When you think of a video store you might conjure up an image of an 1980-1990s franchise with familiar titles and a few movie standup poster boards of The Terminator or Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street. That cinematic world of yesteryear is definitely not what you will experience when you step into one of Portland, and the nation’s, few remaining video rental businesses, Movie Madness.
The Belmont District’s Movie Madness has been a home for Portland’s movie buffs since 1991, when founder Mike Clark began consolidating what has become a collection of over 80,000 movie titles to rent to the public. Every genre is represented in the archive, along with hundreds of movie props, costumes, and other memorabilia that takes visitors back to the earliest days of filmmaking. From Academy Award classics and cult hits, to foreign films and the latest DVD releases; if you are looking for a specific movie to watch there’s a good chance you’ll find among the racks of DVDs and VHS tapes filling this unique business that is a combination of rental store and movie museum.
Movie Madness is set up to be user friendly by archivists who share a passion for cinema. You’ll find their collection organized in groups that represent their most relevant shared category, such as genre, directors, studio, and actors. It’s a method meant to bring lesser known films by favorite filmmakers to the attention of Movie Madness customers. Are you on a Scorsese kick? You’ll find everything from Taxi Driver to The Wolf of Wall Street sitting on the same shelf.
But Movie Madness is more than shelves and shelves of great movies! At every twist and turn you find yourself face-to-face with Hollywood history. Memorabilia from the silent era to current times are on display, some that have come straight from the set and some reproductions.
The most beloved movie characters are a part of the collection. A reproduced Yoda puppet from the Star Wars series and rubber replicas of horror and sci-fi movie monsters look down on you from high shelves that line the perimeter.
Movie lovers of all kinds will find their favorite characters represented in the collection. Super fans of superhero movies and alien flicks need only look up to find their favorite characters in full regalia.
A century’s worth of movie history is represented in Movie Madness’s collection, with a particular bent toward the cult, sci-fi, and horror genres, which makes cruising through the aisles a fun experience for movie buffs of any age.
Forbidden Planet 
H.G. Wells’s Time Machine
Look for the replica spaceship from Forbidden Planet and a movie miniature of the HG. Wells classic The Time Machine, and
Gremlins 
A Christmas Story
Stripe from Gremlins, and the leg lamp from A Christmas Story.
Get a movie and a lesson in Hollywood history when you step into Movie Madness! They are located at 4320 SE Belmont Street and open every day from 11am to 11pm.
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