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» The DPP39: Video Nasties - Relative Scarcity |
by bigandya on October 23, 2008, 09:50:00 AM
By the end of the video nasties furore of the mid-1980s, the Director of Public Prosecution's official list of banned titles stood at thirty-nine. These have become known amongst collectors as the legendary DPP39 and contain films from a wide variety of categories and genres. A number of books and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles have been published which examine the history of the nasties, and it is not the intention of this article to look at how the campaign against these films developed, or the prosecutions that ensued. Here we look at the current situation in 2008 – just how difficult is it to find original videocassettes of the DPP39?
A great many collectors of pre-certificated videocassettes aim to complete a collection of the notorious DPP39. It's where a large number of collectors started out, back in the 1980s, and where an equally large proportion of new collectors start out today before branching off into other areas. It's a collection that very few collectors ever manage to complete.
Why is that? Basically speaking, some of the DPP39 are far harder to locate than others. This was always the case with several of the titles on the list. Now in 2008 a handful of the films are extremely rare and command very high prices if and when they appear for sale. Occasionally – very occasionally – such rarities may still be found at car boot sales and in bulk purchases from old video library stock, but don't hold your breath!
The purpose of this article is to look at the relative scarcity of the titles on the official DPP39 list on the VHS format only. It is still not known whether all titles were released on the Beta format and it is certain that a number of titles never made the V2000 format. As most collectors concentrate on VHS that has been the focus of this article. The titles will be split into groupings according to perceived scarcity in 2008. In doing this consideration has been given to expert opinion of several of the key members of this forum, evidence of sales seen on ebay and experience gleaned from 25 years of interest in the video nasties phenomenon.
This article offers no guide as to the value of these videocassettes. That is for another time and place. There are so many contributory factors that have to be taken into account when ascertaining the value of a videocassette that any values given could only be approximate and very subjective. As a general guideline, a videocassette, like any collectible, is worth what a collector is prepared to pay at any given time.
One final note. There are literally thousands, of counterfeit copies of the DPP39 out there. This has always been the case as collectors, finding it nigh on impossible to track down certain elusive titles on the list, settled for home made copies. These could take the form of simple back to back copies with hand written labels, or in a great many cases, Beta conversions, sometimes referred to as “Beta knockovers”. With VHS being the more popular (and more valuable) format, a huge quantity of original Beta nasties were copied over onto VHS videocassettes, labels carefully removed and reaffixed, with the collector, to all intents and purposes, now having what appeared to be a VHS original of the film. In reality, it was nothing more than a clever fake. As time progressed, more professional attempts were made at producing copies of the video nasties with printed colour sleeves and labels fooling a significant number of collectors. Lots of these counterfeit copies are still out there and frequently turn up for sale on ebay and elsewhere. Regular advice columns on the forum help collectors to avoid these fakes because, in reality, they are worthless although, to be fair, some of them are very difficult to spot! It has been suggested that “every collector has at least one fake in their collection without knowing it” and that is almost certainly true.
The 39 titles which made the final DPP list of video nasties were:
Absurd Anthropophagous Beast, The Axe Beast in Heat, The Blood Bath Blood Feast Blood Rites Bloody Moon Burning, The (Uncut Version) Cannibal Apocalypse Cannibal Ferox Cannibal Holocaust Cannibal Man, The Devil Hunter Don't Go in the Woods Alone Driller Killer Evil Speak, The Expose Faces of Death Fight for Your Life Forest of Fear Frankenstein (by Andy Warhol) Gestapos Last Orgy House by the Cemetery, The House on the Edge Of The Park, The I Spit on Your Grave Island of Death Last House on the Left, The Love Camp 7 Madhouse Mardi Gras Massacre Nightmares in A Damaged Brain Night Of The Bloody Apes Night of the Demon Snuff SS Experiment Camp Tenebrae Werewolf and the Yeti Zombie Flesh Eaters.
But as far as the videocassettes themselves go, this is not the final story. Several of the titles were released by different companies and this affects their scarcity. This will be discussed later in this article.
For any collector starting on the trail of the DPP39 there are eight titles on the list that are still very common after all these years. These are The Burning (uncut version), Cannibal Apocalypse, Evilspeak, Frankenstein (Andy Warhol's version – on the Vipco label), House by the Cemetery, Madhouse (both cut and uncut versions), Tenebrae and Zombie Flesh Eaters (both cut and uncut versions). Where both cut and uncut versions of a title exist, the collector has to be careful in case the cut version has been recorded over with an uncut version at some time in the tape's history – a common occurrence as collectors sought the most complete version. The best advice here is to avoid copies of The Burning which have a date stamped on the label and contain an uncut version of the film (although evidence suggests that some of these may actually be legitimate uncut originals), and avoid uncut copies of Zombie Flesh Eaters which do not have “Strong Uncut Version” stamped in red on the label and a sticker also declaring this on the sleeve.
The next group of nasties on the list can be categorized as common and consists of a further nine titles. These include Blood Feast, Blood Rites, Cannibal Ferox (uncut), Driller Killer, Frankenstein (Andy Warhol's version – on the Video Gems label), Last House on the Left, Nightmares in a Damaged Brain, Night of the Bloody Apes and Night of the Demon.
As can be seen, it is still fairly easy to pick up seventeen of the DPP39 titles and the majority of these are listed on ebay regularly. Even the next category - designated scarce – contains eleven further titles which have all appeared on ebay several times during the past twelve months. Usually with these, competition to secure is higher which makes obtaining them that little bit more difficult. Still, there are a number of collectors on the forum who may have duplicates of some of these – ask around and you may be lucky!
The scarce group consists of the following eleven titles. Axe, Blood Bath, Bloody Moon (both cut and uncut versions), Cannibal Ferox (cut version – Bones cover), Cannibal Holocaust, Don't Go in the Woods Alone, Forest of Fear, I Spit on Your Grave (all variants), Love Camp 7 (Abbey), Snuff (the blue sleeve is rarer but does not warrant a higher category) and SS Experiment Camp. Again, be careful with cut and uncut versions.
Now scarcity, desirability, and value begin to coalesce into one as titles become more elusive and the number of collectors seeking them increases. If your pockets are deep enough, and you have the resilience, then in time these titles can be yours. Unless somebody else beats you to it! Now is the time to consider challenging other collectors if you want to procure the remaining titles in the DPP39. This next section – the rare titles – consists of nine hard to find nasties that are high on collectors' lists. Absurd (both cut and uncut versions), Anthropophagous the Beast (VFP), Cannibal Man (cut carton), Faces of Death, Fight for Your Life, Gestapo's Last Orgy (VFP), Love Camp 7 (Market), Mardi Gras Massacre (both Market and Goldstar) and Werewolf and the Yeti. And again, be careful with cut and uncut versions!
Only a few titles remain and there is a certain amount of controversy about which of these are actually the rarest of the rare. Without a doubt, these are the most highly sought after titles on the DPP39 list, commanding the highest prices and the greatest competition to own them.
Cannibal Man in an intact carton is exceedingly rare, especially with the carton in mint condition. Devil Hunter (blue sleeve), often touted as the second rarest nasty, has appeared frequently on ebay over the past year. This has always been an exceptionally rare tape, but why are so many appearing on the market at this moment in time? Is it because of the title's huge jump in price lately at auction? I suspect it is. Expose remains a frequently discussed title on the pre cert forums with many collectors actively seeking their own copy. Although initially released in a beautiful gatefold carton, the chances of finding one in glorious, intact condition are remote and most collectors would content themselves with owning a cut carton version. If one was available. They just aren't appearing and haven't done for some time. People might argue that House on the Edge of the Park doesn't belong in this category, but try and find one. Certainly this was a prized collectible back in the 1980s and it hasn't become any easier to locate today. And Island of Death continues to be a missing title on the shelves of many DPP39 collectors, a situation unlikely to be remedied anytime soon.
One title above all others represents the true legend of the DPP39, the jewel in the crown of all collections. The Beast in Heat, released by JVI in very limited numbers, is the gold dust of the video nasty world, even though the film is pretty nondescript! Easily the most valuable, the most desirable and the most collectible of all the DPP39, collectors have to be very careful indeed where this title is concerned, as the market is replete with counterfeit copies. And with an average copy of The Beast in Heat selling for upwards of £300, you certainly do have to be careful!
In closing, a company called Videoshack released Gestapo's Last Orgy and Anthropophagous Beast (in a cut version) as well as VFP. These tapes are also extremely rare and highly desired by those who collect video nasty variants. They have been known to command prices well in excess of The Beast in Heat as very few copies are known to exist. Also, there is a red sleeve variant of Devil Hunter on Cinehollywood. This is also an extremely rare variant and would undoubtedly fetch a very high price at auction.
bigandya
October 2008
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