The next horror movie, The last omen received an R for “violent content, gruesome/disturbing images, and brief graphic nudity,” but according to director Arkasha Stevenson, she was forced to make some cuts because the original cut of the film would have earned an NC-17 rating.
During an interview with Fangoria, debut director Arkasha Stevenson she said she ended up in a “long battle” with the MPA to pass the film with an R rating due to a particularly graphic scene of a woman giving birth that gave them cause for concern. Talking about this, the director said:
“The horror in that situation is how dehumanized that woman is. This was my life for a year and a half, struggling to recover. It’s the theme of our film. It is the female body violated from the inside out. If we were to talk about female body horror, we would be talking about forced reproduction and we need to be able to show the female body in a non-sexualized light. I am very proud of this shot.”
Producers David Goyer AND Keith Levine (Hellraiser, The House of Night) helped the director in the fight to convince the MPA to allow a shorter version of this scene to be kept in the film. Apparently there was a lot of work for the team to do. Levine said:
“We had to go back and forth with the rankings five times. Oddly enough, avoiding NC-17 made it more intense.”
Goyer went on to talk about the “double standard” that became clear as they objected to the NC-17 rating, saying:
“The film, by its nature, is about female body horror and I think there is a double standard. It was really interesting when we were negotiating with the evaluation committee. I think there’s more permissiveness when dealing with male protagonists, particularly in body horror. That birth scene is very intense, I also have three children and I witnessed their births. It’s intense!”
In The first omen“When a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, she encounters a darkness that leads her to question her own faith and uncovers a terrifying conspiracy that hopes to bring about the birth of evil incarnate.”
The first omen stars Nell Tiger free (Servant), Tawfeek Barhom (Mary Magdalene), Sonia Braga (The Kiss of the Spider Woman), Ralph Ineson (The Norman), AND Bill Nighy (Life).
This film is a prequel to The omen and will be released in theaters on April 5th.
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
