VHS Massacre: Cult Films and the Decline of Physical Media

Jun 20, 2016

1h 12m

★ 5.3

Overview

This lively documentary explores the rise and fall of physical media from the origin of film all the way through the video store era into digital media, focusing on B-movie and cult films. With icons like Joe Bob Briggs (MonsterVision), Lloyd Kaufman (Toxic Avenger), Greg Sestero (The Room), Debbie Rochon (Return to Nuke 'Em High), Deborah Reed (Troll 2), Mark Frazer (Samurai Cop), James Nguyen (Birdemic) and many others.

Genres

Documentary

Comedy

History

Horror

Science Fiction

Production Companies

New York Cine Productions

VHS Massacre Films

VHS Massacre: Cult Films and the Decline of Physical Media Trailers

Cast

Self

Lloyd Kaufman

Self (archive footage)

Ellen Muth

Self

Juliette Danielle

Self

Greg Sestero

Self

Debbie Rochon

Self

Deborah Reed

Self (scenes deleted)

Phil Hall

Self

Mark Frazer

Self [Joe Bob Briggs from Drive-in Theater]

John Bloom

Self

James Nguyen

Self

Mike Aransky

Self

Alan Bagh

In 17th-century Tuscany, a church play is performed for the benefit of young aristocrat Cosimo. In the play, a grotesque old woman gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The child's older sister is quick to exploit the situation, selling blessings from the baby, and even claiming she's the true mother by virgin birth. However, when she attempts to seduce the bishop's son, the Church exacts a terrible revenge.

5.8

Deadlier Than the Male

Feb 12, 1967

British agent Bulldog Drummond is assigned to stop a master criminal who uses beautiful women to do his killings.

6.5

Carry On Screaming!

May 20, 1966

The sinister Dr. Watt has an evil scheme going—he's kidnapping beautiful young women and turning them into mannequins to sell to local stores. Fortunately for him, Detective Sergeant Bung is on the case, and he doesn't have a clue!

6.1

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

Jun 17, 1970

An all-girl rock band moves to Hollywood in the hope of achieving success, only to fall into a whirlpool of wickedness and decadence.

4.6

Killer Workout

Apr 16, 1987

Two years ago, a young woman named Valerie was burned after entering a tanning salon. Now, Rhonda runs a local gym where all of a sudden, people are being murdered.

2.8

Man of the Year

Sep 15, 1995

First-time director Dirk Shafer also penned this raucous "mockumentary," a blend of fact and fiction that re-creates his 1992 reign as Playgirl magazine's Centerfold of the Year. When Shafer chooses to keep the fact that he's gay a secret from the magazine's editors, he finds himself living the ultimate lie -- and incapable of giving female readers what they really want. Will he succumb to his lover's pressures to come out of the closet?

5.2

Hannah Takes the Stairs

Aug 22, 2007

Hannah is a recent college graduate interning at a Chicago production company. She is crushing on two writers at work, Matt and Paul, who share an office and keep her entertained. Will a relationship with one of them disrupt the delicate balance of their friendship?

3.2

Ombis: Alien Invasion

May 18, 2013

Peaceful, rustic Metzburgh is a quiet village which was a former industrial town whose glory days are long past after the collapse of Metzburgh Grain. Teenager Mark Lowe (Jason John Beebe) and his ex-girlfriend Lucy Greenheart (Sarah Manzella) are stuck in a lovers quarrel when a meteorite crash lands in the passive community. Glen (Robert Bozek ), an ex-employee of the grain silos who became homeless after the collapse of the mills, stumbles upon the fiery crash. Unaware that his find could be dangerous, he gets too close and a chemical poison sprays out of the meteorite, enveloping him. The chemical agent known as Ombis begins to turn his insides into a slimly substance. Unable to stop the spread of the infection, Glen runs onto the road where Mark and Lucy find him. The two take him to the only Doctor in town, Doctor D (Deborah Manzella) Mark and Lucy are shocked by their gruesome discovery and immediately contact the local Sheriff Thomas Brackett (Richard Satterwhite).

4.8

Without You I'm Nothing

May 11, 1990

Sandra Bernhard stars in a studio version of her off-Broadway show, blending re-enactments of the original show's pieces with concept vignettes and 'testimonials' to underscore the relationship between a performer and an audience.

6.3

Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom

Jan 10, 1976

Four corrupted fascist libertines round up 9 teenage boys and girls and subject them to 120 days of sadistic physical, mental and sexual torture.

5.9

Trancers

Nov 7, 1984

Angel City trooper Jack Deth is sent back in time from 2247 to 1985 L.A. to inhabit the body of his ancestor. Deth's assignment is to find his archenemy, Whistler, who turns people into zombies, before the fiend is able to kill all the ancestors of the future's governing council.

4.5

A Night In Heaven

Nov 18, 1983

Faye Hanlon is a community-college professor with an emotionally depressed husband and an abundance of sexual frustration. Her sister drags her to a male strip-club for a girls-night out, where she discovers that one of the dancers is her failing student Rick Monroe, a.k.a. "Ricky the Rocket". A heated affair between teacher & student ensues, as Faye struggles to reconcile her emotions and make consequential life choices: Continue her lustful sessions with the studly-but-shallow teen stripper? Or break it off with Ricky & work to salvage her marriage to the loving-but-distant husband?

7.0

The Band's Visit

Sep 13, 2007

A small Egyptian police band travels to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab arts center, only to find themselves stuck in the wrong town.

3.3

Dreamers

Jun 9, 2000

Growing up in small-town America, two friends dream about escaping their confining families to search for their dreams and freedom in the big city. Arriving in Los Angeles, the two discover the harsh realities of the city as they enter the shadowy world of the film business. Ultimately, the two friends must choose between love and friendship and soon discover that life has its own destiny for everyone.

5.0

Vampire City

Mar 13, 2009

The search for the murderer of his father leads Robert Van Helsing to Vienna. There he meets Count Dracula and the beautiful girls Pia and Isabelle. Together they are fighting against the evil Vampire Queen.

6.6

Carry On Cleo

Nov 8, 1964

Two Britons—inventor Hengist Pod, and Horse, a brave and cunning fighter—are captured and enslaved by invading Romans and taken to Rome. One of their first encounters in Rome leaves Hengist being mistaken for a fighter, and gets drafted into the Royal Guard to protect Cleopatra.

6.1

Death Race 2000

Apr 30, 1975

In a boorish future, the government sponsors a popular, but bloody, cross-country race in which points are scored by mowing down pedestrians. Five teams, each comprised of a male and female, compete using cars equipped with deadly weapons. Frankenstein, the mysterious returning champion, has become America's hero, but this time he has a passenger from the underground resistance.

7.5

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Jul 20, 2001

Raised a boy in East Berlin, Hedwig undergoes a personal transformation in order to emigrate to the U.S., where she reinvents herself as an 'internationally ignored' but divinely talented rock diva, inhabiting a 'beautiful gender of one'.

4.7

Fifty Pills

Apr 26, 2006

Unless Darren can survive New York's largest drug mogul, write a paper on Dante's "Inferno," escape three thugs chasing the wrong guy and sell fifty pills of ecstasy to make his tuition payment, he'll never date the girl of his dreams.

6.6

Two Hands

Jul 29, 1999

19-year-old Jimmy is just scraping by in the red-light district of Sydney. When local crime lord Pando offers him a shot at working for his syndicate, Jimmy jumps at the chance to deliver a costly package. But, when Jimmy gets jacked by a couple of kids, he's indebted to the dangerous gangster for $10,000. Running out of time, he schemes to rob a bank to save himself and a beautiful girl he desires from a gruesome demise.