I don't get the why the whole 'Nasty' era is celebrated as some great & wonderful thing: most of the films were cut, people went to jail, had the livelihoods ruined and caused the VRA which resulted in some of strictest censorship ever seen in the 'free' world.

Indeed. People really were put in jail for dealing in these films, as ridiculous as it sounds now - especially since most of the films are now legally available uncut. I hate the term, it's an embarrassing moment in UK censorship history and all those involved should feel ashamed of themselves for being so stupid.

I agree with you
The media and politicians had to think of some dumb title so (I think it was a Daily Mail dickhead journalist- no suprises it was that paper) who coined the phrase but everybody jumped onto the bandwagon and scared the public shitless as to anybody who watched a 'video nasty'would be possessed into killing or whatever...madness:crazy:
I've got an excellent book by John Martin SEDUCTION OF THE GULLIBLE and that title sums it up really
The media, politicians et al made the public aka the gullible into thinking that these films were evil and a threat to society
Unfortunately that term 'video nasty' will not go away with horror mags, internet reviews etc still giving these films the same label

I'm not quite old enough to remember much about the scandal, being around 5 or 6 at the time but as an adult reading books about this subject(including the one James mentioned and the excellent Shock Horror art book) I recognise the majority of the artwork, which as we all know was decidedly better than the content itself. Now, almost 30 years later people are still interested in that era so the term Video Nasties will never go away I'm afraid.
For the record, I can clearly remember all the controversy surrounding the death of poor James Bulger and how Childs Play 3 was the main target for the ****ers in the press to lay blame on(even though it was proven neither of the little shits had seen it)

While I've never had the desire (personally) to slavishly work my way through the DPP list of films for the sake of it. The whole "Video Nasty" backlash is still something that people of a certain age will always remember, and yes even fondly. Many of us sneakily rented/watched horror videos as kids, while someone's Mum was at work. So the "video nasty" tag going around, just made it even more of an event.
(And then of course there are the collectors who would try and find tapes long after the films were banned)

So unless your livelihood or liberty was affected directly, I don't see why anyone would have a problem with the people who are still interested in the subject or frankly just find it amusing looking back at the whole outcry.
(Although it still can be a frustrating affair watching old clips of interviews of the time.)

I remember the whole witch hunt as if it were yesterday and, frankly, it's embarrassing. Whilst the term 'video nasty' is still being thrown around these films will never be taken seriously. That's the shame of it.

Also, people from overseas still believe that every horror release in the UK is cut because they still see the words 'video nasty' being used. It makes us a laughing stock. It's not something to be proud of. The 80's were shit anyway, I don't have any nostalgia for that era. Why would I think fondly of a time when films were banned and we had to make do with shonky nth generation VHS tapes? :lol:

Boo.




...ah but I appreciate my DVD collection so much more because of being around during the 80's. ;)

An update on the list;
Forest of Fear aka Toxic Zombies is available from Substance dvd and there is also a big box from Germany floating around.
Terror Eyes aka Night School is available from Warner Bros Archive collection MoD dvd-r. It will also set you back $20.00 plus postage which is a bit harsh for a dvd-r but it's not gonna get any offical release in the forseeable future!

Another update on the list;

Back in the bad old days, yes, I was there!, there was no internet and info was HARD to come by. Then in...hmm, '89-90...thereabouts, a zine came out called In The Flesh. They listed the ultimate (at the time!) Video Nasty list.
Every gorehound worth his salt followed that list.
So here are the ones (For anal complete-ists only! Yeah, like me :blush:)
Abducted aka Schoolgirls in Chains Code Red
Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll Deimos r1
Don't Answer the 'Phone Deimos r1
Hell Night Various
Other Side of Madness aka Helter Skelter Murders Image r1
Love Camp VIP
Poor White Trash aka Poor White Trash 2 (!) No Release but Grindhouse has rights.
:)

I generally just use terms "banned in the uk" or DPP 39? When referring to these talking with friends. But I still find the whole thing fascinating. There was a similar thread on amazon starting froma reviewer saying people lives were ruined by this, so we should stop calling them video nasties.
But some, if not most of these movies would have no significance whatsoever, with just about zero market for them these days if it wasn't for the fiasco.
Also I hate it when people use the term for movies that weren't on the list.