Friday Night WTF screenings are cheap, weird, and out of control! Cult trashterpieces, so-bad-they’re-good crapfests, movies that make you ask “What the hell am I watching?!” — we’ve got ’em all on Friday night.

“Top-tier regional drenched in synth drone SOV master-trash and a super ode to the days of horror rentals, late fees, and eye-catching movie covers” – c h r i s, Letterboxd

Allegedly made for a budget of $6, Gary Cohen’s Video Violence is a legendary slice of SOV sleaze. The film follows a video store owner dismayed by his community’s fondness for horror schlock, who learns that these backwoods hicks don’t just watch violent films, they make their own…for real. Shot entirely on a VHS camcorder and edited at a local public access TV station, Video Violence is a delightfully grungy little number that found its way into video stores around the country. That’s appropriate because the film emerged directly from Cohen’s own experiences working as video store clerk where he was appalled at his customers’ fondness for violent B movies rather than the old Hollywood classics he adored. Like a no-budget Funny Games, Video Violence is an attack on audiences’ penchant for violent entertainment that nonetheless became embraced by those very same horror hounds.

This film is screening as part of Arkadin’s series Video Store Heaven. Based around the St. Louis premiere of Alex Ross Perry’s Videoheaven, which explores the lost world of video stores as depicted onscreen, we are presenting some of the works featured in Perry’s sprawling essay film.

Arkadin does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. However, we encourage researching titles to determine if a screening may contain content that could be upsetting to you. Please feel free to contact us for guidance on specific films. Information about content can also be found on Common Sense Media, IMDB and DoesTheDogDie.com, as well as through general internet searches.