Movie News

The Haunted Hotel is a 2021 UK comedy drama horror romance by Jean Campbell Hogg, (segment Watching), Joshua Carver, (segment Forty Years), Adam Collier, (segment Room 27)
Starring Hugh Fraser, Reece Ritchie and Rob Jarvis

BBFC category cuts were required for a 12A rated cinema release in 2021.

Summary Notes

Eight tales of ghostly encounters through the decades, manifesting amid the ruins of a once grand English hotel.

Versions

advised category cuts cut: run: 95m pal: 91m		UK: Passed 12A uncut with a BBFC trigger warning for moderate horror, violence, bloody images, sexual threat, suicide references: 2021 cinema release The BBFC commented: The distributor requested cuts to achieve their preferred category. Images of strong injury detail were removed in order to achieve a 12A. An uncut 18 classification was available.
uncut run: 95m pal: 91m		UK: Passed 18 uncut for strong injury detail: 2021 cinema release, not released in favour of a cut 12A version

Carpenter, Cronenberg and Eil Roth lead a summer charge of seasonal shockers on Horror Channel this July.

Considered one of David Cronenberg's early genre classics, Scanners was based on Cronenberg's scripts The Sensitives and Telepathy 2000, which he planned to pitch to Roger Corman. Starring Michael Ironside and Patrick McGoohan, the film went on to became one of the first produced in Canada to successfully compete with American films at the international box office. Also airing is David Cronenberg's other cult classic body horror The Brood , which stars Oliver Reed and Samantha Eggar. To many this remains one of the director's most frightening and resonant movie.

Although not an outright hit when it was released in 2001, John Carpenter's Ghosts Of Mars , which stars Natasha Henstridge, Ice Cube, Jason Statham and Pam Grier, has since gone on to cultivate a cult following, largely due to for the hard-core space action sequences and the soundtrack. Equally, Eli Roth's notorious post-modern celebration of the Italian cannibal genre, The Green Inferno , has divided mainstream opinion but continues to delight genre fans for its homage to Italian cannibal films of the late 1970s.

Other Highlights include Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer's stunning contemporary occult tale of Hollywood ambition, Starry Eyes , Timo Vuorensola's barnstorming surreal sci-fier Iron Sky . Julian Gilbey's harrowing British survival shocker, A Lonely Place To Die , starring Melissa George and Ed Speelers and fans of Arnold Schwarzenegger will welcome the clone-seeker's top-notch performance in The 6th Day .

Sainsbury's supermarket says it has decided to stop selling CDs and DVDs as streaming services take their toll on sales of the products.

A spokesperson said Sainsbury's customers increasingly went for music and films online instead of buying the shiny silver discs. The firm said sales were being phased out, although it would continue to sell vinyl records in some stores.

The CD has proved exceptionally successful for nearly 40 years and remains a format of choice for many music fans who value sound quality, convenience and collectability, said a BPI spokesperson, adding:

Although demand has been following a long-term trend as consumers increasingly transition to streaming, resilient demand is likely to continue for many years, enhanced by special editions and other collectible releases.

If some retailers now see the format as less of a priority, this will create a further opportunity for others, such as independent shops and specialist chains such as HMV, to cater to the continuing demand.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has published its Annual Report for 2020, outlining how the media regulator shifted its operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the first time in the organisation's 100 year history, Compliance Officers watched cinema releases remotely, with the help of the BBFC's state-of-the-art cloud based submission and classification platform, Horizon.

The BBFC classified 4,033 video submissions, 2,310 submissions for online distribution, and its innovative partnership with Netflix hit a significant milestone, with the streaming service achieving 100% coverage of BBFC age ratings and ratings info on their UK platform.

The most common age rating for online and physical media submissions was 15, with the BBFC classifying 2,548 pieces of content with the age rating.

For the movie industry, the BBFC classified 619 theatrical films in 2020 for cinemas to play in between lockdowns.

This included the re-classification of a number of older films, as cinemas shifted their focus towards bringing family friendly classics back onto the big screen while new blockbusters faced delays. In fact, one in 23 films classified by the BBFC in 2020 was a resubmission.

The Annual Report discusses the reclassification of films such as The Karate Kid which was reclassified 12A, previously 15, and Rocky and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, which the BBFC reclassified 12A up from PG. The report also outlines the reclassification of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, which the organisation reclassified PG, previously a U.

The most popular age rating on the big screen remains 15, with the BBFC rating over a third (224) of films for UK cinema goers with the classification.

David Austin, Chief Executive of the BBFC, said:

Last year was one of the toughest years that the film and TV industry has ever seen. But, even with the challenges we have all faced, we are proud to have continued our work providing straightforward advice that helps families decide what to watch with confidence, both in the cinema and at home.

Despite lockdown, people's appetite for film and episodic content has only continued to grow. We are delighted that cinemas are now opening again, production studios are back filming, and more families can once again share a special big screen experience together. The pandemic has also underlined the importance of our work in the online space - with more people watching content on streaming services than ever before, it is vital that families are provided with trusted advice, age ratings and tools that we know they need to choose content well.

The organisation also pivoted their outreach work to focus on reaching families who were watching more content at home for entertainment and educational purposes. For the first time, the organisation published a series of home learning resources, designed specifically for parents faced with educating their children from home. This initiative was supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and children's charities.

  Amityville 4 The Evil Escapes is a 1989 USA horror by Sandor Stern
Starring Patty Duke, Jane Wyatt and Fredric Lehne

The demonic force lurking in Amityville for over 300 years escapes to a remote California mansion. It encounters a struggling family living together by uncertain means. The beast manipulates a little girl by manifesting itself in the form of her dead father. Soon it will be able to possess her completely... is it too late for a young priest to defeat the demon and end the curse?

UK: Passed 15 uncut for strong supernatural threat, bloody images, violence:

• 2021 Screenbound Pictures Ltd video

Amityville 1992 - It's About Time is a 1992 USA horror by Tony Randel
Starring Stephen Macht, Shawn Weatherly and Megan Ward

An architect brings home a mysterious old clock, not knowing that it's haunted by the demonic presence of the Amityville house. Soon, the clock begins to alter time and space and starts to possess members of the household.

UK: Passed 15 uncut for strong gore, violence, threat, language, sexual threat, sex:

• 2021 Screenbound Pictures Ltd video

Amityville: A New Generation is a 1993 USA horror by John Murlowski
Starring Ross Partridge, Julia Nickson and Lala Sloatman

Photographer Keyes is given an old mirror from an homeless person he photographs on the street, takes it home and gives it a friend. He doesn't know yet that people see horrible things happen to themselves in the mirror and later these things come true. Are these really suicides or is there a demonic force behind the mirror?

UK: Passed 15 uncut with a BBFC trigger warning for strong violence, threat, sex, nudity, domestic abuse, self-harm, suicide:

• 2021 Screenbound Pictures Ltd video

All 3 films have had previous 18 ratings reduced by the BBFC to the current 15 ratings.

Local Hero is a 1983 UK comedy drama by Bill Forsyth
Starring Burt Lancaster, Peter Riegert and Fulton Mackay

The film has just been uprated from PG to 12A in 2021 with the BBFC citing 'infrequent partial use of strong language (eg "motherfu...")'.

The BBFC changed its strong language policy in 2021 to treat obscured strong language as if it had been fully voiced.

Summary Notes

An American oil company has plans for a new refinery and sends someone to Scotland to buy up an entire village, but things don't go as expected.

UK: Passed 12A uncut for implied strong language, moderate sex references:

• 2021 cinema release

 

Update: Motherfu...ing Stupidity: The BBFC And 'Implied Language'

28th June 2021. See article from reprobatepress.com

The British censor's curious decision to treat implied swearing no differently than if the actual word had been used.