VHS Retro Art Round-up: Prison, Microwave Massacre, Ricochet and more

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Every child of the 80s will remember going to the video store and trying to find a movie to rent. Back before the days of Blu-ray and On Demand, selecting a movie usually meant finding the flick with the coolest box art. Like modern posters, classic VHS art has been lost but thanks to the Internet there are countless reminders of these cool creations. This column will be dedicated to bringing you reminders of a bygone era and a look at how cool some of these movies looked on store shelves.

THE SUPERNATURALS

It may not be easy to tell from these covers, but this film is about ghosts of Civil War sodliers. Yeah, how cool is that? Both feature grisly skeletons on the cover but the second mixes a cap reminiscent of a soldier with contemporary sunglasses. Not sure what is going on with the marketing or the odd title, but I want to see this flick. Click here to purchase on Amazon.com

BLOWN AWAY

As bad as Tommy Lee Jones' Irish accent is, this movie is still a personal favorite. I love the tension and the fact that Jeff Bridges and his father Lloyd share screen time, but the action here had me going back to theaters to check this movie out. Not much variation in these boxes but both are sorely lacking in long-haired Tommy Lee Jones. Click here to purchase on Amazon.com

RICOCHET

John Lithgow plays awesome bad guys (see CLIFFHANGER). While this was primarily a Denzel Washington movie, see how much of Lithgow's mug takes up these international covers. I also completely forgot Ice T was in this movie. Click here to purchase on Amazon.com

MICROWAVE MASSACRE

Recently released as a 2-disc Blu-ray, this movie needs to be seen just from the title alone. Both boxes are gory and wrong and that makes them great in my book. Horror comedy is a sub-genre that doesn't get enough love but when you have batshit crazy titles like this, how can you go wrong?  Click here to purchase on Amazon.com

RAPE

Clearly a taboo subject even today, it should come as no surprise that this film is not available on digital or disc. It is hard to tell if this movie treats the subject of sexual assault seriously, but judging by the box art, I doubt it. Any other title and this would be a voyeuristic midnight cult film. Not available to purchase on Amazon.com

PRISON

Wait, a horror film starring Viggo Mortensen? From the screenwriter of RED DAWN? Directed by Renny Harlin? How did I not know about this movie before? Both boxes are damn cool and instantly draw you into what has to be a disturbing slasher film. Click here to purchase on Amazon.com

Feel free to pop us your favorite VHS box art and come back for each future column. You can send your finds or photos of your own VHS tapes to [email protected]