Exploitation and Video Nasties

[Sistinas666]

I know this isn't a video nasty but it almost seemed like a tribute to me:

Isle Of The Damned....It seems the story kind of parodied Cannibal Holocaust and is more comedy than exploitation...Its currently available on Netflix instant queue...:cool:

[fortunato]

Originally Posted by Ferox13

Wow, I never heard of anyone liking Axe...

Haha, yeah. Me neither, except me. I probably shouldn't have recommended it, because no one that I've shown it to enjoyed it. I don't know why, I just always liked it. It has a strange, understated rhythm to it that I've always been able to get into. I know a lot of people find it boring, and I guess not much happens, but it's just always gotten to me for some reason.

[Elvis_Christ]

Originally Posted by Sistinas666

I know this isn't a video nasty but it almost seemed like a tribute to me:

Isle Of The Damned....It seems the story kind of parodied Cannibal Holocaust and is more comedy than exploitation...Its currently available on Netflix instant queue...:cool:

I loved that one. Check out my review for it HERE.

[Chief Brody]

Originally Posted by Elvis_Christ

Couple of nasty kill scenes did it I'm guessing.... like the one with the syringe.

Yes, forgot about the syringe. But as i say, you think those couple of seens would have been censored rather than baning the whole film.

[Ferox13]

Originally Posted by Chief Brody

I've never understood why this became one of the nasties. It's well made, produced and acted - everything the nasties aren't. I can understand it having some censoring to the first murder, but nothing more....


Yes, forgot about the syringe. But as i say, you think those couple of seens would have been censored rather than baning the whole film.

The video nasty list wasn't anything to do with the censorship board. It was made by Director of Public Prosecutions under the Obscene Publications Act. There a number of films on the list that were already censored (by the BBFC for a cinema release) or self censored by the distibution company.

Cannibal Holocaust, Faces of Death and Nightmares in a Damaged Brain among others were all banned despite being cut. The poor UK distributor of Nightmares got 6 months in prison for supplying a censored print.

[ZombieDrone]

It was a crap shoot essentially. I feel that virtually any horror film made past-1960 could've potentially crossed the line.

I relate it to the DPP's attitude towards Tobe Hooper.

Hooper had two films in the list, I believe. He's by no means the only director to have more than one film on the list. Dario Argento had 2 (Inferno, Tenebre) so did Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust, House On The Edge Of The Park) Lucio Fulci had 3 (The Beyond, House By The Cemetery, Zombie Flesh Eaters) Jess Franco had god knows how many.

Anyway, the two films that Hooper had on the list were Death Trap and Funhouse. The story behind Funhouse ending up on the list (so far as I've heard) was that there were two films circulating around that time with the title, Funhouse. One was Hooper's film, the other was also known as Last House On Dead End Street. I believe that the the DPP looked at these two films and thought that it was obviously the film by the man who made such "obscene" films as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre...they banned the wrong film.

The hysteria around TCM is also considered the reason why they also banned The Toolbox Murders, Axe, Pranks and Driller Killer for their use of home implements as weapons in the film or in advertising (I'm sure if you were going to kill someone with something you could find in the home, you wouldn't wait for a film to give you the idea).

The odd thing is, is that whilst it was technically banned, TCM was never officially a "Nasty" and as such was perfectly legal to be circulated in it's un-certificated VHS release...madness.

Heaven knows, had the craze held out a little longer perhaps Poltergeist would've been a Nasty.

[Ferox13]

Originally Posted by ZombieDrone

Anyway, the two films that Hooper had on the list were Death Trap and Funhouse. The story behind Funhouse ending up on the list (so far as I've heard) was that there were two films circulating around that time with the title, Funhouse. One was Hooper's film, the other was also known as Last House On Dead End Street. I believe that the the DPP looked at these two films and thought that it was obviously the film by the man who made such "obscene" films as the Texas Chainsaw Massacre...they banned the wrong film..

I read this on Melon Farmers too and i always confused me as Last House didn't have a UK release back then. Maybe they were refering to a bootleg tape or film release but they should have known that there was no version of the film available in UK video shops at the time...

That being said they did confiscate 'innocent' films all the time based on title alone.

[Thecryptkeeper]

Some of the Nasties were even banned due to their UK VHS artwork.

[Sistinas666]

Thank all of you, not only did I discover the meaning of "video nasty" but I also got an excellent list of movies to search for.:) Sorry for sounding cheesy but my meds just kicked in and I'm a happy fella....:D

[Ferox13]

Originally Posted by Thecryptkeeper

Some of the Nasties were even banned due to their UK VHS artwork.

Really? Some did come to the attention of the authorites but I can't think of a single film that was banned because of the case cover. What ones are you thinking of?