Tries to be personal, tries to be a summary of home media, doesn't really accomplish either. Don't really feel informed by the end of it, don't really get an emotional pay off. Spends a bit too much time focusing on the production of the documentary when there is no real story there.
Okay to watch but not likely to hold your interest for the full run time. Feels a bit too much like an overly long youtube documentary
VHS Massacre
2016
Action / Comedy / Documentary / History / Horror / Sci-Fi
Plot summary
This lively documentary explores the rise and fall of physical media and its effect on Independent and cult films. Ranging from the origin of home movies through the video store era, it's sure to entertain. With icons like Joe Bob Briggs (MonsterVision),Lloyd Kaufman (Toxic Avenger),Greg Sestero (The Room),Debbie Rochon (Return to Nuke 'Em High),Deborah Reed (Troll 2),Mark Frazer (Samurai Cop),James Nguyen (Birdemic) and many others.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
Director
Tech specs
720p.BLU 1080p.BLUMovie Reviews
doesn't know what it wants to be
Flawed, but interesting for a movie geek
I'm a movie geek, but not really an expert on b-movies. I grew up with VHS tho so I found this kind of interesting here and there. Overall I wouldn't say this is very good and that's mostly because it's not very focused. If the makers had ditched focus on their own productions and focused more on the physical media and VHS movies in general it might've been better. Troma etc are interesting, but the documentary feels very subjective with very preachy piracy part (fwiw, I'm against piracy). I wasn't fan of the actual VHS massacre either, imo the diabetes video wasn't a laughing matter. I've seen this kind of movie geeks at local arthouse movie theatre laughing at everything and basically ruining the show for everyone else. So yes, I found the VHS part interesting, cover art appreciation etc, but there was a lot of stuff I didn't find that fitting. The subject calls for a better documentary.
Bad on almost every level
This film plays like an Instagram story. There's no story arc, the exposition is all out of whack, they cover major plot lines by just throwing up titles, and so much of the movie is just dudes talking about how excited they are to interview some no name actor, pointing out all the vhs they buy from stores for cheap, and then filling it out by just getting their friends to talk about vhs. It's an absolute mess! It's also so narrow in scope. VHS culture needs to be explored and documented, but these filmmakers are not up to scratch.