KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 — The Film Censorship Board of Malaysia (LPF) and Home Ministry (KDN) released a joint statement today clarifying that the film Pulau is a horror movie and not a pornographic film.

The film’s trailer was also shown on online platforms which lay outside LPF's jurisdiction, it said.

"LPF and KDN’s duties are based on the Film Censorship Act 2002 [Act 620] which determines that the function of film censorship covers the publicity materials of films that are broadcast, exhibited, disseminated, screened, distributed or transmitted physically (conventionally) to the public in Malaysia, except through the Internet,” the statement read.

It noted that Malaysians became aware of the film through the sharing of its posters and trailer via social media.

"LPF found that there were differences between the contents of the trailer that were shown on social media and the contents that were presented for censorship,” it said.

It said that in the process of making decisions about the censorship of a film or its publicity materials, the LPF refers to the Film Censorship Guidelines (GPPF) KDN 2010 which includes the following aspects: public safety and peace, religious and sociocultural aspects, and order and discipline.

Pulau’s trailer has been denounced by critics who have also demanded that the government rescind the previous approval for the movie to be screened in March.

The controversy was the result of scenes that were perceived to be sexual in nature, including actresses wearing beachwear to flashes of kissing and love-making scenes.

Pulau, produced by My Way Pictures in collaboration with Film Force Studios, features local celebrities including Alif Satar, Amelia Henderson, Sanjna Suri as well as glamour model-turned-DJ Ms PuiYi.

The trailer depicts a group of friends who are vacationing together and after a daring bet, the group sets out to a mysterious island where darkness awaits.

Following its trailer release over the weekend, the movie has been bombarded with comments from local social media users condemning what they deemed "sexy scenes” in the trailer, some even calling it "soft porn”.