Save VHS!

Left: Decomposing nitrate film, and, right, piles of VHS tapes set for destruction.

Twitter horror film fan Sluts and Guts recently tweeted about VHS recycling. I don’t know a lot about this: VHS video cassettes went the way of the pianola roll a long time ago (and I believe VHS recorders have ceased production?), and apparently there is now a push to get rid of old cassettes by recycling them.

Sluts and Guts commented:

Fact: There are tens of thousands of movies that were released ONLY ON VHS. There are no digital versions of these films and with #VHSrecycling happening now, many films may be lost forever. #VHSpreservation

https://twitter.com/sluts_guts/status/1105349523453313024

This reminded me of another all-but-vanished era of cinema: nitrate films.

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