Video Violence

The denizens of a rural New Jersey town have a very particular collective taste for violence and gore in their video rentals. When an unlabelled cassette is returned to the store, it seems this appetite might’ve spilled over into real life…

Working in a video store became the start of many a film career – just ask Alex Ross Perry (Videoheaven)! It’s no small wonder then, that he has a special passion for this naughty-nasty yet oh so wise treat. Video Violence is the work of a video store clerk frustrated about his customers’ taste and driven to make a satirical point about it. And, so he came up with the story of a couple arriving in rural New Jersey where they open a video store. Surprised by the locals’ enthusiasm for VHS, they slowly start to wonder about their customers’ shared taste: gore galore with the occasional pinch of rated XXX. When an unlabelled tape appears among the returned cassettes, they pop it in a player and find themselves faced with what looks like a real murder. Video bloodhounds know that their next step is usually not a good idea in scenarios like this: they go straight to the local police… From there on, things get sinister in this shot-on-video indie classic!

– Olaf Möller

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