UK destroys horror video but it's available in HK

A VIDEO said to have influenced the two 11-year-old British boys found guilty of the brutal murder of James Bulger is widely available in video stores across the territory. Video dealers across Britain yesterday began destroying stocks of the film Child's Play 3 following remarks by trial judge Mr Justice Morland that the X-rated movie bore a ''striking resemblance'' to James' abduction and death. But the territory's leading video outlet, KPS, said last night it would not stop renting out tapes and laser discs of the horror movie. KPS managing director Gary Roman said ''it is silly to remove a movie that talks about triumph over evil''. Instead of supporting the action of British video shop owners, Mr Roman said parents should be responsible for keeping Category III movies from their children: ''Parents should not leave these movies lying around the house.'' Since May 1989, when Child's Play 1 became available, Mr Roman said 2.9 per cent of the video chain store's membership had rented the movie, and he said Child's Play 3 was ''not a big movie'' among his customers. In the Child's Play trilogy, a possessed demon doll, Chucky, is destroyed again and again but returns to life each time. The third film in the series was rented by Neil Venables, whose son Jon was one of the two 11-year-olds who killed James. Similarities between the film and the fate of the toddler who was lured away from his mother and battered to death before being left on a railway track included: A boy enticing Chucky to chase him, just as Venables and Robert Thompson lured James; Chucky being taken to a railway track and attacked, as was James; Chucky having paint splattered in his face, as James had enamel paint flung in his; The doll having its face sliced off by a scythe. James was battered with a metal bar; and Chucky getting up despite its injuries. James refused to lie down when he was hit with bricks. Hong Kong clinical psychologist Gillian Marcoolyn said violence on television was ''extremely harmful'' and added: ''It sounds as if the Bulger case is a good example of children modelling the behaviour they witness on film.'' She urged parents to lobby against violent television programmes and films, and to supervise children's viewing. ''Parents have to vet kids' programmes, even cartoons, and they must lobby against some of them. This is something I feel very strongly about,'' she said. ''Some programmes are extremely unsuitable and very harmful, especially in Hong Kong. Some of the Japanese cartoons are very, very violent. And cartoons are often very realistic and human-like, so the child does not see them as cartoons or animals.'' Fight Crime Committee (FCC) member Justein Wong Chun, who also sits on an advisory panel on film censorship, called for a later cut-off time for family television viewing, which presently stands at 8.30 pm; more censorship of scenes portraying violence or sex, and glamorising triad activities; and a review of film classification, with more warnings about the contents of the film. Mr Wong claimed studies done in Britain and the United States had already proved a link between screen and real-life violence. But he said: ''Unfortunately the film industry says there is no evidence to prove this, and the Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority [TELA] seems to agree.'' A TELA spokesman said they were confident the safeguards were adequate. ''There is adequate control over indecent or obscene programmes, and the classification system extends to cartoons and children's programmes,'' he said. Legislator Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee said there was too much violence on television: ''It is a vicious circle. It reflects what the market wants, but then feeds on itself, and young people end up lowering their standards.'' The former chief executive of ATV accused adults of having double standards: ''As parents they say violent films are bad for their kids, but, as adults, they enjoy watching them.'' In the Social Welfare Department, the assistant director for youth and rehabilitation, Anthony Chan Wai-kwan, said he was concerned a murder similar to that of James could happen in Hong Kong. He also blamed the influence of television. ''It is difficult for me to predict, but I do have worries that something similar could happen here. Children who watch violent films are more prone to violence. ''The films describe violence and the joy of violence. For a mature audience, the influence is probably not bad, but you never know what impact it would have on young children.'' And Director of Social Welfare Ian Strachan, in a speech made earlier this year, said the average father spent less than three minutes each day communicating with each of his children, yet the average child spent hours watching television each day. ''Where are our children getting their moral and social values from?'' he asked. ''Is it from you, or from watching L. A. Law ?'' It is a concern shared in Britain where, minutes after the two boys charged with abducting and murdering James Bulger were found guilty, several British members of parliament demanded restrictions on the sale and rental of videos of horror films portraying masochism or the murder or mutilation of small children, arguing material of this kind could be linked with the horrific killing. Britain's Association of Video Retailers said yesterday an emergency meeting would be held to discuss a nationwide ban of the film, although individual dealers had already taken matters into their own hands. Scotland's largest video chain burned its entire $22,000 stock of the movie. ''Dealers all over Britain have removed the Child's Play trilogy from their shelves,'' association spokesman David Flett said. ''This has been done out of respect for the feelings of the Bulger family and the general public who have been shocked by this terrible crime.''