May 2012
8 posts
9 tags
#152- Weapons of Death (Paul Kyriazi; 1982)
by Tim May
Weapons of Death is a great example of how to make a really fun martial arts movie without the benefit of an overwhelming presence like Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. Though the cover purports Eric Lee to be the lead of the film, Weapons of Death is a true ensemble. Every character gets a moment to be the star.
A San Francisco mob boss named Fong has his eyes set on the richest family in...
10 tags
5/25/12 - VHS Convention/Site Update!
This past weekend was the First Ever Horror VHS Collectors Unite VHS Convention in Stroudsburg, PA and it was a fucking blast. Thanks to everyone who came and supported this great format and thanks to all the people who came up to say “hi” and tell me how much they like the site. It really means a lot. I got a ton of dope tapes and made some amazing trades (trust me, a very long...
15 tags
12 tags
#151- Demon Wind (Charles Philip Moore; 1990)
by Tim May
At the beginning of Demon Wind, I figured I was in for a deadly combination: uninspired slasher mixed with a dreadfully boring Satanic cult movie. Thankfully, for the most part, I got a surprisingly engaging horror film which subtly subverted many of the clichés of both genres.
The film begins in 1931 with an old woman trying to defend her barn from something, presumably demons. She’s...
18 tags
13 tags
30 tags
#150 - Rock N Roll Mobster Girls (Rick Werner...
By Dan Kinem So many things should have scared me away from this one. Not only is Rock N Roll Mobster Girls a nearly two-hour-long shot-on-video comedy, it also features the delusional marketing scheme making itself out to be Spinal Tap 2. I ignored these facts and took it like a man. I didn’t run away when I saw “110 minutes,” rather, I popped this into the player and never...
April 2012
11 posts
13 tags
#149- Trollies Radio Show Sing-a-long (Greg Page;...
by Tim May
There were sing-a-long tapes for almost everything in the early ’90s. I’m sure you all remember those hideous troll dolls (they still ironically litter most twentysomething ex-sorority beer sluts’ desks in offices across America), and at some point, one of the many companies who produced those dolls decided it was time to make them into puppets and do a sing-a-long...
27 tags
30 tags
14 tags
#148 - Foxy Boxing (Stewart Dell; 1986)
By Dan Kinem The second I pulled this VHS out of the box and saw the misprinted tape label that read “Foxing Boxing,” I knew this was going to be as cheesy, fun, and sleazy as humanly possible. And it did not disappoint. The whole idea of foxy boxing is genius: take two girls who are as pissed as possible and throw them in a ring with hardly any clothes on. Not only were all the...
12 tags
Dan was interviewed by Lunchmeat Magazine! →
Make sure to check out this interview! It covers the upcoming documentary and collecting in general.
10 tags
15 tags
#147- The Invisible Maniac (Rif Coogan; 1990)
by Tim May
This is how you do a sex comedy/slasher! Nearly every woman in Rif Coogan’s The Invisible Maniac is naked at some point. The (admittedly dubious) anticipation which goes along with each reveal lends some fun to what could have been a relatively run-of-the-mill experience.
In a surprisingly effective opening credit sequence, a little dork named Kevin Dornwinkle is using his trusty...
26 tags
22 tags
#146 - The Mummy's Dungeon (G.W. Lawrence; 1993)
By Dan Kinem There’s some movies that are so bad you wish you were never born, and then there’s The Mummy’s Dungeon. This is a sleazy piece of shot-on-video fetish horror that is the movie equivalent to the shit that splashed up under the toilet bowl. It’s the type of movie that fails on every conceivable level so bad that it might legally be defined as a torture device. ...
22 tags
#145- Jerry Maguire (Cameron Crowe; 1996)
by Tim May
We’ve got a rare one for you today, folks! The obscure romantic dramedy Jerry Maguire is another overlooked film by generally overlooked filmmaker Cameron Crowe, whose other movies include the forgotten teen film Say Anything and the unfairly hated Almost Famous. He finally scored a massive hit last year with We Bought a Zoo, a film which will penetrate our culture for years to...
March 2012
10 posts
18 tags
#144- Rock 'n' Roll High School Forever (Deborah...
by Tim May
Allan Arkush’s 1978 Roger Corman-produced, P.J. Soles-starring, Ramones-featuring teenage rebellion movie Rock ‘n’ Roll High School has long been one of my favorites, and I’ve long been curious about its latter day Corey Feldman-starring sequel, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School Forever.
The sequel picks up many years after the events of the first film, the end of which, you’ll recall,...
14 tags
14 tags
#143- Biohazard (Fred Olen Ray; 1985)
by Tim May
Biohazard is pretty obvious in its badness. Yes, it’s sometimes very funny, but all of its big moments feel trite, recycled from every movie you’ve ever seen on Mystery Science Theater. I know it seems ridiculous to complain about unoriginal flaws, but when you watch a lot of this kind of stuff, a bad line reading or shitty creature effect just doesn’t cut it anymore.
That’s not to...
14 tags
#142- The Worm Eaters (Herb Robins; 1977)
by Tim May
The opening credits of Herb Robins’s The Worm Eaters set the tone for the film which follows. Names appear over crude illustrations of worms acting like humans—eating dinner, prancing around in the sun and whatnot. This is all set to an obnoxious song which endlessly chants, “Nobody likes me, everybody hates me, guess I’ll go eat worms!” Ugh. This was going to be one of those movies....
12 tags
#141 - Zapped! (Robert J. Rosenthal; 1982)
By Dan Kinem What do you get when you mix three teen TV stars: Scott Baio (Happy Days, Charles in Charge), Willie Aames (Eight is Enough), and Felice Schachter (Facts of Life), with weed, alcohol, telekinesis, and horniness? You get Zapped!, one of the most fun teen sex comedies of all-time! Barney (Baio) is a geek who has never had any luck with the ladies. He is the school’s leading...
18 tags
18 tags
#140 - The Legend of the Hawaiian Slammers...
By Dan Kinem The Pog phenomenon is one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of our time. There’s no reason why tiny round cardboard discs should exist, let alone why they were one of the most popular children’s games of the 1990s. I mean, video games existed, yet somehow Pogs became popular — popular enough to have a 30-minute animated special based on them, too! Now don’t get it...
5 tags
Anyone going to HorrorHound or Cinema Wasteland?
I will be at both of these. HorrorHound I will be around all day Saturday the 24th and at Cinema Wasteland all day Saturday the 29th. If you want to buy a copy of Gore-Met Zombie Chef from Hell or Hellroller, look for the guy with the beard. I might also have some VHS for sale. Or if you want to give me some VHS, talk VHS, or buy me a drink, hit me up. If you’re going to be at either, feel...
25 tags
#139 - Rana: The Legend of Shadow Lake (aka...
By Dan Kinem If you couldn’t tell by the bad ass cover, Rana: The Legend of Shadow Lake is about a crazy half-frog/half-human monster and his regular-sized frog minions fiercely and furiously protecting a mountain of gold at the bottom of a lake. Sadly, few plot outlines have promised so much, yet delivered so little. The movie focuses more on the boring lives of the characters rather than...
15 tags
#138- VR Troopers: Lost Memories (John Grant Wiel;...
by Tim May
After the massive success of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, Saban Entertainment quickly tried to expand their brand by producing new shows in a similar fashion; simply shoot cheap new footage and edit it around already existing action scenes from Japanese tokusatsu shows and you’ve got an instant new toy line to shove down the throats of American boys, ages 6-11.
Originally, VR...
February 2012
11 posts
17 tags
#137 - Gorgon Video Magazine (Stuart S. Shapiro;...
By Dan Kinem This is what’s so great about video. Who the hell wants to read a magazine when you can watch it? I, for one, love reading magazines, but I’m looking out for the Dabeedos out there (who physically can’t read). This was, plain and simple, a genius idea. It’s like taking Gorezone magazine and bringing it to life, and I can think of no better company than Gorgon...
10 tags
#136- My Uncle: the Alien (Henri Charr; 1996)
by Tim May
If you’d like to be an amateur sociologist through the observation of popular children’s entertainment, the ‘80s was a time when kids craved adventure (The Goonies) and maturity (Stand by Me). By the ‘90s, crack and AIDS had ravaged the children of America, leaving only one desire: lots of fucking money. Films like Blank Check celebrated the joys of unchecked laissez-faire capitalism...
18 tags
#135 - Summer School (aka Mag Wheels) (Bethel...
By Dan Kinem It’s been way too long since the last sex comedy review, and what better way to kick it off then with the radical, racy, and reckless, Summer School! The whole three R’s thing doesn’t actually work for me. I would much rather go with my own list (which you need to learn, ‘cause there’ll be a test on it), “The Five B’s”… Babes,...
20 tags
Interview with Dave Duncan, filmmaker/owner of...
By Dan Kinem To round out our Camelot Studios weekend, we have an interview with Dave Duncan! Dave has been working in film since the mid-80s on such cult films as The Hackers and Black River Monster. He is also the current owner of Camelot Studios, who distributed VHS in the 1980s, and the former owner of two video stores. VHShitfest is proud to have the first interview with Dave about these...
24 tags
#134 - The Hackers (John Duncan; 1988)
By Dan Kinem Anyone who’s read any of my reviews knows there’s nothing better than a slasher, except for a slasher that was shat-on-hideo that is. The Hackers is one of the rarest of its kind and is likely on most horror fans’ wishlists, if they’ve heard of it. The second I saw the cover I knew I must own this movie, no matter what it took. Thankfully, the hype I built...
12 tags
#133- Black River Monster (John Duncan; 1986)
by Tim May
Welcome to Camelot Studios weekend! This interesting Michigan based studio released six movies in the mid-to-late eighties including The Earhunter (1985), Black River Magic (1985), The Black River Horse Capades (year unknown), and The Hackers (1988). The company still exists, though they no longer produce features; these days, they prefer to focus on commercials and industrial videos....
8 tags
16 tags
1 tag
We did it! Through hours of time-wasting, I...
Now all of you go “like” us on Facebook! Love, Dan
11 tags
#132- Gary Coleman: For Safety's Sake (Leslie H....
by Tim May
Normally, when looking for things to review, I like to find tapes with a certain kitsch value. For Safety’s Sake, a children’s instructional video hosted by one of America’s favorite jokes (until his death in 2010), Gary Coleman, seemed to fit the bill.
Sadly, beyond its entertaining opening sequence, For Safety’s Sake is pretty boring. Gary Coleman uses the “magic of computers” to...
16 tags
#131 - Scream Queens Swimsuit Sensations (John A....
By Dan Kinem There’s certain tapes I get that make me love the fact VHS existed. The whole idea of this direct-to-video scream queens “sexy workout” is absurd, yet, in the VHS era this made perfect sense. It’s the type of thing every horror fan would’ve had to buy, but the type of thing none of them would have enjoyed more than once (if that) and the type of thing...
January 2012
5 posts
14 tags
#130- Magico, el enviado de los dioses (Angel...
by Tim May
Like the Superman of 1938, Magico’s title character is a social justice superhero. Although he battles a group of supervillains, Magico spends most of his energy saving women from would be rapists and drunken wife beaters. That seems to be the case, anyway. As you can probably tell, Magico is a Mexican shot on video “film”—in Spanish with no subtitles. I’ve rarely...
7 tags
One last reminder!
If you haven’t gotten our release of Gore-Met Zombie Chef from Hell then you better make sure to do it soon! We are trying to get rid of the rest of the stock we have and once they are gone, they are gone. We put a lot of work into the release and would like to get them all sold out soon. Anyone who has ordered or orders this week, the DVD will ship this weekend! Thanks everyone for helping...
Anonymous asked: Is the doc you're working on called Rewind This? I saw it on Kickstarter but not on here and I'm confused a bit.
19 tags
#129 - Invasion of the Mindbenders (aka Alien...
By Dan Kinem There’s some cult rarities that slip through the cracks, then there’s movies like this, that must have literally slipped into a crack in the earth which sent it back to the prehistoric times of the dinosaurs ala the 90s Land of the Lost show, because no one I know has ever said anything about this movie. I’ve never heard this one brought up in conversation or seen...
7 tags
December 2011
9 posts
29 tags
Interview with Author and Actor, David Henry...
Interview by Dan Kinem David Henry Sterry is an author, comedian, and actor, who has written thirteen acclaimed books and been acting since the 1980s. He has acted in everything from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to the VHShitfest favorite, Hellroller, where he played two roles, Dr. Kosloff and the King of the Bums. I was lucky enough to conduct a phone interview with the man about his entire career,...
11 tags
8 tags
Documentary details! Everyone read!
As you may or may not have heard, we begin shooting our documentary on VHS culture and why VHS is amazing January 3rd or 4th until about the 9th. We need to know if anyone in the Philadelphia, NJ, NYC area would like to be interviewed. Any help would be much appreciated. We would basically come and ask you a few questions and maybe get some shots of your collection or you hitting up a local video...
23 tags
#128- Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Alpha's...
by Tim May
Merry Christmas, ‘shitheads! To celebrate this, the greatest of all holidays, let’s look back on the understandably overlooked “Alpha’s Magical Christmas,” one of two original direct-to-video holiday themed Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers programs.
As I’m sure most of you know, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers was a wildly successful children’s action show in which five “teenagers with...
7 tags
