Find of the Week (12/30/12 - 1/5/13)

The Ripper (1985) VHS

Value: $4 on Amazon.com

Actual Cost: $0.50

Ok, this isn't a super good find in terms of value-to-actual-cost ratio. The reason it's the find of the week is because it's another shot-on-tape horror movie (and I didn't buy anything else valuable this week)! I'm lucking out this month! Shot-on-tape, or shot-on-video, is my favorite subgenre, if you can call it that, of horror.

How does The Ripper fare compared to other SOV horror? I don't know. It's not exactly renowned for being good or anything. We'll see when I watch it. I'm excited to see how it turns out. I am a fan of the starring actor Tom Savini. I loved his remake of Night of the Living Dead, preferring it to anything ever made by George Romero. On the other hand, I am not a fan of horror movies that follow the life of the killer. (When A Stranger Calls is the exception because that film was genius.)

Maybe I'll start a shot-on-tape horror review feature. I own a few others on bootleg DVD, so it could be interesting. I'll watch it soon and let you know what I think.

Find of the Week (12/2/12 - 12/8/12)

I shop a lot. Often times I look for old VHS tapes/laserdiscs, video games, board games, etc. I have a few establishments I frequent, from thrift stores to flea markets to retro game stores (some of which give me discounts regularly).

Last week, I stopped by the top local thrift store for board gaming, Value World. I did manage to find a couple of board games, which I picked up (Nab-It and Beyond Balderdash). Having gone over their room of hundreds of games and puzzles, I decided to check out the VHS section. I've been doing a weekly tape-watching event with friends, so more tapes is always a good thing.

Usually Value World has a lackluster offering of VHS tapes compared to, say, St. Vincent DePaul. At first I found Hercules and the Amazon Women and not much else. Then something else caught my eye. In the middle of a stack of tapes, I spotted . . .

Boarding House (1982) VHS

Value: $28 on Amazon.com

Actual Cost: $0.50

Boardinghouse is considered the first shot-on-video horror film. I'm a huge fan of SOV horror movies such as Sledgehammer, Black Devil Doll From Hell, etc. Boardinghouse is a particularly important find for me because a.) it's not available to download from any major torrent site I've checked in the past two years, and b.) the VHS goes for $28 on Amazon (the DVD is a whopping $70 at this point). I couldn't contain my excitement. I think I let out a squeal, to be honest. I snatched it up as soon as I could, just in case some smelly old lady decided to stroll up behind me and steal it in my stupor.

I haven't watched it yet, but when I do, expect a full review!