"Be Kind, Rewind" is a new feature here at DoomsdayDVD. Although this site is enthusiastic about the ever-developing format of digital video, there is also a great deal of nostalgia for the pioneering format in home video rentals, the videocassette.

"Be Kind, Rewind" revisits the horror VHS titles of yesteryear and their strong presence on the shelf at your local video store. You may notice that certain video labels will resurface several times since they specialized in genre films. Labels such as Thorn Emi, Wizard Video, Midnight Video (Select-A-Tape), Vestron Video (the old "V" logo), Continental/Comet Video, Paragon and Gorgon Video are among the few.

So read on, enjoy and experience the videotapes that were surrounded by posters, neon signs and were accompanied by high sale prices and high membership fees!

A big money-maker for both theatrical exhibition and home video rentals was the horror film, more specifically, the Italian zombie film. Films such as Lucio Fulci's Zombie (aka Zombi 2) and Umberto Lenzi's City of the Walking Dead (aka Nightmare City) delivered the gore, and spawned a whole new subculture of movie renters: the gorehound.

Among these zombie films was the derivative, yet charming, Night of the Zombies (aka Hell of the Living Dead), directed by Bruno Mattei in 1981 (under the pseudonym Vincent Dawn). Vestron Video, long before they changed their logo and released films theatrically, distributed Night of the Zombies in 1984 hot off the heels of its 1983 theatrical run imported by Motion Picture Marketing.

For synopsis, review and commentary, click HERE.

The "high-tech" animated, computer-generated logo screen with synth music is a reminder of the old days of home video. Home video was new, fantastic, electric and futuristic. The logo graced the beginnings and endings of videotapes of cult classics such as Bloodsucking Freaks, Dead and Buried, Trick or Treats, Pieces, The Incubus, and so many more.

However, anyone fortunate enough to rent or buy this videotape noticed an extra special "treat" at the end of the tape - trailers for other horror films released by Vestron! Mortuary and The Incubus were among the few trailers included on the cassette. In a time before "special collector editions," trailers were an unexpected, yet pleasant, inclusion for genre fans.

The artwork used for the packaging was as logical and simple as any video release would need to be. The theatrical poster on the front, a synopsis on the back with one incredible action still on top of it. Several video/DVD distributors sometimes feel that it is necessary to include a half-dozen stills from the film on the back of the packaging in order to "sell" the film. On the contrary, Vestron made it common practice to select one still that would capture the mood of the film. Less is, indeed, more, and a picture is worth a thousand words.....