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Original 1979 MEDA Home Video Release of HALLOWEEN goes for $13,000 on eBay. Fluke, Fake, or Absolute Lunacy? NOW UPDATED WITH DETAILS FROM ONE OF THE BIDDERS!
A recent eBay auction has the horror and VHS collector community abuzz with reactions of disbelief, awe and for some, disgust. The original 1979 MEDA (predecessor to Media) video release of John Carpenter’s seminal horror film HALLOWEEN recently fetched over $13,000 on the online auction site, and in turn, has sent off an explosion of fervent opinions, speculations and even conspiracy theories. (SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE TO READ THE UPDATED STORY FROM ONE OF THE BIDDERS!) As so finely pointed out by my Mom: "Dude couldn't even get free shipping?!" It's all kinds of whack. Personally, I...
SECRET LAIR Slaps Down Some Bitchin' Big Box Glory with NOTLD and Dares You to Enter the VHSHOLE! Your VCR Will Be STOKED.
It’s impossible to conceal the clarion call of Nate Higley’s nascent home video label SECRET LAIR. Nate and his brand of VHS vindication have been steadily kicking ass with killer collabs, a signature style of analog amalgam and ultra-bitchin’ handmade big box bliss. And with the VHS culture currently at a fever pitch, Higley is fervently hacking away at his craft to bring the slavering Videvores out there a festive feast of video celebration. And even if it all ends tomorrow, and tape collecting is just another obscure hobby that had its moment in the sun (no pun intended), Nate’s...
Newly Released Multi-Platform Video Game FAR CRY 3: BLOOD DRAGON Employs VHS and Declares it THE GREATEST FORMAT OF ALL-TIME!
On a recent jaunt back to my hometown and subsequent attending of a righteous classic-style basement party, a couple of my close friends of the ardent Gamer persuasion were abuzz about this newly released game called FAR CRY 3: BLOOD DRAGON: an independent expansion for the popular first-person shooter FAR CRY 3 game. Created by Ubisoft, this downloadable multi-platform extension is described by the creators as “an 80s VHS vision of the future”. Well, that sounds pretty groovy to me, man. I know I don't really need a caption for this, but that picture embedded in my home state is...
REWIND THIS! Director Josh Johnson Unreels His Love for Physical Media and Posits the Importance of Preservation!
The VCR forever changed our relationship with movies. From cinema’s earliest days, films were ephemeral experiences existing only as long as the theater lights remained dimmed. But with the explosion of the VCR’s popularity in the early 1980s, movies became something that could be possessed and explored again and again. That changing relationship certainly affected Josh Johnson. The Brooklyn-based director spent his youth shooting backyard camcorder epics with his brother and foraging through the local grocery store’s video aisle. Johnson has channeled those experiences into Rewind This!, a new documentary made in collaboration with cinematographer/editor Christopher Palmer and producer Carolee...
DEAD GOOD FILMS LIKE drift away from DVD and enter the realm of VHS Vindication! PAL is your pal, man!
All of the analog addiction and obsession is getting to a fever pitch here in the States: TONS of new VHS labels are emerging from DIY enthusiast’s basements; the more established releasing labels are looking to VHS as a revived platform for their films; an army of VHS-centric documentaries are coming to fruition; and there’s just a general massive interest in our favorite format, complete with ecstatic excitement from enthusiasts, nay-saying antis, groovy collaborations and fervent controversy. But what about our non-NTSC pals across the pond? Well, this well-rounded revival isn’t just limited to the old Red, White and Blue,...