Video Nasty

I was really excited for this early on.

The concept is strong and in the sweet spot for 80s and 90s horror lovers. The younger cast are all excellent, those of us who lived through the video nasty era will appreciate the buzz, just for VHS horror in general, regardless of video nasties.

The longer it goes on it unfortunately loses focus.

It becomes yet another attack on men, synonymous with this current era of constant feminist commentary. There's a time where this would have been effective but it's now a massive, creatively bankrupt cliche.

Once they throw in the queer elements the show has lost its promising premise and morphed into a paint by numbers disappointment.

Such a pity. There was a terrific horror tv show in here somewhere, but the politics once again became more important than entertainment.

Okay, yet another BBC show that tries very obviously to tick all the 'diversity boxes'. It was like watching Murder, They Hope. I don't need to be preached at - especially by the ****ing BBC!!! (Actually, I don't recall seeing anybody disabled... You dropped the ball there, BBC!) Okay, that said...

As a long-standing horror fan I appreciated this comedy-drama set during the infamous 1980s 'video nasty' scare in the UK (a period I spent watching every horror film I could get my hands on - including as many 'banned' titles as I could find!). Two Irish lads decide to 'do a runner' from NI and head to mainland Britain in search of an infamous 'video nasty' needed to complete their collection. At the last moment the younger sister of one of them decides to tag along as well. But almost as soon the trio step off the ferry they find themselves embroiled in an adventure-mystery that wouldn't be out of place in one of their prized videos! Will they survive? Will they be able to stop bickering for even five minutes? Most importantly, will they find that video?

The cast are all excellent - especially the three leads; Justin Daniels Anene as 'Billy', Cal O'Driscoll as 'Con', and Leia Murphy as 'Zoe'. The snarky banter between them (especially brother and sister Con and Zoe) is consistently funny and the relationships are believable. The attention to period detail throughout is spot on, too. The letdown is the story itself. Of the six episodes, 1 and 2 are very good, 3 and 4 are... okay, whilst 5 and 6 are a definite drop, and - if you've watched a lot of horror movies - predictable. There is a setup for a sequel; and whilst the DEI/quota crap is annoying, there's nevertheless enough good about this to make me want to see these characters again. Horror fans - especially those who were around during the 'video nasty' debacle - should enjoy this. 7/10.

I'm a massive horror fan plus a collector of horror physical media, including VHS, some of which are original Video Nasties. Needles to say I was very intrigued when the BBC broadcast this series. It started off ok, it was nice seeing some of those old tapes and exerts from them. However when the action moved from Ireland to England and it went all Wicker Man it just fell apart in my eyes. And that ending, what a let down. The teenage collectors only needed Nightmare Maker to complete their collection of the banned videos, so presumably they must have had the extremely rare "Beast in Heat" and "Devil Hunter", yet no mention is ever made of these two highly sought after titles. Set in 1985 but some of the vehicles shown were built after that. Acting was good but that was little compensation for the three hours that I spent watching this only to feel let down at the end!

Video Nasty: Dublin 1985, the moral panic over video nasties is at its zenith,Two i teens are trying to assemble a full collection of a banned list which will be worth a lot of money, One of them has embezzled the their schools debs ball money to fund their purchases, The other is contact with a girl in the middle of nowhere in the middle of middle England who has the missing tape. They decide to travel there along with the sister of the embezzler. There is homophobic and racist bullying plus the sister has been under pressure, the nature of which we only learn later. Their parents set out in pursuit but the three teens are soon set up for a murder and fall into the hands of a crazed fundamentalist family. Shades of the Wicker Man permeate the drama as killings multiply and medieval masked plague doctors roam villages and woods. A good laugh with plenty of horror and social commentary on the times and the moral panic. Six Episodes. Written by Hugh Travers and directed by Christopher Smith and Megan K Fox. 7.5/10.

On BBC iPlayer in the UK from 8 January 2025. It airs on Virgin Media Television in the Republic of Ireland from 20 January 2025.

One of best TV shows I've seen recently. From the very beginning you are gripped by the interesting plot and dynamic, vivid characters. The three main characters are teenage friends, who go on a journey from Dublin to a small English town to collect a videotape. Despite the subject matter, it doesn't show a lot of graphic violence, which I like. The only moment I think was a bit icky was in the last episode but other than that it's done with timed cutaways, so no need to worry if your a bit squeamish.

Every single character felt so real, and layered, which I really appreciate. It made you really care about them and hope they will be okay.

The costumes and music were AMAZING, and really hammered in the 80's setting.

All of the actors were extremely talented and really brought the show to life.

It left me with some unanswered questions, which leave me eagerly hoping for a season two.

Absolutely fabulous show, 100% recommend giving it a watch.