The greatness of VHS

Growing up in the 80's was, looking back, a really incredible time. I could talk endlessly about the toys, such as G.I. Joe, Transformers, He-Man, Thundercats, Go-Bots (we mustn't forget the knock-offs, and the knock-offs of knock offs, such as the Rock Lords)...and those are just some of the more well-known. Perhaps we'll get to Silverhawks another day. Actually I'll probably do blog posts about all these toys at some point in the future. Just the idea that you'd be GOING to Child World would send one into a passionate delirium. (Or Toys "R" Us, which in my case was in a different town, but as I recall, had a better selection of NES games, not that I had that many back then. I guess that makes it a rarer, and thus more precious treat, right?)

But, saving toys for another day, there was another exciting place that was colorful and fun and exciting to go to in the Eighties. That, of course, is the video store. To see all those bright, colorful boxes next to each other on the shelves, each inviting you to explore what may or may not be worth your (or your parents') money. That was all part of the fun. It was a gamble. When video stores hit their stride in the 80's, before the age of soulless Blockbusters and Hollywoods came and destroyed them, Mom and Pop video stores appeared. Demand to fill shelves was paramount. So videos of wildly varying quality appeared on a dizzying variety of video labels, both good and bad. CT's own Vestron, Lightning, Gorgon, Mogul, King of Video, and of course, the mighty Media label, among many, many others, ruled the video roost. Their wares were EXCITING. In the age before the internet, no one really knew what these movies were or where they came from. This blend of excitement, lurid box cover art, unknown quantities, the gamble of good and bad, gory or not, all put together in one place for your browsing enjoyment was INTOXICATING. But that's all gone now.

Big-box, clamshell, standard slip case -- they came in many forms. Interestingly, at the end of VHS, the only two people still using big-boxes were porn movies and children's movies...something to think about. Perhaps one causes the other? (Speaking of porn, they led the way with the VHS revolution. The major studios felt it was stupid and a money loser. It wasn't until VCX and others started releasing movies successfully on VHS that the majors caught on and followed THEIR lead. I bet you didn't know that. The VHS revolution, which changed the world, is largely because of them. So from now on, I know a technological innovation is valid if the porn industry is behind it.)

There is a great website - critcononline.com -- which talks about this in much greater detail, but basically he says VHS is only going to go up in value -- if not monetary value, sentimental value. The following is a random selection of some lesser-known titles.



This is a typical example of a video on the great, and highly collectible Paragon label. They always had a ton of their trailers before the movie, and a recognizable graphic of the Paragon logo floating through space at the beginning. I absolutely love ARTWORK on video boxes. Today, it's all boring photographic close-ups of the stars' faces. Back in "the day", there was a skilful artistic dimension to marketing the movies. This one is great because not only is it a Paragon, but the artwork is amusing and reminiscent of one of my other great loves, Garbage Pail Kids. Another note: The movie, as I remember it, is fairly mediocre, and Lee Van Cleef never spins his arms around in a circle killing people. But wouldn't that be the best movie ever? What COULD live up to that promise?



Chock full of funny and memorable lines, Elves features Dan Haggerty at his best.



Now on DVD, the puzzlingly, yet oddly poetically titled "Neon Maniacs". The title and box, as was often the case, is better than the film.



Also known as NeCRAPolis, this terrible outing has tantalizing box art as well.



It's strange what happened to Beta. In the 80's, the trend was for things to go smaller. Beta supposedly had higher resolution, and was smaller in size, yet it bit the dust. I think it was a corporate thing though, not a consumer decision.




The end of the trend: Artwork ceased, towards the end of the 80's and into the 90's, and photos of 1. Guys in funny windbreakers on snowboards 2. Guys lifting their legs comically and 3. Joe Buff, replaced paintings. Now look at society. Do you like where it has gone from there?

Yes, I know I could have picked much better examples of VHS boxes and films, and perhaps I will in the future, but this is just to show that even THESE films are worthy of mention in this context. And we haven't even scratched the surface. Sure, I love the DVD format a lot...perhaps too much. But, how quickly we forget. We should always remember the greatness of VHS.