Rewind This!

Rewind This! (2013)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Extremely entertaining documentary takes a look at the VHS boom of the 1980s and how VCRs and video stores really changed how movies were made and especially how they were marketed. REWIND THIS! has already become a favorite among horror fans and it's easy to see why. If you grew up in the 80s then you obviously remember walking those video store shelves looking for new and strange movies. Many of these have never been released since their VHS days and this documentary touches upon that subject but also the creation of VCRs, the way the major studios didn't believe in the format and of course we get into things like the important of artwork and nudity. The film works for those who remember those video store days but it also works because even if you're young and don't remember those days then the film manages to be a great educator. We get some wonderful commercials of the early days of VCRs as well as the "hot" item of remote controls. Even better is that we're given all sorts of great interviews with the likes of Charles Band, Frank Henenlotter, David Gregory, Don May, Jr., Roy Frumkes, Lloyd Kaufman, Cassandra Peterson and Something Weird Video's Mike Vraney who talks about how he started off as a bootlegger and how this started his career. The art of bootlegs are also discussed including those wonderful ads in various horror magazines. REWIND THIS! is really a wonderful throwback to the days where the video box was every bit as important as the movie itself. Fans of the 80s horror and exploitation pictures are really going to have a good time here.

A documentary about VHS tapes is a must. Our generation lived that moment, and we know what we are talking about. My dad had a two piece set VCR, and a fantastic remote controller...with a cable!! I still remember the tracking system and some other features from those happy days. It is a bad, fragile format but it had something, and in a way we miss it somehow. Relive the moment and learn a couple of things about the good old format we grew up with.

The testimony of some distributors, filmmakers and VHS freaks will bring us back to that universe, the format that ruled the last stage of 20th century. We will find out why VHS was the victor in that format battle against BETAMAX, what it meant to some filmmakers and much more.

I confess I expected a nostalgic journey alongside some VHS geeks, but it turned out to be more than that. VHS, just like vinyl in civilized countries (Spain not one of them) is still alive and kicking, and in these days of fleeting formats, is nice to remember how a format popped up, established itself in the market and became the standard for so long. So buckle up, enjoy the ride and recall those days of white noise, crappy image and b-movies. Call it nostalgia, vintage or whatever, but remember to be kind and rewind!

I've always had a fondness for home media, the variety of formats that once existed, the obscure oddities one can find on VHS, and venturing through video stores and flea markets to make new discoveries. Because of this, I'm part of the obvious audience for Rewind This!, a delightful homage to the brilliant and once-ubiquitous home media that was VHS, and how its impact on the movie industry and the public is still prevalent today.

Here's a film that will leave the devoted fans of VHS (like me) just wanting more. For the reason that I'm a huge supporter of the VHS-resurgence movement and continue to buy and collect the media, I'm going to try to make this review not sound like simple- minded fandom constructed into an essay. The film makes a bold attempt at trying to tackle everything VHS, from its meteoric rise, its unfathomable effect on the film industry as a whole, its fan, and its differences from its contemporaries. The documentary allows several people to make statements, some directors, some preservationists, some distributors (including the late Mike Vraney of Something Weird Video) but many the fans and supporters of the medium who rekindle their love for its simplicity and its immensity.

VHS, to me, is such a unique way to watch film, mainly because of the primitiveness and sensitiveness of the device. With tape, there were many more issues that could arouse, with the worse case scenario it getting stuck in your player. But then there are the imperfections of the picture, such as the glitches, the occasional sloppiness of its appearance, the degradation of the tape when certain scenes are played too much, etc. Then there is the box art, which is a work of art in itself. A section of the film devotes itself to showing how unique and inventive the artwork to the VHS covers were, with them often being handpainted and meticulously put together rather than the depressing, effortless, digitized movie-covers/posters we're so used to today.

Furthermore, the film shows how daring and unique home video really was at the time of its inception. Had it not been for an optimistic soul like Andre Ray, who worked for a video engineering company in the seventies, perhaps home video wouldn't have come around so quickly. Ray, who helped manufacturer videotapes at the time, wondered if you could put a full length movie on a certain size tape. When he discovered it was possible, he contacted several movie studios, hoping to get them to buy into the idea of consumers having their films to cherish and watch at their leisure. Few bought in, but one of them happened to be Fox (pre-Star Wars fame), who allowed them to put several of their classic titles on tape at roughly $80 - $90 a pop.

Ray didn't even foresee the explosion of the rental industry, which simply came along because numerous people wanted a try-it-before-you-buy-it kind of system, simplifying the process of discovering a film for consumers even more. Oddly enough, that became the defining industry set forth by the home video boom. Nobody could foresee the industry taking off let the industry where people wander around a store swarmed with movies picking out whichever ones they wanted for a Friday night viewing.

The film does a good job at articulating a question I had for a while and that is why were so many film distribution companies around during the inception of VHS that have since went on to disappear or go defunct in recent times. This is because of experimentation. When rental stores started popping up, they needed films to line their shelves. And thus, numerous distributors began popping up, inquiring quirky, often weird, experimental slashers or just asinine little gems to produce and help keep stores lined with inventory. Eventually, the studios took over and it became the big five or six companies calling all the shots.

One subject that could've been explored much more in depth was the idea of cheap VHS bootlegging, which was done through magazine, handmade flyers, and communication via mail. People would make list of films they had that were either banned, rare, or out of print and would transfer them to blank tapes then smuggle them through the mail. However, due to some strict federal regulations, often times people would tape part of a TV show to play before the actual film to fool potential inspectors. Vraney talks about his experience as a bootlegger, as well as several others, but the revealing and now extinct process is a bit shortchanged and given maybe three to four minutes of attention.

Rewind This! beautifully articulates obsession, impact, and legacy, and never drags or becomes boring, mainly because its subjects have so much insight and observations to offer. It's a must see for the obvious fans of the medium, but due to its commentary on an industry most all of us indulge in, it should almost be mandatory viewing.

Directed by: Josh Johnson.

'Rewind This!' is not just a bunch of 30-40 something white males waxing nostalgic--though there's certainly some of that--it's a surprisingly thoughtful and enlightening look at the history of the format, its many quirks and the people who are caretakers of a very unglamorous bit of cultural preservation.

Even if you've never owned a VCR or watched a movie on video tape I believe that you'll find some genuine value in this bit of pop cultural archeology.

Oh, and I fully understand the irony of the fact that I watched this on DVD.

Rewind This was well-received in its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, TX. The film was particularly welcomed, because the filmmakers and many of the interviewees and video stores were local products. It is an extremely entertaining film that takes the audience through the history of how the VHS tape really transformed society. The clips of old VHS films are incredibly entertaining. There are many funny observations and stories about this world that seems to be fast disappearing. Thematically, the film shows us how the ability to watch movies on our own schedules in our own homes transformed the relationship of individuals to the entertainment world. For the first time, anyone could watch almost any movie in the comfort of their own home. We forget the social implications today of bringing movies (and, yes, porn) from the theater into the home. The film also explores the world of the nostalgic collectors who maintain large collections of VHS films that haven't been re-released on DVD and blu-ray. (They seem particularly obsessed with low grade horror movies.) There is a heavy element of nostalgia as they defend their beloved medium and its virtues. The film might seem strange to the younger generation, but it brings back a lot of memories for those of us who grew up during the VHS revolution.