Raffaele Picchio’s Italian horror film Morituris – which I gave negative skulls out of the 2011 Fantasia Film Festival, due to its mean-spirited nature – was supposed to be released in Italy in November in a small self distribution (with the short film “Versipellis” by Donatello della Pepa opening). Says a press release, this will never happen because il Ministero dei Beni Culturali, organ of censorship in Italy, decided to stop the film and to ban Morituris from Italian theatres. Last time it happened was with Toto’ che visse due volte, directed by Daniele Cipri’ and Franco Maresco in ‘98.

The letter with the banning motivations accuse the films to be a “gratuity essay of perversion and sadism,” and “the commission unanimously sentence contrariety to allowing for public projection because of offence to good morals, intending acts of violence and perversion against women, motivated by enjoying of overcoming and thrill of self strength, empowered by consume of alcohol and drugs. The avengers find revenge against both boys, guilty of violence, and girls, victims of violence. At last, in acts of extreme perversion, a little mouse is used as a sex tool.”

Morituris, being shown in the main genre festivals in the world, will be released soon in foreign countries but not in Italy.