The Video Shop

[Twocky61]

Re: The Video Shop

We had a walk in BT van in yellow that called at your house & you could rent VHS films/movies

[staffslad]

Re: The Video Shop

A video shop I joined in 1989 had a book of tickets you could buy for £9.99. The tickets were offers like free rentals, 2 for 1, and so on. I think it was called Chaplin's and had a picture of Charlie Chaplin as its logo. I don't know if they were independents or part of a chain.

[staffslad]

Re: The Video Shop

I may have mentioned this previously but one of the first--maybe the first--video shops I joined in Summer 1980 made you pay a £20 deposit, but that deposit was then used as your rental fee--£1 per video.

In the late 80s and into the 90s some independent video shops had a free magazine advertising new releases, maybe published monthly or bi-monthly.

[OptimusPrime1980]

Re: The Video Shop

My dad was a member of a video shop above another shop called Saul's. We used to go every Saturday and he'd rent us a film to watch while he and my mam went to the bingo.

I remember being very disappointed when they had just rented out No Holds Barred one week. Eventually saw it and now we have it on DVD. I remember being in awe of Jeep Swenson as Lugwrench Perkins, even though he was only on screen for seconds. His arms were huge.

[darren]

Re: The Video Shop

now thats unusual him not taking the cash when you rent them but ask for it when you leave them back.

Perhaps cause it was not the same person who rented them was the same person leaving them back.

I can even some video shops we had in town only opened like say 3 or 4 hrs per day.

i remember global had this weird pay when you return them rather than pay to take them out rental set up. One day me an a mate were driving past global and he hands me a pile of videos and asks me to hand them in. I go in, dump them on the counter and start making my way out. The guy serving then starts shouting "you pay for these on return". I'm a bit confused at this point as i wasn't expecting a bill and shout something back like "they're not my tapes". Very strange set up, why would you not take the cash when the customer is first hiring them?

[Mulletino]

Re: The Video Shop

In the 80s I often used the video shop as a cheap source of entertainment for girlfriends when I was short of money. A cheap date would be a trip to the video shop with girlfriend and choose a couple of videos--one each. It was almost always a romcom or blockbuster that my girlfriend would choose and, of course, my choice would have to be limited to something the girlfriend wouldn't mind--no video nasties. Then it would be back to our house and watch them while eating snacks. Sometimes my parents would be there or sometimes they were out, so I would often have to carry the VCR into the back room and connect it up to an old B+W portable, but my girlfriend didn't seem to mind.

The original "Netflix and chill". I'd do the same, we'd go to the video store, get a movie or two and some snacks, then get the duvet from the bed and sit on the sofa to watch them. Unless it was at mine as I had a decent VCR and surround system in my room so we'd watch them on the bed. I do still have a copy of Air America on VHS that I forgot to take back many years ago which I got out with a GF.

[trip2themoon]

Re: The Video Shop

I remember Global had this weird pay when you return them rather than pay to take them out rental set up. One day me an a mate were driving past Global and he hands me a pile of videos and asks me to hand them in. I go in, dump them on the counter and start making my way out. The guy serving then starts shouting "you pay for these on return". I'm a bit confused at this point as I wasn't expecting a bill and shout something back like "they're not my tapes". Very strange set up, why would you not take the cash when the customer is first hiring them?

[darren]

Re: The Video Shop

No probs at all.

Theres tons of nasties on youtube uncut.

I just loved going to my local video shops after school and looking at the incredibly scary looking box covers.

One shop ill never forget it had like a never ending set of steps:d by the time you got too the top you where very tired.

It was really smoky as well full of cigarette smoke few times i thought i was gonna choke.

thanks for the info on contamination and zombie flesh eaters. Darren, i think most of the video shops i used to frequent are still in existence, though none now trade as video rental shops. a few are boarded up but most are now small shops, selling various things. I really miss not having a video shop.

Demoneyex, absolutely right. It's a way of finding a scapegoat for the ills of society. A simple solution...just ban video nasties and those ills will go away...only they didn't. It is far from being a new phenomenon, though. In the mid 1800s, crime and bad behaviour was blamed on penny dreadfuls. In the 1950s, it was horror and crime comics that were lambasted for the rise in teenage crime. Video nasties got the blame in the 1980s and a little later violent video games were the thing that was resulting in vilent crime. Doubtless, this scapegoating will continue in the future.

[staffslad]

Re: The Video Shop

In the 80s I often used the video shop as a cheap source of entertainment for girlfriends when I was short of money. A cheap date would be a trip to the video shop with girlfriend and choose a couple of videos--one each. It was almost always a romcom or blockbuster that my girlfriend would choose and, of course, my choice would have to be limited to something the girlfriend wouldn't mind--no video nasties. Then it would be back to our house and watch them while eating snacks. Sometimes my parents would be there or sometimes they were out, so I would often have to carry the VCR into the back room and connect it up to an old B+W portable, but my girlfriend didn't seem to mind.

[staffslad]

Re: The Video Shop

Hi Arran, do you mean it was found to be illegal due to the actual banning of films, rather than just censoring them?

[Arran]

Re: The Video Shop

The Video Recordings Act 1984 was found to be illegal under EU law because it contravened free trade in goods. It was the sort of knee-jerk legislation that the Westminster government could get away with back in the early 1980s but after 1992 it became unlawful. The person responsible for passing the Video Recordings Act 1984 was Graham Bright, the former Conservative MP for Luton South, who later banned raves under Sections 63 to 67 The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 "music with repetitive beats" and is now the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire.

[angliaknight]

Re: The Video Shop

Ah video nasties, back in the '80s it was my goal to own them all uncut which i did and penned some reviews for a couple of fanzines.To be honest most were just low budget grade z stinkers, BLOOD FEAST by H G Lewis made back in the '60s was the oldest title on the list, he was featured on the Jonathon Ross prog' "incredible strange film show" worth checking out on youtube.
Then there was the "cannibal" genre featuring actual animal cruelty which when viewed today is horrific to say the least, i would never watch these again, the absolute worst is CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST by Deodato which ended with the producers appearing in court defending the movie over a scene involving a girl who was rumoured to be killed for real on camera.
If anyone would like any info' on any particular title on the nasties list i may be able to help.
I don't own any of these titles now , sold them off years ago and came out quite nicely, but have fond memories of trading/swapping pirate copies to get the best uncut quality possible.

[staffslad]

Re: The Video Shop

Thanks for the info on Contamination and Zombie Flesh Eaters. Darren, I think most of the video shops I used to frequent are still in existence, though none now trade as video rental shops. A few are boarded up but most are now small shops, selling various things. I really miss not having a video shop.

Demoneyex, absolutely right. It's a way of finding a scapegoat for the ills of society. A simple solution...just ban video nasties and those ills will go away...only they didn't. It is far from being a new phenomenon, though. In the mid 1800s, crime and bad behaviour was blamed on penny dreadfuls. In the 1950s, it was horror and crime comics that were lambasted for the rise in teenage crime. Video nasties got the blame in the 1980s and a little later violent video games were the thing that was resulting in vilent crime. Doubtless, this scapegoating will continue in the future.

[DemonEyeX]

Re: The Video Shop

They are both available uncut.
What I find amusing is that these films were once supposed to be responsible for the downfall of society.
Now Contamination is a 15 certificate & Zombie Flesh Eaters has been shown uncut on TV.
How things change eh !

What pre certs have you paid £100 & over for Darren ?

[darren]

Re: The Video Shop

Both are uncut on yt. Mate.

Are any of your local video shops still about i mean even the actual building itself.

One of mine is just across the road from me.

i remember seeing contamination in its pre-cert version and really enjoying it. Then it disappeared for a while after the vra. Scanning the shelves a few years later i was surprised and delighted to see it there again and immediately rented it. I was horrified upon viewing it to discover that it had been butchered of most of its gore effects. Similarly with zombie flesh eaters, though i think both are now available intact.