Video Nasties – Resources
http://www.hysteria-lives.co.uk/hysterialives/Hysteria/slasher_nasties_4.html
Prior to the ‘Video Recordings Act of 1984′ (VRA) the responsibility was on the courts to prosecute a film if it was likely to “deprave or corrupt” the viewer. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) drew up a list of videos that were liable for prosecution. Below are 39 films that were cleared from the nations shops and successfully prosecuted. Some were later released in butchered versions, others were never seen again, some managed to make a meagre living at especially dodgy boot fairs.
http://www.horrorseek.com/home/horror/realm/nasties.htm
In the early 1980′s when affordable video recorders became commercially available in the UK, a small group of enterprising distribution companies opened up intending to cash-in on the video boom by releasing pre-recorded films onto tape.
This idea proved hugely successful, and the first dedicated video libraries started opening up soon after. But there was one major problem, in those days there was still a sizeable chunk of cash to be made in re-releasing films at the cinema, and so the larger studios were initially reluctant to release their mainstream blockbusters onto tape. Meaning the smaller video distributors were constantly struggling to find new material to put out.
Unlike cinema films, there was no legal requirement for them to be classified, or vetted by any statutory body prior to release. So they could pretty much release whatever they liked.
Distributors began snapping up the rights to a lot of foreign low budget exploitation films, many of which would have never otherwise stood a chance of ever being screened in the UK.
This meant that cult classics like “I Spit on your Grave”, “The Driller Killer”, and “Last House on the Left” could be found on UK video shelves, despite the fact that many of them had been effectively banned from the cinema.
Unfortunately though, the down side of these video works being unregulated meant that they fell under the remit of “The Obscene Publications Act” (OPA). An archaic piece of legislation that dates back to the 1800′s, which prohibits the distribution of materials liable to “Deprave & Corrupt”. So it was only a matter of time before the authorities decided to sit up and take notice.
The problems first started in early 1982 when distributors Vipco (Video Instant Picture Company) took out several full page adverts in various video magazines for “The Driller Killer”. GO video, advertising full page spreads for their films “SS Experiment Camp” and “Cannibal Holocaust” lead to numerous complaints being made to the Advertising Standards Authority.
This attracted a lot of attention, most notably the Sunday Times and Daily Mail, started to speak out against the availability of some of the titles, making a big issue about how easy it was for children to access them. Even calling on comments from morality groups, church leaders, and self appointed media watchdogs like the obnoxious National Viewers and Listeners Association (now called Mediawatch UK) to back up their outrageous articles about the “evils” of home video.
Soon police started raiding distributors and video shops up and down the country looking for material that they could prosecute under the OPA.
The Government’s Department of Public Prosecutions drew up a list of films that they felt where likely to be judged obscene by the courts for the police to concentrate their efforts on when carrying out raids. The press referred to these films as “Video Nasties”.
Even though there where many horror films at the time being branded as nasties by the media, not all of these made the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) official list. Altogether there where 74 different titles that appeared on the list at one time or another. The original list contained 52 titles, but many more where added soon after and others dropped, leaving a final total of just 39 which were successfully prosecuted.
This “Purge” by the DPP went on until the Government finally introduced the “Video recordings Act” in 1984, which outlawed the trade in unclassified tapes and required that all video films be submitted to the “British Board of Film Classifications” for vetting prior to release. This stopped the availability of the more infamous titles, and the nasties furore by the media, and of course the need for any further prosecutions by the DPP.
There was a 12 month period given to clear all uncertified tapes out of the system, and so some titles were still around for a while, but it was the end of a much too short lived era.
The information on the following pages has been gathered from various sources, mostly from “Dark Side Magazine” , Dave Taylor’s “Melon Farmers Video Hits” website, the “BBFC” website and the “Internet Movie Database”, With additional info on the more recent sections taken from the book “See No Evil” by David Kerekes and David Slater.
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/591919/index.html
When video was introduced in the late 1970s, there was no specific legislation governing its content. This, coupled with the reluctance of major distributors to get involved with a medium they considered vulnerable to piracy, caused small independent companies to flood the market with low-budget horror films and lurid advertising campaigns.
Many of these videos were identical to the cinema versions approved (often after cuts) by the British Board of Film Censors, but some contained uncut versions and indeed films originally rejected outright
The original “video nasties”, as itemised on a list issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions, were a motley collection of mostly low-budget horror films that relied on graphic violence, the overwhelming majority being American or Italian. The few British or British-set films on the list were Exposé (1975, d. James Kenelm Clarke), Xtro (1982, d. Harry Bromley Davenport) and The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue (Italy/Spain, 1974, d. Jorge Grau).
Most had little or no artistic merit, though the inclusion of work by respected genre practitioners Dario Argento, Wes Craven, Lucio Fulci and Tobe Hooper, arthouse auteurs Andrzej Zulawski and Paul Morrissey, and the then unknown Abel Ferrara led to a number of eloquent defences as the campaign against the nasties built up steam.
The first salvo in this campaign was fired by a May 1982 article in the Sunday Times headed “How high street horror is invading the home”. This theme was enthusiastically taken up by the tabloid press, particularly the Daily Mail, and led to Conservative MP Graham Bright introducing a Private Member’s Bill to bring about government regulation of video content. This led to the 1984 Video Recordings Act and the BBFC (renamed British Board of Film Classification) being given a statutory role for the first time as the official state video classifier.
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/591879/index.html
Following the “video nasties” scare of 1982-83, Margaret Thatcher’s newly re-elected Conservative government introduced the 1984 Video Recordings Act, which was phased in over the next three years. This was the first legislation aimed specifically at regulating the video industry, and it dramatically changed the British video landscape.
The key aim of the VRA was to ensure that all video recordings available in the UK were approved by a recognised authority. The British Board of Film Censors was designated the official video classifier, a decision that gave it statutory powers for the first time in its history. It was renamed the British Board of Film Classification later that year.
From 1 September 1985, all video recordings had to possess a BBFC classification (at the time these were U, PG, 15, 18 and R18), which had to appear four times at a specified minimum size: on the cassette label, on each side of the video box and on the spine.
Videos were classified separately from theatrical releases, as different criteria came into play, such as the increased possibility of a video falling into the hands of children. As a result, films passed uncut for cinema release were often cut for video.
Not all videos had to be scrutinised by the BBFC. A video was exempt from classification if it was considered educational or if it promoted sport, religion or music. However, this exemption was only granted if the video in question did not contain images of human sexual activity, urinary or excretory functions, extreme violence and torture, or the depiction of techniques likely to be useful in committing crimes.
The supply of unclassified (and non-exempt) videos was made a criminal offence, as was supplying 15 and 18-certificate videos to people under age. R18 videos could only be sold in licensed sex shops.
http://www.eatmybrains.com/showfeature.php?id=6
Video Nasties List
Absurd
(1981) Italy
Anthropophagus The Beast
(1980) Italy
Axe
(1974) USA
The Beast in Heat
(1977) Italy
Blood Bath
(1971) Italy
Blood Feast
(1963) USA
Blood Rites
(1967) USA
Bloody Moon
(1981) W Germany
The Burning
(1980) USA
Cannibal Apocalypse
(1980) Italy
Cannibal Ferox
(1981) Italy
Cannibal Holocaust
(1979) Italy
The Cannibal Man
(1972) Spain Devil Hunter
(1980) Sp/It/W Germany
Don’t Go in the Woods… Alone!
(1980) USA
The Driller Killer
(1979) USA
Evilspeak
(1981) USA
Expose
(1975) UK
Faces of Death
(1979) USA
Fight For Your Life
(1977) USA
Forest of Fear
(1979) USA
Frankenstein (Andy Warhol’s)
(1973) Italy / France
Gestapo’s Last Orgy
(1977) Italy
The House by the Cemetery
(1981) Italy
House on the Edge of the Park
(1980) Italy
Island of Death
(1972) Greece
I Spit on Your Grave
(1978) USAThe Last House on the Left
(1972) USA
Love Camp 7
(1978) USA
Madhouse
(1981) USA
Mardi Gras Massacre
(1978) USA
Night of the Bloody Apes
(1968) Mexico
Night of the Demon
(1980) USA
Nightmares in a Damaged Brain
(1981) USA
Snuff
(1971/6) Arg / USA
SS Experiment Camp
(1976) Italy
Tenebrae
(1982) Italy
The Werewolf And The Yeti
(1975) Spain
Zombie Flesh Eaters
Italy
1970’s
Cassette tapes also continued to surge in popularity after their introduction in the 1960s. JVC’s VHS and Sony’s Betamax waged a war as the primary recording and video devices beginning in 1976, but by the end of the decade VHS had become the dominant format.
The oil crisis in 1973 was caused when Arab members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), during the Yom Kippur War, announced that they would no longer ship petroleum to nations that had supported Israel in its conflict with Syria and Egypt , to the United States and its allies in Western Europe. It was also announced that the price for Oil would increase drastically. The west was by now dependent on oil and together with prices quadrupling and measures for rationing the western world went into recession and suffered massive inflationary pressure. At that time the United States did have their own oil reserves and although they were affected the biggest impact was on European Economies .
After nearly 10 years of war in Vietnam 1973 was also the year that allied forces pulled out of Vietnam
Another significant factor in the 70′s was the growth in womens rights and womens role in society including the ability to decide when where and if they wished to have children ( partly through the availably of the contraceptive pill )
President Richard Nixon was forced to resign on 8th August as president of the United States due to imminent impeachment related to the Watergate scandal.
With the continuing Cold War between the East and West the arms race continued with each side trying to find the ultimate weapon
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1970s.htm
Music 70′s
Progressive rock created a new generation of bands including Genesis, Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Pink Floyd. Many other singers and bands also started or strengthened their fan base including The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Queen, Black Sabbath .
In Europe, the music was not as progressive from bands like T Rex, Gary Glitter and David Bowie, and bands like Slade and the Sweet. and possibly the most successful in the 70′s being ABBA
Some of the Most Well Known Movie Stars of the Seventies
Paul Newman
Robert Redford
Clint Eastwood
John Wayne
Burt Reynolds
Al Pacino
Woody Allen
Barbra Streisand
Technology 1970′s
The 70′s were the start in many ways of the Electronics and digital revolution, with the invention of transistors and Integrated Circuits in the late 60′s, companies now found ways to use the technology which caused the phenomenal growth in smaller more powerful and cheaper products ranging from Calculators to Televisions.
The 70′s also saw the beginning of the Home Computer due to Intel creating the first cheap microprocessor – the Intel 4004, and other integrated circuits. In the beginning the computers were mainly for the hobbyists and included the Apple II, the TRS-80, the Commodore PET, and Atari 400/800 and with the growth of these home computers Bulletin Boards became a popular way for people to find others with similar interests
The first use of card access Electronic Locks appear
As people realized the power of these new home computers a new use was found and that was the beginning of the video game . When we look at those games now we see how basic they were but the technology available and the understanding of what could be done limited those early games.
With the invention earlier of the microwave oven and now the capability to manufacturer and sell cheaply many homes adopted the technology in their kitchens.
Due in part to the increased use of the 747 a Jumbo Jet able to carry large numbers of passengers across continents air travel booms and causes new problems with pollution, delays and air traffic control
1980’s
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1980s.html
Events 1980′s
During the 80′s we also saw the collapse of the traditional communism and the end of the cold war .The fragmentation of communism included the collapse of the Berlin wall and the breakup up of what was the USSR towards the end of the 80′s. and leading to German reunification.
The 80′s also signaled a period of the rise of conservatism as the in political and cultural life, caused by Margaret Thatcher in the UK and Ronald Reagan in the USA .
Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland islands in 1982 but is subsequently defeated by the United Kingdom.
China continued it’s growth and liberalization but suffered unrest towards the end of the 80′s after student’s protested in Tiananmen Square on June 4th 1989 and the authorities used force to quell the protests
Famine in Ethiopia was shown to the world on our television screens in 1984 – 1985 and the pain and suffering caused the western world to find new ways to help including the Live Aid concert and many of the most popular stars contributed their time and performed for free in cities throughout the world , This has to be one of the most successful campaigns ever to create awareness and raise much needed funds by those who have the power to draw TV audiences around the globe.
Many South American Countries return to democracy after a period of dictatorships
The mixing of politics and sport in both 1980 and 1984 Olympics Boycotts by the worlds major powers
Technology 1980′s
The 80′s signaled the start of the computer age, following on from the creation of Microsoft and Apple towards the end of the 70′s , the technology and the speed of innovation both in Hardware and Software together with the cheapness provided a speed of growth and take up . The birth of the IBM PC signaled the start of Personal Computers first in the Offices and then into peoples homes becoming an integral part of our lives. following on from Micrsofts MSDOS on PC’s to the first versions of Windows a GUI Graphical User Interface
As well as the Hardware and Software changes a new technology was evolving starting as Bulletin boards later to become what we now know as the Internet invented by English physicist Tim Berners and the beginnings of the World Wide Web
This was also the Decade that the Post-It was introduced which came from a glue invented in 1968 accidentally while trying to discover a stronger glue at 3M by Spencer Silver
The 80′s also signaled the age of the video game in arcades, Games Machines and PC’s the most popular games being Space Invaders and Pac Man
Another technology that was also just starting was that of cellular mobile phones , in the beginning the phones were big and heavy and hit and miss for signal strength , but as with the Internet would change our lives .
After many years of ignoring the impact on our environment ,the world also took more notice of the impact that we were having on our planet and more research was done on the effects on global warming through population growth, land clearing of rain forests for agriculture and logging, increased use of fossil fuels for power generation together with our love affair with the car for transport .
Popular Culture 1980′s
• John Lennon is shot outside his New York apartment
• MTV (Music Television) is launched
• Floppy shirts, Backcombed hair, Padded shoulders, big hairdoes and white stilettoes
• The Simpsons Is First Seen On Tracey Ullman Show April 5th 1987
• Michael Jackson releases his second adult solo album, Thriller.
Some of the Most Well Known Movie Stars of the Eighties
Clint Eastwood
Burt Reynolds
Harrison Ford
Michael J Fox
Eddie Murphy
Tom Cruise
Dudley Moore
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Popular Musicians
• Bucks Fizz
• The Jam
• Olivia Newton-John
• Chicago
• Lionel Richie
• ABBA
• Black Sabbath
• Queen
• The Police
• Tina Turner
• David Bowie
• Whitney Houston
• Culture Club
• Bruce Springsteen
• U2
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Students/mtw9403.html
Moral panics can occur both as novel events, or events which have been in existence within society for a long time and have suddenly become an issue of importance and concern. Many panics result in official change and have serious and long-lasting repercussions, as was the case following the panic concerning so called ‘video nasties’, which led to the Video Recording Act of 1984 introducing the regulation of videos via the British Board of Film Classification. The debates concerning the issue centred upon the lack of parental control in monitoring children’s viewing and the dangers posed by certain programmes and films to young people (Lusted, 1991, p.14). The concern of ‘video nasties’ reappeared in the 1990′s following the murder of the toddler James Bulger by two juveniles. The case was related to the violent film ‘Child’s Play 3′, which the offenders had previously watched. The case and the implications made against the film resulted in further regulations being enacted in 1994.
Availability of Video Nasties – Today
http://www.play.com/HOME/HOME/6-/Campaign.html?campaign=8524&cid=6223665
Simple to buy online from popular sites such as play.com and in stores such as HMV. In the past these distributers could be jailed and heavily fined.
Video Recordings Act 1984
The act was a legislative reaction to a moral panic concerning “video nasties” that was sparked by tabloid newspapers in Britain during 1982 and 1983.
Sport, music, religious, and educational works are exempt from classification under the Act. Exemption may be forfeited if the work depicts excessive human sexual activity or acts of force or restraint associated with such activity, mutilation or torture of humans or animals, human genital organs or urinary or excretory functions, or techniques likely to be useful in the perpetration of criminal acts or illicit activity.
http://www.fact-uk.org.uk/site/criminal_justice/vidact.htm
Offences: Video Recordings Act 1984
The 1984 act creates a number of criminal offences:
(a) section 9, supplying or offering to supply an unclassified video work.
(b) section 10, possession of an unclassified video work for the purposes of supply.
(c) section 11, supplying or offering to supply recordings of classified works in breach of the classification.
(d) section 12, supplying or offering to supply a work otherwise than in a licensed sex shop.
(e) section 13, supplying or offering to supply a video recording not complying with the video recordings (labelling) regulations 1985.
(f) section 14, supplying or offering to supply a video recording containing a false indication as to classification.
Penalties: Video Recordings Act 1984
From 3rd february 1995 section 88 the criminal justice and public order act 1994 makes sections 9 and 10 “either-way” offences with maximum penalties as follows:
A) on indictment – imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 year or an unlimited fine or both.
B) summarily – imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding £20,000 or both.
Sections 11,12 and 14 remain summary with either a maximum penalty of imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or a fine not exceeding level 5 (£5,000) or both.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_nasty
Effects of the Video Recordings Act 1984
Under the 1984 Act, the British Board of Film Censors was renamed the British Board of Film Classification and became responsible for the certification of both cinema and video releases. All video releases after 1 September 1985 had to comply with the Act and be submitted for classification by the BBFC. Films released on video before that date had to be re-submitted for classification within the following three years. The increased possibility of videos falling into the hands of children required that film classification for video be a separate process from cinema classification. Films that had passed uncut for cinema release were often cut for video. The supply of unclassified videos became a criminal offense, as did supplying 15 and 18 certificate videos to under-aged people. As well as the low-budget horror films the Act was originally intended to curb, a number of high profile films which had passed cinema certification fell foul of the Act. In particular, The Exorcist, which was made available by Warner Home Video in December 1981, was not granted a video certification by the BBFC and was withdrawn from shelves in 1986. Similarly Straw Dogs was also denied video certification and removed from video stores.
Popular culture backlash against the Video Recordings Act included the May 1984 release of “Nasty” by the punk-goth outfit, The Damned, who celebrated the condemned genre with the lyrics, “I fell in love with a video nasty.” The TV show The Young Ones included an entire episode entitled “Nasty”, in which the characters rent a VCR specifically to watch a “video nasty” (with the fictitious name “Sex With the Headless Corpse of the Virgin Astronaut”), and which featured a lip synched performance of “Nasty” by The Damned.
The television programme Spitting Image parodied the Video Nasties with their sketch of a sickeningly nice, low budget film, entitled a video “nicie”.
Neil Innes’ song “My New School” (1984) contains a video nasty reference “its got all the charm of a video nasty, I’ve never been anywhere so ghastly, my new school”.
The 1985 Doctor Who serial Vengeance on Varos was set within the confines of a ‘Punishment Dome’ where the repellant alien delegate Sil was delighted to learn that recordings of real life executions, dismemberments, drownings, acid baths and other ‘delights’ were being peddled to the apathetic population at large to keep them both docile and entertained. After the transmission in January 1985 there were quite a few official complaints about the content of the serial to both the BBC itself and the Radio Times.
BBC Video advertised their offerings (such as Doctor Who) as “Video Tasties.”
Films banned by the BBFC but not classed as Video Nasties
• The Exorcist (commonly said to have banned around the same period as video nasties, this is actually untrue as the studio decided not to push for UK release following the 1984 act.)
• The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (passed uncut with an 18 certificate in 1999)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night (Originally never submitted for a certificate. It was submitted and passed uncut with an 18 certificate in 2009.)
• Straw Dogs (Banned around the video nasty period but not actually included on the list. It was re-released in 1995 partially cut with it finally being released uncut in 2002.)
• The New York Ripper (Banned outright in 1982 until it was released with cuts in 1997)
• Mikey (Still banned)
• Maniac (Passed with cuts in 2003)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Natural_Born_Killers_copycat_crimes
List of Natural Born Killers copycat crimes
This is a list of crimes committed by individuals allegedly influenced by the 1994 film Natural Born Killers.
Major incidents
[edit] Murder of William Savage
On March 5, 1995, Sarah Edmondson and her boyfriend Benjamin James Darrus (both 18) spent a night alone together at her family’s cabin in Muskogee, Oklahoma, taking LSD and watching Natural Born Killers. Two days later, they left the cabin and packed Edmondson’s Nissan Maxima with blankets and a .38-caliber revolver. They originally left Muskogee to attend a Grateful Dead concert in Memphis, Tennessee. On March 7, they arrived in Hernando, Mississippi, when Darras killed cotton-mill manager William Savage by shooting him twice in the head at point blank range. They then travelled to Ponchatoula, Louisiana, where Edmondson shot Patsy Byers, a convenience store cashier. Byers survived the attack, being rendered quadriplegic. It subsequently transpired that Savage had been a friend of best-selling author John Grisham; Grisham publicly accused Stone of being irresponsible in making the film, claiming that filmmakers should be held accountable for their work when it incites viewers to commit violent acts. In July 1995, Byers took legal actions against Edmondson and Darras, however in March 1996, she amended her lawsuit to include to Oliver Stone and the Time Warner company. With the advice of Grisham, Byers used a “product liability” claim, stating that the filmmakers “knew, or should have known that the film would cause and inspire people […] to commit crimes such as the shooting of Patsy Ann Byers.” Grisham himself stated in an article called “Unnatural Killers” in the April 1996 edition of the Oxford American magazine, “The last hope of imposing some sense on Hollywood will come through another great American tradition, the lawsuit. A case can be made that there exists a direct causal link between Natural Born Killers and the death of Bill Savage. It will take only one large verdict against the likes of Oliver Stone, and then the party will be over.” On January 23, 1997, on the grounds that filmmakers and production companies are protected by the First Amendment, the case was dismissed, but Byers immediately appealed the decision, and on May 15, 1998, the Intermediate Louisiana Court of Appeals overturned that decision, claiming that Byers did indeed have a valid case against the filmmakers (However, Byers herself died of cancer in late 1997). However, on March 12, 2001, judge Robert Morrison dismissed the case on the grounds that there was no evidence that either Time Warner or Oliver Stone intended to incite violence.
In June 2002, the Louisiana Court of Appeal turned down an appeal from Byers’ attorneys, and the suit was officially closed.[1][2][3]
In 1996 the parents of Patsy Ann Byers sued Oliver Stone, claiming his movie Natural Born Killers resulted in the shooting of their daughter.
Byers was left paralysed after two thugs went on a crime spree after watching the movie.
Their case was eventually shot to pieces by Stone’s lawyers and dismissed in 2001.
[edit] Heath High School shooting
Main article: Heath High School shooting
On December 1, 1997, in Paducah, Kentucky, 14-year-old Michael Carneal went to school carrying four .22 rifles, 2 .30-30 Winchester rifles and a Ruger .22 handgun. Upon arriving at the school, he inserted a pair of earplugs and opened fire with the handgun at a prayer meeting, killing three of his classmates and wounding five others. After he was finished shooting, Carneal calmly dropped the gun and surrendered to the school principal. Carneal was charged with murder and attempted murder and initially sentenced to three life sentences for murder plus 150 years for five counts of attempted murder. Following appeal, this was altered to life in prison with no possibility of parole. In April 1999, Jack Thompson, attorney for the parents of the murdered children filed a $33 million lawsuit against Time Warner, Polygram Film, Palm Pictures, Island Pictures, New Line Cinema, Atari, Nintendo and Sony Computer Entertainment. Specifically mentioned were Natural Born Killers and the 1995 film The Basketball Diaries, as well as the video games Doom and Mortal Kombat. Thompson argued that the films and games had encouraged Carneal to act the way he did, and that Doom had provided him with excellent target practice. The case was dismissed in July 2001 by the US Court of Appeals.[4]
Columbine High School massacre
Main article: Columbine High School massacre
On April 20, 1999, students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered twelve students and one teacher at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado. The massacre ended with both perpetrators committing suicide. It has been confirmed that both Harris and Klebold were fans of Natural Born Killers. Prior to the massacre, they had used the initials ‘NBK’ as their code. In a journal entry dated, April 10, 1998, Harris wrote “When I go NBK and people say things like “Oh, it was so tragic,” or “oh he is crazy!” or “It was so bloody”, just because your mommy and daddy told you blood and violence is bad, you think it’s a fucking law of nature? Wrong, only science and math are true, everything, and I mean every fucking thing else is Man made. Before I leave this worthless place, I will kill whoever I deem unfit for anything at all, especially life.” Harris also referred to April 20 as “the holy April morning of NBK”, and in an undated journal entry, Klebold (who was severely depressed) wrote “I’m stuck in humanity. Maybe going NBK w. Eric is the way to break free”.[5] During one of the “Basement Tapes” found in Harris and Klebold’s homes, the perpetrators mention how Hollywood will want to adapt their life story, and they debate on whether or not Steven Spielberg or Quentin Tarantino (who conceived the story for Natural Born Killers) are appropriate choices to direct the proposed film.
Richardson family murders
Main article: Richardson family murders
On April 23, 2006, Jeremy Allan Steinke (23) and his 12-year-old girlfriend murdered her parents, Marc and Debra Richardson, as well as her 8-year-old brother, Jacob in Medicine Hat, Alberta. Steinke and Richardson were arrested on April 24 in Leader, Saskatchewan, and were charged with three counts of first-degree murder. According to friends of the daughter, her parents had punished her for dating Steinke,[6] due to the age disparity,[7] and forbade her from visiting him.[7] Shortly after her arrest, Steinke proposed marriage to her, which she accepted.[8]
On July 9, 2007, Richardson was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to ten years in prison, which is the maximum penalty for an individual under 14 years of age. On December 5, 2008, Steinke was also found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, and on December 15, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility for parole for 25 years. The Natural Born Killers connection is to be found in the fact that Steinke had allegedly watched the film the night before the incident. He also spoke to friends of “going Natural Born Killer on her [Richardson daughter] family”,[9][10] however that they would not spare her brother’s life.
