Is making a gory, sexually explicit and very realistic horror movie about a serial killer preying on women a crime?
That’s the unusual question a Quebec court will have to answer in the coming months after a special-effects artist was charged with production and distribution of obscene material for his hardcore works.
Montrealer Remy Couture pleaded not guilty to the charge, laid under Section 163 of the Criminal Code, this week and requested a jury trial.
The controversial material at issue includes two short films entitled "Inner Depravity" posted on a website of the same name alongside dozens of photos taken on the set.
The work of Couture, who uses the artist name RemyFX, is not for the faint-hearted. Described as hardcore horror, the videos are ripe with violence, nudity and sexual domination.
Couture says they are meant to depict the life of a psychopathic serial killer – assisted by a 10-year old apprentice – who, among other things, has sex with his dead female victims.
One Exorcist-inspired sequence shows a woman bleeding after a crucifix was shoved down her throat. Another graphic scene shows a character carving out a victim’s organs.
Couture acknowledges the images can be shocking, but insists his work is totally fictitious and that the sexual scenes were simulated.
"Horror is my passion, but that doesn’t make me a pervert or a nutcase," he said in an interview.
The makeup artist said his only crime is to be so good at what he does that his fake blood, latex and silicone effects are too realistic-looking.
But Montreal police – who arrested Couture in October 2009 – don’t see it that way.
They began investigating Couture after Interpol, the international policing agency, forwarded them complaints about the gruesome content.
Montreal police said the plaintiffs thought the depicted events were real and showed a child being molested and killed. Couture said the performer is in fact a teenager and he stressed there are no scenes of rape.
Nonetheless, the sexual nature of the films is one of the elements that led to the obscenity charge – a rare indictment in connection with works from the horror genre.
Law professor Richard Moon said the case taps into the delicate question of freedom of expression, and is bound to be complicated.
He said the court will have to determine if exposure to Couture’s work can be harmful.
"This is difficult and problematic. We don’t have nice, simple, clear, empirical evidence about the impact of obscene imagery or violent imagery on viewers and there’s a good reason for that: we are talking about humans who view it with whatever history they have, whatever set of values they have," said Moon, who teaches law at the University of Windsor.
Couture says the criminal charge is a violation of his freedom of expression as an artist and he doesn’t understand why he was targeted.
"This is absurd," the 33-year-old said. "If they charge me, are they going to charge every other horror moviemaker out there?"
Horror fans have thrown their support behind Couture by signing an online petition. Several Quebec artists, including filmmaker Robert Morin, have written open letters to protest what they see as censorship and express their fear of repercussions the case could have on other artists.
Couture’s website has been shut down by police.
He is due back in court on Nov. 1 to set a date for trial.
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