Everyone loves to get a bit spooked by a horror movie now and then, right?
The kind filled with so much gore, guts, and jump scares that it sticks with you.
But, could you stomach the most debated horror movie out there? This one’s a whole different ball game.
We’re not talking about a film like Sydney Sweeney’s Immaculate, which might stir up a bit of controversy over its portrayal of satanic elements.
We’re diving into a horror flick that’s been banned in over 40 countries. Yes, you read that right.
It even landed a film festival director in hot water, leading to his arrest.
The movie in question? A Serbian Film. And trust me, I’m not overdoing it with my description.
The plot revolves around Milos, a retired Serbian porn star, who gets a chance to star in one last movie for a hefty sum.
But before he knows it, he’s trapped in a snuff film nightmare, filled with such twisted sexual content and murder that there are parts we can’t even bring ourselves to describe.
Credit: Unearthed Films
When the director, Srđan Spasojević, was asked by Indiewire about the inspiration behind the film, he said: “We just wanted to express our deepest and honest feelings towards our region and also the world in general — a world that is sugar-coated in political correctness, but also very rotten under that façade”.
Released in 2010, the film kicked up a storm of controversy.
To get it shown in any country, major cuts were needed just for it to scrape by with a rating.
In the US, about a minute had to be chopped to snag an NC-17 rating.
Over in the UK, it was slashed by a whopping three minutes and 48 seconds across 11 scenes just to make it to screens.
Credit: Unearthed Films
One daring film festival director, Angel Sala, faced charges of ‘exhibiting child pornography’ in 2011 after a Roman Catholic organization complained about a screening.
Although the charges were eventually dropped, Sala could’ve been looking at a year behind bars if things had gone differently.
Out of the 46+ countries that have banned the movie, big markets like Spain, Australia, and Malaysia have completely shut down any chance of its screening.
Critics are torn on A Serbian Film. Some appreciate the director’s vision, while others outright condemn it as ‘disgusting’.
Film critic Mark Kermode had his say: “The director says it’s allegorical… if it so, then the allegory just gets lost in the increasingly stupid splatter.”
Credit: Unearthed Films
“The most annoying thing about it is – torture porn is one thing, but pompous, pretentious torture porn is something else.”
If you’re still here thinking, “Okay, I’m intrigued, maybe I’ll give it a watch,” then a top review on IMDB might sway you one way or the other.
It goes like this: “I heard about this movie on YouTube it was someone saying don’t watch it it’s made to disturb you but I didn’t listen and I feel like vomiting now please do not watch this just don’t I’m literally crying right now.”
After reading that, I’m leaning towards taking their advice.
If you’re in the US and still want to take a peek, A Serbian Film is available on Vudu.
But honestly? I’d pass. Seriously.
