Prano Bailey-Bond makes a solid feature directing debut with genre piece Censor, a tight, 80-odd-minute British ‘video nasty’ rammed full of nostalgia, shocks, and buckets of blood. Niamh Algar – hot off a dynamite performance in last year’s outstanding Calm With Horses – leads this superb cast as a British film censor who spots similarities between a new horror movie and her own life which has also been laced with tragedy.
The 1980s. The days of the video nasties and the height of the VHS rental market. Driller Killer, Cannibal Holocaust, and even The Evil Dead; just a few of the movies banned from going before an audience during that particular decade. It is during this era where Censor is set. The story revolves around Enid (Niamh Algar), one the British film censors board’s top officers tasked with viewing the worst of the worst in terms of violent content, and deciding which rating to give a particular work, or even not to give it a classification at all – essentially banning the movie from being screened before a paying audience. She’s a single woman who has had issues in her own private life, too, as we learn that her has sister mysteriously vanished . Still haunted by the loss, Enid reviews one particular film, horror film ‘Don’t Go into the Church’ by prolific genre filmmaker Frederick North, which seems to have some similarities to her own tragic story. Lines are blurred between fact and fiction as Enid embarks on a journey to discover the truth behind the mysterious disappearance of he dear sibling in a film that both shocks and delights in equal measure.
As well as Algar, Censor boasts an impressive cast. A stand-out is the always reliable Michael Smiley who, while limited to just a bunch of scenes, lights up the screen as the lush though sleazy film producer Doug, a character who, while completely creepy, provides a lot of the more darkly comedic moments.
There are nostalgicnods to the era of the video store, and even those dodgy unofficial rentals that occurred back in the day where films were loaned out to willing punters under the counter; poor quality offerings of those movies that didn’t get passed by our brutal censor board of the time.
It’s a pretty violent feature itself, Bailey-Bond littering the early moments with key scenes from mentioned movies, including Abel Ferrara’s infamous Driller Killer, amongst others, to set the scene for Enid’s rather unenvious job. Algar completely carries the movie appearing in almost every scene, and there really are some edge-of-your-seat moments as he character confronts her demons as the narrative progresses. As we approach its bloody climax, Bailey-Bond’s film reaches the heights of the some of the retro films she features, a suitably bloody ending that will no doubt delight fans of the genre.
Nice editing, haunting cinematography with smoky corridors, fog-filled alleyways and smoke-filled interiors, along with terrific production design offer more plusses for this impressive feature, one that should find, and please an audience. Those of the weaker disposition might do well to stay away though, as this film certainly doesn’t shy away from the genre it is lovingly tipping its hat to. I had a great time and for the right audience, this will be a certified midnight crowd-pleaser.
Censor plays as part of the Panorama strand at the 71st Berlin Film Festival.
Censor
Summary
A love letter to the video nasties of the 1980s is also a runaway success for debut feature director Prano Bailey-Bond. A disturbing, bloody genre piece that will be a future midnight crowd-pleaser all of its own.
