Remember when VHS and Beta first came out? The video stores that arrived on the scene were often tiny little rat holes that smelled like pot and body odor. I lived in Dayton at the time, and my video store was literally in some dude's house.
Gradually, they started popping up in strip malls and convenience stores. To someone who liked a good horror flick or sleazy trucker movie, this was manna from heaven. HBO mostly played crap like Somewhere in Time, and never the good stuff - now these movies were at our fingertips. And the best thing of all were the gloriously awful VHS covers.
They were usually torn and ratty as hell from the thousands of sweaty fondling hands. Some were still damp from spilt bongwater. But it didn't matter - like a well loved paperback book, they didn't stay in mint condition for long.
Also, the covers were like those manic over-the-top movie posters from the grindhouse and drive-in days of yore. The racy covers literally beckoned a young man to grab them. If you could bear to face the video clerk with your embarrassingly grotesque and tawdry selection, you were home free! Sure the picture and sound quality were the pits, it was all about the experience, and getting to see something that you never could before.
Of course, if the movies were ever as good as the cover art, I might have gone insane with euphoria. But alas, it seemed that they were inversely proportional - the higher the expectation from the VHS box, the crappier the movie is bound to be.
I could literally spend all day at this gallery of cover art pouring over the hundreds of long forgotten VHS covers. Click on the company name (ex. Magnum Entertainment) and be treated to a vast collection of obscure covers from the past. I implore you to check it out.
What's the worst, most offensive, ridiculously awful VHS cover you ask? The video nasties were so plentiful, that it's almost impossible to choose. If I had to make a choice, I think I'd have to go with this one to top my list for sheer audacity.
There's lists of bad album covers aplenty, yet VHS covers haven't yet reached the LP record in terms of kitsch yet. I'm sure their day will come.
Gradually, they started popping up in strip malls and convenience stores. To someone who liked a good horror flick or sleazy trucker movie, this was manna from heaven. HBO mostly played crap like Somewhere in Time, and never the good stuff - now these movies were at our fingertips. And the best thing of all were the gloriously awful VHS covers.
They were usually torn and ratty as hell from the thousands of sweaty fondling hands. Some were still damp from spilt bongwater. But it didn't matter - like a well loved paperback book, they didn't stay in mint condition for long.Also, the covers were like those manic over-the-top movie posters from the grindhouse and drive-in days of yore. The racy covers literally beckoned a young man to grab them. If you could bear to face the video clerk with your embarrassingly grotesque and tawdry selection, you were home free! Sure the picture and sound quality were the pits, it was all about the experience, and getting to see something that you never could before.
Of course, if the movies were ever as good as the cover art, I might have gone insane with euphoria. But alas, it seemed that they were inversely proportional - the higher the expectation from the VHS box, the crappier the movie is bound to be.I could literally spend all day at this gallery of cover art pouring over the hundreds of long forgotten VHS covers. Click on the company name (ex. Magnum Entertainment) and be treated to a vast collection of obscure covers from the past. I implore you to check it out.
What's the worst, most offensive, ridiculously awful VHS cover you ask? The video nasties were so plentiful, that it's almost impossible to choose. If I had to make a choice, I think I'd have to go with this one to top my list for sheer audacity.
There's lists of bad album covers aplenty, yet VHS covers haven't yet reached the LP record in terms of kitsch yet. I'm sure their day will come.
