Sci-Fi Bulletin: Exploring the Universes of SF, Fantasy, Horror and Spy-fi!

The second film in Tom Six’s proposed Human Centipede trilogy of horror films has been banned by the British Board of Film Classification.

The BBFC stated that it has “rejected the sexually violent and potentially obscene DVD The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence). This means that it cannot be legally supplied anywhere in the UK.”

The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) tells the story of a man who becomes sexually obsessed with a DVD recording of the first film and who imagines putting the ‘centipede’ idea into practice.

The Board went on to explain that that “the principal focus of The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) is the sexual arousal of the central character at both the idea and the spectacle of the total degradation, humiliation, mutilation, torture, and murder of his naked victims… It is the Board’s conclusion that the explicit presentation of the central character’s obsessive sexually violent fantasies is in breach of its Classification Guidelines and poses a real, as opposed to a fanciful, risk that harm is likely to be caused to potential viewers.”

Director David Cooke noted that “It is the Board’s carefully considered view that to issue a certificate to this work, even if confined to adults, would be inconsistent with the Board’s Guidelines, would risk potential harm within the terms of the [Video Recording Act], and would be unacceptable to the public.” He also stated that he believed the film might fall under the definition of obscenity in the Obscene Publications Act.

The DVD distributors have six weeks to appeal the decision.