Videoheaven

The material will be irresistible to any cinephile who has spent countless hours in these spaces, and a critic would do well to admit susceptibility.

More than a mere cipher for the world around it, the video store becomes something much more self-reflexive across Videoheaven’s three-hour running time.

With clips from more than a hundred movies, Perry channels an obsession into a fascinating encyclopedic form.

With a lack of a central thesis and an extremely long runtime, watching Videoheaven may make one feel nostalgic for movie rental stores, but it ultimately feels like a waste of time.


Videoheaven will appeal to cinephiles who grew up in a time when video stores were still the way of discovering great, obscure, off-the-beaten-path films.

Perry doesn’t bring the joy for “Videoheaven,” but he comes prepared with hundreds of clips to back up his ideas, creating a visual trek across the once mighty omnipresence of the industry, identifying its cultural power.

Videoheaven is porn for people who have fond memories of video stores.

An exhaustive, but never exhausting, trip down memory lane... Be kind, and rewind with VIDEOHEAVEN as it delivers a passionate, nostalgic eulogy for a now sadly bygone era.

Even the clear passion becomes a thorn in its side, turning what presents itself as a mellow elegy for cinephiles and physical media heads into something far less friendly.

Perry has a very specific audience in mind for this film, and folks who aren't already interested in film culture would have a hard time overlooking the length.