The BBFC: Protecting the world from Jess Franco here....

The infamous BBFC provides rating "guidance" and basically decides which films will recieve one of their several ratings or will be passed with cuts. That's the best I can give in a way of explaining the-to me-mind bogglingly complex task of monitoring everything everyone will be seeing in theaters or at home. Of course, the days of the "video nasties" are long gone (or are they?) but type in Jess Franco's name in their search engine [www.bbfc.co.uk] and you'll get the history of over 40 Jess Franco titles as they were submitted and rates by the BBFC from the 60s up to the present day. An example is THE BLOOD OF FU MANCHU which is "passed with cuts" for theatrical viewing in 1968 and resubmitted and gets rereleased with various cut times in subsequent time frames up to present era. Some, like SADOMANIA, get passed with "substitutions", whatever that exactly means. It all happens "...because we serve a socially useful function" according to their "vision statement". I'm still not sure if any Franco films are banned outright in the UK, but what's available right now on DVD is sometimes in cuts which are abbreviated due to the BBFC's specs. If anyone has any corrections, clarifications or additions please feel free to comment. I believe it's always good to keep an eye on those who are keeping an eye on everyone else.