By Geno McGahee
There is a serious relationship between horror fans and VHS movies. I am 39-years-old. I grew up in the 1980s, in the heyday of the video stores and I have many fond memories. When Blockbuster, the last of the video stores, closed their doors, it was a sad moment. A chapter for a lot of horror fans had come to an end and in ADJUST YOUR TRACKING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE VHS COLLECTOR, we meet some that have not given up. The seekers come out of their homes to find the VHS films that complete their collection or are meaningful to them. I found myself relating to some of them…but not all of them.
Dan Kinem and Levi Peretic gather some of the remaining VHS collectors and compiled them into this documentary, which really presents a mixed bag. One collector turned his basement into a video store, which was just really neat to see. He even had the 80’s metal hair, and some may think that being stuck in time is lame. I beg to differ.
I was really compelled by the stories of the great hunts for the remaining VHS tapes. From flea markets to video stores that are going out of business, the treasure hunt stories were very interesting. Most of the stories were interesting, but then you had one guy named “Zack” in a ball pit (for some reason) speaking of the enlightened VHS collector. At one point he cites a story of a 23-year-old girl telling him that VHS was “obsolete.” His continual need for validation that his life path is a good one was annoying. Much like BLOOD, BOOBS and BEAST, you have a couple of “experts” that you could do without. Ball pit Zack should have been left on the cutting room floor.
This film is being released in a “Special Edition”, 2-Disc DVD set and if you grew up in the days of VHS, you will want to give this one a watch. There are enough personalities, history and humorous stories to make this one a good watch and bring you back to a time where you would put up your three bucks on the counter for the horror film that you chose. Horror on VHS is a match made in heaven and it’s not surprising that it has struck such a chord with people from my generation. So much so that there are gatherings of VHS collectors where they trade and sell the films on that medium.
I recommend ADJUST YOUR TRACKING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE VHS COLLECTOR, especially to those that remember being kind and rewinding.
For the collectors, Kinem and Peretic have released a DVD/VHS combo pack available exclusively on www.adjustyourtracking.com.
Rating: 5.5/10 – I want video stores back!