A Stroll Down VHS Lane

Lately I have been feeling really nostalgic and I guess that’s because it’s summer and my buddy and I have been planning a 90s day since last October, so to celebrate that I decided to take a trip down Memory Lane or should I say… VHS Lane. Yes, I’m coming back to the VHS days of the 90s and possibly 80s. A while ago I posted an article about why I love VHS’ and the memories that came with it but today I think I will reminisce on some of my favorite VHS horror movies that I used to watch. It’s important to note that some of these movies I do not like any more because they are really bad, but you have to understand that the oldest I recall ever watching these was about 11-years-old. So without further adieu, I present to you the movies:

This was one of those movies that… for some reason, I loved. The effects are really dated now but my God did I go crazy every time something happened. It bares a lot of resemblance to Arachnid, which I didn’t see until later on.

Oh boy, this was a slow-moving film as I recall. Although it did have a eerie atmosphere that always kept me on edge. I don’t recall ever getting scared from it but it kept me entertained enough to rent the movie 15 times after I saw it.

I remember this movie because it looked awesome and the font they used to spell out the title peaked my artistic instincts. I watched it and I thought it was beyond awesome. As I look back on it now, it’s stupid, it’s poorly shot, it’s not even suspenseful and the effects are laughable.

Back in the day, I could quote this movie inside and out. Not only did it have one of the best kills scenes involving an asshole realtor but it also had Van Dien, Englund and Zabka. Plus, I marveled at how awesome the CGI was. It’s not a bad movie, even now. This was the first movie I recorded from the VHS onto another VHS.

What could be said about this movie? I remember it having a very slow start but picking up in the middle. I was always afraid of the dentist because of the sound the drill made and the fact that I kept watching it only heightened my fear.

I was never scared of this movie but I do remember watching it over and over because of how fun it was. I had to have been about 10 or so and I remember seeing one of the most trippiest hospital scenes ever. Hell, to scare some of my friends I actually created an urban legend based on this movie.

I’m hoping to do a video review of this someday but like Python, I can quote this movie inside and out. I loved the ridiculous acting, the nods to other horror films, the incredible soundtrack and the gore. All of which made my 11-yearl-old brain happy. Rest in pieces… motherfucker!

I wore the hell out of this tape because of how many times I rewound the scene where the old guy gets crushed by the telephone pole. As a kid, this was one of those incredibly brutal and haunting movies because it had Satan himself attacking this small town. It’s dated and really corny but that’s okay.

And of course, Milo. What an awful movie but somehow I gravitated to it. I never understood why but I guess it’s because it had one of those imposing trailers that I saw at the time. If my memory is correct it was on the VHS tape for Shadowbuilder. Strange.

So there you have it, little piece of my childhood preserved inside the VHS tapes of these films. Each one connecting back to a day in my life where I used to act out all the scenes and close m eyes in fear. Though some of the movies are really bad, I could never completely hate them because of how they affected me as a kid. In fact, the movies above are probably the first line of horror films I was ever exposed to and somewhere in that mix is The Blob ’88 and The Thing.

So , what were some of your favorite VHS horror movies as a kid?