Since shifting its focus from first-run films to cult classics nearly a decade ago, the Mahoning Drive-In Theater in Lehighton, Pennsylvania — a rural borough about 75 miles northeast of Philadelphia — has thrived as a haven for genre fans. Zombie Fest, Godzilla-palooza, Troma-Thon with Lloyd Kaufman, Camp Blood Slasher Celebration, Werewolf Weekend, and John Waters’ Filthy Film Fest are just a few of the events programmed this season.
I made the trek to the cinematic mecca for the seventh annual Drive-In VHS Fest on July 7-8, where I vended Broke Horror Fan’s line of modern horror films on VHS alongside my partner in 4:3, Witter Entertainment. The event was established in 2017 when Mahoning stalwart Virgil Cardamone worked with Josh Schafer and Ted Gilbert of Lunchmeat VHS — whose VHS preservation efforts include producing new and classic titles on the format, publishing a magazine, and selling themed merchandise — to curate a two-night event screening VHS tapes on the drive-in screen.
“VHS Fest is about community coming together around the movies that we all have a shared affinity for and celebrating those movies with a like-minded group of people. It’s also about celebrating independent creators and artists,” explains Gilbert. Schafer adds, “We want to share what we do with people that care about this stuff. It gets us excited. ‘VHS is happiness’ isn’t just a slogan; it’s kind of like a lifestyle. People who get it, get it.”
VHS Fest has grown considerably from its humble beginnings to this year’s back-to-back sold-out days of VHS triple features with celebrity guests and live entertainment. The vendor market has expanded exponentially, with 60+ sellers including VHS distributors, indie filmmakers, artists, crafters, podcasters, collectors, and more. Some people pay the admission fee — a mere $12 — just to shop. With the addition of optional overnight camping, VHS Fest is like a big sleepover with rowdy friends and even rowdier movies.
Matt Cannon, who has performed music under the moniker Lapses at all but one VHS Fest, played both days this year. Synthwave is inherently steeped in 1980s influence, but Lapses really leans into the era, going so far as to adopt a cheesy motivational speaker-like persona. “A lot of what I do is based off of movies I saw on VHS,” he tells me. “I probably wouldn’t be doing the music that I do if it wasn’t for the community. It’s influenced everything that I do as far as art. There’s just something about it that you can’t get anymore in the digital era.”
There are many reasons that VHS has endured among a niche audience despite technological advancements. “It’s definitely not a great format,” chuckles vendor Tony Piluso from Hack the Movies, a film review podcast with a recurring segment dedicated to the video store era. “But it’s got a charm to it. For a lot of us, it was our first video format. I think it just takes people back.”
Nostalgia seems to be VHS’s biggest draw, along with collectability, the vibrant (albeit often misleading) artwork, the ritualistic experience, and the tactile nature of physical media, but perhaps the most important aspect is the community it fosters. Cult movie fans travel far and wide to experience VHS Fest. Some attendees even came from out of the country, and one couple was there on a belated honeymoon.
“Nobody’s judged,” Rick Florey, a VHS collector who flew in from Florida for the event, explains. “Everybody likes what they like. Everybody loves to collect. They appreciate the magic of film and where it can put you in those two hours or less. B-movies, to me, resonate as independent films that people are making because they love horror. Those are the types of projects I like to see.”
Eric Griffin, Adam Lenhart, and Jake McClellan exemplify that ethos. The indie filmmakers had attended VHS Fest in the past, but this year marked their first time as vendors. They’ve come full circle with the VHS release of their new horror-comedy anthology HeBGB TV, which Griffin gleefully describes as “a ’90s nostalgia vomit fest, like flipping through the channels of DirecTV from Hell, made by ADD for ADD.” Mcclellan notes, “I felt a bit more of an outsider, but now it’s familial; very cordial, very friendly. A community has been built over the past few years.”
Billy Organ, the pseudonym adopted by the artist behind Retro Release Video, began making bootleg tapes before numerous cease-and-desist letters persuaded him to focus on licensed titles in 2020. “To be able to do art you work really hard on and work with creators and directors that you love so much, it’s more rewarding than any amount of money.” He recently produced his first shot-on-video short, a slasher titled Labor Day, which is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and — of course — VHS.
Jeff Whitmire, a musician whose comedic horror parody songs have earned him the nickname The Weird Al of Horror, was a first-time attendee of VHS Fest, but it won’t be his last. “VHS is what made me a horror fan. I grew up in the ’80s. Going to the video store and loading up on movies based on the video cover alone and finding those gems; I love it.”
This year’s special guests included actress Patty Mullen, whose films Frankenhooker and Doom Asylum screened, GWAR manager Sleazy P. Martini, and Larry “Mr. Nasty” Pine, whose vintage insult video has become something of an underground legend among Mahoning regulars. Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher of Found Footage Festival were also on hand to host the screenings and share a selection of outrageous VHS clips.
Laura Wimbels (better known as horror host Lenora from Lenora’s Midnight Rentals) conducted brief interviews with Mullen — in her signature Frankenhooker getup, complete with purple wig — to kick off each night. Pickett and Prueher later chatted with the eccentric Pine, who seemed unphased by his celebrity status as he sang a hymn to the bewildered, but polite, captive audience.
The screening portion of the weekend commenced with Doom Asylum on Friday. Directed by Richard Friedman (Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge), the 1987 slasher follows a group of friends — including Mullen as the final girl and Sex and the City‘s Kristin Davis in her film debut — to an asylum that’s purported to be the killing grounds of Mitch Hansen (Michael Rogen), a pun-spouting slasher in the mold of Freddy Krueger. Offering humor and kills in equal measure, it set a fun tone for the weekend.
1992 regional horror oddity Winterbeast followed. Vaguely resembling Twin Peaks, the surreal plot centers on a lodge in a remote mountain town where strange occurrences run rampant. Judged on traditional filmmaking merits, it’s an unmitigated mess to the point that it almost feels like an absurd parody. But there’s a genuine sincerity to the proceedings that exudes charm in every frame — particularly the imaginative, Ray Harryhausen-inspired, stop-motion creatures.
The first night closed out with the 1991 shot-on-video horror-comedy Killer Nerd. American Splendor‘s Toby Radloff made his film debut as a lonely geek who goes on a killing spree to get revenge on his harassers. Later distributed by Troma, the movie was successful enough on video store shelves to warrant a sequel, Bride of Killer Nerd, the following year. While I’d be hard-pressed to call it good, its delirium matched that of the viewers who managed to stay awake for it.
Saturday’s screenings began with Frankenhooker. I’d say that they don’t make ’em like they used to, but no one ever made movies quite like Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case, Brain Damage). A modern (circa 1990), black comedy twist on Frankenstein, it not only delivers on but exceeds everything you’d expect from the lurid title. Several scenes — notably the “super crack”-induced exploding sequence — elicited laughter that echoed throughout the grounds. Like Bride of Frankenstein, the titular Frankenhooker is so iconic that you may not realize she doesn’t appear until the final act.
At Dawn They Sleep is a genre-bending, lo-fi splatterfest from 2000 that mixes vampires, demons, action, crime, and gore. Borrowing its title from a Slayer song, the film also boasts a blistering black metal soundtrack. Cult filmmaker Brian Paulin (Bone Sickness) serves as writer, director, special effects artist, and lead actor, among other duties. His ambition overcomes the trappings of homegrown productions with fire and car stunts, miniature work, special effects, and a voyeuristic possum that stole the show during a sex scene.
The final film of the weekend was 1988’s The Brain, which reunited Bloody Birthday director Ed Hunt and writer Barry Pearson. Re-Animator‘s David Gale stars in the campy Canadian horror outing as a TV host who works with a sentient brain to control the minds of humans. It hits the ground running and rarely goes more than five minutes without a wild hallucination, death, or chase scene, which helped keep the audience awake into the wee hours of the morning.
Beloved genre personality Joe Bob Briggs — who hosted his first annual Joe Bob’s Jamboree at the Mahoning in 2021 — coined the mantra “The drive-in will never die,” and VHS has demonstrated similar immortality. Pairing the two at VHS Fest has proven to be an unassailable combination. Whether you’re local or traveling from out of state, everyone involved — from the organizers and the Mahoning staff to the vendors and fellow patrons — comes together to ensure Drive-In VHS Fest is a success on all fronts each and every year.
VHS is happiness, indeed.
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