Just kidding.
The Australian film board has pulled Bruce LaBruce’s “L.A. Zombie,” which features hardcore anal and oral gay sex between aliens and zombies, from the Melbourne International Film Festival over concerns that the film might “breach local taste standards.” Uhh, yeah. The story’s been picked up by dozens of mainstream outlets, which is great, free publicity for the film, LaBruce and all the stars, including Francois Sagat, Adam Killian, Erik Rhodes, Wolf Hudson, and Eddie Diaz. Good! Of course, had this been about the censorship of a hardcore gay porn with human beings fucking each other in the ass as opposed to aliens and zombies fucking each other in the ass, this would not be news (but what AP reporter can resist writing about gay porn zombies, right?). Furthermore, what filmmaker would even attempt to submit a traditional hardcore gay porn movie to a film festival? I guess the fact that there are zombies involved here means it’s “art.”
For his part, LaBruce issued a press release this morning:
Intriguingly, the version of L.A. Zombie that has been banned by the Australian Film Classification Board is the softcore version, which features no explicit anally penetrative sex. Although this version does contain a few brief shots of flaccid penises, the only erect member in the show belongs to the alien zombie, played by French porn star Francois Sagat, and it is a prosthetic (fake) cock, not the actor’s own.
There might not be any anal in the softcore version, but I’m told that the film does feature zombies fucking wounds, orifices, and shotgun holes in other zombies, so that might be the part that breached local taste standards. The fact is, Australia’s film board doesn’t have to screen necrophilia porn if they don’t want to, so let’s stop using the word “banned,” OK? Also, Australia’s film board doesn’t have to screen movies that put people to sleep, which is what happened to me the last time I saw a Bruce LaBruce movie, but that’s another story.
LaBruce concluded his press release with this:
Censorship in any form should not be tolerated, but to ban a film that one programmer at a major festival has called “a masterpiece of melancholia” is truly beyond the pale.
That actually makes me not want to see it even more.
Here are some stills from the movie which, again, is hardcore gay porn, and here’s the trailer that The Sword ran last year.
Why they use condoms? if they shared blood all over their bodies, but they use condoms??? …. …. ……………..
I don’t think Zach is anti porn, but I do think he is anti God awful steaming pile of shit movies which judging by the previews, cast, and film maker this one would fall into that category like 99% of gay cinema. LaBruce could have had someone eat a piece of dog shit or used a live chicken as a sex prop.
I have a copy of “Skin Flick” by LaBruce that I thought was hardcore, but TLA, who I bought it from, only had the rights to the softcore version. I tried to email LaBruce about where I could get the hardcore version, but his website is really jacked and doesn’t respond.
So that’s my complaint with Bruce LaBruce. Making me jack-off to softcore porn.
Damn you Bruce LaBruce!!!
Have always thought Bruce La Bruce was overrated, thanks for keeping it real.
And to the person who said there’s hardcore sex in Brown Bunny, one lame ass BJ doesn’t count.
Don’t get me started on Romance, with it’s empty promise of hardcore sex and decent story.
Also funny that Owen responded w/o saying he’s a producer and everyone called him out ha.
I enjoy that Bruce chose to clarify his use of the word “prosthetic” as “fake” in his press release. Wouldn’t want those big SAT words to leave anyone confused!
This is insane, but kinda cool. Any publicity is good publicity.
Wolf Hudson
Owen you might want to mention the fact that you are the producer and USA distributor of the film. You’ve got a “dog in the hunt” so to speak.
ban:
1.
to prohibit, forbid, or bar
…why cant they use the word ‘banned’? The film festival, prohibited, forbade, and/or barred the movie from being shown.
This is a lame and misleading write up of an interesting story. Get your facts straight first of all, no one submitted anything with anal sex or blow jobs or even hard cocks to any festivals. What was submitted to festivals had only special effects. In fact, these effects are much less gory than what you would see is SAW or even 1000 other violent hollywood movies… wasn’t there a movie recently where some guy ties two people’s intestinal tracks together? Well that’s acceptable mainstream entertainment, and THATS your story and your angle here.
Instead you’ve come out sounding anti-porn, saying its never art, and honestly I thought Naked Sword was an organization that actually wanted to SUPPORT people taking risks and experiments with the gay porn genre and then someone goes and does that and you take a big shit over it.
Lame.
I didn’t say that you submitted anything anal. In fact, I reprinted LaBruce’s PR explaining the softcore version he submitted. So, there’s nothing factually incorrect here.
I also did not say that porn is “never art.” Specifically, I am saying that zombies fucking holes in dead bodies isn’t art, in my opinion. I’m sure that there are many who would disagree, which is why this movie will be so successful. Enjoy the publicity!
Wow, it’s disappointing to see you join the side of the prudes and censors, regardless of whether you like LaBruce’s work or not. It’s the opportunity to express one’s self freely that is at stake here.
“what filmmaker would even attempt to submit a straight up hardcore gay porn to a film festival?”
The Sundance Film Festival played LaBruce’s RASPBERRY REICH uncut, including all the hardcore gay sex. It was hilarious, with a great story and characters in addition to hot Germans fucking. His best work, in my opinion.
Cannes, Venice, Toronto — they’ve all played films featuring hard core sex plenty of times (THE BROWN BUNNY, ROMANCE, etc.)
But after RASPBERRY REICH alienated straight audience members, LaBruce has since always submitted the soft-core versions of his movies to film festivals so that straight people can enjoy them, too. My guess is whatever the Australian board banned was pretty tame.