SHAM034 - House on the Edge of the Park: The BBFC Decision
 

Shameless has recently heard back from the BBFC with regard to House on the Edge of the Park and they have requested 16 cuts totalling 1 minute 20 seconds. While this is a vast improvement over the 11+ minutes of cuts requested in 2002, Shameless are appealing the BBFC’s decision and will also be including two further extras dedicated to the censorship of the film.

Cult Labs fully supports Shameless in their decision to appeal and we’re sure our members appreciate Shameless’ desire to bring their fans the fullest possible version of this film. Depending on the length of the appeal, Shameless are still striving for an end-of-October release date for House on the Edge of the Park, and, in the meantime, they would like to pass on their thanks and appreciation for the continued support of their fans.

Oh dear, fans won't be happy with that decision but I'm sure found it inevitable really. Good to see Shameless fight their corner over the ridiculous hold the BBFC have over the UK film industry though :clap:
Let's hope positive things come out of it.

Wow, that's a massive improvement over the Vipco version, I think we all knew this wouldn't be passed fully uncut, but fair play to Shameless and I hope they win the appeal. I know lots of people on here would like an uncut version(myself included) but most of the uncut discs out there are lacking in extras so I still believe this will be a big hit with fans of the film and if the releases is delayed pending the appeal then I'm happy to wait if it means a more complete version becomes available.
I'm sure they'll be a few 'I told you so' posts in this thread so if you don't like the version Shameless will be releasing then don't buy it and winge somewhere else :)

Spooky, that's close to my 90sec prediction, best wishes to Shameless in the appeal, give em hell:lol:. Would expect the cuts are the victims reaction to the rape, razor slicing flesh(the actress just looks sooo young) and Hess's reaction/enjoyment of it. though a huge improvement over previous cuts it's worth Shameless going to appeal as 80sec is still a chunk of film to lose.


PS. I know Shameless sometimes put the snipped bits online, can I just say in this instance(because the actress involved is made to look very 'young' ahem, and the way the UK Internet laws are today) might want to seek legal advice before posting, one thing to upset the bbfc quite another to upset the CPS, and they may see Shameless as a company to make an example of, so please be careful guys.

It's a bit of a naughty film this one, so I'm not surprised it's caused Shameless problems. It's great that Shameless is going after an appeal - I think more companies should.

Truth be told it won't hurt sales too much if it is cut. I remember that the first release of NEW YORK RIPPER remained Shameless #1 seller for a long time. What people forget is that the fans already own the uncut version anyway. There will of course be those fans who will buy the this edition to keep their collection of Shameless titles complete.

I can't see the BBFC budging anymore on this one.I expected the opening rape to still be trimmed & any scenes where victims of rape appear to come to enjoy their ordeals are a definite no no.Fantasm was only cut a few months back for the same reason so it wouldn't look good for the BBFC if they passed similar footage in HOTEOTP so soon.A reduction to less than 90 seconds of cuts is a good result considering the extensive cuts made to the Vipco video.

Not surprising. Sad indeed that such nonsense still goes on. Good on you for appealing, hope you manage to get some of the cuts reversed.

I'm not surprised cuts have been insisted on but i'm still picking this release up purely for the packaging and extras anyway. This was always my intention with HOTEOTP as i would've been blown away if the film had been passed intact.:)

Let's keep our fingers crossed for the appeal still though. Shameless have put together an excellent appeal so even if if can't get through uncut, they might be able to get some of the cuts reduced.

It's not over until the fat lady sings!

I really wish Shameless a truck load of luck but i'll be amazed if they budge on their decision.
One day future generations will laugh at the thought that there was once a time when adults were told what they could and couldn't watch in their own homes, but for now this situation is far from funny

Shouldn't that be, it's not over until the fat lady gets butchered by some homicidal maniacs? :pound:

To be honest, the issue that bothers me (more so than being told what I can and can't watch) is that this sort of decision can seriously damage small UK businesses.

There are many people who refuse to buy cut titles - and fair enough, it's their money - but this means that the BBFC are inadvertently supporting businesses in the US and other parts of Europe, but hurting homegrown companies.

Exactly. Most of the titles Shameless (and Arrow) release, aren't going to sell huge numbers, and cutting the films will only make some people seek out alternate versions, hurting UK sales. The BBFC are well aware that people can easily, and legally, get uncut versions from other countries, so their decisions to cut films is pretty pointless. They're not protecting anyone, our self appointed moral guardians!

I realised that years ago when i was going to Amsterdam in the mid 90's and buying uncut versions of mainstream Hollywood films of course things are nowhere near as bad now as it was back then, but i'm reminded when just last week i was in Amsterdam and i saw Cannibal Holocaust (uncut of course) on the shelf for just 5 euros, in the age of the internet the BBFC have become totally irrelevant for the consumer, but for the distributor it's still a major ball and chain to have your films cut and pay £10 odd a minute for the privilege something has to change this situation can't go on forever.

As i understood EU law i thought if something is available in one part of the EU it should be available in all parts of the EU i thought that's the point of a free market but it certainly isn't a level playing field for British video distributors at all.

This is an interesting point. At the risk of sounding like an old fart, I might write to my MEP to enquire about this...

I know this is a long shot, and a llittle different from the cut to Arrow's Inferno, but perhaps some nice emails to the BBFC may help (a little).

Indeed.

It's a very different situation to Arrow because the cuts here are all in relation to depictions of sexual violence so I don't think it'd be helpful for people to start saying about their right to view whatever they want. We don't want to reinforce their opinion that we're all a bunch of sick pervs!

However, I think polite, sensible, non-sabre-rattling emails about the negative effects on small UK distributors like Shameless would be fine e.g. film fans end up spending their money abroad rather in the UK, thus having a negative effect on UK businesses. So, if anyone does want to contact the BBFC, please go down this route. :)

Contact info can be found here.

Absolutely if i were a distributor i'd give it bloody good go but they'll probably fob you off by saying something along the lines of our Video Recordings Act supersedes EU law

Probably. But if enough people were to write it might get raised as an actual issue. If anyone else would like to write to their MEP, you can find out who they are with this site.

Absolutely Sarah, that's the way to go. At the end of the day, I don't think there's anything in the film that contravines UK laws, just the BBFC's own (made up by themselves) guidelines, and as such, it shouldn't be cut.

Tell that to the German censors...errr..."youth protectors"....!!!!

Last time I remember somebody appealing against the German restrictions of the sale of certain movies they deem worthy of a ban, the EU court basically said it's up to each country how they deal with the classification of films etc.... (but there's certainly room for hoping that things might change in the future, me thinks...)

Just so this doesn't get lost in a long thread, I'm just reposting my "guide" to writing to the BBFC if you so wish!

Such a shame, since most people who want this film already own the media blasters uncut dvd all this is doing is taking money out the uk.

I'll wait for this one to go 2nd hand and pick it up cheap.

Good luck with the appeal. I'll reserve comment until I hear the BBFC's response.

That wouldn't happen, as long as she was 18, then it's all fine, I think I checked before, but couldn't find her actual age. So maybe she wasn't 18, if anyone does know please shed the light.

She was also in EMANUELLE AROUND THE WORLD a few years before. Been ages since I saw it so can't remember if she did any nudity though. I think she was definitely over 18.

Yeah, she was over 18 at the time of filming but... The violent porn law is so vague that it allows virtually any sexualized violence(including stuff that has been passed by the bbfc as 18) that the CPS takes a dim view of to be labeled "Porn", regardless of what anyone in their right mind would consider "porn", they use the word porn for any image/clip that they 'think' is used to arouse sexual thoughts, so anything that includes nudity, sexual violence of a graphic nature or intent can lead to a visit by the old bill. As a lawyer said at the time the law was passed "If you and your partner film yourselves spanking each other fine, but post that on the Internet and this law allows you to be arrested and prosecuted for it" Though I can't imagine any UK jury convicting anybody under this stupid law, it's best to be aware of the powers the Feds can level against you, and if the bbfc have censored a scene that would give the CPS more ammo to go after those who post online, paranoid or not hate to see Shameless make headlines for all the wrong reasons. And that razor scene seems right on the mark, imagine if you were just an average civil servant type with no interest in movies working for the CPS and got shown that scene, chances are you'd hit the panic button just to be sure. Of course they might look at it and not give a s**t:lol::lol:... but you never know.

Rest assured i'm hoping Lady Luck smiles on Shameless with their appeal and a positive response is the outcome.:pray:

Well I hope she does, cos that's now on my to watch list, thanks ;)

Make sure you watch the XXX version..

I've owned the R1 Shriek Show DVD now for nearly 9 years so the only way i'd buy it again for the film is if it was uncut on Blu-Ray but i would buy this release if there's a feature length documentary included i've double dipped on other films for that reason alone.

Well, we all knew this was going to be a challenging work for the BBFC.mostly due to its very ambiguous nature. It's undoubtedly eploitation, but motives and intent are very unclear within the film, so I can imagine there was much deliberation and head-scratching at Soho Square.

Still, kudos to Shameless for challenging the verdict. 1min 20secs is still quite hefty in terms of cinematic exposition.

Good luck with the appeal. guys.

I'm quite impressed how sensible and grown up ths thread is. People that understand and appreciate that the cuts were nearly inevitable and why they've been suggested, rather than pitchfork waving "you're not getting my money" negativity. Shameless have definitely gone out on a limb with this, so they should be applauded for attempting releases of NYR, CH and this and giving the censors something to think about, rather than derided for ultimately releasing versions as close to the bone as have ever been released here in the UK.

Good luck with the appeal, let's hope they reduce them some more (or drop them entirely!)

This was my first post in this thread, maybe the people with a complaint took my advice


Violence is Italian Art

As you all know, last week Shameless appealed the BBFC’s decision to cut House on the Edge of the Park by 80 seconds. In a landmark victory, the BBFC have agreed to waive 37 seconds of these cuts 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. As we are all readily aware, scenes of this nature have been cut and those cuts upheld by the BBFC in the past so to have them waived is a landmark moment not only for Shameless, but also for the history of UK censorship.

Shameless would like to thank its fans for the show of support on these forums, while I’m sure all of us at Cult Labs would like to congratulate Shameless on an appeal well fought.

House on the Edge of the Park will be available on DVD from 31 October. More details on special features (including those dedicated to the film’s censorship history) will be announced soon.

I totally missed that the initial decision had come in, so this successful appeal is the first I have heard on the matter.

I can't believe that I am about to sound like I am sympathising with the BBFC, but that "rape?" scene bothers me a lot, so I can understand why it was a difficult one for them. That they have reconsidered is a hopeful sign.

So, censorship is still annoying, but this is a HUGE improvement in matters regarding this film in the UK. Well done Shameless.

It's a great result for Shameless....now how about resubmitting Venus in Furs ;)

Sorry ... but I can't think of that as a victory. The film is still cut 43 seconds and I'll take a pass on that release. I'll buy an uncut Blu-ray but not a censored version on DVD.

Fair enough, it's up to you how you spend your money and yes, the film is still cut by 43 seconds.

But, that's 11 minutes of cuts restored since it was submitted in 2002 - that says the BBFC has come a long way in less than a decade. The fact that they've waived some cuts in the appeal also says the BBFC is willing to re-examine films and change their minds. That also says they've come a long way.

Yes, it's not a completely uncut version of the film but it still represents a major step for both the BBFC and UK distributors.