VHS NASTY / CERT: TBC /DIRECTOR: TONY NEWTON / STARRING: NATHAN HILL, SHAWN C. PHILLIPS, TONY NEWTON, JASON FIGGIS, MATHEW FISHER, PETER GODDARD / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Low-budget talking head documentaries about the golden age of video are ten a penny these days, but this third entry into the VHS Lives series is an entertaining and enlightening journey through the most controversial time in British film history.
The history of the video nasties is covered in a brief voice over to start the film, before we get to the interviews, which are mainly from indie filmmakers, but there are some well-known faces such as Phillips and an audio contribution from Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman. Reminisces from those involved mostly follow the same path: how they became aware of these films and what titles are their favourites and which are the ones they avoid. From the latter topic, the general consensus is that Faces of Death and Cannibal Holocaust go too far, even if the former is mostly faked, as several of the pundits point out.
The topic of censorship is debated also, and while classification is one thing, no one wants their films butchered beyond recognition, such as happened when the Video Recordings Act came into force in 1984. Kaufman’s claim that The Toxic Avenger was only 40 minutes long when released in the UK is an amusing exaggeration, the point stands that some films were stripped of their (literal) guts when they were resubmitted to the BBFC. No one disputes that they should have age guidelines and restrictions of illegal activity, which is good to know.
As is usual with documentaries such as this, any clips from the films come from trailers, so quality is variable. The clip choices are good, though, and not overused. Some of the information is repeated from several of the participants, which can be expected with the personal nature of comments. Viewers who remember the early ‘80s will be nodding in agreement with some of the tales of trading pirated versions of the films and purchasing bootleg copies of banned titles. For those who weren’t there, it’s a decent education on a time then our favourite movies were outlawed.
VHS Nasty isn’t the final word on the subject, but is certainly a fun watch and confirms that without the turbulent time in cinema history, there would not be the breed of inventive filmmakers and a lot of mediocre and frankly rubbish movies would have been long forgotten.
