[VHS Mondays] Truth In Advertising?

Video distributors were often snake oil salesmen, offering you something other than what you paid for... anything to entice you to plunk your hard-earned dollars on the counter. One common trick was to feature a popular star prominently on the box art, even if he or she only had a small role in the movie. The consumer quickly learned another rule of thumb, that if the video box had only artwork and no stills from the movie, the film in question likely stunk to high heaven. Remember, this was pre-Internet. People couldn't just "look something up", and therefore had to "roll the dice" on a purchase or rental.

In all my years of VHS hunting, though, this box (pictured here) takes the cake. Mysteries Of The Gods was a 1979 paranormal documentary, released late in the cycle of when these films were still popular. It was made by Harald Reinl, whose 1970 classic Chariots Of The Gods? jumpstarted this trend. Familiar faces like Jack Palance, Raymond Burr or (you guessed it) John Carradine were often employed to narrate these movies, which discussed such supernatural topics as UFOs, Bigfoot, The Bermuda Triangle... you name it. It makes sense that William Shatner was hired to narrate a paranormal doc during his "between Kirks" period- i.e. the gulf of time between the Star Trek TV series and the movies, when he racked up a lot of genre credits and TV appearances to pay the bills. 

The movie on its own is pretty good. (I reviewed it for an article on paranormal movies way back in ESR #14.) But, to paraphrase Kirk's pal, Bones McCoy, "What the devil is this?" To advertise a VHS tape about supernatural phenomena, they can do no better than find a still with Shatner and Angelique Pettyjohn from Star Trek's "Gamesters Of Triskelion" episode? Were they strictly going after the "Trekkie" market? This picture has nothing to do with anything. Such a bizarre, Dada-ist advertising decision is why this tape remains one of my favourite finds in the secondary market. The fun had while being had.