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See No Evil : Banned Films and Video Controversy
The eagerly awaited follow-up to Kerekes & Slater's acclaimed Killing for Culture, See No Evil is an exhaustive and startling overview of Britain's video nasty' culture which chronicles the phenomenal rise of video technology, concern for the children', the clampdown of the Video Recordings Act (1984), and video's alleged associations with criminal activity. See No Evil contains studies of film-induced' murder cases (Columbine and Michael Rambo' Ryan), interviews with the video underground' (bootleggers and dealers), plus detailed and insightful commentary on contentious movies in both Britain and the US.
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First published August 17, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 30, 2022
The authors may be discussing cannibals and necrophilia but they keep a very even keel throughout this careful, engrossing history until Chapter Seven, “The Big Influence”, and suddenly BLAMM! The gloves are OFF! Now they are finally gonna have THEIR say.
The arguments go like this : Horror films in the 1980s and 90s regularly upset people and were just as regularly blamed by the press for inspiring violence. Critics said well, obviously these dreadful films influence their viewers, just look at the amount of money spent on television advertising – if it had no effect they wouldn’t be throwing their money away. The authors say RUBBISH! Ads on tv make people aware of products they might like – they don’t make people rush out to buy stuff they have no use for. If you haven’t got a cat you will never buy cat food no matter how many cat food adverts you see. And if you aren’t a violent man you won’t be raping and killing women no matter how many times you see Cannibal Holocaust or The Last House on the Left. Whereas football fans get all riled up watching their team lose, then they go on the rampage. (Well, they used to, in Britain.) And nobody says football should be banned.
In Chapter Eight they list rather wearyingly several prominent British murder cases where the press just loved to say IT WAS THE VIDEO THAT DONE IT! Headlines like
I HEARD VOICE OF VIDEO MICHAEL (from Halloween)
THE FOX’S RAPE VIDEO IS STILL ON SALE (It was Sex Wishes)
JUDGE BLAMES VIDEO NASTIES FOR MURDER (It was The Evil Dead)
HELL RAISER : HORROR MOVIE DROVE NAZI BOMBER TO KILL
And so on. The most famous of these press freakouts was after the murder of a toddler James Bulger by two ten year old boys in 1993. Reporters found that one of the murderers’ fathers had rented Childs Play 3 and that was that – it was Chucky made them do it. In fact they had never seen Childs Play 3.
The British press love to overstate their case wildly and this kind of buffalos our authors into overstating their film-never-influences-anyone argument. But that’s okay.
Because this is a great book for film history fans and is the definitive account of the Video Nasty phenomenon from the 1980s. All the notorious banned films get a detailed description and discussion in the longest (217 pages) chapter. The rise of the whole concept of the home video is explored at length too, and a very odd story it is too,
Anyone who already read this should also get the following two documentaries, which are essential. And anyone who’s got the documentaries should get this book! Works both ways.
The arguments go like this : Horror films in the 1980s and 90s regularly upset people and were just as regularly blamed by the press for inspiring violence. Critics said well, obviously these dreadful films influence their viewers, just look at the amount of money spent on television advertising – if it had no effect they wouldn’t be throwing their money away. The authors say RUBBISH! Ads on tv make people aware of products they might like – they don’t make people rush out to buy stuff they have no use for. If you haven’t got a cat you will never buy cat food no matter how many cat food adverts you see. And if you aren’t a violent man you won’t be raping and killing women no matter how many times you see Cannibal Holocaust or The Last House on the Left. Whereas football fans get all riled up watching their team lose, then they go on the rampage. (Well, they used to, in Britain.) And nobody says football should be banned.
In Chapter Eight they list rather wearyingly several prominent British murder cases where the press just loved to say IT WAS THE VIDEO THAT DONE IT! Headlines like
I HEARD VOICE OF VIDEO MICHAEL (from Halloween)
THE FOX’S RAPE VIDEO IS STILL ON SALE (It was Sex Wishes)
JUDGE BLAMES VIDEO NASTIES FOR MURDER (It was The Evil Dead)
HELL RAISER : HORROR MOVIE DROVE NAZI BOMBER TO KILL
And so on. The most famous of these press freakouts was after the murder of a toddler James Bulger by two ten year old boys in 1993. Reporters found that one of the murderers’ fathers had rented Childs Play 3 and that was that – it was Chucky made them do it. In fact they had never seen Childs Play 3.
The British press love to overstate their case wildly and this kind of buffalos our authors into overstating their film-never-influences-anyone argument. But that’s okay.
Because this is a great book for film history fans and is the definitive account of the Video Nasty phenomenon from the 1980s. All the notorious banned films get a detailed description and discussion in the longest (217 pages) chapter. The rise of the whole concept of the home video is explored at length too, and a very odd story it is too,
Anyone who already read this should also get the following two documentaries, which are essential. And anyone who’s got the documentaries should get this book! Works both ways.
October 12, 2020
The best book on the 'Video Nasties' hysteria of the early 1980s. This is the best retrospective to date, with informative chapters setting the scene, and synopses/critiques of the 79 titles that were subject to prosecution. (Subsequently, an 'advisory' list has come to light, with a further 30 or so titles that may have been subject to seizure - which explains why Night of the Living Dead and others vanished from shelves for a few years).
The other essential book on the subject is the contemporaneously published 'The Video Nasties', edited by Martin Barker, Pluto Press.
The other essential book on the subject is the contemporaneously published 'The Video Nasties', edited by Martin Barker, Pluto Press.
February 9, 2022
See No Evil isn’t the only book on the video nasties controversy that hit Britain in the 1980s, but it has to be the most substantial. The book is divided into three main sections: the first is a history of the moral panic; the second and largest section is an in-depth look at each film caught up in said panic; and the third takes a look at later, smaller-scale panics and censorship controversies; it discusses the role of the media in stirring such matters up, and publishes anecdotes from poor souls caught up in the mess..
What I admire most about this book is how the authors combine an obvious passion for horror and exploitation cinema with a sober-minded approach to the wider issues. So much anti-censorship discourse in fandom circles has always struck me as rather smug and adolescent, but Kerekes and Slater do a splendid job of disentangling the misinformation spread whenever the press manufactures a scare over horror. The icing on the cake is the sheer amount of analysis and behind-the-scenes details they offer for even the most obscure nasty.
What I admire most about this book is how the authors combine an obvious passion for horror and exploitation cinema with a sober-minded approach to the wider issues. So much anti-censorship discourse in fandom circles has always struck me as rather smug and adolescent, but Kerekes and Slater do a splendid job of disentangling the misinformation spread whenever the press manufactures a scare over horror. The icing on the cake is the sheer amount of analysis and behind-the-scenes details they offer for even the most obscure nasty.
May 20, 2024
The more you ban it the more it grows. That's absolutely true. Inside this volume you'll find movies of unrelented terror, an orgy of cannibalism, video nasties (e.g. Mardi Gras Massacre), Faces of Death, The Boogey Man in different versions, hard to find rarities, sex and wrecks... it was quite an entertaining and informative read how those movies spoken in hushed voices got to our attention and big. Really recommended!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews