Juan of the Dead
R13: violence, offensive language and sexual references
Spoiler alert
This page outlines how the classification criteria were applied. We do our best to discuss the content while avoiding spoilers, but please avoid reading this information if you do not want to learn anything about the content of this movie.
Date registered: 27/11/2014
About the film
Juan Of The Dead is a comedy horror set in Havana, Cuba. When the city is overrun by a zombie outbreak, Juan and his friends (Lazaro, California, Primo, and China) spot a business opportunity in the dispatching of zombie loved ones.
Classification criteria: Sex
The film deals with matters of sex in regard to an implied masturbation scene and several sexual references. The sexual references contained in the feature include comments about masturbation and fellatio.
Classification criteria: Horror
The feature deals with horror in that the plot centres on dead people who come back to life as slow walking, shambling zombies. Their appearance is unrealistic and deliberately exaggerated, in order to create a comedic and farcical effect. Some of the zombies have disfigured faces, mutilated arms and legs. Although parodying horror films, the film is essentially a comedy and the emphasis is on humour rather than horror.
Classification criteria: Violence
The film deals with the infliction of serious physical harm to a high extent but moderate degree. The violence occurs within a clearly fantastical and comic context of a zombie outbreak, with the humour deriving from the over-the-top manner in which the zombies are killed with everyday items used as weapons, such as an oar, slingshot, baseball bat and ball, machete, and speargun.
Although the violence is strong at times, it does not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. There are scenes of blood splatter but they are not overly gory. Overall, the violence presented in the feature is consistently preposterous and absurd, and is unlikely to be taken seriously by mature viewers.
Classification criteria: Highly offensive language
The film contains a low extent of highly offensive language. The normalisation of the highly offensive language is likely to adversely affect impressionable children who might emulate this language, or be highly disturbed by it.
Decision summary
Juan Of The Dead is an entertaining Spanish language comedy parodying zombie horror films. The unrestricted availability of this publication would be injurious to the public good given the manner in which it deals with matters of sex, horror and violence. Children are not likely to have the maturity to interpret the humorous nature of the violence, and may find the horror elements and depictions of zombie deaths disturbing.
The occasional use of sexual references and highly offensive language also contribute to the need for a restriction. However, given the relatively obvious style of humour used, teenagers and adults are likely to have the maturity to recognise the comedy in the feature and may well find the film appealing and enjoyable.
Balancing these harms against the right to freedom of expression as set out in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, a restriction on the availability of the publication to teenagers and adults would be the lowest reasonable restriction which could be applied in order to prevent injury to the public good.
The film Juan Of The Dead is classified as objectionable except if the availability of the publication is restricted to persons who have attained the age of 13 years.
Contact the Information Unit if you require further information on a classification decision.
