What Will You Find at Lost Lizard Video in Lawrenceville?

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Lost Lizard Video gives grindhouse cinema a home.

On Sunday, Aug. 8 from noon to 6 p.m., owner Vincent Santis will launch a soft opening of the video rental shop on Butler Street in Upper Lawrenceville. You won’t find Hollywood blockbusters or rom-coms there; the place specializes in B-movies, slasher flicks, cult classics, horror, sci-fi, exploitation films and other shockers on VHS, Betamax and DVD.

Don’t have a VCR? Rent one along with the entire “Dark Shadows” series!

You can borrow a movie for $5 a pop or spring for a membership to get more bang for your buck. There are different membership tiers named after lizards. The top one, the Komodo, is $35 a month and includes unlimited free rentals, free entry to events and half-off celebrity meet-and-greets — plus, you get a membership card.

You’ll also be charged a late fee if you don’t return the tape on time, either directly to Lost Lizard or at a designated neighborhood depository.

If necessary, Santis says he will create a Wall of Shame exposing the unkind souls who failed to rewind.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

There are no apps to download or QR codes to scan in the 600-square-foot space, just knob-and-tube TVs to watch, 8-bit video game consoles to play, popcorn to eat and gory box art to ogle.

Lost Lizard provides an analog activity in an age of algorithms. Santis hopes it will double as a third space for the horror community.

He’s already got me hooked.

As someone who spent her teen years working at a mom-and-pop video store, I was thrilled to hear the business model was rising from the dead. Sadly, Santis isn’t hiring.

The 39-year-old grew up in rural Ohio.

Watching “In a Lonely Place” starring Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame on the Turner Classic Movie channel made him want to be a filmmaker. Perusing Safari Video, the local rental shop, with his pals on a Friday night introduced him to the seedier side of his obsession.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

During this cinematic rite of passion, he saw movies once relegated to late-night horror shows such as WPXI’s “Chiller Theatre.” Thanks to the video store, he was able to watch low-budget nightmares around the clock.

After graduating from high school, Santis moved east to attend the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. The indie filmmaker has amassed a large collection of VHS tapes over the years, caring for them as if they were elderly relatives sensitive to light and heat.

He hunted for obscure titles at Eide’s Entertainment Downtown, the former Incredibly Strange Video in Dormont and film distribution companies such as Vinegar Syndrome, which opened a storefront on the South Side in 2025.

For years, the indie film director hosted horror screenings in his Lawrenceville living room, interspersing the movies with the schlocky trailers and clips from insane splatterfests.

Now he’s doing the same thing on a professional level. His American dream/nightmare is coming true.

So, what’s driving this VHS revival?

Santis says nostalgia is a big factor, along with the fact that digital storefronts such as Sony and Apple can remove previously purchased movies from user libraries due to expired content licensing agreements.

People want hard copies of the films they have a soft spot for, even if it is “Faces of Death.”

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

But, just like in the ‘80s, as demand for VHS tapes and DVDs increases, so do the prices. Renting is the economical way to take ownership of your favorite flick. The image- and sound-quality of old VHS tapes aren’t great, but that’s part of their charm. Some newer movies, such as “Terrifer,” are getting limited edition VHS releases.

Santis says he plans to offer a service that will digitize customers’ old VHS tapes.

He adds he’d rather adjust the tracking on a grainy copy of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” than watch a 4K Ultra HD version of Tobe Hopper’s 1974 film.

Some people, myself included, have a spiritual connection to physical media. If you want to see what all the static is about, attend the Retro Media Marketplace on Sept. 13 at Monroeville Mall, where director George Romero filmed “Dawn of the Dead.”

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Lost Lizard’s soft opening will run for a few weeks. Santis says he plans to close Aug. 20-23 so he can promote the shop at Skull Fest, an indie punk rock festival taking place at various locations in Pittsburgh, including Spirit in Lawrenceville.

SPIRIT IN LAWRENCEVILLE / PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

The store’s grand opening will be held on Sept. 5.

“I want to showcase little known films that people have never heard of,” Santis says. “It’s about discovery; it’s a way of getting into a whole other subculture.”