Movie Madness has no center.
Portland’s largest video store and film museum doesn’t have straight, orderly aisles that herd customers toward the cash registers. In Movie Madness’ warren of hallways and shelves—with nearly every surface crammed with DVDs, VHS tapes, and Blu-rays—it’s easy to get lost. Next to a slew of Soviet-era sci-fi films stands a wall of Korean revenge thrillers. Director-specific racks hold Werner Herzog rarities and Ken Burns documentaries—mere steps away from hyper-specialized horror sections like “Killer Kids” and “Ferocious Fetuses.”
And things get weirder from there. Behind a wall of glass, a phallic monster skull from Aliens lurks, not five feet from Diane Keaton’s dress from the The Godfather: Part II. There’s the knife from Psycho’s infamous shower scene, and there are the tortoise-shell glasses Kasey Rogers wore in Strangers on a Train. There’s one of the severed ears from Blue Velvet—complete with a chunk of David Lynch’s hair.
Wandering Movie Madness evokes a feeling of endless discovery. Its massive, hodgepodge collection of movies and props celebrates film in all its forms, from classic to cult. Spending time here can also feel a bit like time-traveling: By now, the vast majority of America’s video stores have been strangled out of existence by Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix.
Even before video stores withered away, there weren’t many places like Movie Madness. Now there really aren’t many places like Movie Madness.
Luckily for Portlanders, Movie Madness is still around.
For now.
