Video Nasties

[HotRats]

The Sex And The Censors documentary got Channel 4 reported under the Obscene Publications Act and it was a very close call whether there would be a prosecution. Channel 4 gave an undertaking not to repeat the programme.

Also worth seeing (some are on Youtube) Fear, Panic And Censorship, Empire Of The Censors, Dear Censor, Banned In The UK. The book Seduction Of The Gullible is a must.

[stigdu]

Censored by Tom Dewe Matthews and Killing for Culture by Davids Kerekes and Slater are also fascinating reads.

[drterror666]

Originally Posted by HotRats

The book Seduction Of The Gullible is a must.

I've got a signed first print of this. Invaluable!

[nastiesexpert]

Originally Posted by HotRats

The Sex And The Censors documentary got Channel 4 reported under the Obscene Publications Act and it was a very close call whether there would be a prosecution. Channel 4 gave an undertaking not to repeat the programme.

Also worth seeing (some are on Youtube) Fear, Panic And Censorship, Empire Of The Censors, Dear Censor, Banned In The UK. The book Seduction Of The Gullible is a must.

The 2 part documentary "Ban the Sadist Videos" ( a genuine Daily Mail headline of the time) was included with Vipcos otherwise lacklustre Box of the Banned sets although it's also included as a bonus disc with the US Bluray of "Expose" AKA House on Straw Hill.
There was certainly significant footage included in "Sex and the Censors" as C4 actually showed scenes that the BBFC had specifically cut from various films including Ken Russells "Crimes of Passion" aswell as others. I think C4 thought that seeing the footage out of context was enough to clear them of any wrongdoing. It was the first time I realised just how much the BBFC had cut from Death Wish 2.

One of the most contentious moments was an interview with Derek Jarman while footage showing an erection from one of his movies (Sebastiene IIRC) played in the background as it was that moment the BBFC cut on the grounds it was classed as obscene.

Violence aside, the outdated Obscene Publications Act really does need to be scrapped. it's been useless for years as it's description of what is obscene is so vague and open to interpretation.
Thanks to one porn company appealing one of their movies back in 2000 hardcore porn was effectively legalised overnight yet we still have the stupid rules that ban sale from anywhere except licenced premises and a ban on sending it via mail order so while you can legally import hardcore from any country you can't have it sent from any company based in the UK.

What's even more annoying is that despite 2 very public cases where footage of fisting and other "obscene" content was cleared by a jury the BBFC continue to cut this material from R18 titles and the CPS refuse to acknowledge that this content should no longer be banned.

Even worse, when the Dangerous Pictures Act came into force a few years back it was supposed to be a way to ban violent porn but during the creation of this law some busybody somewhere decided to add a few extra bits to it making possession illegal of content that had not been before.
I don't think a single person has been convicted under the DPA where the offender was originally being investigated for that.Usually what happens is that computers are routinely seized by police investigating all manner of crimes and once they find a 10 second clip of animal porn stashed away somewhere that's it - you're in hot water.
Prosecutions have even happened when people have been sent clips lasting several seconds without asking for them yet because they forget to delete them they get convicted and as if in homage to the stupidity of the nasties era possession of animal porn is now on par with possession of child porn.
In one typically stupid case a guy was prosecuted for a video apparently showing someone having sex with a tiger.
The CPS took it to court , wasted public funds and once there finally played the whole clip which showed the tiger talking and revealing it was a complete fake.
The CPS should be held accountable and pay compensation to people who have to go through such trials because of their stupidity

[nastiesexpert]

Originally Posted by Fnord Prefect

No sure that's quite right. I remember him stating that he got around that BBFC decision by simply projecting the movie in 1:85 ratio in the UK rather than the intended 1:33. Probably played havoc with the frame composition but what could you do in such a situation?

Either way, it had to be removed because the BBFC would not have allowed it.
The BBFC were not averse to requesting reframing or even doing it themselves.
IIRC the original video release ( can't recall if it was the same for the cinema release) of Pulp Fiction required a shot showing a needle being injected into someone reframed to remove the detail.

It's quite laughable to think of the cuts and the reasons they would sometimes give.
The famous "eye" scene from Zombie Flesheaters for example. That was missing for decades. Watching it made you wince but precisely what did the BBFC think they were achieving by removing it?

James Ferman was the biggest boil on the arse of film fans for more than 2 decades. Fellow examiners would disagree with his decisions and end up sacked. Why nobody stepped in and said "hang on a minute" before 1998 is a mystery.
His re-edit of the house invasion sequence in Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer is an all time low I think

Going back to the C4 documentary: I recall the scene showing the Video Packaging Review Committee. What a bunch of knobs they were. And how depressing that such nonsense was allowed to happen. What a loony country the UK is.

I always wondered why the MP's who spent thousands of tax payers money on jollies they called "fact finding missions" never took one to Denmark or Holland to find out exactly why freely available porn of all varieties and no censorship on video had not turned those countries into the violent cesspools they seemed to think the UK would become if we could watch I Spit On your Grave uncut

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by nastiesexpert

James Ferman was the biggest boil on the arse of film fans for more than 2 decades. Fellow examiners would disagree with his decisions and end up sacked. Why nobody stepped in and said "hang on a minute" before 1998 is a mystery.
His re-edit of the house invasion sequence in Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer is an all time low I think

The snobbery of that guy is/was hilarious. Didn't he say that it was acceptable for educated, upper-class individuals to watch The Texas Chain Saw Massacre but 'what if a factory worker from Manchester was to see it?'

It's crazy to think that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was banned simply because of its association with the original film.

I've never seen this 'Sex and the Censors' documentary but it sounds interesting. Obviously the two Marc Morris-Jake West features ('Fear, Panic and Censorship' and 'Draconian Days') are brilliant and I liked 'Ban the Sadist Videos'.

[nastiesexpert]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

The snobbery of that guy is/was hilarious. Didn't he say that it was acceptable for educated, upper-class individuals to watch The Texas Chain Saw Massacre but 'what if a factory worker from Manchester was to see it?'

It's crazy to think that The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 was banned simply because of its association with the original film.

I've never seen this 'Sex and the Censors' documentary but it sounds interesting. Obviously the two Marc Morris-Jake West features ('Fear, Panic and Censorship' and 'Draconian Days') are brilliant and I liked 'Ban the Sadist Videos'.

I've seen that quote from Ferman many times but I've not actually seen visual proof he said it but if he did I expect it may well have been back in the 70's when people would actually allow him to say it without telling him where to go.

The list of adjusted movies and cuts over the years is breathtaking.
IIRC The Burbs was edited because inoffensive clips from a banned movie was playing on a screen.
When Universal released Terror In the Aisles in the UK I seem to recall all references to The Exorcist . TCM and other "unavailable" films were taken out.
Fermans bizarre over reaction to a request to look at the use of martial arts weapons lead to him issuing a blanket ban on nunchuks with no exceptions so their appearance was even cut from one of the Pink Panther sequels.

The majority of US action movies that included random violence were cut in some way from the mid 80's until he left.
Cliffhanger was severely cut, ( uncut now of course) and the Arnie movie Eraser had such a long list of brief cuts they totalled 3-4 minutes.

Licence to Kill was cut by almost a minute and still got a 15. Goldeneye had headbutts and ear claps removed , Tomorrow Never Dies had the soundtrack adjusted to lessen the impact of punches etc.

Fermans ghost haunts us though. IN the last couple of years a ludicrous list of changes to the quite superb The Woman In Black were made to secure a 12. Widely quoted as having just 6 seconds cut - it is true that only 6 seconds was completely removed but lots of other sequences had the image darkened to make them less frightening and for the same reason the music was adjusted too.
Annoyingly the distributor did get the uncut version classified as a 15 but they didn't release it on disc and still haven't.
The US disc is uncut but region locked - not sure about the European versions

[Lucy Ashton]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

The snobbery of that guy is/was hilarious. Didn't he say that it was acceptable for educated, upper-class individuals to watch The Texas Chain Saw Massacre but 'what if a factory worker from Manchester was to see it?'

Wow, that would not fly in these politically correct times. Way to brand himself as a condescending jerk. Seriously, if you find a source/quote on this hilarious stance, please post it!

[Mr. Thomsen]

Originally Posted by nastiesexpert

I always wondered why the MP's who spent thousands of tax payers money on jollies they called "fact finding missions" never took one to Denmark or Holland to find out exactly why freely available porn of all varieties and no censorship on video had not turned those countries into the violent cesspools they seemed to think the UK would become if we could watch I Spit On your Grave uncut

That's what always irked me with the British censorship: the fact that there never was any proof that banning certain videos and violent images had some effect in the public, i.e. some measurable decrease in violence.

Living through the video boom in Denmark in the 1980's was not all honky-dory, though: lazy distributors would often just get their masters from the UK, so while we have had no real adult censorship since 1969, we would unfortunately sometimes still get stuck with a cut version - especially from the mid-late of the decade and on.

[nastiesexpert]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

That's what always irked me with the British censorship: the fact that they never was any proof that banning certain videos and violent images had some effect in the public, i.e. some measurable decrease in violence.

Living through the video boom in the 1980's was not all honky-dory, though: lazy distributors would often just get their masters from the UK, so while we have had no real adult censorship since 1969, we would unfortunately sometimes still get stuck with a cut version - especially from the mid-late of the decade and on.

Would I be right in thinking that animal porn and other bizarre material British citizens would serve jail time for possessing is still freely available in Denmark or have they also been making changes similar to the adjustments the Dutch have been making in the last few years?

[HotRats]

Censorship in Britain has always been class based, the art films aimed at the middle class are always treated more leniently than films which may be aimed at the lower orders. This attitude continues with Cameron's obsession with age rating and porn-filtering the entire internet.

I remember the 80s boom in video piracy, bread crates full of bootleg tapes with badly photocopied covers at every record fair, selling for £15-£30 a piece with porn at anything up to £60. I knew several people who did very nicely out of the business and one who moved out pretty damn sharpish when some Irish gentlemen expressed an interest. I had a run in with Customs in the early days of DVD when I bought some Argentos and Fulcis including New York Ripper from Holland. Back then the right to privacy did not apply to parcels and they were seized and dire threats made if I challenged their decision to confiscate. I did challenge them and the discs were sent to me without another word.

[Mr. Thomsen]

Originally Posted by nastiesexpert

Would I be right in thinking that animal porn and other bizarre material British citizens would serve jail time for possessing is still freely available in Denmark or have they also been making changes similar to the adjustments the Dutch have been making in the last few years?

AFAIK animal porn is still legal, though having sex with animals for real was (finally) outlawed last year.

The most seedy and rather weird side of the liberal Danish censorship (or lack thereof) is that child pornography was actually legal until 1980, though producing it was still forbidden. There was a new documentary on the national channel last month where some of the people behind were exposed. Apparently they got around the production prohibit by importing it from other countries and releasing and selling it to the rest of the world!

IIRC child pornography is currently the only thing explicitly forbidden by censorship laws here. The national censorship council hasn't really existed since the late 1990's, where it was replaced by a purely advisory body. All releases are are still marked with the appropriate age to watch, but as long as you are above 7 years you can now see everything in the company of an adult. And if you are 15 or above, you can watch everything you want to.

When I grew up in the 1980's, the age categories were mandatory, and cinemas could get fined if they let underage kids in. I specifically remember my local cinema demanding picture ID like passports to let you in to watch Fulci's City of the Living Dead. Needless to say, some of us still got around it by having the tallest guy in the group buy all tickets. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't.

[nastiesexpert]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

AFAIK animal porn is still legal, though having sex with animals for real was (finally) outlawed last year.

The most seedy and rather weird side of the liberal Danish censorship (or lack thereof) is that child pornography was actually legal until 1980, though producing it was still forbidden. There was a new documentary on the national channel last month where some of the people behind were exposed. Apparently they got around the production prohibit by importing it from other countries and releasing and selling it to the rest of the world!

IIRC child pornography is currently the only thing explicitly forbidden by censorship laws here. The national censorship council hasn't really existed since the late 1990's, where it was replaced by a purely advisory body. All releases are are still marked with the appropriate age to watch, but as long as you are above 7 years you can now see everything in the company of an adult. And if you are 15 or above, you can watch everything you want to.

When I grew up in the 1980's, the age categories were mandatory, and cinemas could get fined if they let underage kids in. I specifically remember my local cinema demanding picture ID like passports to let you in to watch Fulci's City of the Living Dead. Needless to say, some of us still got around it by having the tallest guy in the group buy all tickets. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't.

Yes I did read that under pressure from the EU the Dutch also banned animal porn production - but not supply IIRC.

I did read that the Color Climax Corporation ( still going strong today) were the ones behind the supply of kiddie porn for a decade although it seems strange that while underage sex itself was illegal CCC could still legally supply the content.
I recall as a porn collector here in the UK in the late 70's that despite only obtaining the likes of Playbirds and similar titles the fact I ordered them through the mail meant I went on mailing lists from all sorts of places and for a long time I would regurlarly receive glossy colour catalogues showing the covers of numerous hardcore titles including kiddie and animal porn although I'm dubious that it would have actually been supplied.
On the one occasion I tried to get a standard hardcore magazine all I got back was an issue of the UK mag Experience with a fake foreign cover stapled to it. And David Sullivan got rich off the back of this fraud.

In the mid to late 70's the likes of Playbirds were filled with ads of the various sex shops round the UK and many were openly offering animal porn mags and others that were obviously totally illegal so I think they were banking on people sending money and not taking action when they got ripped off - just like I did.