When I cast my mind back to when I first started renting movies, it summons up a mental image of my old local video rental store. This was no fancy franchise video store – brightly lit with flat screens playing the latest movie trailers, offering over priced confectionary to compliment your latest rental.

This was a pokey and poorly lit room policed by a boss eyed, chain-smoking old lady. She would peer at you over her wooden counter covered in threats of curses and painful death upon late returns, losses and damages.

This was an Aladdin’s cave of dusty wall to wall shelves covered with over sized black plastic VHS and Betamax cases, which could possibly be used as a flotation device in a watery emergency. New releases were on the squeaky rotating shelf in the middle of the room, horror and XXX were placed closely to the old dear to avoid young eyes getting too close for a good look. The rest of the shelves were covered in movies dating back to Eadweard Muybridge horse named Occident.
(more…)