Video nasty

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Video nasty is a word to describe movies that contained violent content and were criticized by people for it. The word "video nasty" became popular after the National Viewers' and listeners' Association used it. Video nasties are typically horror movies. These movies' releases were not rated by the British Board of Film Classification. Video nasties were allowed to be sold in shops. This made many parents worry that children may be able to view these films.

Mary Whitehouse made a campaign against these movies. People selling these movies started to be punished by the law. The Director of Public Prosecutions made a list of 72 movies that contained content that went against the rules of the Obscene Publications Act 1959. Some of the movies in the list had earlier been considered to not be breaking the obscenity law or already had been rated and approved by the BBFC. A second list was made that included 82 movies. These didn't break any laws. However the movies in the second list could still be confiscated. Because of the confusion people had about what made a movie "Obscene", Parliament created a new law; Video Recordings Act 1984. This law made it so that any videos released had to get a certification from the BBFC

The law made censorship on videos stricter then on cinema. Many movie studios had their videos banned. Recently, videos have been allowed to have content that was banned. Many of the films considered video nasties are now allowed to be sold. Some of the videos contain all the same content. Some videos had to cut out certain content to be sold.