Ban the Sadist Videos!

In 2005, director Ruggero Deodato brought attention to a pivotal moment in British history: the "Video Nasty" scandal of the early 1980s. Through interviews with key figures like Wes Craven and Dario Argento, this documentary sheds light on the controversy that saw thousands of horror and exploitation films banned from home video shelves. The film offers an unflinching examination of the moral panic that gripped a nation, where even films deemed simply "shocking" were deemed too depraved for public consumption. By exploring the case through the eyes of its most infamous creators, Deodato's documentary challenges our assumptions about free speech and censorship.