VHS movies used to be a staple in households. Now with the instant consumer gratification of big-budget Hollywood films streaming on services like Netflix, Amazon and iTunes, it’s hard to believe we ever had to work to enjoy a movie at home. But we did.
In the not-too-distant past, people actually drove to video rental stores and browsed aisles and aisles of VHS tapes. You could even get popcorn and candy there, and when you were done watching the movie you had to rewind the tape (or face a fine!) and return it to the store. Crazy times.
That activity is firmly in dodo territory now — Bend, Oregon, is home to the world’s last remaining Blockbuster video store, and the last VCR manufacturer ceased operations a few years ago. This has created a cottage industry for home movie buffs in which some of the rarest (and worst) films ever made can snag a hefty profit in VHS format. Or if they’re not going to make the seller rich, they will at least make the buyer extremely happy.
VHS tapes are unlikely to ever become a great investment. The quality of the picture takes a major hit each time the tape is played, which was a major impetus for digitalization and the DVD. And unless properly stored, time alone will make a tape unwatchable. Plus, when’s the last time you saw a VCR?
Regardless, VHS tapes are fun collectibles. And they can be valuable. These VHS tapes are worth the most money.
Bottom Line: The Sound of Music
Twentieth Century Fox / IMDB
One of the all-time classics, “The Sound of Music” was also among the first three films released on the VHS format in 1977 (“Patton” and “M*A*S*H*” were the other two). People expected to see movies in the theaters back then, and 1977 saw major box-office successes like “Star Wars,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Saturday Night Fever.” So it stood to reason that the first home videos would be classics.
Magnetic Video was the first company to market VHS tapes, inking a deal with the then-struggling Twentieth Century Fox studio to release 50 films for home video. It also created the video rental system, forever changing the movie experience.
We were able to find one copy of the original VHS release of “The Sound of Music” selling on eBay for $45, with another, newer copy asking about $65. Those are pretty good deals considering the cost of the tape was $50-$70, which is $208-$291 adjusted for inflation.
Luckily for movie buffs, the price of VHS would drop dramatically over the years to levels that put a home movie collection within reach for millions of American households.
555
Slaughterhouse Entertainment / IMDB
Year: 1988
Synopsis: A detective tracks a psycho dressed as a hippie who’s killing teens for five consecutive days during the fifth month of the year every five years
Campy, low-budget horror flicks are all the rage among VHS collectors, and “555” is among the most coveted. It helps that this bizarre but fun movie was filmed on VHS during the VHS craze of the 1980s, but it’s still impressive that someone paid $275 for it in 2016.
It was the only film from director and producer Wally Koz, according to his IMDB profile. Koz was a miner and gold prospector who had no filmmaking experience prior to “555” but was so fed up with the shlock being passed off as horror films that he decided to make his own. With the help of family and friends, soon a VHS legend was born.
Halloween
Compass International Pictures / IMDB
Year: 1978
Synopsis: Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital to kill again 15 years after murdering his sister on Halloween night
VHS release: 1979
IMDB rating: 7.8/10
Sale price: $13,220
The “Halloween” franchise is one of the horror genre’s greatest success stories, and numerous editions of the original film were released on VHS by different distributors. That means it’s not especially hard to find a copy, but some copies are different than others. Like, for instance, the original Media Home Entertainment release that fetched a mind-boggling sum of $13,220. Or the confusingly titled MEDA betamax release that once sold for a mere $250.
Another sought after version is the mistaken release by Media in the 1980s that contained the TV version of “Halloween,” which has additional scenes shot years after the first release. Why So Blu? provides a dizzying but informative recap of all the versions of the film and its sequels, but the bottom line is that some older VHS versions of “Halloween” are frighteningly rare and valuable.
Bottom Line: Halloween
Compass International Pictures / IMDB
The “Halloween” franchise is one of the horror genre’s greatest success stories, and numerous editions of the original film were released on VHS by different distributors.
That means it’s not especially hard to find a copy, but some copies are different than others. Like, for instance, the original Media Home Entertainment release that fetched a mind-boggling sum of $13,220. Or the confusingly titled MEDA betamax release that once sold for a mere $250.
Another sought-after version is the mistaken release by Media in the 1980s that contained the TV version of “Halloween,” which has additional scenes shot years after the first release. Why So Blu? provides a dizzying but informative recap of all the versions of the film and its sequels, but the bottom line is that some older VHS versions of “Halloween” are frighteningly rare and valuable.
The Wild Life
Universal Pictures / IMDB
Year: 1984
Synopsis: Following three crazy teenage boys who live in suburban Los Angeles and their antics on one particularly memorable night
IMDB rating: 6.1/10
Sale price: $17.79-$88.88
Perhaps the fact that this film is rare by VHS or any standards is a testament to the saturation of such movies in the 1980s. It was written by Cameron Crowe, who practically invented the ‘80s teen romp genre, and stars many familiar names (Chris Penn, Eric Stoltz, Rick Moranis, Randy Quaid). But it just didn’t have the staying power of “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” or “The Breakfast Club,” and that has made it a darling of VHS collectors.
What few copies do exist are priced between about $17 and $88.
