Surviving the Video Shop Raids During the Nasties Scare

Video Shops

Part 3 focuses on the video shop raids in the 80s that shook the UK video industry to it’s core… After an article in The Daily Mail first listed 52 films officially labelled as ‘video nasties‘ by the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The DPP list of video nasties was published, and 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 Video Industry Is In Panic

A series of video shop raids were organised, and video rental shops in the UK were frantically taking films off their shelves for fear of prosecution. My dad and Uncle Mike were taking films off the shelf and taking them home. The fear of prosecution for stocking certain films ripped through the entire industry.

One of the films we had at home was The Evil Dead, luckily we all got to watch it one afternoon after it was banned, a fond first memory of watching a video nasty!

In July 1984, the Video Recordings Act was passed and the video industry changed forever. Just 18 months after opening the original 1980’s video shop on St Matthews Road, This could have been the beginning of the end for the video store.

The Stockport Video Shop Raids

Eric had opened his first CHEC Video Club in July 1983, but just a few months later he experienced his first video shop raid by Greater Manchester Police and Trading Standards Officers during the video nasties scare. It was raided again in 1984.

On the 15th April 1985, Eric was fined £2000 (equivalent of around £7.5k in 2026) at Manchester Crown Court for publishing two obscene titles for gain. Eric told the courts that before the police visited the shop, during the initial video shop raid, and before a subsequent raid, he had consistently sought police guidance on what was unsuitable stock, but that advice never came.

Fined For Stocking ‘Obscene’ Horror Films

The films in question were Evilspeak and Bloodbath, both of these films were left on the shelf during the first video shop raid, so assumed they were safe to stock. They had been supplied by reputable companies and there had been no complaints from customers.

Eric disputed the obscenity of the tapes and they were screened to an 8 woman/4 man jury. It did his case no good when one of the women fainted during the first few minutes of Bloodbath! 

Eric was fined £2000 with the judge suggesting that as he was a family man with 2 children, he should have asked himself what kind of effect these films might have on them. Unreasonably assuming that video shop owners watch every title that they stock.

Incidentally, it was also reported that Cyril from Jubilee Video in Ashton had been recently acquitted of obscenity charges at Manchester Crown Court. He pleaded not guilty on Evilspeak, The Funhouse and Don’t Go In The Woods… Alone!

In May 1985, legal inconsistencies are again highlighted – another video shop raid In Stockport, another mobile video library who would later become a lot more familiar to us in the coming months.

Dennis Bintcliffe is convicted on Driller Killer, House on the Edge of the Parc, Nightmares in a Damaged Brain and Snuff, with charges against Blood Bath, Bloody Moon and Don’t Go Near the Park withdrawn, while dealer Ashworth Handforth, with whom Bintcliffe traded as Diamond Mobile Video, is found guilty on Cannibal Ferox, Cannibal Holocaust, House on the Edge of the Park, Last House on the Left and Nightmare’s in a Damaged Brain with charges withdrawn against Cannibal Apocalypse, Don’t Go Near the Park and Zombie Flesh Eaters.

Bintcliffe is fined £250 on each guilty charge plus costs on each film, Handforth fined £100 for each “obscene” film plus £50 costs. Magistrates watched edited highlights of the films for an hour. Anthony Darnell, defending, said the offences had taken place in May 1983 before any publicity had alerted the trade to the notoriety of these titles, that both men had been easy prey to video salesmen and the films were appalling, with equally poor dialogue and acting. Police had watched their homes before making the video shop raids.

The End of the Promising Partnership

By October 1985, just 9 months after the re-brand to CHEC Video Club, the partnership was no more. There was a feeling that rather than an equal three-way partnership, it became apparent that Eric wanted to remain in charge, whilst my dad and uncle would be running the shops.

George and Mike decided to buy back their share of the video shop.