When movies such as A Serbian Film manage to coin terms such as 'newborn porn' (we wont explain... we really don't want to explain) it's no surprise that The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) feel the need to adjust the boundaries for the censoring of depravity and violence in cinemas. As the BBC reports, the BBFC have "revamped guidelines" to "help examiners classify depictions of rape, sexual assault and sadistic violence in films."

The amended policies will kick-in in six weeks, and are due to research that showed increasing concern about depictions of sadistic and sexual violence in films. Movies are no longer allowed to make rape look appealing, nor make film that "invites the viewer['s] complicity in rape or other harmful violent activities." 

BBFC director Mr David Cooke said: "There is no one size fits all rule for any theme under the BBFC classification guidelines, as long as what is depicted is within the law and does not pose a harm risk."

Adding, "Once again the public have told us that context, tone and impact, and a works over all message, can aggravate a theme, or make it acceptable, even in cases of sexual and sadistic violence." 

The BBFC was particularly concerned with the representation of women. The report, quoted by the Guardian, said: "This concern is particularly acute in relation to... vulnerable viewers accessing a diet of sadistic and sexually violent content, which could serve to normalise rape and other forms of violence and offer a distorted view of women."