What are the Video Nasties? Britain's shameful censorship past and a nod to the work of Jake West

This week saw the release of Jake West's Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide Part 2 - The Draconian Days, a follow-up collection to Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide Part 1, which included the acclaimed documentary Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape.

In lieu of this release, it feels only right to take a sweeping look back over this tumultuous period of film censorship in Britain and celebrate West's important work at informatively re-visiting such a controversial era.

What are the "Video Nasties"?

"Video Nasties" is a term not unfamiliar to film and horror fans alike. Now perhaps perceived as a badge-of-honor, this affiliation once headed a campaign fueled by a moral panic, to rid the United Kingdom of all films deemed too violent, too extreme and downright disreputable.

Let's hark back to an era where films, horror in particular, were largely inaccessible. Whereas today we have Video on Demand, are able to purchase DVDs at the click of a button, or even watch the latest flick on our Smart Phones, horror fans in the 1970s had no such convenience. It was either a multiplex or condensed Super 8, in which fans of the genre could see the latest in the macabre.

Then in 1979 a new technology was introduced - domestic home video. With this new invention, namely in the form of VHS or Betamax, the access to horror films was revolutionised. All of a sudden, a platform was provided in which anything could go, skipping cinematic regulation and providing youngsters with new and exciting horrors. A gap in the market was discovered and soon enough, Britain saw a boom in VHS stores, enabling the purchase or rental of the latest exploit to anyone, at the utmost convenience. 

To clarify, these horror imports were not in the same vein as Hammer horror, or even B-movies from the 1950s. Rather, these features were scuzzy, exploitative and unashamedly gory. Titles such as Driller Killer, I Spit on Your Grave and Cannibal Holocaust were comprised of bodily mutilation and cannibalism... and that's just scratching the surface. Shocking? Yes, but that made it fun, new and interesting. Either that, or they were laughably naff. 

The lack of censorship meant such content was accessible to children, pre-packaged in an enticing, exciting and overtly taboo box - advertising which in itself became an appreciated art form - appealing to the rebellious impulses of young horror pundits. Sure enough, temptation was rife and the very latest in 'pure terror' was frequently lapped up. Sitting through one of these flicks soon became a rite of passage and no childhood sleepover was complete without a communal viewing of sex and violence. 

None of this went un-noticed however and soon enough, the term 'Video Nasty' began to fill newspaper columns. Ensuing outrage began and the right-wing, sensationalist writings of The Daily Mail, popularised by Mary Whitehouse (President of the National Viewers and Listeners Association) accelerated a moral panic of all proportions. Supposedly these 'Video Nasties', adorning the walls of your local convenience store, were corrupting and depraving society, causing all young children to grow up as mass murderers. Newspapers were filled with damning headlines and anything from domestic violence to animal harm was blamed on these 'socially corrosive' horror films. Martin Barker recalls, "Video Nasties could now explain every evil in society" and indeed - in a Thatcher era of civil unrest, unemployment and The Faulklands War - those in authority needed a scapegoat, and an area in which they could supposedly take the moral high ground. 

So what actions were taken? Well after the failure of a voluntary censorship scheme, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), in conjunction with James Ferman (the Director of the British Board of Film Classification 1975 - 1999) constructed a list of potentially 'harmful' horror films that could violate the 1959 Obscene Publications Act - an act in which anything that has a tendency to deprave and morally corrupt an individual can be withdrawn from the public.

The list comprised of 72 'Nasties' and sure enough, police began seizing them from video shops across the country. Videos were burned, retailers were put out of business and distributors were sent to jail, with sentences greater than those of a drugs offender. It was an incredibly infuriating and frightening time. 

It was also a confusing time for those in opposition to the 'Nasties', as not all prosecutions were successful. Conclusions were inconsistent and numerous titles were wrongly, and laughably, seized including Samuel Fuller's The Big Red One and Colin Higgins' The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, featuring Dolly Parton. It was abundantly clear that authoritative bodies became very confused at what constituted obscene material.

Subsequently, to avoid embarrassment and satisfy their tyrannical mission toward robust regulation, a Private Members Bill was passed through Government. Thanks to a fraudulent report and the scaremongering campaigning of MP Graham Bright and Whitehouse, the 1984 Video Recordings Act was passed. From then on, all video releases had to appear before the newly re-named British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) for certification, adhering to what Kate Egan calls "the most stringent form of regulation imposed on media in a Western country" (2007). 

This whole era is a shameful yet profound piece of censorship history, in which control overpowered content and hypocrisy was rife. Headline figures were 'bogus' and class naivety warped every judgement. The bourgeois MPs wouldn't be morally depraved after viewing such 'Nasties', but heaven forbid if an un-educated, working class citizen got hold of one at their local video store.

It was a time in which power-hungry individuals picked on 'the little guy' over films that really and truly, didn't do any one any harm. Even though the 'Video Nasties' have now ironically been remade in Hollywood and exist as enshrined vessels of nostalgia for every horror fan of any age, this period of British history must not be forgotten as a threat to independence, creative freedom and civil liberty.

Jake West and the Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide

Filmmaker Jake West and his pals told the above story in all its glory for the first time in 2010 with Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape. Receiving the utmost critical acclaim, his documentary combined interviews with journalists, academics, filmmakers and MPs (that were involved in the 'Video Nasties' era) with rare, archival footage of Ferman and Whitehouse.

West cleverly delivered a well-rounded explanation of each process and opinion, right from the explosion of home video to the passing of the 1984 Video Recordings Act and the beginning of Draconian law. It's a fantastic documentary of great insight and revelation, highlighting the importance of history and the debates surrounding film censorship.

But what of this Draconian impingement? What happened after the Video Recordings Act of 1984 was introduced? Thankfully, this week West returned with Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide Part 2 - The Draconian Days. Essentially continuing where he left of, this sequel-of-sorts follows the ever-increasing moral panics about video that were deemed responsible for real-life tragedies, namely Child's Play 3 and the murder of James Bulger. West covers the emerging underground movement in which horror fans traded pre-certificated and un-cut videos, published fanzines and attended screenings, which once again lead to tyrannical police raids and ridiculous oppression. Moreover a great amount of detail focuses on James Ferman, a man who until his retirement in 1999, had a spectacular rise and fall as the Director of the BBFC. His tale is not only fascinating but an important parable of the pitfalls when in power.



No doubt, West's latest is yet another profound insight into an incredibly important era of censorship history, providing a sociological window into the woes of Britain's past.

Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide Part 2 - The Draconian Days is available to buy on DVD now. Stay tuned to Wise Words... for a full review!