A love letter to video rental stores and the B-movie treasures that lined their walls, Cody Kennedy & Tim Rutherford’s debut feature, The Last Video Store, is a genre-loving blast of pure joy: “a real treasure trove for genre fans, both new and old.” (Kat Hughes, THN) When her estranged father passes, twenty-something Nyla is tasked with the thing she hates the most – cleaning up his mess. Left behind are a collection of VHS tapes, and with them, the burden of returning them to “Blaster Video” a time capsule to an era in which cover art and a catchy movie title were king, run by Kevin, a human encyclopaedia of VHS history and a friend of her father. Amongst the returns is an unknown tape, a movie not even Kevin has heard of. Was this the last movie Nyla’s father watched before he died? The mystery is too much to resist. But when Kevin and Nyla press play, they unwittingly activate a long-dormant curse and a series of classic cinematic villains are plucked from B-movie heaven and hell to be unleashed into the store itself! With style, charm and note perfect performances, The Last Video Store is a must for physical media fans. An elegy to the cinephilic havens of movie wisdom that could once be found on every corner, and the heroes like Kevin who staffed them.

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Video Quality

The Last Video Store debuts on Blu-Ray with a 1080p presentation in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio from an HD master that is as impressive as any modern movie should be. You typically can expect horror movies to have a dark aesthetic, and this movie delivers on that front. Thankfully, the transfer holds up well with deep black levels largely free from crush. Objects hold up especially well in the shadows and retain their depth in low lighting. At worst, you may spot the slightest bit of banding. The highlights have a nice stability to avoid blooming. The mixture of practical and visual effects are deftly executed with every grotesque element blending seamlessly. It is delightful how crisp the film is with complex textures and fine detail throughout. The bursts of colors from the light sources enrich the screen. There are no serious digital issues with this one. This is a first-rate disc that showcases the work perfectly.

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and an LPCM 2.0 stereo track with optional English SDH subtitles that handle the experience with a steady hand. Dialogue is primarily anchored in front center channels outside of characters calling off-screen. Every line is reproduced crisply and clearly. The track does a great job of ensuring neither sound effects nor the music ever overshadows any exchanges. The film is very dialogue-driven, but there is a world of creepy atmospheric effects and an accompanying score that will give your speakers a considerate layer of texture. There is some dynamic ambient activity in the rear channels, especially when entities start materializing in the store. There are sporadic sequences that inject some weight to the low end that helps sell the reality of the situation. This track has a wonderful dynamic range that suits the viewing experience just right.

Special Features

The first pressing of the Arrow Video Blu-Ray of The Last Video Store includes a booklet featuring new essays by film critics Anton Bitel and Alexandra West. These essays provide a great analysis of the movie, the creative figures, and the themes of the film. There is also a double-sided folded mini-poster reflecting the film’s cover art and reversible artwork included. The on-disc special features are as follows:

Audio Commentary: Film critics Matt Donato & Meagan Navarro provide a lively commentary track in which they discuss the importance of video stores, the numerous references and influences in the film, the background of the creative figures, the production, and more.

The Videonomicon Unleashed: A new 14-minute visual essay by film critic Heather Wixson, co-author of In Search of Darkness, who discusses the passion the film has for video store culture, the allusions to other work, the evolution of the creative figures, and more.

Nostalgia Fuel: A new 13-minute visual essay by film critic Martyn Pedlar that explores the place of nostalgia in this narrative.

Short Films: A collection of early short films that shows the evolution of this talent.

- ‘Twas The Night of the Tree Beast (2012) (5:18)

- M Is For Magnetic Tape (2013) (2:46)

- The Last Videostore (2013) (9:52)

- The Video Store Commercial (2019) (4:10)

First Attempt: A five-minute collection of clips from the first attempt to make this film in 2013.

Pre-Viz: A short collection of tests for the film.

- Walkthrough (1:44)

- Preystalker Sequence (1:47)

- End Scene (2:45)

Behind The Scenes: A 13-minute look at the efforts to make the production a reality.

Trailer (2:00)

Image Gallery: A collection of images from the film is provided.

Final Thoughts

The Last Video Store is a pretty entertaining love letter to old school video stores and the generations of weirdos they helped raise. The story itself is somewhat familiar, yet there is a DIY quality to the production that unlocks an additional layer of charm that may not reside in the script alone. We love when creatives try to create something practically, and this really delivers on the fun factor. Horror fans should appreciate the creativity that went into crafting this. Arrow Video has released a Blu-Ray featuring a fantastic A/V presentation and a great array of special features. Recommended

The Last Video Store is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Arrow Video has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.