Video World Memories - Commentary

Hey guys, Marvel Man back after a week of getting internet repaired with a very traditional blogging post this time. Basically the inspiration for this came on my daily commute to work, the bus regularly going past a street of shops which used to include an old fashioned, quite charming video store called Video World. It saddened me to see that this particular store has been completely shut down and replaced with a bizarre, gaudy unisex salon. I don't want to get on my soap box about changing times or my protestation against this decision (and how sad it was to watch the place gradually fade away as it lost space and got edged out by new businesses) but I do have a lot of memories of the store, fittingly horror related so thought I would lament the place's loss by sharing them.
My very earliest recollections are of the nifty V.W boxes which were generic and pasted with movie stars, I would see them and know that they usually contained horror brought home by my parents or my sister to watch in other rooms, usually while I was sleeping (bar the one time my folks rented Ghostbusters 2 for me). Even when I didn't like horror somehow the icons of the genre on the boxes stood out, they almost became a horror signifier for me. Likewise my earliest fears and nightmares were when a Freddy cut-out was placed in the store's window to advertise the 3-d Nightmare (can't remember which, 6 I think, I believe entitled "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare", ironically). This quite badly traumatised me, then about 9 years old, and put me off horror for a while sadly, I was clearly still too young.
It was some years later when I truly got into horror, kick started by finally watching the movie Scream on a video tape which I think may have been borrowed to my older sister by someone (weirdly I have no memory of who it belonged to or how I came into possession of it, just watching it and the sequel in our old flat). Spurred on by this good experience, having really enjoyed the film, I decided I would like to give slashers a go (I haven't looked back since lol).
Thus one night me and my best friend at the time, known simply as Browny, were deciding on something to do on a Saturday night. Being somewhat geeky guys the concepts of meeting girls, groups of people, going on dates or hanging around the streets were ruled out, and for some reason we didn't have enough money to hit our usual pubs. We were just turned 18 and bored and so I hit on the idea of checking out Video World for myself, now I was an adult I could enter those imposing racks of films and grab my own horror...
I had 10 pound in my pocket and the place offered two films for £5 so spurred on by boredom and nerves and limited by what I could see I chose to rent the movies Cherry Falls (as it seemed to have a Scream vibe) and Jason X (as a sci-fi geek discovering he loved slashers). The former is not as bad as you might think, enjoyable enough, surprisingly watchable and pleasant when viewed nostalgically but let down by some generic cliche, bad acting and a truly mental ending, which we found hilarious at the time (*** 3/5).
Which brings me neatly to Jason X. I'm aware of the films reputation, and couldn't claim to have discovered a classic piece of cine-art but high on popcorn, beer, cola and a fun night of horror cheese finding that flick was like discovering a hidden stash of sherbet flavoured m and m's. I still love it, despite knowing how awful it is, I admire the kitschness, the s.f gags, the lack of taking itself seriously and the tongue in cheek nature of such classic moments of a dispatch with twisting piece of metallic engine being greeted with the response "he got screwed!". The film is my personal guilty pleasure and for me **** 4/5, for everyone with taste probably * or ** (1 or 2/5). I received the movie from an old flat mate as a birthday gift a few years back and still own it, and watch it whenever I'm feeling down or slightly kooky.
So there we have it, not the first horrors I discovered but the first horror movie night I had, and my first big experience of stepping into this huge world, and I had Video World to thank for it. I have gone elsehwere since but never forgot their influence. I even went back the following week hoping to repeat my great night in and rented the movie Queen of the Damned. Perhaps that's when, for me, the place truly died.