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VHS is the way to watch Horror

I just bought the Special Edition of The House of the Devil with he Bonus VHS included. Even though Blu-Ray is my main buyer as of now some times I love to pick out one of my older VHS horror movies (some I own are: Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, etc) and watch them on the VCR.

I especially love this in the middle of the night with a couple of friends while having a couple of drinks. Certainly is a funner way to watch horror movies especially ones that originally came out on the format. I don't know what it is maybe its the lower quality audio and video or maybe it's just the feeling I don't know.

Also doing this reminds me of my favorite movie, Scream where they are all watching Halloween at a party.

Anyone else feel this way?

There is definitely something very nostalgic about watching older horror films on VHS. After all, that's all there was for me when I was young. When I first saw many of my favorites, I saw them on VHS. So yeah, I have kept a few choice tapes and do watch them from time to time. Definitely a good time.

Hell yea i want some cheesy poofs.

VHS are awesome especially when you find movies that aren't on dvd yet or are hard to come by like my copies of The Prey and Seedpeople. I just bought The Adominable Dr. Phibes for $2.

You can't beat the low prices the VHS tapes are selling for these days.

You just gotta get your hands on them before they are completely gone

Like records, the packaging is more cool

Good post, booman needs to do a blog about this topic on the front page. I am with you guys. I think VHS will actually become really popular in the future as people urn for the nostalgic days. I for one agree that watching TCM or a film like that on VHS is where its at. I bet horror will be the genre that holds onto it the most.

Look at old nintendo games. Who in there right mind would think people would play those today with the lifelike graphics but we do and some sell for crazy amounts.

MORE VHS IS A GOOD THING! And the house of the devil was cool to release a new vhs like that. hopefully more companies will do the same.

agreed, VHS is a lot more fun..the grittyness makes me feel like a kid again haha

yeah I have to agree here. I think VHS may be the way to watch old school horror. wow, i learned something today. now to make more room.

I love the grainy style of VHS and still love getting alot of old horror on vhs especially some for the art work and the fact they are not on dvd or blu-ray. It was what I grew up on and will hopefully enjoy them for as long as my vcr holds up.

I'd like to write that blog if you don't mind...I am also in full agreement.

I just had a talk about this last night with a few friends. We are all old school guys and yearn for that magic that seems to have been lost these days. The special packaging for House of the Devil was very cool. As far as there being a VHS come back? It won't happen on any kind of large scale because no one stands to make any money from it. VHS and laser disc fans for the matter are like vinyl collectors, they'll hold on to their tape players and seek out vhs goodies but we can't expect a move that would be taking several steps and decades back technologically speaking.

I still luv my VHS tapes.

I am a pack rack so I never throw anything away.

On some weekends my friends and I will pop in an old tape.

There is something about having to fast forward and rewind that makes watching so rewarding.~XOXO Sara

Even though I agree......... I cant help the fact that this kinda reminds me of the conversation my dad and some of his friends were having a while back about how CDs and MPfiles just dont capture the magice of an 8-track playerGuys, its official .... were getting oldHowever

being older mply means that NC-17 movies are eaer to go see, and Beer is socialy acceptableMy son asked my one the other day what it was like being a grown up, I told him when I was a kid I use to hang out around the local gas station trying to get adults to buy me beer ... well son, now IM that guy LV28 Human

I'll be honest....I HATED having to ff/rw to see my favourite scenes and after a few months the tape would be fucked. I like the dvd....from being able to skip chapters, to all the extras. As long as the transfer is honest and not tweaked then the original look of the film should be the same, ie LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. I LOVE...LOVE...LOVE the look of 70's/80's film, I just got annoyed with VHS after a while. What I liked best about VHS was the huge clam shell boxes and the art.

As far as the grain and that "look" we love, it comes from the film stock of the 70's and early 80's

(for example watch films like THE FRENCH CONNECTION or THE SEVEN UPS...they were 35mm but look like what most of us identify as 16mm). Prints were also used, abused and sat around so when a transfer was done for mass production sometimes the quality was less than stellar. Thats where the grainy aspect and pops come into play. Films shot in 16mm today do not have that same quality of yesteryear.

All this being said, anyone notice that VHS horror is getting harder to attain? seems ebay is the way to go because most vendors at horror cons don't seem to sell them anymore. The last VHS film I got was at CHILLER about 8 years ago....it was the epic alien gore fest ALIEN PREY (aka PREY). The cover was ck!

OK... This thread kicks fucking ass!!! I think I just might have most of you fellas topped on this topic... I love the VHS era so much that I NEVER got rid of ANY of my tapes. lmao... Instead I bought a DVD Recorder, Blank dvds, Cases and a printer with ink... lmao... I went through and did probably 2-3 tapes per night for about a month or better... Why in the hell would I want to go and re pay for the same movie I bought years before? The point of buying a movie is to have it forever and so you don't have to buy another... So that is what I did this way my stuff would NEVER were out and I could still have the vhs quality when my tapes wear out... I like that Hisng, Crackley, Occaonal Flicker that some of those older vhs tapes put out over the years... Don't get me wrong, I Love HIGH quality as well, but sometimes I prefer to spend my evening with that unforgettable sounding hiss! I've been buying up a TON of rare Big Box Horror for some time just because I remember seeing the titles in my local movie rental before it closed down. As a kid I can remember walking into this BIG place that was like a log cabin and it carried that old antique smell to it. It had dark red carpet on the floor, Stuffed and mounted animals along the walls above the movies on shelves. When you first walked in the door, directly above the door was a mounted Mountain Lion with his teeth showing. This place was the place to be on a friday night after school. It had a few Cardboard cutouts back by the horror section which was in a darker lit area and all by itself towards the back corner section of this place. My buddy used to work there and he would ALWAYS be watching the same movie when I'd go out there... And that movie was Monster Squad... This place was just unbelieveable!!! It was like magic... Call me crazy, but that was my childhood movie place when I never had the movie collection that I have today...

Anyway as far as what I own to insure that I'll ALWAYS be able to watch vhs no matter what I bought 4 VCRS and 2 VCR Head Cleaner Tapes...

And just for shits and giggles, here is a few photos of my Rare vhs collection... Not all my tapes, but most...







--Ryan

DUDEFUCKING AWESOME VHS COLLECTION BROThat takes me back lol, heres to you dude

Nice collection bro! God, I love that cover art!!!!!

Very nice vhs collection. I wish i still had all my old ones.

It's been awhile you shared your insane collection Ryan

It's been awhile you shared your insane collection Ryan

I might take some updated collection pics and post them up later on tonight.

Thanks for the kind words everyone!!!

Heres is my entire movie collection about a year or so ago... I was putting them in order to go back on my shelves and figured I'd snap one while they were all on my bed... lol



I'm sure it's grown up some nce this photo, but you get the idea...

Thanks Again Guys!!!

--Ryan

Damn son! That is the stuff right there!

Harry Warden can I come over to your house?



I would LUV to watch some of those old vhs tapes. Your collection is amazing.

~XOXO Sara

I completely agree with the comments about the nostalgia and the box art. Nothing will ever beat that feeling of popping in a vhs and have to fix the tracking...popping some popcorn and waiting for it to start while reading the cover box. BUT......try having a vhs collection of around 500-600 tapes and have to move more than once......You will no longer be as big of a fan as you originally were. When we moved this past December, I spent almost 2 weeks off and on trying to get a decent list of all of them to put up on the messageboards to get rid of. At the end of that second week, I threw them all away. I am more than happy with dvd and bluray. Bedes, I went through all of my old vhs and made dvd back ups of them years ago....

take care, Tommy

At the end of that second week, I threw them all away.



When I upgraded my collection, I just gave mine away to people who either hadn't seen them or didn't already have them. Of course, like I said, I kept the few that meant the most.

This topic has turned officially

right?

VHS 4 LIFE! Oh and BIDITES 4 LIFE!

Good topic. I wonder if we'll see VHS tapes sky rocket in value one day. Some of the really cool old ones?

I'll be honest I haven't watched a VHS in awhile but I may just have to pop one in.

Well to be honest with you we are in the middle of that point right now. I've paid NO LESS then 30 bucks a pop for the Older 80's Tales from the Darkde volumes and they are VERY hard to find... I believe there is only 7 volumes containing 3 episodes per volume. I own Volumes 1,2,3,4,6 and 7... I am misng the 5th volume... Then they released a newer set in the early 90's. There are 6 volumes total and those contain 5 episodes per volume. Those tapes usually sell cheap. But the older ones like I said are pretty pricey.

On another note most of these titles listed below are pretty pricey as well:

Up From The Depths Pieces Body Shop - If you can find it...

The Mutilator Unrated lent Night Deadly Night Big Box Piranha - The Remake The Godsend Nightmare On Elm Street 2 Tape Special Edition Exorcism - If you can find a copy...

Buried Alive - With Tim Mathison Slumber Party Massacre "Trilogy"

And there are many others when it comes down to Big Box and or just certain ones...

So I believe that day in age where our old tapes are going to go up in value is already among us... Stands the reason I am collecting them more so now then before because not only do I like them, but I also like it when I see a copy of something that I already own sore up to 70 bucks in value when I knew I got it at at least half the cost...

--Ryan

I really enjoyed writing that for you guys. I kinda developed a bug for it now. Hope to write more in the future.

I really enjoyed writing that for you guys. I kinda developed a bug for it now. Hope to write more in the future.

really good article!

hope to read more from u in the future.

I really enjoyed writing that for you guys. I kinda developed a bug for it now. Hope to write more in the future.

really good article!

hope to read more from u in the future. Agreed!

i still have loads of vhas tapes with the evil dead special edition posbly being my favorite just because the lver and purple case and artwork kick ass

alas i no longer have a vcr to watch them on anymore

however in that sense im glad i no longer have a vcr because a couple of them (halloween, dracula the prince of darkness and jaws being a couple) are probably close to death from being played too much

i dont get really nostalgic over the vhs era, yes it was fun and exciting when you finally had the ability to watch movies at home uncut and with no commercials and the quality is kinda cool because on some movies it gives you the grindhouse feel from being played so much, but i mply like dvds better.

one reason i like dvds better is that during the vhs era there were lots of movies that were never released because it was too risky for anyone to put them out because there might only be a few thousand hardcore fans that would buy a particular movie and the cost to produce a tape was very high (remember when vhs tapes cost around 60 to 100 bucks to purchase?)

dvds gave many companies the ability to release sought after movies on the cheap and we as fans won out

there will come a day when movies will probably become downloads only and i will not be down with that for the mple fact that i like to have a hard copy with artwork in my hand

muc is already well on its way down that road, nobody uses cd players anymore, you download or buy a cd and rip it into an mp3 then use an fm transmiter to play mp3s in the car

now when it comes to muc i still have LOADS of cassettes and vinyl records, cassettes i dont like so much but records i love so much more than digital muc

so what am i getting at?

im not sure

everyone has opinions and thats great, watch your favorite movies and listen to muc on your favorite format

for me ill take vinyl records and dvds

I'd love to have a few days just to burn alot of the vhs to dvd. I used to do that alot as I hated to worry about my vhs getting ruined from so much play. I have had such a hard time finding alot of the old vhs or for that matter dvds copies that I'd be happy with the transfers at this point.

Thanks for the feedback, always anxious to hear what you guys have to say about horror. Any ideas on what you'd like to read about, shoot 'em my way. (just make sure you miss my head)

Justin, I'll be writing another blog soon about a few things that are on my mind. I'll send it when it's ready.

I really enjoyed writing that for you guys. I kinda developed a bug for it now. Hope to write more in the future.

Cool idea and good read Lee. Hope to see more from you in the future!

You know, its great that DVD allowed so many comapnies to put things out ..... but there is still so much shit that ISNT out. I still have my VHS of

Mr. Frost becouse it has never been released on DVD. Same goes for a lot of the really obscure and great Indie Horror of the 70s.

Damn, now THERE is a DVD collection I would give a kidney for

You know, its great that DVD allowed so many comapnies to put things out ..... but there is still so much shit that ISNT out. I still have my VHS of

Mr. Frost becouse it has never been released on DVD. Same goes for a lot of the really obscure and great Indie Horror of the 70s.

Damn, now THERE is a DVD collection I would give a kidney for Well Kidneys are hard to come by these days... I may need one sometime in the future. Tell yeh what... Send me your Kidney and I'll send you my dvd collection... LMAOI am Joking! I'm sure you know this, but the last thing I want to do is find a Kidney in my mail box... --Ryan

send me your liver at the rate i drink im gonna need it, then you can have all my dvds and vhs

You better stop Randy your making her mad... LIVVVVVERRRRR ALLLONNNNNNEEEE!!! --Ryan