Every child of the 80s will remember going to the video store and trying to find a movie to rent. Back before the days of Blu-ray and On Demand, selecting a movie usually meant finding the flick with the coolest box art. Like modern posters, classic VHS art has been lost but thanks to the Internet there are countless reminders of these cool creations. This column will be dedicated to bringing you reminders of a bygone era and a look at how cool some of these movies looked on store shelves.
THE OUTING
My favorite thing to do at video stores was look for boxes I had never see before. More often than not, the cover art was much, much better than the film inside. From what I have heard, THE OUTING is actually a halfway decent flick, but with covers like this, it looks like a damn masterpiece. Click here to purchase on Blu-ray/DVD.
DEATH WARMED UP
Based on the cover, this could be a disturbing horror film or a concert movie for Iron Maiden. Either way, you have piqued my interest any time you have a person with the face of a skeleton. I don't know why but it always draws me in. Click here to purchase on Blu-ray/DVD.
SLAVE GIRLS FROM BEYOND INFINITY
There are movies and there are films. While movies may be shot on film, that doesn't make them films. SLAVE GIRLS FROM BEYOND INFINITY had no hope of being a film, especially with box art like these, but it does look like one hell of a movie. Click here to purchase on Blu-ray/DVD.
FUNLAND
A fear of clowns is not that irrational. I mean, just look at those creepy f*ckers. The pale screen and painted on smile that could be hiding any expression underneath. Clowns are just chilling. Put them in an isolated theme park and add guns and you have a terrifying concept Click here to purchase on Blu-ray/DVD.
IT LIVES AGAIN
A lot of sequels are wholly unnecessary and this follow-up to IT'S ALIVE definitely shouldn't exist. But, when you take the innocence of babies and turn it into something horrific, you are bound to intrigue some viewers. These covers look like a cross between ROSEMARY'S BABY and BASKET CASE. Click here to purchase on VHS.
GAME OF DEATH
The legendary Bruce Lee died before he completed this film, but his memorable yellow jumpsuit has lived on in film history. Inspiring The Bride's outfit in KILL BILL, this is more than enough to give fans instant recognition of the closing fight scenes from this lesser film in Lee's filmography. Click here to purchase on Blu-ray/DVD.
Feel free to pop us your favorite VHS box art and come back for each future column. You can send your finds or photos of your own VHS tapes to alexmaidy@joblo.com
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