Board bans ‘gay zombie’ film
The Australian Film Classification Board refused classification for the Canadian film L.A. Zombie, which was scheduled to screen at the Melbourne Film Festival on August 7 and 8.
“Apparently the Australian Classification Board has no problem passing all manner of mainstream torture porn movies which feature, amongst other things, the rape and dismemberment of women, it’s interesting that they have no stomach for a movie that reaffirms life,” said director Bruce LaBruce in a statement.
Board director Donald McDonald advised MIFF executive director Moore that the film could not be screened because it would be refused classification.
Moore disagrees with the Board’s view of the film, saying it is not porn, but “verges on the edge of porn” as an extreme form of queer cinema with a high art background to it.
The filmmakers describe LA.Zombie as a hardcore zombie splatter/gore porn movie, that exists in softcore and hardcore versions.
As the credits roll, an alien zombie creature (international porn star and model Francois Sagat) emerges from the Pacific Ocean. After getting picked up in the mountains by a surfer in a truck, a severe accident occurs that results in the surfer lying dead in the middle of the road. The alien zombie f**ks the dead man back to life. When the creature leaves the scene and enters the city, it becomes increasingly unclear whether he really is an alien zombie or a schizophrenic homeless person who is suffering from delusions. Like a kind of dark saviour, the alien zombie proceeds to find various dead men in the Greater Los Angeles area – a white collar criminal, a gang banger, a homeless junkie, a group of drug-addicted porn stars – and f**k them back to life.
Finally, no longer able to take the harsh realities of L.A., the creature ultimately finds comfort in a cemetery, where he begins to dig up a fresh grave.
The story has been reported around the world, and LaBruce has said the situation would actually work in his benefit.
“The more they try to suppress a film, the more people will want to see it. It gives me a profile I didn’t have yesterday.’’
‘…a movie that reaffirms life’? Give me a break.
No Mr LaBruce, the Classification Board may not have the stomach for your film but they sure have the guts to call it for what it is.
And MIFF, surely of all the thousands of films that are made every year, you would be able to find something a little bit better than this. I mean, geez louise…there must be better ways of getting PR than this…
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