Roger Ebert Called Caligula “Sickening” & It’s Still Banned In Multiple Countries

In 1980, a movie rife with graphic content shocked critics and audiences, prompting Roger Ebert to call it “sickening.” Even before its release, the erotically charged historical epic faced production woes, with its budget inflated and its editing becoming a nightmare. Director Tinto Brass and writer Gore Vidal both disavowed the movie, with Brass even being removed from the project before editing. During post-production, producer Bob Guccione, founder of Penthouse magazine, chose to infuse the already salacious material with pornographic scenes, which were spliced into the footage shot by Brass. The actors were reportedly not informed about the additional explicit scenes, with even the cast appalled upon its release.

The resulting film was a critically reviled historical drama packed full of heinous violence and graphic sexual content, which saw countries around the world banning the movie from being shown in theaters, with some of those bans remaining in place to this day. Ultimately, Ebert couldn’t even finish the film, and his review was anything but kind, dubbing Caligula “worthless.” Still, the controversy surrounding the movie drew people to the box office, turning the hedonistic epic into a hit.

Roger Ebert Walked Out of ‘Caligula’

Caligula features impressive leads, including Malcolm McDowell, Peter O’Toole, and Helen Mirren, in the racy movie about the titular ancient Roman leader. Even with all the years since its release, the panned historical drama sits at an abysmal 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. The subpar reviews have plenty to do with the needlessly obscene content on display, but also with the film’s meandering narrative, which feels more like an assemblage of horrific moments. Unable to make it to the film’s closing credits, Ebert walked out, with his review starting by saying:

“Caligula is sickening, utterly worthless, shameful trash. If it is not the worst film I have ever seen, that makes it all the more shameful: People with talent allowed themselves to participate in this travesty. Disgusted and unspeakably depressed, I walked out of the film after two hours of its 170-minute length.”

What was heinous enough to send Ebert packing? Well, the addition of sex scenes used real porn actors who engaged in non-simulated intercourse, leaving little to the imagination. It features numerous acts that many weren’t ready to see, especially during an era when the internet wasn’t in everyone’s pocket. Still, Ebert didn’t call Caligula “garbage” just because of the sexually charged scenes, as the movie is also unabashedly violent. The film features all manner of bloody acts that aren’t for the faint of heart, with Ebert detailing them in his review. His descriptions can be graphic themselves, but they speak to what got Caligula banned in so many countries, with Ebert elaborating on his “sickening” comments, stating:

“You have heard that this is a violent film. But who could have suspected how violent, and to what vile purpose, it really is? In this film, there are scenes depicting a man whose urinary tract is closed, and who has gallons of wine poured down his throat. His bursting stomach is punctured with a sword. There is a scene in which a man is emasculated, and his genitals thrown to dogs, who eagerly eat them on the screen. There are scenes of decapitation, evisceration, rape, bestiality, sadomasochism, necrophilia.”

Caligula reportedly earned around $23 million at the box office, making it a hit that year despite the terrible reviews. The movie was banned in several countries, including Canada, Australia, Iceland, Singapore, and the UK. It was also notoriously seized by the Italian police for a time due to its content. Some of the bans are limited to the unedited version of the movie, while cut-down versions of the audacious film are still available. Despite being released in 1980, many of these bans remain in place.

Caligula received a new edit in 2023 called The Ultimate Cut, which assembled original footage to remove excess and adhere more closely to the original filmmaker’s vision. While it received better reviews, the content on display was never going to appease everyone. All these years later, Caligula lives on as a cult classic, with rumors about its content whispered among cinephiles, more a curiosity than a work of quality worth seeing.