China Bans Horror Movies · Slashdot Mirror

Posted by Zonk on Friday February 15, 2008 @07:36PM from the won't-someone-think-of-the-braaaaaiiinnnnsss dept.

KublaiKhan writes "According to an article on Reuters, the Chinese censors have decided that horror movies are verboten. 'Offending content included "wronged spirits and violent ghosts, monsters, demons, and other inhuman portrayals, strange and supernatural storytelling for the sole purpose of seeking terror and horror," the administration said. This is apparently a sort of Chinese version of the Jack Thompson effect, as the "mental health of adolescents" is cited as one of the reasons for the ban. Presumably, this ban — much like the spitting ban — is intended to improve China's image in the rest of the world before the Olympics open; but given the Streisand effect, would this ban perhaps unintentionally spur a surge of horror movie popularity in China?" Blizzard has had trouble with skeletons in World of Warcraft , and I imagine this decision stems from similar objections.

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Ban Horror, Monsters or Shlock? by pipingguy · 2008-02-15 19:38 · Score: 0, Offtopic

I'm now coincidentally watching (and recording) 'The Host', an Asian-made monster/horror story on pay TV. It's quite good, actually, with all the usual undertones. Then again, I like Godzilla movies.

And maybe I'm suffering from old fartism, but some of the more shlocky stuff lately seems to be, uh, more of the same gore for gore's sake.