(Plain Press March 2025) Remember the VHS/Beta tape era? Back then, one could rent a motion picture from the nearest video store in your neighborhood and watch it in the privacy of your own home without any interruptions. No longer did you have to go to a crowded theater and fight for a good seat to watch the latest movie release. In addition, if you missed the airing of your favorite movie on television, you no longer had to wait until the following year to catch the next airing. You could just go down to your local video store and rent the movie. Some movie die-hard fans transformed their basements into a miniature theater, along with huge screens and speakers, to mimic the effect of their nearest movie house.

     The video home system (VHS) was a threat to the movie studios. Back then, many movies that major studios produced went right to video cassette instead of the drive-ins and movie theaters. Then, once video camcorders became available to the consumer, amateur filmmakers tried their hand at producing and directing their own motion pictures. They would be filmed directly onto VHS tapes and sold on the market. This started the trend of producing movies outside of the watchful eye of Hollywood executives. These home-made movies were distributed without any censorship from the Motion Picture Association of America. They consisted of over-the-top gore and were referred to as “Video Nasties.”

     During the month of March, you can catch a flashback of this glorious time in history. Make sure to watch the documentary, “VHS: Video Home System” on Cox Cable, Channel 45 on Sundays at 9 PM; or on Cleveland Spectrum, on Mondays at 9 PM on Channel 1025. For more information contact Kevin at: Kevin@ShockerEnterprises.com or call; 216-230-1840