That's Nasty... (The Video Nasty Challenge: 72 Tapes)

Thanks to the fine people on the Hammered Horror podcast, I have learnt that 2014 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the Video Nasty moniker. In 1984 The Daily Mail headed a campaign to call for the ban of an ever increasing list of so far unregulated video releases ultimate leading to the Video Recordings Act instated in 1985 in the UK which stated that all film releases needed to be classified for sale by the BBFC. There were raids, black markets and public outrage lead by the likes of moral crusader Mary Whitehouse.


The end result of the BBFC's hard work was a list of seventy two films known as the DPP List of movies banned under the obscene publications act. Despite the fact that a clerical error meant that the Video Recordings Act wasn't actually a valid law until 2010 a lot of the banned films have remained cut or even outright banned until recently if at all.

So to celebrate I am going to work my way through the entire list of all seventy two films and broadcast my irrelevant opinion on them all. this was genuinely pivotal moment, not just for horror but for cinema and society as a whole. Some of the best cover and poster art and so of the best and worst films ever made were made in this period  I'm always up for a challenge and getting hold of a few of the films on the list may be just that. 

A few rules to start out with. I will be using the titles as they appear in the opening credits, most of these films have several titles and it all gets a bit confusing. I will try where ever possible to find the uncut version and witness all the gore as intended. It probably goes without saying but I will be watching the entire length of the film (as I always do). A lot of the films I have already seen and have opinions and fond memories connected with them (any keen eyed readers may have noticed "Runs In Rivers" comes from the tagline for Driller Killer) but I will try and view them with fresh eyes and remain as objective as possible.

So with all of that in mind I'm looking forward to deconstructing and reviewing such an infamous period in horror film history with a modern eye. How many of these films still hold up by todays standards? I look forward to finding out.