"Video Nasty"...?

Ray - Hypothetically speaking (of course ;) ), if somebody were to make such a movie, bearing in mind that it would have to be a very British film, with no historical context in the US, how do you think an American audience would take to it?
 
It's a niche audience. I don't think the general public would be very interested, but there's definitely people out there who dig this kind of stuff. Can't say I'm one of 'em, but I've got friends who are, and they enjoy even the smallest of productions.
 
Agree.

The Larry Flynt and Bettie Paige films didn't have a monster wide U.S. audience despite being fairly decent biopic stories in their telling.

Now, an alternative approach would be to have a contemporary high school student (I forget what you call 'em there in the UK) do an assigned project for a history, audio/visual, or media class.
The student chooses to do a report on video nasty which, of course, results in a whole lotta conflict and misunderstanding - to the point where he/she finds him/herself defending his/her own rights to pursue a legit topic despite its inherent controversial nature and its refection of the society around him/her - which ironically is EXACTLY WHY he/she's pursuing it.

Of course, the end result is one very impressive report that ends up with national interest and critical praise as a very nice piece of UK history. Modern museum are interested.

Just an idea.

The concept has sex, drama, conflict, double-standard examination, parent/teen child/societal pressures, money, law, etc., just all sorts of material to make a film over.

This may be a "second" career film choice.

GL!
 
Thanks for the input, guys. I have a screenplay written, but I'm unsure as to whether it would ever really be feasible to make it. It's not the courtroom drama, biopic you're thinking of....


Anyway, as a reward for your help, here's a clip of MP Graham Bright saying one of the stupidest things ever uttered by a human being....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inkgnuFAcqU


(and he still stands by that statement to this day!)
 
It's not a familiar term in the US, but it was a big deal back in the day elsewhere. Nonstop tv & newspaper coverage about it, in Britain & her afilliated countries.

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Britain's censorship and ban attack on horror made waves across the world. Releasing a banned "Video Nasty" in that country was a crime, I believe. Horror movies were under attack to the point that studios/filmmakers were calling them "Thrillers," as the label "Horror" was hugely frowned upon and compared to porn. If you followed horror, via Fangoria and other print, you were aware of the term.

While these movies weren't banned in the U.S., the MPAA was seemingly random with their ratings decisions. There was criticism that they gave guys, like Spielberg, a pass for melting faces (RAIDERS), tearing faces (POLTERGEIST), etc. In fact, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM did a lot to motivate the MPAA to create the PG-13 rating.

Unrated releases were treated, like an X (no mainstream advertising) and films were getting butchered to receive an R. If you were a nobody, your horror movie got hacked! Make sure you get the unrated DEAD ALIVE, as the R rated version is severely truncated. Same with TOXIC AVENGER and many others. Censorship on violence and gore started relaxing in the late 90's.

I also have the Video Nasties book:


videonasties2.jpg


videonasties.jpg
 
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Hmmm. I kind of want to watch all of those films just out of defiance.

If they did torture and kill real animals, well, I can't say I approve of that.

About making a film about it. I think they showed the biopic below on PBS not long ago. I didn't watch it, so I don't know how it is. I didn't and don't have much interest in spending time with such loathsome creatures (censors), especially since the previews made it sound like it portrays her as a hero. I have no idea if that's true, though, since I haven't watched it.

I can't help conflating Mary Whitehouse with Dolores Umbrige in my imagination.

And I take it that it's not specifically about video nasties


Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story.
 
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richy said:
Hmmm. I kind of want to watch all of those films just out of defiance.

If they did torture and kill real animals, well, I can't say I approve of that.
Click to expand...

Unless it's under a different title, CANNIBAL HOLOCOST (animal kills) is not on that list, but FACES OF DEATH is. I have CANNIBAL APOCALYPSE and its inclusion is laughable! It's pretty tame and fake looking. A lot of movies should not be on that list, come on, DEAD AND BURIED and THE BURNING? I guess the vine rape put EVIL DEAD on there, but it's funny, especially today, to think it was included.
 
Cannibal Apocalypse aka Apocalypse domani
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4QDgX8F1rE


CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXpaWHzagA

I watched CH the other week... Meh... it's alright. More of a historical film at this point than a source of entertainment.

Will hafta get back around to watching CA sometime later. ;)
 
Scoopicman said:
Unless it's under a different title, CANNIBAL HOLOCOST (animal kills) is not on that list, but FACES OF DEATH is. I have CANNIBAL APOCALYPSE and its inclusion is laughable! It's pretty tame and fake looking. A lot of movies should not be on that list, come on, DEAD AND BURIED and THE BURNING? I guess the vine rape put EVIL DEAD on there, but it's funny, especially today, to think it was included.
Click to expand...
Taking a closer look at that list, it is quite strange. It’s titled “Scotland Yard’s Official List Of Video Nasties”. But there are some odd omissions. “Cannibal Holocaust” does not appear on your list, but was most certainly labelled a ‘Video Nasty’. If anything, it’s the most notorious, having been mistaken for ‘real’ snuff (apparently, the filmmakers had to recreate the impalement scene inside the courtroom, to prove that it wasn’t real). Your list also misses “Fight For Your Life”, even though the cover is pictured below the list. That one is still banned in the UK.

It’s quite odd, because the list is often separated into two; those successfully prosecuted and those not. Those that weren’t prosecuted were still refused classification by the BBFC, making their possession illegal. That list is a mixture of the two. “The Evil Dead” was never prosecuted, while “Cannibal Holocaust” was.

Anyhow, for the completionists out there, missing from that list are:

Axe
Blood Feast
Blood Rites
Cannibal Ferox
Cannibal Holocaust
Devil Hunter
Don’t Go In The House
Don’t Look In The Basement
Evilspeak
Fight For Your Life
Frozen Scream
Funhouse
Human Experiments
I Miss You
Inferno
Island Of Death
Killer Nun
Late Night Trains
Love Camp 7
Revenge Of The Boogey Man
Visiting Hours
The Werewolf And The Yeti
Women Behind Bars


richy said:
I can't help conflating Mary Whitehouse with Dolores Umbrige in my imagination.
Click to expand...

Lol! She certainly does have that aura about her!

I didn’t see the Mary Whitehouse biopic, but I believe that there was a lot of creative licence used to actually make it an interesting story. Probably wouldn’t be worth the time to watch.
 
mad_hatter said:
Anyhow, for the completionists out there, missing from that list are:

Axe
Blood Feast
Blood Rites
Cannibal Ferox
Cannibal Holocaust
Devil Hunter
Don’t Go In The House
Don’t Look In The Basement
Evilspeak
Fight For Your Life
Frozen Scream
Funhouse
Human Experiments
I Miss You
Inferno
Island Of Death
Killer Nun
Late Night Trains
Love Camp 7
Revenge Of The Boogey Man
Visiting Hours
The Werewolf And The Yeti
Women Behind Bars
Click to expand...

Thanks, for the rest of the list! And, yes, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and those titles are also covered in the book. C'mon, VISITING HOURS, starring William Shatner? :lol: I love that movie, there was a scene or two that made the whole audience jump. Michael Ironside made for a pretty vicious bad guy.
 
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