Summer is coming. You know how you can tell?

Nope.

The weather is still shit and the perpetual stench of impending doom still lingers in the nostrils.

But if you’ve been smart enough to keep an eye on a couple of the most recent teaser posters out there you’ll have noticed one thing…

THE SKY IS FALLING!

Last year, myself and quite a few others were blown away by a cracking documentary that screened at Frightfest and detailed a whole new world of cult film that many of us knew very little about at all.

For those who haven’t seen it, Mike Malloy’s Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the ’70s is a an absolute must watch – and a very special event is coming to Manchester that will give you the chance to do so along with two essential entries in the Eurocrime – or Poliziotteschi – genre.

Read on to find out how you can get tickets to this incredible one-off event and what films you can expect to see if you come along!

After a short hiatus, Adventures in VHS returns with a brand new feature review and exclusive interview. You asked for it (well, some of you did) so here it is – a look at the 1986 genre classic, Chopping Mall.

So join me as I take an in depth look at the UK Vestron Video/First Choice ex-rental release of the movie, explore the artwork and the trailers and then get into a feature review of the film itself.

As if that wasn’t enough, I’m also joined by the director of the film Jim Wynosrki, who chats about its production, his career, the VHS revolution and how distribution models have changed since those heady days of video rentals.

VHS had a bit of a crazy history in the UK. After the initial excitement around watching movies of all sorts in the comfort of our own homes, the always reliable British tabloids got busy ruining it. Backed by right wing lunatics and government influencers like Mary Whitehouse, it was a torrid few years and saw the introduction of the Video Recordings Act of 1984… but there were good times too…

This infographic offers a bit of a potted history of VHS in the UK, as well as some of the good, bad and ridiculous occurrences that made it so strange and special. I’ve included code to add the graphic to your own site if you’d like, otherwise please feel free to comment and share as you see fit!

Every year, I tend to gamble on the Oscars. The event itself is an absolute nonsense, but an enjoyable one that I find is pretty damned entertaining – particularly if you have a bit of a flutter on what you hope might win.

I would never bother betting on the Academy Awards to win, as the odds on the ones who will inevitably take home a statuette are incredibly bad. But this is my approach to making things a bit more fun by picking out what I want to win – as well as the films, actors, directors and visual effects I’m selecting for a 2013 gong.

Your votes have been counted and Adventures in VHS Episode 8 is go! In January I asked you to vote for two movies you wanted me to cover on the show from seven specially selected VHS tapes. Well, you did and the number one choice was Chuck Russell’s 1988 remake of 50s chiller The Blob, closely followed by Ted Nicolaou’s 1986 horror comedy TerrorVision.

As always, I take a look at the UK home video release of each film and delve into the cover art, trailers and film itself – while reminiscing about the wonderful days of VHS rentals. Not only that, but I even managed to score an exclusive interview with Ted Nicolaou himself in which he talks about the movie, the era and working for legendary producer Charles Band.

If news reports are to be believed, HMV is in big trouble. Analysts saw it coming some time ago, but the firm itself has finally held up its hands and admitted it can’t stave off administration any longer.

There’s a chance the brand could live on in some form, but it now seems inevitable that those familiar pink and black stores will soon be a thing of the past. And I say it’s their own damned fault.

This is why I won’t be shedding any tears of nostalgia for a shop that was either too greedy or just too stupid to survive.

After a little downtime over Christmas, Adventures in VHS returns later this month with a brand new episode.

Sadly, the holidays and other commitments have meant I’ve been unable to arrange an interview for the show, so I’ve decided to do something a little different.

It’s time for you, dear listener, to reach for your Adventures in VHS Membership Card, browse the shelves carefully and choose your very own rental… Welcome to AiV Video.

Adventures in VHS rounds off 2012 with a seventh looking at ‘the video nasty that got away’ – Xtro (1983). It’s got evil aliens, man-sized child birth, murderous dwarf clowns, face-raping eggs and all the proof you’d ever need that ‘not all extra terrestrials are nice’ – but is it any good? Join me as I find out!

As if that wasn’t enough, I also have an exclusive, hilarious and brutally honest interview with the film’s director Harry Bromley Davenport – the man who once branded it “reprehensible”. Has he changed his mind? What went on during the making of the film? How does he feel about it being branded a ‘nasty’? All this and more in a fantastic discussion with the director.

It seems the divisive points of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey have changed. No longer is the case for or against a fourth Lord of the Rings film under scrutiny. Nor is it the fact a 300-page book has been split over three films. Nope. Now it’s all about that damned 48 frames per second.

I wasn’t a big fan of high frame rate (HFR). Having spent about 20-25 minutes trying to watch The Hobbit this way, I walked out and grabbed a ticket to the regular-rate screening in the theatre next door. But after my adventure in Middle Earth, I found there were many others like me who were stunned at how this incredibly un-cinematic format was being pushed as ‘the future of movies’.