10 Video Nasties That Became Horror Classics

John Carpenter’s sci-fi horror The Thing might be hailed a genre milestone today but critics weren’t too keen when it was released back in 1982. One particular point of criticism were The Thing’s legendarily gruesome effects – no doubt a reason the video nasty brigade singled it out too.

Though its treatment was not as harsh as some of its fellow so-called video nasties in that it was confiscated on the odd occasion but never prosecuted, The Thing was unfortunately linked to convicted rapist Christopher Meah after the Daily Mail reported the film was one of his favourites

That was a pretty tenuous connection to make considering The Thing features nothing like the violent crimes Meah committed but as for the question of whether his or any other horror movies can cause real world violence, the last word is best left to Carpenter: "'Do I believe that television makes murderers? No. Do I believe that videos cause people to kill? No. It's a totally absurd argument."