Walmart Is Carrying Terrifier 2 on VHS (Yes, Really)

Witter Entertainment, a company that offers officially-licensed, limited-run VHS tapes, has done what no other studio has done in over 15 years: they got a VHS on sale in Walmart stores across the U.S. A two-tape edition of Terrifier 2 is selling in stores across the country as part of a promotional endcap put together by Bloody Disgusting, in which they hawk the coolest wares int he horror biz by offering Walmart a chance to sell exclusive merch from Witter, Neca, Fright Rags, and more. The tapes, if you can find them, are currently selling for $29.99.

The last mainstream, commercial VHS release in the U.S. was David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, the movie starred Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, William Hurt, and Maria Bello.

It’s hard to get exact numbers on sales and dates for VHS, but according to CNN Money, Walmart left the VHS business in late 2005 or early 2006, with the 2005 holiday season serving as a kind of last hurrah for the format. It’s likely (but difficult to know for sure) that this is the first new, pre-recorded VHS tape sold in Walmart stores since.

Walmart is one of the last bastions of hope for DVD and Blu-ray fans, with exclusive steelbooks coming in every week and a disc-media section that still offers more than 200 movies and TV shows in most locations. According to Bloody Disgusting, the curated horror section that includes Terrifier 2 will be in more than 3,000 stores nationwide. Even if there are only a handful of tapes in each location, 3,000 locations likely means that Terrifier 2 holds the distinction of being the best-selling VHS tape in years.

Fairly recently, they made a play to attempt an acquisition of Studio Distribution Services, which serves as the primary distribution company for most DVDs and Blu-rays in the U.S. Until and unless that deal closes, SDS is a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures.

The Bloody Disgusting merch is only available in brick and mortar stores. Not only can you not buy it on the Walmart website, but you can’t even search it up to find out whether your local store is participating. For that, you’ll have to either call or visit your local store. Per their website, Walmart has a little over 4,000 locations in the United States, so if you live in the U.S., it’s more likely than not that one of the locations near you will be participating in the Bloody Disgusting program — although Witter, in response to disappointed fans on Instagram, admitted that it is a “long roll-out.”

While there are some VHS-themed collectibles in the Bloody Distgusting collection, including decorative Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street toys, Witter confirmed that the tape will be fully playable, and features an introduction from Damien Leone, harkening back to the direct-to-VHS heyday of things like Full Moon Features, where founder Charles Band would have a presentation on each tape.