The Last Video Store Limited Edition Blu-ray Review

4 star tongue in cheek romp down memory lane.

The Last Video Store is a 2023 Canadian comedy horror film written by Joshua Roach and Tim Rutherford, who also directs alongside Cody Kennedy.

Quite astonishingly, this extremely well written and directed homage to the heady days of VHS is a feature debut across the board. I can’t wait to see what else this team might have in store (see what I did there?) for us!

It is available to buy in the UK on Limited Edition Blu-ray from 9th December 2024, courtesy of Arrow Video.

“Welcome to Blaster Video. I’m here for all your rental needs. From pure flash, to utter cinematic trash. You’re a first time customer, so today’s your lucky day. You get one free rental.”

Nyla (Yaayaa Adams)  is a twenty something young woman who has just lost her estranged father. She is tasked with the burden of clearing out his things and part of this job involves returning VHS tapes that he had borrowed from a local video store. She finds the well hidden Blaster Video and is greeted by the outrageously enthusiastic and geeky owner Kevin (Kevin Martin), whose encyclopaedic knowledge of the VHS films of yesteryear is baffling to the young woman born in the age of streaming services.

He is ecstatic to be reunited with some of his all time favourites, including sci-fi classic Warpgate (sexy potatoes), Canuxploitation slasher flick Beaverlake Massacre Part 4 – Overtime Kills (the best film in the franchise) and alien creature feature Prey Stalker (fantastic). They are two weeks late and haven’t been rewound, so he loads them onto his jury-rigged five cassette multi-system to sort them out.

He starts to show them to Nyla and this is when she reveals the final tape, one that Kevin has never seen before. Of course they try it, but it turns out to be the fabled Videonomicon, a cursed tape which immediately begins to bring the characters from the other tapes to life right in the video store, as well as being transported to another dimension.  They suddenly find themselves pitted against the Prey Stalker and Castor the serial killer (Leland Tilden – The Killgrin, Wolves). Can the Viper (Josh Lenner) save them?

“Some things that should not have been lost were forgotten. How at the very end, in the hallowed aisles of the last one, the final keeper shall face their cursed fate.”

The Last Video Store is a brilliantly entertaining film. The setting of the video store is very well done and surprisingly nostalgic. It’s psychedelic, neon drenched and packed with exciting plastic cases with enticing and colourful images designed to draw you in. I had forgotten the excitement of hearing the click as the cassette engages and the film is about to run. The posters all over the walls all pay homage to the films that ruled the roost in the eighties and nineties, as well as thoroughly taking the mickey out of them.

The acting performances are perfect for the genre and Yaayaa Adams has one of the most expressive faces I have ever seen, used to great effect. This is a real love letter to the golden age of the VHS and anyone who remembers will find this special feature packed release well worth adding to your collection.

“Well, the snake is out of the bag and Fury of the Viper is now on sale at the video store. And for a limited time only, while supplies last, you get a free fridge magnet!”

The Last Video Store is available to buy now on Limited Edition Blu-ray.

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Original DTS HD M5.1 audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• New audio commentary by film critics Matt Donato & Meagan Navarro
• The Videonomicon Unleashed, a new visual essay by film critic Heather Wixson co-author of In Search of Darkness
• Nostalgia Fuel, a new visual essay by film critic Martyn Pedlar
• ’Twas the Night of the Tree Beast, a 2012 short by Cody Kennedy & Tim Rutherford
• M is For Magnetic Tape, a 2013 short film Cody Kennedy & Tim Rutherford
• The Last Video Store 2013, the original short from which the feature grew
• The Video Store Commercial, a 2019 short film by Cody Kennedy & Tim Rutherford
• Clips from the first attempted feature version
• Behind the Scenes
• 3 previs shorts
• Trailer
• Image Gallery
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by film critics Anton Bitel and Alexandra West
• Reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by John Pearson
• Double-sided fold-out poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by John Pearson