My love for the VHS !
The year 1989 was a quite significant period for me. At the age of seven years old, I had no idea that the appearance of a device in our family would awaken a passion that was then sleeping in me. This sudden craze for the seventh art and more particularly for genre films took shape with the unexpected arrival of this equipment that would now adorn the overcoat of our cathode-ray television set. It was on a beautiful summer's day that my father was surprised to arrive at our house, in possession of a huge cardboard box, with a rather mysterious content.
A surprise that changed my life !
Curious and intrigued by the shape of this box, I could not contain my sudden interest in my father and it was instinctively that I began to throw questions of all kinds at him. The excitement of the surprise was at its height ! Undoubtedly a little annoyed by this incessant interrogation, he leaned towards my face while retorting me expressly:
"It's a magic box !"
Without further clarification of his words, the head of the family headed towards the living room. A place where so important, since this room is the meeting point of our little clan when the evening comes. Stopping his walk in front of the screen, my father placed the whole thing on the tile, at the foot of the furniture. I still remember the proud look of our television set at that time. Although old enough, this one was big enough, if not imposing. Its curved shape did not deform the image and we delude ourselves from each moment spent watching it. However, the tube took some time to display any image during a cold start. Yes, patience was an imperative virtue in those days! It didn't take long for my dad to finally get the precious object out of his box. This is a revolution in thatched cottages, we had our own VCR !
I remember, in an amused way, how my paternal had all the difficulties in the world to install it! Unfamiliar with new technologies, he soon lost his temper, complaining and pestering about the complexity of the connection or the adjustments to be made. It must be understood that at that time, a SCART was not enough and it was inevitable to use the illustrious coaxial antenna socket in order to hope to perceive a video signal on the screen. After several hours of struggling, like a fierce struggle for his own survival, in the middle of the cables and buttons to press, my father finally managed to finalize this heavy undertaking. It was with some satisfaction that my father proceeded with the various recording and reading tests. What a marvel ! For the first time, we were able to record our favorite shows or movies while we were away. My childish mind was amazed at such a discovery ! But what I had no idea yet was the field of possibilities and discoveries that VHS would bring me....
Cinema without moving from home ! Well, almost...
A week passed and my mom had the ingenious idea of taking me with her to the local supermarket for the weekend shopping. As we walked around the shopping mall, our attention was captivated by the front of a video store. It was then that the magic worked, both of us were irresistibly attracted to the inside of this lair where hundreds, if not thousands, of cassettes piled up on the shelves were enthroned. A huge library of feature films of all kinds was within our reach. In a loving way, my mother smiled at me and offered me this simple question:
"Why don't we sign up ?"
I nodded without flinching. Crazy with joy and full of excitement at the idea of discovering all this new artistic and visual world, I started running in the corridors of this brand in search of VHS worthy of interest. I carefully scanned the back of each box to read the summary of the intrigues on it. Here I am in a new playground and discovery area! Without wanting to, I had just reached the starting point of a fabulous passion that still accompanies me on a daily basis.
"Well, what is it ? Evil Dead. Is it maybe fine ?"