Video Shop Tales of Terror

What a treat to see the amazing, fun & clever anthology film Video Shop Tales of Terror on a cinema screen. Shot mostly at The Mercury where we are this weekend, each of the stories are different. This is a love letter to the VHS and video nasty era.

Video shop Tales of Terror had a cracking premier at Horror On Sea and is an indie horror anthology with some solid segments and fun faux trailers. It focuses on the old VHS days and is definitely one to watch with your mates! Kudos to all involved for making this, fun and bonkers anthology happen The Evil Dead segment is just absolute genius & the segments between the films are inspired.

Check it out if you can.

Low budget horror comedy often corny but spirited. Production values dubious enough it often shatters any attempt at serious; hanging onto questionable acting or video filter effects. It's not necessarily intentionally funny but a knowing campy vibe, sometimes 'dont sit on his face' type silly and other times more traditionally earnest. It's a good thing these are short, I almost turned it off after the second story and even relatively better ones dont seem good enough to stand alone. The best part is the fake advertisements and style touches between stories. In an example of bad, one story has a twist that appears the fellow is just wearing an obvious rubber mask. There is an Evil Dead homage though - an example of not offering too much fresh but in a garage made popcorn passion project sort of way. "Because Saint Murnau said so..." Your turn.

Working in a video rental shop, the proprietor of the facility regals patrons with various horror films from the collection available for purchase.

The Good Stor(ies): Egghead-After being deliberately disfigured in a botched surgical procedure, a crazed doctor seeks revenge on the staff of a demented plastic surgeon who had initially wronged him. This was a spectacularly cheesy and enjoyable way to start things off. The short gives this enough of a setup involving the fateful doctor and the means through which he sets out to screw over the patient with a good enough backstory to set this in motion. The resultant rampage is quite fun once the duplicity is discovered and features a fine slew of cheesy effects that plays quite well with the puns being uttered involving the killer. Overall, this is a great way to get things going.

Mary Whitehouse, You're a C***-Staying at home watching movies, a group of friends enjoying a horror film marathon decides to resurrect the infamous video censor which has disastrous results. This was an absolute blast and had a ton of fun stuff involved. The goofy premise that ties together the real-world protagonist with the exploits offers slews of references and a genuine feel for how the mentality would fare in today's world. That also includes a series of fast-paced encounters with a ton of great cheesy gore gags and tons of touches to the film's proper that makes this one of the finest entries in the anthology.

These Burnt Children-Desperate to pay back a producer who screwed him over, a film director finds that the creations from his unrealized projects are urging him to seek revenge with their help. This was a solid and enjoyable segment that has a lot to really like. The main setup here is an incredibly topical one involving the scorned director attempting to find a means of seeking revenge which has a lot to like here with the means through which the spirits contact him to carry it out including their directions during the actual torture. The cheesiness here takes some of the sting out of the serious motivations, but tons of brutal gore help hold this one up.

Vergessen-In the closing days of WW II, a Nazi officer looks over the files from a clandestine operation that featured several recruits brought in to secure blackmail on various members of the community. This was an intriguing way to end things with a bizarre, arthouse take on the exploitative Naziploitation genre. Filled with clever references and a rather unorthodox approach to the whole affair, this is a lot more stylish than would be expected and comes with a lot more class than the subject matter usually warranted. This keeps it quite fun overall as it goes through the motions which is where it might run into some slight problems since it's light on the actual exploitation usually featured here but that's not to discredit the attempt made here that comes across nicely.

The Bad Stor(ies): The Red Lipped Moon-Following a string of murders, a lonely man sets out to find the cause of everything which brings him into contact with a woman harboring a deadly secret. This was a generally fine adaptation that is a bit flawed. The initial idea involving the film-noir aesthetic and setup involving the femme fatale luring the victim into a deadly and destructive spiral makes for a fun time here and it produces some engaging visuals as a result. However, the shorter running time on this one keeps things fairly straightforward and lacking in the kind of shock necessary from the ending reveal that delivers a fantastic gore gag to close out on it, making it the weakest if still fun segment here.

Fleurs du Mal-Living in a 19th Century insane asylum, a doctor seeks to get to the bottom of a patient's strange claims of being a time-traveler trying to return to her home period. This one really could've been stretched out more than what it is as this idea comes across quite well for what it is yet still could've used more time. The initial idea of the investigation into the strange claims is quite intriguing due to not knowing the various clues to what's going on which are plainly obvious to those aware of their meaning. The shortest segment in the entire anthology which means that this one just happens to end without much of anything tying in which is a bit underwhelming but is otherwise a solid idea.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Brief Nudity.

One of the best horror films I've seen in a long time. The style of the segments were unique each with the own way of proving differential memories of nostalgia from its audience.

As somebody raised when video tapes were loosing fashion I've always had an appreciation for these kind of retro movies. Video Shop Tales Of Terror, what with its cheesy pun filled comedy to the use of physical over digital special effects. This is a movie I shall watch again and recommend to others.

Overall I want to finish this review by thanking all the different teams due to this being an anthology movie which in recent times have become more of a limited concept and all parties involved should ultimately be proud of what they've achieved.

Great little anthology film. Shows how good uk indie horror can be. All set around a old video rental store which I remember some being a little grimy but not this bad🤣 as with all anthology films some segments stand out better than others. My personal favourite segment was Mary Whitehouse you're a c#@t which the title alone is aimed at people of a certain age that remember her personal vendetta against our freedom of choice. We also need to mention the spoof trailers especially Tony Mardons don't sit on his face which is absolutely bonkers. All in all a decent watch especially for indie horror fans. Sequels are already in the works which bodes well.