VHS Massacre

I was expecting more detail and comment on the demise of the VHS market but instead it seemed to try and cover too many bases without actually completing any particular aims. Overall it comes across as a student project with way too many handheld camera shots. Apparently the filmmakers began as podcasters. Perhaps they should concentrate on where their strengths lie as their enthusiasm seems better suited to an audio medium rather than visual.

VHS Massacre: Cult Films and the Decline of Physical Media (2015)

*** (out of 4)

This here is a good documentary that tries to do a bit too much but if you remember renting videos back in the 80's and 90's then you'll still want to check it out. The main goal of this documentary is to show what the lack of "mom and pop" video stores means for low- budget horror and cult movies.

If you grew up "back in the day" then you remember how great it was going into video stores where there were a great number of titles on the shelf and more arriving weekly. This documentary does a good job at looking back at this era and then talking about how Blockbuster eventually killed them off. Blockbuster would then be killed off by Netflix and streaming, which takes us to the final aspect of this documentary. With streaming killing off so many small companies, is there a way for low-budget films to survive?

At just 73-minutes there are a few too many topics that tried to be covered here but for the most part this is still an entertaining look at how the home video wars have changed over the decades. The impact on small movies like PSYCHOS IN LOVE is discussed as well as how illegal downloads are making it nearly impossible for filmmakers to make money anymore. Joe Bob Briggs, Lloyd Kaufman, Juliette Danielle, Deborah Reed, James Nguyen and Carmine Capobianco are just a few of the cult names that are interviewed.

Highly insightful and nostalgic look at the VHS era in the 1980s and its eventual decline. Really well made and a must watch for movie fans.

This film plays like an Instagram story. There's no story arc, the exposition is all out of whack, they cover major plot lines by just throwing up titles, and so much of the movie is just dudes talking about how excited they are to interview some no name actor, pointing out all the vhs they buy from stores for cheap, and then filling it out by just getting their friends to talk about vhs. It's an absolute mess! It's also so narrow in scope. VHS culture needs to be explored and documented, but these filmmakers are not up to scratch.

What did the death of VHS movies and video game rentals mean to the low-budget, independent filmmaker? A lot, surprisingly. "Mom and pop" video stores around the country, neighborhood institutions for decades, began shutting their doors in the 2000s, taking a hit from Blockbuster, which took a hit from competitor Hollywood Video, which took their hits from the internet, Netflix and "free" downloading and streaming (i.e., piracy). What goes around comes around: VHS killed Beta because it was less expensive, consumers preferred quantity over quality, and adult movies were exclusive to the VHS format. But, as Carmine Capobianco, co-owner of Funstuff Video, says, "The sell-through (the ratio of the quantity of goods sold by a retail outlet to the quantity distributed to it wholesale) dropped the value of the VHS. Walmart killed the video business. Netflix killed the video business. Computers killed the video business." But how many of us are mourning the loss of our VCRs? I can name several favorite titles of mine that never made that journey from VHS to DVD (which, along with Blu-ray, is also slowing in sales). I can also name many instances where the VHS cover-art was superior to that of comparable DVDs. Are VHS tapes collectible like vinyl records? I never thought so. I don't like the picture quality of VHS, I always hated the occasional tracking issues, and they take up too much valuable space. But the fans, movie makers, actors, distributors and radio personalities brought together in this entertaining documentary obviously feel different, as they reflect on the home-viewing market of the '80s with pride, discussing how independent filmmakers flourished during that time having various outlets for their products. For filmmakers today, starting out small and hoping to build a following, there is no money to be made from streaming. Depressing, yes, but...the VHS may make a comeback yet! And if the industry rallies, watch out "Toxic Avenger"! I'll be the first to buy a brand-new VCR, one with a remote to adjust the tracking from my living room sofa. **1/2 from ****