back to article Driller Killer unleashed on UK public

The British Board of Film Classification has caused a bit of a rumpus by approving for general release on DVD the famed "video nasties" which were 20 years ago deemed unfit for human consumption. According to the Evening Standard, movie buffs can now legally enjoy the delights of titles including SS Experiment Camp, Driller …

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  1. Paul Fleetwood
    Alert

    where did the Conservative MP for Canterbury get his 'fact'

    that half of all males think forced sex is justified under some circumstances.

    It's not a statistic that I've ever heard of before, and I read the Guardian, where some feminist columnist or other would have been very likely to cover it.

  2. lansalot
    Black Helicopters

    link between film violence and the real stuff ?

    I've no idea frankly - but I'm off to buy shares in Black & Decker, just in case.

    Yours, Daily-Mail-clutchingly etc etc

    ps, how about an icon for torch-wielding-villagers (or Mary Whitehouse, at the very least) ??

  3. Jared Earle

    Eh?

    http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/705291/Box-Of-The-Banned/Product.html

    I've had Driller Killer on DVD for a couple of years, much like Shogun Assassin and the like.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A little slow?

    The uncut version of Driller Killer was released on DVD in the UK in 2002.

  5. Paul Buxton

    Relaxed Modern Attitude?

    "because of more relaxed modern attitudes towards extreme on-screen violence".

    Do I have a more relaxed attitude to on-screen violence? Have I become accustomed to on-screen violence because it's now the norm? Am I still offended by the violence on TV yet the Evening Standard are setting a benchmark and telling me that I have no right to be?

    Fact of the matter is - when they were released I was young and quite interested in these movies. Now I'm older (read old) I can't think why I was ever turned on by them and think that they should remain unavailable (though banning anything is a pointless endeavour), not because they are offensive or too gory for consumption, but just because they are a bit crap.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Dead Vulture

    awww come on

    its all fake blood, nothing to worry about.

  7. Karl Lattimer

    crap movies all in all

    The only thing I remember about driller killer was the crap music... and hell I listen to PUNK!

    When I vaguely heard this story on the BBC news they gave the impression that the actual dachau footage of various experiments and torture (which should always remain banned!), not some cheesy 70s slasher flick, I think the beeb need to be given a strict talking to by the truth in the news foundation if there is one... Misquotes and misrepresentation of the facts should always be avoided, isn't that right el reg :P

  8. Lloyd

    realistically though

    You could download them off the web or import them from abroad if you wanted to see them so where's the difference? Mind you, these are 30+ years old, they're probably laughable in terms of horror.

  9. Mr Chris

    I beg your pardon?

    Julian Brazier, the Conservative MP for Canterbury, disagrees, and has accused the board of "failing to protect the public". He said: "We live in a country where half of all males think forced sex is justified under some circumstances"

    Maybe half of the Tory MPs he straw-polled, but surely not half of the population? Even in today's allegedly feral society I cannot believe that 50% of males of any background would believe that rape is acceptable.

    Citation needed, Mr Brazier, you sensationalist, moralistic, Daily Mail reader, you.

    And I bet he hasn't even watched the films, either.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sneaky

    "half of all males think forced sex is justified under some circumstances" I notice they say males, not men. At what age does your average arrogant little git grow up enough to realise that females are people too?

  11. Sarev
    Paris Hilton

    So they are finally going to release them, but....

    ...is anyone in the UK actually allowed to _own_ them? What with that draconian law banning violent pornography (yes, even cartoons!). Paris because I find the whole legal position a bit confusing, tbh.

  12. Frank Bough
    Stop

    You're wrong, and you're a grotesquely ugly freak.

    "Julian Brazier, the Conservative MP for Canterbury, disagrees, and has accused the board of "failing to protect the public". He said: "We live in a country where half of all males think forced sex is justified under some circumstances and it's this - films like SS Experiment Camp - that glamorises the torture of women."

    Half, eh? And where - exactly - did he pull that particular bogus statistic from? Half of the men in my office think he pulled it straight out of his arse, the other half don't believe it's possible to cram anything else in there as his head's taking up all of the room.

  13. Andrew

    Lasting appeal?

    Having had the dubious pleasure of having seen some of these titles, I can quite honestly say that they would have immediately sunk into obscurity had they not been banned.

    Now that they've been brought to the attention of the public again, I have no doubt that they will now be sought out and "enjoyed" by a whole new generation of viewers.

  14. Martin Owens

    My words

    >> was sadly not captured for posterity and later released as part of a 30th anniversary Snuff: The Ultimate Director's Cut.

    That was such a bad joke I feel I must ask for you to be taken round back and shot until embarrassed.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Alert

    Loved the Sunday Express headline...

    "Outrage at sick Nazi DVDs for sale"

    These films have been freely, and legally, available for a few years now. Why have they only just noticed.

    Also, where's the Nazis in I Spit On Your Grave & Driller Killer.

    Worlds Greatest Newspaper - my arse, in fact I wouldn't even use this rag to wipe my arse for fear of ending up with more shit there than I started with....

    </rant>

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hunh ?

    But they still won't release Manhunt 2 ?

    Wankers.

  17. Michael Compton

    50% umm....

    I asked the guy next to me and he agreed it isn't right, but one of us must be lying then :)

    Prime example of politicos really not fit for anything but blowing alot of hot air.

  18. Keith T
    Happy

    Fictional or real?

    Let's see-- happy slapping, bitch fights, road crashes - all available for free on the web. Road fatalities swapped between phones (or mobes to really annoy people).

    And there's nothing quite like an old Kung Fu movie with breaking bones and spraying claret.

  19. Mike Somers
    Alert

    @ Hunh

    I agree. so they allow these films (nothing against them doing bringing them out) but yet they kick up a stink when a new 'violent' game comes out. think they need to get some perspective

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    And these MPs are qualified... how?

    So, what would qualify these 50 MPs to say whether something should be banned or not?

    Typical cynical tabloid moralising strikes again.

  21. Steve Anderson

    What about TV broadcasting?

    I recall Driller Killer being on Channel 4, late at night, a few years ago. It's the only way I was going to see it because I wouldn't have paid hard-earned cash for the privilege, and I found it unwatchably offensive - not in a Daily [Mail|Express] way, but because the soundtrack was so bad. I found it ploddingly boring as well - I'll stick with my favoured video 'nasty', Evil Dead, thanks.

    Anyway, it was on terrestrial television, peddled by liberal media types (naturally, gawd bless 'em). Surely the horse hasn't just bolted, but it's been melted down for glue by now...

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Using the BBFC's logic regarding Manhunt 2

    they shouldn't have given these a certificate in case under-18s get hold of them!

    Oh, but using that logic, nothing should get a certificate in case the wrong demographic gets hold of them.

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    Never needed banning.

    I have let my kids watch violent movies from day1 (hear that whine, thats the social services black helicopter starting up), they dont care about the violence in them, and they are have not grown up into violent thugs - proof of the pudding etc that violent films do not make violent children, one is currently on a course, 2nd is in a desk job in admin, third is studying for exams, 4th is top of his maths class, 5th is into dora the explorer

    The only people who seem to say that letting children watch violent films makes them violent are

    1) papers / politicians

    2) do gooders/social services with a job to keep

    3) Parents of violent children who have brought up little monsters and want to blame anything other than themselves for their crap parenting creating said monster. (yes, you with kids that are hanging out on street corners in groups)

    Posting anonymously so the nspcc dont steal my violent film collection, rocky has a good story I tell you!!!!!!!!!

  24. James Le Cuirot

    Driller Killer

    As someone above said, Driller Killer was released here some years back anyway. My friend gave it to me as a present but I didn't realise it had been banned. It's a trippy film to say the least. I also prefer the Evil Dead series. Far more entertaining!

  25. Sordid Details
    Dead Vulture

    Q.E.D.

    How can anyone who says "...attitudes change, and what was then problematic is not problematic now..." say in the next breath that there's "...no evidence the films caused harm to viewers"?

    Our jaded viewing palates and screen boredom that now makes this material worth viewing is clear evidence that decades of bombardment *are* causing harm. Just look at the success of Big Brother!

  26. Les Matthew

    @Mr Chris

    "And I bet he hasn't even watched the films, either."

    He's not that daft then. ;)

  27. Steve Medway
    Joke

    The BBFC Should ban crap kids films

    Why don't the BBFC ban titles such as Cinderella II: Dreams Come True?

    Video nasties & Manhunt 2 don't encourage me to go on a sadistic killing spree but Cinderella II......

    Give me a gun less than five minutes after popping the DVD in and I'd be using it on myself and anyone else close enough to be damaged by the Cinders 2nd outing ;-)

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    The statistic comes from...

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/456845.stm

    ...of course, the quotation in question is just a *tad* misleading.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Jobs Halo

    Welcome to 2005, population: Parliament

    These films were un-banned years ago.

    The best example of how daft the whole "video nasties" débâcle seems in retrospect is Luigi Cozzi's CONTAMINATION - prosecuted as obscene in 1985, passed uncut with a 15 certificate in 2005.

  30. Graham Marsden

    @Sarev

    "is anyone in the UK actually allowed to _own_ them? What with that draconian law banning violent pornography"

    Ah, but you see it has to be "extreme" AND "for sexual arousal".

    Of course how they are going to prove you were "sexually aroused" by these films unless they burst in on you whilst you're having a w@nk over them is another matter...

    Still, at least there are Members of the House of Lords who are asking questions about the planned law to ban "extreme pornography" such as is "we in the Government know what it is when we see it" *really* a good enough definition for the Courts to use?!

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    only 50%?

    hell, that explains why about 10% of women in the SF area go unsatisfied-if only 50% of the men will indulge them in their S&M fantasies, the 60% of women having them might just have to wait in line...

    lies, damn lies and statistics

    4 out of 3 people have problems with statistics

    -mine's the leather one with the riding crop.

  32. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    @ Statistic comes from

    Also from that article

    "In comparison one in three women thought it was acceptable under certain circumstances for a man to force a woman into sex."

    What I want to know is who are these women, what are those circumstances, and exactly when do they want me to show up.

    -- its the one with the cat-o-nine-tails

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @ Statistic comes from

    Turns out from Scotland.... maybe these films should only be banned up there?

  34. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    In other news...

    97% of all statistics are made up on the spot, to prove a point.

  35. Rich
    Coat

    Nazis

    "Also, where's the Nazis in I Spit On Your Grave & Driller Killer"

    Dunno, but there are several in Mary Poppins.

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Unhappy

    Isn't it the usual crap...

    that only someone who actually wants to watch these films will watch them, nobody is forcing anyone else to watch them - it's like when people used to write into Points of View to complain about something they'd seen on TV "I felt sick to my stomach", "I have never been so horrified in my life", "That type of thing should never be allowed on TV"... No one ever forced them to watch it, but they watched anyway just so they could write in and complain afterwards... If you don't want to watch something - don't watch it, if you want to watch it - watch it. What business is it of some jumped up MP (let alone the UK.gov in general) to start saying what people can and can't watch

  37. Rich
    Joke

    80's technology

    In terms of 1980's tech, being the Driller Killer would be a bit impractical as cordless drills weren't widely available/perfected and one would either be constrained by the cable, or would run out of juice before you got halfway through the cranium.

    However a modern sequel "Cordless 18v Driller Killer brought to you by Makita" would be a lot scarier and more realistic. Should one use HSS or masonry bits for skull penetration? Or even a spade bit?

  38. Steve Roper
    Flame

    Male feminists

    "We live in a country where half of all males think forced sex is justified under some circumstances..."

    This illustrates perfectly the feminist lie: that feminism = female. They promulgate this lie so that they can brand any man who opposes feminism as a "misogynist". But female is a biological state of existence. Feminism is a socio-political movement. They are not the same thing.

    During the many years I have campaigned against the double-standards and hypocrisy of feminism I have observed this phenomenon. Most FEMALE feminists, barring a few loudmouthed lesbian man-haters, focus mainly on women's rights. But every MALE feminist I've ever locked horns with has focused on how evil men are, and been driven by misandry. Julian Brazier is one of these; a male feminist, whose only concern is sucking up to the feminist vote; a traitor to his sex and to his race, who would sell the rights of other men down the river for his own aggrandisement. People like him are why the gender war has escalated beyond reason.

    So immediately anything else he says about movies, violence, men or whatever, has zero credibility since his attitude towards half of the world's population shows his bigotry and hypocrisy up for what it really is.

  39. Martin
    Thumb Up

    banning?

    @ Paul Buxton

    if we banned everything that was crap (let alone offensive - e.g celebrety karoke highschool wish for the moon ) what would ITV fill their schedules with?

    ....ok, you have my vote

  40. George McIntosh

    Not even very nasty

    Driller Killer was never really a video nasty anyway. Anyone who's seen it can tell you that. The violent scenes are few, far between and not in the least bit graphic, there's virtually no blood, either. It's a film about someone having a nervous breakdown. I bet it wouldn't have even been noticed by the BBFC if it wasn't called "Driller Killer"

  41. Slaine

    just fill in the blanks

    What utter [censored] crap. How the [censored] can you [censored] justify telling the entire [censored] population that they are too [censored] up to know the [censored] difference between real life and a [censored] media [censored] production and still claim that they are competent enough to make an informed and sensible choice when it comes to voting for a [censored] [censored] [censored] politician.

    Oh, and congratulations to Steve Roper for wording "male feminists" in such a way that you mananged to get it printed.

  42. Geoff Mitchell

    DRILLER KILLER REMAKE :)

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049397/

    I honestly don't know how I survived childhood with I spit on Your Grave, Driller Killer and other nasties available to me.

  43. Dave
    Thumb Down

    Where the facts come from.

    I contacted Mr Brazier and he was open about where he got his facts.

    >>

    This comes from a very detailed study by Glasgow and North London universities for the Zero Tolerance charitable trust, which was a survey of 2,039 young people aged 14 to 21 in Glasgow, Manchester and Fife. Incidentally, the report talks of young men, not all men.

    <<

    So, it's not half of all males, it's half of the children.

  44. Slaine
    Joke

    I just realised

    Dora the Explorer?... OMG - How COULD you? You're warping that poor fragile mind, not to mention the harm it could do to the older children.

    Thank you to the individual who contacted Mr Brazier. All this only goes to prove the old adage... "you can tell when a politician is lying - his lips move"

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