Video Nasty

6 episodes and the ONLY funny bit was when "Pray for Our Souls." was said.. in an accent. That's all the humor.. 15 seconds in 6 episodes.

It's not a comedy.. it was a half-decent "teen" thriller for the most part. At least the first 4 episodes... then they switched on the whole DEI thing.. and it went downhill. Just seems to really muddy up the story by suddenly throwing in DEI-related content. It wasn't necessary or needed. Not against it, but to wait 4 episodes then throw in a superfluous sub-plot at that point is just poor planning or writing.

Eventually this series even cited the horror film it was .. well .... just mimicking really. If you saw that film, you'll be wondering if that's what it's copying.. it is. This series is not terribly original.

None of the characters are really that likable or engaging.

It's exceptional in one way... just how mediocre it is.

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Video Nasty: Dublin 1985, the moral panic over video nasties is at its zenith,Two i teens are trying to assemble a full collection of a banned list which will be worth a lot of money, One of them has embezzled the their schools debs ball money to fund their purchases, The other is contact with a girl in the middle of nowhere in the middle of middle England who has the missing tape. They decide to travel there along with the sister of the embezzler. There is homophobic and racist bullying plus the sister has been under pressure, the nature of which we only learn later. Their parents set out in pursuit but the three teens are soon set up for a murder and fall into the hands of a crazed fundamentalist family. Shades of the Wicker Man permeate the drama as killings multiply and medieval masked plague doctors roam villages and woods. A good laugh with plenty of horror and social commentary on the times and the moral panic. Six Episodes. Written by Hugh Travers and directed by Christopher Smith and Megan K Fox. 7.5/10.

On BBC iPlayer in the UK from 8 January 2025. It airs on Virgin Media Television in the Republic of Ireland from 20 January 2025.

An English language TV show tell the story of 3 teenagers who travel from Ireland, to England to complete a collection of VHS videos, (deemed undesirable by the goverment) to both watch and then sell on. This prized Video Nasty collection is filled with horror and gore.

Justin Daniels Anene, plays Billy, the unofficial leader of the pack and is both competent and edgy in the role. His performance will excite and his supporting "gang" of Cal O'Driscoll (Con) and Leia Murphy (Zoe) make a wonderful band of misfits.

The show is colourful and funny as their adventures drag them from homes filled with discord to England where they become real life victims in their own horror movie.

Unfortunately, recent British TV show manage to goof up the final show, and this is no exception. The first five shows are brillant, but seems they fired director, writer, and producer before they flimed the last episoide. (sigh!)

However, I recomend you watch and follow our trio into a great piece of acting and wonderful story. Worth the laughs!

I'm a massive horror fan plus a collector of horror physical media, including VHS, some of which are original Video Nasties. Needles to say I was very intrigued when the BBC broadcast this series. It started off ok, it was nice seeing some of those old tapes and exerts from them. However when the action moved from Ireland to England and it went all Wicker Man it just fell apart in my eyes. And that ending, what a let down. The teenage collectors only needed Nightmare Maker to complete their collection of the banned videos, so presumably they must have had the extremely rare "Beast in Heat" and "Devil Hunter", yet no mention is ever made of these two highly sought after titles. Set in 1985 but some of the vehicles shown were built after that. Acting was good but that was little compensation for the three hours that I spent watching this only to feel let down at the end!

I was really excited for this early on.

The concept is strong and in the sweet spot for 80s and 90s horror lovers. The younger cast are all excellent, those of us who lived through the video nasty era will appreciate the buzz, just for VHS horror in general, regardless of video nasties.

The longer it goes on it unfortunately loses focus.

It becomes yet another attack on men, synonymous with this current era of constant feminist commentary. There's a time where this would have been effective but it's now a massive, creatively bankrupt cliche.

Once they throw in the queer elements the show has lost its promising premise and morphed into a paint by numbers disappointment.

Such a pity. There was a terrific horror tv show in here somewhere, but the politics once again became more important than entertainment.