Cannibal error : anti-film propaganda and the 'video nasties' panic of the 1980s / David Kerekes & David Slater.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Kerekes, David, author.
• Slater, David, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Great Britain.
• Death in motion pictures.
• Violence in motion pictures.
• Video recordings--History.
• Motion pictures--Censorship.
• Moral panics--Great Britain--History--20th century.
• Moral panics.
• Video recordings.

Genre:

• History

Physical Description:

viii, 588 pages : 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Headpress, 2022.

Summary:

In the early 1980s, video technology forever changed the face of home entertainment. The videocassette - a handy-sized cartridge of magnetic tape inside a plastic shell - domesticated cinema as families across Britain began to consume films in an entirely new way. Demand was high and the result was a video gold rush, with video rental outlets appearing on every high street almost overnight. Without moderation their shelves filled with all manner of films depicting unbridled sex and violence. A backlash was inevitable. Video was soon perceived as a threat to society, a view neatly summed up in the term 'video nasties'. Cannibal Error chronicles the phenomenal rise of video culture through a tumultuous decade, its impact and its aftermath. Based on extensive research and interviews, the authors provide a first-hand account of Britain in the 1980s, when video became a scapegoat for a variety of social ills. It examines the confusion spawned by the Video Recordings Act 1984, the subsequent witch hunt that culminated in police raids and arrests, and offers insightful commentary on many contentious and 'banned' films that were cited by the media as influential factors in several murder cases. It also investigates the cottage industry in illicit films that developed as a direct result of the 'video nasty' clampdown. -- Provided by publisher.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

• 9781909394957
• 1909394955

OCLC:

1334140880

Publisher Number:

90100255429