31 Days of Horror 2025 Day 14 Exit 14

TITLE-Exit 14

SOURCE-CineDigm DVD

When out thrifting any horror dvd I havent seen and dont own that is 25 cents or less I will normally grab. Got a tote full of this stuff. And I try to once  a week grab one or two films out of that tote and attempt to watch them.

Generation X knows that Friday nights you had it on whatever channel Dukes of Hazzard was on. And John Schneider was the co lead on that show. Now he works with CineDigm making piles of Christian films down in South Louisiana. Exit 14 is one of the few horror films this group  has made.

On spring break a group of College kids stops at a store. A store right off the supposedly supernatural Exit 14. This store is ran by Tom Sizemore,which makes me think it is either a front for a coke ring or Tom really was running the store when the production company stopped in to piss and grab some snacks.

Their SUV dies,they get picked up by a tow truck and the driver,Tom again,offers for them to stay at his home that night. The college kids get told about a woman that died. Then  they get drunk and summon her spirit. Which of course causes stuff to go all spooky.

Also known as Devil's Doors and  being released in 2016 this is below the level of those Tubi Original horror films. Imagine a modern Full Moon movie. Now take out the nudity and gore and humor. And slash the budget in half. 

Avoid this turd. Now time to go put it in a box to mail to CodyLL.

Exit 14 gets a F.

 

31 Days of Horror 2025 Day 13 Clowntown

 

TITLE-Clowntown

SOURCE-ITN DVD

Yep another DTV film from ITN (The International Turd Network). This time it isn't a UK or Spanish film, nope this was made in the US.

A few friends are on their way to a concert. Get stuck in what appears to be an abandoned town. Then learn roaming bands of clowns took over the town. This film was made 10 years ago when there was all those "creepy" clown sightings. 

The acting is what you expect from a low budget DTV horror. FX work ain't bad. The clowns look creepy. Like legit creepy. 

What sucks is now so much crap is coming out that decent stuff like this gets lost in the sea of shit. Yea Clowntown ain't amazing. But it is better than most of the horror crap filling up streaming services like Peacock,Tubi,Fawesome,PlutoTV,etc.

Most years for 31 days of horror I try to work my way through my huge stack of unwatched dvds/blu rays/4ks. This had been sitting in that stack for at least a year. Having been found for a buck or less. 

It is one that you find it streaming give it a watch. One of the better ITN films and I was surprised.

Clowntown gets a C.

31 Days of Horror 2023 Day Negative 2 Wolves

 

TITLE-Wolves

SOURCE-Ketchup Entertainment DVD

So anytime we find a cheap horror dvd/blu ray,under 2 bucks,it gets bought and added to the "Hey here's something to watch in October pile". And thanks to Dollar Tree that pile is HUGE.

Looking at that cover I went in expecting a Twilight ripoff but with Werewolves. Instead I got a mash up of MTV's Teen Wolf tv show+The Howling.

Our lead is in  his late teens,wolfs out and kills his adopted parents. On the run as the so called Cannibal Kid,he gets tipped off to goto Lupine Ravine. A near by town.

Yep town with a pack of werewolves,lead by Jason Momoa. Seems Jason is the lead dude's real dad. His real mom killed herself right after he was born.

Lead dude and local bar owner try to recreate The werewolf transformation during sex bit from The Howling. It fails. Just cause the fur appearing on the bar owner's back is the worse CGI in the film.

While not horrible,I have seeen much much worse in some of those later Howling sequels,this isn't worth owning. At the cheap price I paid I consider this a rental.

Wolves gets a C-

31 Days of Horror 2022 Day 16 Easter Bunny Massacre

 

TITLE-Easter Bunny Massacre

SOURCE-ITN DVD

As I mentioned earlier this month I have become a bit of a fan of the modern DTV horror. So looking for a Easter based horror film earlier this year I saw that cover and yea I had to see this.

Made in the UK this is a slasher. That to me at least rips most of it's plot straight from Slaughter High. A group of friends are hanging out and that night while they are sleeping one of them is killed. So they hide the body,say she ran off. 

Skip ahead a year and they get invited back to where the friend died. And they get killed off by someone wearing a Easter Bunny outfit.

Sure the acting ain't that great. And the plot is something we have seen in piles of slasher films. But there is a few inventive kills. Like one where our killer pours melted chocolate all over someone. A scene when I first saw this I thought the Easter Bunny was having diarhhea attack.

Unlike the other DTV horror I reviewed this month,this one isn't worth buying. But last time I checked Easter Bunny Massacre is streaming free on TUBI. Go give it a watch.

Easter Bunny Massacre gets a D+

31 Days of Horror 2020 Day 22 Blinded by the Blood

 

TITLE-Blinded by the Blood

SOURCE-Sub Rosa Studios double feature DVD

Near the beginning of this year I found out that a local pawn shop was trying to clear out a huge overstock of DVDs and Blu rays. Normally they were wanting 2 bucks a DVD or 13 for 20 bucks. Blu Rays were 4 bucks each or 5 for 20. But now that they had/have way way too many it is 1 for dvd,or 25 for 20 bucks. Blus are 3 bucks or 8 for 20. Armed with this knowledge I started browsing the 3 shelfs and two tables full of home media formats.

The above pictured DVD was almost skipped over.I saw the back cover first.

And as you can see,sorry for the reflections in the pic,the back cover makes this look like one of the hundreds of double feature horror dvds out there. You know the ones that have two battered VHS rips of Public Domain Horror movies. Movies that pretty much every hardcore horror fan already owns 4 or 6 times on DVD. So I just put the DVD back on the shelf. Then something in my head said "Wait Alone in a Haunted House isn't a PD title I have heard of" I grabbed the dvd read the back and after seeing that Blinded by the Blood was a documentary on the making of a low budget horror film I placed this double feature DVD into the ever growing "buy" pile.

Since I was young and got my first issue of Starlog and Fangoria on the same day,THANK YOU UNCLE MILTON!. I have loved learning about how movies are made. From the filming process to how the FX work is done. Which means I will watch/buy pretty much any documentary on the production of a horror film.

It wasn't until I got home and was dividing my media haul into piles,one pile is for me another is to be resold another is for friends etc,I saw the name Tim Ritter and figured out what I had found was a Sub Rosa Studios release.Sub Rosa Studios has been around for a long time now. They release lots of DTV horror and cult movies.And Killing Spree is by one of the best known directors Sub Rosa Studios has worked with,Tim Ritter.Blinded by the Blood is a making of Killing Spree that Sub Rosa Studios started selling after Killing Spree had become a cult classic of the Shot on Video sub genre. The above picture is the VHS release cover of Blinded by the Blood.

Sure the VHS cover says Hosted by Tim Ritter but we all see who has the biggest pic on the cover. The lovely and uber talented Debbie Rochon. By the time Blinded by the Blood was made Debbie was one of the best known B Movie stars and one of the few Scream Queens of the era who was a true Scream Queen. And not some lady who did one horror movie and then used the Scream Queen tag to bilk lonely geeks at cons out of money.

So the film opens with Debbie walking around in a rural area telling us how we are about to see footage shot during the filming of Killing Spree. And explaining that even with almost no money Tim Ritter managed to make a horror film that became a cult hit world wide.

Blinded by the Blood is a lot like the various making of "insert film title" documentaries Troma has made. Cause Blinded by the Blood doesn't cut out stuff that makes Tim look bad. They don't try to cover up that mistakes happened. Who ever was in charge of editing the final cut of Blinded by the Blood did a good job of just showing us what happened during the filming of Killing Spree. Really in the entire film the only part that is a bit biased is the introduction by Debbie Rochon. And hell she was getting paid by Tim to come talk about his film,and I have heard that Debbie and Tim are close friends. So of course her intro will be a bit biased.

Tim Ritter went on to make quite a few movies. Most of them low budget horror/gore movies. Some of the better known ones are from the Truth or Dare series. I have seen Truth or Dare 1 and 3. 

I was pretty impressed by how good the gore FX looked in Killing Spree. Seeing what little they had to work with,money and equipment wise,it is amazing how good the effects look.

Blinded by Blood gets a B.

31 Days of Horror 2020 Day 15 Mirrors 2 Unrated

 

TITLE-Mirrors 2

SOURCE-20th Century Fox DVD

Cause I buy lots of my DVDs used from thrifts and pawn shops I end up buying in bulk. Most of the local pawns will charge you as little as 50 cents a dvd if you buy say 20 at a time. One of my more recent trips to a pawn that is overstocked with DVDs I was needing one more DVD to hit that magic number of 20. So dispite having never seen Mirrors or the Asian film it was a remake of,I grabbed Mirrors 2. It was the best choice. And it being unrated I figured "Hey I might get lots of gore!"

Nick Stahl is the lead. He recently lost his fiancee,has a bad case of survivor's guilt and now is working a nightwatchman job at his Dad's store in New Orleans. After starting the job Nick AKA Max learns that one of the other nightwatch crew has went missing And the person who's job he has now went crazy.

Being named Mirrors you kinda know that late at night in a closed and almost empty of humans store you are gonna get a few mirror scares. Sadly this film is nothing but mirror scares... 

Whoever did the gore FX did a decent job. But after the first few mirror scares it all just becomes a jumble in my brain. I actually stopped the movie at the 45 minute mark and called up a close friend who is a huge fan of both Mirrors films. Asked her if there was anything from the first film that I should know before I go about finishing the sequel. After being asked why I watched the second film before watching the first movie,and being called weirdo I got told "Nah not really.The second film is more of the same just set in New Orleans."

So now I'm wondering,why did this DTV sequel to a horror film that wasn't a big hit get so much chatter online when it was coming out? Thought it might be the cast. Besides Nick Stahl you got Emmanuelle Vaugier. Who I kinda remembered from one of the CSI shows. The other person I knew was William Katt. Best known from Greatest American Hero and House and House IV. 

Hmmm maybe there is someone in the cast that I just don't know is a big or cult star. So I messaged my girlfriend. Sent her a link to the IMDB page."Hey scan this cast list and tell me if there is anyone in it that is a star that I wouldn't realize is a star."

Get a reply telling me the woman in the picture above this was on some Disney teen show for a long time and after that was the voice of Kim Possible. Ok so that might explain why people talked this movie up. Then a scene happened and I realized Mirrors 2 is to 90s kids what Streets was to the kids that were teens when Married with Children was the hottest show around. 

Yep Christy Carlson Romano,I hope I spelled that right,aka Ren Stevens of Even Stevens wanted to shed her good girl image and went topless in this movie.

Yall older folks will remember how a few seasons into Married with Children how there was press all over the place about how Christina Applegate was doing nudity in an upcoming film called Streets. This press helped this tiny low budget Roger Corman movie be a huge home video hit.

And it appears all that hype I saw in 2010 for Mirrors 2,a really bad DTV sequel to a from what I have been told crap original film,was cause a former teen star showed some skin.....

Man this movie just isn't good. Stahl and the rest of the cast appear to be trying their best with what they have. But movie is crap. 

When I see movies this bad I make it a point to see who directed it. So I can IMDB the direcotr and make sure to skip the rest of their filmography. Off to IMDB to look up Victor Garcia.

Ok he did the DTV sequel to 30 days of night,which I have heard was horrible. And I didn't think 30 Days of night was worth a fuck.

Same year he had Return to House on Haunted Hill.The unneeded sequel to a unneeded remake.But this time they got Cabin Fever and Power Rangers star Cerina Vincent.What ever happened to her?

Then some movie titled Artic Predator,which isn't a Predator sequel. It looks like one of those creature features that premieres on SyFy channel on a Saturday night. Mirrors 2 was 2010. His next film is 2011...

Ok yea fuck Victor Garcia. Fuck this shitty movie. Even if you have wanted to see that Disney chick naked you entire life don't torment yourself with this horrible shitstain of a film. Google image the screenshots and prevent having to endure this bottom of the barrel 90 minute film.

Mirrors 2 gets a D-.

31 Days of Horror Day 12 Evil Sister

TITLE-Evil Sister
SOURCE-Tubi TV streaming service

I had forgotten about this late 90s horror/softcore porn mixture. Back in the early 2000s I got one of those Brentwood 4 horror films for cheap packs. Evil Sister was the only film on the set I managed to finish. Then earlier today was flipping through the horror films on Tubi TV and saw Evil Sister. I remembered it not being that great but put it on anyway.

After spending 15 years in a mental hospital a lady is released into the care of her sister and her brother in law. But the lady is part of a Satanic cult. And for some reason is trying to harm her sister. Towards the end of the film the lady manages to get the sister to stab the husband to death.

That is basically the plot. As I mentioned previously this is a horror/softcore porn combo. So there is lots of scenes with the redhead sister,the one that was released from the hospital,naked or having sex. Hell there is a sacrifice scene that is thrown into the film just as a reason to show more nudity.

There is so much about this film that is odd in  hindsight. Like how there is a sequel but it appears that no one from this film came back for it.Or how the one sister,the blonde,went from acting in low budget films to working behind the scenes on all those arguing bitches reality shows that are clogging up every cable channel. Yep stuff like Little Women of Atlanta or Bad Girls Club. The Evil Sister appears to have done nothing besides this film. Or should I say has nothing but this film listed on her IMDB. I swear I have seen the Evil Sister before in hardcore porn.

Pretty much Evil Sister is one of the last films in the now pretty extinct genre of horror/softcore porn. Back before access to hardcore porn was so easy. And teens could talk a parent into letting them rent something like Evil Sister or WitchCraft 11 Sisters in Blood.

Evil Sister gets a F+.

31 Days of Horror Day 22 Die-ner(Get It?)

Title-Die ner (Get It?)
Source-Echo Bridge 10 movie DVD set

Remember just 3 years ago? Back when the $5 DVD bin at Walmart was packed with Echo Bridge and Mill Creek Horror multipacks. Lots of these packs I would buy to see one movie. Or I would buy one when I knew I was going on a long trip and would need a few things to watch.

The pack Die Ner is on I bought cause of one film. That film is Zipperface. A fairly obscure slasher from 1991. After watching and loving Zipperface the pack got put back on my shelf. Today I needed something to watch. So I grabbed a bunch of those multipacks and picked a film at random.

Die Ner starts off with Ken entering a roadside diner out in the middle of nowhere. Ken makes small talk with the waitress,in this small talk he reveals he is a serial killer. He then kills the waitress and the cook. He is about to leave when a arguing couple comes in. So Ken poses as the cook. Thinking he can cook their food. And either kill them or wait till they leave and leave himself.

But there is a twist,anyone that dies comes back as a zombie. So we got a serial killer along with an arguing couple who have to face off against zombies in a tiny rural diner.

The film tries it's best to blend horror and comedy. And manages to work about half the time. The acting is decent. It being a DTV horror I don't expect much from the actors and I got more than I expected. The FX work is pretty decent. Looks like it is mostly practical FX work.

What I find odd is outside North America this movie goes under a different title.

Yep at least in the UK Die Ner(Get It?) is known as KFZ Kentucky Fried Zombies. No idea why. Hell I don't even think the movie is set in Kentucky. The area the diner is in looks like desert country and I don't think there is any deserts in Kentucky.

Die Ner(Get It?) gets a D+.

31 Days of Horror Day 18 Satan's Storybook

Title-Satan's Storybook
Source-TubiTV app

While I love modern tech in someways I hate it. Like how I waited until 2004 to finally get a cellphone. And even now 14 years later I still got a fliphone.. Not a smartphone. Hell for years I didn't want a tablet computer. I had a desktop and a laptop and was happy. Then I got a good tablet for cheap and discovered how useful it can be. Kinda nice to have a device that fits in my pocket that is loaded up with piles of books,comics,movies,cartoons and TV shows. Plus cause of it I have discovered all kinds of free streaming services.

Sure every one knows about Netflix and Hulu. But how many of y'all know of TubiTV? It is a free streaming service. Were you get uncut movies and TV shows. The only drawback is about every 30 minutes you will get 2 or 3 thirty second long ads. So not a bad trade off. TubiTV has piles of stuff. And on evenings when it isn't hot I will go sit on  my back porch and find  something to watch on TubiTV.

It was months back I had the house to myself and didn't feel like sitting inside watching whatever crap airs on TV. So I filled up a big glass of iced tea,grabbed my tablet and my dog and I went to sit on the back porch. I was scrolling thru the recently added movies section on TubiTV when I saw Satan's Storybook. I did a double take cause I was sure I had seen the cover before and was sure the blonde on it was a 80s era Ginger Lynn aka Ginger Lynn Allen. I knew the cover and film title sounded familiar but didn't know why. I started up the film and saw that it is a very low budget DTV horror from 1989.

It was about halfway thru the film,during one of the ad breaks,that I realized why I knew the cover. For at least a year maybe more,in Fangoria there would be a quarter page ad advertising this movie. The ad played up the fact that it had the first non-porno role for Ginger Lynn Allen. Who IIRC was dating Charlie Sheen at the time. And the company selling the VHS wanted 29.95 plus shipping for it. Now for years I had seen the ad and wanted to see the movie. But figured I would never get a chance.

I looked online and the movie has so far only gotten a VHS release. Kinda surprised Code Red,Slasher Video or Massacre Video or hell Bleeding Skull hasn't released this on DVD or Blu Ray yet. VHS copies go for stupid prices. I am guessing not that many people bought a copy back in the day.And I never saw it for rent in any video store.

The story is fairly simple. Ginger plays some kind of Angelic ninja. The first scene is Ms Allen dressed up as a white ninja fighting off a bunch of black ninjas. While trying to save a gothic looking lady. We find out the goth lady is Satan's bride. And Ginger is there to stop the wedding so she can prevent the birth of the AntiChrist.

After this we switch to Satan in a throne. He is mad that his woman has been kidnapped. So to cheer him up Hell's jester shows up to tell Satan a few stories. Yep this is a horror anthology.

That is Satan. A guy in a goat mask with furry pants. Whoever made the movie must have gotten some fog machines cheap. Cause everytime we see Satan there is piles of fog.

The first story is "Demon of Death". About a 80s era serial killer. He dresses like your typical late 80s metalhead. And picks names at random out of the phone book. Then goes and kills the person he picked.Then at random he picks a girl who has ESP and her mother is a witch. Our killer gets gunned down but doesn't die. So is put on death row. And we get a trite as fuck twist ending.

The second story is about a drunk ass clown. Who kills himself. After what feels like an hour of boring dialogue we find out the clown is in hell. Yeah this story sucks.

Ginger is wandering around the woods with Satan's bride with her. They get surrounded by a bunch of people in whatever slightly Satanic looking stuff Party City had marked at 70% off the day after Halloween. During this battle Ginger just disappears. And we find out that Satan's bride now doesn't want to have a kid. Cut back to Ginger bathed in red light and surrounded by fog. And she implies that we will get a sequel.

It was more than likely 89 or 90 when I first saw the ad for this movie in Fangoria. And so it has been right at 30 years that I have been wanting to see it. So while it was kick ass I finally got to see a film I had never seen and thought I would never get to see,plus I saw it for free. The movie sucks ass. The only good parts are well Ginger looks great,the goat mask Satan wears is well done and the one evil clown in the second story is actually  a bit scary. Besides that the movie was a waste of 90 or so minutes.

Now if you want to see this pile of shit,and why would you,well I haven't checked to see if it is still on TubiTV. TubiTV has a habit of cycling out stuff at random. You can find the full movie on Youtube.  That way you can watch this minor piece of DTV horror history for free.

Satan's Storybook gets a F.

31 Days of Horror Day 02 Amityville Exorcism

Title-The Amityville Exorcism
Source-Digital Copy

This is a film I didn't know about. Hell I would have never even seen it. But thanks to a friend that I know through a now defunct horror forum I got sent a digital screener.

I knew going in that this is one of the many indie horror films that use the Amityville name to get the film some press and word of mouth. And that the film wasn't part of the official Amityville franchise. So when I started up the file I  had my expectations very low.

Then I saw it was released by Wild Eye Releasing. I am sure Wild Eye tries their best with the resources they have...but every film I have seen from them was bad. Like barely a step above a SyFy original movie bad. Then to my horror/amusement I saw the film was directed and produced by Mark Polonia. The now only living member of the infamous DTV film making Polonia brothers. If you look back at previous 31 days of Horror I have covered the first film from the Polonia brothers that got a wide release. A film shot when they were both teens  and a film that became a infamous gore film. One of the earliest straight to VHS horror films Splatter Farm.

After seeing Mark Polonia's name I paused the film to look up some info on it. And found out that Amityville Death House,another of the unofficial Amityville sequels and one I have wanted to see for a few years cause of this great poster it has...

Come on after seeing that cover,I couldn't find a good copy of the poster,and seeing that Biloxi Mississippi's own Eric Roberts is in the film I had to see it. So this is Mark Polonia's second Amityville movie. Maybe that means he will make a good movie.

Sadly he didn't make a good movie.A Catholic priest,who's brother died trying to exorcism the Amityville house,now has to help a family deal with demonic possession. I am guessing this brother is suppose to be the priest that shows up in the late 70s Amityville Horror film.

Now the Amityville series became known for how in the later sequels the ways the evil spirits got from the original house to where ever the sequels were set being usually pretty dumb. There is one were a lamp from the original house is the conduit for the evil spirits attacking a new family. And another were it is a possessed mirror,IIRC that is Amityville part 7 and it is one of the better films in the franchise. So who ever wrote the script to Amityville Exorcism took the fad of reclaimed lumber and has this new family being bothered by evil spirits cause the father is a carpenter and he has used reclaimed lumber from the Amityville house in the new home he has built his family. This is a cheesy idea that could actually work well with a good script,good acting and good effects work. Yea this film is missing all three.

Lets talk about the FX. The demon looks like someone in a cheap red cloak that was bought at the Dollar Tree after Halloween sale.And the mask the demon is wearing is barely a step above those horrible Ben Cooper half face plastic mask lots of us Generation X kids wore in the late 70s thru the mid 80s. The prosthetic make up work looks like someone took dollar store playdough and let it harden for weeks.

The film looks like it might have been shot using a crew members 2 year old iPhone. And I was pretty sure that is what they used. Then in one scene I caught the reflection of a camera mounted on a tripod.

The film starts off with Charles in a mental hospital.He is about to be executed for killing his family. And starts telling the priest giving him last rites that Charles was possessed. All because of that damn reclaimed wood from the Amityville house. Damn you all those house flipping shows. Making the general public believe that reclaimed wood isn't evil and a product of Satan. Charles begs the priest to go help out the other families living in homes that also contain some of this Satanic reclaimed lumber.

Yep the movie is as bad as it sounds. Usually when I get screeners,which isn't that often, after watching the film I will either decide to keep it. Or if I don't enjoy the movie just give the copy to one of the members of my friends and family that loves horror. I did neither with Amityville Exorcism. This movie is so bad I was worried if I gave to someone that knew me they might get possessed by that reclaimed lumber and try to come kill me. So once the film was over. And I managed to take my brain ,which had been turned to mush by how bad the film was,and get it back into my head I quickly deleted the file and sent a message to the person that hooked me up with the screener. Asking them what I had ever done to them to deserve such punishment.

Amityville Exorcism gets a F.

VHS and Me

As the reader of the blog might have noticed the last year or almost a year now I have kinda changed the focus. Instead of written reviews and articles I has been mostly videos. And then mostly videos about VHS.

Why? Well part of it is while trying to save money I switched for about 6 months from buying say 5 to 10 DVDs/Blu rays a month to buy 10 to 15 bucks of VHS. Locally there is still a good supply of VHS in the thrift stores. And the prices are cheap. I was trying to save money cause my laptop had died and I needed to get another one. Was kinda stuck with a tablet as my only connection to the internet. And it was a bitch typing on it. So switching over to making videos was a good solution to keep the blog active and try my hand at something new.

The first two trips to the 5 places I can get VHS in my town got me hooked. I am always finding either stuff I want on DVD/Blu but never find,stuff that isn't out on DVD/Blu and finally the oddball stuff I never knew existed.

Really I never stopped collecting VHS. I first started in the mid 80s. Buying whatever cheap,back then 20 bucks for a new VHS was cheap LOL,and whatever caught my interest. In the late 90s and early 2000s when DVD started taking over I was buying lots of cheap,which now meant $1 to $5,vhs from video stores and even big box stores.

Then in fall of 2007 I moved. And in the move lost a bunch of VHS.Thankfully about 80% of it was stuff I had rebought on DVD. But sadly some of the VHS was stuff I had had since I was young. And some I still haven't replaced.

So now at least one day a month I make a circuit of the 5 places I can get VHS. Each of the places has their good and bad points. Hell here is a quick rundown of my "secret vhs stashes" LOL. The 3 people that read this and collect vhs and live within driving distance of my town can come scoop those tapes out from under me.Gonna start with the place closest to me and work my way farther away.

84 Mart-Out on Highway 84 heading to Natchez,and only a 5 minute drive from my home. It is a general junkstore. Ran by a retired Marine ,who's nickname is Sarge. You never know what you will find there. I have gotten comics,VHS,magazines,books,action figures and even LASERDISCS from Sarge. His prices are very fair. And he is always willing to haggle. Had a few times he gave me some stuff for free. Now part of that is my family is always donating stuff to him.Like how a few years ago we got new ceiling fans for all the rooms. And gave him 5 still working but 10 year old ceiling fans. But I have seen Sarge give other people stuff for free. You can tell he runs the place to give him something to do and making money  isn't his #1 priority.

The only drawback to his place is it is a bit dusty and dark. And he has a bad habit of sometimes leaving stuff outside. So if you are grabbing VHS from here make sure to check them for mold. Sadly one time I found a great looking copy of Friday the 13th part 5 on VHS. Then I get home and see not only is the tape reels crusted with mold,but the inside of the slipcase is too.

Maw Pebs Needful Things-Yep named after the Stephen King book/movie. Ran by a mother and her son. It is the best of the thrift stores in town. Lots of furniture,clothes and other stuff. But Maw Pebs has the best prices and selection on books and DVDs/Blu rays locally. They have the best price on VHS but their selection over the past year has shrunk. I think cause I have bought a lot of VHS from here.

The son always gives you a deal if you buy in bulk. And they price dvds and blu rays the same price. Plus it doesnt matter if it is a single disc or say a tv show set that has 5 discs it will be the same price. One day I got Blacklist Season 1 on DVD,Flintstones season 3 on DVD and Scrubs season 4 on DVD. For the low total of $5.

Another great thing about Maw Pebs is well every VHS collector  has heard about or read the articles on how Black Diamond Disney Clamshell VHS are worth huge bucks. We know these articles are bullshit. But sadly lots of mom and pop thrift stores and antique dealers have read it and believe it. The son at Maw Pebs asked me about it,cause as he had told me I was the only person to come in in over 2 years to buy vhs,about the article. I showed him on his phone how to check complete auctions on Ebay. "Fair enough. Does $1 for the clamshells or 7 for $5 sound fair?" I mean sure it isn't 50 cents but he is running a business and a buck is a fair price.

The only drawback to Maw Pebs  is they own a huge great dane that stays in the store a lot. He will bark and is loud. He has never came towards me. And since he is a big dog the store has a bit of a doggie smell.

Vender's Emporium-I have done two posts here on my trips to Venders'.Sadly since the last one Venders has went downhill. It is now mostly locally made t-shirts and just stuff I have no interest in. The one booth that usually had comics hasn't had any in a long time. There is never any good dvds. And the last few times I have found VHS it was 5 to 10 bucks a tape. And was dirt common crap. Or stuff I have no interest in.

Lincoln County Public Library-While it doesn't always have VHS. When they do it is 25 cents a tape and usually good stuff.Found lots of BBC and UK TV stuff here. A decent amount of kid's cartoons that I grew up seeing and even a Blockbuster Exclusive Extreme Dinosaurs VHS. Plus they have books,magazines,cds and even DVDs for sale cheap.

St Andrew's Thrift Store-For VHS this place has the largest selection. And I have found lots of great stuff here. But the drawbacks almost out weigh the positives.

First off the area of the store the VHS are in is hard to get to. If you want to look at the lower shelves you pretty much have to sit on the floor. The last time I went someone had put a small ottoman in the area so I sat on it. Plus they put the VHS two deep on the shelf. So lots of moving tapes around to see what is in the back.

Secondly I am not sure if they just dont have a good A/c unit or maybe the room the vhs are in doesn't get lots of the air. But it is always warm back there.

Thirdly and what I considered the biggest drawback until a month ago,I will explain,is the prices. The prices change depending on the whim of the older lady who runs the place. She is always pleasant to me. But I have talked to others that have had not so nice encounters with her. Normally it is $1 for slipcase VHS.And $2 to $3 for anything that isn't in a slipcase. With Disney being $3 and sometimes even $5.

And the fourth and final drawback. I need to set this up. I have been going to this thrift store for almost 10 years. For years I would go dig thru their CDs and DVDs and sometimes finding good deals. They want 50 cents for CDs and $1 to $4 for dvds. Usually when I go I spend 20 to 30 bucks. I am always nice and polite to the workers.And I try to straighten up the VHS,CD and DVD areas once I am done digging thru them. Well 3 months ago I go on a Friday grab a few tapes and the older lady tells me that the next day everything is half off. And that she was gonna fill the VHS,CD and DVD/Blu Ray area to capacity. Of course this meant I was going back the next day.

I go back the next day. Grab a buggy for the first time and spent an hour digging thru not only the vhs,cds and blu rays/dvds but also the books.Go about 40 bucks worth of stuff. I found a bunch of good deals on Blu Rays.

Take them to the front. Get rung up and the owner lady tells me "I see you came back and got more VHS. We got hundreds of tapes in the back. One day this week I am gonna go refill the tape shelves." I quickly asked her "is there any way I could go see what is in the back. I understand yall are super busy today. But if you would let me I would come whatever day would work for you." I get told I am not allowed in the back room and that some  day the following week she would refill the VHS shelves.

So every 2 days for 3 weeks I go check and the shelves aren't refilled. I stopped going to St Andrews for almost 2 months. Went back 3 weeks ago and she had finally refilled the shelves. And they weren't even totally full.

But anyways. You never know what you are going to find at St Andrews. I found some uncommon VHS of the 2 different early 80s Spider Man cartoon. A really cool holiday themed VHS of the old Colgate Comedy Show with Abbott and Costello. And even though they charge more I have found lots of fun clamshell VHS. Like the never released to DVD or Blu ray,at least in region 1,Freddie the Frog AKA Freddie as FR07. An early 80s UK made animated film about a prince that gets turned into a frog and becomes a James Bond like secret agent.

As to why I love VHS.... well yea lots of it is nostalgia. I grew up with tape as the home media format. My family got our first VCR in the late 70s,it was a BetaMAX. And by 83 or 84 had gotten a VHS vcr. Which meant the Betamax got moved to my bedroom. So at a young age I had a vcr in my room. And quickly started recording my favorite shows. For decades I had stacks of BetaMAX tapes with stuff like Spider man and his amazing friends,Voltron and lots of mid 80s wrestling.

Another part of it is I never really owned or felt the need to have a DVR. From when I got that BetaMAX in the early 80s until 2010 I always had a VCR hooked up to my antenna/cable/satellite. And always had a stack of blank tapes to either time shift shows/events or record them to keep. In 2010 I got a set top DVD recorder and use that.

As I have been typing this I have been going thru all the "blank" vhs I have in the cabinet under my old TV stand.There has to be at least 60 tapes down there. Most of them unlabeled. Usually at least one night a week I toss in one of these mystery tapes and see what is on it. Lots of movies recorded off channels like IFC,Sundance,Documentary channel and even Turner Classic Movies. And lots of wrestling. But my favorite find so far is an 8 hour tape of when SyFy channel was doing a marathon  of the 70s version of Land of the Lost. Sure I own the first and third season of that show on DVD. But  there is something comforting about putting in that tape and watching it with the commercials. Seeing it in not so picture perfect quality,just like it looked when I was a kid watching it thanks to the rabbit ears I had on my TV.

I hope this kinda explained not only why the blog changed in format,but also why in  2018 I am still buying,using and enjoying a dead format like VHS. Sure the picture quality is kinda crap. And the sound can be ass. And they are bulky and take up lots of space. And your VCR can eat the tape. Plus all the other drawbacks to the analog tape format. But I don't care I love VHS and BetaMAX. And as long as I have a working VCR I will watch them.