Monday 23 March 2009

Original Nasties on Ebay














Google alerts has brought my attention to original VHS copies of some of the more infamous Video Nasties - Island of Death, Anthropophagus and the Beast in Heat - for sale on Ebay. Island of Death and Anthropophagus are going for an impressive £57.00 , but the Beast in Heat was sold for a whopping £575.85. The seller says:

"This is a rare opportunity to own what is considered to be the holy grail of the so called video nasties. The Beast in Heat (1977) AKA La Bestia en Calor/SS hell camp/Nazi holocaust/Horrifying experiments of SS last days.

I have searched for this on Ebay many times and have only found the US DVD under the title of SS hell camp. I am not saying that it has never been on Ebay, but if it has been it has been a very rare occurrence...

...This film has been in my possession for 20 Years plus and the picture quality is crisp (for video). The labels are firmly stuck down and look original. There is a Crown video label on the video itself, so this was once in the rental market. There are two sticker on either edge of the video cassette itself that read "warning tampering with this tape could result in loss of membership". these labels are unbroken and have not been tampered with. The sleeve itself is on good quality paper and does look original."

There is part of me that finds the idea of an original, pre-ban British VHS of a film as out-there as the Beast in Heat a tempting idea, but I'm not sure I'd spend close to £600 on it.

Also worth a look are the Ebay forum comments on the item, where this blog is mentioned. Did someone just call me a sick individual?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ha, that's a crazy price for something that is seemingly a shit film - though i know that's not the real reason for owning it, but still...

Love the blog too. more please!

Ben said...

Cheers Kenny! Sadly, I can see the appeal of owning it...

Derek said...

Yep, I can definitely see the "collecting" appeal as well, although for that money I'd rather buy a couple of original "Star Wars" British cinema posters (I saw "The Empire Strikes Back" poster for only £250 at the NEC Memorabilia show this weekend, which I may buy at the next show.)

Oh, I found an original UK rental tape (in a big box!) of "The Hills Have Eyes" in a Warwick charity shop a few weeks ago, which I bought for 50p. Bargain-a-mooch-os! Still haven't watched it yet though.

Anyhoo, keep up the great blog Ben! What's the next tele-visual gore fest for you?

Ben said...

Well the Hills Have Eyes is on the list so you never know - of course there were VHSs released after the ban in the late 90s too (I've got a few), but worth checking anyway.

Right, I've GOT to do another review very soon. I've got "Love Camp 7", which is another grim Nazi exploitation film, I think I'll try and get that done ASAP.

Derek said...

This release of "Hills" is pre-certification. I'll have to watch it soon!!

Ben said...

That could be worth money mate

Derek said...

If you email me, as a reply I can send you a jpeg of this "Hills" tape cover if you like to see it?

Looking forward to seeing your latest review!

Ben said...

What's your email address Derek? I'd love a scan, The Hills Have Eyes is coming up soon for the blog and I can use it for the image!

Derek said...

It is accessible through my blog profile.

Don't forget to check out the links on my blog to both the "Gore Gore Girl" page and "Final Girl" page - both pretty good horror film coverage on them!