Saturday 22 March 2014

Video Nasties: Draconian Days

"Video Nasties: Draconian Days" (2014, Jake West) is a documentary about the days after the 1984 Video Recordings Act in the UK and the strict censorship laws and crazy underground horror scene it spawned.

We actually owe the UK censors a lot to be honest. Without their crazy, hyper paranoid and restrictive ways we would never have enjoyed a vast and colourful underground scene which created the horror festivals and allowed some truly awesome friendships to form over a shared love of gore, boobs and being a little bit naughty.

When you look at today's cinema entries, especially the modern horror scene, you're left wondering how the censors could have possibly thought such things as "The Driller Killer" to be worthy of banning, but remember, times have changed.

Nowadays, with the internet an' all, the censors just don't have as much effect as they once did, and it's a damn good thing too.

This documentary will open your eyes to how crazy these times were in the UK, and how much power the censors were allowed, especially certain individuals, under the guise of 'it's for your own good'.

A few good scenes, archive footage and trailers are spotted througout, and we enjoyed that the producers, director, writer etc were all our hosts of the wonderful Fright Fest itself!

It should give you insight, if like me you have not lived through this era, into those times and give you a much greater appreciation for your peers and elders as a UK horror fan. For other non-UK residents, this should certainly raise some eyebrows!

Fun and informative.


Hani

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