Video Violence

A couple movies to a strange little town and open up their own video rental. It seems like the whole town only wants to rent horror movies.

The residents of this strange small community always seem to replace the rental tapes with their own homemade snuff films.

It seems the whole town is in on this trend.

I can't say that this is a good film. However having been born in the 1980s I like to see all the old VHS boxes and remember the good old days of going to the video store and browsing numerous titles. Something that was lost in the DVD age and one of the things that lead to the downfall of the video rental.

Video Violence (1987)

** (out of 4)

Shot on video film has a couple from NYC arriving in a small town where they open a video store. They are shocked to see that everyone is renting horror movies but one day a returned video turns out not to be theirs. They decide to take a look at the returned video and it appears to be a snuff film. The local police don't seem to interesting as more and more people go missing and turning up on these videos. I must say that I was floored at how good this film was. No, it's not an Oscar-worthy film but for its low budget it's still mighty impressive. I've seen countless shot on video or direct to video movies and most of them just try to cash in on the genre by offering up some nudity and gore. We get that here but we also get a very interesting story that makes for a rather entertaining film. The biggest flaws are the rather slow pacing and the 97-minute running time but for the most part I was entertained. What also helps this film is a nostalgia thing because we get to revisit those Mom and Pop stores where all sorts of horror films, like this one, would turn up week after week. Many of these haven't made it to DVD and probably never will but they will always have a place in the hearts of those who rented such movies back then. It's nice seeing all the old horror posters on the wall as well as seeing the actual video cases to several films including a nice joke about the "chainsaw movie" Pieces. The film is very smart at who is going to be watching a movie like this and even makes a few jabs at itself about the low budget and being shot on video. The whole idea of a town loving horror films and deciding to make their own is a great idea and I'm really shocked no one has tried remaking this. The film really does have the feeling of a Herschell Gordon Lewis movie and that's a good thing as long as you know what to expect.

Yes, this movie is _very_ low budget, and probably was filmed with a regular video camera, the movie was great. Very bloody and senseless killing was the plot, but the characters with no personality made you laugh when you saw them act. Seems like someone wanted to make a movie and used their friends and relatives.

I was the manager of a video store at the time when a traveling distributor asked to me buy this movie. He described the plot and since I have had so many different tapes accidentally switched when they dropped them off, I thought it would be a great reality check. I bought it for the store, it rented maybe 10 times, and then I pulled it and kept it for myself. Truly a cult classic. Could it happen in your store?? Keep an eye on that nightdrop!!

Steve and Rachel move from New York to a small town.Steve runs a movie rental store and noticed the people in the town are obsessed with violent slasher flicks.One day someone accidentally returns a video of a real life murder.Can it be real or is someone just playing a joke on the towns new residents.They will soon find out and the blood will be shed.It seems that the entire town is involved with psychotic serial killers Howard and Eli in a craven conspiracy to create and distribute their own snuff films.When I was a kid I loved renting tons of gory horror from various rental palaces.Horror is still my life and I'm damn proud of it."Video Violence" is loaded with cheesy gore,crappy acting and nudity.It brings sweet memories of my gore-soaked childhood.6 out of 10.

One of the 30 movies i saw that are a truly horror mastepiece. this movie -at least- in Argentina is very difficult to see or rent. It was film in video and i think when the whole "video" mania was just starting. This is an excellent example of making a great film with very little money. I think it is an example for every filmaker.