• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

Mar 10, 2015 Web Exclusive By Austin Trunick

Severin Films’ second volume of Video Nasties: The Definitive Guide admirably follows up last year’s essential box set, and is an equally indispensable piece of reference material for fans of horror and cult cinema.

For those unfamiliar with what the term “video nasty” refers to, read our review of Volume One for a 101 briefing. To boil it down to the basics, video nasties were a group of films—horror, mostly—that tipped off a moral panic in the United Kingdom during the 1980s. Volume One of The Definitive Guide focused on the 72 “official” video nasties, which—if discovered by police—would be seized and could result in fines, prosecution, and jail time. (This included titles such as Cannibal Holocaust and Driller Killer—but also films now considered horror classics, like The Evil Dead and The Beyond.) This second DVD set focuses on an additional 82 films—designated as “Section 3” video nasties by the Director of Public Prosecution’s Obscene Publications Act—which could also be seized by authorities, but did not warrant any further punishment. This “video nasties lite” list was arbitrarily thrown together by panelists searching for any material that could be considered morally objectionable, and included science fiction, action, and crime films in addition to the typical violent and gory horror features.

Many of the classics effectively banned in the U.K. by the Section 3 list included:

Dario Argento’s Suspiria and Deep Red; Foxy Brown; Friday the 13^th; The Hills Have Eyes; George Romero’s Martin; Phantasm; Prom Night; David Cronenberg’s Scanners; Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Thing.

The DVD set includes the feature-length documentary Draconian Days by filmmaker Jake West, who directed the first volume’s Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape. It essentially picks up where that doc left off, chronicling the fallout of 1984’s Video Recordings Act and the rise to power—and, depending on who you ask, the descent into madness—of BBFC Secretary James Ferman, who established himself as the ersatz public morality judge and became the face of British home video censorship. The documentary follows his campaign against video obscenity, and his sometimes-bizarre efforts to have scenes and oddly specific subject matter cut from movies before U.K. release. (Ferman went so far as to have Michelangelo’s sausage nunchucks clipped from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.) The film also chronicles the moral panic brought on by tabloids that irresponsibly blamed Child’s Play 3 for the murder of James Bulger and Rambo for the Hungerford massacre, as well as the semi-underground network of tape traders established through fanzines and horror conventions. Full of fascinating archival footage and interviews, Draconian Days is a fantastic continuation of Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape, and best watched as a follow-up companion piece.

As good a documentary as Draconian Days is, the real meat of The Definitive Guide: Part Two lies on discs two and three. The original trailers for all 82 Section 3 titles are included, with introductions that work as five-to-fifteen minute mini-documentaries on each film, from the obscure, low-budget schlock flicks such as Headless Eyes and Dawn of the Mummy to cult classics like Christmas Evil. Featuring interviews with critics and experts such as Stephen Thrower, Kim Newman, and Alan Jones, each introduction goes into an overview of each film, speculation into why it was considered obscene, and, usually, the movie’s historical context—including backgrounds for the filmmaker, actors, or distributor. In many cases, the stories behind these obscure grindhouse flicks are more noteworthy than the movies themselves. Viewers can choose to “Play All” and watch these intros and trailers back-to-back, or to watch the trailers only.

Combined with the documentary and other bonus features, there are more than 13 hours of viewing material spread across the three discs. For anyone fascinated by vintage low-budget and exploitation filmmaking, there’s more than enough material to keep a fan captivated from sunrise to sunset—or, more likely, sunset to sunrise.

www.severin-films.com

Author rating: 9/10