The music world has certainly been split between formats of different eras, with artists releasing new material via both vinyl and intangible mp3 downloads. Physical digital--i.e. digitally encoded objects like CDs--seems to be falling into a deepening crack in media history. Could it be that movies are going the same route? For horror fans, the retro appeal of the VHS tape might outlive the DVD.

Most watchers of movies push towards the highest quality format and the best hardware to watch it on. We see Blu-ray releases and HD downloads sold alongside 1080p televisions. But like the CD, the DVD itself will probably fall away entirely, its place filled by streaming HD and downloadable content. The internet has never been so fast, so why waste time going to the store or ordering a physical disc through the mail? Like your music collection, your movie collection will soon be invisible except when seen on a computer monitor. 

But like your music collection, your movie collection may just have a few analog refugees hidden in the stacks. You're not going to throw away those original Star Wars tapes, after all--the films contained on them can't be bought digitally. And if you're a hardcore horror film fanatic, you might have a whole pile of old school nostalgia objects that you still pop into the VCR every now and again. 

Within the horror genre subculture, VHS is becoming the equivalent of vinyl. VHS was, after all, the format of choice during the horror golden age of the '80s. Most gritty vintage fright flicks aren't going to be improved upon just by slapping them on a DVD or uploading them to the internet, and most fans of those movies miss the ritual and tactile experience of the tape. 

The appeal is so strong that some companies are rereleasing older, "bad" horror on VHS. Camp Motion Pictures specializes in low budget cinema from the '80s. They just put out a five-tape box set of some of the fake-bloodiest gore-fests in history to surprisingly good sales. The camp experience, after all, is best enjoyed when every aspect of the viewing is in some way low quality. It would feel a little funny to watch an over-the-top, poorly-acted horror film with terrible effects on an HD screen through a Blu-ray player, after all. The analog format complements the rest of the experience by layering extra grit and nostalgia on top of the vintage scares.

Will we see a resurgence in VHS like we have in vinyl? Possibly not on the same scale--lovers of indie music probably outnumber lovers of camp horror--but the tapes are there if you know where to look.