Video Nasties: Moral Panic, Censorship & Videotape (2010)

3 / 5 Jan '11
Tagline: To avoid moral panic keep repeating: "They were only movies, only movies, only movies, only movies..."
Directed by: Jake West
Written by: N/A
Actors include: Julian Petley, Marc Morris, Andy Nyman
Genre: Documentary, Horror
Length: 72 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well perhaps it's because I've studied the Nasties closely and been obsessed with them for such a long time that I found this to be rather dull. I give credit for at least showing a few seconds from each "Nasty" at the very beginning of the show, but from then on it's more about the effect it had on retailers. This is rather interesting and they raise some good points, but it's all stuff I've heard before. Same about how Mary Whitehouse actually unknowingly helped promote all of these pictures as she went on the warpath and was a driving force in banning them. Then people wanted the list and tried to watch stuff from it because of course they weren't supposed to. The phenomenon is quite interesting and if you know nothing about it, sure give this a watch. I was bothered by the fact that they didn't go into the content of the films very much, nor did they mention how The Funhouse was banned mistakenly for having the same name as another film. They do mention the Cannibal films and I Spit on Your Grave a few times but some more explanation would have been nice. Still it's better than nothing and I did learn a few tidbits from it.

Availability:  On DVD in the UK

Night School (1981) aka Terror Eyes

3.5 / 5 Sept '10
Tagline: A lesson in terror
Directed by: Ken Hughes
Written by: Ruth Avergon
Actors include: Leonard Mann, Rachel Ward, Drew Snyder
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Length: 84 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I've got to say, for a video nasty and a slasher they did try with this one despite some bad writing and cheapness. If they had Tom Savini working on the effects this could have been wicked, but at least as is they do splatter around a fair bit o' the red stuff. Oh and I should mention, death by merry-go-round & knife oh yes. It's very much set up like a giallo, the mystery is around who is decapitating girls from a night school and leaving their heads in a nautically themed way. The body count is certainly reasonable, as a mystery goes well it's very easy to pick out the responsible person despite the fact that they put some pretty silly red herrings in the plot. It also could have used a little pep in places, but I do give them credit for some absurd things that happen and some interesting places to have shot the film. It should be rewarding for most slasher films as it does have a little extra sparkle, it's just not as shocking or tightly wound as one could hope for is all.

Availability:  Not on DVD

Expose (1976) aka The House On Straw Hill aka Trauma

3 / 5 Dec '09
Tagline: And you thought that other HOUSE was bad...
Directed by: James Kenelm Clarke
Written by: James Kenelm Clarke
Actors include: Udo Kier, Linda Hayden, Fiona Richmond
Genre: Horror
Length: 84 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Yet another video nasty, this time I can't help but feeling like it was picked because of graphic nudity and sex rather than actual horror but there is some of that here too. Udo Kier plays a writer who seems to not have any respect for women (but I don't even think that is a plot point). He rents an isolated house to write a new novel, only he is having trouble writing so he decides to hire a secretary. The girl he chooses is quite lovely but something doesn't seem quite right about her. Sure she's great help and nice to look at but she pays the price when some local yokels try to attack her. Not being one to put up with that sort of thing, the story takes a rather bloody turn from that point on. The is one heck of a sleazy tale and it did have too much of that nonsense and a pointless lesbian encounter and so forth. You could easily remove a half hour of pointless nudity from this and you'd have a much better story. As is, I still thought it was okay, the story was reasonable and everything, just parts of it were irritating to have to sit through to get to the good stuff.

Availability:  On DVD (but OOP)

Lisa, Lisa (1977) aka Axe

4 / 5 Dec '09
Tagline: Total Terror - You'll Be Scared To Breathe...!
Directed by: Frederick R. Friedel
Written by: Frederick R. Friedel
Actors include: Leslie Lee, Jack Canon, Ray Green
Genre: Horror
Length: 68 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Now this one pleasantly surprised me though it's cheap and sleazy to the max...oh wait that's why I liked it! It's a video nasty so I figured I was in for some red stuff and yes indeedy it does satisfy. The story is about three criminals who happen to be going around and killing people before they meet young Lisa. Lisa looks after her paralyzed Grandpa in a big ole farm house all by herself. Lisa isn't quite the most normal person, she suffers hallucinations, stares into space and well she's just generally strange. When the criminals stumble into her place bad things start happening! It's definitely very The Last House on the Left only much cheaper and only a little more than an hour long. If you go into this expecting to be scared you are looking at it from the wrong angle, look at this as a ridiculously campy homage to revenge pictures with a wickedly vicious young Girl that you want to root on. This definitely won't appeal to everyone but those who like it will probably like it a lot.

Availability:  On DVD