Our friend Eddie Spuhghetti over at HERE LIES has outdone himself again with an overload of nostalgia compilation- but this time the hero of the day is video games. And we got the best of the 70s, 80s, and ’90s video game content, ranging from commercials, cartoons inspired by video games, and, of course, a full-length movie jam-packed into a six-hour VHS for your consumption.
The movie, for those who are curious, is usually left as a surprise, but in this instance, is revealed beforehand and in marvelous 3D- THE LAST STARFIGHTER! Whereby, the VHS tape comes with two pairs of 3D glasses for proper maximum enjoyment.
As with HERE LIES’ other VHS companions, this tape is no different in how meticulously placed each commercial and episode segment is- all in the name of nostalgia and to light up all your senses into thinking you’ve traveled back in time with this little piece of polypropylene. With a bonus digital copy included for your on-the-go needs, or for those who don’t have the luxury (wild that I’m saying that in 2026), of a working VCR, it’s a must-have for both video game and VHS enthusiasts!
With pop-up events on the rise like never before, it was only a matter of time before someone had the sense to take the nostalgic pastime of the video rental store and turn it into a touring speakeasy that indulges all of the senses of every 80s and 90s kid- and for those at heart, for the younger folks.
After sold-out pop-ups in NYC, LA, Miami, Chicago, and now presumably Las Vegas, BUCKET LISTERS are bringing their Back 2 The Video Store pop-up to Sin City for a unique drinking experience inspired by the art of renting videos.
Per the website:
You’ll enter this hidden Video Store Bar and transport back to a simpler time – where Friday nights at the video store was an experience! From lava lamps to POG-playing stations & very memorable TV/Film scenes turned into photo moments, there is no shortage of things to blast you back in time!
Choose your movie-themed cocktails & libations of the night as you browse the video store shelves. All of the themed sections (Romance, Horror, Comedy) have been replaced with new sections such as “Cocktails, “Beer”, “Wine”, “Combos”, and the only difference here, is instead of pulling down a movie, now your selection off the wall, will be how you choose your drinks. There’s no cooler way to spend the night with your friends.
I’m going to be testing them and giving them bonus points if I just ask for a Dr. Challis and they give me a Miller High Life.
The pop-up is located in central Las Vegas and runs from March 25th to May 17th, with a ticket reservation required to enter. Each ticket includes a 90-minute reservation and a Y2K cocktail or mocktail, with plenty to keep you busy on the inside, including plenty of photo ops with props from your favorite movies, a retro arcade, and special nights that host Bingo, Karaoke, DJs, and, of course, for the cinephiles, Trivia Night!
It was a sunny Spring Saturday in April 1993. I was eleven years old and had my weekend routine of riding my bike a mile up to my local shopping center near my home, where my friends and I would peruse Osco Drugs for some snacks and the latest in MAD and FANGORIA magazines along with the ever essential stop next door to our mom and pop video shop, ACTION VIDEO to grab our weekend flicks and video games for rental. After purchasing some leftover Easter candy on sale, we headed to the video store, and as soon as we walked in the door, there was a giant standee VHS cutout of a new release that immediately intrigued us: LEPRECHAUN FROM VIDMARK NOW ON HOME VIDEO.
Fantastical horror was and still is my jam, so of course I right away grabbed a copy knowing full well this was going to be glorious cheese- and it did not disappoint.
SYNOPSIS:
Dan O’Grady (Shay Duffin) steals 100 gold coins from a leprechaun (Warwick Davis) while on vacation in Ireland. The leprechaun follows him home, but Dan locks the murderous midget in a crate, held at bay by a four-leaf clover. Ten years later, J.D. Redding (John Sanderford) and his daughter, Tory (Jennifer Aniston), rent O’Grady’s property for the summer. When their new neighbors accidentally release the leprechaun, he goes on a murderous rampage to reclaim his gold.
If you haven’t seen this movie yet, and what the hell if you haven’t, everyone going into this should know it’s a B-grade cheese show. They didn’t even attempt to make it sound like serious horror back when they were producing it. There are zero reasons anyone should not know the Leprechaun franchise is basically one long-running joke. I’m pretty convinced that as the series went on with sequels, they were just trying to figure out how Looney Tunes they could get with the concept.
But it’s a classic. It was the beginning of a broader movement among writers and directors to have more fun with the concept of horror. The industry was finally beginning to come around to the idea that bad could mean good. All the major franchises jumped on the concept, and that brought us some of the best horror movies I can think of. And let’s face facts: Warwick Davis, a serious theatrical actor, gave an A-grade performance as a homicidal mythological maniac. Props to that guy.
That’s what makes the magic, though. It’s video store gold that you found at the end of the Rainbow Room, behind the Family titles and before you hit the black curtain point of the shop that is about a three-foot-tall, shoe-shining, homicidal sprite, in a green tuxedo. That should have tipped you off to what you were about to get.
It’s one of those movies we rented to watch and riff on with your friends. Which gives it a really special memory in my old nostalgic bank there. The movie is silly, not even remotely scary, hammier than an Italian smokehouse, and carries the plot of something you might expect out of a Full Moon picture. Which I personally love, so that is in no way a complaint here, and the movie can be summed up in the big one-liner delivered by the child actor at the end:
Yet another beautiful video store discovery that has become an annual tradition for St. Patrick’s Day, and then sometimes Leprechaun 3 when I feel a little saucy.
