Last year was a belter for British horror movies, between the Zoom-terror of Host and the psychological unravelling of Saint Maud. And now in 2021, director Prano Bailey-Bond presents a bold, bloody British psychological frightfest set against the backdrop of a period horror fans will be more than familiar with: the video nasty era. The 1980s-set Censor stars Niamh Algar as Enid, a film censor who takes pride in her work. But when an eerily familiar video nasty crosses her path, it prompts her to embark on a murky journey to solve the mystery of her sister’s disappearance. Take a look above at an exclusive first-look image from the film ahead of its debut at the (virtual) Sundance Film Festival.
Bailey-Bond uses the social hysteria sparked by video nasties as a backdrop while Enid begins to slip between reality and the violent worlds that she sees onscreen. Expect plenty of weapons going into soft body parts, sprays of gore, and ‘80s fashion, as the grieving young censor battles her demons.
“When I read the script, I had a great understanding of the character, but the locations, the set design, and the whole look and colour of everything surpassed all my expectations,” says Algar, who made a lasting impact in Shane Meadows’ BAFTA-nominated The Virtues, as well as Calm With Horses and Raised By Wolves. She was recently announced to join Jason Statham in Guy Ritchie’s Wrath Of Man.
Censor will play in the cult-centric ‘Midnight’ strand of Sundance’s 2021 programme. Sundance Film Festival runs online from today until Wednesday 3 February. Bailey-Bond and Algar will be speaking about Censor in the next issue of Empire, on sale Thursday 18th February.