Cult Labs - Blogs - necroluciferia http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/necroluciferia/ Cult Labs is the friendliest forum on the web for discussing the latest cult releases, particularly from Shameless Screen Entertainment and Arrow Video. en Sat, 25 May 2013 21:39:17 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg Cult Labs - Blogs - necroluciferia http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/necroluciferia/ Depraved DPP Darlings With Damaged Brains - Audience and Appeal http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/necroluciferia/836-depraved-dpp-darlings-damaged-brains-audience-appeal.html Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:06:57 GMT Given that modern audiences are accustomed to highly sophisticated special effects that were inconceivable even for Hollywood productions 25 years... 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 Screen Entertainment in re-releasing previous Nasty titles, such as New York Ripper and Inferno, however suggests there to be a market for the films beyond the core nostalgic collectors. I wanted to look at the younger audience for the Video Nasties and examine the appeal of these films today.

While effects have come a long way, Julian Petley notes that some young people are sick of CGI-heavy films and want something with a ‘different kind of artfulness’. Petley likens the youth attraction to Video Nasties to the attraction to prog rock, stating both are more ‘imaginative’ and ‘less derivative’ than many modern mainstream alternatives. While over-produced forms of entertainment have mass appeal, there exists a niche market for more authentic alternatives.

David Hyman, a Film Examiner at the BBFC, argues that the majority of people watching horror films today would not be interested in watching a film from the 1980s with ‘shonky effects’. Whilst remakes are often held in low regard by those who like the original, remakes of Video Nasties such as Last House On The Left and I Spit On Your Grave (ISOYG) could offer some explanation for renewed interest in the original versions. These films have been targeted towards the mainstream horror audience. Particularly in the case of ISOYG, which has been released as a double-DVD complete with the original, it is able to introduce the film to a new generation, some of whom will be inclined to learn of its controversial history and lead them to the DPP list. Danielle Hanley, a 22 year old fan of horror, claims to have based her viewing habits to some extent on the DPP list, however while she has used the list to aid her voyage of discovery, she describes the majority of Video Nasties as ‘not great’.

As Petley points out, the Video Nasties encompass a wide range of films of varying qualities. He describes the effects in Night Of The Demon as ‘laughable’ while arguing that Zombie Flesh Eaters is ‘quite good’ and Evil Dead ‘superb’. While the films can be described as ‘hit and miss’, Marc Morris, producer of Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape, argues that if one has an interest generally one will want to see them all. This is variable depending on the level of devotion one has to the genre, however the history of the films, the significance of the DPP list and importance of censorship knowledge makes the Video Nasties a phenomenon that seems to appeal more to people looking to actively engage with the films and associated subcultural activities (for example, collecting, reading genre magazines and engaging with fellow enthusiasts), rather than the casual film viewer. Sixteen year old horror fan, Stefan Wright claims that his current aim is to watch all of the Video Nasties, and describes the act of buying a film and waiting for it to arrive as ‘part of the fun’. This demonstrates how some young people are attracted to the collectability of the films and the act of hunting down every film on the list overshadows the issue of film quality. This makes it difficult to separate the act of watching Video Nasties from the associated subcultural activities. The films seem to hold very little appeal to young people who are casual horror film viewers, while having greater appeal to those interested in exploring the cultural history of the Video Nasties and engaging with the censorship issues surrounding them. While the films are regarded to be of varying quality, their appearance on the DPP list makes them relatively accessible to young horror fans looking for an alternative to the mainstream. ]]> necroluciferia http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/necroluciferia/836-depraved-dpp-darlings-damaged-brains-audience-appeal.html Something Appalling In The Annals Of Horror Putting The Video Nasties Into Context http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/necroluciferia/835-something-appalling-annals-horror-putting-video-nasties-into-context.html Tue, 19 Jul 2011 16:04:34 GMT 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... 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 way films were classified, as a piece of legislation known as the Video Recordings Act (VRA) was rushed through, making it illegal to possess or distribute videos that had not been classified by the British Board Of Film Classification (BBFC).
It is important firstly to put the Video Nasties into context, detailing the socio-political factors that contributed to the phenomenon.

Emerging technologies prove a continual problem for the government as legislative changes struggle to catch up with technological innovations. While today, the internet is a major stumbling block for those wishing to censor film, in the late 70s/early 80s the introduction of home video was equally problematic for the authorities, as prior to the introduction of the VRA, UK law only took into consideration films released for theatrical distribution and did not yet acknowledge home video. This meant that distributors were able to bypass the censors, releasing films that had either previously been rejected for cinematic release or had not been put forward for classification. Julian Petley, film journalist and author of numerous books on censorship, recalls this period as; ‘a wonderful chance to see all sorts of exciting stuff that you had not been able to see before’.

Ex-BBFC Examiner, Paul Navarro, recalls the 80s as being ‘a very turbulent time in Britain, with a lot of unemployment and rising crime’. Changes in policy under Thatcher’s government had a devastating effect on the manufacturing industry, with many firms going out of business having depended on subsidies under the previous government.

According to David Hyman, a BBFC Examiner; ‘a lot of miners lost their jobs, got their redundancy pay-off and decided to buy a video shop because all their mates were renting videos’. Thatcher’s focus on entrepreneurship provided encouragement for working-class people to set up in small business, and at the time, home video was a growth industry requiring little knowledge and minimal start-up capital. Hyman recalls how many of the video dealers had no knowledge and no idea that what they were doing could be in conflict with the law. ‘They just acquired this huge stock, they never watched all the titles’, states Hyman.

Marc Morris, producer of Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship and Videotape, recalls finding X-rated cartoon, Fritz The Cat in the children’s section of a video store. Here is an example of how the store owners’ lack of knowledge led to mistakes, as unsuitable material was unknowingly sold to children, where a parental guidance sticker would have prevented such mistakes from occurring. Eventually, it was this lack of product knowledge that worked against them. Navarro points out the concern that unregulated video was aiding the breakdown of society. ‘The Conservative government wanted to point the finger at something, and jumped on one aspect of popular culture aimed at the urban proletariat’, states Navarro.

It is the ‘fear of the mob’, according to Petley, that drives moral panics such as the one surrounding the Video Nasties. Therefore the nearer to the mainstream or ‘the popular’ something is, the more likely it will attract media attention and the call to censor or outlaw it. A number of the films on the DPP list were tame compared to similar films of the time, however many were too far off the radar to attract attention. The obscurity of a film such as Emanuelle In America made it difficult to be found by anyone who was not actively seeking it out. The lack of knowledge from those who were vilifying the films meant that nobody really knew what they were looking for. In some cases, films were outlawed on the basis of their front covers with no knowledge of the film content itself (Morris & West, 2010a). Had Go Video, the distributors for Cannibal Holocaust, not alerted Mary Whitehouse of the film in attempt to get some free publicity, then perhaps this would have remained under the DPP radar and not ended up a Video Nasty.

‘The Video Nasties are rarely treated as part of a whole any more except as a convenient phrase’, considers Martin Barker, author of Video Nasties: Censorship In The Media. Fans of horror understand the term and its historical significance, but regard the films as part of separate genres. It could be said that the Video Nasties are a collective group of films that are more widely representative of the range of exploitation and horror genres contained within, acting to newcomers as an introduction to non-mainstream horror and exploitation cinema that leads some to explore in more depth, as will be examined further in part two. ]]> necroluciferia http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/necroluciferia/835-something-appalling-annals-horror-putting-video-nasties-into-context.html Film review - NIKOS THE IMPALER (Andreas Schnaas) http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/necroluciferia/664-film-review-nikos-impaler-andreas-schnaas.html Wed, 11 May 2011 09:52:24 GMT Image: http://pics.filmaffinity.com/Nikos_the_Impaler-179703-full.jpg Before you watch this, you need to understand that German splatter is...

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 The Impaler probably worked in the film’s favour in this instance as I actually found it relatively enjoyable.


The plot can be summed up as an ancient barbarian gets unleashed during an art exhibition and starts killing off everyone in the building before going on a rampage across New York. The film makes no pretensions; it’s a simple story and it encompasses the basic formations of a slasher movie, which I personally admire more than certain amateur filmmakers who try and do something that is way above their capabilities. The acting is so bad it’s a true inspiration, in the sense that if they can do it then I bloody well can! There’s no depth to the characters whatsoever. You’ve got two gay lovers, one of whom is a walking stereotype, checking himself out in the mirror while the other is such a big girls blouse he actually pukes at the sight of a painting. Then you’ve got two college slackers who are only at the gallery for extra credit and to score chicks. Some of the characters are actually quite likeable though, in a teen comedy sense at least. Thankfully there is no attempt to make us feel any kind of empathy for any of the characters and the comedy edge makes it easier to accept them for what they are and then laugh as they get their guts spilled across the floor.


Which brings me rather messily to the important bit; THE GORE! Which this film delivers in spades, no two ways about it. Limbs fly, heads roll, faces are sliced off and blood sprays out in a slightly unrealistic manner…you get the picture. It’s all slightly over the top and some of it is a little hard to take seriously, such as when a guy’s head is chopped off at the mouth leaving a tongue perfectly in tact and flapping about…yeah, okay. But it’s fun! And I think this here Andreas Schnass pokes fun at himself a great deal, with references to previous works like Demonium and Zombie Doom, and of course the cameo appearance from Lloyd Kaufmann is a nice touch especially given that he is in a video store full of Troma videos and discussing Citizen Toxie at the moment he is ripped open! Even Lamberto Bava’s Demons is paid homage in this film too, with a scene of movie-theatre mayhem!


Some of the special effects are laughable, such as when the car bursts into seemingly flat yellow flames. What’s that all about? The CGI effects in this film are the most laughable thing of all really and the less said the better. That said, I’d take this any day over one of the over-produced Hollywood horror franchise movies and while it’s not fantastic, it’s not artistic nor does it really stimulate any brain cells, it is at least unpretentious, good gore-splattered fun! ]]> necroluciferia http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/necroluciferia/664-film-review-nikos-impaler-andreas-schnaas.html Film review - CALVAIRE http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/necroluciferia/663-film-review-calvaire.html Wed, 11 May 2011 09:37:33 GMT

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.

Marc Stevens is on the road when his van breaks down. After a brief encounter with a strange young man out searching for his lost dog, he is towed to a nearby farmhouse by a seemingly rational and friendly bloke who offers to fix his van. Given that Marc doesn’t have too many options, he accepts and stays the night in the seemingly innocuous farmhouse where things seem to be all hunky-dory; no obvious sign that things aren’t going to work out for him just yet and truth be told I start to wonder if anything is ever going to happen at all!

The film does take a while to get going, with the first 35-40 minutes setting the scene and building tension, which very suddenly swings away from itself and takes a rapid descent into madness. Over a home-cooked dinner, we learn that Bartel’s (that’s the farmhouse keeper) wife left him, and he’s in fact rather lonely and miserable, and increasingly it becomes clear that he is very unstable. At this point I couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for him, but you can also sense the discomfort felt by Marc as this man offloads his life-woes and the air is so tense you could cut it with a table knife. We learn that the ex-wife has a couple of things in common with Marc – mostly that they both are singers, but what unfolds as a result of this similarity is something I hardly think our victim had bargained for.

There’s a sense of realism to the way this is shot that emphasises the brutality and grimy tension. There isn’t much in the ways of soundtrack and the creepiness comes more directly from the performances coupled with the stark, dingy backdrop. The only music of note is a scene in a nearly bar when one of the locals bashes out an ominous tune on the piano which gets all the patrons up and swaying and there’s a real sense of madness to it all as it looks like a load of zombies in a lunatic asylum. Yes, it seems Bartel isn’t the only nutter in the village!

This film is truly unhinged; tense, brutal, claustrophobic and in places deliriously funny! If you’re looking for a Hollywood horror to watch on a Friday night then you’ll probably be disappointed, but if you want something a bit unusual then this is a great little movie.


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]]> necroluciferia http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/necroluciferia/663-film-review-calvaire.html Film reviews http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/necroluciferia/662-film-reviews.html Wed, 11 May 2011 09:31:49 GMT 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 :) ]]> necroluciferia http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/blogs/necroluciferia/662-film-reviews.html