In a digital world, VHS tapes are cool again. Meet the crazy faithful, including my roommate

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It’s easy to get lost in the huge selection of movies and shows available on streaming services, all instantly accessible. But some serious movie lovers actually prefer older, lower-quality ways of watching. They’d rather get up and physically put a tape into a VCR.

Trade the cold, impersonal experience of streaming movies for the unique sounds and slightly fuzzy picture of VHS tapes, and you’ll understand the world of ‘tapeheads’ – a dedicated community who collect and enjoy movies using this older, increasingly rare technology.

Jane Schoenbrun, director of the 2024 film “I Saw the TV Glow,” describes a nostalgic feeling associated with older media formats. Her film features two high school students captivated by a fantasy show, one of whom records it on VHS for the other. Schoenbrun explains that there’s a unique emotional connection to the imperfect quality of these formats—the fuzzy picture, the green tint of VHS tapes, and the hazy memories of late-night viewings with friends. She suggests that this low-fidelity experience creates a specific and cherished feeling.

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‘I Saw the TV Glow’ deeply connects with viewers, especially those who remember the awkwardness of being a teenager and passionately loving something. The director, who is transgender, created the film as a personal and hopeful project.

Just over 20 years ago, in March 2006, the final VHS tapes were shipped to stores. Ironically, the last one was “A History of Violence,” a crime thriller directed by David Cronenberg – the same director who made “Videodrome” in 1983, a film about a man with a tape inserted into his stomach. This marked the end of an era, as VHS was being replaced by DVDs as the new standard for watching movies at home.

Cronenberg admits it’s a small milestone that ‘A History of Violence’ was one of the final big movies released on VHS. He adds with a touch of irony that he was actually a Betamax supporter and always hoped Sony’s format would prevail in the battle between the two technologies, believing it was superior.

This year, we’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of the VHS tape, first introduced in 1976. It’s a significant milestone for home video!

Despite predictions of its demise, VHS is making a surprising comeback. More and more millennials and Gen Z, particularly in Los Angeles, are rediscovering the appeal of this older technology and its tapes.

My friend and roommate, Conor Holt, is a big fan of VHS tapes. The 35-year-old, originally from Roseville, Minnesota, has been collecting them since 2017. His collection is so large it takes up a lot of space in our one-bedroom apartment in East Hollywood – I actually converted the living room into my own bedroom!

I’m always amazed by Conor’s video collection! He’s got nearly 1,100 tapes – it seriously takes up half his room with shelves and boxes everywhere. It’s a bit messy, but everything’s arranged by what he likes. He’s really into anime, Irish films, and horror, so those sections are huge. Honestly, it feels like walking into a little video store that’s perfectly tailored to his taste!

Conor’s love for VHS is multifaceted. He enjoys it partly because some films are only available on that format, and also because it reminds him of childhood memories – we both grew up watching Disney movies on VHS. But mostly, he’s drawn to the feeling of connecting with the past and experiencing something genuine.

Conor shared with us, “There’s something special about watching a movie originally released on VHS in the 80s or 90s on VHS. It’s how people experienced it back then – like watching it in 1989. For me, it’s a way to feel like I’m traveling back in time.”

I’ve gotten really into the world of VHS thanks to my friend Conor. It turns out there’s a huge, active community here in Los Angeles – and everywhere, really! Every week it feels like there’s a new VHS swap happening, where people who connect online – mostly through Instagram – come together to buy, sell, and trade tapes. It’s awesome seeing both serious collectors and people just discovering the format all in the same place.

Besides online options, several physical stores in the city specialize in selling VHS tapes – and yes, they really do exist! These include Whammy! Analog Media in Echo Park, Be Kind Video in Burbank, Video Hero VHS in Chatsworth, and Retro UFO in San Pedro.

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Chris Rose, a writer, producer, and director based in Los Angeles, has built a personal video collection with over 250 movies and shows.

For a classic VHS viewing experience on the big screen, check out the Video Archives Cinema Club, curated by programmer and horror tape collector Matt Landsman, located inside the Vista Theatre in Los Feliz. Keep an eye out for screenings at Whammy! and Be Kind Video as well, which host events a few times each month.

Matthew Renoir, age 41, always dreamed of owning a video store, and in late 2022, that dream became a reality with the opening of Be Kind Video. While he does rent DVDs and Blu-rays, it’s surprisingly VHS tapes that are keeping his unique business thriving.

He finds it amusing how something that felt lost to the past could suddenly become a great opportunity. Selling tapes allowed it to happen – they were what brought it back to life.

Just then, news about the high price of certain tapes gained attention, which motivated Renoir to really focus on his work.

Renoir remembered reading that Tom Wilson sold a first-edition, still-sealed copy of ‘Back to the Future’ for $75,000, and he thought it was incredible.

I’ve always been a bit of a VHS fanatic, and during the pandemic, my collection really exploded. Eventually, I had so many tapes, I thought, ‘Why not share the love?’ So, I started selling them at conventions, and things went so well that my partner, Haleigh Le Moine, and I decided to open up a real brick-and-mortar store, Video Hero VHS, here in Chatsworth, starting last year. It’s been a dream come true!

They operate out of a room within the We Can Be Heroes Comics store. While the space is small, it’s filled to the brim with tapes. However, most of their earnings still come from going to events like L.A. Comic Con and Horrorcon.

It’s really encouraging to see how popular VHS collecting still is! Just being at fan conventions for things like horror, anime, and comics shows you that people are still really into it. I’ve seen it firsthand – the events are packed, and they’re selling so many tapes! It’s awesome to be part of a community that’s keeping this alive.

But why are people buying them?

Schwartz loves VHS tapes because their natural wear and tear makes them feel genuine and connected to our own lives. He explains that, like us, physical media ages and shows its history – a quality he finds special. He compares it to the difference between the flawless consistency of a modern LED light and the unique, imperfect warmth of a campfire.

Although Los Angeles is now the main hub for VHS collecting in the United States, the biggest event for fans, VHS Fest, is held each summer at the Mahoning Drive-in Theater in Lehighton, Pennsylvania.

Last year, Conor, my brother, and I drove to the ninth annual VHS fest, a three-day event held in a small town surrounded by fields. Vendors come from everywhere to sell VHS tapes they’ve found at thrift stores, estate sales, or from people clearing out their collections. Each night, the local drive-in shows cheesy horror movies – all played on VHS – and hosts special guests. Most people camp there for the whole weekend.

I’ve recently started collecting tapes myself – my most prized possession is likely the 1985 Cuban animated film, “Vampires in Havana.” As a film critic who already collects DVDs, it wasn’t a big step to start collecting VHS tapes. However, as filmmaker and collector Alex Ross Perry notes, many physical media fans still find VHS tapes a bit too much to handle.

Perry was making a video about the tapes from Kim’s Video in New York, where he once worked. He mentioned he actually prefers watching the movie “Scanners” on VHS rather than Blu-ray, and the reaction online was strongly negative. He recalls people commenting that anyone who truly loves movies wouldn’t say such a thing, calling his opinion ‘insane’.

David Cronenberg, the director of “Scanners,” agrees with those who dislike VHS tapes. He explains, politely, that VHS is driven by nostalgia. He believes the quality is significantly lower than the original film, stating that watching a movie on VHS isn’t truly experiencing the filmmaker’s vision.

We met Perry at the VHS Fest last year – he’s been a regular for years – and he’s always remained loyal to VHS tapes, even when they weren’t popular. Unlike many collectors, including Conor, who switched to DVDs and then rediscovered tapes, Perry never stopped collecting VHS.

During our video call, Perry gave me a peek at his incredible tape collection. He keeps everything neatly organized by genre in actual cupboards – not just shelves, but cupboards with doors! When I asked him why he loves tapes so much, he said it’s about a certain feeling, a vibe that’s hard to put into words, but it’s clearly something special to him.

He argues that while VHS offers a unique and emotionally resonant viewing experience, it’s not objectively ‘better’ than newer formats like 4K. Similarly, a worn-out film print has its own appeal, and it’s easy to understand why people would pay to see it – the appeal is self-evident.

For Perry, certain films evoke a specific feeling – he calls them “VHS movies.” These are usually ’90s erotic thrillers like “Sliver” and “Indecent Proposal.” He explains that any movie can be a “VHS movie” if it feels like something you’d find on the shelves of a video store in 1998, before DVDs became popular.

Perry’s latest film, the documentary “Videoheaven,” is a charmingly detailed look at how video stores used to be a big part of our culture. You can currently watch it on the Criterion Channel as part of their “VHS Forever” series, and it will also be released on a limited number of VHS tapes just in time for next year’s 10th VHS Fest.

Jane Schoenbrun’s early films, “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair” and “I Saw the TV Glow,” were also released on VHS as special collector’s editions. Now, some companies are releasing films on VHS again when the movie’s style or the era it represents feels right for the format.

Schoenbrun admits they’d actually prefer watching their films on VHS tapes rather than in high-definition Blu-ray. They explain that VHS has a unique, almost dreamlike quality that makes watching movies on it a special experience.

Horror movies are a cornerstone of the VHS collecting world. Collectors of horror tapes are especially passionate, and these tapes tend to be the hardest to find and most prized. A lot of them were made and distributed independently, intended only for people to watch at home.

Many of these rare VHS tapes feature cheap, poorly made movies that are so bad they’re actually fun to watch. Titles like “Black Devil Doll from Hell” (1984) and “Tales from the QuadeaD Zone” (1987) are good examples. According to Conor, these films were made by inexperienced filmmakers who only produced a few hundred copies.

Cronenberg explains he understands the appeal of collecting rare items, noting his father was a stamp collector. He adds with a shrug, “People are odd, what can you do?”

Hollywood Inc.

Even though streaming is now the main way people watch movies and TV shows, a lot of Gen Z are actually choosing to go back to physical copies like DVDs and Blu-rays.

The VCR players are actually harder to find than the tapes themselves. Be Kind Video in Burbank rents players to those who just want to watch a tape, but if you want to buy one, you’ll need to wait in line.

As a movie buff, I’m always on the lookout for VCRs, and it’s gotten seriously tough! There’s even a waiting list of people who want one – can you believe it? Just a few years ago, you could snag one at a thrift store like Goodwill for ten bucks. Now, they’re so rare I practically have to wait for people to sell them to me. I almost never stumble across one in thrift stores anymore.

Interestingly, someone on the Video Hero team taught themselves how to fix VCRs, and now the company offers VCR repair as a service to its customers.

Perry believes their community has the potential to grow significantly. He explains that once items like VCRs are as widely and affordably available as record players – currently selling for $99 at Urban Outfitters – the community’s growth could be unlimited.

For the past several years, Perry has been working with engineers in Canada to create a smaller VCR and a plan to actually produce it. He explains, “We want to get these players into the hands of people who love film. It’s not about rejecting new technologies like 4K or streaming—it’s about having another choice.”

As a movie lover, it’s been fun seeing cassettes make a comeback, and I think VHS could be next! A lot of big artists are putting out tapes now, even Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, as a little extra way to earn money. And it’s already happening with movies – companies like Oscilloscope Laboratories are putting out limited runs of some films on VHS. It’s a cool little niche market, and I’m hoping it grows!

He believes collecting things and feeling nostalgic are enjoyable, and watching old horror movies on VHS is the best. However, to keep the VHS comeback going, he needs an investor to contact him so he can explain how much money is needed to start making more tapes.

When I jokingly told Perry he’d be a savior for VHS if he could bring VCRs back, he immediately replied, “That’s exactly what I want!”

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2026-04-23 13:33