Gay zombie porn? Not Down Under

As the old adage goes, there's no such thing as bad publicity - and the Canadian director of a gay zombie porn film is taking that to heart.

L.A. Zombie director Bruce LaBruce says he's delighted his movie has been banned from an Australian film festival.

Mr. LaBruce told the Sydney Morning Herald from his Toronto home that his first thought was "Eureka!"' upon hearing about the ban.

He says he will never understand how censors don't see that the more they try to suppress a film, the more people will want to see it.

The head of Australia's Film Classification Board told The Melbourne International Film Festival that L.A. Zombie could not be screened as it would be refused classification.

Mr. LaBruce says the board should have allowed L.A. Zombie to screen at the festival because of its "'artistic merit."

He calls the classification board "'hypocritical" for banning his film while they pass so many mainstream films that have more extreme violence.

Film festival director Richard Moore said he has not yet decided if he will appeal the ban, but Mr. LaBruce has already started a Twitter and Facebook campaign urging Australians to protest the board's decision.

Made for less than $100,000 (U.S.) in Los Angeles last year, Mr. LaBruce calls L.A. Zombie "a reaction against torture porn."

"People come back to life (in my film) - it's a metaphor for healing."

L.A. Zombie is scheduled to have its world premiere at Locarno, Switzerland next week. The Melbourne festival would have been its second public screening.