In Sam Peckinpah’s film, standard Western tropes – outlaws, heroes, beautiful landscape – are used to interrogate an exhausted genre. He knows spectacular gunfights are problematic but did the cut version shown in Ireland convey Peckinpah’s intent?

The Wild Bunch, dir Sam Peckinpah, starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine

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One of Martin Scorsese’s favourite films and guess what? We agree, it’s brilliant. Contemporary audiences detested it, preferring to ignore why they derived pleasure from realistic, filmed torture and terror. This film has everything from Freudianism to a Hitchcock doppelganger. Cuts made by censors might be lost forever but it still shocks and gives us a perfect amount of ick.

Peeping Tom (1960) dir. Michael Powell, starring Karlheinz Boehm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer

Psycho (1960) dir. Alfred Hitchcock, starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh.

The Red Shoes (1948) dir. Powell and Pressburger, starring Anton Walbrook, Moira Shearer.

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A horror fan (Lloyd Meadhbh) and not-a-horror fan (Aoife) agree that this unexpectedly feminist film did not deserve to be banned twice in Ireland. Caveat: Roman Polanski directed it.

Rosemary’s Baby (dir. Roman Polanski) starring Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes

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Ties, suits and sex - Paul Schrader's exploration of consumerism and Richard Gere's hotness was pruned of bad language and "sex scenes" by the Irish censor.

American Gigolo (1980, dir. Paul Schrader) starring Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Bill Duke, Hector Elizondo

You Must Remember This on American Gigolo

More on Aoife's Gere-athon for Patreon supporters

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What’s the worst celluloid crime committed in The Evil Dead: excessive violence or Bruce Campbell’s fringe? Lloyd Meadhbh (a fan) tries to persuade Aoife (a sceptic) to embrace this video-nasty classic. Also, listener correspondence on The Rocky Road to Dublin.

The Evil Dead (dir. Sam Rami, 1981) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083907/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6_tt_8_nm_0_q_evil%2520dead

Evil Dead II (dir. Sam Rami, 1987) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092991/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_7_tt_8_nm_0_q_evil%2520dead%2520

Weird Studies Podcast on ‘Evil Dead II’ https://www.weirdstudies.com/136

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Lloyd Meadhbh rewinds the tape back to the 1980s, when a new film medium caused a new (ish) moral panic.

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How revolutionary was Ireland anyway? Journalist and director Peter Lennon asked how a nation birthed by rebels seemed to be run by Catholic priests. His caustic script allied to Raoul Coutard's captivating cinematography made for a unique documentary. We discuss odd accents, cheeky children and creepy priests.

The Rocky Road to Dublin (1967, re-released by IFI in 2004) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66JpC_T3wFM

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Did you know DIY censorship was practiced by those outside the film censor’s office. Even after official censors vetted publicity material, some film posters showed too much skin, especially male arms and legs.

Liam O’Leary collected this material

Kevin Rockett Irish Film Censorship: a cultural journey from silent cinema to internet pornography (2004)

Doctored film posters can be seen here

Original, undoctored film posters:

The Virgin Soldiers (1969) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065182/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

The Hustler (1961) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054997/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_8_nm_0_q_the%2520hust

Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066016/

From Here to Eternity (1953) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045793/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_from%2520here

The Chastity Belt/On My Way To The Crusades I Met A Girl Who (1967) https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0064167/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_2_tt_4_nm_4_q_chastity%2520belt

A Cold Wind in August (1961) https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0054755/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

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