VHS Memories

[marsattacks666]

I remember the first film I rented, Dawn of the Dead. After that I just started working my way through the horror rentals from A-Z. Stands from way back then were Dr. Butcher MD, Blood Feast, Blood Sucking Freaks, Color Me Blood Red, A Clockwork Orange, etc,.

All great flicks, especially on VHS.

[Steinerfrank]

I had some really great and some very dorky--do folks still use or even understand the word "dorky"?--titles, many of the good ones mentioned here and/or available in the latest formats.

But recently I've noted missing how "special" it seemed to hold an actual movie in your hands, to own a copy on VHS in that hard plastic, bulky case or colorfully illustrated box! And though it would definitely piss me off to no end when the last viewer didn't rewind it after they finished with it (I look at my younger brother with daggers in my eyes), it was really something in those days to gather round the warm (literally "warm" and often hot) glow of the square 4:3 Sylvania and watch one (the click, clop sound of the VCR swallowing the case, and whir of the tape as it sped over the heads...ah!). It's just not the same with video streaming and OnDemand today.

I do enjoy the technological advances, the better picture and sound, etc., but it's not the same, I repeat, especially when what used to line my walls as part of my collection is now reduced to some invisible cloud on Amazon, Flixter, or my cable tv service (do I really own anything I can't see or can't always play due to a distributor's "black out"?). The DVD/Blu-ray phase did not seem to last that long, nor for me did collecting them ever have the same appeal (likely because it is so difficult to unwrap them).

I weep for my copies of "Gorilla at Large" in a 3D format that actually never worked, and a copy of InfraMan (with real "INFRASOUND")....okay, not the best flicks, and the gimmick stuff never worked like the hype promised, but like products no longer exist today in our push-button virtual world of reality.

And my VHS tapes I still hide away in the closet or the damp of the basement? Alas, their images slowly fade away with each rotation around the sun (which I could have done something about if someone had not broken my VHS transfer equipment (again, daggers from my younger brother).

[dlhenderson]

I just ran across this in my storage area. I never even owned a Beta machine and can't recall where I got this. A bit tattered but pretty COOL.

[horrorhunter]

This is certainly not my best VHS memory, but the one that really stands out for me is when I burned over 300 tapes to DVD a few years ago and lost a crapload of good video due to the degradation of the tapes over time. Thank the fates for DVD.

[Count_Zirock]

I used to try to support the local indie video stores as opposed to the big-box places, until I got a copy of "Batman" (1989) with a glitch on it. I exchanged it-- and got another copy with the exact same glitch. And another. And another! They'd gotten an entire case with that same glitch! They finally gave me a refund, and I bought a copy at Woolworth's, for $5 less. No glitch! From that day forward, I just bought tapes at wherever they were cheapest.

[missdead13]

I just ran across this in my storage area. I never even owned a Beta machine and can't recall where I got this. A bit tattered but pretty COOL.

what a strange coincidence..
i have this same one in one of MY storage areas as well... along with about 500 others.. geez. i really need to buy a warehouse or something. .
or a church. somewhere big enough to display all my cool stuff and enjoy it, instead of just " visiting it' in storage... its like its in prison or something
and i only get to do weekly/monthly visits.. lmao .. its ridiculous. seriously !!!!

[Sly Wolf]

Damn, all of you made me feel TOO young for this thread! I was born in early 90's and I still remember watching 90's Ninja Turtles, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and Star Wars I as a kid.

My parents are the ones that own that VHS player in first place until they pass it on to me when they got DVD player.

I still buy VHS tapes to this day because how cheap they are now, and they still works.

[dlhenderson]

what a strange coincidence..
i have this same one in one of MY storage areas as well... along with about 500 others.. geez. i really need to buy a warehouse or something. .
or a church. somewhere big enough to display all my cool stuff and enjoy it, instead of just " visiting it' in storage... its like its in prison or something
and i only get to do weekly/monthly visits.. lmao .. its ridiculous. seriously !!!!

I totally hear 'ya, misdead. My art / collecting activity is sequestered in a little room that used to be a front porch (house built in 1939). Really wish I had more room.

[dlhenderson]

My acquisitions of pre-recorded material didn't really ramp up until the laserdisc format hit its stride in the early 90s. One thing I did get excited about in the VHS days was the release of uncut TV shows. Like these. 

[Rich]

I used to try to support the local indie video stores as opposed to the big-box places, until I got a copy of "Batman" (1989) with a glitch on it. I exchanged it-- and got another copy with the exact same glitch. And another. And another! They'd gotten an entire case with that same glitch! They finally gave me a refund, and I bought a copy at Woolworth's, for $5 less. No glitch! From that day forward, I just bought tapes at wherever they were cheapest.

That is funny because the exact same thing happened to me with the original Friday the 13th on DVD at Blockbuster. So that shows that any store is capable of receiving a bad batch of merchandise. It happens. However I being a product of a town that used to have a mom and pop video store on every block would support the mom and pop over 500 LB guarilla any day. It's so sad to see what Walmart and Netflix has done to the video store.

[neonnoodle]

You mean to say, that I put my money...into a 500 Pound GARILLA?

[Rich]

I'm affraid we all do sometimes. Sometimes it is unavoidable.

[Scatter]

You mean to say, that I put my money...into a 500 Pound GARILLA?

Yes. But that's not half as disturbing as knowing you put it in rectally.

[The Invisible Fan]

Old technology had some advantages. Remember when it was easy to skip those FBI warning.

IF

[Caveman]

The first movie I ever saw on VHS was The Time Machine. Rather appropriate for an invention which, at the time, allowed us to visit the past.

I still use my VCR every day...as a clock.