of 'excessive violence'.

A censored 2467.68-meter (90:12) version was passed with an R-rating in February 1973.

THE OBLONG BOX on VHS and DVD

During the early 80s, there was no law that compelled distributors to have video tapes classified. For a period, the Censorship Board simply viewed the tapes and passed them as 'Special Condition', the definition of which was:

That the film/tape will not be exhibited in any State in contravention of that State's law relating to the exhibition of films.

In April 1983, PBL Video had a 90m tape of THE OBLONG BOX passed with such a warning.

In May 1985, Communications and Entertainment had a double-bill videotape of THE OBLONG BOX and CRY OF A BANSHEE passed with an R-rating. Playground Video released the tape. The running time of THE OBLONG BOX was 87:25 (PAL).

Shock/MGM released THE OBLONG BOX on DVD in March 2009. Minus the Orion Films title card, this version ran 95:41 (NTSC).

Director's Cut on DVD

Thanks to Matt for this review of the Shock/MGM DVD.

The Australian Shock DVD is the director's cut of THE OBLONG BOX that has remained unseen for many years. As you can see from the running times, it actually contains more footage than the version banned in Australian back in 1972.

In Video Watchdog #98 Tim Lucas has a great comparison between the various versions of film. He writes that AIP removed around ten minutes of footage from the U.S. theatrical version. I'm not sure what version was first submitted to the Australian censors in 1972 as that only seems to be around five minutes shorter.

If we presume all the violence present in the DVD was also in the 91:10 Australian version then here are the scenes that would have contributed to it being banned for excessive violence.

01:15 - A nail is hammered into Edward's hand.
33:30 - The body snatcher kills a guy with his shovel.
49:00 - Edward stabbing Mark.
65:00 - Edward cuts the throat of Heidi the prostitute.
78:30 - Edward cuts trench's throat.
85:45 - Edward cuts Dr. Newhartt's throat.
92:40 - Edward bites Sir Julian on the hand.

If Shock had resubmitted this DVD then I would guess in 2009 it would get an M or MA15+ tops.

CRY OF THE BANSHEE: AIP vs. Uncut

Gordon Hessler made CRY OF THE BANSHEE the year after THE OBLONG BOX.

In December 1972, a 2326.54-meter (85:02) 35mm print was passed with an R-rating. It was classified again in May 1985, on the above-mentioned double-bill, and was released on Playground Video. This version ran 83:01 (PAL).

In the U.S., AIP re-edited, and censored CRY OF THE BANSHEE. The IMDb contains a list of the differences.

Presumably, this was the version that was released in Australia.

Shock/MGM Australia released an uncut CRY OF THE BANSHEE on DVD in March 2009. Minus the MGM and Orion Films title cards, this version ran 90:38 (NTSC).

The Oblong Box - Playaround Video [au] VHS The Oblong Box - Shock-MGM [au] DVD

Opera

aka Terror at the Opera

Directed by Dario Argento / 1987 / Italy / IMDb

In April 1989, RCA Columbia / Hoyts Video had a 92m videotape of TERROR AT THE OPERA passed with an R18+ rating. The VHS was issued on the First Release label.

This did not stop customs from targeting this title when a DVD was confiscated in the mid 2000s. The reason given was:

One DVD titled OPERA depicting extreme violence.

Opera - First Release [au] VHS

Organ

Directed by Kei Fujiwara / 1996 / Japan / IMDb

There is one report of a VHS of ORGAN being confiscated in 1998. It was sent to the OFLC who confirmed its status as:

"...prohibited and subject to regulation 4A(1A)(A) of the customs (Prohibited Imports) regulations 1956"

The Outlaw Brothers

Directed by Frankie Chan / 1990 / Hong Kong / IMDb

In May 1990, Chinatown Cinema had a 100m 35mm print of THE OUTLAW BROTHERS Refused Registration by the OFLC. The reason for the ban was a scene where a car drives through a group of chickens.

Failed Review Board appeal

Following the ban, Chinatown Cinema took THE OUTLAW BROTHERS to the Review Board who confirmed it as Refused Registration.

Here is what they had to say.

The Outlaw Bothers is a Cantonese language film about policemen and car thieves in Hong Kong; it is well supplied with kung-fu fight sequences and would be unremarkable but for a scene near the end in which a container filled with chickens is broken open and the birds slaughtered with machine guns. Men are seen firing at the chickens on the floor of a warehouse; mutilated birds are shown writhing and twitching in close-up; finally a car is driven into a mass of live birds at high speed. A majority of the Film Censorship Board refused to register the film on the grounds that it depicted cruelty to animals.

The offending scenes are brief. The exact injuries inflicted on the animals are not easy to discern, and in the shot of the car are obscured by the vehicle itself. The film has apparently been leniently classified in some Asian countries, where somewhat different historical traditions prevail, and one can accept the comment of the distributors that they were 'mystified' by the films treatment in Australia. One can also accept their assurance that the birds seen falling en masse from the container at the beginning of the sequence are already dead (though one wonders how they were killed); and it is possible that the writhing of the mutilated birds was simulated (though this has not been claimed).

It must be said that the violence depicted is by no means extreme compared with the sorts of atrocities apparently inflicted on human beings in films readily accorded registration in this country. It was for this reason, no doubt, that a minority of the Censorship Board was prepared to register The Outlaw Brothers with an R or even an M classification.

To an extent, therefore, the issues raised by this appeal can be said to turn not so much on what is actually shown on the screen, but on assumptions or conclusions about the manner in which certain scenes were filmed and the attitude of the filmmakers to the creatures in their charge. This raises novel questions. The film classification guidelines make no reference to cruelty to animals, and innumerable films can be cited in which animals are seen to be mistreated or abused. (in the recent successful comedy A Fish Called Wanda, live goldfish are eaten whole.) Most people, however, would probably agree that scenes of simulated violence to animals, like scenes of simulated violence to humans, are acceptable if contextually justified and do not fall within the guidelines general prohibition of violence which is 'unduly detailed, relished or cruel'. In the opinion of the Board of Review , the violence to the chickens in The Outlaw Brothers, however tasteless or bizarre, and however offensive the assumption that audiences would find it amusing, would not warrant prohibition if it was simulated. It becomes unacceptable only when it is clear that it is real, or (no less decisively) when it is clear that audiences are meant to take it as real.

One hopes these distinctions are not obscure. There is an obvious difference in principal between killing animals (including those comparatively low on the evolutionary scale, like birds and fish) and simulating their killing In assessing scenes of this kind, however, it is necessary to consider not only what meets the eye, but the nature of the response invited; not only 'animal rights', however these may be defined , but the effects on audiences of scenes unnecessary and degrading cruelty.

It seems to us overwhelmingly probable that in the making of The Outlaw Brothers birds were recklessly killed and injured. Nor were we left in any doubt that we were meant to enjoy the spectacle. We agreed with the majority of the Censorship Board that the maiming or killing of animals for entertainment could not be condoned in a humane and civilised society, and that films containing such scenes (even though worse examples than the ones in The Outlaw Brothers could easily be imagined) should not be registered for exhibition. We therefore dismissed the appeal.

15 June 1990

Banned again, and cut to an M-rating

Following the decision of the Review Board, THE OUTLAW BROTHERS was censored down to 98m. The cuts proved to be too little, and in July 1990, it was again banned.

Further censorship eventually saw a 97m version passed with an M (Frequent violence, Drug use) rating on July 23, 1990.

A Chinese language cinema run followed.

THE OUTLAW BROTHERS Review

Thanks to Matt for this review of the film.

Having just viewed a 96:30 VHS of the uncut version of this film I don't think you can argue that chickens were killed and injured during its making. The scene in question starts at 81:42 when a container load of chickens fall to the floor of a warehouse and are machine gunned. The actual fall is very fast and it is difficult to see if the birds are alive or dead. Similarly I doubt the filmmakers actually got a machine gun and shot the birds. What is beyond doubt are the shots from 81:53 to 82:01 and 82:19 to 82:21 where mutilated dead and dying chickens are shown on the ground. There is no way that an early 90s Hong Kong film is going to go to the trouble of building fake chickens when it can be achieved for a couple of dollars with the real thing.

The film then plays out in the warehouse until the credits with various fight scenes taking place as all the while live chickens walk around on the floor. Between 91:29 and 91:33 a car is driven into the warehouse scattering the chickens. It looks like several birds disappear under the car as it does so.

Over the years the film has been cut by varying degrees by the British censors. These have involved the removal of the chicken cruelty, butterfly knife scene, and shots of cars and houses getting broken into. The 2005 18-rated Hong Kong Legends DVD escapes with the least cuts. It was submitted in a 96:48 print and lost only 10s of the chicken cruelty. Having never seen this version I would hazard a guess that the cuts remove the shots where mutilated dead and dying chickens are shown on the ground. These are the only scenes where you can say conclusively that birds were hurt or killed.

I really do not understand why the Australian censors required 2-3 minutes of footage to be removed back in 1990. As I have mentioned there is only around ten seconds of footage where you could say that chickens are definitely being mistreated.

I seriously doubt that the Australian censors would now ban an uncut version as these days they seem happy to simply warn the public. Witness the R18+ (High Level Sexual Violence, High Level Violence, Animal Cruelty) awarded to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST back in 2005. This would now fit nicely into an MA15+ rating, an option which was not open back in 1990.

Out of Control

Directed by Allan Hollzman / 1985 / USA - Yugoslavia / IMDb

In March 1985, Communications and Entertainment had a censored version of OUT OF CONTROL passed with an R-rating.

It was originally submitted in a 2413.00-meter (88:12) print, but lost 32-meters (70s) of sexual violence.

The R-rating was awarded for sex and violence, which were both described as:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous

This censored version went on to have a theatrical release.

Communications and Entertainment had an 83:44 videotape passed in September 1986. The R-rating was awarded for sex, which was described as:
Frequency: Infrequent
Explicitness/Intensity: Medium
Purpose: Gratuitous

Thanks to Konrad for the cover scan.

OUT OF CONTROL: The censored scene

Thanks to Matt for this review.

Video Entertainment (Holland) – 73:16
CEL Video (Australia) – 83:46

The CEL tape is censored in the scene where Tina is raped by the bandits.

Before: Tina is dragged from below deck of the boat and one of the bandits holds her face.

Censored at 52:36 – (approximately 90s missing) Tina being beaten unconscious by the drug smugglers before one gets on top of her. As he kisses her, she comes around and begins to fight back. Also missing is a shot of Cowboy preparing the spear fishing gun, diving in the water, and swimming towards the boat. It is hard to see why this scene was censored as there is no nudity and it is not that graphic.

After: Tina being held from behind around the waist and kicking out before Cowboy shoots the drug smuggler with a spear fishing gun.

Despite missing around 90s, the CEL tape still runs over ten minutes longer than the Dutch Video Entertainment (VE) release. The cut scene appears around the 43m point in the VE tape, and should appear around 53m in the CEL tape. This would indicate that there is a large amount of plot missing from the VE tape before this point.

The opening and end credits are different in both versions.

CEL: Opens with shots of the characters, and ends with the credits running over the plane flying into the sunset.

Video Entertainment: Opens with Elliot talking over footage of the characters, and ends with the credits running over scenes from the film.

Out of Control - CEL Video [au] VHS