Mubi Monday: Censor (2021)

There are a couple of things to bear in mind here, as my review for Censor unfolds. First, I never aim to be contrarian just for the sake of it. Second, something can still be original even as it brings to mind numerous other movies. Oh, and one more thing, this current nostalgic glow for the "video nasties" era is already overstaying its welcome, although I suspect I am in the minority with that viewpoint.

Censor is the story of Enid Baines (played by Niamh Algar), a woman working at the board of censors during the 1980s, the height of the moral panic over video content suddenly being available to most households. She struggles with every decision that she makes, battling against people who want their films uncensored, and also struggles with the weight of her sister's disappearance many years ago. During a time that sees her harangued by the public for some of her decisions, Enid views a film that contains an actress she suspects may actually be the key to unlocking exactly what happened to her sister. But maybe she is seeing what she wants to see, or maybe she is being affected by the material she watches every day at her work.

An admittedly fantastic feature debut from director Prano Bailey-Bond, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Anthony Fletcher, Censor manages to thread together a number of thought-provoking and unsettling scenes set against a background that will still feel fresh (sore?) to many horror movie fans. It's easy to romanticise that time - every horror fan of a certain age will have at least one tale of the time they were able to source a supply of fine "under the counter" nasties - but it's better to look back on it with the disdain and disgust it deserves. People were facing huge fines and jail time. Because of movies. And many of those movies are very easily available now, many of them uncut. The censors were enemies, viewing many adults with a horribly patronising attitude (covered by a sentiment of "won't someone please think of the children"), and maybe one or two stories could still be told with that focus. Censor doesn't want to do that.

What you have here is a mix of The Canal, Evil Ed, and Berberian Sound Studio. Those are good movies to want to emulate. Even Evil Ed. The aesthetics of the film feel spot on, and there are some nice touches that lend authenticity to an experience that feels admirably like a video cassette you've just put into a shiny new top-loader machine. What you don't have is a perfect and unique modern classic. Although nicely put together, and there are a number of impressive scenes throughout, Censor never really stretches itself any further than it needs to. Bailey-Bond does great work on the atmosphere throughout, but squanders the opportunity to present viewers with something smarter and fresher.

Algar is excellent in the lead role, very quiet and reserved until she starts to become more affected by everything going on in her mind. A number of other cast members do decent work, but none make a stronger impression than the excellent Michael Smiley, giving another of his enjoyably unsettling performances (a manner that is just too familiar, a smile that stays a bit too long). Clare Holman and Andrew Havill are excellent as concerned parents, and Felicity Montagu is very good in her small role, but Censor is more of a mood piece than an actor's showcase.

I really liked this, despite what you may think from reading what I have just written above. I didn't love it though, and I'm a bit surprised by just how much love it has been receiving recently. It's surprisingly straightforward and predictable, uses the VHS witch-hunt as little more than background noise to a plot that ultimately could be viewed as saying that the BBFC and others were correct to try to "ban this sick filth", and often feels more like an exercise in style than the more interesting, visceral, psychological horror that it could have been.

7/10

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I Want Candy (2007)

Well, here we are with a British sex comedy. Let's all take a moment to wipe our minds before we go on. There used to be the solid reputation, often viewed with rose-tinted glasses, of the Carry On films, of course. And things got naughtier with "Adventures Of..." and "Confessions Of..." movies. But, let's face it, British movies have done better over the past few decades when they focus on the romance over sex. On the one hand you have a number of films featuring Hugh Grant, and on the other hand you have, ummmm, films like Fat Slags and Sex Lives Of The Potato Men (neither of which I can envision appearing on blu-ray any time soon).

So where does I Want Candy fit in? It's the tale of two students who want to make their first film. Joe (Tom Riley) and John AKA Baggy (Tom Burke) have a vision, and they have a lot of faith in their own talent. What they don't have is anyone willing to back them. Until they make a deal with Doug Perry (Eddie Marsan). Unfortunately, Doug is in the porn business, and the deal is made on the understanding that Joe and John have the hottest adult entertainment star, Candy Fiveways (Carmen Electra), in their movie. It's then up to the young film-makers to come up with a plan that pleases everyone and allows them to get their film made.

Directed by Stephen Surjik (who has a hell of a lot of TV work in his filmography, with his biggest movie release being Wayne's World 2, back in 1993), I Want Candy isn't the kind of film that has any individual style stamped all over it. It's rude without being explicit, I may have already forgotten some details but I don't believe you ever see any actual nudity, the cast of main characters are ably supported by a decent enough ensemble, the soundtrack contains a cover version of the song with the same name as the movie, and the ending is completely unbelievable, but in line with the feelgood nature of the film.

A lot of people worked on the script, far too many than you would expect for something this lightweight. There was an "original idea" by Piers Thompson and Olivia Glazebrook, that was fleshed out into a script by Peter Hewitt, Phil Hughes, Jamie Minoprio, and Jonathan M. Stern, and then some further dialogue was added by Fred Wolf and Jimmy Carr, apparently (the latter has a fun cameo role that may have allowed him to improv some of his dialogue, or maybe he also helped with some other parts of the movie). And despite all of those people involved, it's never as funny as it could be. I suspect this is partly to do with keeping it a bit too tame, and also partly to do with not having the perfect cast in place.

Riley and Burke are good in their lead roles, they're just not great. Riley just doesn't have the charisma to sell his character as well as someone else might have done, and Burke is hampered by the script wanting to keep him very much in the "sensitive young artist" box. Marsan is a lot of fun in his role, the potential villain of the piece, and Electra just has to turn up and look incredibly desirable, which she does. Easily. Felicity Montagu and Philip Jackson are good value as Joe's mum and dad, Mackenzie Crook has fun in his role as a teacher trying to stay cool with the kids, and Michelle Ryan is the female friend who keeps being very helpful and loyal to a main character who cannot recognise something with the potential to blossom right under his nose (I am on about romance, that is NOT a porn term . . . I hope).

This isn't a terrible film. It's certainly not half as bad as those awful examples I mentioned in the opening paragraph. It's just not any great shakes. Relatively amusing enough while it's on, very easy to forget as soon as it's finished, and bottom of the pile when compared to other films in the same vein (the Risky Business type of film, arguably most successfully reworked as The Girl Next Door).

5/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.