This was a documentary that I learned about when searching online for documentaries about horror films. I'm fascinated by the Video Nasties' movement in the United Kingdom after learning about it from podcasts. This was doc was streaming on Tubi, so I decided to give this a watch while working, treating it as a podcast.

What I like here is that we're getting an in-depth look at this scandal during the 1980s in Great Britain. Something that this documentary does better than others I've watched recently, it presents both sides of the argument. I can see the side of those that are in favor of banning certain movies like Driller Killer or Cannibal Holocaust. I disagree with banning them though.

This should fall to the discretion of parents. I don't think that the government should prevent adults from seeking out what they want. There seems to be that those in power are looking down on people that they consider to be 'simple'. This brings up a good point that censors are watching this film. Why would they be okay as opposed to the masses? Many of the movies referenced here I've seen. Cannibal Holocaust is great. Driller Killer is solid. There are many others that aren't very good, just using shock as their only gimmick.

Shifting back to parents needing to be allowed to oversee their children and not the government idea. Now I've had cart blanche to watch almost anything that I've wanted to. There were just things like Cannibal Holocaust or The Last House on the Left that my father didn't want my sister and I watching. I'm glad that he did, we weren't prepared for those. Things like Dawn of the Dead or Zombie, they didn't do damage outside making most everything we saw after that tamer. My mother would get mad when she sent me in to rent or buy something, then had to force her to come in. I can see both sides here, but this doc brings up good ideas.

I'd say that this is well-made. I love that this presents both sides of the arguments. Explaining why this was being done and then using clips to help present those points is good. This is a solid documentary that I'd recommend for sure.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.

Seemingly a two part tv documentary sewn together to a feature length experience for streaming. The first part looks at how the video nasty controversy came into being in the UK and the reaction to the sadistic violence and explicit sex that came with this being made available in the high street without any form of censorship. The second part looks at how this issue continued once laws were changed and the British Board of Film Censors / Classification approached their responsibilities.

Actually quite informative for any film fan and demonstrates what a complete pig's breakfast the country made of the matter. The videos were distributed with no controls by a thriving new industry with morally upstanding and seemingly ignorant MPs seeking voter kudos by slamming just about anything that wasn't family entertainment and with the populist press using it to create alarmist headlines around unsubstantiated claims that everyone from naughty children to mass murderers did what they did because they watched violent films. Clearly there was a need to protect children and the government did nothing about this until it fell into the public conscience and get the attention of the press. Thereafter innocent people were arrested, films banned and then not banned endlessly with the police having no idea what they were doing, seizing or arresting.

Then James Ferman took on the BBFC as a leader who was in no way hampered by false modesty and doubt and cut and banned all over the place.

As a country, the UK looked ridiculous with a confused mess from government, our dreadful populist press over reacting with little or no evidence to back up their claims resulting in the greatest amount of film censorship in Europe. The 2 key things I took away from this were, surely the distributors didn't seriously expect this to go unchallenged but secondly how little challenge there was from liberals challenging why grown adults can't see what they want to see. Nanny state at its most appalling with the UK looking idiotic - makes you proud to be British.