Are you in need of a smile? This retro commercial for the VHS release ofGhostbustersshould do the trick. An entire generation of movie fans won’t know the joys of heading to your local video store to rent an old favorite or a new movie that just hit the shelves. Wandering through the display aisles looking at box art for hours. Asking for recommendations from the clerk. Buying crappy candy to go with your movie that almost definitely requires a rewind because someone was not kind. But for those that miss that experience, thisGhostbusterscommercial is pure gold.
The video surfaced online, via the Lunchmeat VHS Twitter account. The video, which is of poor quality, but it only adds to the charm, was made by the long-dead Video Biz store. To promote the release ofGhostbustersonVHS, which was one of the biggest movies at the time, they made this delightfullycheesy commercial. As one would expect, it features ghosts (that are kind of more like zombies) made with some very DIY special effects who are spooking out customers in the video store.
Quite possibly the coolest #videostore #commercial of all-time? It has our vote, #Tapeheads! #vhs #vhsrental #videorental #horror #horrorvhs #horrormovies #80s #90s"
Localvideo storesare truly a relic of the past. Even those who fondly remember going to a video store in order to see something they wanted to watch likely visited a chain like Blockbuster Video, as opposed to a local store like Video Biz. But those who had a favorite local store will likely get all kinds of nostalgic feelings watching thisGhostbusterspromo. Shockingly, there are actually still a fewBlockbuster storesoperating in the U.S., despite the fact that the company declared bankruptcy in 2010.
Even Blu-ray sales continue to decline in themodern marketplace, as more people turn to digital downloads if they feel compelled to own a particular movie. Not to mention that increasingly comprehensive libraries on streaming services like Netflix make going to a video store seem like a chore to younger movie lovers. Why go rent something when you may just stream virtually anything you want on the internet? Convenience is hard to argue with, there’s no doubt about that, but there was something to be said for the experience provided by stores like this.
As forGhostbusters? The franchise is on pretty uncertain ground following last year’s female-led reboot, which bombed at the box office. You’d be better off finding an old VHS copy of it and getting a VCR from Goodwill and taking a little nostalgia trip at this point. There’s no telling when we’ll see anotherGhostbustersmovie, if ever. Let alone a good one. Speaking of nostalgia trips, but sure to watch theGhostbusterscommercial for Video Biz, courtesy of theLunchmeat VHS Twitteraccount, for yourself below.
