VHS Covers from your childhood

[dave13]

As i said in another thread, some of my earliest horror memories revolve around the forbidden images on vhs boxes at my local rental stores. I've hunted for as many of them as I can remember, but I'm sure that there are dozens that I've forgotten. I'd love to see some of the great vhs covers that had the same effect on other people. Maybe I'll even recognize some of the ones I've forgotten. Off the top of my head, here are some covers that I remember being particularly intrigued/terrified by as a kid.

The Howling IV - one of the worst of the sequels, yet the picture of the werewolf woman on the back scared the shit out of me. With all the fire around her, the movie I imagined was absolutely crazy.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5178/5432929622_9be3802017_z.jpg

Friday the 13th Part VII - all the friday movies seemed increadibly mature to me, and reached something of a mythical status before i eventually got to watch them. the picture of jason grabbing the guy on the back of part 7 was the closest i felt i could come to actually seeing what this maniac did to people in these movies. It was right there in front of me: a psychopath in a hockey mask about to slaughter some random teenager.

http://www.horrordigital.com/vb3forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5718&stc=1&d=1298689066

Ghost Town - maybe it was just the shock of what appeared to be a western horror movie. It just really stuck with me, and I was really excited when I ran into it in a pawn shop years later. I'd completely forgotten about it. The picture below is good, but the tagline has been changed from "The Good. The Bad. The Satanic." which I like a lot better.

http://h.imagehost.org/0822/1poster.jpg

[Anthropophagus]

Not sure how to post an image of it, but the VHS cover art for Hell Night with Linda Blair always stuck with me. Great film too.
Also, who could forget the original I Spit On Your Grave covert art, pretty lukewarm on the film itself though.

[Jeremy]

Try this link, guys - http://www.critcononline.com/video_companies_cover_art.htm

[j tea]

a few that haunted and tantalized me!

[CPT HOOK]

Phantom Of The Opera (1989) - Seeing this on the video store shelves, my brother convinced me that the Phantom in this version rips out his own skull-plate and wears it as a mask. Of course, I eventually saw the movie and learned this wasn't true. But the cover has haunted me ever since:

http://i51.tinypic.com/34rvqx4.jpg


And who could forget this image:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/5113GPRZMML._SS500_.jpg


I also always loved the VHS cover of Twisted Nightmare. This one still hasn't made it to DVD, but it is a personal favorite of mine. Fortunately I still own (and cherish) my VHS of this cheesy gem:
http://serialkillercalendar.com/VHSWASTELAND/LOW-RES-VHS-COVERS/TWISTED-NIGHTMARE.jpg

[Mutilated Prey]

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/1976-1.jpg http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/481-1.jpg

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/510-1.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_2fw1dyS2ip4/TS9IZkfFPUI/AAAAAAAAALM/4jJvTF8TkB8/s320/House%2Bof%2BDeath%2BVideo%2BGems%2BVHS%2BFront.jp g http://www.slasherindex.com/images/distributorlogos/ContinentalThumbs/CityWalkingDead.jpg

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/1185-1.jpg http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/2604-1.jpg

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/961-1.jpg http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/1270-1.jpg

[fart_mike]

http://www.rathcoombe.net/horror/company-wolves.jpg
http://www.critcononline.com/images/body%20shop%20paragon%20vhs%20front2.jpg
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQcthBcF4o-JRgWHnuwi8Qh7e0ppQSXBv5sfJ3Q4QJCWeKgIyUTJQ&t=1 the faces of death 2 from this photo...so traumatizing as a child, and such an integral part of my current collection...

[Mikey Horror]

The first one that always comes to mind for me is The Dead Pit VHS cover that actually had battery powered blinking eyes. I can still remember staring in awe at that cover in the video store. Kinda wish Code Red's DVD kept with that but I'm not complaining, I'm just grateful we even got it on DVD in the first place.

[f.ramses]

http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/2481/50209476.jpg

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/400/37460863.jpg

[CPT HOOK]

Mutilated Prey, I also have fond memories of the House Of Death cover. But I grew up seeing the other version on the video store shelves. I still own that on VHS (the Virgin Vision version). Both covers for this movie are great!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2fw1dyS2ip4/TS9IdVfb2CI/AAAAAAAAALU/1F6oc3Km4Yw/s1600/House%2BOf%2BDeath%2BVirgin%2BVHS%2BFront.jpg

[Hatchetwarrior]

Here's a couple that always caught my eye as a young child wandering through the horror aisles of my local video store. To bad a few of these didn't live up to the awesome covers :/

http://www.revenantmagazine.com/VideoDead_BoxArt.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/19/Silent_Night_Deadly_Night_5.jpg/220px-Silent_Night_Deadly_Night_5.jpghttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_KHzICyVn3P8/TS8vBfbAKwI/AAAAAAAAAOw/uHR6qiZvJ4w/s1600/deadalive2.jpghttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/_-fHyfLqHJW4/SQHKLu9Rn5I/AAAAAAAAAa8/El41mdQA2NU/s400/mutilator-pp.jpghttp://toucharcade.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/evil-dead-movie-poster-small.jpghttp://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/515B55G566L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

[dave13]

had to cut my initial collection short, but here are a few more that I remember seeing and finding fascinating as a kid:

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/1661-1.jpg http://www.videonear.com/images/The-Curse-VHS-6302315441-L.jpg

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/84-1.jpg http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/355-1.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3327/3451483328_97e017d6c2.jpg

There was also an illustrated cover that i remember vividly. It had a little blond girl in a dress standing at the end of a dirt path, with an old picket fence running into the background to a house in the background. The area around her was all brown grass and fields, with maybe a dead tree or something. There were no pictures, only text, on the back. I'm almost positive that it was for Last House on the Left. Does anyone have any memory of that cover? I can't find any pictures of it online.

[Jeremy]

There are a bunch which always stood out to me when I was younger. These all fall into the category of I knew it was pointless to ask my mother for permission to rent them, so it wasn't until I was a teenager or older that I caught up with any of them...

http://www.critcononline.com/images/blood%20feast%20comet%20vhs%20front.jpg http://www.critcononline.com/images/piranha%20ii%20the%20spawning%20embassy%20vhs%20fr ont.jpg http://www.critcononline.com/images/basket%20case%20media%20vhs%20front.jpg
http://www.critcononline.com/images/day%20of%20the%20dead%20media%20vhs%20front.jpg http://www.critcononline.com/images/slugs%20new%20world%20vhs%20front.jpg http://www.critcononline.com/images/gates%20of%20hell%20paragon%20vhs%20front2.jpg
http://www.critcononline.com/images/eaten%20alive%201976%20prism%20vhs%20front.jpg http://www.critcononline.com/images/make%20them%20die%20slowly%20thrillervideo%20vhs%2 0front2.jpg http://www.critcononline.com/images/horror%20of%20the%20zombies%20vidamerica%20vhs%20f ront2.jpg http://www.critcononline.com/images/zombie%20wizard%20vhs%20front3.gif http://www.critcononline.com/images/i%20spit%20on%20your%20grave%20wizard%20vhs%20fron t.jpg

[Grim]

That 7 Doors of Death cover is fucking sweet. I'd love to have that as an alternate cover on the blu-ray of the Beyond or something.

[Damage]

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/2611-1.jpghttp://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/1215-1.jpg

[Damage]

Another one...
http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/2549-1.jpg
(That CoverBrowser.com (http://www.coverbrowser.com) website is awesome!)

[Chomp]

There are a lot of great ones I remember, but the one that stands out the most is the cover of Gator Bait. I remember it so well because its box was always so conveniently placed right after all the new releases. So, every time my parents would be checking out the flicks, I'd wonder off and act like I was browsing the new releases section even though I was honestly getting as much looking time on the Gator Bait cover. Ha!

http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/6277/gatorco6.jpg

I loved the cover so much, I own two of these posters!

http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/9201/48982671.jpg

[othervoice1]

The two I seem to remember seeing the most at the local mom and pop rental places as a kid were the vhs covers for Eaten Alive and for I Spit on Your Grave- don't know why those just stick out in my memory.

Night of the Demons as well- I hadn't actually even heard of it but the cover stuck out at the rental shop so I rented it - and I was surprised at how good it actually was unlike many horror movies I had never heard of but had cool covers to entice you.

Back in the day you didn't have the internet so much to instantly check reviews and comments on any movie in the world, so there were some hidden gems among a bunch of bad movies with fancy covers.

[SaxCatz]

That 7 Doors of Death cover is fucking sweet. I'd love to have that as an alternate cover on the blu-ray of the Beyond or something.

Sadly, it is not.
I was desperately hoping that it would be one of the art panels for the Arrow release, but it didn't make the cut.

[SaxCatz]

Ghost Town - maybe it was just the shock of what appeared to be a western horror movie. It just really stuck with me, and I was really excited when I ran into it in a pawn shop years later. I'd completely forgotten about it. The picture below is good, but the tagline has been changed from "The Good. The Bad. The Satanic." which I like a lot better.

http://h.imagehost.org/0822/1poster.jpg
I had forgotten about this one!
The cover always fascinated me. I remember staring at it when I was quite young and left alone in the video section while my mother shopped at the grocery store.'
I NEVER did see this one!:D

[dave13]

I had forgotten about this one!
The cover always fascinated me. I remember staring at it when I was quite young and left alone in the video section while my mother shopped at the grocery store.'
I NEVER did see this one!:D

track it down. i saw it so long ago that i don't remember much about it, but i DO remember liking it. such a great cover though.

[dave13]

some more:

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/1648-1.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5416886893_8f7eebbc7a.jpg

Never saw Revenge of the Dead. is it any good?

[Hellbilly]

I wish I still had the TWE VHS promo ad I kept from a Video Magazine back in the day. Here's the original VHS art:

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/2469-1.jpg

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/1980-1.jpghttp://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/1444-1.jpg
http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/1429-1.jpg

[dirkwu]

http://i.imgur.com/mD0V9.jpg

One of my childhood faves...

[chancetx]

There was also an illustrated cover that i remember vividly. It had a little blond girl in a dress standing at the end of a dirt path, with an old picket fence running into the background to a house in the background. The area around her was all brown grass and fields, with maybe a dead tree or something. There were no pictures, only text, on the back. I'm almost positive that it was for Last House on the Left. Does anyone have any memory of that cover? I can't find any pictures of it online.

I'm certain you're thinking of the VHS cover for Jodie Foster's "The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane." The VHS cover art is completely different than the DVD. And no doubt it was sitting very near "Last House On The Left" if your store alphabetized their titles. Hope the link works...

http://static.omdb.si/posters/active/194838.jpg

[evildeadfan123]

had to cut my initial collection short, but here are a few more that I remember seeing and finding fascinating as a kid:

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/1661-1.jpg http://www.videonear.com/images/The-Curse-VHS-6302315441-L.jpg

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/84-1.jpg http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/355-1.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3327/3451483328_97e017d6c2.jpg

There was also an illustrated cover that i remember vividly. It had a little blond girl in a dress standing at the end of a dirt path, with an old picket fence running into the background to a house in the background. The area around her was all brown grass and fields, with maybe a dead tree or something. There were no pictures, only text, on the back. I'm almost positive that it was for Last House on the Left. Does anyone have any memory of that cover? I can't find any pictures of it online.

I personally have the VHS of Slaughterhouse Rock. Wish it was on DVD.

[evildeadfan123]

http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/2611-1.jpghttp://www.coverbrowser.com/image/vhs-videos/1215-1.jpg


Love the Evil Dead VHS box cover. I did years ago just had the box cover only. Don't know what I did with it, but it is a cool cover.

[evildeadfan123]

Some of the covers that stick out in my mind, but I currently don't have them on VHS:

Color Me Blood Red, I think it was from Continential Video. Was a very big box, and very colorful.

Zombie. Cool box.

Dreamaniac. From the 80s.

Trap Them and Kill Them, AKA Emmanuelle And The Last Cannibals.

The Possessed, Do Own on VHS. Huge box. From All Seasons Entertainment, and from the guy who directed The Blind Dead films.

When The Screaming Stops, I do own a copy of this, not only on VHS, but on DVD as Loreley's Grasp.

I Dismember Mama, I think I still have it on VHS.

There are more, but right now those are the only ones that I can come up with.

[dave13]

I'm certain you're thinking of the VHS cover for Jodie Foster's "The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane." The VHS cover art is completely different than the DVD. And no doubt it was sitting very near "Last House On The Left" if your store alphabetized their titles. Hope the link works...

http://static.omdb.si/posters/active/194838.jpg

YES! thank you! man, that cover weirded me out as a kid. it was so innocent and so distressing at the same time. now i need to go look the movie up, see what it was about, and if i should download it. is it any good?

here's another one that i remember, both for the video cover, and also the trailer:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_3QwFOp4Gnv4/SzK1XAv3e3I/AAAAAAAAAGo/H4sJWv2qpAc/s400/unholy.jpg

[evildeadfan123]

I remember watching the Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane in the late 70s, on a local show, called Friday Fright Night, early on a Saturday morning, and one time, I actually got caught by my mother on one early Saturday morning, watching Friday Fright Night, and she asked me what I was doing. I sure miss Friday Fright Night. They quit doing it on our local CBS station in the 80s.

[bigdaddyhorse]

http://i.imgur.com/mD0V9.jpg

One of my childhood faves...

Since you had to go there, therse warpped my young mind and still warp my older one too. I can trace my obsession with redheads directly to the Conflict cover (it was the back cover ad of a Hustler or Cherri I swiped at 17/18). Angel of the Island was one of the first pornos I watched (the cover is better than the movie):

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/bigdaddyhorse/Conflict.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/bigdaddyhorse/AngelOfTheIsland.jpg

[CPT HOOK]

I personally have the VHS of Slaughterhouse Rock. Wish it was on DVD.

I also own Slaughterhouse Rock. And I have the Eyes Of Fire VHS that was posted.

I've already posted these pics somewhere on the forums, but here are a few pics from my VHS collection:

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs168.snc3/19554_10100169698255154_2353673_60998015_155612_n. jpg


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs456.snc3/26088_10100214602746194_2353673_62382362_468459_n. jpg


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs156.snc4/37134_10100358708956194_2353673_67398216_7992694_n .jpg


http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs014.snc6/166493_10100485268120614_2353673_70325273_1927119_ n.jpg


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs034.snc6/166493_10100485268130594_2353673_70325274_7054545_ n.jpg

[dave13]

i definitely remember that Supernaturals cover.

whats eyes of fire like?

[CPT HOOK]

i definitely remember that Supernaturals cover.

whats eyes of fire like?

It's a little slow, kind of surreal, but very atmospheric.

It's worth a look for the atmosphere alone, but I wouldn't consider it essential viewing.

Here's a trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-kwuNEN-r0) if you're interested.

[SickNick89]

I remember the shop rite by me had a little video section in the mid 80's and the split image cover of CARRIE creeped me out. since I didn't know the movie i wondered what happened to her that she was smiling one second and bloody and crazy looking the next.
the big box covers for SHOCKING ASIA and ZOMBIE stuck with me too.

[evildeadfan123]

I also own Slaughterhouse Rock. And I have the Eyes Of Fire VHS that was posted.

I've already posted these pics somewhere on the forums, but here are a few pics from my VHS collection:

http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs168.snc3/19554_10100169698255154_2353673_60998015_155612_n. jpg


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs456.snc3/26088_10100214602746194_2353673_62382362_468459_n. jpg


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs156.snc4/37134_10100358708956194_2353673_67398216_7992694_n .jpg


http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs014.snc6/166493_10100485268120614_2353673_70325273_1927119_ n.jpg


http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs034.snc6/166493_10100485268130594_2353673_70325274_7054545_ n.jpg


I also own several of those movies: Remote Control, Necronimcon: Book of The Dead, Killer Party, and Demon Wind. I only have about 25 VHS movies, but I purchased them Previously Viewed. That is one thing that I do have to say about VHS covers. Some of them are better than DVD covers, if they are available on DVD, and a good chuck of them I have seen on VHS years ago. I wish they all were on DVD, but most of the companies that put them out on VHS are more than likely out of business.

[dave13]

I also own several of those movies: Remote Control, Necronimcon: Book of The Dead, Killer Party, and Demon Wind.

I never thought I'd ever come across another human being who had seen demon wind, yet it seems a lot of people on here have. daaaaaaaamn that was a cheap movie. great cover though.

[Mutilated Prey]

Mutilated Prey, I also have fond memories of the House Of Death cover. But I grew up seeing the other version on the video store shelves. I still own that on VHS (the Virgin Vision version). Both covers for this movie are great!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2fw1dyS2ip4/TS9IdVfb2CI/AAAAAAAAALU/1F6oc3Km4Yw/s1600/House%2BOf%2BDeath%2BVirgin%2BVHS%2BFront.jpg

Love this flick. Kinda has that Terror at Tenkiller appeal. The price has gone up quite a bit since I originally sought it out. The Video Gems version is much harder to find.

I too have Demon Wind, but haven't actually watched it yet.

[fart_mike]

i second the "eyes of fire" childhood trauma, but only for the back image, some crusty Indian demon with yellow cat eyes...i'd flip the box and my brother would fill his aquaman underoos in no time...

[SaxCatz]

This thread makes me so sad that my VHS collection has dwindled to almost nothing.
Speaking of, is there a good program (like DVD Profiler for DVD) or website (like lddb.com for laserdisc) out there specifically for tracking your VHS collection?

[evildeadfan123]

I never thought I'd ever come across another human being who had seen demon wind, yet it seems a lot of people on here have. daaaaaaaamn that was a cheap movie. great cover though.

I have watched Demon Wind over 5 times. I think it's actually a really good movie, and Glen A. Larson's son's is in it as Eric. Reminds me of Evil Dead a little, maybe that's why I love it so much. Wish it was on DVD.

[bigdaddyhorse]

This thread makes me so sad that my VHS collection has dwindled to almost nothing.
Speaking of, is there a good program (like DVD Profiler for DVD) or website (like lddb.com for laserdisc) out there specifically for tracking your VHS collection?

Just do like I do, use wishlist as customs on dvdprofiler. Of course you have to make up profiles that you can never submit, but they still show up to people looking at your collection (no covers, but that's O.K.). Mine are all stuff that's I've already transfered or had transfered to dvdr.

Haven't heard of any real VHS tracker systems or programs.

[MisterTwister]

Demon Wind is fun cheese :banana:

[fattyjoe37]

Speaking of, is there a good program (like DVD Profiler for DVD) or website (like lddb.com for laserdisc) out there specifically for tracking your VHS collection?

A friend of a friend started a site last year, but there's not much on it except for forums. You can check it out at HowsYourTracking.com (http://howsyourtracking.com/)