Preserving the Video Tape as Cultural Artifact
Video Sanctum is an online VHS/Beta archive and retailer specializing in uncirculated, out-of-print horror, exploitation and other rare and obscure cinema titles. The company values the historical significance of genre film on vintage formats, having resurrected/recycled the cassette tapes in its collection from now defunct Texas video stores.
Video Sanctum's mission is to offer these cultural artifacts to a collector’s market that values film discovery, and its vision is to preserve video as an art form in an increasingly digital age. More than just a retail site, VideoSanctum.com curates and preserves the genre film history of Houston's own legendary Audio/Video Plus (1978-2012) and its library of more than 60,000 titles.
The company has partnered with collectors and outlets involved in the resurgence of VHS as far as the UK and recently teamed up with Alamo Drafthouse Houston to co-present the Video Vortex film series to promote a shared mission of film discovery and genre film preservation.
Photo: Benny Junko and a Wizard Video, 2016, Duke Hunter
Developed boilerplate for experimental PLAN 9 Mystery Film Series
Promo design by Terry Suprean, 2017.
ABOUT PLAN 9
Resurrecting the dead media of independent cinema, PLAN 9 is a showcase of obscure and outsider film on analog formats presented by Video Sanctum in collaboration with Civic TV Laboratories. Our mission is to rediscover, discuss and preserve forgotten films on video. For each secret installment, the curators of PLAN 9 will screen a double feature of the arthouse, low-budget horror, sci-fi, exploitation and grindhouse variety sourced from the archives of Houston’s original and oldest operating independent video retailer, Audio/Video Plus (1978-2012).