Top 20 Movies We All Watched Because We Weren't Allowed

WatchMojo

From demonic possessions to controversial scenes, these films were strictly off-limits when we were young - which only made us want to watch them more! Join us as we look back at the controversial movies that defined our rebellious viewing habits, featuring horror classics, steamy thrillers, and groundbreaking dramas.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the movies we were forbidden

00:10to watch as kids, which of course, made us watch them even faster.

00:29Filled with violence, pop culture references and a lot of cussing, Quentin Tarantino's

00:33magnum opus had everything a kid could want to see.

00:36Unlike so many other things we were banned from checking out as kids, old people seemed

00:40to really like this one too.

00:48Seeing the film praised in places like the Academy Awards and on TV by the likes of Siskel

00:52and Ebert, the children of the 90s knew it was one movie they had to find a way to see.

00:57In fact, only the most boring people in the world, like Bob Dole, seemed not to like it,

01:02giving us all the more reason to try and watch it.

01:17Sitting right in the middle of the Venn diagram of freaky sci-fi horror and skin flick, Species

01:22is one that our parents wanted to keep us away from for multiple reasons.

01:31The film follows Syl, an alien-human hybrid played by Natasha Henstridge, with her model

01:36beauty.

01:37As in alien form, she looks like an HR Giga creation.

01:41The plot, where Syl attempts to mate with a human to create a race of hybrids that would

01:45take over the world, was little more than an excuse for some truly bizarre sex scenes.

01:50Tobey Hooper's nasty little independent film was considered so bloody at the time that

02:06it had trouble getting a distributor.

02:08However, once it was released, it became one of the most profitable movies ever made.

02:13Over the years, its renown has only grown, heralded for establishing many of the tropes

02:17of the slasher genre, and being one of the scariest movies ever made.

02:28Even today, the down and dirty flick is considered one of the most controversial films ever.

02:32With its depictions of a family of murderous cannibals, it's no wonder so many of us were

02:36banned from seeing it.

02:42If there was ever a way to get people to try and watch something, it's to ban it.

02:56And such was the case in several countries for this historical epic jammed full of violence

03:01and sex.

03:02Even in the places where the uncensored version wasn't banned, it still met with several legal

03:06issues.

03:07Even some of the creators involved were dissatisfied with the hardcore sex scenes added late into

03:12production.

03:18While the violence and depravity caused critics to walk out and anti-pornography groups to

03:23protest, it only made the taboo movie more appealing.

03:41In a rather rare move, A Clockwork Orange was pulled from British theatres at the insistence

03:46of director Stanley Kubrick.

03:48Critics were divided at the time on whether this display of graphic ultra-violence was despicable

03:52or a masterpiece.

03:58The only way to judge, of course, was to see it for ourselves.

04:02Because of the bans and its X rating in America, it was at first difficult to see, but with

04:07the advent of home video, that became much less of a hurdle.

04:10Knowing someone with an older relative meant you could easily get your hands on the VHS tape.

04:16After decades of the war on drugs, anything involving their use was certainly frowned upon by many.

04:36Anti-drug programs like Dare being their most prominent in the years leading up to Requiem

04:40for a Dream's release, their effectiveness as a deterrent was highly questionable.

04:57Similarly, those attempting to deter people from watching this film, centering on a group

05:01of drug addicts, were equally ineffective.

05:04Ultimately, director Darren Aronofsky far from glamorised drug use in the film, with the

05:09film serving as an allegory about addiction in a larger sense, conveyed through some of

05:13the most stunning visuals ever put to film.

05:30Yet another film that has sprung up on a number of the most controversial film lists and has

05:34been disavowed by parent groups.

05:36And it's not hard to see why, as Natural Born Killers follows a pair of lovers who bond over

05:41childhood trauma and their fondness for murder.

05:52With graphic violence, intense sex and a script originally by Quentin Tarantino, even if he

05:57did disown the final film, the movie was tailor-made for edgy teens.

06:02Even better than the cut-down for theatre's R-rated version was Oliver Stone's original

06:06version.

06:07If you could get your hands on the DVD, that is.

06:23What could possibly go wrong with an animated film about bunny rabbits?

06:26Surely we were tough enough to watch this one.

06:29Few of us were expecting the frankly brutal and intense violence and buckets of animated

06:33blood as the poor bunnies bit the dust.

06:42Over the years, there have been a number of studies about whether or not the film traumatised

06:46a generation of children.

06:48Recently however, some film critics have come to its defence as a kids' film, due to its

06:52tackling of complex themes and the nature of death in a way they could digest.

06:56So maybe we were right to watch this one all along?

07:10Coming out in the golden age of erotic thrillers in the 1990s, Wild Things had everything you

07:15could ask for from the genre.

07:16A twisty plot full of betrayal and deception, blackmail, tons of nudity, outdated tropes and,

07:21of course, a completely superfluous lesbian sex scene in a pool.

07:28Shot and set in the Everglades, and with a score from the composer for Austin Powers,

07:32George S. Clinton, everything about this film just felt a bit sleazy.

07:36This one was undoubtedly meant to be watched with the volume low, after mum and dad went

07:40to sleep.

07:54What sets kids apart from many of the other films on this list, was that the ones barred

07:58from seeing the film, young people, were exactly who the film was about.

08:07Those coming of age in the 1990s, many of them whom skated and lived with the ever-growing

08:11threat of AIDS hanging over them, felt they could relate to the film.

08:15As much of the older generation was shocked by a film featuring teenagers engaging in sex

08:19and recreational drug use, those 90s kids wanted to see something they felt was real.

08:33Starting in the late 70s, the Heavy Metal magazine provided readers with the most depraved genre

08:38stories they could get their hands on.

08:40Whether it was sci-fi, fantasy, steampunk or even erotica, the pages were filled with some

08:44of the messed up stuff an impressionable reader could hope for.

08:55An animated film adaptation anthology featuring all the dark fantasy, sex and violence the

09:00magazine had been known for was released in 1981.

09:04Both those who had stuck the magazine under their mattresses and an entirely new audience

09:07of young delinquents flocked to this forbidden fruit.

09:25For many, long before we were old enough to see the film, the harrowing design of the xenomorph,

09:29the alien species from the film, haunted our nightmares.

09:32Some may have even seen the excellent sequel first, which, while still having tons of thrills,

09:37was more of an action flick.

09:38The first entry, however, was pure horror.

09:46Those brave enough to check it out were rewarded, or perhaps scared by some of the most terrifying

09:50stuff ever set in space.

09:52The chestburster scene alone was enough to make many of us turn off the TV.

10:14Paul Verhoeven's camp-90s classic about an aspiring stripper trying to make her way in

10:18Las Vegas received the most forbidden of all ratings, NC-17.

10:23The reason given by the Motion Picture Association was for, quote, nudity and erotic sexuality

10:28throughout, some graphic language and sexual violence.

10:31MGM, who distributed the film, even went as far as to send staffers to theatres to keep

10:42those under 17 years of age from sneaking in.

10:45Despite being a box office bomb, the film flourished once released on home media, with one group

10:50in particular praising the much reviled film.

10:53The film had become an icon in the LGBTQ community, many of whom secretly saw it at an early age.

11:02In the years since its release, Cuban drug lord Tony Montana has become an icon, with many

11:19of his profanity-laden lines becoming the most quotable in history.

11:23His story is filled with plenty of guns, explosions, cocaine and Al Pacino chewing the scenery, making

11:28it irresistible to much of the youth audience.

11:35Thanks to its setting in Miami and the score from legendary synth composer Giorgio Moroder,

11:40the movie is dripping with 1980s coolness.

11:44While it was criticised heavily at the time, it's grown to be a cult classic, thanks in

11:48no small part to those who watched it without permission, coming-of-age.

12:08When it came to the TV shows we watched because we weren't allowed, South Park, with its crude,

12:13over-the-top humour, was at the top of the list.

12:15So, when the movie came out with a subtitle that promised a ton of the same and uncensored

12:20content, we couldn't wait.

12:26In a true moment of art mirroring life, the film's plot concerns the group of kids from

12:31South Park sneaking into an R-rated movie.

12:33Afterwards, a number of bad words slip into their vocabulary, and an overblown moral panic

12:38sweeps the nation.

12:43Actually, what I said was, how would you like to suck my balls, Mr. Garrison?

12:53A cultural phenomenon and arguably the first blockbuster film ever, there is a reason that

13:01Jaws is one of the highest regarded thrillers and adventure films ever.

13:05Generations have shown it to their children, but many question what age is appropriate.

13:09The film certainly has its fill of frightening shark attacks and floating limbs.

13:21For the burgeoning film buff, who likely first learned who a director was when they learned

13:25of Steven Spielberg, they couldn't wait for parental approval.

13:28As such, many of us watched the film far too young.

13:31And despite a horrifying initial scene, we were treated to a great film.

13:47Few films are as well-remembered from a single scene as Basic Instinct.

13:51The scene in question, involving a sitting Sharon Stone uncrossing her legs, was often the reason

13:56we were given for not being allowed to see the film.

14:07The same scene is also what drove many to try and see the film.

14:10The film was a box office smash, and that's not even factoring in untold teens who snuck

14:15into the R-rated film.

14:16Whether the film they snuck into was exploitative and trashy, or one of the best erotic thrillers

14:21of the 90s, remains debated to this day.

14:23For many, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Lost Crusade were childhood staples.

14:39The adventures of Indiana Jones captivated multiple generations.

14:42However, with child slavery, a grim tone, cultural insensitivity, and intense violence, including

14:48someone's still-beating heart being ripped out of their chest, the dark second chapter

14:52was much less family-friendly.

14:58That didn't stop kids from getting their hands on it any way they could, especially due to

15:07its somewhat controversial PG rating.

15:10In fact, that rating caused such a stare that it was one of the main factors for the establishment

15:14of the PG-13 rating.

15:31While Jason famously wasn't the killer until the second instalment, the original Friday

15:36the 13th was a cornerstone of early slasher films.

15:39Following a group of horny teenage camp counsellors hooking up in the woods, a mysterious killer,

15:44slowly picks them off one by one.

15:52Whether it was this instalment or one of the sequels released on a near-annual basis, sneaking

15:57into a Friday the 13th was almost a rite of passage for teens in the 80s.

16:01For many, it was the first chance they got to see that level of violence, as well as exposed

16:06breasts.

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16:40Praised by many as perhaps the scariest movie of all time, for decades, parents have stopped

16:45their kids from watching The Exorcist.

16:47Some might have done this for religious reasons, as the film was filled with taboo imagery,

16:51most notably involving a young girl and a crucifix, while others just didn't want their kids

16:56to get nightmares.

16:57Either way, its reputation, thanks to its ever-growing presence in pop culture, made it unavoidable.

17:13Those bold enough to defy their elders and watch this were treated to scenes of pure horror,

17:18involving an innocent child possessed by an unspeakable evil and some of the most chilling

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