First Research! The DPP list...

DPP list-

"The DPP list of 'video nasties' was first made public in June 1983. The list was modified monthly as prosecutions failed or were dropped. In total, 74 separate films appeared on the list at one time or another. Thirty-nine films were successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act but some of these films have been subsequently cut and then approved for release by the BBFC. The remaining 35 were either not prosecuted or had unsuccessful prosecutions.
A number of films spent a short time on this list because their prosecutions failed shortly after publication or because it was decided that prosecution was not worth pursuing. Ultimately, the list became obsolete when the Video Recordings Act came into force, and since 2001, several of the films have been released uncut. In the majority of cases below where cuts were made, they were scenes of real-life animal cruelty and/or excessive violence to women, both of which are still regarded with some degree of severity by the BBFC."

Breakdown of the list

Of these films:
37 have been released uncut
25 have been released cut
1 has been released with additional footage
10 are effectively banned in the UK to this day because they have not been resubmitted for classification by any distributors.
1 has since been rejected for classification.

Unless noted otherwise, all films that have been released have been rated 18. Also note that a lot of these movies caused additional controversy with the cover art of the original big box releases seen in the video shops of the early 1980s.

-Wikipedia, Video Nasty (10/07/09)

This is just some simple internet research. I know Wikipedia isn't the most reliable of sources however it is an ok place to start. I can confirm the stuff through books and other sources of media.

I was looking at video Nasty’s on Wikipedia and saw this section with a list of banned films. This is some interesting information. I'm going to look into the Obscene Publications Act a bit more and why the films where in violation. I also want to look into the Mark Kommode Essay he did on the DPP list. Lastly I want to find out about how Video Nasty’s are seen these day (if they are seen as cult classics).

NEW TITLE! What was the effect of the DDP list?

Focus Films

Evil Dead (1981)
Last House on the Left (1972)

Cannible Apocolypse (1980)

What was the effect of the DDP list? The DDP list or Video Nasty, shocked audiences in the late 70's eairly 80's. But how are they recieved today? Are they cult classic's like Raimi's Evil Dead or are they mindless violence that should be left in the celler?

I have changed my focus films becuase my last subject was to long and question to something that I am now really looking foward to looking into.

How has American Horror changed over Time?

Focus Films
Night Of The Living Dead (Romero, 1968)
Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Hooper, 1974)
Hostel: part I (Roth, 2005)

How has American horror changed change over time? Something has definitely changed between the spaces of Hitchcock’s Psycho being released and Roth’s Hostel part I and II. Final Girls come and go and the odd uncut edition of a video nasty comes out (Last House on the Left), but has anything really changed? Has the narrative become more complex like the Saw franchise? Are women still powerful characters since the days when Jamie Lee Curtis played Laurie Strode in Carpenter’s Halloween? And how has the Special Effects changed? Is it getting less impressive with CG unlike the classic models which where used in films such as the remake of The Thing? In this research I aim to uncover all of the answers. With my focus films being Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968), Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Hooper, 1974), Hostel: part I (Roth, 2005).

The reason why I chose to talk about the development in American Horror is because of it’s complexities. These days there are sub genre’s for horror and the technology and special effects have grown and grown until you can’t tell if someone is really being kill or if it’s only a model. There is such ground to cover with American horror as a genre that it would be very interesting to do. With the films I picked I can talk about zombie movies and George A. Romero with Night of the Living Dead, the slasher genre, franchises and the Final Girl archetype with Texas Chain Saw Massacre and modern horror, woman as evil characters, and grotesque torture scenes with Hostel: part I.

I have begun reading several book such as Men, Women and Chainsaws by Carol J. Clover and The Horror Reader edited by Ken Gelder. These book will help me a lot with some aspects of the horror genre because in Men, Women and Chainsaws, Carol J. Clover details the Final Girl archetype. Then I’m also going to look to buy a copy of Fangoria which is the most famous Horror magazine around the world. I can also look into reviews for the films by magazines like Empire film mag and Total Film mag.

Finally, what interests me about this research subject is the subject matter. Learning about how American horror. I find the genre fascinating because of the sub text of the films and how they respond to what society feared at that point in time. I also love characters like Leather Face and Ash Williams of the Evil Dead series so this is an opportunity to study them. I myself am a big fan off horror especially Japanese and American horror so researching it and learning about it will be my number one priority because I’ll just keep looking and looking, watching and watching, listening to director’s commentary and listening to director’s commentary. All until I have found all I need to know.