Video Nasties

The "VIdeo Nasties" was a certain set of horror films that were criticized for the extreme violent (and sometimes, sexual content) in their films. The Video Nasties were only applied in the United Kingdom in 1982. The result of the Video Nasties later resulted in the Video Recordings Act of 1984.

THE DRILLER KILLER
Much of the awareness for the Video Nasties originally occurred in 1982 when UK distributors released a film on VHS called The Driller Killer. While the film had violence, it actually wasn't the film itself that started a ruckus. The VHS cover was an explicit photo of a man being drilled in the forehead with blood coming out. Later when Ruggero Deodatdo's controversial classic Cannibal Holocaust (say that five times fast), a woman by the name of Mary Whitehouse coined the term "Video Nasty" because of both films' violent content, though by the sounds of it, it sounds like Mary had not actually seen The Driller Killer as the film is violent but compared to something like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Friday the 13th, the film is rather tame with its murders. The news began to spread of this "Video Nasty" and public outcry came from the masses.

THE VIDEO RECORDINGS ACT OF 1984
In 1984, the British Board of Film Classification (previously known as the British Board of Film Censors) were responsible for anything and everything going to theatres and to VHS. After September 1, 1985, all films had to be ran through and classified by the BBFC. If a film had passed uncut for theatres, most, if not all the time, the film would be censored and cut for its VHS release. Films like The Exorcist were pulled off from shelves, and 1971's Straw Dogs was refused a classification, more than likely for it's infamous rape scene.

FILMS PART OF THE VIDEO NASTIES
All of the following films were part of the Video Nasties collection due to their extreme violent content, or so the United Kingdom said. Some films were re-released uncut or not as cut. The amount cut totals for both.

1. Absurd - 2 Minutes, 33 Seconds Cut

2. Anthropophagous: The Beast - 3 Minutes Cut

3. Axe - 19 Seconds Cut; Released Uncut in 2005

4. The Beast in Heat - BANNED

5. Blood Bath - 43 Seconds Cut - Released Uncut in 2010

6. Blood Feast - 23 Seconds Cut - Released Uncut in 2005

7. Blood Rites - BANNED

8. Bloody Moon - 1 Minute, 20 Seconds Cut - Released Uncut in 2009.

9. The Burning - 19 Seconds Cut - Released Uncut in 2001

10. Cannibal Apocalypse - 2 Seconds Cut

11. Cannibal Ferox - 6 Minutes, 6 Seconds Cut

12. Cannibal Holocaust - 5 Minutes, 44 Seconds

13. The Cannibal Man - 3 Seconds Cut - Released Uncut in 2008

14. The Devil Hunter - Unknown - Released Uncut in 2008

15. Don't Go in the Woods - Unknown - Released Uncut in 2007

16. The Driller Killer - Unknown - Public Domain

17. Evilspeak - 3 Minutes, 34 Seconds Cut - Released Uncut in 2004

18. Exposé - 30 Seconds Cut

19. Faces of Death - 2 Minutes, 19 Seconds

20. FIght For Your Life - BANNED

21. Flesh for Frankenstein - 56 Seconds Cut - Released Uncut in 2006

22. Forest of Fear - Unknown - Released Uncut in 2006

23. Gestapo's Last Orgy - BANNED

24. The House by the Cemetery - 4 Minutes, 33 Seconds Cut - Released Uncut in 2009

25. The House on the Edge of the Park - 11 Minutes, 43 Seconds Cut

26. I Spit on Your Grave (1978) - 7 Minutes, 2 Seconds Cut

27. Island of Death - 4 Minutes, 9 Seconds Cut - Released Uncut in 2010

28. The Last House on the Left (1972) - 31 Seconds Cut - Released Uncut in 2008

29. Love Camp 7 - BANNED

30. Madhouse - Unknown - Released Uncut in 2004

31. Mardi Gras Massacre - BANNED

32. Night of the Bloody Apes - 1 Minute Cut - Released Uncut in 2002

33. Night of the Demon - 1 Minute, 41 Seconds Cut

34. Nightmares in a Damaged Brain - Unknown

35. Snuff - Unknown - HAS been passed Uncut but has not been re-released.

36. SS Experiment Camp - Unknown - Released Uncut in 2005

37. Tenebrae - 5 Seconds Cut - Released Uncut in 2003

38. The Werewolf and the Yeti - BANNED

39. Zombie Flesh Eaters (Zombi 2 in U.S) - 23 Seconds Cut - Released Uncut in 2005