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VIDEO NASTIES

 

The Murder of James Bulger/Video scapegoats/My personal experience

 

FEB 1993

2 year old James Bulger is walked out of a shopping centre by two 10-year-old boys.
The boys, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, lead him to a railway track and proceed to brutally torture and, eventually, murder him.
It was, and still remains, one of the most sickening crimes to happen in the UK. An event that caused untold pain to little James's parents and horror throughout the Country.
The full details of what they did to poor James are too grotesque to mention here. Though that did not stop the two sadists walking free from prison recently, due to concern about their 'Human Rights' as the poor dears were tried as Adults, into new, well-funded, lives of anonymity.

On summing up during his sentencing of the two murderers, Mr. Justice Morland said an off the cuff, ill-judged remark; "I suspect that (the killers') exposure to violent video films may in part be an explanation".

Red rag to a bull. And as always the bull (in more ways than one) was the British Press.

Thus was started (after a few jolts now and again like the Hungerford shootings where a man who went on a gun rampage had his actions blamed on "Rambo". Despite the man not being a member of the local video shop…or owning a video player!) the 2nd big upheaval in the history of Video films in the UK.

It was discovered that one of the murderers Father's had rented out "CHILDS PLAY 3".
Despite there BEING NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER that the boys had ever watched the film, the newspapers were damning.

Soon headlines like "BAN CHUCKY NOW", "DOES CHUCKY LEAD TO MURDER" and the truly infamous headline from the Scum King of Tabloid newspapers 'The Sun' that screamed out "For the sake of ALL our kids ... BURN YOUR VIDEO NASTY".

'The Sun' then went on a moral crusade (which, if you know anything about 'The Sun', is jaw dropping in it's hypocrisy) to ban all violent films, and spat fire and brimstone at "CHILD'S PLAY 3" in particular. They chose to forget that the favourite film of one of the boys was "The Goonies" and the household paper was...."The Sun".
No matter what the truth was, CIC video would later withdraw the legal, rated '18' by the BBFC, movie and it's sequel.

In fact, unlike the 1984 onwards mania, Police are to be congratulated for dismissing the link to "CHILD'S PLAY 3". I myself remember a Police Officer on Breakfast TV repeating the Press release they had just released which read: "We dismiss any link - if you are going to link this murder to a film, you might as well link it to "The Railway Children", (Because of the murder being on railway lines).
It was all to no avail though…..

Never ones to miss a chance to play heroes, Trading Standards (they who did such a laughable job during the VRA in 1984 and the 1992 'Nasties' farce) leapt out in full SWAT mode. Initiating a 'daring' undercover operation these brave Men and Women, replied to 'videos for sale' ads in various genre magazines. And in a startling show of blatant entrapment, drew up a list of evil doers who were to have thier lives ripped open. Yep! They were lock and loading and leaping in the saddle for some more home raids!

With Police back-up (nice to know that while your Gran is getting mugged the Police are baby sitting Trading Standards Officers) they proceeded to raid homes up and down the Country.
And the National and local newspapers, nicely tipped off by limelight seeking Trading Standards Officers, were free to print any old rubbish they wanted about the 'perverts' raided and their 'sick' and evil films.

I was one of those raided…And my family and myself were to experience first hand the bile and lies of the Press and the unbelievable lack of training and knowledge at Trading Standards……
THIS SHORT REPORT ON MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH 'THAT KNOCK ON THE DOOR' RAID CAN BE FOUND HERE.

Anyway, as the hysteria grew louder a Liberal party MP named David Alton (a hard line Roman Catholic with his own personal moral agenda) put forth an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill going through Parliament at the time.
And amendment that would, if passed, have truly devastating effects on what an adult could watch in the UK.

 

THE ALTON FIASCO:

What Alton wanted was a new BBFC rating for movies; "NOT SUITABLE FOR HOME CONSUMPTION".
He wanted movies that were not suitable for a child to watch to be refused a Video certificate.
Which would mean a massive percentage of films, those rated '15 and '18', would be banned from being released on VHS.
And anyone who knows how film distribution works, will know that without a chance of a lucrative (most non-Studio distributors make their money back on a film from Video sales) VHS release, certain movies would never even be picked up for Cinema release. Thus this amendment would as good as ban some films from even getting a theatrical screening!

Conservative party/Government 'Home Secretary' Michael Howard was against the amendment, as was the BBFC, but under threat from the then Labour Leader, one TONY BLAIR, that he would get his party to support Alton, Howard backed down and negotiated with Alton and his supporters.
In the end the amendment was watered down. But even so the BBFC were now obliged to take into account the 'effect' a film may have when viewed 'at home' and if children happen to see it.
Despite roughly 65% of homes in the UK not even having children.

This would lead to the refusal of Video certificates to movies such as "NATURAL BORN KILLERS", "THE EXORCIST", "STRAW DOGS", "RESERVOIR DOGS ", "HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER", "BAD LT" and countless small-scale horror/action films for many years.

 

SUMMING UP

Time has now passed.

The killers of James have skulked off into their new lives, and the BBFC publish new guidelines resulting in some of the most open and lenient certification/censorship seen in the Country for many years (though still far from acceptable and still with prejudices and secrets). Guidelines that have seen ALL of the above films, and some of the dreaded 'Nasties', being released uncut on Video. Even "CHILD'S PLAY 3" crept back out and got a late, but excellent and passed uncut, sequel.

But the horrific murder of an innocent, trusting child still casts a shadow to this day.
And the lies, mis-reporting, bias and unfounded hysteria of a Tabloid Press to be ashamed of, and Politicians with rabid and self serving agendas, still leaves a lot of anger in, and a nasty taste in the mouths of, many UK film fans.