10 Video Nasties That Became Horror Classics

Martin wasn’t the only movie of repeat video nasty offender George A. Romero to provoke the wrath of British moral crusaders in the 80s. His 1978 zombie flick Dawn of the Dead made the video nasty cut too but more baffling was the inclusion of its infinitely less gory predecessor Night of the Living Dead.

It may have been more shocking back when it was first released in the late 60s but by the time the 1980s rolled around and we’d endured far more disturbing things like Thatcherism, perms and the rise of disco you’d think that Britain’s collective backbone might be deemed strong enough to handle a little early Romero.

Maybe the predominance of other zombie flicks like Toxic Zombie and Zombie Flesh Eaters on the DPP list meant that anything vaguely undead-themed got tarred with the same brush. Or perhaps the fact that many of the zombie video nasties took inspiration from Romero’s seminal horror meant that the root cause had to be addressed too.

Either way, Night of the Living Dead is definitely one of the more mystifying horror classics to be singled out as a video nasty.