The DPP List of 72 Video Nasties
By itsonlyamovie
In total, 72 video nasties appeared on the main DPP list at one time or another, but only 39 films were prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act (OPA),
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. The majority of these pre-certificate tapes were low quality horror films, but it also contained one or two films that are now regarded as horror classics, most notably ‘The Evil Dead“.
Tapes prosecuted under the Obscene Publication Act became known as the DPP list of video nasties (or the DPP39 list), the remaining 33 non-prosecuted films were dropped to the Section 3 Nasties List.
The 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.
The Official Video Nasty Lists
Since the video nasty media frenzy, the Video Retailers Association were alarmed by the video shop raids, and apparently random seizures and asked the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to provide a guideline for the video industry, so that stockists could be made aware of what was liable to be confiscated, and what they could legitimately keep on their shelves.
The DPP recognised that the current system, where the interpretation of obscenity was down to individual Chief Constables, was inconsistent and decided to publish an official nasties list that contained names of the films that had already resulted in successful prosecutions, or where the DPP had already filed charges against the video’s distributors.
- Absurd
- Anthropophagous the Beast
- Axe (California Axe Massacre)
- The Beast in Heat
- Blood Bath (A Bay of Blood)
- Blood Feast
- Blood Rites
- Bloody Moon
- The Burning
- Cannibal Apocalypse
- Cannibal Ferox
- Cannibal Holocaust
- The Cannibal Man
- Devil Hunter
- Don’t Go in the Woods… Alone!
- Driller Killer
- Evilspeak
- Exposé
- Faces of Death
- Fight for Your Life
- Flesh for Frankenstein
- Forest of Fear
- Gestapo’s Last Orgy
- The House by the Cemetery
- House on the Edge of the Park
- I Spit on Your Grave
- Island of Death
- The Last House on the Left
- Love Camp 7
- Madhouse
- Mardi Gras Massacre
- Night of the Bloody Apes
- Night of the Demon
- Nightmares in a Damaged Brain
- Snuff
- SS Experiment Camp
- Tenebrae
- Werewolf and the Yeti
- Zombie Flesh Eaters
- The Beyond
- The Bogey Man
- The Evil Dead
- Cannibal Terror
- Contamination
- Dead and Buried
- Death Trap (1976)
- Deep River Savages
- Delirium
- Don’t Go in the House
- Don’t Go Near the Park
- Don’t Look in the Basement
- Frozen Scream
- The Funhouse
- Human Experiments
- I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses
- Inferno
- Killer Nun
- Late Night Trains
- The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue
- Nightmare Maker
- Possession
- Pranks (aka The Dorm That Dripped Blood)
- Prisoner of the Cannibal God
- Revenge of the Bogey Man
- The Slayer
- Terror Eyes
- The Toolbox Murders
- The Witch Who Came from the Sea
- Unhinged
- Visiting Hours
- Women Behind Bars
- Zombie Creeping Flesh
The DPP list seemed to have a ‘thing’ for films with the word ‘house’ in the title, Last House on the Left, House by the Cemetery, Don’t go in the House, The House on the Edge of the Park, and also anything with ‘Don’t in the title: Don’t go in the Woods, Don’t Look in the Basement, Don’t go in the House, Don’t Answer the Phone, Don’t Open til Christmas, Don’t go near the Park, don’t do this, don’t do that, don’t believe the hype etc etc.
Reshape of the Video Classification System
The video certification system in use at this time was constructed of G, A, AA and X, but was more of a voluntary guidance system. rather than an enforced one, which made it easy for children of any age to rent or view these new titles.
George Halliwell remembers the home video boom, saying that children would often try and rent films which were not deemed suitable for the under-aged.
“I would check the cover and view the reverse side as a guidance to the kind of material that was in the film. If it looked like it may be of adult origin, I’d ask them if their parents knew they were renting that type of film”.
The average video shop of the early 80s, more often than not, would allow the youth to rent the film, because no real regulations were in place. Maybe the Censors were not ready for the video boom, therefore not having a suitable system in place?
The Video Recordings Act 1984 (VRA)
At the suggestion of the National Viewers and Listeners Association the conservative MP Graham Bright introduced a private members Bill in the House of Commons in 1983, This was passed as the Video Recordings Act 1984 (VRA), which came into effect on 1st September 1985.
The Video Nasties and pre-certificated tapes were effectively cleared from our shelves with the introduction of the Act, which required every video tape to be submitted or re-submitted to the BBFC for a video classification (certification).
It was the BBFC’s task to avert prosecutions (under the OPA) for the industry that created it, which they do by censoring and specifying audience age limits, this would ensure all video material would be suitable for home viewing.
The New BBFC (British Board of Film Classification)
Under the Act, the BBFC was renamed the ‘British Board of Film Classification’ (changing the last word from ‘Censors’) and became responsible for the classification of both cinema and video releases. All video releases after 1st September 1985 had to comply with the VRA and be submitted for classification by the BBFC. Films released 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 was a separate process from cinema classification, films which were passed uncut for cinema release were often cut for video. The supply of uncertified videos became a criminal offence, as did supplying 15 and 18 certificate videos to under aged people.
The VRA ultimately brought an end to the video nasties, but it wasn’t just the low-budget horror flicks that fell foul of the Act, there was also a number of high profile films that suffered a similar fate.
The Exorcist, which was originally released on home video in 1981 had to be re-submitted to the BBFC for video classification, due to the fact that it had already been released on video prior to the introduction of the VRA.
The Exorcist has played in UK cinemas since 1974 and already had a cinema certificate, but although not one of the 72 video nasties, it was refused a video certification by the BBFC, and removed from our shelves in 1986.
“The film was originally given an X certificate in 1974 and has been widely shown since then. In the 1970s, however, incidents of hysteria involving young women led to some concern that the film might cause severe emotional problems, particularly among those who believed in the reality of demonic possession.”
BBFC statement
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