We all have those movies that we're drawn to on cable when they are on, but back in the day there was another category of movies, movies that still haunt those of us of a certain generation and they are different for everyone. I'm talking about movies that were taped from TV and then watched ad nauseam. Kids these days have it lucky. We live in a world of dirt cheap DVDs, Tivo, multiple movie channels, Netflix, Instant Watch, it goes on and on. When I was a kid, there were many fewer options. There were a couple movie channels on cable that my family couldn't afford and then there was Blockbuster (or Wherehouse, or the mom and pop video store), which was pretty much a weekend only thing for us. For most of my youth, actually owning a video was pretty out of the question. VHS movies were not priced to own in their early days. I got a copy of Ghostbusters for my birthday and it cost like $75. It wasn't until Blockbuster started selling previously viewed movies and the studios started selling movies for cheaper (but still pretty pricey compared to today's cheap prices) that we actually had anything resembling a home movie library.

So where did that leave us? Well, the pay TV channels were pretty clever and they would offer free preview weeks and weekends every few months. During this time any movie fan worth their salt would stock up on blank VHS tapes and tape pretty much anything remotely watchable that came on. We would then end up with a random assortment of movies that quickly became treasures to us, even though most others wouldn't consider them so. These tapes would be pulled out on rainy days, sick days, late nights, slumber parties, long summer days, you get the picture. The movies became legend. Here are my top titles from VHS days of yore:

Troop Beverly Hills: The big one for me, my brother and I taped this off HBO and watched it so many times we could quote every Velda Plendor line. It also fueled my giant crushes for Jenny Lewis and Carla Gugino. In addition to Lewis, this movie featured Harriet from Small Wonder, Margot from Punky Brewster, and Nikki from Good Morning Miss Bliss. It was 80's sitcom supporting girl heaven!

If Looks Could Kill: In my 12 year old mind, Richard Greico was an awesome action star. I watched this recently on Netflix Instant Watch and it totally holds up. Also, I noticed that Roger freaking Daltry is in the movie. Crazy.

Toy Soldiers: It's basically Die Hard in a boarding school, and it's awesome. You can watch it for free on Hulu, and yeah, it totally holds up. An epic teaming up of Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton, and Keith Coogan to kick Nikolai from Lost's ass. Can you tell I love this movie?

Shipwrecked: Taped off the Disney Channel back when it cost money. I actually saw this in the theater and nearly died with excitement when they premiered it during one of the Disney Channel free preview weekends. Gabriel Byrne is a fantastic villain. I just loved the idea of being stranded on an island, especially after reading The Cay and Island of the Blue Dolphins in school and it also has elements of Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson. A great adventure movie!

Adventures in Babysitting: One of our lower quality recordings as I think we grabbed it off of KTLA so it had commercials. This is the only one on the list others would probably consider a "classic." When younger folk ask what the big deal is with Elizabeth Shue, I just point them to this movie. Someone later pointed out to me all the racial stereotypes present in the film, but it still doesn't ruin it for me. Vincent D'Onofrio as Dawson/Thor is pretty much the greatest thing ever.

Those are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to post yours in the comments!