Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of VHS Collectors

Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of VHS Collectors is a captivating 2013 documentary that delves deep into the cozy corners of home-movie nostalgia, examining the fascinating subculture of VHS tape collectors who refuse to let the humble videocassette fade into obsolescence. Directed by Dan. M. Kinem and Levi Peretic, this documentary movie plays out like a passionate ode to a rapidly dwindling pastime, touching hearts in the process.

Lloyd Kaufman, founder of the legendary independent film production company Troma Entertainment, headlines this insightful film, adding his own experiences as a prominent movie producer to the narrative. With additional appearances by Anthony Timpone, the long-time editor of Fangoria, a popular Horror-fantasy, and Keith J. Crocker, the owner of the independent film company Bleeding Skull, the film’s smooth commentary examines the ongoing love for the VHS format despite its technologic antiquity.

The documentary begins by setting the scene, recalling the introduction and rise of VHS tapes during the late 70s and 80s. At a time where home entertainment was taking its roots, VHS became the ideal medium, allowing the common man to enjoy movies at the comfort of their homes. The documentary winds back the clock to take a nostalgic trip into the past, showing the audience what made videotapes so special, memorable and how they impacted the lives of millions of people.

Adjust Your Tracking captures the shared enthusiasm, camaraderie, and dedication existing within this almost-religious cult of film enthusiasts. This often-overlooked subculture comes packed with adventurers, eccentrics, and film historians, who peek into dusty bargain bins, flea markets, and obscure online auctions, hoping to find that rare, possibly forgotten tape.

Kaufman, Timpone, and Crocker lend their industry insights in a series of in-depth interviews. They delve into the importance of VHS tapes during their peak and how they have now found renewed interest among certain demographics. Not merely nostalgia, the documentary powerfully illustrates that VHS tapes aren’t just trendy artifacts or sentiment-inducing relics for these collectors; they are cherished memorabilia that carry cultural, historical, and artistic importance.

The filmmakers’ focus isn't limited just to the artifacts themselves – they also take a deep dive into exploring the layered psyches of the collectors. Various people share their unique stories related to VHS tapes, spreading across themes of nostalgia, fandom, obsession featuring classic b-movies, horror films, and even obscure artsy rays that never made it past the format.

Getting to the real purpose behind the collections that often teeter on the overwhelming, Adjust Your Tracking suggests an underlying theme. VHS collectors are seeking to document, archive, and rescue those films considered unworthy or unprofitable for modern digital formats, salvaging pockets of cinema history that might otherwise be lost. The film captures the beauty in the banal, and as Timpone proclaims, “They’re not just plastic and magnetic tape. They’re dreams trapped in a box.”

Moreover, it also throws light on the commercialization and pricing in this subculture. Taking a cue from vinyl records, the rise in interest in VHS tapes have made certain titles hard to find, thereby making them expensive. There is a thriving secondary market that caters to collectors seeking 'rare' choices, with some selling upwards of several hundred dollars.

Adjust Your Tracking is way more than just a biography of VHS tapes. It is a touching story of passionate collectors, their love for a dying medium, and their attempt to resist the waves of technological advancement. The film is a testament to how love for a thing of the past can unite strangers, building communities and friendships in the process.

VHS might be a format that's dead and buried for most people, but for the impassioned collectors featured in this documentary, it is an entire world to explore. With its vast trove of unseen films and nostalgic experiences, Adjust Your Tracking: The Untold Story of VHS Collectors is a warm, fascinating, and enlightening addition to the documentary genre - a treasure trove not just for filmophiles but for everyone who knows the thrill of nostalgia.

Overall, this documentary is a breath of fresh air, embracing the analog in a digital world, asking us to pay homage to the foregone era of film watching, and asking us to 'adjust our tracking' - reviving the sense of discovery, camaraderie, the tactile interplay between machine and movie, and the pure joy of rewind and pause.