Blog Categories: Video NastiesVideo Shops Horror Movies
Table of Contents
The Darker Side of VHS:
What Were The Video Nasties?
This section is dedicated to the infamous video nasties, the films that shocked a nation, outraged the censors, and became cult classics in the process.
Part 1: The Home Video Boom
It all started with the home video boom in the early 1980’s. 100’s of uncensored tapes were flooding into Britain, viewable by anyone of any age with access to a home video player.
Part 2: The Media Frenzy
The press, government and pressure groups fronted by Mary Whitehouse were all baying for blood, seeking to blame the horrors of video on any collapse in society. The video nasties hysteria had begun, and they soon became public enemy number one!
Banned in the UK:
The Official Video Nasty Lists
Part 3: The DPP List of 72 Video Nasties
In total, 72 video nasties appeared on the official DPP list at one time or another, but only 39 films (known as The DPP39) were successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act. The rest were later added to the Section 3 Nasties List
Dealers could be fined or jailed and the film itself would be declared obscene if the prosecution was successful, meaning it could not be distributed or sold in the UK until the obscenity was quashed.
Part 4: The Section 3 Nasties & Other Banned Films
This supplementary list of 82 films was issued along with the official video nasties list, and featured a list of so-called Section 3 Nasties. Titles on the Section 3 list could not be prosecuted for obscenity but were liable to seizure and confiscation under a ‘less obscene’ charge. Tapes seized under Section 3 could be destroyed after distributors or merchants forfeited them.
Section 3 Nasties & Other Banned Films
More Censorship:
Horror Cover Art and The VPRC
Part 5: Censorship Gone Mad
Roughly 3 years after the Video Nasties ‘scare’, the BBFC decided that the cover art should also be subject to the censors approval. The VPRC was set up, and would reach laughable levels of censorship.
