In addition to hosting a ton of new genre fiction, each year Arrow Video FrightFest also champions new non-fiction films, screening a handful of exciting documentaries. This year there are three on the line-up. There is Orchestrator of Storms – a film about the career of Jean Rollin, and Living with Chucky – a documentary from Kyra Gardner, daughter of Child’s Play’s head puppeteer Tony Gardener. The final documentary selection is Cult of VHS, a nostalgia heavy lookback at our relationship with those black cassette tapes.
Directed by Rob Preciado, Cult of VHS explores a variety of aspects of the history of VHS. Beginning with a section titled ‘VHS Memories’, the documentary features interviews with a host of faces from the film industry, from filmmaker, to distributor. The roster of interviewees also include a couple of familiar FrightFest faces with appearances from both Josh Stifter and Kristian A. Söderström. As each person recounts their first experience with VHS, whether that was recording movies off of the TV at home, or the weekly trip to the video store, it encourages the viewer to reminisce about their own experiences.
After this very personal and anecdotal opening chapter, Cult of VHS interviews a group of collectors.It is fascinating that, even after all these years when VHS was replaced by DVD, people are still adding to their collections. Hearing their reasons for starting or continuing to collect is captivating; their passion spills off of the screen. The next few sections analyse VHS art – which has lengthy words from FrightFest poster designer (and all round amazing artist), Graham Humphreys – VHS Filmmaking, and of course the Video Nasty era. VHS and Video Nasties are synonymous with one another and the toe-dip discussion here should be enough to push those unfamiliar with the time period to seek out more information.
The visual format of documentaries can sometimes look a little flat. When your format is stitching a lot of talking heads together it can be hard to inject many flourishes. Preciado does attempt to add a few little touches. These additions are nothing Earth shattering, but do reinforce the theme of the piece. One simple inclusion is that all the guest name stamps have been ‘written’ onto a VHS label. It’s a subtle touch, but one that makes things a little more fun. The opening titles also heighten the fun factor. There’s a riff on The Thing for the title reveal, which points to Cult of VHS being slightly less stuffy than some other documentaries.
With at least parts of Cult of VHS filmed during the pandemic there is varying quality to the interview footage. Whilst some are recording on camera, others are captured via the likes of Zoom and similar. Although switching from crisply captured footage to grainier footage is a little distracting at first, it actually works given the subject matter.
Cult of VHS may be a love letter to the defunct format, but that doesn’t stop it being honest. At several points people refer to it as “shitty vinyl” with one interviewee calling out that it’s just an “awful format that has become laced with nostalgia.” It’s a fitting description and one that highlight’s how it isn’t necessarily the tapes themselves, but rather their contents and the memories connected to them, that makes them still feel so special. A loving ode to a bygone era, Cult of VHS captures that sense of warmth that comes only from looking back at more innocent times.
Cult of VHS
Summary
An informed documentary that beautifully champions the life of a defunct media format.
Cult of VHS was reviewed at Arrow Video FrightFest 2022.
