Some of the world’s most notorious banned films will be screened at London’s Prince Charles Cinema following the news that it had been ‘saved’ from potential closure.
It was announced earlier this week that the Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square had signed a 25-year lease without a break clause with its current landlords after being threatened with closure since January 2025.
The news coincides with a controversial season the PCC is set to run alongside screenings of the uncut 4K version of Ken Russell’s nunsploitation flick The Devils.
With the iconic previously banned and heavily censored film coming to the cinema from October 30, bosses have curated Pairing With The Devils for the occasion, a selection of films to watch alongside The Devils that share similar themes and notoriety.
The line-up includes Pier Paolo Passolini’s Salo, Or The 120 Days of Sodom, Lars von Trier’s Antichrist, and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, alongside many other revered yet challenging titles.
Sharing the announcement on social media, the Prince Charles Cinema wrote: ‘With The Devils screening throughout November, we’ve built a whole season of films to sit alongside it: Pairing With The Devils.
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‘Across the month, you can also see Antichrist, The Last Temptation of Christ, Salo, Black Narcissus, In The Realm of The Senses, Empire Of Passion, Dogtooth, Benedetta, and The Holy Mountain.
‘Different filmmakers, different eras, but all circling questions of religion, repression, blasphemy, desire, and power. Perfect companions to one of the wildest films ever made!’
Followers were quick to rave about the film schedule, hailing it ‘truly diabolical in the best sense of the word.’
On Instagram, la_rain_ called it ‘dream programming,’ while harry_uppal23 wrote, ‘Insane lineup … only time I wish I lived in London.’
Dottyplaid added: ‘Impeccable prpgramme. Burn me into the seats.’
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Intrigued? This is what you can expect from the lineup – if you have the stomach for it.
Antichrist
Directed by ‘The Punisher’ Lars Von Trier, his brutal 2009 release Antichrist has fast become one of the most controversial films ever made.
It follows an unnamed married couple, played by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, following the death of their infant son.
While the mother is hospitalised following the tragedy, the psychiatrist father decides she needs to face her fears and takes her to a cabin in the woods where they spent time with their son.
However, once there, she begins acting increasingly erratically with dangerous consequences.
Antichrist is the first film in Von Trier’s Depression Trilogy, followed by 2011’s Melancholia and 2013’s Nymphomaniac.
It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, prompting several walkouts and even causing people to faint due to its graphic gore and disturbing themes.
Antichrist is at the Prince Charles Cinema on Tuesday, November 3, at 12.20pm
In the Realm of The Senses
Still censored in its home country of Japan, Nagisa Oshima’s In the Realm of the Senses whipped up outrage at the time of its release.
Its unsimulated sex scenes, real-life inspiration from the 1936 Sada Abe incident in Tokyo, and graphic scenes of violence led to immediate backlash, bans, and seizures worldwide.
Director Oshima was also dragged through a high-profile obscenity trial in Japan, though he was eventually acquitted in 1982.
Set in 1936, In the Realm of the Senses follows a former geisha and prostitute, Sado (Eiko Matsuda), who embarks on an obsessive affair with the married inn owner, Kichizō Ishida (Tatsuya Fuji).
They completely detach themselves from the outside world, in an era of escalating imperialism and governmental control, as the power dynamics in the relationship shift.
In The Realm of The Senses is at the Prince Charles Cinema on Monday, November 2, at 3.25pm, and Tuesday, November 10, at 6.15pm
Eyes Wide Shut
While the content of Eyes Wide Shut is certainly shocking, its backstage drama is the main reason Stanley Kubrick’s surreal psychological thriller remains so controversial.
Released in 1999, the film sees Dr Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) join an underground sex group after discovering his wife Alice (Nicole Kidman) had an affair.
Kubrick demanded unwavering devotion and cult-like secrecy from Kidman and Cruise, who played a married couple in the film. In fact, the shoot took a staggering 15 months, setting the Guinness World Record for the longest continual film shoot.
Throughout this time period, Kubrick insisted his stars immerse themselves in their characters, intentionally blurring the line between reality and fiction as he psychologically wore them down by asking them to shoot upwards of 50 takes of each scene.
Kubrick insisted this repetition broke down the facade of performance by exhausting the actors so that they would recite their lines in new and unexpected ways, creating characters they would otherwise be unable to access.
The couple also slept in their characters’ bedroom throughout filming because Kubrick wanted to merge the world of the movie and the couple’s real marriage.
Eyes Wide Shut is at the Prince Charles Cinema on several dates between Monday, November 2, and Wednesday, December 16
Black Narcissus
The perfect accompaniment to The Devils, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1947 film Black Narcissus reflects many of the same themes as Russell’s masterpiece.
The film follows Sister Clodagh (Deborah Kerr) and a group of Anglican nuns who struggle against extreme isolation, a harsh climate, and their own repressed desires while trying to establish a convent in the Himalayas.
Released just before Indian independence in 1947, Black Narcissus reflects post-war British anxieties about the decline of the British Empire.
Like The Devils, it was deemed shocking at the time of its release due to its transgressive eroticism and female repression shown through the psychological breakdown of its central nuns.
Its casting and representation have been criticised in the decades since it was released, with many actors in brownface to portray Indian characters.
Black Narcissus is at the Prince Charles Cinema on Tuesday, November 3, at 6pm
Dogtooth
Dogtooth propelled Yorgos Lanthimos to fame in 2009 thanks to its deeply disturbing content.
The film follows a controlling father and mother (Christos Stergioglou and Michelle Valley) who keep their three adult children – an older daughter, a younger daughter, and a son (Angeliki Papoulia, Christos Passalis, and Mary Tsoni) – completely confined inside a walled rural country estate.
The children are raised in total isolation, controlled by fabricated rules, invented histories, and a dictionary where everyday words are redefined.
Needless to say, its scenes of graphic violence and forced incest meant Dogtooth was heavily restricted and cut in many countries, though it avoided being outright banned.
Film festival screenings and its cinema run saw walkouts in the crowd, though it simultaneously achieved high critical acclaim and garnered an Academy Award nomination.
Dogtooth is at the Prince Charles Cinema on Wednesday, November 4, at 3.25pm
The Last Temptation of Christ
Willem Dafoe features twice in the PCC’s upcoming season, featuring in both Antichrist and Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ.
The film, released in 1988, stars Dafoe as Jesus and tells his story from working as a Judean carpenter to hearing voices that tell him he is the son of God, preaching gospels of love and compassion, his betrayal, and eventual crucifixion.
The film was based on Nikos Kazantzakis’ 1955 novel of the same name, which was condemned by the Catholic Church.
When The Last Temptation of Christ was released, it was almost immediately deemed blasphemous, mostly due to its portrayal of Christ as a flawed figure, as well as living an ordinary human life in which he has sex.
The film triggered global protests and boycotts, with Scorsese receiving death threats for making the film.
In 1988, a Paris cinema was subjected to an arson attack for showing the film, in which 13 people were injured.
The Last Temptation of Christ is at the Prince Charles Cinema on Thursday, November 5, at 12pm
Salo, Or The 120 Days of Sodom
When people think of banned films, the first that comes to mind is likely Salo.
Directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, adapted from the Marquis de Sade’s novel The 120 Days of Sodom, follows a group of libertines in fascist Italy who capture a group of teenagers and torture them.
It was Pasolini’s final film, released in 1975, three weeks after he was brutally murdered.
The movie has become notorious for its graphic and disturbing content, often being hailed by critics and film fans alike as ‘the sickest film ever made.’
Salo has faced a troubled release history, being banned in several countries across the world due to its graphic depictions of rape, torture, and murder.
In 1976, the film’s producer Alberto Grimaldi, even faced obscenity charges in court.
Salo, Or The 120 Days of Sodom, is at the Prince Charles Cinema on Thursday, November 5, at 5.50pm
Haxan
Haxan will be screened at London’s Prince Charles Cinema with a live score performed by Hugo Max.
Directed by Benjamin Christensen, Haxan was released in 1922 and blends documentary storytelling with dramatic re-enactments.
It covers the history of black magic, demonology, and satanism from ancient and medieval times through to the 20th century.
Way ahead of its time more than 100 years ago, Haxan caused uproar by showcasing some of the most grotesque imagery in silent film history.
Censors were shocked by its depictions of medieval torture, nudity, and blasphemy, while it also heavily criticised the catholic church and the Spanish Inquisition.
Rather than treating witchcraft as a supernatural evil, Haxan showed that those historically accused of being witches were often victims of mental illness and accused society of poorly treating those with psychiatric disorders – something incredibly controversial back in the 1920s.
Haxan with Live Score is at the Prince Charles Cinema on Thursday, October 22, at 6pm
Ms. 45
Abel Ferrara is arguably best known for directing The Addiction and Driller Killer, but Ms. 45 is one of his most unforgettable films.
Thana (Zoë Tamerlis) is a garment worker who is viciously assaulted twice while walking home, traumatising her to her core.
Fuelled by a desire for revenge, she grabs the .45 calibre pistol she fought from the second attacker and begins prowling the streets of Manhattan at night, hunting down and killing various men.
Unlike Driller Killer, Ms. 45 avoided being placed on the Video Nasties list upon its release in 1981, but it still proved highly controversial due to its gruelling depictions of rape.
It sparked debate among viewers, with some hailing it a cathartic rape-revenge film, while others labelled it gratuitous and exploitative.
Ms. 45 is at the Prince Charles Cinema on Wednesday, November 11, at 12.15pm
Benedetta
Released in 2022, 100 years after Haxan, Benedetta proves that we can still make a controversial transgressive nun film.
Paul Verhoeven’s thriller is set in 17th-century Tuscany and tells the true story of Benedetta Carlini (played by Virginie Efira) who is brought to a Theatine convent in Pescia by her wealthy parents.
It follows her from childhood and her connection to the divine, to her adulthood and violent erotic visions of Christ, secret lesbian relationship, investigation, and eventual punishment.
Adapted from Judith C. Brown’s book Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy, Benedetta’s graphic depictions of sex and blasphemy were deemed outrageous by many.
Groups such as the Catholic League and The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property protested the film’s marketing, original title Blessed Virgin, and its provocative posters featuring a nun with an exposed breast.
Benedetta is at the Prince Charles Cinema on Thursday, November 12, at 12.20pm
The Holy Mountain
The Holy Mountain is the most bizarre film of the bunch, and is sure to be an experience on the big screen.
Directed by and starring Alejandro Jodorowsky, the film follows The Alchemist, a messianic character who guides seven materialistic figures to the Holy Mountain where they hope to achieve enlightenment.
It blends scathing social satire, blasphemy, and shocking imagery to make comments on religion and politics, which proved controversial when it was released in 1973.
It heavily parodies religion while also dancing with occult ceremonies and symbols, which was condemned by the Catholic Church.
It also angered the Mexican government and President Luis Echeverría because of its depiction of soldiers in Mexican military uniforms massacring civilians.
Jodorowsky claims he received threats from parliamentary groups and government officials, forcing him to flee Mexico and finish the film in New York.
The Holy Mountain is at the Prince Charles Cinema on Tuesday, November 10, at 12.20pm