6. VIPCO
Although defunct as of 2007, VIPCO deserves a mention due to the high number of films in its rostrum that were either video nasties or had similar problems with the censors. VIPCO was founded in the late 70s to cash in on the nascent home video boon. They handled many films such as Driller Killer, The Slayer and The Legacy - the latter of which terrorised me as a small child. The company disappeared and then resurfaced in the late 90s with an impressive list of once banned movies like Cannibal Ferox, The Beyond, House By the Cemetery, The Toolbox Murders and The Mountain of the Cannibal God. Sounds great doesn't it? This was the first time many had seen these films since the heyday of the Video Nasty era. Unfortunately the BBFC only allowed heavily censored versions of the VIPCO titles brought before them and they were a mess. I remember with much excitement putting Cannibal Ferox in my DVD player and it was a complete and utter disaster. Butchered to bits. VIPCO got around the harsh British censors by assembling uncut versions of the films in Denmark and then marketing them as the 'STRONG UNCUT VERSION'. One annoying thing VIPCO did was releasing everything as a sequel when they were not related films. I reckon VIPCO had a good run calling 2/3 films Zombie Flesh Eaters 3 and Zombie Flesh Eaters 4. The so called sequels were often the dregs of Italian horror cinema and made for some pretty whacked out and lame viewing for the poor unfortunates who sat through this dreck. VIPCO vanished again in the noughties after releasing some non-Italian cult movies. They may be gone, but VIPCO will always be the label fondly remembered for dishing out the nasties. They may have been censored but at least VIPCO tried!