While I’m not personally a fan of poor image quality there’s a very nostalgic appeal to seeing some of those VHS box covers. They take me back to a time when renting a movie wasn’t something you did with the remote or with a few mouse clicks. And to a time before Blockbuster, when all video stores seemed to have the same cheap carpeting and faux wood paneling, when a film like Lenny would probably be in “Comedy”, unless the place was big enough to have a “Biography” section.
And most weren’t that big. When I was in college there was a video store a block away from my dorm that was a converted house. It was literally a mom and pop store–assuming the couple who ran it, who looked like they could have been extras from Splatter Farm–had children. It was so small it didn’t even have categories–The Elephant Man sat next to Faces of Death which sat next to Flesh Gordon. And yet that, along with the painted sign outside that just said, “Video Rental”, was part of the appeal. That and the fact that they had the craziest selection I’ve ever seen. I think they went to flea markets and thrift shops and bought up whatever cheap VHS tapes they could find.
And part of the appeal of renting there was the same as the appeal of getting a film with a remote or a mouse. There was a distinct vibe of, “Watch what you want. We don’t judge.”
