10 Infamous Video Nasties
5. Last House On The Left (1972)
Wes Craven's grindhouse remake of The Virgin's Spring was denied a cinema certificate upon submission to the BBFC in 1972. However, due to the video market boom, Last House showed up on store shelves 10 years later.
This imported VHS from Replay Video was as uncut as the movie could get. Scenes of humiliation, sexual violence and mutilation were in place. Last House was presented to UK audiences for the first time in all its gritty glory and authorities raged.
When The Video Recordings Act of 1984 was imposed, Last House on the Left was near the top of the list, and copies of the Replay Video VHS were never to see the light of day again.
This began a torrid history between Last House and the BBFC. The movie was submitted for reclassification no less than 4 times over the next 18 years. When all was said and done, British censors conceded that the movie was suitable for release with 31 seconds of cuts.
This removed a great portion of the sexual violence, gore and death. However, UK fans celebrated with cinema screenings attended by star David Hess. Last House was passed as uncut as it will likely ever be in 2008.
What remains lost from the film can never truly be known. Director Wes Craven admits that the print was "hacked up" over the years as eager projectionists wanted their own copy of this shocking picture.