NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN aka Nightmare

• Director: Romano Scavolini
• Cast: Baird Stafford, Sharon Smith, C.J. Cooke 
• 1981 | Film: 99mins | USA & Italy | Subtitles | Event: 20:45 – 23:10 [18+]

A patient embarks on a killing spree after release from an experimental psychiatric institution.

“THE DREAM YOU CAN’T ESCAPE ALIVE!”

Cult film night BAR TRASH continues with BANNED, an uncensored season of the Video Nasties.

More than just an eye-catching title, Romano Scavolini’s NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN aka ‘Nightmare’ (1981) is a sensationally grim slasher that blends sadomasochistic sex, psychosis, and fountains of gore in a brutal cocktail of axe-swinging insanity.

At the peak of the Video Nasties furore, three men were found guilty under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 of distributing NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN “for gain” through their company, April Electronics in London. One of those men, David Hamilton-Grant, was sentenced to 18 months in prison, 12 of which were suspended. 212 copies of the film were obtained during Police raids in Leeds and London, and subsequently destroyed.

“This is the most repulsive, offensive, degrading, gory, depraved and horrifying movie ever made.”

New York Daily News

NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN was originally passed with cuts by the British Board of Film Censors for cinema release in 1982. Distributed as an uncensored, pre-certificate videocassette, the film was banned in 1984 for being “likely to deprave or corrupt”. The film was re-released with 3 minutes of pre-edits to achieve an 18 certificate in the early 2000s, with a fully uncut version finally passed by the BBFC in 2015. A clip from the film features prominently in CENSOR (2021), Prano Bailey-Bond’s modern meta-nasty that we’ll be showing later in the BANNED season.

Polite warning: NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN contains scenes of “strong bloody violence, horror, strong sex, and nudity” (BBFC). We are showing NIGHTMARES IN A DAMAGED BRAIN fully uncensored with subtitles from the best available digital source. We are screening the most complete version ever assembled that was prepared for the recent Severin Films 4K release. DEFINITELY NOT FOR PERSONS OF A NERVOUS DISPOSITION.

/// BAR TRASH is a celebration of cult and curious cinema, hosted by queer film fanatic, Token Homo. Films are served with themed drinks, introductions, intermissions, prize giveaways, and subtitles/captions where possible. Tickets from £3. Strictly adults 18+ only. Follow @tokenhomo on Instagram for news and updates. ///