Video Nasties, Part II

During the eighties, the British censor board was overly paranoid that little kiddies might have their brains horribly corrupted by violent slasher films or films containing Things Wrong - or grow up to be serial killers. Most of the millions who saw uncut versions of Evil Dead didn't become violent offenders (some are probably your bankers, dentists, and podiatrists), and hey, filmmakers like Raimi actually advanced the art of filmmaking.

Imagine that.

But in the eighties, the U.K.'s censor board would have none of it, so without specific cuts or being a work in whole of ill mental repute, a movie could remain in limbo while the board attempted to prosecute distributors for carrying Wrong Films.

Of the films in the original list, I've thus far reviewed three: Raimi's Evil Dead (released uncut in the U.K. 20 years after its original theatrical release); Abel Ferrara's bonkers Driller Killer (released uncut 23 years after its theatrical run); and Meir Zarchi's ugly I Spit on Your Grave (reased with edits 23 years after its release).

Those constitute the unofficial Part I entries in my nasty tally on home video, and now comes Part II: Jeffrey Obrow and Stephen Carpetnter's The Dorm That Dripped Blood [M], available in an uncut edition apparenty no one's seen since its' U.S. theatrical release.

Two things tied me to the film prior to learning it was a nasty: under the title Pranks, it was one of the first Christopher Young soundtrack LPs I ever bought, and I've waited about 20 years to see where the image of a boiled human head fits into the narrative.

Did the film live up to its reputation? Is Synapse's Blu-ray transfer so good you can smell fresh coed soup? Was Christopher Young a scoring genius from the get-go?

Read the review.






Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com