Due to NSFW content, the “Horror Vision” video won’t embed. WATCH HERE: Horror Vision – Bat Music Video
While horror and heavy metal go together like peanut butter and jelly, the relationship between horror and censorship is more like that of a bull to a china shop. Video nasties were the rage in the Eighties, with films being banned due to graphic violence as the slasher film rose to prominence. Richmond, Virginia trio Bat understand this, as their latest music video celebrates the splatter of yesteryear.
The bygone era of Video Nasties
For the uninitiated, the “video nasty” refers to a select few dozen films that were criticized and publicized for their explicit violence. Thanks to a loophole, these films were not brought before the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, the American equivalent would be the MPAA), meaning they went without a rating or any cuts. This led to the Video Recordings Act of 1984, a law which remained on the books for a quarter of a century. Of all things, a legislative error led to the law being overturned in 2010.
Side note, this law led to a raid focused on copies of the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas due to the mistaken belief that the film was pornographic. Sure, it had Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton, but even that fact shouldn’t get it slapped with an X rating. Due to this rather major whoopsie, the list of video nasties was assembled so as to have a specific guideline for law enforcement to follow in the enforcement of the Video Recordings Act.
Under the Crooked Claw – Latest release from Bat
The song “Horror Vision” comes from Bat’s Under the Crooked Claw, released back in May of this year through Nuclear Blast Records. The song is a traditional metal banger, sounding much like the heavy music which populated the era of slashers honored in the track. Over a dozen films are name-dropped in the lyrics, from Faces of Death to The Ghastly Ones to Make Them Die Slowly and so many more.
Clips from the aforementioned films, as well as some recognizable moments of violence including the infamous Scanners head explosion and a could of Fulci gems from both Zombie 2 (1979) and The Beyond (1981), populate the music video, which was edited by Jim Stramel and the band’s vocalist/bassist Ryan Waste.
The song, the video, and the band’s M.O. as a whole are a throwback to heavy metal’s origins, no small task given the band is just over a decade old. Hopefully the wait for their next full-length won’t be another five years, as was the case between their 2019 album Wings of Chains and this year’s Under the Crooked Claw.
Stream and/or purchase Bat’s Under the Crooked Claw on Nuclear Blast Store.
Check out the very much NSFW music video for “Horror Vision” below: