10 Infamous Video Nasties
4. The Driller Killer (1979)
The Driller Killer ticked all the boxes for prosecution in 1984. It had the lurid title, shocking box art and a tonne of blood.
Abel Ferrara stars and directs in his first foray into horror. The film details an artist's slide into insanity as he struggles with his work, home life and finances. He takes his growing rage out on the homeless, killing them with a power drill.
The Driller Killer is perhaps the best representation of grimy, poverty-ridden New York in the 1970's. The film is a rather effective commentary on just how hard it was to survive in those circumstances. However Ferrara's coping mechanism is... not advisable.
The Driller Killer became the literal poster child for the Video Nasties panic. The film's lurid poster depicting a drill entering a man's forehead was often reprinted in newspapers with headlines like "corruption!" and "sadism!"
It is little surprise then that the movie was removed from circulation in 1984 and subsequently prosecuted. The Driller Killer would remain unavailable in the United Kingdom until 1999 when it was passed with 54 seconds of gore footage trimmed.
Since then, the film has become a grindhouse classic, receiving a fully uncut release in 2002. This writer recommends the stunning Arrow Video blu-ray release.
An interesting side note is that the movie had similar troubles in Australia, being denied certification 4 times and is still unavailable fully uncut.