Short Horror Story Review - Philip Pullman - Video Nasty

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Spoiler alerts - 1985 Video nasties were a real media frenzy in the UK in the mid 1980's. A number of horror movies were banned outright or severely cut by draconian censors for being too graphic, or perceived as being likely to encourage young and impressionable people to copy the killing techniques used on screen. Some mainstream movies were caught in the puritanical ban; Child's Play, The Evil Dead and I Spit On Your Grave were among them. Many young people, myself included, got to see the films despite the ban. Rumors abounded then as today that some nasties include genuine murders, not acted scenes. The existence of these so called snuff movies has never been proved. Written by the author of The Golden Compass, Pullman's fictional story has three street-wise kids getting hold of a snuff movie, only to find themselves joined by a creepy fourth boy who wants to watch it because the footage of the actual killing is the only film record he has of his own mother. His presence turns the video nasty into real life nasty as their discomfort and fear is not focused on events unfolding on the screen any more, but on what is going on in the viewing room itself. Scary and yes, nasty but thoughtful. The victim of the snuff is no longer a stranger - so would you still be eager to watch it? Would you go near such a movie anyway? Creepy and ultimately inconclusive story tapping into a media frenzy social concern but not really helping the debate by taking any kind of moral stand at all. Arthur Chappell