13 Controversial Horror Movie Posters That Were Banned from Public Display
John Squires
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Though this Bereavement poster probably doesn’t strike you as one that would be on the list, the MPAA thought otherwise. Because of the depiction of a young child holding a large knife, they banned the poster outright, which led to the knife being Photoshopped out of the kid’s hand and into the adult’s hand. Because adults killing people is okay. Kids doing it isn’t.
As is typically the case, the controversy did nothing but get more people to see a film that they probably otherwise wouldn’t have even known about. So thanks for that, MPAA!
Horror films don’t get much more controversial than the rape-revenge classic I Spit on Your Grave, and that controversy carried over to the 2010 remake. It’s of course almost impossible to think about the film without picturing the rear end of a knife-wielding woman, and so it was only natural that the remake’s poster looked much the same as the iconic original’s. I suppose it wasn’t much of a surprise when the art was deemed inappropriate and banned, and it seems to have been more an issue of the sexualization of a rape victim, than merely a matter of nice butt cheeks being unfit for human eyes. Consequently, the art for the remake’s sequel featured no butt cleavage, nor does early art for the upcoming third installment.
And finally, this skull-shattering Final Destination 5 poster allegedly corrupted the minds of several London children over in the UK, which led to mass parental outrage. Thirteen parents in total issued complaints, and three of the thirteen claimed that their children were visibly upset by the imagery. Though Warner Bros. tried to throw water on the fire, issuing a statement that the image “accurately reflected the content of the film, in an appropriate manner,” the Advertising Standards Authority wasn’t hearing it, and they issued a ban on the poster.
