‘Censor’ Blu-ray Limited Ed. Review (Second Sight)
Stars: Niamh Algar, Nicholas Burns, Vincent Franklin, Sophia La Porta, Adrian Schiller, Michael Smiley | Written by Prano Bailey-Bond, Anthony Fletcher | Directed by Prano Bailey-Bond
While the eighties was a good time for horror movies, in the UK it was also a hard time for fans. So-called ‘Video Nasties” were banned and censorship was strict. Censor takes place during this time, and gives an insight into the question, were the people who censored these films not affected by the evil images they felt needed cutting out to protect the public?
Enid (Niamh Algar) is a film censor who takes pride in her job removing scenes she believes is too extreme for the public. When a new movie feels disturbingly familiar to her though she attempts to solve the mystery of her sister’s disappearance. It’s not long before the line between reality and fiction begin to blur for her.
The eighties was quite an infamous time for horror fans. With the likes of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and even The Exorcist becoming victims to the campaigns to protect the public from such evils. Thankfully we have passed that time, but even I remember the hunt to find places to purchase the titles above and others such as A Clockwork Orange, though this was not exactly banned but pulled from distribution in the UK by Kubrick himself.
This age of almost anti-horror is the backdrop of Censor, but the main story is about Enid and the way her job as censor taps into events in her past and attack her sanity. This of course shows that (fictionally) even the censors weren’t immune to the evils of horror, even if they were highly educated.
Where Censor truly shines really is that it is more of a look into the fall of Enid rather than attacking the horror movies in general. If anything there is a sense of love for the films that were being cut, and a feeling that the censors in some cases were fighting for fewer cuts than just shredding films for the sake of it.
The mystery of Enid’s sister is what keeps the audience engrossed for much of the film, and we are along for the ride with Enid as her sanity begins to fail and she struggles to work out what is real and what her mind is making up.
Second Sight have done well with the special features that they have packed into the discs. For people interested in the history of censorship in the UK in the eighties, there is a very good two-part documentary included which covers just how much hysteria surrounded them at the time. It does show its age though, but the important thing is that it covers exactly what horror was fighting against at the time.
If people are looking for horror that’s a little bit different than just another slasher, Censor is a good film to hunt down. Psychological but never afraid to go for gore, it is probably one that would have been snipped by the censors had it been released in the eighties, which feels fitting with the subject matter. Second Sight have done the film justice with the limited edition release, but that comes as no real surprise when you look back at their previous releases. A must-see for horror fans, and maybe for lovers of film history too.
***** 5/5
The Censor Blu-ray Limited Edition from Second Sight is available now. You can also read our other review of Censor right here and click here for our Opinionated column on the film.
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