VHS Maniacs! Volume 1 — VHS Maniacs! Volume 1( DVD)

This 2-disc DVD collection from FilmLandia and Aggregate Media features two documentary films looking at the VHS phenomenon that swept across the planet in the 1980s. Both films are a nostalgic trip into the golden age of VHS, however we are treated to a lot of chat and discussion about how VHS tapes continue to live on in the horror and exploitation underground. The two documentaries featured on this set are VHS Lives!: A Shlokumentary, and VHS Lives 2: Undead Format, both directed by Tony Newton (Virus of the Dead, Plague of the Dead and Grindsploitation).

The first disc features VHS Lives!: A Shlokumentary, which is largely a retrospective of the VHS phenomenon of the 1980s features a lot of interviews with collectors, newer underground directors who were heavily influenced by the movies from that era and a few celebrated individuals who were among those working on underground horror and exploitation movies at the time, such as Troma head honcho and cult film legend Llloyd Kaufman (Toxic Avenger, Tromeo and Juliet and Troma’s War), Germany’s king of exploitation Jorg Buttgereit (Nekromatik, Der Todesking and Schramm), and David De Coteau (Creepozoids, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama and Puppet Master III: Toulon’s Revenge). On top of these three legends, we get horror movie fan and Pantera / Down vocalist Phil Anselmo, who pops in to offer his thoughts and opinions on the VHS phenomenon. It’s an interesting documentary up to a point, however it is very long at two hours and twenty-four minutes, and there is only so much nostalgia for a format that featured bad resolution, tape mould and chewed-up tapes. Yes, we got some wild, whacky and amazing horror and exploitation movies released on VHS, particularly in the early 80s, before the video nasties panic ensued and saw many of those tapes withdrawn from sale and rental. However, we must not forget that we live in a world where we have pristine high definition uncut releases of most of those films available to purchase in your local HMV shop, which is preferable to buying ninth-generation copies of a film that you can barely see because the rip is so awful.

Disc two features VHS Lives 2: Undead Format, which spends a lot of its run time talking to the individuals who continue to release movies on the VHS format, or those modern film makers who hark back to the days when we were all hunting around car boot sales and flea markets for unrated and banned VHS tapes, as we attempted to collect as many of those movies as possible. Some of the directors featured include Jason Figgis (The House At the End of the Lane, Code Red: Spain and The Weight of Eyes), Richard Chandler (Schlock-O-Rama, Baadasssssploitation! and Grindsploitation 2: The Lost Reels) and Shawn C. Phillips (Dead Ant, Girl Gone Dead and Skate to Hell). This one comes in at one hour and fifty minutes and feels less of a chore to sit through. The interviews are informative, and it’s interesting to hear others talk about how they were influenced by the same films I was collecting and watching, but a lack of clips from the movies makes it feel a little too talky at times.

Whilst I do think we are lucky to live in a time when most of these movies are available uncut and in lovely HD prints, I do find that I miss a lot of the covers from the 1980s, there was something quite wonderful about the artwork of that era, Graham Humphreys’ covers for The Evil Dead, Basket Case, Santa Sangre, Night of the Creeps, Return of the Living Dead etc were unforgettable and were an important part of the reason we wanted to see these films so badly.

Overall, the first documentary is too long and needs editing. Two and a half hours is too long, and it feels as though it goes around in circles. The second film is much easier to sit through at under two hours, but I'd still trim it to about ninety minutes, which is optimal for this type of doc. Besides the length issues, there is some good material here, lots of interesting discussion around the video nasties and the influence of those films on modern film makers. The set itself represents good value for movie fans. My main takeaway from this would be to advise viewers to watch the first doc in two sittings to avoid the burnout that I felt, but it’s got enough interesting material to make it worth a look.