Giorgos S. sent us a link to a story in the Guardian about the cover of DVDs of the movie “Lesbian Vampire Killers.” Some stores are carrying censored versions. Giorgos says he’s seen the censored version at Borders stores in the U.K.:
So apparently the phrase “they won’t go down without a bite” is fine, and major cleavage requires just a tad bit of coverage with a sticker that says “Warning: Contains explicitly fit bloodsucking hotties!” The sticker that nearly entirely obscures the word “lesbian” says, “Warning: may display sexually suggestive cover image.”
The distributors blame stores, saying a number of large retailers requested that they obscure particular parts of the cover. The stores say they didn’t request that the word “lesbian” be hidden. I suppose we’ll never know what happened there. It does crack me up that you’d be willing to sell a movie called “Lesbian Vampire Killers,” but then be worried about the cover.
The issue of censorship leaves aside, of course, the content of the film itself. This may surprise you, but it was apparently widely negatively reviewed. IMDb summarizes the plot thusly:
Their women having been enslaved by the local pack of lesbian vampires thanks to an ancient curse, the remaining menfolk of a rural town send two hapless young lads out onto the moors as a sacrifice.
Here’s the original marketing poster:
I like how her nipples have been photoshopped out (unless lesbian vampires have nipples on the sides of their boobs).
If anyone’s seen it, I’d be interested to know if it portrays lesbians as ridiculously as I suspect it does.
See also: airbrushing out men’s nipples.
Comments 21
Ashley — August 22, 2009
No need to censor "killers," though. It's interesting (and by that I mean horrifying) to me that homosexuality is more offensive to our cultural sensibilities than murder.
gp — August 22, 2009
the sticker placement is a joke
everything about it is a joke
the premise is a joke
the plot is a joke
the characters are jokes
it being in theatres was a joke
it makes no attempt to portray lesbians in any which manner other than that of being vampires. which is again a joke
gp — August 22, 2009
I want to be clear here, whoever added that "may display sexually suggestive cover image" was pointing out what ashley (commenter above) is so horrified about
Anonymous — August 22, 2009
I am put in mind of my last visit to Germany: they have a _broadcast_ television channel that's all nudity, all night long, but a dubbed version of the Keanu Reeves movie, "Speed," carried a parental content warning due to violence. (Footnote 1: We can have another discussion about the corrosive effect of women's bodies presented salaciously. The point is: sexuality acceptable, violence problematic. Which I think is, broadly, correct. Footnote 2: When someone else is reading his lines for him, Keanu isn't a bad actor! "Speed" was much better in German than in English.)
On the whole, I was much happier with that arrangement than what we have. And you tend to think the Brits are on the right side of the whole question of whether it is violence or sexuality that people need to be protected from, but there you go.
The idea that "killers" is no problem, but "lesbian" needs to be obscured, is indicative of a deep sickness in Western culture. How sad to see this in Great Britain! In Alabama, we'd just nod our heads sadly and say, "It figures."
sherunslunatic — August 22, 2009
I've seen it. If you like absurdly over-the-top comic horror (think Black Sheep or Zombie Strippers), it's fun, but certainly not everyone's cup of tea. The "lesbians" are just conventionally feminine, conventionally hot vampires who make out with one another. The fact that anyone censored the covers suggests that the stores are taking the movie a lot more seriously than the filmmakers did.
Lina — August 22, 2009
Here's a fun review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uKz50B0wVE
Tom Adams — August 23, 2009
http://www.lesbilicious.co.uk/tv-film/lesbian-vampire-killers-review/
In short, it's a comedy about corrective rape.
Ann — August 23, 2009
I remember seeing the trailer for this in the cinema... I was disgusted, but my sister thought it was funny.
Elena — August 23, 2009
Lesbian vampires are so cliché, they've got their own TV tropes page. Then again, no one in the taget audience has ever heard of, say, Jess Franco, so whatevs.
Eneya — August 24, 2009
So... to be a lesbain is a curse or to be a vampire?
Brrr, corrective is NOT funny.
And the movie is pretty dumb.
I suppose it is something like American Pie, the dumber version.
Roving Thundercloud — August 25, 2009
I was more annoyed by the final image (original poster) which shows two *male* hands baring the vampire's breast (presumably for killing via penetration) and giving two thumbs-ups at the same time. Yecccccchhhhhh.
Eoin O'Mahony — August 27, 2009
Hey there, back again after a long absence. A similar ploy is being used to market Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds right here in Ireland as well. The TV spot ends with the voiceover saying "Tarantino's Inglrious.." with gunshots replacing the 8 letters of the second word.
Natalie — August 30, 2009
I’ve seen it. It’s an exceptionally poor film, as well as being profoundly misogynistic. One of the lead characters has a standard “controlling bitch” type girlfriend who enjoys sex a little bit too much to be allowed to live (and who conveniently gets converted to lesbianism very quickly and has to be hilariously murdered). And meanwhile, it turns out that the only way to cure a lesbian is to stab her with a penis-sword, whereupon she explodes, as noted above, in an ejaculatory spurt of sticky, white fluid.
It’s distressing that this monstrosity got as far as being filmed, let alone released.
Ryan — August 31, 2009
I think this film needs a higher level of analysis. Netflix queue has been updated.
“Explicit” Material: Censoring Lesbians « Gender Freedom: Sexuality and Gender Beyond Borders — September 22, 2009
[...] “Explicit” Material: Censoring Lesbians September 23, 2009 Posted by Dr. Elisa in Uncategorized. trackback Since we’ve been talking about censorship in relation to The Well of Loneliness, have a look this article from the site Sociological Images about the censored DVD cover of the film Lesbian Vampire Killers in U.K. stores here. [...]