Back in 1990, the MPAA (The Motion Picture Association of America) replaced the X rating with NC-17 because X had become synonymous with pornography. Unfortunately, even when changed to NC-17, the stigma of the rating still lingered, and made almost any film with an NC-17 impossible to place in theaters.
Numerous high-profile movies like American Psycho, SAW, Boys Don't Cry, and Goodfellas all had to alter or cut scenes in order to get their NC-17 rating changed to an R. Some films, however, threw caution to the wind, stood up against censorship, and refused to change. These films went on to be released with an NC-17 rating or were released as Unrated. Here are 10 of them that you need to watch.
10 Showgirls (1995)
Showgirls was supposed to make Saved by the Bell star Elizabeth Berkley a bonified actress. It was her chance to show she had grown up and could star in a gritty drama. To date, Showgirls is the only NC-17 film to get a wide release in theaters. The movie centers on Nomi, a young woman who heads to Vegas with dreams of becoming a showgirl.
The film is filled with backstabbing, assault, blackmail, and even murder. Showgirls received tons of negative press before release due to its nudity and violence. Though it was a box-office bomb, the movie went on to be popular at video stores and became one of MGM's highest-grossing home videos ever.
9 The Human Centipede (2009)
Trigger warning: this movie is horrendous. An insane German surgeon decides to create a human centipede by sewing three people together. The movie, naturally, was never going to hear anything good from the MPAA, so it was released by IFC as Unrated. The movie played in select theaters at midnight, and wouldn't allow anyone under 18 to enter.
As word of the "grossest movie ever" spread, audiences began lining up in droves. It has become of the only true "Midnight Movies" in modern times and became a cultural phenomenon. It also pushed the boundaries of free speech and what constitutes as "film." It's a grotesque yet important moment in movie history.
8 Bent (1997)
This little-known film about the holocaust follows the story of gay men who were sent to concentration camps. Many people have seen the pink triangle as a gay symbol, but few know that the symbol's origin is that it was the marker that gay men had to wear in concentration camps. The movie's cast is superb, with Clive Owen, Ian McKellen, Jude Law, Mick Jagger, and Rachel Weisz, just to name a few. The 90s were much more homophobic than today, and, despite the graphic holocaust content, the MPAA cites the gay sex scene as the reason for the NC-17 rating.
7 This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006)
This Film Is Not Yet Rated is a documentary about how absurd the MPAA's rating system is. The film's investigations found that the MPAA gives much harsher ratings to scenes of homosexual sex (see above), is harsher on depictions of female orgasms over male orgasms, and even gives harsher ratings for films that show pubic hair.
The movie interviews numerous filmmakers who had to fight the MPAA such as Matt Stone, John Waters, and Kevin Smith. Ironically, since the movie shows clips from NC-17 films to help prove its point, the MPAA slapped the documentary with an NC-17 rating, as well.
6 Mysterious Skin (2004)
Mysterious Skin stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Neil, a teenage hustler in Kansas. Neil eventually moves to New York City, where he discovers a much-darker world of prostitution, drugs, HIV, and abuse. A simultaneous storyline follows Neil's friend, Brian. Brian is convinced he has a memory of being been abducted by aliens.
As the film progresses, it's slowly revealed that Neil's sex addiction and Brian's false memory of being abducted both stem from one summer when they were kids and their little league coach molested them. The movie is heartbreaking, powerful, and chilling, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance is easily the best of his career.
5 The Dreamers (2003)
The Dreamers follows the story of an American college student in Paris during the 1968 student riots. At a protest, he meets a brother and sister and discovers they love films just as much as he does. Soon, a strange, erotic love triangle between the three forms (yes, involving the brother and sister.)
Though in English, the movie is a modern example of European erotic arthouse, a genre that's been around for decades and includes films like The Beast, Emmanuelle, and Salò, just to name a few. The movie became a box-office success (by NC-17 standards) and was one of the first leading roles for actress Eva Green.
4 Shortbus (2006)
After the success of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell created Shortbus, a film about a sex club in Brooklyn that was inspired by New York's real underground sex parties. The movie blends comedy, drama, and eroticism. It follows an ensemble cast, exploring their reasonings for attending the club and the people they are outside of it.
The movie gained significant attention because it was filmed entirely with real sex. The film's star, Sook-Yin Lee, was even almost fired from her job at the CBC over it until celebrities like Yoko Ono, Julianne Moore, and Francis Ford Coppola came to her defense. The movie premiered at Cannes and was screened as Unrated in various cities around America, where only moviegoers 18+ were allowed entrance.
3 Bad Lieutenant (1992)
Bad Lieutenant is one of the most notable NC-17 films ever released. The story follows a crooked cop (Harvey Keitel) who struggles with a sex and gambling addiction. The movie features a lot of drugs, violence, assault, and even religion.
It's seen as a story of Catholicism, highlighting the relation between sin and redemption. Despite the NC-17 rating, the movie was screened at Cannes and was praised by critics. To this day, it's considered one of Harvey Keitel's greatest roles.
2 The Evil Dead (1981)
The Evil Dead was originally given an X rating because of its intense amount of gore. These days, the cheesy effects make the movie come off as more of a comedy than horror, but, nevertheless, in the 90s, when X changed to NC-17, The Evil Dead was slapped with the dreaded rating. Luckily, the rating never hurt the film. It's consistently hailed as one of the greatest horror movies ever made, and filmmakers like Eli Roth cite the movie as being their inspiration for the horror genre.
1 A Dirty Shame (2004)
A Dirty Shame was the NC-17 film that launched the debate about what constitutes as offensive. The movie centers around Sylvia, who, after hitting her head, becomes a sex addict. She soon meets a group of people, all with their own various fetishes. The movie is a slapstick comedy and actually doesn't show any scene of explicit sex. Regardless, the MPAA cited "pervasive sexual content." In reality, the movie is a raunchy comedy, mocking our perceived sexual norms. It's hilarious, witty, and like all things John Waters, outrageous.
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