video nasties – The Reprobate

Private Stabs Of Fear – The Irrational, Individual Nature Of The Things That Terrify Us As Children

The things that scare the living daylights out of us as kids are often unpredictable and coincide with our sudden awareness of our own mortality.

A pair of VHS catalogues from one of the more prolific indie distributors of the 1980s.

The moral panic over the malign influence of Squid Game and the theoretical dangers of children wearing ‘dangerous’ fancy dress.

The pioneering home video offerings from one of Britain’s biggest entertainment companies.

Proving fiction to be stranger than truth, the story of the outrageous Shockumentary that spawned sequels, imitations and a cultural phenomenon.

Mainstream film critics are the last people who we should be listening to about anything.

Scaring people into compliance and controlling the public discussion with vaguely worded laws and campaigns of moral panic.

A selection of ludicrous and entirely unsuitable VHS artwork for films that would either disappoint or horrify anyone attracted by these covers.

The most notorious shockumentary of the 1970s gets an unexpected Hollywood makeover.

A selection of predictably hysterical and ill-informed British TV documentaries and discussion shows from the height of the Video Nasty moral panic.

The ins and outs of launching an independent cult movie blu-ray label in 2021.

Remembering the time when tomorrow’s fish and chip wrappers contained yesterday’s films.

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