Perhaps you are new to the cut-throat world of Lurid Trumps – in which case, a belated welcome.
First, a run-down of the rules of play – deviations from which are discouraged, lest portals to other worlds be opened.
“Deal the shuffled cards out equally, face down. The player on the dealer’s left reads a category and score from their top card. The other players do likewise.
The highest value wins, and the winner takes all the top cards, placing them at the bottom of their stack. They then choose a category from their top card. If two or more cards share the same selected top value, all the top cards are placed in the middle and the same player chooses again from their next card. The winner takes all the cards in the middle as well.
The ultimate winner is the player with all/the most cards. They may then force all the losers to carry out any degrading, illegal or deadly act they wish and will be exempt from legal ramifications under the 1965 Trump Act”.
Thus far, there are been three sets of Lurid Trumps, all covering the infamous 72 Video Nasties and the so-called ‘Section Three’ titles.
Set One – The Mary Whitehouse edition. All the nasties sets feature a cover card of a figure from the fun and games of the crackdown on what were hailed as corrupting films in the early 80’s. Mary was the most recognisable figure of censorship in the UK, almost omnipresent on television, warning of the dangers of watching just about anything. This is now sadly very sold out indeed.
Set Two – The James Ferman edition. Overzealous might still be understating Ferman as a film censor, a role he undertook from 1975-1999, eventually becoming director of the BBFC. Under his ruthless say-so, films such as Texas Chain Saw Massacre were banned outright, as were many others, now collectively referred to as the DPP (Director of Public Prosecution) Video Nasties. Those films featuring sex, violence, or what he viewed as off-limits weapons (nunchuks were particularly frowned upon) that were passed could still well be cut to ribbons. Less than half a dozen sets remaining – buy here
Set Three – The Sir Graham Bright edition. The first set of two covering the Section Three (of the Obscene Publications Act) titles, those which may or may not be subject to lawful confiscation, depending on the area of the country. The now knighted Graham Bright was a fierce political campaigner against the dangers of watching videos in your own home and was the person responsible for introducing the Private Member’s Bill to the House of Commons, which eventually led to the Video Recordings Act of 1984, the requirement of all films to have been passed by a board of unelected censors. Critically few left! Buy here
Set Four – The James Anderton Edition. The second set of the so-called Section 3 titles, featuring both obscure titles and those which, unthinkably at the time, now regularly screen on terrestrial and cable television. Anderton was chief constable of Manchester during the Video Nasty era and his devout Christianity and position of authority in the judicial system meant he had a platform for regularly ranting against the evils of watching horror films in the home.
Buy here
Set Five – Mondo VHS! A no-holds barred journey through the pre-certificate videos of the early 1980’s, taking in all possible genres but mostly the gruesome, the salacious and the bizarre. The first of many planned set, available to buy here now!
