By Joey Prather

Streaming has turned into a bit of a cultural phenomenon, acting as sort of a second coming of the home video revolution. Unlike the first home video revolution, more people have access to entertainment, instead of needing a full VHS-DVD-BLURAY set up all one would need is a computer and internet access.

Along with all of the benefits, there are some negatives that come along with the territory. The main one being the paradox of choice and analysis paralysis when faced with too many options.

Then you end up rewatching the same episode of Friends. But hey -- lucky for you, some brave souls make a deep dive into Amazon Prime to see what hidden gems are hiding deep under the surface.

The one feature that sets Amazon Prime above the others is the ability to select a movie or show and see what customers also watched. You can do this with each subsequent title until you are so far down a rabbit hole you’re not entirely sure where you started (I’ve spent many days and nights doing just this!).

First up is “Love on a Leash”. Your typical dog falls in love with a woman and tries to make her fall in love with his story. Here comes the hook though, I personally believe it was made by someone who has never seen a movie, like ever. If you’ve ever needed inspiration to take our post-production audio class, this will definitely sell you on it.

Like. For. Real.

All of the dog’s lines are poorly dubbed in either being way too loud or barely audible. The film's credits also have absolutely no sound at all . So get grandma and grandpa and all the kids into one room and watch “Love on a Leash”. It's as if “Marley and Me” was directed by Tommy Wiseau.

Am I losing you here? Sappy romantic dog love stories not work for you?

Alright… how about a Hong-Kong-action-film-that-is-sort-of-a-low-budget Robocop-knock-off?!

For that I bring to you, the gift of ROBO VAMPIRE!

This film was directed by one of Hong Kong’s most prolific directors, by sheer volume alone, Godfrey Ho. Who famously directed almost 40 movies in 1988. You might be thinking that’s a lot of work but worry not, he didn’t really direct that many films -- I’ll explain….

He was famous for taking incomplete films, mashing two or three together, shooting some connective tissue to make it work and releasing it to the public. His style of “filmmaking” makes for a fun game of figuring out what films are being ripped off. To anyone who might think to themselves “that’s crazy I would hate to do something like that” well, you may be right but…...

One of the benefits of watching more obscure low budget films is being inspired by what others do on the same level and budget are doing. It may not seem within your reach to learn how to make your own films or hone in on your creative skills. But look, you have a Robo Vampire and dogs falling in love. They did it and so can you.

Luckily for you, you won’t have to worry about making mistakes like unintelligible plots or no audio at the start of your film if you take a few classes.

—

Catch Joey at PLAY AT HOME on March 4 where he talks all things VHS. Register here (for free).

Joey Prather is an indie filmmaker, archivist, and Community Manager at Motion Media Arts Center. He enjoys collecting and archiving obscure films on VHS & learning about all things analog (from film projectors to VHS cams). He runs a archive-driven social media account Dumpster Dive VHS, where you can find everything ranging from obscure horror films ripping off more popular films to educational tapes about crystal healing. You can usually find him doing film transfers & tinkering with gear at Austin School of Film or digging through piles of VHS tapes from yesteryear.

Movies Streaming Services Don't Want You to See