Given that modern audiences are accustomed to highly sophisticated special effects that were inconceivable even for Hollywood productions 25 years ago, it is a reasonable assumption that today many Video Nasties are difficult to take seriously. Paul Navarro, ex. Film Examiner at the British Board Of Film Classification (BBFC), doubts the films would appeal to many contemporary horror fans, given that they are ‘rather passé by current standards’. The recent efforts from Arrow Film and Shameless...

It is difficult to define what makes a film a Video Nasty, as there are no generic, creative characteristics that link them together. The term was invented in the 1980s to refer to disparate collection of films that were criticized in the press for their excessive levels of violence, and were subsequently banned by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) on the grounds that they were obscene and likely to deprave and corrupt viewers. The Video Nasties debacle brought about major change in the...

Before you watch this, you need to understand that German splatter is basically about taking everything that is bad about filmmaking and, with the exception of Jorg Buttgereit, you’re unlikely to find any real cinematic masterpieces. I’ve suffered through various Olaf Ittenbach movies and that was basically enough to tell me I was on to something pretty awful. So, having fairly low expectations of Nikos...

There have been some great French language films in recent years and Fabrice Du Welz’s feature length debut is no exception (despite being Belgian!). The setting here is one you’ll probably be familiar with; urbanite gets lost in a rural village and falls victim to crazy hicks, but this is hardly a braindead slasher and the film has it’s own unique little twist on things....

My music journalism keeps me pretty busy, but every now and then I feel inspired to review something I've watched or have a rant (and occasionally even have the time to do so!) Figured here would be a good place to post up the occasional film review until my new website gets rolling