1980s video stores probably did more to spread horror stories than even the campfire. Genre fans are also nostalgic by nature, so it makes sense the old school video store is a staple of retro horror movies. After all, we all remember discovering many of our favorites through VHS rentals. This store has seen better days, so maybe the 1990s have already arrived, but the aesthetic is still very 80s in Bianca Poletti’s short film Video Barn, which screens during the 2025 SXSW Film Festival.
Like usual. Hannah is working late with her friend Jules at the Video Barn, but tonight she will sneak off early to see her boyfriend before he leaves for college. While left alone, a mysterious VHS tape seems to be calling her. She presses play.
When we next see Hannah, she is working the late shift with only her guilt for company. Jules has been missing so long, the media clearly assumes the worst. Her only customer sneaks behind the notorious old video store curtain (so you know what he came to browse).
Throughout Video Barn, Poletti displays a keen feel for the VHS era. Frankly, this is one of the better VHS-themed horror films, of any length. It is not quite as much fun as Beyond the Gates, but it is about on par with Scare Package and vastly superior to its ill-conceived sequel. (Yet, one of the best VHS horror productions was not even a movie, it was the Shudder podcast, Video Palace.)
All the set designs and trappings of the vintage video store ring true to the era. Grace Van Dien and Reina Hardesty are also both very good as Jules and Hannah. It unsettlingly eerie, yet also perversely nostalgic. If you remember stores like the Video Barn, the short will remind you why you miss them. Recommended for horror fans and analog media enthusiasts, Video Barn screens again this Thursday (3/13) as part of the Midnight Shorts Program at this year’s SXSW.
