The DPP 39: Video Nasties Part 1 – ‘A’

In 1984, the Video Recordings Act ushered in a terrifying new era in UK home video entertainment.  The regulation and subsequent censorship of home videos by the British Board of Film Classification led to a number of films being seized by the authorities and prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act 1959. In total, 39 of these films were successfully prosecuted, over the coming months The Horror Video will look very briefly at the release history of each film and its current status. Today we start with the letter ‘A’!

Title: Absurd (1981)

Director: Joe D’Amato
Uncut running time: 96 minutes
Alternative titles: ‘Rosso Sangue’, ‘Anthropophagus 2’, ‘Monster Hunter’, ‘Horrible’, ‘The Grim Reaper 2’

Sequel to ‘Anthropophagus: The Beast’, the same ‘beast’ goes on a second brutal killing spree, eventually terrorising a family in their home. Adhering more closely to the format of a slasher film, the gore was surprisingly toned down a little for what is a fairly lacklustre follow up, although it does have a pretty good electronic score and George Eastman is terrific as the monster.

Medusa Video released both an uncut and cut version of this back in 1982 and 1983, confusingly with identical artwork and was also briefly billeded as one of the many sequels to Fulci’s ‘Zombi’! The film was cut by 2:32s for its cinema release, both versions being withdrawn and added to the list of banned movies. Censored footage included a nurse being killed by a drill, a horrifyingly tense scene involving a woman being burned in an oven and a man’s head being cut by a bandsaw.

It was released uncut in 2009 in the US and has only very recently been passed uncut in the UK by 88 Films with a 2K restoration thanks to a crowdfunding campaign. The film will be released in early 2017.

Current status: Uncut in the UK to be released in 2017, uncut in the US since 2009 on the Mya label

Title: Anthropophagus: The Beast (1980)

Director: Joe D’Amato
Uncut running time: 90 minutes
Alternative titles: ‘Anthropophagus’, ‘Gomia, Terror en el Mar Egeo’, ‘The Grim Reaper’, ‘Man Eater’, ‘Man Beast’, ‘Savage Island’

Quite a nasty little film as a group of tourists are stranded on an island and attacked by a cannibalistic monster who eats unborn babies and even his own intestines! Entertaining in a way that only a low budget 70s/80s Italian could be, this one is definitely worth checking out.

The Prequel to ‘Absurd’ it was released uncut by Video Film Promotions in 1983 and within a year was placed on the banned list. A cut version was very briefly available through Videoshack but this too was quickly withdrawn to leave the title in limbo. It was later released on DVD under the title ‘The Grim Reaper’. This version is to be avoided at all costs, heavily cut it is around ten minutes shorter, removing all of the gratuitous gore along with several dialogue scenes rendering it nonsensical in places. As this version was a ‘new’ title to the BBFC, edited in the US, it lists the film as uncut because no further edits were required.

88 Films submitted an uncut version to the BBFC in 2015 and was passed with all previous cuts waived. Thanks to the overwhelming success of 88 Films’ crowdfunding project for ‘Absurd’, raising twice the intended amount, a 2k restoration release is due for 2017. It is also finally getting an uncut release stateside thanks to Severin, presumably using 88’s new remaster.

Current status: Uncut in the UK, soon to be released uncut in the US.

Title: Axe (1974)

Director: Frederick R. Friedel
Uncut running time: 72 minutes
Alternative titles: ‘Lisa, Lisa’, ‘The Virgin Slaughter’, ‘California Axe Massacre’, ‘California Axe Murders’

You feel every minute of the thankfully short running time, what it has going for it is its low budget which adds a grittiness to the pretty dull proceedings. Awful acting and not particularly interesting special effects, it’s kind of hard to see what was so offensive that brought attention to this film over other, much more gratuitous titles.

Released in the UK as ‘California Axe Massacre’ it was cut for its X rated cinema release but later released uncut by Video Releasing Organisation in 1982.The cuts were made to a nasty rape scene where a woman is slashed with a razor, the beating of another woman and the shooting of a shop assistant. It was successfully prosecuted and banned in 1984, not receiving a further release for fifteen years. It was finally released, albeit with 19 seconds of cuts in 1999. The BBFC reported that they would have passed the film uncut, but prosecutions for the illegal distribution of the film within ten years of prosecution ensured their hands were tied and the cuts were nominal.

Current status: Available uncut in the UK since 2005 on ILC Prime and 2008 on 4Digital, uncut in the US in a double pack with ‘Kidnapped Co-ed’.