The Video Nasty Media Frenzy

Public awareness of the so called ‘video nasties‘ began in February 1982, VIPCO (Video Instant Picture Company) ran a double page spread in a video trade magazine featuring a still from their new release ‘Driller Killer‘,  and a similar campaign by GO Video featuring the front cover of their nazi flick ‘SS Experiment Camp‘.

Several complaints were received by the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) due to the nature of the artwork – depicting a semi-naked woman hung upside-down on a crucifix! The pre-cert cover art featured on most of these horror titles brought them to the attention of the authorities!

Ultimately, it was Cannibal Holocaust, another film released by Go Video, which kicked off the whole video nasty media frenzy! To further promote the film, and to increase sales, Go Video wrote an anonymous letter to Mary Whitehouse from the National Viewers and Listeners Association, complaining about their own film. A stunt which backfired, as she sparked off a public campaign and the whole nasties hysteria that followed. 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!

A Cause for Concern or Media Scapegoat?

Reports and newspaper articles stating the effects such material can have on young minds continued, and the picture being painted was of a startling new development in horror movies which almost comprises a movement, a kind of  “nasty new wave”. The Seduction of the Gullible points out that Last House on the Left (1972) and Night of the Bloody Apes (1972), both part of this ‘new wave’, were actually made ten years before the whole video nasties hysteria broke out, and H.G Lewis’ Blood Feast (1963) a whole two decades, but these films were never under the spotlight until the early eighties.

The Daily Mail seemed to be the main newspaper supporting the campaign against the nasties, but The Times, Daily Star and more, had their fair share of opinions voiced. On May 7th 1982, The Daily Star reports that “The home video boom is giving youngsters a chance to see some of the most horrific and violent films ever made”, whilst the British Board of Film Censors secretary James Ferman was “furious” about the state of video censorship in the UK, stating that youngsters are watching shocking scenes that would never be allowed in a cinema, even under an x-certificate, calling for big changes in the video classification system, and the introduction of the video nasties list.

So are these video’s really as bad as they are being portrayed, or are they just being used as a scapegoat, to pin the blame of violence in 80s Britain. The video nasties were just cheap horror flicks, with the exception of a few well made titles, namely Nightmare Maker, The Bogey Man, Tenebrae, Cannibal Holocaust, most were just poor. The first films to come under scrutiny were the boring Driller killer (no pun intended), I Spit on your Grave, and the excellent Cannibal Holocaust (still, even today is regarded as a genuine snuff movie by some!), all of which contain shocking scenes of violence. Why were these films receiving so much concern? it could be down to the media suggesting claims that these films actually lead people to commit serious acts of violence. They were quick to accuse the nasties of the influence they may have on people.

Media Reports from the Video Nasties Era

A 23 year old man was jailed for life at Bristol Crown Court for tying up another man in a wood and killing him, in court he is described as a “sexual psychopath” obsessed with gay bondage fantasies, however the media chose to report his actions were due to viewing’s of the late Lucio Fulci’s Zombie Flesh Eaters (VIPCO).

Another interesting report in The Times (Aug 5th 1983) tells the story of rapist Christopher Meah’s’ wife. She blames the video nasties for turning him into a sex monster’, stating that when they first viewed the films, they treated them as a sick joke, and now she is convinced that they changed his personality and should be banned.

In late September 1983, Paul Munday and Robert Peacock Mare jailed for four years and 21 months respectively for chaining and stabbing a Kung-Fu student, despite the fact that their assault followed a drugs and drink binge, the media are keener to blame it on viewing’s of ‘The Warriors’ on video.