Genre case study: Horror
Horror is Part of the 'subject matter gateway'
For a film to be classified by the New Zealand Office of Film and Literature Classification, it must in some way deal with one of the following five subjects, known collectively as 'the subject matter gateway' [see glossary]: sex, horror, crime, cruelty or violence.
Horror has been included in New Zealand censorship legislation since 1916.
Horror can mean different things
When people think of horror in a film, they might think of blood, gore and violence. Horror can also be used to describe a film containing supernatural themes, or frightening or disturbing content.
Horror on the descriptive note
Films which may fall into the horror genre may not always contain the word 'horror' on the descriptive note. The use of horror on a descriptive note usually refers to supernatural or bloody violence of a gratuitous nature – for example, films such as Shaun of the Dead (R13) which features zombies who 'have blank milky eyes, vacant facial expressions and stilted co-ordination and are often in a state of decomposition with blood, wounds and viscera over their bodies', and Jennifer's Body (R16) in which:
her victims' gory injuries are depicted. They are seen lying with their abdomens ripped open, and there is the suggestion of entrails and blood. At one point a deer is seen licking at a bloody corpse, and in another gory scene Jennifer eats the contents of a victim's abdomen with her hands.
- Office of Film and Literature Classification Decisions
The horror genre has developed over time
The types of content being presented in films has changed significantly over time as a result of advances in technology and changes in society.
Here are some examples of horror films that have been classified in New Zealand over the years:
- Dracula (1931)
- Psycho (1960)
- Friday the 13th (1980)
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
- Scream (1996)
- I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
- The Blair Witch Project (1999)
- The Grudge (2004)
- Black Sheep (2006)
- The Uninvited (2009)
- Friday the 13th (2009)
1930s
Classified by: the Chief Censor of Films (CCF)
Legislation: 1916 Cinematograph-film Censorship Act
- Dracula (1931) classified 'A', which translates to PG under today's legislation.
Dracula launched the career of actor Béla Lugosi, who went on to star in dozens of horror films over the next two decades.
1960s
Classified by: the Chief Censor of Films (CCF)
Legislation: 1957 Film Censorship Regulation; 1961 Cinematograph Films Act; 1976 Cinematograph Films Act
- Psycho (1960) originally classified in 1960 as R18 with cuts required. The classification was amended in 1977 to be R16 with cuts required. Then in 1992 the cuts were waived, meaning that the classification of the uncut (full) version of the film today is R16.
Find out what the Chief Censor of Films cut out of Psycho (PDF, v9.0, 62.8KB)
1980s
Classified by: the Chief Censor of Films (for film) and Video Recordings Authority (for video) until 1993
Legislation: 1976 Cinematograph Films Act; Video Recordings Act 1987; Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993
- Friday the 13th (1980) classified as R16 with cuts required
- A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) classified as RP16 contains violence. This film spawned seven sequels, making it one of the most well known horror film franchises.
1990s
Classified by: Office of Film and Literature Classification
Legislation: Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993
- Scream (1996) classified as R16 contains violence and offensive language. This film introduced a more 'post-modern' approach to horror which reproduced in other films following its release. In these types of films, characters are aware of the typical things that happen in horror films - in some cases this knowledge helps them to save themselves, sometimes it doesn't.
Read the OFLC's summary of reasons for the R16 classification decision for Scream (PDF, v9.0, 109KB)
- I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) classified as R16 contains violence. The late 1990's saw the release of a number of horror films aimed at the teenage market. These films featured popular and well-known young actors, and weren't as violent or gory as films from earlier decades.
- The Blair Witch Project (1999) classified as R13 contains realistic horror and offensive language. This film has been described a 'landmark' in film-making, with its subtle marketing campaign and hand-held point of view camera style leading many viewers to believe that they were watching actual footage of a doomed expedition by some young film students.
The 2000s
Classified by: The Office of Film and Literature Classification
Legislation: Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993
- The Grudge (2004) classified as R16 contains horror scenes. This film was originally cross-rated from the Australian rating of M. As a result of complaints from members of the public the film was examined by the OFLC and the classification changed to R16. This film was one of many American productions based on Japanese films.
- Black Sheep (2006) classified as R13 contains violence, horror scenes and offensive language. This film won numerous prizes at overseas film festivals.
- The Uninvited (2009) classified as R13 contains violence, horror scenes and offensive language. This film is a remake of a 2003 Korean Horror film.
- Friday the 13th (2009) classified as R16 contains sex scenes, violence, drug use and offensive language. This film is a remake of the 1980 film featured above.
Extent, Degree and Manner
When the Classification Office classifies a film, it doesn't just look at whether there is horror in it or not. If there are elements of horror in the film, the Office must consider the way the horror is depicted in terms of extent, degree, and manner.
Extent refers to length, running time – how much horror is there in the film? Does it dominate the entire film, or only make up a small part of it? Degree refers to intensity – how strong is the horror? Is it low impact, or graphic? Manner refers to the way the horror is presented – is it funny? Is it frightening and gory? Is it over the top and gratuitous? In the following clip the former Chief Censor, Bill Hastings, explains extent, degree and manner using the example of cruelty - think about how these things can be applied to the presence of 'horror' in films.
Watch former Chief Censor Bill Hastings explain the significance of extent, degree and manner (1:32)
Embedded YouTube video:
Read a transcript of this video
With this bit here, you now have discretion again. It says in determining whether or not any publication, other than the gross automatic ban thing I just showed you, is objectionable – is banned – or should be given a classification other than objectionable, such as restricted, or even unrestricted – Parliament says you have to give particular weight – not just any old weight but particular weight – to the extent, and degree to which, and the manner in which the publication depicts a whole lot of stuff.
Now you can see all these things here – they're not going to be in every publication. But if they are in any particular publication, you have to give particular weight to them. And it's not just particular weight to the content, but you have to give particular weight to the extent and degree to which, and the manner in which, this content is depicted.
So in a film, extent is going to be running time – how long is this film depicting acts of cruelty? Degree is like intensity – how intensely is the film dealing with, for example, cruelty? And manner – what is the manner in which this film is depicting cruelty? Is it for entertainment? Is it a serious treatment of the harmful effects of cruelty? Is it educational?
- Former Chief Censor Bill Hastings
As film technology advances and the things that audiences look for in horror films changes, the types of horror films submitted to the Classification Office may change, but it seems likely that the genre will be around for many years to come.
Glossary:
- Classification Officer = Official title for a censor. Classification officer's examine publications when they are submitted for classification
- Descriptive note = The extra wording on a classification label which warns people of content in the film e.g. 'M: contains sexual references and offensive language'
- Gratuitous = Over the top, extreme, unnecessary
- OFLC = Office of Film and Literature Classification. Since 1993 the OFLC has been responsible for classifying all publications, including films, videos, books and video games. Banned films are classified as 'Objectionable'
- Subject matter gateway = In 2000, a Court of Appeal decision about a publication first coined the phrase 'subject matter gateway'. The Court said:
[28] The words used in s3 [of the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act] limit the qualifying publications to those that can fairly be described as dealing with matters of the kinds listed. In that regard, too, the collocation of words "sex, horror, crime, cruelty or violence", as the matters dealt with, tends to point to activity rather than to the expression of opinion or attitude.
For a publication to be classified it must in some way deal with one or more of sex, horror, crime, cruelty or violence.[29] That, in our view, is the scope of the subject matter gateway.
- Court of Appeal decision 6 HRNZ 28 (2000)
