Review of Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (2010) by Dr. Jack G — 30 May 2011

Funny how such horrific images in the nasties could make people BELIEVE that what they were watching was real. No doubt about it that these films are disgusting, filthy and of poor taste...BUT they don't taint you unless you're mentally corrupt to begin with. In that case, YOU'LL LOVE THESE FILMS!

I think many of them are crap. The kind of crap you can watch while laughing your brains out. They are essential to the horror world. No question about it, but there are some that are just pointless.

Having said that doesn't mean I would never see anything so pointless again. Let's face it. When you've seen one zombie film, you'll want to see them all. Pulling these films off their shelves to protect children from being corrupt is a nice way to look out for the kiddies, but it isn't fair to the young adults and older adults who do want to see these films. I mean just look at the trashy cover art to some them and you'll be wanting to rent or buy it. That is unless you are another Mary Whitehouse who wants to ban these ridiculously sick films.

In '79 when the VHS and Beta wars were happening, VHS would be the topper. One problem though was the quality of VHS. It provided a grainy, sometimes blurry, look to the video nasties. This kind of viewing experience would instantly make any viewer feel uncomfortable because it gives the impression that it's of a snuff-like film. Now people at the time have never seen such cruelty in films. Hammer Horror gave viewers a taste so to speak of the kind of things that would soon come later. Boy, the things that would come later would make films like 'Horror of Dracula' or 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' look like Bambi. The excessive violence, sex, rape, torture, mutilation, necrophilia, cannbalism and so forth would be too much, but was it too soon? Maybe so since the Brits were starting to feel queasy at how disturbing the quality the films were at that time.

Nowadays, it's no big deal. I mean it still is, but people have grown to tolerate such disturbing films. It is true that the masses do get tired of blood and guts. Some do rally and some do ban, but the genre of horror will always exist even when a need for horror dies out because people always get tired of one thing. Comedies can fill the void of laughter, Action fills the void of excitement and Horror fills the void of just wanting to see things that we've never seen before.

So in defending the nasties is one thing, getting rid of them is another. One thing is for sure and that is there will never be anything more hardcore than the Video Nasties. Yeah there's Torture Porn, but that stuff is too well made. The sleek and digital look to those films are nothing compared to the grainy old school style of the NASTIES!