Mission Statement

Seventy-two films. One man. Too much beer.

My main goal in starting this blog is to chronicle my viewing of all 72 movies on the "video nasties" list. Whether or not it will continue beyond that, I don't know. However, I fully intend to see it through until I've seen every film on the list. I'm going to do what I can to make the reviews interesting even though I'm not very practiced in my review writing skills. I've got a computer, beer, and an unquenchable hunger for gory movies, no matter how terrible they may be.

For those that don't know, the "video nasties" were a group of films targeted by the UK's Director of Public Prosecutions for prosecution under the Obscene Publications Act. You see, this was in the early eighties, at the height of the VHS boom. While films had to pass through the British Board of Film Censorship in order to be released to theaters, there was no legislation in the wild wild west of VHS rentals and sales. Except of course for pornography, which was covered under the Obscene Publications Act. Because the wording in the act defining obscenity was vague, the DPP felt that certain extreme horror and/or exploitation films could also fall under the act. Each film had to be prosecuted on a case by case basis and, of the 72 films that were on the DPP list at one point or another, only 39 were successfully prosecuted and subsequently banned. These films were, for all intents and purposes, illegal to sell or rent. However, in 2009 a legislative mistake was discovered in the Video Recordings Act of 1984 which rendered the list obsolete.

So, why the video nasties? I'm not British. I've never lived in the UK. While I remember hearing rumblings about them when I was still discovering the wonderful world of horror films, they had little to no effect on me. So why would I dedicate so much time and effort to these films? Truthfully, I don't know. It could be that I'm a very strong anti-censorship advocate and by viewing these films I feel like I'm striking a blow against pointless and unjust censorship. It could be curiosity. What could be so terrible in these films that it would warrant such harsh legal action? Or it could just be that I'm an avid gorehound and I'll find any excuse I can to watch as many gruesome and/or just plain awful movies as I can. Yeah. Actually, I think that's probably it.

I will be rating each movie on two different scales, quality and enjoyability. Now, some of these movies I've seen before, and some I actually own. Obviously, those are going to be the first ones that I do. I'm hoping that even with the modern wonders of the internet a few of these movies will be somewhat difficult to track down. I've always enjoyed the thrill of the hunt and the sense of pride that comes with finally tracking down a copy of that terrible movie you've been searching for for years. I can't tell you how many years I searched for a VHS copy of "Dream A Little Evil". Was the movie worth it? Absolutely not. But the feeling of elation when I found it in the bottom of a box of sleeveless VHS tapes at a horror convention definitely was. I have no doubt that some of these movies will be fantastic and I'll wonder why it took me so long to see them. I also have no doubt that some of these movies will be horrible and will make me want to gauge my eyes out with a rusty ice cream scoop. But I can tell you one thing... I look forward to every minute of it!