ADJUST YOUR TRACKING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE VHS COLLECTOR Screens Monday Night at VHS Swap Meet in St. Louis

I wistfully recall the days when there were video stores all over St. Louis, shops carrying all manner of sleazy eurohorror, kung fu flicks, anime, and softcore sex romps, but those establishments are all long-shuttered. All the St. Louis-area Mom and Pop video stores seemd to have folded around the same time – the late ‘90s. They sold off their stock to collectors like myself who turned around and sold them on ebay for a decent profit. DVDs came along and then Blu-ray and it looked like VHS taped were both gone and forgotten. Then a funny thing happened. Like vinyl to music collectors, movie buffs began to wax nostalgic for those old VHS tapes, especially the ones in the jumbo, oversized boxes or the clamshell-style cartons with lurid artwork, much of it created especially for that video’s release. Outfits like Unicorn and Super Video, and Wizard Video, Camp Video, Charter, Planet Video, and many more have long folded but their product has become highly sought after to the VHS collector. It’s the horror fans, as usual, that have begun this renaissance of appreciation for VHS, mostly for the cover art but also because many of these titles never have come out on DVD.

VHS collector conventions have popped up and some tapes now sell on ebay for hundreds of dollars. I have to confess I did not see this phenomenon coming. I sold well over 10,000 VHS tapes that I bought from dying independent stores on ebay between 1999 and 2005. I figured I got out of it at just the right time, but boy was I wrong. It’s been in the past 5 or 6 years that the hobby has really taken off and some of the tapes I was thrilled to get 20 or 30 bucks for now sell for many times that.

The best online resource for this hobby is VHS Collector.com (http://www.vhscollector.com)
Now filmmakers Dan Kinem and Levi Peretic have made a documentary about the VHS culture. ADJUST YOUR TRACKING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE VHS COLLECTOR is a passion project made by true lovers of the VHS format hoping to capture why VHS holds such a special place in so many different people’s hearts. The film features interviews with VHS collectors, video store owners, filmmakers, and distributors.

St. Louis VHS fans will have a chance to see ADJUST YOUR TRACKING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE VHS COLLECTOR Monday night July 8th. Apop Records & Late Nite Grindhouse/DestroytheBrain.com are proud to host the first ever VHS Sale/Swap in conjunction with the screening of ADJUST YOUR TRACKING: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE VHS COLLECTOR. The event takes place at Apop records located at 2831 Cherokee Street in South St Louis. There will be dealers there (including myself) who will be set up selling off rare and unusual VHS tapes.

The doors will open at 7pm for tape buying and trading, then the documentary will screen at 8:30, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers who will be in attendance. There will be FREE Stag Beer while it lasts (and if can stomach it). Admission will be $5 at the door. If you want to just see the movie, feel free to come in before 8:30pm. If you want to take part in the whole event, arrive early for the best picks of tapes.
The Facebook Invite for the event can be found HERE
https://www.facebook.com/events/162760577237462