Don't Go Near the Park
Two ancient, cursed figures prowl Los Angeles in search of victims, turning the film into an unusual blend of urban horror, exploitation weirdness and supernatural grotesquerie. Its eccentricity is one of the reasons it has lasted in cult memory.
Film details
| Original / alt title | Don't Go Near the Park |
| Year | 1979 |
| Director | Lawrence D. Foldes |
| Country | USA |
| Runtime | Approx. 83 min |
| Main cast | Aldo Ray, Tammy Taylor, Meeno Peluce |
UK status
Appeared on the DPP list but was later dropped.
Best known today as an offbeat collector title valued for strangeness rather than prestige.
Why it caused controversy
UK censorship / Video Nasties history
A quick status check first, followed by the film’s censorship timeline. A DPP prosecution was an obscenity case against a particular video publication — it was not automatically the same thing as a permanent nationwide “ban”.
Detailed censorship timeline & facts
FACTS & TRIVIA
- The title is often cited as one of the stranger obscurities to emerge from late-1970s horror.
- Aldo Ray's presence gives the cast an extra cult-cinema hook.
- The story mixes immortality, cannibalistic violence and urban weirdness.
- The movie's cult reputation is heavily bound up with VHS-era discovery culture.
- Many viewers seek it out precisely because it sounds so strange.
- Its sleeve art has strong rental-shelf appeal and suits the archive perfectly.
- It is a good example of how deep the site can go beyond only the best-known titles.
Distributor / VHS label
Archive cover shown is the user-supplied scan. UK distributor / VHS-label attribution varies by edition and is not asserted here without a verified sleeve imprint.
Trailer
Open a search for the original theatrical / VHS-era trailer. This keeps the archive linking to publicly available trailer sources rather than hosting copyrighted film footage.
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