“Video nasty” is a term made popular by NVALA in the United Kingdom in the early 1980s. It refers to a group of movies that had been criticized for their content (specifically violence, but most of them had other objectionable content as well). Because of a loophole at the time, the cassette releases were never reviewed by the British Board of Film Classification, which might otherwise have censored them. Eventually, in an attempt to help local jurisdictions to prosecute these video releases, the Director of Public Prosecutions put out a list of 72 films believed to be obscene.

Despite having largely overcome a variety of challenges (both moral and legal), those 72 films today are still grouped together as “video nasties.” Film fans generally and horror fans specifically often seek them out to test their mettle against the violent and disturbing content within.

Here at Codex Mortis, we believe in everyone’s right to explore without censorship. So without further ado, here’s the infamous 72 films for your perusal.

The Video Nasties

• A Bay of Blood (1971) (also known as Reazione a Catena, Twitch of the Death Nerve, Blood Bath, and Bay of Blood)
• Absurd (1981) (also known as Rosso Sangue, Monster Hunter, Anthropophagus 2, and Horrible)
• Antrophophagus (1980) (also known as Anthropophagus, Antropofago, The Grim Reaper, Man Beast, Man-Eater, The Savage Island, and Anthropophagus: The Beast)
• Axe (1974) (also known as Lisa, Lisa and California Axe Massacre)
• Blood Feast (1963)
• Bloody Moon (1981) (also known as Die Sage des Todes)
• Boogeyman II (1983) (also known as Revenge of the Bogey Man)
• Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (1982) (also known as Night Warning and Nightmare Maker)
• Cannibal Apocalypse (1980) (also known as Apocalypse Domani and Invasion of the Flesh Hunters)
• Cannibal Ferox (1981) (also known as Make Them Die Slowly)
• Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
• Cannibal Terror (1980) (also known as Terror Canibal)
• Contamination (1980)
• Dead & Buried (1981)
• Delirium (1979) (also known as Psycho Puppet)
• Devil Hunter (1980) (also known as El Canibal)
• Don’t Go in the House (1979)
• Don’t Go in the Woods (1981)
• Don’t Go Near the Park (1979)
• Don’t Look in the Basement (1973) (also known as The Forgotten)
• Drop Dead, Dearest (1978) (also known as I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses)
• Eaten Alive (1976) (also known as Death Trap and Starlight Slaughter)
• Evilspeak (1981)
• Faces of Death (1978)
• Fight for Your Life (1977)
• Flesh for Frankenstein (1973) (also known as Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein)
• Frozen Scream (1975)
• Hell of the Living Dead (1980) (also known as Zombie Creeping Flesh and Virus)
• House on the Edge of the Park (1980) (also known as La casa sperduta nel parco)
• Human Experiments (1979)
• I Spit on Your Grave (1978) (also known as Day of the Woman)
• Inferno (1980)
• Island of Death (1976) (also known as Ta Pedhia tou dhiavolou, Devils in Mykonos, and A Craving For Lust)
• Last Stop on the Night Train (1975) (also known as L’ultimo treno della notte, Night Train Murders, The New House on the Left, Second House on the Left, Don’t Ride on the Late Night Trains, Late Night Trains, Last House Part II, and Xmas Massacre)
• Love Camp 7 (1969)
• Madhouse (1981) (also known as There Was a Little Girl)
• Mardi Gras Massacre (1978)
• Night of the Bloody Apes (1969) (also known as La Horripilante bestia humana)
• Night of the Demon (1980)
• Night of the Howling Beast (1975) (also known as La Maldicion de la Bestia and The Werewolf and the Yeti)
• Night School (1981) (also known as Terror Eyes)
• Nightmare (1981) (also known as Nightmares in a Damaged Brain)
• Possession (1981)
• Sacrifice (1972) (also known as Il paese del sesso selvaggio, Man From Deep River and Deep River Savages)
• Slave of the Cannibal God (1978) (also known as La montagna del dio cannibale, Prisoner of the Cannibal God and Mountain of the Cannibal God)
• Snuff (1975)
• SS Experiment Love Camp (1976) (also known as Lager Ssadis Kastrat Kommandantur and SS Experiment Camp)
• Tenebre (1982) (also known as Tenebrae and Unsane)
• The Beast in Heat (1977) (also known as La Bestia in Calore and SS Hell Camp)
• The Beyond (1981) (also known as E Tu Vivrai Nel Terrore – L’Aldila and Seven Doors of Death)
• The Boogey Man (1980) (also known as The Bogey Man)
• The Burning (1981)
• The Cannibal Man (1972) (also known as La Semana del Asesino)
• The Dorm That Dripped Blood (1982) (also known as Pranks and Death Dorm)
• The Driller Killer (1979)
• The Evil Dead (1981)
• The Funhouse (1981)
• The Gestapo’s Last Orgy (1977) (also known as L’ultima orgia del III Reich, Last Orgy of the Third Reich, and Caligula Reincarnated As Hitler)
• The Ghastly Ones (1968) (also known as Blood Rites)
• The House by the Cemetery (1981) (also known as Quella villa accanto al cimitero)
• The Killer Nun (1979) (also known as Suor Omicidi)
• The Last House on the Left (1972)
• The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue (1974) (also known as Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, and Don’t Open the Window)
• The Slayer (1982)
• The Toolbox Murders (1978)
• The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976)
• Toxic Zombies (1980) (also known as Forest of Fear and Bloodeaters)
• Trauma (1976) (also known as Expose and House on Straw Hill)
• Unhinged (1982)
• Visiting Hours (1982)
• Women Behind Bars (1975) (also known as Des diamants pour l’enfer)
• Zombie (1979) (also known as Zombie Flesh Eaters and Zombi 2)