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VHS is the new vinyl

By MICHAEL NEEL | January 26, 2011

That's a chilling thought.

As I wrote those words, my mind turned to my own VHS films. I stopped typing, walked to my living room, and gazed at my videocassettes. I felt like I was seeing them again for the first time in years. I remembered digging through bargain bins to find my used copy of Videodrome and calling rental stores all over greater Boston to track down Tetsuo: The Iron Man. I thought about all the great B-movies I had discovered on the rental shelves.

A cracked, brittle VHS case caught my eye. I leaned closer and wiped off the dust. It was a copy of Return of the Living Dead from Movies on Video, my favorite video store as a child. It closed its doors about a decade ago, I think - it's been so long that I can't really remember. I gently opened the case and put the video in my VCR. The sound is muddy, the colors are muted, and the picture is fuzzy. But it might be the best movie I own.

Michael Neel is the co-creator of anthology-horror-filmDrive-In Horrorshow and animated web seriesInfinite Santa 8000. He can be reached atmike@grimfilms.com.

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