Lost Lizard Video Store Returns Pittsburgh to a Bygone Era
Every movie lover has, at one point, said to themselves, “I should open a video rental store.” Especially those like Vincent Santis, who grew up during the heyday of Blockbusters and local shops on every corner. Now Santis has a shop of his own. Lost Lizard is located at 5310 Butler Street in Upper Lawrenceville and you can spot it from down the block, thanks to a hand-painted mural on the shop’s window.
Santis grew up in rural Ohio and would frequent a store called The Works. Like many stores of the era, there was a part of the shop for adults only, with a curtain blocking it from the rest of the store. Santis and his best friend were regulars and became friendly with one of the employees, who let them peek behind the curtain. The box art for the 1972 film A Virgin Among the Living Dead caught Santis’ eye, and the rest is history.
A copy of A Virgin Among the Living Dead sits on the top shelf of Lost Lizard. It’s the same edition Santis saw as a young teen and what he points to as the reason he’s sitting in his own shop now. Lost Lizard isn’t just any old rental store. It focuses on exploitation movies from the ’70s and ’80s, drive-in flicks from the ’60s, anime, and B movies from any decade. While Santis offers plenty of DVDs, Lost Lizard is also stocked with VHS and Betamax.
How many of Santis’ customers already have a VCR player?
“Very few,” laughs Santis. “Younger people come in and they're like, I've been looking for a VCR for so long. VCRs are going for $90 on eBay. I was like, I have all these VCRs. I'm going to rent them out. Right now, there are 11 in the store.”
In recent years, most people have looked at a video rental shop that carried VHS tapes as a doomed business venture, but the rise of physical media has changed the landscape. For so long, we were enamored with the plethora of options streaming services granted. Now, people want a little friction introduced back into their lives. Too many choices create a paralysis and we end up spending more time looking for something to watch than actually watching a movie.
Despite the rising interest in physical media formats across all art forms, Hollywood is pulling back. Santis points to streamers and studios no longer releasing physical copies of their movies as two reasons why he opened Lost Lizard.
“Pretty much, you don't own the stuff you buy digitally,” he says. “My little brother called me the other day, throwing a fit. He bought that remake of Final Fantasy VII. There are three separate parts at $60 each. He's like, I don't own it now, they took it away. That was it.”
“Say you want to watch Gilmore Girls. You have to pay for multiple different streaming services because Disney+ has three seasons, Peacock has three seasons, and Netflix has the revival, you know what I mean?”
“It's a constant battle against the system, I guess, in a way. It does feel very punk rock now to go, I own this, this is mine, you can't take it away from me. It's tangible.”
Lost Lizard isn’t just about holding a piece of art in the form of film in your hands, it’s about building a community. A place for people to come together to enjoy one another’s company and a movie. As people are lamenting the lack of Third Spaces, Santis is actively working to create one. He has a pull-down screen, and all the racks in the store can be rolled away to make space for chairs. He even has fake grass to give the feel of a drive-in and allow people to sit on the lawn.
“I just want people to come in and feel comfortable. We've only been open for three weeks and already there are regulars who just sit here for hours. They'll go to the coffee place next door and bring it over.”
“On Saturdays I'm going to start a watch party. A lot of local artists have been sending me their stuff on VHS tape and I was like, we can have a night where you do a Q&A and we show your movie. Old school.”
“I want stuff that's not pretentious. You're not going to come in here and see the 4K version of Ken Russell’s The Devils. I love that movie, but you can go to the Harris for that. You can come here to watch Toxic Avenger on VHS.”
The shop’s name comes from Santis’ desire for an alliterative name, his love of lizards, and as a nod to the idea of lost media. There are no plans for a shop lizard at the moment, but Santis hasn’t ruled it out.
Staying in line with the lizard theme are the tiered membership offerings. Gecko is the lowest tier, at $10 a month. It’ll get you three free rentals and anything after the fact will be at the standard rate of $5 per five days. The next tier is Chameleon. For $20 a month, you’ll get five free rentals and half-off event tickets. Lastly, Komodo is the top tier, at $35 a month for unlimited rentals and free access to any events hosted at the shop.
The offerings at Lost Lizard are carefully curated by Santis. He estimates that ninety percent of the films available came from his own collection. If he had to choose one movie that best describes the ethos of what makes a Lost Lizard selection, he’d pick Spookies from 1986.
“It’s three different movies that were edited into one. It makes no goddamn sense. There are crazy special effects, bad acting, a guy with a puppet. It has everything. It's fun. It's a joyride. I want people to come here, have fun, not take anything seriously. There's nothing here that I feel is serious.”
“Part of the experience is the pursuit of it. People coming in, looking, reading the back of the cases and being like, I don't know what the hell this is, but it sounds crazy. Can I get it?”
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