VHS Nasty

Far too long and dull. Manages to make a fascinating subject utterly boring. Quite a feat.

Don't even understand this exist. There are much better (and better made) docs out there on the subject. So no new info, only a bunch of unknowns talking and talking about dry stuff everybody knows. The framing, sound, lighting and editing is really bad and cheap. When I started watching it, I had no idea it was the 3rd part of the VHS Lives doc 'franchise'... But I should have known. Those two docs where also made with no actual visual eye or interesting cutting. Ater watching 17 minutes of this boring garbage I wanted to give up and spend my time better, but I held on... Well that are 95 minuten that I will never get back. Avoid! And watch Video Nasties 1 and 2 by Jake West (Doghouse) and Marc Morris instead!!

Feels like someone got a camera and interviewed their friends about horror films. The absolute worst part of this is I'm not sure the makers of it understand how film works. Throughout almost the entirety of the film they added a bad tracking effect to the picture, which is fine on its own. However, at the same time and throughout most of the film, they also added the sound of film playing through a projected in the background. So...I'm confused, are they trying to make it look like an old and worn VHS tape or a film playing in a theater on a projector? Just plain stupid.

Anything with video nasties always grabs my attention , I grew up in the era when these movies were around and remember some of the covers vividly as my mates dad owned a video shop , but what we have here are people I've never heard of talking about these films , but in no real great depth and what they are saying has been said a million times over , I switched off after 50 minutes as it got a bit repetitive

As a young American horror fan, I was vaguely aware of the "video nasty" craze as it happened, because it catapulted back across the pond, resulting in increasingly ridiculous censorship. So when I noticed this doc on a streaming service, I figured there were many things that I didn't know about the British video crackdown. I was right, but certainly didn't find answers here.

The only thing that I can say about "VHS Nasty" that hasn't already been said is the interviewees aren't uninteresting, and several make valid points. This footage could have worked if it had been framed properly as a documentary, giving a more historical context to the story. Unfortunately, as is, it's just random people giving their thoughts and opinions. And since the opinions are largely the same, it quickly devolves into tedious redundancy.

I had no intention of writing a review for this, but because I watched it a few weeks ago, the algorithm gods recommended a 2005 doc called "Ban the Sadist Videos!" That one does a much better job of presenting the same story, with the aid of clips, vintage interviews, and insights from various industry persons.