11 films that have long been banned in Germany, and even a Marvel film is included

In Germany, films must be checked by the voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (FSK) and given an age rating before they are released. If the institution refuses to release a film, the work in the uncut form can also be used indexed by the federal testing agency for media harmful to young people become.

In recent decades, many films in Germany have ended up on the index, which can be deleted afterwards and re-released after a new FSK review. We introduce you to 11 films that been banned in this country for a long time and have meanwhile been removed from the index or have already been re-released unedited.

De-indexed films: I spit on your grave

Also known as I Spit on Your Grave, Meir Zarchi’s film is the hard-to-carry “high point” of the rape and revenge genre. In it, the protagonist is first explicitly raped several times before she herself in the second half takes brutal revenge on her tormentors. In July 2021 I spit on your grave was de-indexed in Germany and re-released uncensored. (pr)

Check out a trailer for the I Spit on Your Grave original here:

Films de-indexed: The 120 Days of Sodom

In Pier Paolo Pasolini’s controversial, scandalous film, four privileged women and men capture a group of young adolescents and subject them to all kinds of humiliation, torture and other perversions. The result is one Portrait of the excesses of abuse of power and fascism. In early 2023, The 120 Days of Sodom, also known by its original shortened title Saló, was dropped from the Index. (pr)

Films removed from the index: The last house on the left

Loosely based on Ingmar Bergman’s Die Jungfrauenquelle, the later Scream director Wes Craven shot this classic of the rape and revenge subgenre, which is still hard to bear today, in which parents take revenge for the rape and murder of their daughter. Over the years, The Last House on the Left (1972), published in Germany with original titles like Mondo brutale, was abridged, indexed and confiscated. It was only removed from the list in 2019, mainly thanks to the efforts of Turbine Medien. (yy)

Films de-indexed: Maniac

William Lustig’s brutal slasher not only works as a genre film with a frightening Joe Spinell in the leading role and crude exploitation effects. Maniac is also a dirty, cold contemporary document of a long-gone New York and the Character study of a lost, broken soulwho perishes from her loneliness. In 2019 the film was removed from our index, and at the beginning of 2020 the FSK Maniac uncut gave it an age rating of 18 and over. (pr)

Films de-indexed: Blade

In the role of Daywalker, a Vampire on the hunt for his own kind, Wesley Snipes has created a cult figure. The accompanying Marvel film Blade already overwhelmed the youth protection with the iconic blood rain disco sequence right at the beginning. The film was removed from the index at the beginning of 2019 and is now available uncensored with an FSK 18 rating. (pr)

Films de-indexed: Zombie – Dawn of the Dead

George A. Romero’s zombie milestone is a phenomenal one Blueprint for the genre and leaves its mark even in the most modern productions such as The Walking Dead.

The gripping The director also turns a struggle for survival in a huge shopping center into a exaggerated image of the American society that is craving for consumption, which in extreme cases tear each other apart. After the index deletion in 2019, Zombie – Dawn of the Dead 2020 was finally released uncensored in Germany. (pr)

Films de-indexed: From Dusk Till Dawn

Combining a script draft by Quentin Tarantino and direction by Robert Rodriguez, From Dusk Till Dawn is a wicked cult classic full of cool characters, witty dialogue and gory splatter action. At that time, the wild goings-on went too far for the FSK, but in 2017 From Dusk Till Dawn was finally removed from the index in this country. In the meantime, the film has also been released here, uncut, for those over 18. (pr)

Films de-indexed: Dance of the Devils

The first part of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series became a cult splatter film in the 80s, which was exchanged in the form of VHS copies in schoolyards. Nowadays that is no longer necessary, because that insanely exaggerated spectacle of violence related to demon-possessed bodies was taken off the index in 2016. In 2017, the FSK released Tanz der Teufel uncut from the age of 16. (pr)

Films de-indexed: Texas Blood Court

With The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, better known as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Tobe Hooper has created one of the most intense terror films of all time. With a minimal budget, far too long shooting days and a set decoration made of real animal bones and carcasses as well as chicken droppings, a cinematic nightmare, which at the latest with the extended finale in the form of pure hell becomes one of the best horror films ever. Luckily, the film hasn’t been indexed here since 2011 and has long since been available uncut in stores over 18. (pr)

De-indexed films: Woodoo

Inspired by Dawn of the Dead, Lucio Fulci’s Woodoo – Zombie Island, 1979, takes the zombie mythos back to its colonial roots, such as the voodoo tales of I Followed a Zombie. Since this happens with pierced eyeballs and similar unforgettable effects, Zombi 2 (the original title) was confiscated and indexed in Germany. It wasn’t until January that it was announced that the uncanny battle slab had been de-indexed. A home theater release is on the way. (yy)

Films de-indexed: Halloween (2007)

Halloween: The Night of the Fright was a subtle horror classic that was a major influence on the slasher film. In the remake of Halloween from 2007, Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses) went to work in a much more brutal way. Because of the depictions of violence, the remake of Michael Myer’s escapades was rated 18+. The longer director’s cut was then indexed. In 2021 it was de-indexed and appeared in March last year Rob Zombie’s Halloween Director’s Cut for the first time uncut in home cinema.

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