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Stuck On VHS: The Book Your Nostalgic Heart Needs

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When I was growing up, there was so much more to visiting our local mom & pop video store beyond renting movies. Those cavernous repositories of cinematic wonders were often chock full of sensory stimulators. In a matter of moments, one might hear the clinking of quarters being dropped into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game in the corner or smell the freshly popped popcorn which sat next to the counter by the register in an old-fashioned kettle popcorn trolley.

There was also the signage. Each aisle would have a unique, handwritten sign for the various film genres in it: the comedy aisle would usually have a drawing of those chattering teeth—you know, those novelty toy teeth that you could wind up and annoy your friends with–and you could almost always count on the horror section having the word “H-O-R-R-O-R” written alongside drawings of skeletons, Jack-o-lanterns, and vampires. Blood dripping off the lettering was a plus.

 

And then there were the stickers. Lots and lots of stickers.

By stickers, I’m not talking about the kind you might have traded with your kiddie friends at summer camp. No, I’m talking about movie store stickers—the kind that littered video stores and the myriad tapes they rented and sold to media hungry customers, like the author of this article. Video store stickers, like the ones warning you to rewind your tape (or else!) and those highlighting a particular tape that might be too scary for people under 18 years of age, were integral parts of the video rental ecosystem.

Stickers applied to the VHS box art (or the tape itself) was also a way for that establishment to mark its inventory. These stickers were important for communicating all kinds of information to the renter or seller and served as another colorful way of curating movie collections. Peanut butter is to jelly what stickers are to VHS tapes.

Which brings me to Stuck On VHS: A Visual History of Video Store Stickers, a glorious new book by Josh Schafer, VHS enthusiast, collector, and advocate, and designer, Jacky Lawrence. Through Josh’s LunchmeatVHS brand, he’s been an important fixture in the larger VHS community for years, so, it can hardly be a surprise that he channeled his passion into a book that is less an oral history of VHS as it is a historical touchstone documenting VHS ephemera.

These VHS stickers are tiny portals into a bygone era. But this book isn’t just quirk for quirks sake. Rather, Stuck On VHS is an important, visual time capsule that seeks to remind (or educate for first-timers) readers that ephemera from the golden years of VHS is important and can tell us a lot about those communities. These stickers—each one of them—has a story to tell. Thanks to Schafer and Stuck On VHS, those stories are now being told.

 

I caught up with Josh Schafer recently to find out a little bit more about the genesis of this project. Here’s what he had to say: “These stickers were something that we didn’t see getting a ton of attention, but really just capture so much history, aesthetic, and culture from the video era. We wanted to create a document and curation that took you right back to being between those video store aisles; these stickers, however small or ephemeral, really help illustrate and define that time and expand the scope and rear view of that era.

They have a life all their own, and we wanted to preserve that inherent element of video store culture for people to revisit and enjoy – and hopefully, inspire them to take a closer look at those little stickers that live on all those former rentals.”

 

To be honest, I love all the stickers in this book, though I do have my favorites: the handwritten labels like the one that reads, “Mac + Me #2” presumably referring to their 2nd copy of the film in stock and those iconic green horror stickers we all remember (with my favorite being a green sticker from a copy of CREEPSHOW which sported a chubby vampire wearing glasses).

Then, of course, there are the individual video store stickers themselves, with some truly fantastic names like Ganges Video Ranch, Savage Video, Pick-A-Flick Video, and DJ’s Video & Snacks. There’s no shortage of interesting and rare videotape ephemera to marvel over on each and every page of this book. Trust me.

 

So, what are you doing reading this article? Go grab a copy of Stuck On VHS before they sell out again! Published by Birth.Movies.Death.. Hard Cover, 160 pages (plus three sticker pages). Available Here

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Movies

Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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