"Rewind This!" is all about the warm and fuzzy memories of VHS' reign over the home video market. And while I don't share those feelings to any great extent, this makes for a well-packaged and entertaining movie. For a while, at least. I was absorbed when it was about the early days of the format and when VHS was responsible for the video store boom and demand for variety. Not to mention the nostalgia for great home video box art. But it started to lose me during the tape-trading segment and the eventual mass complaints about digital vs. physical media. Everyone has an opinion on this, it's all doom-and-gloom and the tone shifted from amusing to awkward. Sadly, the fun never came back, and I missed that tone from the first half.6/10

I saw this little pearl of documentary, which is about the revolution with VHS in the 80s and how it all changed the movie market completely. It's nostalgia for all the money, which is also the reason why the VHS format i still loved by fans around the world. The documentary discusses both good and bad things about the format, as well as many can relate and have recognition, cover design - which was just better at that time than what it is today with all the photoshopped posters. After I finished with the documentary, I totally got an desire to own old horror movies on VHS again.

Oh the good ol' days of VHS. Yes, I wore my Disney videos down til they were just a fuzzy haze of grainy musical colours like everyone else, but my real relationship with cassettes comes from recorded movies from the TV guides. When I was first getting into film, I began my catchup with a big list of modern essentials such as Fight Club, Goodfellas, Full Metal Jacket, American Beauty, Pulp Fiction, all of which I watched and rewatched on video tape until I knew exactly where the advert breaks would come. That's essentially why I do what I do today. I never collected VHS like the subjects of this documentary, but ever since I got into DVD collecting, I've been manic. Blu-rays, books, vinyls, I collect 'em all. Although VHS is more or less useless these days (I remember the moment my player just decided to stop working, it was very irritating), I can definitely relate to the people in the film who scourer car boot sales obsessively for rarities.Rewind This! is a nostalgic reminder of why VHS deserved to be the best of their kind at the time. It's the same reason I like vinyl. They have a 'lived-in' quality we can't get from the polish of blu-ray. Little imperfections that are part of its unique identity where they've been over- paused and subsequently scarred with snowy lines of distortion. Although there's an almost Not Quite Hollywood focus on horror and porn as far as the 'hidden gems' go, it's a very interesting documentary. The film itself is well done, but admittedly, the industry professionals are far more interesting than the caricature hipsters who just really like videos. Definitely some colourful characters there on both sides. It does lack structure and its 8-bit music gives it an unwarranted sense of urgency that can be distracting, but it makes great use of cutaway footage from the video footage the subjects talk about. There's a great charm about its flaws and that kind of reflects its points about the authenticity and naivety on VHS. Worth watching.7/10

It's been a long time since I've been as mesmerized as I was while viewing the world premiere of Rewind This! at this years SXSW Film Festival. I was clinging to every word uttered from everyone interviewed in this, dare I say...instant cult documentary. As a consumer who was there at it's inception, I ate up all things VHS. To be able to record a show not only to watch at your convenience, but to keep as your own was the ultimate in entertainment fandom as far as I was concerned. To be able to buy or record a movie that you already saw in the theater was just how life was meant to be. I was the ideal consumer because I bought anything and everything it took to enjoy the VHS experience. This documentary delves into every aspect of that and so much more with the love and devotion you'd expect from such ardent fans as Josh Johnson, Carolee Mitchell, and Christopher Palmer...my friends. So do yourself and your well-being a favor and treat yourself to what is cinema gold...Rewind This!