Video nasty

For the Only Fools and Horses episode, see Video Nasty (Only Fools and Horses). For the Young Ones episode, see Nasty (The Young Ones).

"Video nasty" was a colloquial term coined in the United Kingdom by 1982 which originally applied to a number of films distributed on video cassette that were criticized for their violent content by the press, commentators such as Mary Whitehouse, and various religious organizations.

While violence in films released to cinemas had received attention from an official body, the British Board of Film Censorship, for many years, the lack of a regulatory system for video sales combined with the claim that any film could fall into children's hands led to public debate. Many of these "video nasties" were low-budget horror films produced in Italy and the United States. The furore created by the response to video nasties led to the introduction of the Video Recordings Act 1984 which imposed a stricter code of censorship on videos than was required for cinema release. Several major studio productions ended up being banned on video, falling within the scope of legislation designed to control the distribution of video nasties. Due to a legislative mistake discovered in August 2009, the Video Recordings Act 1984 was repealed and re-enacted without change by the Video Recordings Act 2010.

Obscenity and video

At the time of the introduction of domestic video recorders in the United Kingdom during the 1970s, there was no legislation specifically designed to regulate video content, apart from the Obscene Publications Act 1959 which had been amended in 1977 to cover erotic films. Major film distributors were initially reluctant to embrace the new medium of video for fear of piracy and the video market became flooded with low-budget horror films. Whilst some of these films had been passed by the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC) for cinema release, others had been refused certification. The Obscene Publications Act defined obscenity as that which may "tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it". This definition is of course open to wide interpretation.

If the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) felt that a certain video might be in breach of the Act, then a prosecution could be brought against the film's producers, distributors and retailers. Prosecutions had to be fought on a case-by-case basis and a backlog of prosecutions built up. However, under the terms of the Act the police were empowered to seize videos from retailers if they were of the opinion that the material was in breach of the Act. In the early 1980s, in certain police constabularies, notably Greater Manchester Police which was at that time run by devout Christian Chief Constable James Anderton, police raids on video hire shops increased. However the choice of titles seized appeared to be completely arbitrary, one raid famously netting a copy of the Dolly Parton musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) under the mistaken belief it was pornographic.

The Video Retailers Association were alarmed by the apparently random seizures and asked the DPP to provide a guideline for the industry so that stockists could be made aware of the titles which were liable to be confiscated. The DPP recognized that the current system, where the interpretation of obscenity was down to individual Chief Constables, was inconsistent and decided to publish a list that contained names of films that had already resulted in a successful prosecutions or where the DPP had already filed charges against the video's distributors. This list became known as the DPP list of "video nasties".

The lack of regulation of the domestic video market was in sharp contrast to the regulation of material intended for public screenings. The BBFC had been established in 1912 and it was their responsibility to pass films intended for the cinema for certification within the United Kingdom (though local councils were the final arbiters). As part of this process the board could recommend, or demand in the more extreme cases, that certain cuts be made to the film in order for it to gain a particular certification. Such permission was not always granted, and in the case of the release of The Exorcist in 1973, a number of enterprising managers of cinemas where permission had been granted set about providing buses to transport cinema-goers from other localities where the film could not be seen.

Public concern

Public awareness of the availability of these videos began in early 1982, when Vipco (Video Instant Picture Company), the UK distributors of The Driller Killer, a 1979 slasher film, took out full-page advertisements in a number of specialist video magazines, depicting the video's explicit cover; an action which resulted in a large number of complaints to the Advertising Standards Agency. A few months later Go Video, the distributors of the already-controversial 1980 Italian film Cannibal Holocaust, in an effort to boost publicity and generate sales that ultimately backfired, wrote anonymously to Mary Whitehouse of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association complaining about their own film. Whitehouse sparked off a public campaign and coined the term 'video nasty'. Amid the growing concern, The Sunday Times brought the issue to a wider audience in May 1982 with an article entitled "How high street horror is invading the home". Soon the Daily Mail began their own campaign against the distribution of these films. The exposure of 'nasties' to children began to be blamed for the increase in violent crime amongst youths. The growing media frenzy only served to increase the demand for such material among adolescents. At the suggestion of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, the Conservative MP Graham Bright introduced a Private Member's Bill to the House of Commons in 1983. This was passed as the Video Recordings Act 1984 which came into effect on 1 September 1985.

Effects of the Video Recordings Act 1984

Under the 1984 Act, the British Board of Film Censors was renamed the British Board of Film Classification and became responsible for the certification of both cinema and video releases. All video releases after 1 September 1985 had to comply with the Act and be submitted for classification by the BBFC. Films released on video before that date had to be re-submitted for classification within the following three years. The increased possibility of videos falling into the hands of children required that film classification for video be a separate process from cinema classification. Films that had passed uncut for cinema release were often cut for video. The supply of unclassified videos became a criminal offence, as did supplying 15 and 18 certificate videos to under-aged people. As well as the low-budget horror films the Act was originally intended to curb, a number of high profile films which had passed cinema certification fell foul of the Act. In particular, The Exorcist, which was made available by Warner Home Video in December 1981, was not submitted for video certification by the BBFC and was withdrawn from shelves in 1986. Similarly Straw Dogs was denied video certification and removed from video stores. Popular culture backlash against the Video Recordings Act included the May 1984 release of "Nasty" by the punk-goth outfit, The Damned, who celebrated the condemned genre with the lyrics, "I fell in love with a video nasty."

The TV show The Young Ones included an entire episode entitled "Nasty", in which the characters rent a video recorder specifically to watch a "video nasty" (with the fictitious name "Sex With the Headless Corpse of the Virgin Astronaut"), and which featured a lip synched performance of "Nasty" by The Damned. In another episode, "Bambi", the titular character had apparently done a "Disney nasty" entitled "Bambi Goes Crazy-Ape Bonkers With His Drill and Sex".

The television programme Spitting Image parodied the Video Nasties with their sketch of a sickeningly nice, low-budget film, entitled a video "nicie".

Neil Innes' song "My New School" (1984) contains a video nasty reference "It's got all the charm of a video nasty/I've never been anywhere so ghastly, my new school."

The 1985 Doctor Who serial "Vengeance on Varos" was set within the confines of a 'Punishment Dome' where the repellent alien delegate Sil was delighted to learn that recordings of real life executions, dismemberments, drownings, acid baths and other 'delights' were being peddled to the apathetic population at large to keep them both docile and entertained. After the transmission in January 1985 there were quite a few official complaints about the content of the serial to both the BBC itself and the Radio Times.

BBC Video advertised their offerings (such as Doctor Who) as "Video Tasties".

Relaxation of censorship

With the passing of the Video Recordings Act, the films on the list could be prosecuted for both obscenity and not being classified. As well as not passing any film liable to be found obscene, the BBFC imposed additional bans and cuts on films such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Claims, since proven at best to be speculative, at worse outright media fabrication, relating to the Hungerford massacre and the murder of James Bulger (where the 1991 film Child's Play 3 was erroneously held up as influencing the perpetrators), provided an additional impetus to restrict films and as late as December 1997, the Board claimed it "has never relaxed its guidelines on video violence, which remain the strictest in the world". However, the board did loosen its standards, especially at the 18 level, in response to public consultation in 2000. The departure of James Ferman from the BBFC may also have allowed some long-proscribed films to be re-appraised around this time. The Exorcist was granted an uncut 18 certificate on 10 June 1999 and several official 'nasties' were passed in the early 2000s either uncut or with cuts restricted to sexual violence or actual animals being harmed. A list of these is given below. Among modern films, many such as the Hostel and Saw series, contain brutal, graphic violence but have passed through uncut.

In 2008, there was another brief media frenzy over such films that had years earlier been approved for release by the BBFC, in particular SS Experiment Camp. This coincided with an attempt by MPs Julian Brazier and Keith Vaz to pass a law allowing MPs greater powers to tighten BBFC guidelines or force an appeal of a release. The bill failed to pass.

However, the UK Government passed a law criminalising possession of "extreme pornography". Whilst BBFC-rated films are exempt from the legislation, somewhat illogically screenshots from these same BBFC-rated movies are not, and would also apply to unrated films. Hostel: Part II was cited in the House of Commons as an example of a film where screenshots could become illegal to possess.

DPP list

The DPP list of 'video nasties' was first made public in June 1983. The list was modified monthly as prosecutions failed or were dropped. In total, 72 separate films appeared on the list at one time or another. 39 films were successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act but some of these films have been subsequently cut and then approved for release by the BBFC. The remaining 33 were either not prosecuted or had unsuccessful prosecutions. 10 films remain banned in the UK because they have not yet been resubmitted for classification by any distributors or have been rejected for classification. A number of films spent a short time on this list because their prosecutions failed shortly after publication or because it was decided that prosecution was not worth pursuing. Ultimately, the list became obsolete when the Video Recordings Act came into force, and since 2001, several of the films have been released uncut. In the majority of cases below where cuts were made, they were scenes of real-life animal cruelty and/or excessive violence to women, both of which are still regarded with some degree of severity by the BBFC. A large number of these movies caused additional controversy with the cover art of the original big box releases seen in the video shops of the early 1980s. Unless noted otherwise, all films that have been released have been rated 18.

Prosecuted films

1. Absurd (original title: Rosso Sangue; alternate titles: The Monster Hunter, Anthropophagus 2) – released theatrically with 2 minutes 32 seconds cut in 1983. The video was uncut but was withdrawn post VRA, and has never been re-submitted for classification. It has a release in the United States uncut under the title Horrible
2. Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (also known as Flesh for Frankenstein) – passed with 56 seconds cut in 1996; released uncut in 2006
3. Antropophagus (original title: Antropophagus; alternate titles: Anthropophagous, Anthropophagous: The Beast, Antropofago, Gomia, Terror en el Mar Egeo, Man Beast, Man-Eater, The Savage Island) – released with approximately 2 minutes of pre-cuts as The Grim Reaper in 2002. It has a release in the United States uncut under the title Antropophagus: The Grim Reaper)
4. Blood Feast – released with 23 seconds cut in 2001; re-released uncut in 2005
5. Blood Rites (original title: The Ghastly Ones) – no UK re-release
6. Bloody Moon (original title: Die Säge des Todes) – released with 1 minute 20 seconds cut in 1993; released uncut November 2008
7. The Burning – released with 19 seconds cut in 1992; re-released uncut in 2001
8. Cannibal Apocalypse (original title: Apocalypse Domani) – released with 2 seconds cut in 2005
9. Cannibal Ferox (alternate title: Make Them Die Slowly) – released with approximately 6 minutes of pre-cuts plus 6 seconds of additional cuts in 2000
10. Cannibal Holocaust – released in 2001 with 5 minutes 44 seconds cut to remove most animal cruelty and rape scenes; new version approved with 15 seconds cut in 2011
11. The Cannibal Man (original title: La Semana del Asesino; also known as The Apartment on the 13th Floor) – released with 3 seconds cut in 1993
12. Devil Hunter (original title: Il cacciatore di uomini) – passed uncut in November 2008
13. Don't Go in the Woods – released uncut in 2007 with a 15 rating
14. The Driller Killer – released with 54 seconds of pre-cuts in 1999; re-released uncut in 2002; now considered to be in public domain
15. Evilspeak – released with 3 minutes 34 seconds cut in 1987; released uncut in 2004
16. Exposé (also known as House on Straw Hill) – released with 51 seconds cut in 1997
17. Faces of Death – released with 2 minutes 19 seconds cut in 2003
18. Fight for Your Life – no UK re-release
19. The House by the Cemetery (original title: Quella villa accanto al cimitero) – passed with over 4 minutes cut in 1988; re-released with 33 seconds cut in 2001; released uncut in 2009
20. The House on the Edge of the Park (original title: La casa sperduta nel parco) – released with 11 minutes 43 seconds cut in 2002; re-released with 42 seconds cut in 2011
21. I Spit on Your Grave (original title: Day of the Woman) – released with 7 minutes 2 seconds cut in 2001; re-released with 3 minutes cut in 2010
22. Island of Death (original title: Ta Pedhia tou dhiavolou; also known as Devils in Mykonos, A Craving For Lust) – refused a video certificate in 1987 as Psychic Killer II; released with 4m 9s cut in 2002; released uncut September 2010
23. La Bestia in Calore (English title: The Beast in Heat; also known as SS Hell Camp) – no UK re-release
24. La Maldicion de la Bestia (alternate title: The Werewolf and the Yeti, Night of the Howling Beast) – no UK re-release
25. The Last House on the Left – refused a video certificate and passed with 31 seconds cut in 2002; passed uncut on 17 March 2008
26. Last Orgy of the Third Reich (original title: L'ultima orgia del III Reich; also known as Gestapo's Last Orgy) – no UK re-release
27. Lisa, Lisa (alternate titles: Axe, California Axe Massacre, The Axe Murders) – released with 19 seconds cut in 1999. Released uncut in 2005
28. Love Camp 7 – refused a certificate in 2002
29. Mardi Gras Massacre – no UK re-release
30. Night of the Bloody Apes (original title: La Horripilante bestia humana) – released with approximately 3 minutes of pre-cuts in 1999; later released uncut in 2002
31. Night of the Demon – Released with 1 minute 41 seconds cut in 1994
32. Nightmare (also known as Nightmares in a Damaged Brain) – re-released with 3 minutes of pre-cuts in 2005
33. Snuff – Passed uncut in 2003
34. SS Experiment Camp (original title: Lager SSadis Kastrat Kommandantur; also known as SS Experiment Love Camp) – released uncut in 2005
35. Tenebrae (original title: Tenebre) – released with 5 seconds cut in 1999; released uncut in 2003
36. There Was a Little Girl (also known as Madhouse) – released uncut in 2004
37. Toxic Zombies (alternate titles: Forest of Fear, Bloodeaters) – no UK re-release
38. Twitch of the Death Nerve (original title: Reazione a Catena; alternate titles: A Bay of Blood, Blood Bath) – released with 43 seconds cut in 1994; released uncut in 2010
39. Zombi 2 (alternate titles: Zombie, Zombie Flesh Eaters) – released with 23 seconds cut in 1999; re-released uncut in 2005

Non-prosecuted films

1. The Beyond (original title: E Tu Vivrai Nel Terrore ‒ L'Aldilà; also known as Seven Doors of Death) — released with approximately 2 minutes cut in 1987; re-released uncut in 2001
2. The Boogeyman — released with 44 seconds cut in 1992; re-released uncut in 2000
3. Cannibal Terror (original title: Terror Caníbal) — released uncut in 2003
4. Contamination — released uncut in 2004 with a 15 rating
5. Dead & Buried — released with 30 seconds cut in 1990; released uncut in 1999
6. Delirium (also known as Psycho Puppet) — released with 16 seconds cut in 1987
7. Don't Go in the House — released with 3 minutes 7 seconds cut in 1987; passed uncut in December 2011
8. Don't Go Near the Park — released uncut in 2006
9. The Dorm That Dripped Blood (alternate titles: Pranks, Death Dorm) — re-released with 10 seconds cut in 1992
10. Eaten Alive (also known as Death Trap) — released with 25 seconds cut in 1992; re-released uncut in 2000
11. The Evil Dead — released with approximately 2 minutes cut in 1990; released uncut in 2001
12. The Forgotten (also known as Don't Look in the Basement) — released uncut in 2005 with a 15 rating
13. Frozen Scream — no UK re-release
14. The Funhouse — released uncut in 1987; re-classified 15 in 2007
15. Hell of the Living Dead (also known as Zombie Creeping Flesh, Virus) — released uncut in 2002
16. Human Experiments — no UK re-release
17. I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses (also known as Drop Dead Dearest) — released with 1 minute 6 seconds cut in 1986
18. Il paese del sesso selvaggio (alternate titles: The Man from Deep River, Deep River Savages) — released with 3 minutes 45 seconds cut in 2003
19. Inferno — released with 20 seconds cut in 1993; released uncut in September 2010
20. Killer Nun (original title: Suor Omicidi) — released with 13 seconds cut in 1993; released uncut in 2006
21. L'ultimo treno della notte (alternate titles: Late Night Trains, Night Train Murders) — released uncut in 2008
22. Let Sleeping Corpses Lie (original title: Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti; also known as The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, Don't Open the Window) — passed with 2 minutes pre-cut in 1985; re-released uncut in 2002
23. The Mountain of the Cannibal God (original title: La montagna del dio cannibale; alternate titles: Prisoner of the Cannibal God, Slave of the Cannibal God) — released with 2 minutes 6 seconds cut in 2001
24. Night School (also known as Terror Eyes) — released with 1 minute 16 seconds cut in 1987
25. Night Warning (alternate titles: Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker, Nightmare Maker) — refused a video certificate in 1987 as The Evil Protege. No UK re-release
26. Possession — released uncut in 1999
27. Revenge of the Bogey Man (original title: Boogeyman II) — released in re-edited form with additional footage in 2003
28. The Slayer — released with 14 seconds cut in 1992; re-released uncut in 2001
29. The Toolbox Murders — released with 1 minute 46 seconds cut in 2000
30. Unhinged — released uncut in 2004
31. Visiting Hours — released with approximately 1 minute cut in 1986
32. The Witch Who Came From the Sea — released uncut in 2006
33. Women Behind Bars (French title: Des diamants pour l'enfer) — no UK re-release

Two other films are mistakenly thought to have been on the DPP list:^{[citation needed]}

• Shogun Assassin — released with pre-cuts in 1992; re-released uncut in 1999
• Xtro — released uncut in 1987; re-classified 15 in 2007. Xtro was a common title seized during police raids in the North of England prior to the official list being published

Films banned by the BBFC but not classed as video nasties

• Maniac — Banned for cinema in 1981 and again for video in 1998; passed with 58s of cuts on 29 May 2002.
• Mother's Day — Banned for cinema in 1980; no UK re-release since.
• The New York Ripper — Banned for cinema in 1982; released with 29s of cuts in 2002.
• Straw Dogs — Withdrawn around the video nasty period but not actually included on the list. It was given an uncut theatrical re-release in 1995 but two subsequent attempts to pass the film for video in 1999 resulted in BBFC rejections. It was finally released uncut in 2002.
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre — Banned for cinema in 1975; passed uncut with an 18 certificate in 1999.

Other films seized by various police forces but never prosecuted or listed as video nasties included Ultimo mondo cannibale (released as Cannibal), City of the Living Dead, Zombie Holocaust, La lupa mannara (released as Werewolf Woman), Blood for Dracula, Dawn of the Mummy, Los Ojos Azules de la Muneca Rota (released as Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll), Madman, Terror Express, The Prowler (released as Rosemary's Killer), Basket Case and Night of the Seagulls.

Other films grouped with video nasties

• A Clockwork Orange — often mistaken to have been banned by the BBFC. It was actually Kubrick himself who decided to withdraw the film from exhibition in the UK on police advice after receiving death threats toward himself and his family, as well as disliking reports found in the British Press that the film was responsible for copycat violence. Quoting Kubrick: "To try and fasten any responsibility on art as the cause of life seems to me to put the case the wrong way around. Art consists of reshaping life but it does not create life, nor cause life. Furthermore, to attribute powerful suggestive qualities to a film is at odds with the scientifically accepted view that, even after deep hypnosis, in a posthypnotic state, people cannot be made to do things which are at odds with their natures." The film was eventually released uncut on both VHS and DVD in the UK shortly after Kubrick's death in 1999.

• Scum — features the tagline "The film they tried to ban". The original TV film was made by the BBC, but they later decided not to broadcast it owing to the violence and suicides in the film. It was quickly remade by most of the original production team and released in cinemas, and was released on VHS at the height of the Video Nasties controversy, quickly becoming associated with them in the media

Republic of Ireland

The moral concern extended to the Republic of Ireland. In 1986, the Dáil Select Committee on Criminal Lawlessness and Vandalism issued a report "Controls on video nasties" recommending that the powers of the film censor's office be extended to videos. This was implemented by the Video Recordings Act, 1989.

References

• Seduction of the Gullible: The Truth Behind the Video Nasty Scandal - John Martin (Book)
• See No Evil - David Kerekes & David Slater (Book)
• Shock! Horror! Astounding Artwork From the Video Nasty Era - Marc Morris, Harvey Fenton & Francis Brewster (Book)
• The Art of the Nasty - Marc Morris & Nigel Wingrove (Book)
• Ban The Sadist Videos Pt 1 (Documentary) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0480344/combined
• Ban The Sadist Videos Pt 2 (Documentary) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0962751/combined
• Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (Documentary) - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1740712/combined

Further reading

• Kate Egan's article The Celebration of a "Proper Product": Exploring the Residual Collectible through the "Video Nasty" in, R. Acland (editor), Residual Media, pages 200-222 (University of Minnesota Press, 2007). ISBN 978-0-8166-4471-1
• Article, Something Nasty This Way Comes..., pages 13–32 (The Dark Side, Stray Cat Publishing Ltd, Issue 20, May 1992).
• John Martin, The Official "Video Nasties" and how they got that way..., pages 48–62 (The Dark Side, Stray Cat Publishing Ltd, Issue 58, July 1996).

External links

• Overview of all video nasties
• History of video nasties
• Complete Video Nasties analysis from Critical-Film.com
• Detailed Reviews and Histories of all 74 Video Nasties from WorldsGreatestCritic.com
• UK Pre Certification video database with additional information