1980–1988 · GB
Britain's video nasty panic grew from cheap, uncensored VHS tapes suddenly flooding living rooms and a sensationalist press convinced graphic movies were corrupting kids; shockers like Cannibal Holocaust and I Spit on Your Grave became shorthand for that fear. Go in knowing many titles are exploitative and disturbing, but the moral crusade and the 1984 Video Recordings Act reshaped censorship and home-video culture—some films are now restored, others stay troubling.