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Bram Stoker’s Dracula (VHS, 1993) German Language Version

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves, Richard E. Grant, Cary Elwes, and Tom Waits, Bram Stoker’s Dracula remains one of the most lavish and visually ambitious adaptations of Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. Reimagining Dracula as a tragic, centuries-old figure driven by grief and obsession, Coppola blends Gothic horror, romance, and fantasy into a sweeping cinematic experience that stays remarkably faithful to the spirit of the original source while introducing its own unforgettable mythology.

Rejecting the growing reliance on digital effects of the early 1990s, Coppola insisted that nearly every visual illusion be created using practical, in-camera techniques inspired by the earliest days of cinema. Miniatures, double exposures, reverse photography, forced perspective, shadow puppetry, and handcrafted optical effects give the film a dreamlike quality unlike any other horror film of its era. Eiko Ishioka’s Academy Award-winning costume design, Wojciech Kilar’s thunderous orchestral score, and Gary Oldman’s transformative performance helped redefine Dracula for a new generation, balancing monstrous horror with profound melancholy.

This German PAL VHS edition features the film with a German-language dub, and also includes a special 25-minute ‘Making Of’ feature. Please note PAL VHS only work in PAL/Multi-System VCRs. Please check your player before purchase!

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Before The Grudge, there was The Curse:

Ju-On: The Curse 2 (VHS, 2000)

Written and directed by Takashi Shimizu, Ju-On: The Curse 2 is the second of the original direct-to-video films that introduced the world to the endlessly repeating curse that would become one of Japanese horror’s most recognizable creations. The film continues Shimizu’s fragmented, non-linear approach to horror, following the curse as it spreads from victim to victim with seemingly no possibility of escape.

Shimizu expanded the concept into 2002’s Ju-On: The Grudge, but much of the mythology, imagery, and filmmaking language associated with the series was already fully formed here, including Kayako’s death rattle, Toshio’s ghostly appearances, and the idea of a curse existing almost like a contagious force.

These early V-Cinema entries are considerably rawer than the theatrical films that followed, using their low-budget production, ordinary domestic locations, eerie silence, and deliberately unnatural performances to create a unique atmosphere unlike that unseen in conventional horror.

The first two Ju-On films laid the groundwork for a franchise that would eventually span Japanese theatrical sequels, Hollywood remakes, television, and more than two decades of international horror culture.

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One of the great American Westerns:

Dead Man (VHS, 1995) Japanese Subtitled Edition

Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, Dead Man stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Michael Wincott, John Hurt, Iggy Pop, and Billy Bob Thornton, in a haunting revisionist western unlike any other.

Shot in breathtaking black and white by legendary cinematographer Robby Müller, the film loosely following a wounded accountant named William Blake as he drifts across the American frontier, the film quickly abandons the conventions of the traditional western in favour of the something more strangely spiritual.

Neil Young’s iconic score was created almost entirely through improvised electric guitar performances while watching the finished film. Rather than underscoring the action, the music drifts through each scene like another character, giving Dead Man its haunting, hypnotic atmosphere and becoming as essential to the film’s identity as its striking black-and-white cinematography.

Far more interested in existential reflection than frontier mythology, Dead Man has evolved from a polarizing release into a modern classic.

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Another sweet import added to the shop!

Beetlejuice (VHS, 1988) Japanese Subtitled Edition

Directed by Tim Burton, Beetlejuice stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis, and Catherine O’Hara in one of the defining cult films of the late ‘80s. The film iconically turned a bizarre supernatural premise into a celebration of outsiders, goth culture, and the wonderfully grotesque.

Released before Batman and Edward Scissorhands turned Burton into one of Hollywood’s most recognizable filmmakers, Beetlejuice was the movie that proved just how far his strange visual sensibility could reach a mainstream audience.

Danny Elfman’s instantly recognizable score, the surreal practical effects and stop-motion creatures, gave the film an identity unlike almost anything coming out of a major studio at the time.

What began as an eccentric supernatural comedy has grown into a genuine pop-culture institution, spawning an animated series, Broadway musical, decades of merchandise, and eventually the “just okay” sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024).

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This banger just hit the shop!

Crash (VHS, 1996) Japanese Dubbed Edition

Directed by David Cronenberg and adapted from J.G. Ballard’s infamous 1973 novel, Crash stars James Spader, Holly Hunter, Elias Koteas, Deborah Kara Unger, and Rosanna Arquette. After surviving a violent car accident, film producer James Ballard is drawn into an underground group obsessed with the strange intersection of automobiles, celebrity, technology, and human desire. What follows is a cold, hypnotic exploration of people attempting to find intimacy and sensation within an increasingly mechanized world.

Few films of the 1990s generated controversy quite like Crash. Its premiere at Cannes resulted in a Special Jury Prize for “originality, daring and audacity,” while it’s graphic subject matter sparked censorship battles, hostile headlines, and bans or restrictions in several markets. Yet beneath the controversy is one of Cronenberg’s most distinctly cerebral films.

The film’s exploration of technology reshaping intimacy feels arguably even more relevant in the modern age, while its uncompromising aesthetic and transgressive reputation have secured it a lasting place in cult and underground cinema.

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The Blair Witch Project (VHS, 1999) Japanese Subtitled Edition

Written and directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, The Blair Witch Project stars Heather Donahue, Joshua Leonard, and Michael C. Williams as fictionalized versions of themselves. Following three student filmmakers into the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland to document the local legend of the Blair Witch.

Produced for a fraction of the cost of a traditional studio film, The Blair Witch Project revolutionized the found footage genre and forever changed how horror films were marketed. Its groundbreaking viral campaign blurred the line between fiction and reality so convincingly that many audiences believed the footage was genuine, making it one of the first internet-era phenomena and a blueprint for modern viral marketing.

Nearly three decades later, its minimalist approach to fear, improvised performances, and refusal to show the monster continue to influence filmmakers, while its legacy can be seen in countless found footage films that followed. Few independent films have had a greater impact on modern horror.

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New Arrival!

Edward Scissorhands (VHS, 1990) Japanese Subtitled Edition

Directed by Tim Burton, Edward Scissorhands stars Johnny Depp, Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, and Vincent Price in his final feature film role.

Widely regarded as Burton’s defining masterpiece, Edward Scissorhands transformed a modern gothic fable into one of the most beloved films of the 1990s. Inspired in part by Burton’s own childhood feelings of isolation and inability to connect with others, the film’s striking contrast between pastel suburbia and Edward’s dark fantasy world has become one of the most iconic visual identities in modern cinema.

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Permanent Vacation (VHS, 2000) Japanese Subtitled Edition

Written and directed by Jim Jarmusch, Permanent Vacation marks the feature debut of one of independent cinema’s most influential voices.

Shot on 16mm for a shoestring budget of roughly $12,000, the film stars Chris Parker as Allie, a young drifter wandering the decaying streets of post-industrial Manhattan in search of purpose through a series of chance encounters with artists, musicians, dreamers, and fellow outsiders. More interested in atmosphere than plot, the film introduced the deadpan humor & minimalist storytelling that would become Jarmusch’s signature style throughout Stranger Than Paradise, Down by Law, Mystery Train, Dead Man, and beyond.

Though initially seen as an experimental curiosity, Permanent Vacation has since become an essential piece of American independent cinema and a fascinating snapshot of pre-gentrification New York’s No Wave art scene.

This Japanese release also includes promotional footage for Jarmusch’s 1999 film, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.

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Romeo + Juliet (VHS, 1996) Japanese Subtitled Edition

Directed by Baz Luhrmann, Romeo + Juliet reimagines William Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy through a bold contemporary lens, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Harold Perrineau, Paul Sorvino, and Jamie Kennedy.

Set in the neon-soaked, fictional Verona Beach, the film follows two young lovers from rival families whose forbidden romance spirals toward an inevitable tragedy, all while preserving Shakespeare’s original dialogue in one of cinema’s most daring literary adaptations.

Upon its release, Romeo + Juliet became a cultural phenomenon, introducing Shakespeare to an entirely new generation and helping cement Leonardo DiCaprio as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars following The Basketball Diaries and just before Titanic. Baz Luhrmann’s hyper-stylized direction, explosive editing, vibrant production design, and unforgettable soundtrack featuring Radiohead, Garbage, The Cardigans, and Bu****le Surfers transformed the film into a defining piece of 90’s pop culture.

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