Video rental store ‘Night Owl Video’ opens in Brooklyn
Dust off your VCRs, ’90s kids — a new NYC video store is reviving a brick-and-mortar movie scene pushed to the brink of extinction by streaming platforms. Opened last week in Williamsburg, Night Owl Video is now the only full-service video store in NYC.
They offer around 1,500 unique titles from 1980 goresploitation flick “Cannibal Holocaust” to new releases likeBoth new and secondhand movies are available for purchase with prices ranging from $5 to over $100 for the rarer VHS tapes and they plan on doing rentals in the future. “We’re trying to stock every kind of format, every kind of genre, every kind of movie, so that the store can appeal to everyone,” co-owner Aaron Hamel, 35, told The Post. Hamel founded Night Owl alongside Jess Mills, 39, a fellow cinephile he met while the pair worked at NYC’s legendary B-movie studio Troma Entertainment, with the goal of filling Gotham’s ever-widening video store void.Night Owl Video owners Aaron Hamel and Jess Mills worked together in the independent film industry before opening the store.The film buff said the concept harks back to “family movie nights” growing up in Detroit, Michigan, when visiting the video store was an event and not a mindless scroll-fest. Nostalgic New Yorkers are feeling these analog withdrawals — during Night Owl’s soft opening on April 5, 550 people showed up over five hours.A customer browses the selection at Night Owl Video, which offers around 1,500 unique titles like the movie Library of Alexandria.“What really inspired us to open it was we loved Kim’s Video and Videology when they were around and stores like that in New York,” Hamel told The Post of the beloved downtown institution, which also doubled as a Gen X clubhouse in its St. Marks Place heyday.“When they closed, we just sort of got tired of waiting around for somebody else to open one,” said Hamel. “So we decided to take it upon ourselves.”“It’s fun collecting things and you don’t have to worry about it being taken off of Hulu or anything,” Liza Jackson, 20, told the Post.A customer with a stack of titles at Night Owl, whose website banner reads “Death to streamers! Physical Media Forever!”“On Netflix, you’re never going to find anything that you’re searching for,” Brooklynite Dwayne Mendez, 43, told The Post while holding a copy of “Trick or Treat,” a supernatural 1986 slasher film featuring Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne.Hamel added that certain titles — including a mixtape of classic television, kids’ shows and commercials — never even made it to DVD. The Brooklynite said that he’s procured some “really interesting” secondhand vids from collectors. Upon walking in, visitors are greeted by a glass display housing a $100 Japanese laser disc ofFor film geeks, they also carry titles from new stock companies like Vinegar Syndrome, which was founded in 2012 and specializes inCustomer Liza Jackson, 20, stressed the importance of “keeping the actual physical media alive” in the streaming age, where titles come and go with the wind. “It’s fun collecting things and you don’t have to worry about it being taken off of Hulu or anything,” the Hell’s Kitchen-based filmmaker told The Post.Like a gold hoarder hedging against crypto, the movie buff even keeps an “end-of-the-world” DVD stash so she’ll be entertained during an apocalypse. Perhaps the biggest casualty of streaming that Night Owl strives to revive is the “community” aspect of film perusal.“We really want to bring back the idea of not letting an algorithm pick movies for you,” said Mills.“Come to a place where you can browse the shelves, talk to the other film lovers and get tips from other people rather than relying on big businesses who are pushing their own content.” Keeping with neighborhood video store tradition, the entertainment monger features memorabilia galore from posters to clothing and even copies of horror film mag Fangoria, including a “Hellraiser” issue signed by the film’s stars Doug Bradley and Ashley Laurence. And Hamel said they plan to sell home video systems and DVD players to help accommodate offline cinephiles — especially new ones — who understandably might not have the right equipment.Hamel, for one, believes that they’re capturing a zeitgeist, arguing, “The physical media industry for films is going in the same direction that vinyl was 15 to 20 years ago. I think you’re seeing a rabid collector fan base.”Witnessing Night Owl’s Gen Z clientele gives Hamel hope for the future. “That generation grew up in a completely digital world,” the film sommelier said. “Tangible media is interesting to them, and also, at a certain point, you just get tired of looking at a screen.”FSU shooter's biological mom kidnapped him, fled to Norway amid bitter custody battle years before deadly rampage Suspected FSU shooter promoted white supremacist views, spewed racist vitriol against black people: reportJeff Bezos seen dancing off Blue Origin backlash at ritzy Miami party: ‘Total dad’s night out energy’What to know when shopping for a kids' mattress: Sleep consultants and bedding experts weigh inWanna smoke weeds? Grampa's Weeder is a TikTok hit, a bestselling garden hack, and it's on sale today on Amazon The tariff exemption for tech is only temporary — Shop the Kindle Scribe on sale before the surchargeNight Owl Video owners Aaron Hamel and Jess Mills worked together in the independent film industry before opening the store.A customer browses the selection at Night Owl Video, which offers around 1,500 unique titles like the movie Library of Alexandria."It's fun collecting things and you don't have to worry about it being taken off of Hulu or anything," Liza Jackson, 20, told the Post.
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