Dead and Buried
An
underrated horror film from directer Gary Sherman (Death Line),
starring James Farentino as the sheriff of the small seaside town of
Potters Buff, who is baffled by a series of bizarre, brutal killings
that have recently occured. But he's even more baffled when the
victims are seen casually walking around the town a few days later.
He begins to suspect the local mortician, played by Jack
Albertson (who also played the Grandad in Willy Wonka and
the Chocolate Factory) may somehow be involved in all these
strange goings on, but is anyone in this town really who they
appear to be?
Also starring Melody Anderson (Flash Gordon), the film
was scripted by Ronald Shusett and Dan O'Bannon, who also wrote
Alien and Return of the Living Dead, and is
actually quite a good horror film, with special effects by Stan
Winston (Terminator). Look out for horror veteran
Robert Englund in a minor role as one of the psychotic townsfolk.
Other Information.
The film had been passed uncut for a cinema release, which is
probably one of the reasons it was later dropped from the
nasties list and not prosecuted. The pre-cert video here was also
uncut, but when submitted for a post-VRA video release in the late 80s,
the BBFC cut 30s from it. Later releases were passed uncut. An
uncut DVD was released in the UK in 2004.
Death Trap
AKA: Eaten Alive, Horror Hotel Massacre, Horror Hotel, Brutes and
Savages, Legend of the Bayou, Murder on the Bayou, Starlight
Slaughter.
Another low budget horror film by director Tobe Hooper of Texas
Chainsaw Massacre fame, which was apparently based on a true
story.
The plot revolves around a redneck motel owner (Neville Brand)
who likes killing his patrons, then feeding them to his pet
alligator in the swamp outside.
Marilyn Burns, who also appeared in Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
gets tied up and terrorised all over again, whilst US TV actor
Mel Ferrer has a role as one of the victims. Robert England also
turns up in a small co-starring role as a chap named Buck, who
opens the film with the line "My names Buck, and I'm ready to
fuck" (a line Tarantino borrowed for Kill Bill).
Had previously been shown at the London film festival, but still
earned a place on the "Nasties" list. Apparently, Hoopers 2000
film "Crocodile" was originally intended as a follow up of
sorts to this film.
Other Information.
Cut for a UK cinema release, VCL released the same cut version
to video, but Vipco here released an uncut print, which is what
got it noticed by the authorities. The film was unsuccessfully
prosecuted under the OPA, but the BBFC still cut 25 seconds for
the post-VRA release in 1990. The film was finally passed uncut in 2000. Has
more recently been re-issued under its US title "Eaten
Alive" (not to be confused with the cannibal film of the
same name).
Deep River Savages
AKA: Man from Deep River, Mondo Cannibale, Au pays de L'exorcisme, Il paese del sesso selvaggio, Sacrifice.
The
film that started off all these sicko Italian cannibal flicks from
the 70's and 80's was this 1972 offering from Umberto Lenzi (who
would go on to direct another entry on the Nasties list,
Cannibal Ferox).
Italian B-movie regular Ivan Rassimov plays a photographer who's
out on location somewhere in the Philippines. After killing a
guy in a bar brawl he flee's into the Jungle, only to get
captured by a native cannibal tribe who initially string him up
and torture him, then surprisingly initiate him into the tribe,
rather like what happened in "A Man called Horse",
whilst former TV presenter Me Me Lay plays the Chief's daughter.
Like all of Lenzi's cannibal flicks there's plenty of vile
genuine animal butchery, including the top of a monkey's head
being chopped off and its brains eaten. Lenzi re-used several
scenes from this film for his other cannibal film "Eaten
Alive", which surprisingly escaped inclusion from the list.
Me Me Lai and Ivan Rassimov also starred together in that film,
and again in Deadato's "Cannibal", which also
surprisingly escaped inclusion.
Other Information.
The film had previously been rejected for a cinema release in
1975 under the name "Man from Deep River", the video
was uncut, though was surprisingly removed from the DPP's list
and not prosecuted. The full uncut version was submitted in 2003
and passed with only the animal cruelty scenes removed,
totalling 3:45. The 2016 UK release was slightly less cut,
suffering just 3mins of cuts. Numerous uncut European DVDs are
available, along with an uncut US DVD by Shriek Show.
SEE MAIN REVIEW.
Delirium
An
underground society of former Vietnam veterans go around executing
criminals that escape justice. But one of them flips out and
proceeds to start bumping off young women.
The friend of one of the victims helps the police track down the
killer, leading to a mass police shootout that ensues during the
films finale. Though I was a little surprised to hear the theme
from the quiz show "Mastermind" being used for the end title
music.
Directed by Peter Maris, the film should not be confused with
the 1972 film of the same name by Renato Polselli or the 1987
film by Lamberto Bava.
There were two different covers issued for this release, the one
pictured here being the more common.
Other Information.
The film was dropped from the DPP list and not prosecuted. It
was re-released on video in 1987 under the title "Psycho
Puppet", with 16s of BBFC cuts. The film currently appears to be
languishing in obscurity, with no known releases.
Buy Online [Amazon UK]
Not Available
Buy Online [Amazon US]
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The Devil Hunter
AKA: Il Cacciatore Du Uomini, Jungfrau unter Kanninbalen, The Man Hunter, Mandigo Man Hunter,
Sex Cannibal.
A
model gets kidnapped by a gang of thugs whilst working in South America, who take her into
the jungle and demand a huge ransom.
Unfortunately, a rather unconvincing cannibal tribe
(made up largely of white people), capture her for themselves and offer her as a sacrifice
to some strange devil-beast that inhabits the area (actually a naked black man, with
a couple of ping-pong balls for eyes).
Enter Al Cliver from Zombie Flesh-Eaters, who goes into the jungle in true Indiana Jones style
to try and rescue her from the kidnappers, the natives and the devil-beast, which he does
(eventually).
Directed by Jess Franco, who's typically shoddy direction and editing do nothing
help the awful, incoherent plot. There's a hilarious scene where Al
Cliver "climbs" a rock face, in which he is actually crawling
along some rocks with the camera turned on its side, and the fight scene between
him and the naked
devil-beast just has to be seen to be believed!!!!
Other Information.
Unbelievably, despite being just a
thoroughly dreadful film, it was
succesfully prosectued and banned under the OPA. This version missed out a
couple of dialogue scenes that were present in foreign language
releases. The
film was finally released uncut on UK DVD in 2008 by Severin
films, who also released the US discs, however the restored
dialogue scenes were in Italian language only.
Don't Go in The House
Originally
the title for this film was going to be "The Burning" until
another film beat them to it. In this, Actor Dan Gimbaldi plays a
young chap who was brutally abused by his mother as a child, who
used to burn his arms over the gas stove.
Now working in a foundry, when he discovers his mother has died
he flips out, burns her corpse in his fireproof basement, sticks
a dress on it and puts it in a chair in her bedroom.
He then proceeds to start picking up and murdering tarty looking
women who remind him of her, in the same manner.
The film
undoubtedly borrows a few ideas from "Psycho" and is actually not a bad low budget horror movie.
The film undoubtedly got included on the list owing to the graphic scenes of women being strung up naked
and burned alive.
Other Information.
The film had been cut by the
BBFC for a UK cinema release, though Arcade vdeo released both
the cut and uncut versions on video. The title
was dropped from the Nasties list and not prosecuted after the
distrubers agreed to pull the uncut version. A more
heavily cut version, missing 3:07, was released on UK video in
1987. The uncut version was finally passed in the UK in 2011.
Don't Go in the Woods... Alone
AKA: Don't Go in the Woods.
A
psychotic wildman is stalking the Utah woodlands, preying on teenage
backpackers, nerdy birdwatchers, overweight tourists as they huff up
the hillside and pretty much any other passer-by that happens to
blunder into his neck of the woods.
Some of the more entertaining scenes include some guy having his
arm ripped off, then beaten to death with the soggy end and
another guy in a wheelchair, who having managed to push himself
up a steep trail to the top of a hill, is swiftly decapitated by
the maniac's machete.
Eventually, the wildman is hunted down by the extremely obese
(in other words, fat git) Sheriff, and dealt some extremely
vengeful treatment by 2 of the survivors.
I'm not certain whether the humour
in this was intentional or not, but I
found much of this an absolute scream.
Other Information.
One of the successfully prosecuted DPP titles on the list, the
film was later passed uncut in the UK with a 15 certificate in
2007.
Don't Go Near the Park
AKA: Nightstalker, Curse of the Living Dead, Sanctuary for Evil.
A
couple of young adults, cursed to eternal life as vampires, go
around disembowelling people who enter the national park they
inhabit, eating their entrails in order to stay looking young.
When a chance to rid themselves of the curse by sacrificing a
young virgin during a 12000 year planetary alignment cycle, one
of them goes to father a young girl by seducing scream queen
Linnea Quigley (of "Return of the Living Dead" fame).
Intending to sacrifice the daughter when the time is right.
There's also something about a locket the daughter is wearing
that can make people explode (eh?). Crappy special effects, bad
acting and inept direction are the order of the day here. The
film is made (barely) watchable, only by Linnea Quigley who, as
per the usual, ends up getting her kit off.
Other Information.
Removed from the DPP
Nasties list, was eventually passed uncut in 2006, but has only been
released in the UK as part of a "Box of the Banned" DVD set.
However, this version missed out a close-up shot of someone's
entrails being pulled out due to print damage. The Horror Channel screened
this same slightly cut version, which appears to be the same as the supposedly uncut
US DVD, though the US disc did include the missing footage as an extra,
which was culled from a VHS source.
Buy Online [Amazon UK]
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Don't Look in the Basement
AKA: The Forgotten, Death Ward 13, Don't Go in the Basement.
The
lunatics take over the asylum when the chief doctor is beheaded by
one of the inmates after his unorthodox methods of treating the
patients goes horribly wrong.
The lady impersonating the director subsequently
implements some new treatment methods of her own, involving acts of sadism on the
fellow inmates, which only inspires them to start killing each
other. As matters escalate, one of the newly arrived nurses at the
sanitarium begins to suspect the cheif Doctor isn't who she says
she is.
Directed by S.F.Brownrigg, I couldn't help but wonder if the
writers had read the Edgar Allen Poe tale "The System of Doctor
Tarr and Professor Fether" when they penned this, as it had a
similar theme. It's not quite "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest"
or "Ninth Configuration", but proved
to be extremely popular at American drive-ins when released back
in 1973, although personally, I found this to be quite dull.
Other Information.
The film was cut by the BBFC for a UK cinema release in 1977, the video
release here though was even more heavily cut, which was taken
from a heavily censored American print. So was dropped from the
nasties list soon after. The film was passed uncut in the UK in
2005.
The Driller Killer
Arguably
the most infamous of the video nasties, owing to the fact that this
title was one of, if not THE main culprit, for kick starting the
whole nasties furore by the media, owing to its lurid title and
graphic box art.
This
early offering by the now mainstream director Abel Ferra (Bad Lieutenant)
centres around a struggling artist (played by the director
himself, under the
pseudonym Jimmie Laine), who is being driven to distraction by
the punk band next door. Eventually he flips out and decides to clear
the streets of homeless low life's by means of a cordless power drill.
Watchable, though relatively boring and unremarkable, this was
really more of an "arty" sort of movie than a horror picture,
with the killings only making up a fraction of the films running
time.
Other Information.
Needless to say, this was one of the successfully prosecuted
titles on the list.
The video was uncut in terms of gore, but had been trimmed of a
couple of minutes to fit onto a 90 minute tape. Eventually
passed for a UK DVD release in 1999, which re-insated the
previous missing scenes, but had 54s of BBFC cuts to the more
graphic footage. The film was finally passed fully uncut in
2002.
The Evil Dead
AKA: The Book of the Dead.
Better
known these days for directing those Spiderman films starring Toby
McGuire, director Sam Riami's first cinematic venture was this cult
shocker about a group of teens holed up in a woodland cabin, trying
to fend off the evil spirits unleashed by an ancient book.
Each one becomes possessed and has to be killed in turn by the
sole survivor Bruce Campbell. Although the film held an 18
certificate for it's cinema release and the fact that the video
was of the edited cinema version, it was still subject to
numerous police seizures when it appeared on the DPP's Video
Nasties list.
The scene where the woods seemingly come alive and one of the
female victims is apparently "raped" by a tree branch is
probably what got this film into trouble, though the police
failed to secure convictions on any of the prosecutions.
The film spawned 2 sequels "Evil Dead 2" (1987) and
"Army of Darkness" (1993) along with a much maligned remake
in 2014. A spin-off TV series in 2015 wisely ignored the remake
and picked up from the original trilogy.
Other Information.
The film was eventually dropped from the list and no further
attempts to prosecute were taken after the DPP failed to secure
convictions on any of the 40 odd seperate prosecutions this film had
been subjected to around the country. The video was the same as
the cut cinema version, which had been trimmed of around 49s,
however when submitted to the BBFC for a post VRA video release
they cut another 1:06s from it (1:55s total). The film was eventually passed
fully uncut in 2001. SEE MAIN REVIEW.
Evilspeak
AKA: Evilspeaks, Computer Murder, The Devil's Cry.
Clint Howard of "Gentle Ben" fame (and the
brother of Ron Howard) stars as a poor sod at a Military Academy whose
always being picked on by the other cadets because of his obsession with
computers.
He finally gets his revenge when he discovers a
book on black magic, which after copying it onto his hard drive, allows
him to do all sorts of weird stuff including summoning up packs of man
eating pigs
Dog lovers won't like the scene where his puppy is murdered by some
of the sadistic cadets, but the scene where a female tutor is attacked
in the bath by pigs was highly amusing.
Other Information.
The pre-cert video was originally released uncut, but once the
nasties furore got underway, they issued a cut version which
trimmed some of the gorier scenes. However, it was still banned
along with the uncut version after the uncut print was
prosecuted under the OPA. The film was later re-issued with 3:47
of BBFC cuts. The film was passed uncut in 2004. Please note
that the UK release contained some additional dialogue scenes
not in the US or other international releases. These were
included on the 2004 UK Anchor Bay disc, which were spliced in
from a video master tape. However the UK BD is of the shorter US
version, with the longer print included as an extra in standard
def.
Expose
AKA: Trauma, The House on Straw Hill.
A
novelist (Udo Kier) hires a quiet British country house so that he
can work on finishing his latest novel. His agent arranges for a
secretary to stay with him, in order to speed up its completion
(played by Linda Hayden).
However, this turns out to be a big mistake when she reveals
that she has actually come to kill him for stealing the
manuscript for his last novel from her husband, which drove him
to suicide.
The housekeeper, Kiers girlfriend (played by 70's sex superstar
Fiona Richmond) and 2 local thugs all meet horrific ends as
Hayden goes on her killing spree.
This film probably got noticed for its rape scene where Hayden
apparently seems to enjoy the act halfway through, much like the
rape scene in Straw Dogs. Look out for Brush
Strokes
star Karl Howman as one of the village thugs.
Other Information.
The UK cinema version had been cut by around 3mins by the
BBFC. The pre-cert video from Intervision was uncut, but was banned after
being successfully prosecuted for obscenity under the OPA. The
film was passed in 1987 with an additional 51s of cuts (3:51s
total), but
would undoubtedly be passed uncut if resubmitted today. The cut
version has also been shown on the (now defunct) Bravo TV and
the UK Horror Channel on Sky. The uncut version was released to
US disc in 2013.
Buy Online [Amazon UK]
Not Available
Faces of Death
This
1979 US video is supposed to be a documentary on the study of death.
But in actuality, the film is a vastly faked exploitation pic,
narrated by the aptly named Dr Gross (in reality, actor Michael
Carr).
Originally made for the Japanese market, the film features
slaughterhouse footage (Bleeeuurrrghhh!!!), stock footage of
road accidents and airline disasters, but the rest of the film,
including the scenes of animal attacks, are in fact staged and
in some places quite badly, although this doesn't stop you from
cringing in disgust at some of them.
This video had actually been cut by the UK distributors Atlantis
Video by about 35 minutes, but that didn't stop it from being
included on the DPP's hit list. The US distributors also filmed
a further 3 "Faces of Death" films, as well as a "Worst
of" special and a documentary entitled "Faces of Death : Fact or
Fiction". A German distribution company also released a
"Faces of Death parts 5 & 6", which featured rehashed
footage from the other films and were exclusive to mainland
Europe.
Other Information.
Banned after being successfully prosecuted under the OPA. A much
more complete version, trimming only 2:19, to remove a dog fight and partially
trimming the "monkey brain bashing" scene was eventually passed
by the BBFC
in 2003. The film is available uncut on US disc.
Fight For Your Life
AKA: I Hate Your Guts, Bloodbath at 1313 Fury drive, Held Hostage, Staying Alive, Getting Even.
A
mean trashy exploitation pic about 3 convicts who escape from jail
and hole up at the house of a black minister.
There's a few nasty scene's, particularly where a young child is
blugeoned by one of the thugs and an attempted rape, though the
rest of the film isn't much better, as the ministers family are
repeatedly terrorised by the thugs and forced to listen to their
constant racial diatribes, though most cinema prints of this
movie tended to miss out some of the nastier moments.
In the end the minister turns the tables on the 3 convicts and
gives them their just desserts. The film was actually marketed
in some US city areas as a story promoting black empowerment,
though it seemed like little more than a rather violent episode
of "Love thy Neighbour".
Other Information.
The film
had already been rejected for a cinema release in 1981. The
video was uncut, but was banned in 1984 after being successfully
prosecuted for obscenity under the OPA. Still currently
unavailable in the UK, though would probably scrape through the
censors if submitted today. An uncut US disc has been released.
Buy Online [Amazon UK]
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Forest of Fear
AKA: Bloodeaters, Blood Butchers, Toxic Zombies.
A
group of hippy degenerates have been growing marijuana plants in a
Pittsburgh forest, when the FBI have the whole area sprayed with an
experimental herbicide.
Enter John Amplas (a regular in George Romero's earlier films)
as an FBI agent intent on busting the dope dealing "flower
power" followers, only to find that the herbicide has turned the
once peaceful hippies into flesh eating zombies.
Gore galore follows, as passers by are hacked up by the undead
stoners who've gone out on a flesh hunt. The UK version was
apparently lacking the epilogue seen in the original, in which
one of the FBI agents quits his job after the ordeal then drives
off to see his family.
Other Information.
The film has not, to date, been resubmitted for classification
and so is unavailable in the UK. An uncut US DVD is available on
bootleg label Jeff Films which can be bought from Amazon.com.
Buy Online [Amazon UK]
Not Available.
Frankenstein, Andy Warhol's
AKA: Flesh for Frankenstein, Andy Warhol's Young Frankenstein,
Frankenstein, The Frankenstein Experiment, Chair pour Frankenstein,
Carne per Frankenstein, Il mostro e in tavola Barone Frankenstein,
The Devil and Dr. Frankenstein, Up Frankenstein.
Horror
B-movie actor Udo Kier, who also starred in Expose, plays the part
of Dr Frankenstein who in this version is married to his own sister
and has necrophiliac tendencies. This bloody, tongue-in-cheek, gore
fest has the doctor building a couple of monsters who he hopes will
breed and create a master race.
A half descent film, with excessive gore and outrageous
performances by the cast, the film was shot back to back with
Warhol's even gorier "Blood for Dracula" which surprisingly,
didn't make the list. Mary Shelly must be turning in her grave.
Directed by Paul Morrisey and the unaccredited Antonio
Margheriti (who also directed Cannibal Apocalypse), this movie
was originally filmed in 3-D and produced by Andy Warhol.
Other Information.
Passed for a UK cinema release with 8 minutes of BBFC cuts, the vipco
release (pictured) was the same as the cut cinema version,
however Video Gems released the uncut version, which is what got this
included on the DPP's nasties list and prosecuted under
the OPA. The film was passed with just 56s of cuts in 1996, but
was finally passed fully uncut in 2006. Channel 4 TV in
the UK screened the uncut version in 3D in 2010.
Frozen Scream
A
couple of university lecturers start secretly conducting cryogenic
experiments on their students with grim results. Killing them,
holding them in suspended animation, then attempting to revive them
later.
The operation works, but
(literally) turns them into cold blooded killers. As their
subjects go on murderous rampages, whilst a bungling detective
struggles to investigate the lecturters extra curricular
activites.
One for lovers of bad movies only, with its dodgy acting, bad
dubbing and duff effects, though there's very little gore,
apart from a syringe being very falsely stabbed into someone's
eye.
Some of the soundtrack was also used in the film "Don't
go in the Woods" which also made the
nasties list.
Other Information.
The film was dropped from the DPP list and not prosecuted, but
to date has not been re-released in the UK. The film has been
released onto DVD in Germany and in the US in a double pack with
"Executioner 2" .
Buy Online [Amazon UK]
Not Available
The Funhouse
AKA: Funhouse : Carnival of Terror.
Director
Tobe Hooper's second entry on the Nasties list (though ironically,
his infamous Texas Chainsaw Massacre somehow escaped
inclusion).
The story for this one centres around a group of teenagers who
decide to break into a carnival fun house and spend the night there
for a bit of fun.
They find very few laughs however, as they spend the film being
chased around by a knife wielding freak from the carnival.
It is widely believed the film ended up on the list by mistake, as it may
have been confused with "The Last House on Dead End Street"
which was also known as "The Funhouse", although that
film never found it's way onto the list.
The pre-cert video was slightly shorter than the cinema version,
which missed out a couple of dialogue scenes, but was otherwise
uncut.
Other Information.
The film was eventually dropped from the Nasties list and not
prosecuted. It was re-released uncut by CIC video, and later
Arrow Films. An uncut US disc is also available.