One of the things I am most nostalgic about was going to the video store on a Friday night and picking out something with my friends, girlfriend, or family.
It was this formative experience that held so much excitement in your heart. You knew that when you pressed play, you were going somewhere incredible, somewhere magic.
Now, I'm just fat and scroll on my couch until I accept a title or fall asleep.
The thrill is gone!
But there are a few lessons I think filmmakers can learn from this era that could help them now.
Let's dive in.
'Jersey Girl' Credit: Miramax
1. The Economics of the "Cover Art Pick"
During the VHS boom, the direct-to-rental revenue model created a unique ecosystem where you had to make your cover art stand out.
If it didn't, no one would rent your movie.
You had to grab someone walking past with buzzwords and ideas.
Also, you needed a video store to stock your tape. Studios sold rental tapes to stores for $60 to $100 a pop. To recoup that investment, rental stores needed movies with immediate physical shelf appeal.
If your tape was ugly, they didn't buy it.
So how can you make your VHS box...or one sheet today...stand out?
2. Why Streaming Buried the Mid-Budget Tape
When physical distribution shifted to streaming platforms, the middle tier of rentals vanished.
I miss a time when you could find VHS tapes of movies you had never heard of; we see so many movies disappearing nowadays.
Streaming services prioritize two extremes: IP that gets clicks or extremely cheap ideas that cost nothing and take no risks.
None of this is sustainable...or even interesting!
The VHS era had these things called ghost hits. They were basically movies that bombed in theaters and then blew up at home, like The Shawshank Redemption, Donnie Darko, and Idiocracy.
Big movies and cult classics that got celebrated.
3. What Filmmakers Can Learn from the VHS Aesthetic
The physical tape era is gone, and yes, I am happier with my 4Ks. But there's some visual storytelling I've lost, too.
VHS rentals had to deliver on their promise within the first 10 minutes, or viewers flipped to a different tape or just returned it. Well, streaming is similar, but it's not as tactile.
Hook them early, and you have them rewinding and loving it.
Back in the day, we had mid-budget movies.
Now, I know mid-budget movies have gone, but the magic of them was that they were visually experimental. They relied heavily on stylized practical lighting and tangible locations rather than digital to set the genre and tone. Bring back aggressive lighting!
More importantly, these old VHS movies didn't waste runtime setting up sequels or cinematic universes; every script had a clear beginning, middle, and definitive climax.
Sure, sequels happened, but stories ended and were better for it.
Summing It All Up
Renting a movie feels like a forgotten art. The nostalgia of just clicking through something doesn't hit the same. But we always have our memories, and we can seek out the video stores that are left and make sure they get the patrons to stay open.
