FAQ
From Video Underbelly
Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Video Underbelly. If your question is not answered, leave a note for Morbus Iff.
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[edit] General
[edit] What kind of films is this site about?
You'd think it'd be easy answer, but it actually isn't: whilst we could say horror, sleaze, exploitation, psychotronic, or bad, they're too narrowly focused and paint the site into a corner. The easiest, but least gratifying, answer is: look around. If you like, or are interested in, the type of films you see, it stands to reason that anything else you like, we'll probably like too. This may not always be true (Morbus Iff is watching every Criterion Collection DVD, but knows that not all of them "belong" here), but we suspect you'll be able to grasp what's right and what's not.
[edit] What isn't acceptable here?
Real hardcore pornography -- this is not an adult film site. Certain films may include hardcore scenes (explicit closeups of genitals, insertion, etc.), but we expect you to categorize them as such, not upload images or videos of that nature. The only exception is for obviously fictional situations like vagina dentata, tentacle porn, etc. Likewise, films with scenes of animal cruelty are acceptable (such as the Italian cannibal films), but images or videos depicting those scenes are not. Anything uploaded of this sort will be deleted.
[edit] Why does the site look the way it does?
Video Underbelly uses the default skin of MediaWiki, the same software that powers Wikipedia, and we've decided not to change its appearance, either through different colors, layout, or graphical elements. Ideally, any visual changes would be an attempt to make the site appear "nicer" when, in fact, we're devoted to creating a museum of films that tend not to look very nice at all. By keeping the site design sterile, we feel we're drawing more attention to the films and information on display than on the skills of our tweakery.
[edit] Why is the logo a VHS tape?
In a digital age, one might think it strange that a new site would use a VHS tape as part of its logo. The reasoning is simple: it's the feelings and memories a VHS tape invokes, and the new age they created of home viewing and "direct to video". Even movies as recent as The Ring use VHS tapes as their catalyst - there's just something more substantial about a spool of tape, itself a mimicry of a miniature film canister. Having grown up in that era, we feel toward tapes as others feel toward records and 8-tracks: discs are certainly cleaner and crisper and spiffier now, but without the pops and crackles that lent the act of viewing its own personality. We're not entirely sure one would ever feel the same about DVD, especially as it thrives during a time when most video is becoming even more digital, distributed only over the wires of the Internet, never truly physical. Even now, as we fully immerse ourselves in digital viewing and production, we often return to the seedier corners of our basements, staring at boxes that contain tapes once loved and fondled in the glow of a TV that weighed more than us. We know there are gems therein, never having graced a disc of any kind, and we hope Video Underbelly can help ensure they bask in the warm glow once more.
