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VHS Nasty
VHS Lives 3: VHS Nasty
UK 2019
produced by Tony Newton for Schlock Films, Vestra Pictures
directed by Tony Newton
starring Jim Towns, Dustin Ferguson, Shawn C. Phillips, Peter Goddard, Jason Figgis, John West, Mathew Fisher, Gary Smart, Christopher Griffith, Tony Newton, Richard Chandler, Nathan Hill, Jimmie Gonzalez, Richard Mogg, Julie Anne Prescott, Domiziano Cristopharo, Lloyd Kaufman, David McDonough, Danny Filaccio
written by Tony Newton
documentary VHS Lives
review by Mike Haberfelner
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In 1984, the British Board of Film Classification started to
classify not only films for theatrical release, but also VHS tapes, caving
in to the pressure of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association,
headed by Mary Whitehouse, an as such rather arbitrary organisation that
nevertheless managed to force their will and their tastes onto video
audiences at large by claiming violations of the Obscene Publications
Act 1959. One of their main goals seems to have been censor or
outright ban movies of predominantly the horror genre they just deem too
bizarre for the general public, so really robbing mature adults the right
to choose for themselves what to watch - and one has to understand here,
none of these so-called video nasties in any way broke any laws
themselves, they were really just outlawed by the taste of few. Of course,
the list of video nasties did not include any major studio releases but
mostly foreign movies and indies, including questionable fare like Faces
of Death, but also cult classics like Cannibal
Holocaust, The Driller
Killer, Flesh for
Frankensein, I Spit on
Your Grave, The Last
House on the Left, Suspiria,
Zombie Flesh Eaters and The
Texas Chainsaw Massacre, to limit myself to the few mentioned in
this movie. Now above is actually only the set-up for what VHS
Nasty is actually about, as it doesn't so much recount the history of video
nasties (which any self-respected horror fan probably knows anyhow)
but talks about the effects - as one thing the rigorous censorship
measures did not achieve, the obliteration of extreme horror, actually it
only shone a light on a heretofore rather obscure corner of the genre, and
suddenly fans, lured by the forbidden, wanted to get their hands on these
movies which suddenly were promoted to holy grail status. And that was not
just in the UK but all over the world. Now the film in hand gives a voice
to some of the people affected by the video nasty craze, all of whom have
become indie horror filmmakers and all of whom see seeking out video
nasties at video conventions (and now also darker corners of the internet)
as part of their grooming - and literally from all over the world,
including Australia's Nathan Hill and US-Americans Dustin Ferguson, Shawn
C. Phillips and Jim Towns. So if the video nasties have succeeded in one
thing, it was in giving us a new crop of very cool genre filmmakers ... Now
not only as a horror fan one can't but applaud VHS Nasty's message
not only about the video nasties but censorship as such, quite simply that
censorship doesn't work, and pretty much only creates a counter-movement,
an underground, ultimately the means of its own destruction - and really,
this film shows this beautifully, not via spectacle and name-calling but
by presenting the aftermath, by letting those affected share their stories
- in an often anecdotal way that makes it easy at least for genre fans to
follow since most of us growing up during the period of video nasties had
similar experiences. Basically, a documentary that genre fans will
enjoy.
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