Following our interview with Dale Lloyd of Viva VHS, Tom Jolliffe looks back at his VHS memories…
Growing up in the 80s, smack back in the birth and rise of video brings back a lot of great memories. Something about video covers just had more impact than DVD covers later would. It was the days of really great hand drawn posters, the likes of Star Wars and Blade Runner, for example.
The rise of the video market saw a mass explosion of films of all budget ranges. But unlike many of today’s films which skip theatres, you’d often get a lot of effort put into making a really standout cover. Nowadays there are a lot of sub-standard Photoshop botch jobs that seem to qualify for covers. Back in the video boom however, a cover really had to sell a movie. Everyone in the business, at whatever budget level, just wanted to get a piece of the home market. Many a trip to the video shop was spent looking at covers. 80s horror covers were brilliant. Often effective enough to send shivers down the spine of my pre-pubescent self. Action video covers were also great, often showing whichever big screen or small screen star was headlining holding a big gun, or performing some trademark martial arts kick, and sometimes again, hand drawn covers.
Away from the video shop, many fond VHS memories came when visiting a friend’s house. His older brother had what could only be described as a treasure trove of 80s action VHS. It was here I discovered Die Hard, Predator, First Blood… not only those iconic films but the next level down with Dolph Lundgren classics like Red Scorpion and Dark Angel, or Jean-Claude Van Damme opuses like Kickboxer, Bloodsport and AWOL. Hell this collection even gave me an unnaturally large knowledge of B(z)-movie action introducing me to such names as Lorenzo Lamas, Olivier Gruner, Gary Daniels, Billy Blanks (long before he hawked Tae Bo on the world), Don “The Dragon” Wilson and Cynthia Rothrock. Many will scratch their heads at such names but the point is, back then, VHS was such a strong market and exciting thing that people would watch anything on video. You’d pick a video, without any background knowledge because the internet didn’t exist. There was enough demand that there were dozens of action stars well below the budget range of even a Van Damme, who forged 10-20 year careers. The interest in many of these as lead stars would eventually wane by the early 00s, as the DVD market didn’t provide quite the same stomping ground.
As for my own collection back in the day, it comprised of mostly fantasy films. Again, the 80s was a golden age. Following Star Wars, hundreds of films tried to follow suit. One film would hit big on the big screen or video and then dozens would copy. After Mad Max you almost couldn’t move for the amount of post-apocalyptic films with luminaries such as Patrick Swayze, David Carradine and more, all trying their hand. Sword and sorcery flicks were rife too, a particular favourite genre of mine. Masters of the Universe was the best gift I ever received. I wanted it more than anything when it was put on my Christmas list, having already seen it on the big screen and been blown away.
Many of my old favourites back then of course in retrospect are terrible. But throw a few sets in, a few snazzy costume and give someone a sword or feature a muscle bound hero and I was hooked. I loved a selection of Italian made fantasy films which starred Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk himself). He did Sinbad of the Seven Seas and Hercules (1 and 2). Iconic characters, but his takes were my favourites. To me, back as a kid they were as exciting and elaborate as Lord of the Rings is in this era. When I viewed them again in adulthood I was actually shocked at how horrifically bad they were. That said they’re brilliantly entertaining for that reason. Other favourites included Labyrinth (which was and still is, brilliant), Krull, Legend, Conan the Barbarian (though I preferred it’s more child friendly sequel back then, even though it’s gash) and The Princess Bride.
I miss the VHS era. I miss cover browsing, taking a punt on a film that could be good or could be complete tosh. To some extent the Internet has made everyone far more aware. We often know what’s coming out, what’s good, what’s not. DVD never had the same charm either. The effort seems gone largely in the lower rent movies too. Really low budget films that will probably be terrible, often do have terrible front covers. Never judge a book by its cover? Well in judging a DVD a lot of times you can. Something about VHS covers always seemed to oversell a movie, particularly one’s shot for about three pence. Many covers invited the punter to come and take the gamble. The whole high street movie shopping/renting experience now is rapidly being killed off, which is a shame, but even so it was something far more magic at the dawn of home video than it has been the last 10 years.
I miss that. I miss tracking and I miss the guy who used to appear before the film behind a desk to talk to the audience about certificates. “The following film is an 18 certificate.”
Tom Jolliffe
Originally published March 22, 2013. Updated April 10, 2018.
