Last week, we did an interview and company spotlight with Rotten Rentals creator Tim K.C. Canton. So this week, as a follow up, we're doing another unboxing and review of the Sleepaway Camp VHS Pack. Rotten Rentals is a mystery box company that ships out their surprises in old school, clam shell style, VHS cases. After watching the review, go ahead and head over to the Rotten Rentals website and buy your own VHS mystery box! |
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If you've read some of my other updates than you already know that I'm a big fan of the "mystery box" movement going on around the internet. For fans of horror themed mystery boxes these are like a little Christmas surprise every month. Rotten Rentals is one such mystery box company that takes a different approach to their product. Rotten Rentals sends out their mystery boxes in the classic 80s/90s plastic VHS case of your choosing. For horror geeks like myself that grew up in the early nineties this business is a gold mine. It brings fond memories of going out with my mom on a Friday night and renting horror movies form the local video store. But instead of having a subscription you simply buy a box when you want one. How it works is you view their wide selection of horror themed VHS covers, both old and new. You pick a case you like and order it. They send it to you filled with all kinds of retro goodies like trading cards, merchandise, pins, mini-figurines, ext. It's always a surprise what is inside. (Be aware, there isn't ever any actual VHS tapes inside). Recently I picked up my very first mystery box from Rotten Rentals. Because I'm a huge fan of off-beat 80s slashers I chose the Slaughter High VHS Pack. It came in the mail, I opened it (you can watch the unboxing below), and I was completely wowed. I have never been so satisfied with a piece of horror merchandise I've purchased. Inside my case I got six packs of retro trading cards, a poltergeist pin, a zombie tarot card, a Paranormal Activity 3 sticker, a plastic cockroach, and (to my astonishment) a promotional condom for Devil's Due--which made me laugh. For the price of $13 ($7 for the box and $6 shipping) I was impressed with what I got. The box also arrived in a matter of days. The product is priced right, they have a wide selection of awesome VHS cases (even some limited edition ones), the shipping is fast, and the product just oozes with retro 80s coolness. If your a fan of retro horror than you're going to love this company. My only disappointment is that they don't have a subscription option. I know at one time they had a "Video of the Month Club." Members paid a monthly fee of $15 dollars and received a new VHS each month, including special edition ones that were never made available in their store. Members also were entered into drawings for bigger and better prizes. However, as far as I can tell the "Video of the Month Club" no longer exists. I can't find anything for it on their website. I will definitely buy from this company again. In fact, they could easily become my favorite horror merchandise company on the web because of their niche market. Maybe next time I will buy a VHS Pack of such cult horror classics as Chopping Mall and Prom Night. I hope they continue to receive enough business to keep growing because I love what they are doing. See my unboxing of the Slaughter High VHS Pack below! Later this month I will be receiving my first Box of Dread and doing an unboxing for it. Be on the look out for a comparative review between Rotten Rentals and Box of Dread coming at the end of the month.
The second video in our new Terror Video Series is now live. This week we take a look at the 40th Anniversary Edition of Texas Chain Saw Massacre. A Slice of Horror is proud to announce the launch of the Terror Video Series, the newest addition to our website. The Terror Video Series will include video reviews of horror related products, unboxings, and website announcements/updates. A new Terror Video will be uploaded each week when possible. Additionally, we will be doing more mid-week reviews, promotions, and news updates during the week. See the first Terror Video below, where we take a look at the Universal Monster's Collection! Halloween is upon us and the main question I've been getting from all of my friends, family, and readers is: "What is a good horror movie for this Halloween?" Many of these people look to me as a staple for suggesting horror movies. But, often when I am asked this question I find myself stumped. There are just far too many good choices for a Halloween horror movie. And with so many people having different tastes in horror it becomes difficult to give any one "go to" film for Halloween. Of course there will always be the obvious staples of the season like Halloween from 1978 (which is my personal favorite), Trick r' Treat from 2009, and Hocus Pocus from 1993--a family favorite. But what if you are looking for something new? Something original? Something you haven't seen before? Well, I may just have the answer for you! Sign up for ScreamBox! Just over a month ago I did a promotional post for this new internet video streaming service. ScreamBox is a service that is dedicated 100% to giving viewers new, original, and classic scary movies! I promised that once I was done with the free trail that I would do a review of the service. Well horror ghouls and ghosts, here it is! This is A Slice of Horror's review of ScreamBox! Movie SelectionWhen I first subscribed to Netflix I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of horror movies that they had available to stream. I was excited that by utilizing this service I could cut down on buying so many DVDs and Blu-Ray's and do reviews based off of the movies available there. However, I quickly found out that their selection felt slimmer as time went on. They never had any of the truly classic horror movies. And if they did have them, they were only available for a short period of time. They also have a habit of putting out just the third or fifth, or eighth movie in a franchise. I don't want to watch Friday the 13th Part 6 on it's own! I want to watch it in conjunction with all the other films in the series! Well, needless to say Netflix got old rather quickly. Netflix isn't terrible, it has a lot of other great TV shows and movies on it, but as a horror buff I was simply looking for something more. I found what I wanted in Screambox. Screambox has a vast collection of horror movies from some of the classics such as Hellraiser (1987), Evil Dead (1981), and The Hills Have Eyes (1977) right down to some strange, obscure, and unknown horror films such as A Tale of Two Sisters (2003), Subspecies (1991), and Netherworld (1992). There is simply something for every horror fan on ScreamBox. It will cut your mission to find a movie for Halloween down and simplify it all into one place. And ScreamBox is always updating their collection, adding new movies, so the plethora of great horror fun never gets old! Usability and InterfaceScreamBox is still in Beta right now but even with that qualifier it is an easy interface to work with and navigate. The top navigation bar is laid out with the five genres in which the movies are categorized: Killers, Supernatural, Monsters, Psychological, and Extreme. Upon clicking on one of these you will find sub-categories in the genre--such as Slashers, Ghosts and Spirits, Zombies, Body Horror, or Splatter--and examples of movies in each sub-category. This makes it ease to pick what type of movie you are in the mood for and then narrow it down to exactly the right pick for you that day. As with any online streaming service you can add movies that look interesting to your queue to watch later. The queue is easy to navigate and to add movies to. Just by hovering over a movie you will get a quick summary of the movie and an option to add it to you're queue. This makes it fast and easy to add movies without having to jump back and forth between pages. The pop up also shows the year the movie was made, the rating, the running time, and all the genres that the movie fits in. But the best part of this little information box is "Trailer" button. Most of the movies on ScreamBox have a trailer, and by clicking on the "Trailer" button you can get a quick preview of the movie and see if it is something that you want to watch. This is by far my favorite feature of the website. I can do a quick preview to see if the movie is in fact what I'm looking for. I don't have to sit and watch the first five or ten minutes to see if I really want to watch it like on Netflix. Customer ServiceOne of the other great parts about ScreamBox is that they really make it about the horror fans. The creators behind ScreamBox want to bring you the best in horror streaming and want to tailor your experience to you. Just like every other internet streaming service ScreamBox has a five star rating system (or five skulls). Any movie on the website can be rated by you on a scale of one to five. All it takes is one click. Then ScreamBox will tailor movies and ads to fit your personal preferences in horror movies. Additionally, you can see what all the other users have rated the movie. Users can also leave comments and recomendations in the comment section below each video. This can help the horror community interact and discuss their favorite horror movies and horror tropes. The service is really tailoring to their audience by giving a great monthly price for all of these films. The first month--as with any online trial--is 100% free. After that, each subsequent month costs $3.99. That is a great price considering that many movies on Amazon Instant Video cost that much just to rent one movie for 48 hours. Even if you're not a horror fan, it is still a good deal to get a free trial so you have instant access to a collection of horror movies to fill your Halloween season. Then, if you decide that keeping the account isn't worth it, you can cancel at anytime. Canelation is simple and easy. All you do is go to your account page and his "Cancel." Summing it UpIf you are a fan of horror movies then this instant video service is a dream come true. It has so many of the horror movies that have been on my "to watch" list as well as some of my old favorites. It is an easy program to navigate and utilize on a day to day basis. It has a significant collection of movies all available for instant streaming for the low price of $3.99!
If you don't watch horror movies on a consistent basis then go ahead and get the free trail during the Halloween season. Or even if you end up having to pay for a single month you are getting a great deal on whole lot of horror movies this Halloween! It could be a horror movie party every night leading up to Halloween this year! Read more about Screambox and sign up today if you're interested! |
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