Nigel Wingrove (born 26 October 1957) is the founder of the horror film company Salvation Films and the Redemption film label and creator of the online alternative female collective
the Satanic Sluts
He is also a film director and the only director to have had a film banned in the UK on the grounds of blasphemy.

Redemption films

Wingrove founded the film distribution company

Redemption Films {{unsourced, date=February 2021 Salvation Group is a UK-based media company, specialising in exploitation film and alternative music. The company's original name and current trading name is Redemption Films. The Salvation Group was dissolved in No ...

(now called Salvation Films) in 1992, which was the first UK company to specialise in releasing obscure European films by directors such as

Jean Rollin Jean Michel Rollin Roth Le Gentil (3 November 193815 December 2010) was a French film director, actor, and novelist best known for his work in the fantastique genre. Overview Rollins' career, spanning over fifty years, featured early short film ...

Jess Franco Jess is a unisex given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Jessica, Jesse, Jessie, etc., and a surname. It may refer to: Given name * Jess Atkinson (born 1961), American football player * Jess Cain (1926–2008), American radio host * J ...

, Dario Argento and Peter Walker. Redemption's logo features a white, eyeless face, which is of Wingrove's former girlfriend, the actress and scream queen,

Eileen Daly Eileen Mary Theresa Daly (born 1 June 1963) is an English actress, director, film producer, writer, singer, presenter, songwriter and former adult film performer. She is also a contemporary scream queen, having starred in numerous cult horror ...

Films

Separate to his work as managing director of Salvation Films, Wingrove has written and directed a number of low-budget films including

Sacred Flesh ''Sacred Flesh'' is a 1999 British nunsploitation horror film. It is set in an indeterminate past, and consists of a series of loosely connected vignettes that depict pseudo-lesbian sexuality and some sado-masochistic activity. Plot Sister Eliz ...

(2000), "Red Kiss" (2004), Sexcretares (2005), Purple Haze (2005) and three titles; The Black Order Cometh (2006), The Black Masses (2007), and Scandalised (2008), in th
Satanic Sluts
range. Wingrove's early film work included the short erotic film Visions of Ecstasy (1989), which is an interpretation of the writings of Carmelite nun

Saint Teresa of Avila In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

with a soundtrack by Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees and would go on to be banned from distribution on the grounds of blasphemy. Wingrove is currently working on a

nunsploitation Nunsploitation is a subgenre of exploitation film which had its peak in Europe in the 1970s. These films typically involve Christian nuns living in convents during the Middle Ages. Criteria The main conflict of the story is usually of a religio ...

film, "Sisters of Armageddon", and an Alice in Wonderland inspired title: "Alice in the Underworld" and producing a series of cosplay themed films for Ghoul Girls, a sister film label to the Satanic Sluts.

Anti-Censorship

In 1996, Wingrove challenged the

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...

, which had refused to grant a distribution certificate for his short film '' Visions of Ecstasy'' on the grounds that it was blasphemous, at the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that ...

. He claimed that the ban breached Article 10 of the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by ...

and was disproportionate. Wingrove's case was supported by the notable figures such as authors

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and We ...

and

Fay Weldon Fay Weldon CBE, FRSL (born Franklin Birkinshaw; 22 September 1931 – 4 January 2023) was an English author, essayist and playwright. Over the course of her 55-year writing career, she published 31 novels, including ''Puffball'' (1980), '' Th ...

, and film director

Derek Jarman Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman (31 January 1942 – 19 February 1994) was an English artist, film maker, costume designer, stage designer, writer, gardener and gay rights activist. Biography Jarman was born at the Royal Victoria Nursing Home ...

, however The Court dismissed the claim and accepted that the criminal law of blasphemy, as it was applied in England, did not infringe the right to freedom of expression under Article 10. In 1994, Wingrove had also contested the

BBFC The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of fi ...

's refusal to grant a certificate to the films ''

Bare Behind Bars ''Bare Behind Bars'' (released in Brazil as ''A Prisão'') is a 1980 sexploitation film directed and written by Oswaldo de Oliveira., The film, which was intended as a spoof of the common "women in prison" genre, stars Maria Stella Splendore, ...

'', ''Demoniac (aka Exorcism, 1974)'' and ''

Sadomania ''Sadomania – Hölle der Lust'' is a 1981 German-Spanish women in prison film directed by Jesús Franco, starring Ajita Wilson. It was also released as ''Hellhole Women'', ''Prisoners of the Flesh'' and ''Sadomania: The Hell of Passion''. Plot ...

'' at the

Video Appeals Committee The Video Appeals Committee (VAC) is a body set up by the United Kingdom's Video Recordings Act. If a video or video-game distributor's work is rejected by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), preventing it from being legally sold in t ...

, though without success. ''Visions of Ecstasy'' was eventually released uncut in 2012, following the 2008 repeal of the UK's blasphemy laws.

Other work

Designs

Wingrove is also known for his design work, which has a dark erotic style. He has worked on the fetish magazine

Skin Two ''Skin Two'' is a fetish magazine covering aspects of the worldwide fetish subculture. The name is a reference to fetish clothing as a "second skin". History and profile ''Skin Two'' was founded in 1983 by the publisher Tim Woodward and the photo ...

and, from 1992 to 1996, he was involved with the emerging

Black Metal Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, a shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, raw (lo-fi) recording, unconventional song structures, and an emp ...

band Cradle of Filth, who licensed a number of Wingrove's images for use as their artwork on albums and t-shirts including the infamous " Jesus is a Cunt" design. Wingrove went on to art direct three albums for the band, the last being Dusk... and Her Embrace, though a great many of Wingrove's conceived images can be found in the definitive book on the band, " Gospel of Filth" (Fab Press, 2009), written by Gavin Baddeley.

Publications

Wingrove has two books published; "The Art of the Nasty", co-authored with Marc Morris, and "Blood and Dishonour: The Dark, Bloody and Peversely Erotic World of the Satanic Sluts – Satan’s True Sirens". Wingrove has also designed and edited several similarly themed inhouse magazines for Salvation Films, including The Redeemer (1992 - 1995), and the newspaper styled Nihilista (2007-2008) and oversaw the redesign and relaunched of Rule Satannia, a satanic themed magazine linked to the Church of Satan. Wingrove also writes a regular blog, and runs the related quasi arts and politics site "Scum Nation". Wingrove is currently writing his first major reference work, "Strength Through Design – Print Propaganda in the Third Reich" which looks in detail at the magazines and newspapers published by the NSDAP between 1920 and 1945. Art Wingrove is currently working on an exhibition of new images inspired by his book, Strength Through Design – Print Propaganda in the Third Reich.

Filmography

*''Axel'' (1988), a title inspired by a short story by symbolist writer Auguste Villiers de l'Isle-Adam *'' Visions of Ecstasy'' (1989), an interpretation of the writings of Carmelite nun

with a soundtrack by Steven Severin of Siouxsie and the Banshees, and the only film to be banned by the

on the grounds of blasphemy *'' Faustine'' (1990), a short interpretation of Swinburne's poem "Faustine" *''

'' (1999), an independent

Nunsploitation Nunsploitation is a subgenre of exploitation film which had its peak in Europe in the 1970s. These films typically involve Christian nuns living in convents during the Middle Ages. Criteria The main conflict of the story is usually of a religio ...

film. *'' Satanic Sluts: The Black Order Cometh'' (2007), the first in a series of films depicting the online female collective
Satanic Sluts
*'' Satanic Sluts II: The Black Masses'' (2008), a documentary including footage of live performances b
Satanic Sluts
held at Wingrove's alternative night club night, Black Mass *'' Satanic Sluts III: Scandalized'' (2009), the latest in th
Satanic Sluts
series, featuring Georgina Baillie and

Michelle Thorne Michelle Marie Thorne (born 2 August 1975) is an English glamour model, pornographic actress and director. Career Thorne has worked with production companies such as Bluebird Films, Extreme Associates and Union Jaxxx. She also has her own pro ...