Physical Media Anonymous: The Art of Double Dipping

I was sharing my physical media collection a couple weeks back and mentioned organizing them alphabetically so that all my copies of a specific title were in a single location. It immediately occurred to me how nutty that must have read to a non-collector and I suppose, logically, it is. Every year I tell myself I’m not going to purchase another release of a film I already own and every year I do exactly that. I’m sure I’m not alone. If any of you fellow super collectors out there have only one release of JAWS (1975). The THING (1982), or Halloween (1978) then pat yourselves on the back because you’re a far stronger person than me.

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How I Organize My Physical Media Collection

Back in 2011, I wrote a post about how I organized my DVD/Blu-ray collection. At the time, I kept my discs in large, leather binders; alphabetized for easy storage and retrieval. A lot has changed since then. DVD/Blu-rays have since graduated to Blu-ray/4K’s and the movie hoarder I was ten years ago has since evolved into a more serious collector.  For me, it’s no longer just owning a copy of a movie, but also its unique presentation and packaging. And once that occurred, owning a “compact” collection was no longer possible. Easy retrieval, on the other hand, still is. This post is designed to supersede that old blog and show you how I organize my collection today. Please note, I’m not suggesting my methods to be the best nor the most economical. They are, however, what I found works best for me. 

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Finally Looking Back at Flashback Weekend

Deadpool Freddy Krueger costume at 2021 Flashback Weekend

For all intents and purposes, this past Flashback Weekend should have been an amazing experience. Like most annual events, the convention was canceled last year due to Covid leaving horror fans even more anxious to commune in 2021. I’d reserved my room at the Hyatt Regency in Rosemont, Illinois months in advance and even took the whole week after off for vacation. I’d saved plenty of cash and had a detailed list of all the guests I wanted to meet and items I wanted to have signed. Unfortunately, not an hour after the doors opened I got word that a family member using my car for the weekend crashed it. This situation resulted in my spending the bulk of my Friday night in my room and on the phone. Saturday was my day to work with the Svengoolie crew and, with my car out of commission, I had to arrange for someone else to pick me up from the hotel on Sunday. They could only get me at 10 am a.k.a. an hour before the convention opened that day. I had little time to accomplish my goals and the singer, Meatloaf, would end up stealing half of it. In the end, After failing to reach the majority of my Flashback Weekend objectives, it’s no wonder I’ve spent the last four months trying to forget it. In fact, it wasn’t until a few weeks ago when Svengoolie’s producer, Jim Roche, reached out about sharing my pictures with them that I realized they were still unloaded on my camera.

Vault of Horror: Lost Physical Media Collection Worth Revisiting!

It’s been almost exactly two years since Mark Spangler contributed to this site with his illuminating expose of The Ninth Gate. Today, he’s putting the spotlight on an old physical media release worth revisiting. Welcome back, Mark! – Dave

“Vault of Horror”
Brentwood Home Video 2001
SCREAM OF THE WOLF, WOLF MAN, MOON OF THE WOLF, SNOWBEAST, SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT, DON’T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT, JACK THE RIPPER, SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.

Back in  2001, Brentwood Home Video released a ten-film set of genre films entitled “Vault of Horror”. You may have seen this collection lying in wait, like the proverbial evil monkey’s paw, amidst other compilation releases of questionable origin. Brentwood is noted for its bootleg DVD and Blu Ray releases, but don’t let that stop you from picking up this nifty little package if you get the chance. As is to be expected, the transfers on these discs aren’t the best… audio is uneven at times and the “extras” are laughable, but the stories, acting, and directing in some of these movies more than makes up for these deficiencies, provided one can overlook the fade-to-black annoyances that scream “movie of the week” on some of the selections.  The early-to-mid ’70s saw the production of some notable TV movie horror (“Night Stalker”, “Trilogy of Terror”) and while the TV fare in this set isn’t that good, there is stuff here you may have overlooked that’s worth seeing.

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