Although yet to be confirmed by the BBFC's website, it appears that The Human Centipede II has been refused a certificate - seemingly confirming a rumour that Strange Things first heard a month ago.

While the first film was pased uncut, the gutsy sequel seems to have been too much for the British censors. According to the rather detailed report, the BBFC concluded that the thrust of the film was the "sexual arousal of the central character at both the idea and the spectacle of the total degradation, humiliation, mutilation, torture and murder of his naked victims", that "there is little attempt to portray any of the victims in the film as anything other than objects to be brutalised, degraded and mutilated for the amusement and arousal of the central character, as well as for the pleasure of the audience" and that "poses a real, as opposed to a fanciful, risk that harm is likely to be caused to potential viewers".

Clearly, if such a film was allowed to be released on DVD in Britain, we would soon be awash with people stitching together naked people, ass-to-mouth.

Of course, given the rather legendary status of the first film, even amongst people not usually inclined to watch extreme horror films, this ban is hardly likely to be as unnoticed as recent refusals to films like Grotesque. In the age of the internet, it might well be that the BBFC are like King Canute. In any case, expect more on this story.

UPDATE: The BBFC have now confirmed the ban. Their press release offers a spectacular synopsis of the offending imagery, which they claim is potentially in breach of the Obscene Publications Act:

The principal focus of The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) is the sexual arousal of the central character at both the idea and the spectacle of the total degradation, humiliation, mutilation, torture, and murder of his naked victims. Examples of this include a scene early in the film in which he masturbates whilst he watches a DVD of the original Human Centipede film, with sandpaper wrapped around his penis, and a sequence later in the film in which he becomes aroused at the sight of the members of the ‘centipede’ being forced to defecate into one another’s mouths, culminating in sight of the man wrapping barbed wire around his penis and raping the woman at the rear of the ‘centipede’. There is little attempt to portray any of the victims in the film as anything other than objects to be brutalised, degraded and mutilated for the amusement and arousal of the central character, as well as for the pleasure of the audience. There is a strong focus throughout on the link between sexual arousal and sexual violence and a clear association between pain, perversity and sexual pleasure. It is the Board’s conclusion that the explicit presentation of the central character’s obsessive sexually violent fantasies is in breach of its Classification Guidelines and poses a real, as opposed to a fanciful, risk that harm is likely to be caused to potential viewers.

EXTRA UPDATE: director Tom Six responds:

“Thank you BBFC for putting spoilers of my movie on your website and thank you for banning my film in this exceptional way. Apparently I made an horrific horror-film, but shouldn't a good horror film be horrific? My dear people it is a fucking MOVIE. It is all fictional. Not real. It is all make-belief. It is art. Give people their own choice to watch it or not. If people can't handle or like my movies they just don't watch them. If people like my movies they have to be able to see it any time, anywhere also in the UK.”

AND ANOTHER UPDATE: The distributors confirm that they will be appealing this decision.

In the light of the decision of the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) not to grant The Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence) a classification certificate, Bounty Films (Australia), in conjunction with its UK distribution partner Eureka Entertainment Ltd. intends to appeal the decision.

Bounty MD Tony Romeo said:

“In Australia the film has been granted a certificate with no cuts. We are extremely surprised therefore by the BBFC’s decision.”

At this time we do not wish to comment further.

Another day out at the Video Appeals Committee to look forward to then!