Video Violence (1987)

Absolutely brilliant

It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Video Violence (1987) ** (out of 4) Shot on video film has a couple from NYC arriving in a small town where they open a video store. They are shocked to see that everyone is renting horror movies but one day a returned video turns out not to be theirs. They decide to take a look at the returned video and it appears to be a snuff film. The local police don't seem to interesting as more and more people go missing and turning up on these videos. I must say that I was floored at how good this film was. No, it's not an Oscar-worthy film but for its low budget it's still mighty impressive. I've seen countless shot on video or direct to video movies and most of them just try to cash in on the genre by offering up some nudity and gore. We get that here but we also get a very interesting story that makes for a rather entertaining film. The biggest flaws are the rather slow pacing and the 97-minute running time but for the most part I was entertained. What also helps this film is a nostalgia thing because we get to revisit those Mom and Pop stores where all sorts of horror films, like this one, would turn up week after week. Many of these haven't made it to DVD and probably never will but they will always have a place in the hearts of those who rented such movies back then. It's nice seeing all the old horror posters on the wall as well as seeing the actual video cases to several films including a nice joke about the "chainsaw movie" Pieces. The film is very smart at who is going to be watching a movie like this and even makes a few jabs at itself about the low budget and being shot on video. The whole idea of a town loving horror films and deciding to make their own is a great idea and I'm really shocked no one has tried remaking this. The film really does have the feeling of a Herschell Gordon Lewis movie and that's a good thing as long as you know what to expect.

Steve and Rachel move from New York to a small town.Steve runs a movie rental store and noticed the people in the town are obsessed with violent slasher flicks.One day someone accidentally returns a video of a real life murder.Can it be real or is someone just playing a joke on the towns new residents.They will soon find out and the blood will be shed.It seems that the entire town is involved with psychotic serial killers Howard and Eli in a craven conspiracy to create and distribute their own snuff films.When I was a kid I loved renting tons of gory horror from various rental palaces.Horror is still my life and I'm damn proud of it."Video Violence" is loaded with cheesy gore,crappy acting and nudity.It brings sweet memories of my gore-soaked childhood.6 out of 10.

Satire on our desire for the closest form of graphic bloodletting and violent carnage as possible has a NYC couple, Steven and Rachel Emory(real life married actors Art & Jackie Neill) discovering that their new town is a haven for snuff connoisseurs. These psychos, mainly loonies Eli(Uke) who grinningly hosts and camera-operator Howard(Bart Sumner), often leave their video recordings of the live murders of innocent travelers in the rental store of Steven's and as he(..and a frightened Rachel) seeks to put an end to such sickening shenanigans, finds that almost everyone(..if not everyone)is in on the sadistic misdeeds.You know perhaps video is a proper medium for a tale on the creation of snuff films, with director Gary Cohen, who is actually a pleasant and charming enough fellow on his interview for this film's DVD release, exploring the joyous nature of those who partake in slowly killing hitchhikers or lost traveling innocents just passing through. The violent gore effects are cheap and cheesy, but rather impressive if one considers the limited funds available. Head and arm sliced from the body. An ice pick slowly inserted in a victim's breast. A woman's near-entire leg being hacked from her body. You know if one really thinks about the plot, it can kind of provide an unsettling feeling..that idea that you happen to come across such deranged people as Eli and Howard who know jack squat about you, but are willing to stab you with a knife or remove your legs slowly with a machete just for the hell of it, laughing their asses off with such glee at your horror and torment. Cohen uses his film as a vehicle to explore such sadism and how seemingly normal citizens(..perhaps representing the kind of rental customers he himself had when Cohen was renting videos in the 80's)could enjoy such evil antics on screen. I think fans of horror who recall renting videos back in the 80's will have a time warp trip seeing the movie posters and VHS tape boxes lining the shelves in 1987. Disregarding the acting, performed by no-names, amateur production values, and rather poor camera-work(..and the loud piano used producing the score), horror fans with tastes for such an unpleasant storyline might dig "Video Violence." There's an especially disturbing film sent to the Emory's titled, The Vampire and his Bride, which depicts an unfortunate actress suckered into a video production not knowing that her stomach would be torn open by a knife with her guts removed by a local would-be actor portraying a blood-sucker.

I came across this film while on one of my movie hunts and decided to buy this flick because I had read it was very rare to come across. Boy am I glad I did! The film follows a couple as they are settling into a new town. The husband opens a video store and hires an assistant to work with him. As the days pass he starts to realize that all the locals in the area are only renting from the horror section. This makes him start questioning his surroundings, and to make matters worse he begins finding tapes on his desk that aren't part of his video collection. After having viewed one of the films he realizes that one, or a group, of the locals are killing tourists and video taping the murders. Our store owner takes the tapes to the police only to find that they have no interest in investigating these murders. Now he is on his own and begins to investigate the situation himself.This is probably one of the most original films I have seen in a long time. It is very low budget, but surprisingly the acting is very good. The film has a really good feel to it and you will find yourself smiling all the way through. Great piece of work.