Awesome ’80s VHS Box Art

Home video box art is a dying field.   There was a time when the artwork on the box was just about the only thing that convinced people to rent the movie from the local video store.  I can remember as a kid, the cover art for videos such as Chopping Mall and Headless Eyes always fascinated/disturbed me enough to want to watch them as soon as my parents would let me rent rated R movies.

Today, though, with all the “floating heads” and other Photoshop disasters staring back at you from the shelf at Blockbuster, there’s very little to make you want to pick up a movie you’ve never heard of before. In fact, most DVD cases look like they were designed by a summer intern using MS Paint.

Modern home video covers are nothing like the awesomeness that can be found over at Monster Brains, where they have a great gallery of 1980s VHS covers from foreign sci-fi, action/adventure, and horror films.  They just don’t make ’em like this anymore…

I think my personal favorite is Bruce Lee Fights Back From the Grave, including “borrowed” artwork from Meatloaf’s seminal album, Bat Out of Hell.

Tell me you don’t want to track these movies down and watch them immediately.  I mean, guys with alligator heads!  A melting reporter wearing a fedora!  How could you possibly go wrong by renting these?

[Monster Brains]