Terrifier 3, Love, Saw 3… 12 movies under 18 are banned in France

Fuck Me (2000)

Nadine and Manu are two crazy girls, as diligent as they can be, even perfectionists. They have a few things in common: extreme sex, drugs, beer and triggers. They solve problems with weapons and watch out for those who stand in their way! The adaptation of Virginie Despentes’ sulphurous novel Baise-moi, directed by Coralie Trinh Thi and the novelist herself, is not only causing scandal in France.

Upon its release in Belgium, the film was automatically banned for minors. In the United Kingdom, a rape scene was removed as too graphic in the eyes of censors. Projection is simply prohibited in the Canadian province of Ontario. The film’s legacy will also prove tragic for one of its main performers, former porn actress Karen Bach, who took her own life in 2005 at the age of 32.

Jokes and Somersaults (2002)

Directed by Michel Reilhac, Polissons et galipettes is a documentary consisting of silent erotic films from the early 20th century. It was originally planned for sessions at fixed times in the waiting rooms of sophisticated brothels.

Ken Park (2003)

The fifth directorial effort from filmmaker Larry Clark (here associated with Edward Lachman), Ken Park paints a provocative picture of middle-class American teenagers who relieve their boredom with sex, violence and debauchery in a small California town as they look on indifferently to their parents. Most of whom were mean, blind, repulsive and alcoholic.

With many non-simulated sex scenes between young actors, as well as drug use, the film is banned for minors in many countries. In France, the film was initially banned for under-16s, before being re-evaluated by the Council of State, which extended the ban to 18-year-olds.

9 Songs (2005)

In London, in the fall of 2003, Lisa, an American student, met Englishman Matt during a concert at Brixton Academy. It is love at first sight, the starting point of a sensual and carnal love story. Between Eroticism and Romance Michael Winterbottom chronicles an intense and passionate romantic relationship from its beginning to its inevitable end in 9 songs. Non-simulated sex scenes alternate with previously unseen concert footage of popular British rock bands that year, from Von Bond to Franz Ferdinand, including the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Dandy Warhols.

Saw III (2006)

A puzzle killer has mysteriously escaped from those who thought they had him. While the police struggle to capture him, a criminal mastermind has decided to resume his sinister game with the help of his protégé, Amanda… Dr. Lynn Danlon and Jeff don’t know it yet, but they’re new pawns. The game is about to start.

In a rare case of a film other than pornographic in nature, Saw 3 has been banned in France for under-18s after several professional film organizations contacted the Commission for the Classification of Cinematographic Works to request a second review of its ban (it was originally restricted to 16-year-olds). the violence and sadism that comes from his torture scenes.

Broken (2007)

brings together seven directors of different nationalities (Marina Abramović, Matthew Barney, Marco Brambilla, Larry ClarkSam Taylor Wood, Gaspar Noé and Richard Price), Destricted is a set of seven short films through which, with a unique and often provocative vision, these artists combine art and sex, confronting their sensibilities and their relationship with cinema.

Dirty Diaries (2010)

Orchestrated by Swedish producer Mia Engberg, Dirty Diaries is a collection of twelve experimental short films directed by women that seek to rethink our relationship with pornography through a feminist approach.

There’s No Sex (2012)

A portrait of actor, director and producer of pornographic films HPG, There is no sexual connection was created entirely by the thousands of hours recorded during its filming. More than just a behind-the-scenes archive of porn, this diary-like documentary questions pornography and its characteristic obsession with reality.

Nymphomania: Volume 2 (2014)

A crazy and poetic story about the erotic journey of a woman, Jo, from birth to 50, who diagnosed herself with nymphomania. One cold winter evening, old man Seligman finds Joe in the alley, badly beaten. After bringing him home, he treats his wounds and asks about his life. He listens intently as Joe tells the story of his life in eight consecutive chapters with many ramifications and facets, rich with associations and incidents along the way.

The second part of Lars von Trier’s diptych (originally intended as a single 5-hour film), Nymphomaniac: Volume 2 contains several explicit and unrehearsed sex scenes. For close-ups, the director used porn actors and actresses as doubles.

Little Gay Boy (2014)

Tormented by his mother’s prostitution and his father’s absence, a teenager experiments with his sexuality in search of identity. One day he finally meets his father. Then he must free himself from the demons of his past… Consisting of three short films each centered around the main character, a little gay boy, directed by Anthony Hickling. The film, largely autobiographical, alternates between phantasmagorical feelings and raw violence.

Love (2015)

On the morning of January 1, 25-year-old Murphy woke up surrounded by his wife and their two-year-old son. On her answering machine, a worried message from Elektra’s mother, her former love, informs her of her daughter’s disappearance. Murphy then recounts their passionate story, which contains all kinds of promises, games, excesses and mistakes… Irrevocable and After Entering the Void, Love is the director’s fourth feature film. Gaspar Noe.

Due to the non-simulated pornographic sections it contains, and after the classification commission’s initial decision to ban the film only under the age of 16 (with a warning), the association Promouvoir, which is close to traditionalists in Catholic circles, appealed to the administrative court and in August 2015 received a suspension of the film’s exploitation visa and a ban on the age of 18.

Horror 3 (2024)

Frightened, he saw: the same battle. Apart from the temper and insults that led to accusations of complacency in their dealings with Gore, the two horror sagas have in common that they have reached a rare milestone with their respective third operations. It’s been eighteen years since the French release of the Darren Lynn Bousman and Damien Leone films, both banned under 18s.

If Saw 3 took a real step forward from its predecessor, this ban was more surprising in the case of Terrifier 3, because the second opus, already ultra-gore, had. “only” In January 2023, it was banned for people under 16 years of age. Of course, Art the Clown goes even further here and has no respect for adults (there is no change at this level), animals or children, and perhaps this is what happened at the commission.

We can’t imagine it going to the eleventh episode like Saw, but we have good news for Damien Leone if he decides to continue his horror franchise: the next opus in the James Wan saga has returned to the age of 16. After the year, so it is not prohibited.