Non merci! France issues rare ban for new horror film
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'The Apprentice': Donald Trump movie featuring controversial rape scene premieres in New York
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Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong attended the New York premiere of "The Apprentice", a film detailing Donald Trump's rise to power in the 1970s and '80s.
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Non merci! France issues rare ban for horror film 'Terrifier 3' - the first -18 rating since 2006
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CommentsFrance’s classification body has slapped an -18 ban on ‘Terrifier 3’, which is out in cinemas today. It’s the first ruling of its kind for a horror film in nearly 20 years.
A new film comes out on French screens today and it’s causing a bit of a stir.
Terrifier 3, the third film in the horror-slasher-platter series, has been issued a rare ban in France – the first of its kind since 2006.
What makes this even more impressive is that films released in France don’t have to go through as much red tape compared to the UK, for instance. The BBFC (the British Board of Film Classification) issues some of the most precise – some might say illiberal – classification systems in Europe when it comes to film ratings, with six ratings.
Comparatively, France usually goes for two (12 and 16 ratings), knowing that things need to get pretty intense for a 16 classification. One of the last ones to get that rating was Julia Ducournau’s mind-meltingly brilliant Palme d’Or winner Titane.
But now, France’s film classification committee has ruled that Terrifier 3 be stamped with an "under-18 ban". The last film to get that restrictive ruling was 2006’s Saw III - another third instalment in a horror franchise.
For those who aren’t familiar with the Terrifier series, it’s the sick brainchild of Damien Leone, which focuses on Art the Clown, a demonic serial killer who slices and dices on Halloween (2016’s Terrifier), resurrects and gets stabby once more on Halloween (2022’s Terrifier 2), and now has his infernal eyes set on ruining Christmas (this year’s Terrifier 3).
The series has been one of the biggest independent horror hits of recent years. The second instalment tallied more than $15 million (€13.6m) at the worldwide box office, with a budget of just $250,000 (€228,000).
Still, they’re not very good.
Fine, Terrifier 2 was actually a step up from the original. It’s a relentless gorefest, a subtext-free genre film that offers some creative kills and little else. If you’re into that sort of thing, it’s a bloody good time. If you prefer your horror with a bit more nuance, it serves no purpose other than to shock.
That’s as charitable as we get.
So, unless you’re 18 or over, young French gorehounds will have to get their fix elsewhere. And film’s French distributors aren’t happy about it.
Factoris Films, Shadowz Films and ESC Editions released a joint statement (via Bloody Disgusting): "We can only deplore this unexpected final decision, which will severely hamper the release of the film, eagerly awaited by tens of thousands of French viewers and scheduled for October 9 (and of course maintained)."
They go on to say that the film’s violence is "grand-guignolistic and unrealistic" and argued that "viewers will have all the distance and maturity they need to understand and appreciate this artistic approach".
"In addition, for over 2 years now, we’ve been working daily and tirelessly to defend free, creative and radical genre cinema, systematically acclaimed by the press and audiences alike,’ the statement continued.
"The audience for these films, even if they are teenagers, are cinephiles who are passionate and respectful of the films and the cinemas that show them… We remind you that four of our recent releases, including Terrifier 2, were forbidden to minors under 16, and none of them caused the slightest outburst in cinemas."
Fair, even if there were reports of people passing out and throwing up during Terrifier 2 and patrons walking out of the UK premiere of Terrifier 3 last week – but those so-called reports are often trotted out by distributors to boost interest in their film. The same buzz-craving reports came out for the release of Titane and during the premiere in Cannes of this year’s fantastic The Substance (both far, far superior films in case clarification was needed), and no one was carted out of those screenings...
Granted, exceptional ratings can be a death knell for distributors fearing a negative impact on box office numbers. However, they can also boost interest. And let’s be real: no one can be that surprised that an extreme horror film like Terrifier 3 gets slapped with a special classification.
The only thing that does surprise is that it comes from France, a country which birthed the transgressive New French Extremity movement with titles like Sheitan, Martyrs and Inside. It takes a lot for the French to get squeamish.
Maybe the sanctity of Christmas is what did it...
Does a Terrifier film deserve the added hype brought about by this decision? And will you be watching Terrifier 3?
Terrifier 3 is out now in French cinemas and comes out on Friday in the UK and US.
Additional sources • Bloody Disgusting
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Shona McCarthy steps down as Edinburgh Fringe CEO
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Having seen the festival through the pandemic, McCarthy leaves as Edinburgh Fringe CEO. What is next for the festival?
After nine years in the top role, Shona McCarthy is stepping down as CEO of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
McCarthy will officially leave the role in spring 2025. She will be replaced in time for the next edition of the festival which is the world’s largest performing arts festival and runs across hundreds of venues in Scotland’s capital during the month of August.
Taking over from Kath Mainland in 2025, McCarthy’s leadership has seen the festival grow to host over 3,700 shows annually with 2.6 million tickets sold. McCarthy said it has been an "enormous privilege" to work for the Fringe.
"I love this phenomenal festival and will forever be an advocate and champion. I have worked with some of the best people in our sector, a committed and passionate team," McCarthy added in a statement.
Fringe honorary president Phoebe Waller-Bridge, whose breakthrough show ‘Fleabag’ was discovered at the festival, has praised McCarthy for "holding the festival together through its most challenging years."
"You could not imagine a more passionate, determined, ambitious, hilarious, fiercely optimistic leader of the Fringe," Waller-Bridge added. "I am personally devastated that she is leaving, but equally thrilled that she can take a well-earned rest knowing that she has raised more money, staged more shows, convinced more people of the importance and vibrancy of the Fringe than should be humanly possible."
McCarthy started her decade-long tenure as the Fringe’s CEO after stints in leadership roles for the British Council Northern Ireland, Imagine Belfast 2008 and the Culture Company, helping to deliver the inaugural UK City of Culture Derry-Londonderry 2013.
Her time in the role will most likely be defined by her stewardship through the Covid-19 pandemic. Prior to the global event, the Fringe had its most successful year in 2019.
The festival survived a year’s cancellation and a reduced programme in 2021 to return in full force in 2022.
She leaves the festival in a seemingly good financial position, having secured significant public investment for the organisation, which will see the creation of a permanent base for the festival’s operations from 2026.
But the last decade of the Fringe’s organisation has not been without controversy. Artists have long spoken about the increasing costs of performing at the festival – largely due to rising accommodation costs – as prohibitive to the early career working class artists the festival once championed.
McCarthy has also butted heads with funding bodies, most notably Creative Scotland, who denied the festival funding in 2018 and then once again this year. McCarthy has warned of the Fringe being allowed to "fall through the cracks" of Scottish funding.
Most recently, McCarthy had to weigh in on criticism of culture festival’s acceptance of funding from organisations with politically unsavoury ties – namely those funding oil companies, and those associated with Israel.
After Baillie Gifford, the Scottish investment firm, was boycotted from its support of multiple literary festivals over its links to oil and gas money, McCarthy said that among the "fevered environment" festivals exist in, the board voted "overwhelmingly" in support of maintaining the partnership.
In a decade for the UK that has seen music and literary festivals close at an alarming rate, McCarthy’s legacy will be steadying the ship of Edinburgh’s crown jewel through an uncertain time. Her successor, who will be announced in the coming weeks, will be entrusted to continue that work. If they can find a way to make the festival the affordable paragon of nascent artists once again, all the better.
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