As, I’m sure, most of you are aware, Eli Roth’s Hostel received a fair bit of criticism for its explicit violence when it was released. And, when the sequel came out, New Zealand’s Office of Film and Literature Classification felt it was a difficult film for the censors to rate, so they arranged a controlled public viewing of the film.

The people involved in the viewing represented a broad spectrum of the New Zealand public - not all horror fans - and most of whom would normally avoid such films. After the viewing, the audience was surveyed and 64 percent said the film should be given an R18 rating and released uncut.

So the censors demanded cuts (via).

Sony Pictures (NZ) says it is not financially viable to edit the film - which has been released uncensored in the UK, Ireland, Australia, the United States and most of the world - for a theatrical release in New Zealand, so horror fans in that part of the world are going to miss out entirely.

Trackback this Post | Feed on comments to this Post