Will the ALIEN ROMULUS VHS spark the return of the VCR?

It might be time to start reclaiming your composite cables from the rats and spiders in your basement, because director Fede Álvarez has announced his movie Alien: Romulus will release on VHS as a limited-edition alongside the other physical formats on December 3^rd, 2024. It’s set to be released some 45 years after the first Alien landed in theaters. It’ll be presented in 4:3 aspect ratio and it will channel the VHS tapes of old with a vintage sleeve that would feel right at home in any video tape movie collection.

Neither the pricing nor the number of copies that’ll be available upon release have been revealed, but a curious question does accompany the announcement either way: can this release be the start of a VHS comeback? Before anyone starts scouring eBay for used VCRs, let’s consider what a renewed interest in the format could realistically look like.

When Dark Sky Selects announced the Texas Chainsaw Massacre 50^th Anniversary Chainsaw Edition back in September of this year, fans were quick to notice that the massive $299.98 bundle included a VHS copy of the movie along with the 4K UHD and Blu-ray editions of the film (all of which are housed in a replica of Leatherface’s chainsaw that comes inside the package). Given the price point and the momentous nature of its coming release, the VHS surprise came as a gesture of appreciation for fans that probably got their first experience with the movie in that very format. It was a wink in the form of a collectible that only a few people would maybe dust off a VCR for.

I think that the Alien: Romulus VHS is headed in the same direction. As things stand today, I see it destined to become a collectible piece that will acquire value down the road given it’ll probably be produced in small quantities to entice collectors.

It’s unrealistic to think VCRs will go back into production to keep up with a nostalgia-based market for movies that, because of technology, will not benefit from the intricate remasters and high-definition treatments that have become the standard in film media (just look at how Criterion, Arrow, and Shout Factory promote their releases). It’s a case not unlike that of cassette tapes in music, albeit with a few key differences.

In recent years, classic music albums have seen rereleases or reissues in cassette tape format. From Master of Puppets to Taylor Swift recordings, the move was noticeable enough to allow for speculation on whether the cassette would surpass vinyl as the preferred analog option. These cassettes started being sold in music stores and through online retailers, a development that sparked a modest rise in new cassette player manufacturing. And yet, its market remains niche, only for those who are curious about it or who want their music purchases to carry an alternate tactile element (though their presence has grown in stores). In fact, it hasn’t taken over vinyl. Noise reduction and sound quality, while improved, still puts it beneath the other formats for those who value fidelity.

As of the time of this writing, VCRs are no longer being manufactured (the last one to be made came courtesy of Funai Electric in 2016). You can still purchase used machines in secondhand stores, online or otherwise, and blank VHS tapes are still available, but there’s no indication factories are going to start cranking up VCR production any time soon.

That said, there are still efforts to rescue and restore films in VHS. Vinegar Syndrome, a home video company that focuses on preserving genre movies, has a label called Degausser Video that contributes to the cause by working on films whose original material is believed to be lost but is available on tape. Degausser endeavors to maintain the aesthetics inherent in each recording, safeguarding a viewing experience that people who grew up watching movies on VHS have come to expect. Degausser even packages the films it works on in custom-designed hard shell light boxes.

Projects such as these can find a larger audience and get more people to jump on the VHS bandwagon. Mondo, for instance, is another company pushing out VHS tapes as part of their offerings, confident that there’s enough interest in them in the community. What makes the case of Alien: Romulus so interesting is that the movie was both a critical and a commercial success. It’s still riding the wave of its achievements, so any announcement concerning it is going to garner attention. Also, Aliens has a very loyal fanbase that’s always ready to eat up anything the franchise throws at them. If this translates to sales, then the world is the VCR’s oyster.

So, where do we stand? For the moment, it seems like a lot will ride on how much people are willing to indulge in the format, be it for nostalgia’s sake or out of sheer curiosity from those that grew up not knowing what the hell a VCR even was. As of now, its fate lies in the hands of collectors. Until VHS reaches cassette levels of interest, potentially leading to the resurrection of VCR production with some modern tweaks to sweeten the deal, what we’re getting is another cool piece of nostalgia to display on our shelves. That’s exactly where my copy’s going, next to my Kenner Swamp Thing action figure and my The Exorcist soundtrack LP.