'Gay zombie porn flick' pulled from Aussie film festival

"L.A. Zombie", which also features homosexual sex and full-frontal male nudity, is the first film in seven years to be banned from screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival, which starts on July 22.

Festival director Richard Moore told The Age newspaper he had received a letter from censors rejecting the film by Canadian director Bruce LaBruce.

Described by Moore as a "video art zombie film", "L.A. Zombie" stars French porn actor Francois Sagat as a man convinced he is an alien zombie sent to Earth to roam the streets of Los Angeles in search of dead bodies and gay sex.

Australia's film classification board said the movie had been denied an exemption from classification, not banned as Moore had claimed.

An exemption would have allowed the film to be shown at the festival, but board director Donald McDonald said he had concluded, from the film's synopsis and the director's previous classification history, that "L.A Zombie" was not suitable for screening.