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That may have as much to do with the specifics of the content of Pink Flamingos. The film still was the subject of an obscenity bust in the 1990s (Arizona?).

What's odd is that Walmart SELLS Pink Flamingos and the X/NC-17 rated Pink Flamingos violates Blockbuster's stated prohibition on such videos.

Ratings Defined
All films carried at blockbuster.com carry ratings that have been established by the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. In order to provide a wholesome environment for you and your family, we do not carry films with ratings of NC-17 or X. Please refer to the guidelines below when shopping for movies on our site:

The years since Viacom has owned Blockbuster have long violated this stated policy. Certainly the website only came into being AFTER Viacom bought the chain. They've openly lied for years.

You can rent Thriller: A Cruel Picture (aka They Call Her One Eye) at Netflix and Blockbuster (both of which label it as "unrated").

I couldn't find Emanuelle In America (or ANY Emanuelle film) at Blockbuster (although Borders sells this extremely questionable title).

The sleaziest of 1970s exploitation films have come to home video and are available at the corner chain with no requirement to keep them "behind the counter" as would be done with an independent operator if that was the only source for such materials. It is even questionable if such materials can be sent through the mail (in the case of Pink Flamingos or Emanuelle In America).

I prefer to deny Blockbuster/Viacom my money. I also was unable to bookmark or copy links for titles on their website (which is somewhat frustrating).

Some titles like Johnny Cash's Five Minutes To Live are listed on BB and not Netflix but only for purchase (and back ordered at that). Some of BB's listings are just titles with no sale or rental.

I think that there will always be title discrepancies between any mailorder companies renting titles. I don't use rental to replace purchasing totally, but it is nice to be able to preview a DVD title much as I would a CD IN a store.

For the record, I own the deluxe version of The Sadist (with commentary track), a budget release of Nasty Rabbit, and the Something Weird double feature of The Choppers with Wild Guitar. There are budget releases of all of the films but I think that I have the best print sources with these releases just as I suspect that the MS3K release of Eegah has the best print. For what it's worth, Blockbuster has only listed the budget editions of all these titles (and I only see them listed for sale, not rent).

FWIW, I will leave you with the news that Norton Records is releasing an Arch Hall Jr. & The Archers CD right about now (with the excellent Konga Joe from The Choppers and songs from his other films).