A storm has erupted over the UK release of the sex torture flick Antichrist.
Watchdogs say the gut-churning gore-fest should be banned.
And they have even called for the film classification board to be axed after it allowed the sickening movie to open uncensored on Friday in British cinemas with an 18 certificate.
Mediawatch UK’s John Beyer said: “This decision will have a wide influence on society and affect *people and standards elsewhere.
“It has set a dangerous precedent for film-makers to portray acts of brutality and mutilation as entertainment.”
The film features Willem Dafoe as a sadistic *therapist trying to help his wife, played by Charlotte *Gainsbourg, recover from the death of their son by taking her to a remote log cabin.
In one scene Gainsbourg’s character slams a concrete block into Dafoe’s genitals before performing a sex act on his battered manhood.
Another graphic scene shows Gainsbourg’s character performing a vile act of genital self-mutilation with a pair of scissors.
The film caused four people to faint and critics to stage a mass walk-out when it premiered at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival.
Mr Beyer added: “The time has now come to replace the British Board of Film Classification with an accountable and publicly- funded body.
“There has to be a way for the Government to assert control over *material like this being released into society.”
Spider-Man star Dafoe, 54, has admitted: “The graphicness is gonna put some people off.”
And London-born Gainsbourg, 38, confessed to a “masochistic thrill” during one brutal scene in which Dafoe was encouraged to strangle her.
She said: “I would ask him to be tough and I didn’t breathe myself. I thought my vessels were going to pop and it scared me. But in a good way.
“I felt very masochistic at that time *because doing painful stuff was exciting and I loved it. All the suffering, the crying, the screaming was exhilarating.”
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