SHELF LIFE (1993)
Label: Liberation Hall
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 80 Minutes 45 Seconds
Audio: English PCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: English PCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Paul Bartel
Cast: Jim Turner, O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein
Shelf Life (1993) is the final feature film of eccentric cult film director Paul Bartel, the director of Private Parts, Deathrace 2000, Eating Raul and Lust in the Dust. It is based on a stage play, that tells the comically tragic tale of three adolescent siblings who in 1963 after the assassination of JFK are ushered into their sub-basement nuclear fallout shelter by their paranoid parents Mr. and Mrs. St. Cloud, who are convinced that the commies have won and that Armageddon is upon them, with the conspiracist father saying they're headed to the bunker to wait out “the Martians or the Communists, or whoever the hell!”. The film catches up with them 30 years later, and forty feet under, those three kids have survived, long after their parents have apparently succumbed to botulism from eating expired canned food, their skeletonized corpses still tucked into their bunker bed.
Shelf Life (1993) is the final feature film of eccentric cult film director Paul Bartel, the director of Private Parts, Deathrace 2000, Eating Raul and Lust in the Dust. It is based on a stage play, that tells the comically tragic tale of three adolescent siblings who in 1963 after the assassination of JFK are ushered into their sub-basement nuclear fallout shelter by their paranoid parents Mr. and Mrs. St. Cloud, who are convinced that the commies have won and that Armageddon is upon them, with the conspiracist father saying they're headed to the bunker to wait out “the Martians or the Communists, or whoever the hell!”. The film catches up with them 30 years later, and forty feet under, those three kids have survived, long after their parents have apparently succumbed to botulism from eating expired canned food, their skeletonized corpses still tucked into their bunker bed.
The siblings, Tina (O-Lan Jones, Mars Attacks), Pam (Andrea Stein, Trouble in Mind), and Scotty (Jim Turner, Joe's Apartment) but whom I mostly remember as Randee of the Redwoods MTV promos of my youth!), who are now adults in age only, 30 years in isolation in the fallout shelter has left them in a childlike state of mind, stuck in a perpetual state of arrested development. The flick is surreal as we spend a day-in-the-life with this trio of siblings as they eat breakfast after saying grace, which boils down to a half mis-remembered prayer that's mash-up of the pledge, prayer and sports, "Now I lay me down to eat and pledge allegiance to the flag, for one nation is invisible, the body of our Lord, safe and sound inside. Play ball! Amen.", which brought to mind a similar spiel from Aunt Bethany's in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, only not fueled by age and dementia, instead it's just a hodge podge of cultural ephemera half-remembered by the adult kids who have been isolated for three decades, their only input from the outside world seems to be the stray TV broadcast that somehow manage to penetrate the concrete bunker walls.
The kids have developed their own set of rules and rituals that are based on their distant memories of their lives above ground as children. They spend their day listening to old kitschy worn out records, and play-acting sessions mimicking TV shows of their youth, and role-playing what they imagine attending school, or being a mailman is like - like how the mailmen stuffs letter up their butt for some strange reason. Scotty even pretends to be his father, sitting on his recliner with is pipe and regaling the his sisters with anti-communist and racists screeds, having been indoctrinated into the unsavory views of by their now long dead parents. Occasionally they act out inappropriate dating scenarios and dry-hump/wrestle on the floor in an innocent but still off-putting manner, resulting from libidos that have seemingly never known release of any kind, having to express their confused inner feeling and desires through myriad play-acting, musical numbers, variety show-esque performances,
It's a total Paul Bartel film, it fits right into his warped cinematic world, made for scraps, acted by the writers and actors of the original stage play it's based on, a very homegrown affair. You can tell it's based on a stage play, the single location is a dead giveaway, and Bartel attempts to enliven the single setting with some interesting angles and moody lighting, with a variety of diegetic and non-diegetic songs, sounds and lighting, but they're no getting around it, you're looking at the same 12x12 room for the entirety of the film. That said I liked the use of colored lighting, reds, blues and greens, the music numbers are all quite interesting, especially the demented musical numbers that seem like a reenactments of half-remembered Busby Berkely routines. It's a very darkly funny film, but if you really think about it also a pretty tragic story in many ways, either way though, it's a fascinating film.
It's an interesting flick with plenty of fascinating observations that could certainly apply to the current state of world affairs, whether that be the detrimental effects of complete isolation as we experienced with the pandemic, or how conspiracy theorists trapped in an echo-chamber tend to go a little nuts, it's all still very relevant stuff, even if the film itself will have limited appeal, like most of Bartel's output this is quite the eccentric cult item. This has previously been so rare that it was never officially released in theaters, having been rejected by Sundance and Toronto Film Festivals, but getting a few screenings at the Palm Springs, Austin, New York , USA Film Festivals. It never even had an official VHS or DVD release, though bootleg VHS have existed for sometime, and the film was also available on YouTube as a rip from the VHS. It was for all intents and purposes a "lost" Paul Bartel film, until now, widely available on Blu-ray and DVD from Liberation Hall. If you're boffo for Bartell or just a commissure of rare, unseen, cult items this slice of dark comedy is a no-brainer, you need this cult-curio from one of cinema's most culty directors in your collection.
Audio/Video: Shelf Life (1993) makes it's worldwide home video debut on region-free Blu-ray for Liberation Hall, in 1080p HD framed in 1.78:1 widescreen, scanned from Bartell's personal 35mm print that was donated to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences after his death in 2000. This looks pretty rough and appears to have very little restoration done to it, looking like a solid raw scan of a theatrical print that's been color0balanced, complete with speckling, scratches and other defects, but colors and black levels generally look good. There's little depth to the image, but again, being a theatrical print I am just happy to have it in widescreen with healthy looking and well-saturated colors.
Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with optional English subtitles. The track is clean and well-balanced. Dialogue and effects sound good, and the score which includes compositions by Andy Paley (The Ren & Stimpy Show) and J. Raul Brody, a frequent collaborator with The Residents, in addition to "In My Moondreams" by featuring the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, and "Tammy" sung by April March.
Extras include a fun group Audio Commentary with O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner, Philip Holahan, and Alex Mechanik; a 35-min American Cinematheque Q&A with O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner, and Alex Mechanik, moderated by Grant Moninger; a 9-min Q&A with Tina, Pam, and Scotty; plus Trailers.
The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a Reversible Wrap. Inside there's an Double-Sided Insert with cast and crew information, as well as song credits and acknowledgements. This was the first release I have seen from Liberation Hall, I have only known them as the company that released the Robocop: The Compete Series Blu-ray set and the Robocop: The Future of Law Enforcement Parts 1 & 2 TV Movie Series Pilot Episode
Blu-ray releases, neither of which I picked-up. I must say I was impressed with this, the PQ is not exactly refence but them taking a chance on it warms my cinema-loving heart, and the presentation and extras are well-done, so I will be keeping an eye on them and their future output for sure.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner, Philip Holahan, and Alex Mechanik
- American Cinematheque Q&A with O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner, and Alex Mechanik, moderated by Grant Moninger (35:05)
- Q&A with Tina, Pam, and Scotty (2023) (9:15)
- Trailer (1:26)
- Teaser 01 (00:31)
- Teaser 02 (00:40)
- Clip - 'Chain Reaction' (1:20)
- Audio Commentary with O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner, Philip Holahan, and Alex Mechanik
- American Cinematheque Q&A with O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner, and Alex Mechanik, moderated by Grant Moninger (35:05)
- Q&A with Tina, Pam, and Scotty (2023) (9:15)
- Trailer (1:26)
- Teaser 01 (00:31)
- Teaser 02 (00:40)
- Clip - 'Chain Reaction' (1:20)
