THIS BOOK ISN’T an encyclopaedia of contentious films or an attempt to discuss every video that has had a run-in with the law or the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). Cannibal Error is primarily a chronicle of video culture in Britain, and of political anti-film propaganda from the late seventies through to the end of the millennium. A substantial part deals with the Video Recordings Act 1984 and the so-called ‘video nasties’. It was during this turbulent era — to paraphrase the little boy in one ‘banned’ film, Shogun Assassin — that everything changed forever.

The original edition was published as See No Evil: Banned Films and Video Controversy (Headpress, 2000). It concluded with the retirement of BBFC director James Ferman, a figure unpopular with filmmakers (he kept cutting their films) and later out of sorts with members of the British government and arguably the Board itself. In revising the book, the authors have stuck with the original framework and not diffused what, in hindsight, is a solid time-capsule of a key period of film and socio-political culture in Britain. Without Ferman the narrative changes and the ‘video nasties’ become another story. However, the inclusion of new material, notably the appendix, offers an insight into the Board today and a timely reflection on attitudes towards this volatile era. […]

PREFACE
A Note on Film Titles | Acknowledgements | Why ‘Cannibal Error’?

BEGINNINGS: ‘TIME MARCHES ON!’

UNEASE: ‘AN ORGY OF COMMERCIALISM’

CLAMPDOWN: ‘PRIVATELY FUNDED BY INDIVIDUALS AND CHURCHES’

SIEGE: ‘DRAINING THE BLOOD OF THE INNOCENT!’

BLACK MARKET & PIRATES: ‘HARD TO FIND RARITIES’

THE BIG INFLUENCE: ‘WHO SUPPORTS VIOLENT FILMS NOW?’

SEX & WRECKS: ‘AT THE LEAST PROVOCATION’

THE DPP39: ‘SCENES OF EXTREME AND EXPLICIT VIOLENCE’

APPENDIX
A miscellany of rejected video works, 1990–Present
Two interviews with independent video distributors
Two interviews with the B B F C
Anatomy of a raid
The ‘video nasties’ — Where are they now?
“You can’t run all these machines off the standard mains”
Black market mailing list

Sources: Bibliography | Periodicals | Websites
Notes
Index

• The original, critically acclaimed edition has long been out of print;
• Draws on the authors’ first-hand experience during the ‘video nasties’ panic;
• Thorough examination of video controversy in Great Britain, from 1980s to the present;
• Analysis of titles on the notorious ‘video nasties’ list, providing cast and credit details;
• Chronicle of media reaction and press hypocrisy with regard to feature films on video;
• Investigates supposed links between film and true crime;
• Outrageous instances of video piracy and bootlegging;
• Exclusive interviews, including new conversations with the BBFC for this edition; 
• Profusely illustrated.

Title: CANNIBAL ERROR
Subtitle: Anti-Film Propaganda and the ‘Video Nasties’ Panic of the 1980s
Author: David Kerekes & David Slater
ISBN: 978-1-909394-95-7
Street Date: March 7, 2024
Category: Film / Popular Culture / Social Studies
Retail Price: UK £25.99 / US $32.95
Binding: Paperback
Size: 240mm x 171mm
Pages: 596
Illos: 450+ B&W stills and ads

As the trade paperback, except this special NO-ISBN hardback is exclusive to this website. Because it carries No ISBN number, this edition of the book is off the grid in as much as it doesn’t appear on any database, in any library, cannot be ordered through mainstream bookshops or online retailers.