Director Tony Newton got in touch to tell us about his latest documentary VHS NASTY, which is the third in his VHS LIVES series of documentaries about the impact home video had in the early 80s and how the format refuses to die.
Put briefly, the documentary appears to be about director Tony Newton and some of his independent film making friends talking about the nasties phenomenon, how ridiculous the reasoning is behind censorship, given that less stringent countries don’t have correspondingly higher social problems, and talking about their love of cult movies.
The documentary featuries interviews with, amongst others, Jim Towns (Dir – State of Desolation), Jason Figgis (Dir – Ecstasy of Isabel Mann), Peter Goddard (Dir - Any Minute Now) and a number of YouTube personalities, like Shawn Philips (AKA Cool Duder), and includes clips from various nasties, such as Zombie Flesh Eaters, Last House on the Left and Cannibal Apocalypse.
Now, whilst I found this to be an interesting and nostalgic look back at the Nasties furore of the early 80s. It doesn’t really cover anything new, that hasn’t already been done better elsewhere. Film and sound quality was also a slight issue, as most of the people seem to have filmed themselves either on their phones or webcams, which produced variable results.
Also, I was a bit surprised at just how many Non-British interviewees that featured in this? Which is not what I would have expected, considering that the nasties furore was a decidedly British phenomenon. Indeed, there seemed to be more Non-British interviewees, than British ones, which seemed kind of odd?
So, to summarise, if you’re a fan of cult films and looking for a nostalgic look back at the availability of home video horrors in the 80s, you might enjoy this. But if you’re looking for an in depth documentary, covering the Nasties Phenomenon, you would perhaps be better off seeking out the Jake West/Marc Morris “Video Nasties : Definitive Guide” Documentaries instead.
VHS NASTY is available now on DVD and on Amazon Prime
Buy the DVD from Amazon.co.uk
Watch/Download the film on Amazon.co.uk
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