Absurd
AKA: Antrpophagus 2, Grim Reaper 2, Rossa Sangue, The Monster Hunter,
Horrible, Ausgeburt der Holle, Terror sin Limite, Zombie 6 : Monster Hunter.
Italian
B-movie regular George Eastman plays a mental
patient, who's on the run from his former doctor (who also happens
to be a priest for some reason). Having torn his guts open on a spiked fence, he's admitted to a local hospital
where he quickly recovers, then goes on a murderous rampage.
Heads get stuffed in oven's,
hypodermic needles are shoved in eyes and there are various power tool murders,
including the use of a band saw, before he's eventually halted by getting an axe
in the head.
Directed by Joe D'Amato, (under the pseudonym Peter Newton) who's probably
better known for his soft porn films like the "11 days & 11 Nights"
trilogy. This was released in some countries as a follow-up of
sorts to his earlier "Anthropophagous the Beast"
(another entry on the Nasties list), though the only connection
between the two is the dorector, and it's lead actor George Eastman,
who plays the maniac in
both.
For me, the only disturbing part of this film was perhaps the police
sergeant's uncanny resemblance to comedian Robin Williams. Lookout for Euro-porn starlet
Annie Belle (House on the Edge of the Park) as one of the victims.
Other Information.
Passed for a UK cinema release in 1983 with 2:32s of cuts, the
distributers released both the cut cinema and original uncut
versions on tape using the exact same sleeve. It's undoubtedly
the bandsaw and oven death scenes in the uncut version that saw
this one included on the DPP list, which was succesfully
prosecuted under the OPA. An uncut US DVD under the title "Horrible"
was released by MYA in 2008, though some scenes had been spliced
back in
from a VHS source. Passed uncut in the UK in 2016, a Blu-Ray of
which is forthcoming...
Anthropophagous the Beast
AKA: Antropophagous Beast, Antropophagous, Antropophagus, The Grim Reaper, Maneater-Der Menschfresser,
The Man Eater, The Man Beast, Gomia : Terror en el Mar Egeo, The Savage Island,
Anthrapofogo.
Italian director Joe D'Amato's second entry on the nasties list
(filmed under his other pseudonym Aristide Massaccesi) was ironically
the forerunner to "Absurd".
Tisa Farrow (Mia's sister) and a group of
tourists visit a small Greek island, only to find it's inhabitants
have been devoured by a crusty looking shipwrecked man, played by
D'Amato regular George Eastman, who's been washed up on the shore with
a taste for human flesh after devouring his wife and kid in the lifeboat.
The people in the group get devoured one-by-one, and there's one particularly
nasty scene where he stomps on the belly of a pregnant woman and eats her
foetus. But he finally gets his come-uppance by getting a pickaxe through his
stomach and dies snacking on his own intestines.
Other Information.
Another one of the DPP's 39 prosecuted titles, undoubtedly due to
the fetus eating scene.
A heavily censored version with a different soundtrack was
released to UK DVD in the early 00's under the title "Grim Reaper",
which was taken from a cut US R-rated print. Finally released
uncut to UK Blu-Ray in 2015.
Axe
AKA: Calafornia Axe Massacre, California Axe Murders, The Axe Murders, Lisa Lisa, The Virgin Slaughter.
A
group of 3 psychopaths on the run from the law, go about terrorizing
the local townsfolk of a small community, before descending on an
isolated farm which is home to a young girl named Lisa and her
paralysed grandfather. After being raped by 2 of the gangster's she
retaliates using an axe and razorblades.
The film seems to borrow elements from "Last House on the Left"
(another entry on the list), though the film is not overly
graphic in any way, with the killings being more implied than
shown.
It is interesting to note that another film by the same director
entitled "Date with the Kidnapper" failed to make the
list, although distinctly similar in style and content.
Other Information.
Passed with around 3mins of cuts for a UK cinema release with an
"X" certificate, the video here was of the full uncut version
which is probably what landed it in the dock, as it was one of
the successfully prosecuted titles. The film was passed in
1999 with 16s of cuts under the title "California AXE
Massacre" and finally passed fully uncut in the UK in 2006.
The Beast in Heat
AKA: Horrifying Experiments in the last days of the SS, La Bestia in Calhore,
SS Hell Camp, Holocaliste Nazi, SS Experiment Camp 2.
Directed
by Ivan Katansky (AKA Luigi Batzella) this is one of many so called
Video Nasties about fictionalized World War 2 Nazi atrocities.
Taking place in an unspecified French town under Nazi occupation, a
senior female SS officer arrives to help sort out the problems with
the local resistance groups.
The "beast" of the title is a half man/half beast dwarf creature
(Sal Boris, star of numerous Italian horrors), which she has
created in a bizarre genetic experiment to torture the female
POW's in her care, by giving them to the vertically challenged
beast who subsequently "bonks" them to death (though he only actually
appears in 2 scenes).
The rest of the film focuses on the various nasty things the
Nazi's do to the locals and the attempts of the female SS
officer to torture the resistance members. She eventually gets
the tables turned on her when the allies attack and the
resistance gives her to her own creature.
Other Information.
This release was uncut. Was undoubtedly successfully prosecuted
because the authorities took a dim view of the combination of
sex, violence and Nazis. This release was fairly scarce and
became one of the rarest of the video nasties, with original UK
pre-cert videos going for silly money on Ebay. The film has not been re-issued in the UK to date, though would
probably scrape through the censors unscathed if resubmitted
today. Available on Scandinavian DVD, and on US DVD as "SS
Hell Camp"", uncut though several scenes have apparently
been shortened due to print damage.
Buy Online [Amazon UK]
Not Available
The Beyond
AKA: The Seven Doors of Death, L'aldila, E tu vivrai nel terrore - L'aldilà, Die Giesterstadt der Zombies.
The
first of several zombie films from Italian splatter-master Lucio Fulci
which made the Nasties list. This one with a plot seemingly "borrowed"
from Micheal Winners "The Sentinel". Which sees Fulci regular Catherine MacColl inherit
a New Orlans Hotel, which unfortunately stands on one of the 7 entrances to Hell.
Haunted
happenings include hotel guests being eaten by flesh eating spiders, having
their eyes gouged out by zombies, and attacked with acid. Before she and her
doctor friend, played by David Warbeck, finally end up trying to shoot their
way out of a zombie filled hospital.
Fulci's other zombie films, "House by the Cemetery" and "Zombie Flesh-Eaters"
can be found elsewhere on the list. Though strangely, the
similarly themed "City of the Living Dead", somehow escaped inclusion.
Clearly the film had an influence on the rock band 'Europe'
(remember them?) who released a song inspired by the film called
"Seven Doors Hotel".
Other Information.
Dropped from the Nasties list after they discovered this release
was the same as the UK cinema version, which had 1:39s cut by
the BBFC. This same cut version was later re-issued to video
after the VRA came in. The full uncut version was finally released in
the UK in 2001. SEE MAIN REVIEW.
Blood Bath
AKA: Bay of Blood, A Bay of Blood, Bloodbath : Bay of Blood,
Bloodbath : Bay of Death, Reazione A Catena, Ecologia Del Delitto,
Antefatto, Twitch of Death Nerve, Carnage, Before the Fact-Ecology of a Crime,
The Ecology of a Crime, Carnage, Last House on the Left Part II,
The New House on the Left.
More
commonly known as "A Bay of Blood", this
stalk and slash film by cult Italian director Mario Bava is essentially
about a group of grasping relatives, who try to murder each other off so
that they might own a highly desirable country mansion.
Described as a perverse reworking of the 1950's film "La Ronde", this plays
almost like a bizarre
black comedy, with people getting axes in the face and being repeatedly stabbed.
Slasher film fans may notice that several killings bear uncanny resemblances
to some of the deaths in the earlier Friday the 13th films.
Which includes one person getting an axe in the face and a
couple being skewered in bed togethor whilst "on the job".
Other Information.
The film had been rejected by the BBFC for a cinema release in
1972, the pre-cert video here was of the uncut version and was
succesfuly prosecuted. The BBFC later
passed a cut version, removing 43 seconds, for a video release in 1994.
The uncut version was finally released in the UK in 2010.
Blood Feast
AKA: Egyptian Blood Feast, Blood Orgy, Feast of Flesh.
One
of the earliest gore movies ever to produced, this tacky little 1963 film by
the notorious Herschell Gordon Lewis follows the exploits of an insane Egyptian caterer,
who goes around hacking
limbs, brains and tongues off female victims in order to build himself the perfect
female body in which to resurrect the god of Ishtar (nothing to do with the Dustin
Hoffman film).
He hopes to do this during a banquet he is preparing for a client, who is unaware
of what ingredients he is using for his dishes. But he meets an untimely demise by
taking a nosedive into the back of a rubbish truck.
Why anyone would think this badly
acted film, with its awful dialogue, inappropriate music and unconvincing gore
(OK I suppose it was made in 1963) was offensive or obscene is quite beyond me.
Former Playboy model Connie Mason stars in one of the leading roles (who obviously
wasn't hired for her acting abilities).
Other Information.
One of the first nasty titles successfully prosecuted and banned
under the OPA.
Passed for a UK release in 2001 after 23 seconds of BBFC cuts
to remove a whipping scene. The film was later passed fully
uncut when resubmitted in 2005. Herschell Gordon Lewis actually
made a sequel to this film in 2002 entitled "Blood Feast 2 : All U Can
Eat". A remake was also released in 2017.
Blood Rights
Three
sisters and their husbands have to stay in their late fathers house overnight in order
to inherit his fortunes. But, as they bed down for the night, the group are susequently
attacked attacked by a retarded lunatic named Colin, who dishes out the gore with a pitchfork.
Directed by the late Andy Milligan (no relation to Spike), the film is exceptionally amateurish,
featuring extremely bad acting, poor dialogue and amazingly bad production which includes the
directors instructions being audible on the soundtrack and the camera revealing crew members
during the fight scenes.
The films only notable inclusion was actor Richard Romanus, who went on to star in Martin Scorsese's
"Mean Streets".
Other Information.
The film has never been re-issued in the UK, even though it would undoubtedly pass uncut today.
Available on US DVD under the title "The Ghastly Ones" on a special double-edition disc with
"Seeds of Sin", from 'Something Weird Video'.
Buy Online [Amazon UK]
Not available
Bloody Moon
AKA: Die sage Des Todes, Colegialis Violadas, Pro Fonde Tenebre.
"Bloody
Awful" would be a more fitting title for this clunker of a slasher film,
about the pupils of
a foreign language school on the Costa del Sol, who are getting bumped off in a series of bizarre
killings by someone in a Mickey Mask mouse (and it isn't Walt
Disney).
Highlights include one person getting offed with a pair of
shears, another is strung up from a light fitting whilst another is
strapped to a bench and decapitated by a giant circular saw.
This truly awful movie, directed by the appalling Jess Franco,
probably got included on the governments Nasties list because of
its lurid depictions of women being killed.
This version
was uncut, but the distributors also released a cut version.
Other Information.
Successfully prosecuted under the OPA, it was later passed for a UK video release in the early 90's, but only after
1:20s of BBFC cuts. This same cut version was later issued on
DVD in the early 00's. The film was finally passed uncut by the BBFC in 2008
and released by 'Severin', which also included some additional
snippets of gore that were missing from other DVD releases.
The Bogey Man
AKA: The Boogeyman, Spectre.
Not
to be confused with the 2005 film of the same name, a concentrated evil power coming
from an evil mirror plays havoc with a family living in a small American farming
community.
Cheerfully ripping off "The Amityville Horror", "The Exorcist"
and "Halloween", some of the more interesting scenes include a couple getting skewered through the
throat whilst kissing and one of the characters stabbing herself with a pair of
scissors. Whilst veteran horror actor John Carradine turns
up in a small role as a Doctor.
Directed by Ulli Lommel who also did the 1973 film "Tenderness of the Wolves", this 1980 film spawned
a couple of sequels "Revenge of the Bogeyman" in 1983, which also made the nasties list,
and "Return of the the Boogeyman" in 1993.
Other Information.
The film had been passed uncut for a cinema release in 1980, so
was dropped from the Nasties list and not prosecuted. Though
when submitted to the BBFC for a video release in the early 90's,
they still insisted on cutting 44s from it.
The uncut version was finally passed for a UK release
in 2001.
The Burning
A
prank on the mean old caretaker at a summer camp seriously backfires
(literally) and he becomes horribly burned and disfigured. He
returns to the camp 5 years later with his trusty shears and
proceeds to carve his way through the staff and teens.
Essentially a low budget rip-off of Friday the 13th, the film
isn't quite in that same calibre, but features some interesting
kill scenes, such as where Cropsey jumps out of a canoe and
massacres the kids on a raft.
The Burning was notable for being the
movie that launched Mirimax pictures and featured early
performances from Holly Hunter, Jason Alexander and Fisher
Stevens. With special effects by Tom Savini and a
soundtrack by YES keyboardist Rick Wakeman. Director Tony Maylem went on to get himself fired from the Rutger Hauer Sci-Fi pic
"Split Second".
Other Information.
The film had been passed with 10s of cuts for a cinema release
in 1981,
but distributors Thorn-EMI accidentally issued the uncut
version on video by mistake. They quickly re-issued the cut
cinema version, but were still prosecuted for it along with
the uncut version. The uncut version was succesfully prosecuted
under the OPA, but the cut cinema version was pulled from
shelves at the same time. When submitted to the BBFC for a
re-release in the early 90s, it was even more heavily cut by 19s, which was the same
version first issued to UK DVD in 2001. The film was
finally passed fully uncut on UK DVD in 2002.
SEE MAIN REVIEW
Cannibal Apocalypse
AKA: The Cannibals are in the Streets, Cannibals in the Street,
Cannibals in the City, Cannibal Apocalipsis, Apocalypse
Domani, Apocalipse Cannibal, Apocalipsis Caníbal,
Cannibal Massacre, Hunter of the Apocalypse, Savage
Apocalypse, The Slaughterers, Savage Slaughterers,
Invasion of the Flesh Hunters, Virus.
Unlike
most of the other cannibal films on this list, this one is set in the US city of Atlanta
as opposed to the Amazon jungle. This one concerns a group of former
Vietnam war POW's, played by Horror/Sci-fi veteran John Saxon, Video Nasty
regular John Morghen and Blaxploitation actor Tony King, who return
home with a craving for human
flesh.
The group subsequently go on the rampage in the city, looking
for victims to munch on. But unfortunately, it turns out that
cannibalism is actually a disease spread by biting, so the
unfortunate victims who survive the ordeal end up joining ranks
with their erstwhile attackers. Before being chased into the
sewers by the police, who blast them with shotguns and
flamethrowers.
Directed by Antonio Marghareti, with cosmetic effects by Giannetto De Rossi who also worked on
Zombie Flesh-Eaters, this is definitely one of the more
fun video nasties, with some great gory action scenes, including
one where John Morghen gets a hole blasted in his torso.
Other Information.
The
pre-cert video was uncut. The film was finally passed for a UK release in 2005, though the
BBFC cut 1s from it, to remove a scene where some rats get splattered with
burning napalm during the sewer shootout, as this breached the "Cruelty
to Animals" act. However, the UK Horror Channel have screened
the uncut version. The film has been released uncut on disc in
the US. SEE MAIN REVIEW.
Cannibal Ferox
AKA: Make Them Die Slowly, Let Them Die Slowly, Woman
From Deep River, Die Rache der Kannibalen, Canibal Feroz.
Arguably
the nastiest of all the video nasties was this offering by Italian director Umberto Lenzi,
which is apparently in the Guinness book of Records for being banned in 31 countries.
3 New York university students venture into the Columbian jungle when they
cross paths with a couple of drug dealers, one of which being the illustrious John Morghen
(the second film on the list in which he appears), who have been running amok with the local
cannibal tribe.
Not splitting any hairs about who is and isn't involved with Mr
Morghen, all parties concerned find themselves being served up
on the natives next menu. John Morghen has a very delicate part
of his anatomy forcibly removed, whilst Zero Kerova (who
suffered a similarly gory demise in "The New York Ripper")
is strung up with hooks through her breasts. However the worst
parts are the sickening acts of repeated genuine animal
mutilations.
Other Information.
This version was uncut, though the distributors also released a heavily cut version
in a different sleeve, which had been unofficially approved by
the BBFC with
an 18 classification prior
to the VRA. This removed the two most infamous gore scenes and
the animal cruelty, but was still prosecuted under
the OPA, along with the uncut version. The heavily censored version was eventually passed
for a UK DVD release in 2000, with an additional 6 second cut, on the Vipco label. The
film is available uncut in the US and in most European
countries. SEE MAIN REVIEW.
Cannibal Holocaust
AKA: Cannibal Massaker, Holocausto Cannibal, Nackt und Zerfleischt.
One
of the better cannibal flicks, by rival genre director Ruggero Deadato, in which a search
and rescue team (lead by porn star Robert Kerman) head into the Columbian jungle in search
of a missing film crew, only to find their remains and their stock of film that they had
shot about the last remaining cannibal tribes.
Upon viewing the found footage, they find
that the film crew had brought about their own demise by pissing off the local tribes
in order to catch some sensational footage, only for them to
gang up and murder the crew in the most brutal of fashions.
For the most part, this is actually a very good jungle adventure
film, which some have said was the pre-cursor to the modern "found
footage" style film. It has suffered several outrageous claims about being a snuff movie
over the years (which it isn't)
although, as is the case with most cannibal capers, features gratuitous GENUINE animal
butchery which is rather vile.
The distributors where successfully prosecuted for obscenity for
releasing this, though strangely Deadato's other cannibal movie "Cannibal"
(AKA "Last Cannibal Wold", "Ultimo Mondo Cannibal", "Jungle Holocaust") surprisingly
escaped inclusion from the list.
Other Information.
Another succesfully prosecuted title, this release was uncut in terms of gore, but had 7 minutes of
dialogue cut out so the film would fit onto a 90min tape. A
heavily cut version, which removed all the animal killings and a
couple of rape scenes, was passed for a UK release in 2001 and
released by Vipco. Shameless films managed to get a more
complete version released in 2011, which only edited out the
muskrat killing scene. The film is available fully uncut in the
US and most of Europe on disc. SEE MAIN REVIEW.
The Cannibal Man
AKA: La Semana del Asesino, The Apartment on the 13th Floor, Week of the Killer.
A
low budget Spanish film, in which a
slaughterhouse worker kills a cab driver in self defence, then decides to bump off his
girlfriend who witnessed it to cover up his crime. As his family,
and others, get suspicious, the killings escalate as he tries to
keep his original crime quiet.
Subsequently, he goes on to kill his brother, his brother's wife, his
father and even a visiting prostitute in the process, before disposing of them at his
slaughterhouse.
The film isn't really that gory, aside from some
slaughterhouse footage at the start of the film. The scene with the meat clever in
the face is obviously a plastic novelty and the gore effects overall are quite unconvincing.
Would probably have never been included in the governments nasties list if it hadn't used
the word "cannibal" in its title, which is probably why it got
noticed in the first place.
Other Information.
Despite its lack of gore, it was still successfully prosecuted
and banned under the OPA. It was later passed for a UK video release in the early 90s after 3s of BBFC
cuts, though would probably pass uncut if resubmitted today.
Available uncut on disc in the US.
Buy Online [Amazon UK]
Not Available
Cannibal Terror
Another
film that only got included due to having the word "cannibal" in the
title, this dull French made effort by director Allan Steve (AKA
Julian Tabernero) is about a couple of small time crooks who kidnap
a young girl, hoping to blackmail her rich parents.
Holing up at a friends house in the nearby jungle, one of them rapes their friend's wife,
so are forced to high tail it deeper into
the jungle, after he tips off the authorities as to their whereabouts.
They are then captured
by a local cannibal tribe, sporting extremely dodgy hairstyles (and also appear to be wearing
watches and wedding rings), who adopt the young girl as their own but turn the gangsters into
their next meal.
Shot back-to-back with Jess Franco's "White Cannibal Queen" (AKA "Cannibals"),
using the same sets, same extras and even re-using some of the same
scenes, the film proves even more inept than Franco's film,
which somehow escaped inclusion on the list. The natives were
made up of white, pot bellied, Spaniards who can be seen wearing training shoes and
have underpants on under their loin cloths. The
scenes of disembowelment were all too obviously a close up of a pigs carcass, and in one scene in the
tribal village you can clearly see a road in the background with cars
driving past.
Other Information.
The film was unsurprisingly dropped from the DPP list and not
prosecuted. Was eventually passed uncut for a UK DVD release in
2003.
Contamination
AKA: Contaminazione, Alien 2, Alien Contamination, Contamination: Alien on Earth, Astaron Brut des Schreckens, Toxic Spawn.
An
El-Cheapo rip off of "Alien" by Italian director Lewis
Coates (Luigi Cozzi), in which the authorities discover a boat load
of alien eggs (actually painted balloons) on board an abadoned cargo vessel.
Which blow up in
peoples faces, causing their stomaches to swell up and explode.
Turns out these eggs have come from a giant alien octopus, which
is holed up in a columbian coffee factory, after being brought
down from mars on a previous space expedition.
Enter Ian McCulloch of "Zombie Flesh Eaters" fame who,
with the help of Loise Marlea, heads on over to South-America
and brings the alien menace to a
halt. Not to be confused with the similarly themed "Alien
Terror" (Alien Sulla Terra), which escaped inclusion.
Other Information.
The film was eventually dropped from the DPP list and not
prosected. This version was uncut in terms of gore but was
apparently missing 5mins of dialogue scenes.
A more heavily edited version, with the stomach explosions
removed, was unofficially approved by the
BBFC prior to the VRA. However this had no legal standing once the VRA came into effect,
so the cut version was still effectively outlawed. The film was
passed uncut in the UK in 2004 SEE MAIN REVIEW.