Eating brains might be good for the body's protein levels, but not for the minds of teenagers.
The Office of Film and Literature Classification has banned most teenagers from buying tickets to Hannibal - the sequel to the 1991 Academy Award winner Silence of the Lambs - whichfeatures a brain and flesh-eating psychopath.
Chief Censor Bill Hastings says violence in the film, to be released on April 12, has the potential to "damage" people below the age of 18.
Scenes include the star of the movie, Dr Hannibal Lecter, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins, munching on human brains. Other disturbing scenes include a disemboweled body and a throat being sliced, with blood pulsating from the wound.
"It's a pretty heavy-going film, and the younger you are the more potential there is for injury," he says.
Censors and 23 members of the public, including parents and viewers aged 18 to 20, agreed on an R18 classification. Silence of the Lambs had an R16 certificate.
Samantha Rood, 15, a student at Kristin School in Albany, thought the R18 classification was "stupid."
Parents and teenagers should be able to make their own decisions about which films to attend, she said.
"I've seen Silence of the Lambs four times; it's one of my favourite films."
Samantha's classmate Sarah Bristow, 15, said all the "good movies" were restricted.
"The only movies we can see are the family ones, so we don't get to see much at all."
In America, anyone below the age of 17 can buy tickets to Hannibal, as long as he or she is accompanied by a parent.
British and Australian viewers are subject to an R18 restriction.
Mr Hastings says the Australian classification follows an appeal over an initial decision to allow anyone aged below 15 to see the film, if accompanied by a parent.
The New Zealand distributors of the film, United International Pictures, were not available for comment.
Meanwhile, the violence has not deterred American or British audiences. In its first weekend in the US, Hannibal earned $134 million, making it the third-biggest opening in movie history. In Britain it took $21.7 million in its first weekend, the most for an R18 film.
