Censor

As someone who has a soft spot for Giallo and other "Video Nasties" of the 70s and 80s, I was intrigued by concept. It reminded me of "Evil Ed", a classic 90s film about a censor going mad, another film I have fond memories of (and which I can highly recommend to anyone who enjoyed this).

Censor starts strong - extremely strong. The photography is gorgeous, the use of color and sound are excellent and create a wonderful eerie, filthy arthouse feeling. Early gory scenes keep you on your toes for what may come.

Multiple plot points are set up: the media hype about violent movies and censorship, a killer supposedly imitating a killing from a movie the protagonist passed, someone leaking her identity to the press, a strange relationship with a coworker who seems to want to pass everything and of course her childhood trauma, manic search for her sister and relationship with her parents and a mysterious director who wants her to view his film after imitating her sister's childhood disappearance.

Considering all these excellent setups, it's a surprise then as the movie stumbles past the halfway point and leaves most plot points unresolved by the end. Yes, it's not that type of movie, it's not murder mystery or run of the mill thriller, but it fails to be a meaningful statement on censorship, video nasties or about someone's descent into madness.

I hate to say it, but "Evil Ed" did it better.

I still recommend the movie for its brilliant first half and a star making performance by Niamh Algar. She carries this movie, and it's hard to imagine it working with another actress in the part. There's a lot of talent here both in front of the camera and behind it. Sadly the film is less than the sum of its parts.

"Censor" should on paper be a film that I would be instantly in to. Set in the "Video Nasties" time in the UK, it's about the story of a video censor and her descent into madness.

Similar stories have already been told in the likes of Berberian Sound Studio or Evil Ed - and while Censor has some brilliant moments of atmosphere and a haunting ending, the whole thing didn't really fully come together for me in the end.

I think maybe the psychological state of our protagonist was not established enough to fully believe her transition, so it all felt a bit too forced.

But there's still a lot to admire in Prano Bailey-Bond's debut feature, it just wasn't as engaging as I had hoped.

I really wanted this to be great. And if you were, like me to believe the press then the director is on a par with Kubrick. But, alas it's all just hype, hype, hype. And that is so damaging for the director it's untrue. Do the press not care about her career. Many of us now feel conned by being lured in to believing we were getting something expectational and sadly all we got was something mediocre.

I liked that sorta Cronenberg-like atmosphere they created. Also as somebody mentioned here, the film definitely felt like giallo in some places, that weird feeling like you're watching from behind a wet window glass?

Good lead actress.

But the screenplay was bad, especially the ending.

This is a typical hyped British film from the BFI and Film Four the main money attached to the movie. As is typical of hype, it usually covers up average or if not, just plain rubbish. Is this rubbish? No, but it is a full length debut so it 5/10, if it were a seasoned director it would be a 4/10 at best. There is nothing new, no new technique, no new plot twist, not even new scenes. Just a very average film that pinches from 70's gore fests to the present (Stranger Things, Color Out of Space). It's not even well directed or acted in places, it's just the critics keeping the board of the BFI, Film Four happy so they can keep having the jollies together. If you have an hour and half to kill for an average film where you enter with nothing and expect nothing, well this is for you.