BBFC News

House On The Edge Of The Park is a 1980 Italy horror thriller by Ruggero Deodato
Starring David Hess, Annie Belle and Christian Borromeo

Alex, a psychopathic mechanic, rapes a woman in the park. Later, a debauched couple pull into his shop needing car repair. They invite Alex and his mentally challenged buddy to join them at a decadent suburban party. Once there, Alex amuses himself by raping the guests and tormenting them in various ways.

House on the Edge of the Park has just been passed 18 uncut by the BBFC for an 88 Films release advertised as the Uncut Nasty Edition.

The film has a long history of censorship in the UK:

Banned by the BBFC for 1981 cinema release. Banned as a video nasty in 1983. Unbanned after 12 minutes of cuts in 2002. Cuts reduced to 43s in 2011, and then uncut for 2022 Blu-ray. Uncut and MPAA Unrated in the US.

Versions

cut: run: 91m pal: 87m		UK: Passed 18 uncut for sexual violence, sadistic violence, strong threat: 2022 88 Films video Set for Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray release in late 2022 in a release advertised as the Uncut Nasty Edition.
cut cut: 43s run: 91:23s pal: 87:44s		UK: Passed 18 for strong sexual violence and threat after 43s of BBFC cuts for: 2014 Shameless [Deadato's Cinema of Death set] R2 DVD 2011 Argent/Shameless R0 DVD The BBFC commented: Company was required to make cuts to one sequence of sexualised violence in which a razor is traced over a woman's naked body, after which her body is cut with the razor. According to Shameless, the BBFC originally asked for 16 cuts totalling 1:20s. The BBFC was asked to think again, and it reduced the cuts by 37s, leaving 43s still cut. The waived cut was 37s to the sex scene between Alex and Lisa which had previously been cut due to the questionability of whether or not Lisa is enjoying her ordeal. See article from dvdcompare.net . The 43s of cuts are to remove: sight of razor being traced between woman's breasts. sight of razor being traced over woman's breast and nipple. sight of razor being traced over woman's breasts and nipples. sight of razor being traced over woman's breast and nipple and over her body. sight of razor being traced over woman's stomach, with her breast visible. sight of razor being eased inside woman's jeans. As man approaches woman with razor blade, remove all sight of breast and arm being slashed with razor. all sight of razor cutting woman's breast and arm. all sight of razor cutting woman's breast and arm (again). all sight of razor cutting woman's breast and arm (again, for a third time). close sight of razor cutting woman's leg, next to her genitals. close sight of razor cutting woman's leg, next to her genitals (again). sight of razor cutting down woman's body, between her breasts.
cut cut: 11:43s run: 79:15s pal: 76:05s		UK: Passed 18 after 11:43s of BBFC cuts for: 2009 Cornerstone R2 DVD 2002 Protected/Vipco R2 DVD The BBFC commented: Cuts required to several sequences of sexual violence, humiliating depictions of female nudity and gross violence From IMDb: BBFC removed most of the rape and assault scenes heavily edited the razor-slashing of Cindy heavily edited the opening murder scene removed shots of Tony's head being slammed against a table.
uncut		UK: Released uncut on pre-cert video for: 1982 Skyline VHS Released in October 1982, it was listed as a video nasty in July 1983. It stayed on the list throughout the panic so became one of the collectable DPP39s
banned	New Zealand	UK: Banned by the BBFC for: 1981 cinema release New Zealand: Banned for a 2014 re-release

The latest published BBFC minutes reveals that the new Video Appeals Committee (VAC) is up and running. There have been hardly any appeals over the last few years, so it probably doesn't make much difference. However with appeals more likely to be heard by child campaigners than those with an interest in free speech, then I don't suppose there will be many appeals in the future either.

The BBFC wrote:

The BBFC's Senior Policy Officer confirmed that as of 1 January 2022 the new Video Appeals Committee (VAC) is in place.

In order to improve its effectiveness, the BBFC has, with the support of DCMS, made changes to how the VAC works. We have streamlined the process by removing the requirement that VAC hearings be held in-person and by drawing the membership of the VAC from the child-welfare experts who sit on the BBFC's independent Advisory Panel on Children Viewing, with recruitment managed by an independent third party.

The changes we have made have allowed us to reduce the VAC appeal fee by 50%, and this has been communicated to the home entertainment industry.