Holy hell, now this is one heck of a DVD you need to get your hands on as soon as humanly possible. Nucleus Films are releasing ‘Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide’ on 1 November over 3 great discs, your ultimate 9 hour marathon to anything and everything relating to the massive list of notorious horror titles (including titles such as ‘The Evil Dead’, ‘Driller Killer’ and Wes Craven’s ‘The Last House on the Left’) that became part of British film history. The set includes some brilliant features as well as intros and interviews with the likes of Brit horror filmmakers Neil Marshall and Christopher Smith, and also includes a brief introduction by the sexy cult horror presenter Emily Booth (below). Check out the cover below.
For those not in the know, the phrase ‘Video Nasty’ was coined in the early 80’s here in the UK when a number of films that became available on VHS were highly critisised for their horrific and violent themes by the press and religious groups, due to their overall weaker censorship structures. Most were low-budget Amerian and Italian horror shockers and it led to the introduction of our Video Recordings Act of 1984 which called for stricter censhorship levels on VHS releases than cinematic ones, even though in recent years it was discovered that this legislation had in fact been technically invalid since 31 March 1984.
This noriety did nothing in my mind than give the movies extra power and make the intrigued public more and more determined to find bootleg and underground copies of these movies from abroad.
In total, 72 films appeared on the DPP list at one time or another. Just 39 of these had been successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act. All 72 films have their trailer featured in the boxset as well specially shot intros for each. A brand new documentary – Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape, available in the UK and directed by Jake West (Doghouse) – is also included in the set.
Here’s the full rundown…
Disc One presents the 39 titles that were successfully prosecuted in UK courts and deemed liable to deprave and corrupt. These included: Absurd, Cannibal Holocaust, The Driller Killer, I Spit on Your Grave, Nightmares in a Damaged Brain, Snuff and Zombie Flesh-Eaters.
Disc Two presents the 33 titles that were initially banned, but then subsequently acquitted and removed from the DPP’s list. These included: Death Trap, Deep River Savages, The Evil Dead, Human Experiments, The Toolbox Murders & Zombie Creeping Flesh.
Both discs can be viewed either as a non-stop trailer show, or with newly-filmed introductions from a wide range of acclaimed media academics and notable genre journalists.
Disc Three: This era-defining documentary features reflective interviews with filmmakers Neil Marshall and Christopher Smith as well as charting the heroic stand taken by journalist/author Martin Barker, who single-handedly came out in protest against what he saw as the erosion of civil liberties. There are also revealing interviews with the MP Graham Bright and Geoffrey Robertson QC, as well as rare archive footage featuring James Ferman (director of the BBFC 1975-1999) & Mary Whitehouse. Taking in the explosion of home video, the introduction of draconian censorship measures, hysterical press campaigns and the birth of many careers born in blood and videotape, West’s cannily piercing and topical documentary also reflects on the influence this peculiar era still exerts on us today.
‘Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide’ arrives on UK DVD shelves on Monday 1 November.
With Your Hottie Horror Host Miss Emily Booth
Hot, Patriotic, Topless and Horror Lover. What’s Not to Like About Emily Booth?
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