‘VHS Maniac’ Uses Triad Goodwill to Build Horror Movie Collection
By Joe Scott,
Marketing Specialist
Many of our retail associates know her by name.
For more than a year, scary movie aficionado Brandi Baldwin made daily trips to most of Triad Goodwill’s locations in Greensboro. She hits this route day after day on a dedicated quest for VHS tapes of rare and cult horror films.
“Every time I go into a Goodwill store, they are like, ‘Oh, Hey, how have you been today?’ says Baldwin, while standing in her home which currently houses horror film memorabilia as well as a collection of VHS tapes that would rival that of many video stores from the early ‘90s.
She adds: “And there’s this one lady at the high point store that sees me and just points to where the tapes are and says, ‘They’re just right over there.”
While VHS tapes edged out Betamax to become the preferred way to watch movies throughout the ‘80s and most of the ‘90s, the VHS tape market was eventually upended by the creation of DVD’s, Blu Ray discs and eventually streaming video services like Netflix.
Unlike many contemporary movie watchers, Baldwin does not even have a Netflix subscription.
Baldwin, who was introduced to horror films as a kid by watching zombie movies with her dad, is part of an emerging subculture of movie fans who are resurrecting the vintage VHS format. Now there are VHS collector groups online, traders and vendors who can occasionally sell the especially rare tapes for more than $100 each and even huge VHS parties and events like the VHStival, an annual event hosted by the Alamo Drafthouse in Raleigh.
According to Baldwin, a huge factor behind the growing VHS craze is nostalgia.
“I didn’t have dial-up internet when I was growing up,” Baldwin says. “We would just buy VHS tapes and watch the same movie over and over again.”
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At the core of Baldwin’s VHS obsession is Triad Goodwill.
And while it was difficult for her to her to identify her all-time favorite Horror VHS tapes, the following is a list of some of her all-time favorite Goodwill finds:
“Return of the Living Dead” (1985, Dir. Dan O’Bannon) – Synopsis: Military experiments lead to a zombie outbreak in Louisville, Kentucky in this horror comedy with a splash of vintage punk rock culture. Baldwin says, “I enjoy the fact that like, even if you try to cremate these zombies, the smoke wafts up into the sky and it rains and the rain ends up bringing all the other dead people alive. So basically none of the zombies in here can be killed.”
“The Blob” (1988, Dir. Chuck Russell) – A remake of the 1958 drive-in creature feature, this newer incarnation of “The Blob” is about, well, a blob that oozes all over a small town, consuming all people who stand in its way. This movie features killer special effects that still hold up today. Baldwin says, “I like this newer version better because of the special effects. It’s really gory and great.”
“The Company of Wolves” (1984, Dir. Neil Jordan) – This British gothic fantasy horror film presents a modern spin on the classic ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ fairy tale by following a young woman who encounters a werewolf whilst walking to the house of her grandma, played by Angela Lansbury. Baldwin says, “Just the whole transitioning into the werewolf is pretty sweet. Just like on the cover, the wolf comes out of his mouth like that instead of like other werewolf movies.”
“Girlfriend from Hell” (1989, Dir. Daniel M Peterson) – A young wallflower gets possessed by Satan and transformed into a soul stealing temptress who seduces and terrorizes the gob smacked boys at her high school. True fact: This film is a ‘lost’ movie that is only available on VHS, but has since been adapted into an off-Broadway musical. Baldwin says, “When the girl turns into the ‘Girlfriend from Hell,’ she basically starts trying to run over nuns with her car and sleeping with all the dudes in the movie, and when she does, they get like dried up corpses and she’s basically trying ti kill everybody.”
“Dead Alive” (1993, Dir. Peter Jackson) – Before making his name by directing “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, filmmaker Peter Jackson built his reputation directing gory, splatter-y low budget horror films like this little gem about a moma’s boy who is forced to confront his overbearing mother when she is transformed into a zombie. “It’s gory. Super gory. I enjoy cheesy horror. I mostly enjoy all the gore in it and especially at the end with the guy and the lawnmower.”
(Brandi Baldwin is an artist, horror movie collector and VHS fanatic who lives and works in Greensboro, North Carolina. She showcases a lot of her artwork as well as her clutch #GoodwillFinds online at instagram.com/chergnomebyl .)