Biggest rental regret from back in the day? - Blu-ray Forum

KManX89 · 03-20-2021, 12:02 AM

I know movie rentals aren't a thing, anymore (thanks streaming), but they were once upon a time. What movie did you most regret renting from your local Blockbuster, Family Video, etc. back in the day?

Anyway, I was browsing the horror section and saw the cover for The Human Centipede and thought "that sounds interesting". At the time, I didn't know about its "concept" and seriously thought about renting it, but luckily, I decided not to rent it. Instead, I rented Pulse.

I figured, it was a free rental with my Rewards program, so what the hell? Biggest waste of time of my life, that movie was atrocious on every level (and boring, which is the worst thing a movie can be). Afterwards, my friend was like "they should've paid ME to watch that shit".

SeanJoyce · 03-20-2021, 12:06 AM

I was a youngin' duped by the cover of Bloody Murder and got the most execrable ripoff of Friday the 13th yet.

takeasneededforpain · 03-20-2021, 12:11 AM

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

dbhl3000 · 03-20-2021, 12:19 AM

Jamon, Jamon, a POS foreign film that I would have stomped on but it wasn't mine.

Mojo Blue · 03-20-2021, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KManX89

What movie did you most regret renting from your local Blockbuster, Family Video, etc. back in the day?

Part of the approach to the dingy, local rental stores was knowing you were going to get a low budget clunker. The only one that still sticks in my mind is "Joyride to Nowhere".

dcowboy7 · 03-20-2021, 01:19 AM

I never rented not even once.

RCRochester · 03-20-2021, 01:23 AM

As a kid in the mid-80s fresh from watching the likes of Commando, Conan and Terminator, I rented Arnie's "latest" from the new release section of our local video store, "Hercules Goes Bananas". Nowadays as an adult within the proper context I can appreciate its camp value, but as a kid I couldn't believe the utter crap that was unfolding before my eyes. It was my first lesson in the practice of companies dusting off old crap made by stars prior to their big breakthroughs and trying to repackage it as something new.

slimdude · 03-20-2021, 01:35 AM

I've never regretted renting any movies because it was for entertainment, and the sheer fun of going to the video store to browse and interact with other movie lovers. Video stores had perks, they'll give you a punch card and if you rent ten movies you'll get one free one.

traths · 03-20-2021, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slimdude

I've never regretted renting any movies because it was for entertainment, and the sheer fun of going to the video store to browse and interact with other movie lovers. Video stores had perks, they'll give you a punch card and if you rent ten movies you'll get one free one.

I miss those days.

Britbuffguy · 03-20-2021, 04:10 AM

The English Patient.

jtu128 · 03-20-2021, 04:12 AM

The Hulk with Ed Norton... I think the single night rental was $5

Jay H. · 03-20-2021, 04:25 AM

WAY too many to list. I love horror movies, which means I've rented a lot of crap.

TripleHBK · 03-20-2021, 04:49 AM

Army of Darkness believe it or not. I was Probably 13 or 14 when I rented it on VHS in 95/96. I was thinking I was getting something scary and/or filled with boobs/nudity and instead I got a goofy horror comedy that in no way met my expectations.

At this point in my life I had never heard of Evil Dead nor Bruce Campbell. I was accustom to renting all manner of Horror tapes from some local mom and pop shops along with NES/SNES games galore with my favorite franchise at the time being the Nightmare on Elm Street series but I was always branching out into new films and of course the cover of this one caught my eye. It wasn't until 2002 that I finally watched the original Evil Dead, and it wasn't until 2004 or 2005 until I watched Evil Dead 2. Having grown quite a bit from that initial viewing I didn't revisit Army of Darkness again until the first Blu Ray release in/around 2010 but thankfully enjoyed and appreciated it much much more that go round, and even more so after picking up the Scream Factory edition a few years later.

I'm sure there were other films that left me disappointed during my childhood, but none stand out quite as much as that fateful summer day.

KINGDANGER · 03-20-2021, 06:05 AM

The Frighteners.

I had rented the VHS from Blockbuster and thoroughly enjoyed it. Upon returning it, the guy working the counter was emptying the return box and told me to just put it on the counter that was right by the exit door. I hesitated but complied. The following week, while trying to rent some new selections the manager confronted me and said my account was locked due to non-return of the Frighteners. I insisted that I had and relayed the story yet the manager was extremely rude and accused me of theft. I asked her to go back and check the cameras but she refused. She was literally yelling at me in front of all the customers. Back then initial VHS prices were over $100 until home release date, this way rental companies could profit for several months. I had to pay about $120 in non-return fees to settle my account and I never rented a single movie again. This is the event that started me purchasing and collecting movies and what ultimately brought me here today...

"Hello, my name is KINGDANGER, and I am addicted to collecting movies"

vortexx · 03-20-2021, 06:14 AM

I can't imagine how people could even think of any specific title. I likely rented thousands of titles since I got into video tape early and movies were very expensive to purchase (probably the equivalent of $150.00 to $200 in today's currency), so in the beginning I only had 20 or 30 originals and the rest were copies I made that I rented. I'm sure there were lots of less than stellar stuff, but I sometimes might like them later. I guess if people were on the tail end of video rentals, they could probably pick.

If I had to pick, it would be in general - anything that I realized was a censored print while watching it. They did censor some releases in Ontario up to the late 80s, but I had friends that ran stores that obtained uncut releases for those titles.

RCRochester · 03-20-2021, 08:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KINGDANGER

The Frighteners.

I had rented the VHS from Blockbuster and thoroughly enjoyed it. Upon returning it, the guy working the counter was emptying the return box and told me to just put it on the counter that was right by the exit door. I hesitated but complied. The following week, while trying to rent some new selections the manager confronted me and said my account was locked due to non-return of the Frighteners. I insisted that I had and relayed the story yet the manager was extremely rude and accused me of theft. I asked her to go back and check the cameras but she refused. She was literally yelling at me in front of all the customers. Back then initial VHS prices were over $100 until home release date, this way rental companies could profit for several months. I had to pay about $120 in non-return fees to settle my account and I never rented a single movie again. This is the event that started me purchasing and collecting movies and what ultimately brought me here today...

"Hello, my name is KINGDANGER, and I am addicted to collecting movies"

And to think that tape would be worth about 25 cents nowadays.

Leslie Dame · 03-20-2021, 08:33 AM

When I was young and renting tapes I haven't developed appreciation for bad-but-fun campy movies yet. We rented Fiend (1980) and that film pissed everyone off because of how awful it was. Fiend became a running joke in our family whenever we went to the rental store.
When we picked an unknown new release we always said "this can't be worse than Fiend". It wasn't until we watched Black Samurai (1976) that I started to love bad movies. We were in tears from laughing when the end credits rolled. I was like 'what just happened?'. This was funnier than every comedy I've ever seen.

Fiend remains my biggest rental regret to this day.

Michael1989 · 03-20-2021, 09:44 AM

Never rented myself, but my mum and dad would always rent a film for us to watch when I was a kid and An American Werewolf in Paris was the worst of the bunch. What utter dogshit

Josep5349 · 03-20-2021, 10:32 AM

And if you actually wanted to purchase the VHS rather rent it the prices were completely ridiculous. In the early days anyway.

Warm Gun · 03-20-2021, 10:51 AM

Back in the day? I'll keep renting from Netflix until the mail service is gone, most likely. I'm watching a Blu-ray rental right now.

03-20-2021, 12:02 AM	#1
KManX89 Blu-ray Grand Duke Member since:Nov 2019 4K collection:296 Blu-ray collection:737 DVD collection:126	Biggest rental regret from back in the day? I know movie rentals aren't a thing, anymore (thanks streaming), but they were once upon a time. What movie did you most regret renting from your local Blockbuster, Family Video, etc. back in the day? Anyway, I was browsing the horror section and saw the cover for The Human Centipede and thought "that sounds interesting". At the time, I didn't know about its "concept" and seriously thought about renting it, but luckily, I decided not to rent it. Instead, I rented Pulse. I figured, it was a free rental with my Rewards program, so what the hell? Biggest waste of time of my life, that movie was atrocious on every level (and boring, which is the worst thing a movie can be). Afterwards, my friend was like "they should've paid ME to watch that shit".

03-20-2021, 06:14 AM	#15
vortexx Blu-ray Guru Member since:Dec 2015	I can't imagine how people could even think of any specific title. I likely rented thousands of titles since I got into video tape early and movies were very expensive to purchase (probably the equivalent of $150.00 to $200 in today's currency), so in the beginning I only had 20 or 30 originals and the rest were copies I made that I rented. I'm sure there were lots of less than stellar stuff, but I sometimes might like them later. I guess if people were on the tail end of video rentals, they could probably pick. If I had to pick, it would be in general - anything that I realized was a censored print while watching it. They did censor some releases in Ontario up to the late 80s, but I had friends that ran stores that obtained uncut releases for those titles. Last edited by vortexx; 03-20-2021 at 06:19 AM.

03-20-2021, 12:06 AM	#2
SeanJoyce Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Nov 2014	I was a youngin' duped by the cover of Bloody Murder and got the most execrable ripoff of Friday the 13th yet.

03-20-2021, 12:11 AM	#3
takeasneededforpain Power Member Member since:Jun 2014 Location:Canada Blu-ray collection:106 DVD collection:14	Mortal Kombat: Annihilation

03-20-2021, 12:19 AM	#4
dbhl3000 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Feb 2013 Location:Los Angeles, USA Trading Score:4	Jamon, Jamon, a POS foreign film that I would have stomped on but it wasn't mine.

03-20-2021, 01:19 AM	#6
dcowboy7 Blu-ray Knight Top contributor Member since:Feb 2009 Location:Pequannock, NJ 4K collection:7 Blu-ray collection:112 Trading Score:11	I never rented not even once.

03-20-2021, 01:23 AM	#7
RCRochester Banned Top contributor Member since:Sep 2017 Trading Score:9	As a kid in the mid-80s fresh from watching the likes of Commando, Conan and Terminator, I rented Arnie's "latest" from the new release section of our local video store, "Hercules Goes Bananas". Nowadays as an adult within the proper context I can appreciate its camp value, but as a kid I couldn't believe the utter crap that was unfolding before my eyes. It was my first lesson in the practice of companies dusting off old crap made by stars prior to their big breakthroughs and trying to repackage it as something new.

03-20-2021, 01:35 AM	#8
slimdude Banned Member since:Apr 2009 4K collection:- Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- Blu-ray reviews:8	I've never regretted renting any movies because it was for entertainment, and the sheer fun of going to the video store to browse and interact with other movie lovers. Video stores had perks, they'll give you a punch card and if you rent ten movies you'll get one free one.

03-20-2021, 04:10 AM	#10
Britbuffguy Blu-ray Champion Member since:Feb 2013 Location:Madison, WI 4K collection:9 Blu-ray collection:323 DVD collection:23 Trading Score:62	The English Patient.

03-20-2021, 04:12 AM	#11
jtu128 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Jul 2010 4K collection:123 Blu-ray collection:685 DVD collection:105 Digital collection:11 iTunes collection:305 Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:2	The Hulk with Ed Norton... I think the single night rental was $5

03-20-2021, 04:25 AM	#12
Jay H. Blu-ray Baron Member since:Oct 2019 Trading Score:2	WAY too many to list. I love horror movies, which means I've rented a lot of crap.

03-20-2021, 04:49 AM	#13
TripleHBK Blu-ray Duke Top contributor Member since:Aug 2012 Location:Lincoln, NE Home Theater Gallery:52 4K collection:249 Blu-ray collection:3649 DVD collection:742 Blu-ray reviews: 17 Trading Score:47	Army of Darkness believe it or not. I was Probably 13 or 14 when I rented it on VHS in 95/96. I was thinking I was getting something scary and/or filled with boobs/nudity and instead I got a goofy horror comedy that in no way met my expectations. At this point in my life I had never heard of Evil Dead nor Bruce Campbell. I was accustom to renting all manner of Horror tapes from some local mom and pop shops along with NES/SNES games galore with my favorite franchise at the time being the Nightmare on Elm Street series but I was always branching out into new films and of course the cover of this one caught my eye. It wasn't until 2002 that I finally watched the original Evil Dead, and it wasn't until 2004 or 2005 until I watched Evil Dead 2. Having grown quite a bit from that initial viewing I didn't revisit Army of Darkness again until the first Blu Ray release in/around 2010 but thankfully enjoyed and appreciated it much much more that go round, and even more so after picking up the Scream Factory edition a few years later. I'm sure there were other films that left me disappointed during my childhood, but none stand out quite as much as that fateful summer day.

03-20-2021, 06:05 AM	#14
KINGDANGER Power Member Top contributor Member since:Oct 2012 Home Theater Gallery:21 4K collection:686 Blu-ray collection:3281 DVD collection:515 Digital collection:539 Trading Score:6	The Frighteners. I had rented the VHS from Blockbuster and thoroughly enjoyed it. Upon returning it, the guy working the counter was emptying the return box and told me to just put it on the counter that was right by the exit door. I hesitated but complied. The following week, while trying to rent some new selections the manager confronted me and said my account was locked due to non-return of the Frighteners. I insisted that I had and relayed the story yet the manager was extremely rude and accused me of theft. I asked her to go back and check the cameras but she refused. She was literally yelling at me in front of all the customers. Back then initial VHS prices were over $100 until home release date, this way rental companies could profit for several months. I had to pay about $120 in non-return fees to settle my account and I never rented a single movie again. This is the event that started me purchasing and collecting movies and what ultimately brought me here today... "Hello, my name is KINGDANGER, and I am addicted to collecting movies"

03-20-2021, 08:33 AM	#17
Leslie Dame Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Dec 2010 Location:Germany Blu-ray collection:1003 DVD collection:1857 Blu-ray reviews: 7	When I was young and renting tapes I haven't developed appreciation for bad-but-fun campy movies yet. We rented Fiend (1980) and that film pissed everyone off because of how awful it was. Fiend became a running joke in our family whenever we went to the rental store. When we picked an unknown new release we always said "this can't be worse than Fiend". It wasn't until we watched Black Samurai (1976) that I started to love bad movies. We were in tears from laughing when the end credits rolled. I was like 'what just happened?'. This was funnier than every comedy I've ever seen. Fiend remains my biggest rental regret to this day.

03-20-2021, 09:44 AM	#18
Michael1989 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Mar 2009 Location:United Kingdom	Never rented myself, but my mum and dad would always rent a film for us to watch when I was a kid and An American Werewolf in Paris was the worst of the bunch. What utter dogshit

03-20-2021, 10:32 AM	#19
Josep5349 Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Jan 2013	And if you actually wanted to purchase the VHS rather rent it the prices were completely ridiculous. In the early days anyway.

03-20-2021, 10:51 AM	#20
Warm Gun Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Dec 2020 4K collection:127 Blu-ray collection:650 DVD collection:103 Digital collection:2 Trading Score:10	Back in the day? I'll keep renting from Netflix until the mail service is gone, most likely. I'm watching a Blu-ray rental right now.

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