Using the “video nasty” United Kingdom censorship movement of the 80s as a backdrop, the film Censor, which premiered at Sundance this week, makes one nostalgic for the days of bootleg VHS tapes. Back then, low budget direct-to-video movies were churned out one-after-another in video rental chains. The only problem was the person who rented it before you decided to keep it and pass it around to their friends, therefore, limiting the in-store supply.
It was different in the United Kingdom which was taking a different approach; deciding to censor these films. In other words, cutting out the “good stuff.” That is the story director Prano Bailey-Bond tells in her feature-length debut. Censor is a period piece starring the hypnotic Niamh Algar as a mousy editor in charge of clipping out the “nasty” stuff to protect the children (and society), not your freedom of artistic speech.
Enid (Algar) is deemed “Miss Perfect” among her fellow censors because she doesn’t “see” the film she’s viewing, she simply watches it and makes her cuts. That is until she watches a movie by a director that seemingly depicts a past trauma in her life. This sets her on a course of research that ultimately tests her sanity.
Leaning into artistic style and stylized lighting Bailey-Bond has captured some of the nuance associated with 80s horror. Drawing inspiration from splatter films such as The Evil Dead and the comic book art style of Creepshow, her eye is definitely focused on nostalgia. Combined with an impeccable soundtrack by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch, Censor provides you with 84 minutes in the Wayback VHS Machine.
That time is mostly used for Enid to find the elusive director of Don’t Go in the Church, a fictional splatter movie she feels holds a key to her sister’s childhood vanishing. Ironically, she must endure the uncut versions of her work in order to get some answers.
Censor isn’t a politically deep study into the arguments over free speech. Bailey-Bond only hints at the correlation between real violence and gore in films. Instead, this is a study of mental illness as a result of extreme grief and guilt. Niamh Algar’s performance is vulnerable yet, at times, impetuous. She keeps steady control of her character as she transforms from an up-tight proxy editor into a hellbent vigilante.
Although it’s filled with buckets of blood, the carnage in Censor isn’t as extreme as they would like you to believe. Gore in quick turnaround, extremely low-budget 80’s horror films, was cartoony and a bit exaggerated, and in keeping with that essence, Censor uses the same technique.
As in the recent movie Saint Maud, Censor is purely a one-woman show. In both films, the lead is given freedom of range, and in both films, the actresses give stellar performances, although Algar, in this film, is more snap than scorn.
A visual and visceral delight, Censor is a must-see for 80s horror fans. The story pulsates with a comic book color palette by cinematographer Annika Summerson (ambient light isn’t soft in this film, it’s all color theory).
With nods to everything from American slasher films to Giallo, Censor is a symphony of seduction to every person who lived through the 80s and cleaned their VHS head rollers with a string of Q-Tips taped together and some alcohol. There’s even a twist ending that will have you talking to friends about what it all means.
Bold and beautiful, Censor is a love letter to horror aficionados who have a special room in their house dedicated to the genre with multiple copies of the same old movie but on different platforms.
Censor premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 28, 2021