In the early 1980s a new phenomenon was born. Video recorders were the must have item of the decade and video clubs were expanding all over the country. Thousands of films were released in all categories and amongst them the odd 'splattering' (and I use that word advisedly) of horror films. The media became obsessed with a few of them that were particularly graphic and the phrase 'video nasties' came into being. These films, some of them now cult classics, began to take the blame for all the ills of society, especially violent crime and wayward youth, and the police, under political pressure, began to take action under an old law called 'The Obscene Publications Act.' During three years of sustained action, the situation became chaotic. What films were 'nasties'? Who decided? How could films be prosecuted if they had been passed for public performance and certified 'x' or 18 by the British Board of Film Censors? Could a film that was found 'not guilty' in courts up and down the country still be prosecuted as being obscene? How could a law devised in 1858 to stop the working class from reading 'unsavouray' material be fit for purpose to prosecute video films? The answers to these and other questions will surprise you, annoy you, possibly amuse you and perhaps, encourage you to ask some incisive questions of your own. It may even encourage you to think about issues of impact, censorship and freedom around the modern technologies of internet pornography and video games. This is the true story of police raids, the seizure of films, the cock ups and court cases that followed and the collateral damage to the lives of people involved. A TONGUE IN CHEEK WARNING! As this book deals with the publication of films that some people thought 'had a tendency to deprave and corrupt', please use this book with care. In particular don't leave it around for people under the age of 18 to look at. Under the Obscene publications Act, you won't get the blame.I will!
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