00:00:07.946 --> 00:00:16.717
[film projector
whirring and clicking]

00:00:19.526 --> 00:00:25.483
[upbeat music]

00:00:28.540 --> 00:00:29.638
If you're a film collector,

00:00:29.662 --> 00:00:31.377
especially in the last
five to seven years,

00:00:31.602 --> 00:00:34.063
there's never been a better time
to collect this form of media.

00:00:34.087 --> 00:00:37.882
[upbeat music]

00:00:38.006 --> 00:00:39.174
With the boutique labels,

00:00:40.883 --> 00:00:44.220
finding these films
that were almost lost,

00:00:44.344 --> 00:00:46.507
we're really fortunate
to be in an era

00:00:46.531 --> 00:00:49.548
where we have access
to so much content,

00:00:49.598 --> 00:00:51.434
whereas before we
just didn't have access

00:00:51.458 --> 00:00:52.601
or we just bought copies.

00:00:54.727 --> 00:00:57.146
You got to remember back in the
old days, the dawn of cinema,

00:00:57.170 --> 00:00:58.985
a movie would play theatrically,

00:00:59.030 --> 00:01:01.540
it would run for its
run, it would vanish.

00:01:01.565 --> 00:01:02.954
And if you didn't
see it during that run,

00:01:02.979 --> 00:01:04.294
then you better
hope that the studio

00:01:04.318 --> 00:01:06.120
would spit it back
on the screens

00:01:06.144 --> 00:01:07.834
because you'd
never see it again.

00:01:07.858 --> 00:01:08.846
If it was a B-movie,

00:01:08.870 --> 00:01:11.305
the B-list stuff that was
used as back-end filler,

00:01:11.330 --> 00:01:12.373
it was gone with the wind.

00:01:12.491 --> 00:01:14.535
Right, finished, forget it.

00:01:14.659 --> 00:01:16.869
I really did sleep
with that alarm clock.

00:01:16.995 --> 00:01:20.331
I really did circle the TV Guide
looking for movies to watch.

00:01:20.455 --> 00:01:22.958
This week in TV Guide,
one of the filters--

00:01:23.082 --> 00:01:24.750
Because there were
no other options.

00:01:24.848 --> 00:01:27.526
The idea of being able
to bring a movie home

00:01:27.550 --> 00:01:29.853
and watch it at your
leisure on demand

00:01:29.878 --> 00:01:32.382
was unheard of. It
was science fiction.

00:01:32.406 --> 00:01:33.592
There were major movies,

00:01:33.616 --> 00:01:35.451
The Exorcist, Texas
Chainsaw Massacre,

00:01:35.675 --> 00:01:37.552
all of a sudden I
can't see it anymore.

00:01:39.386 --> 00:01:41.471
Then the video boom hit.

00:01:41.596 --> 00:01:47.060
The Sony Color Video Cassette,
key to television on command.

00:01:47.184 --> 00:01:50.146
The program you
want when you want it.

00:01:50.270 --> 00:01:53.857
That for me was really what
started the collector mentality

00:01:53.981 --> 00:01:56.823
because I never knew when
something like Bloody Moon

00:01:56.847 --> 00:01:58.402
could be taken away from me.

00:01:58.526 --> 00:02:02.071
Bloody Moon, a film
you won't soon forget.

00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:09.993
Cutter's Way.

00:02:12.996 --> 00:02:13.705
Diner.

00:02:15.789 --> 00:02:17.041
All those movies.

00:02:17.166 --> 00:02:18.042
Coca-Cola Kid.

00:02:18.166 --> 00:02:19.542
Dark and bubbly.

00:02:20.668 --> 00:02:23.296
You know, I just remember
when I saw Diner, I was like,

00:02:23.420 --> 00:02:26.923
"I want to be in that movie. I
want to do that kind of movie."

00:02:27.048 --> 00:02:28.674
Death by Temptation.

00:02:29.967 --> 00:02:30.718
Daughters of the Dust.

00:02:32.052 --> 00:02:32.802
Ganja & Hess

00:02:38.140 --> 00:02:42.478
You know, they're important
films that need to be preserved.

00:02:42.602 --> 00:02:45.813
We deserve to have a
second go, a second life.

00:02:45.937 --> 00:02:48.982
The most uncut version,
the most uncensored version.

00:02:50.232 --> 00:02:52.109
Widescreen in the
correct aspect ratio.

00:02:55.820 --> 00:02:57.280
Actual celluloid.

00:03:00.157 --> 00:03:01.784
The fragility of it.

00:03:01.908 --> 00:03:02.450
It's sad.

00:03:04.410 --> 00:03:05.370
I mean, what can you do?

00:03:05.494 --> 00:03:08.288
It's sad when you can't
find everything and

00:03:08.413 --> 00:03:10.207
an, uh, you know you...

00:03:10.331 --> 00:03:12.666
you're excited to put it
back out there in the world

00:03:12.792 --> 00:03:14.085
and then you don't
have everything.

00:03:14.209 --> 00:03:16.127
It's tragic when that
happens, you know?

00:03:16.252 --> 00:03:16.920
It's tragic.

00:03:17.045 --> 00:03:19.172
I would like to know
where my head is.

00:03:19.296 --> 00:03:20.506
From Happy Birthday To Me.

00:03:24.717 --> 00:03:26.260
All film is my domain.

00:03:26.385 --> 00:03:28.720
My mom loved movies.
My dad loved movies.

00:03:28.845 --> 00:03:30.972
My grandmother, my
uncle, who's a collector,

00:03:31.097 --> 00:03:33.724
introduced me to cinema
and models and monsters

00:03:33.849 --> 00:03:36.060
and comic books
and 3D Viewmasters.

00:03:45.525 --> 00:03:50.488
A genuine passion for cinema was
alive and pulsing in my house.

00:03:50.612 --> 00:03:53.198
The power and importance
of the motion picture.

00:03:59.327 --> 00:04:01.413
I've always been a movie fan.

00:04:01.537 --> 00:04:03.956
Watching Star Wars with my
dad when I was really young.

00:04:09.110 --> 00:04:10.731
Growing up in the 90s too,

00:04:10.755 --> 00:04:14.198
we had so many VHS tapes,
like all of the Disney movies.

00:04:16.298 --> 00:04:18.217
The library aspect.

00:04:18.341 --> 00:04:19.759
Grew up loving
Beauty and the Beast.

00:04:21.052 --> 00:04:24.347
Big library scene,
so just in general, like

00:04:24.471 --> 00:04:27.641
collecting and having like
books and movies in the house,

00:04:27.765 --> 00:04:30.685
like just makes it feel nice.

00:04:33.061 --> 00:04:35.897
My parents took me to see
King Kong when I was four.

00:04:36.021 --> 00:04:37.731
That was a life changer.

00:04:44.068 --> 00:04:45.875
Because then I became obsessed

00:04:45.899 --> 00:04:49.782
with monsters and
creatures and gore.

00:04:49.907 --> 00:04:51.367
Because there was
some gore in that movie.

00:04:52.451 --> 00:04:55.912
And so from then it went to
Hammer movies on the BBC.

00:05:02.041 --> 00:05:04.461
My parents bought me
the Dennis Gifford editorial

00:05:04.585 --> 00:05:07.087
history of horror movies,
which I obsessed over.

00:05:12.091 --> 00:05:15.761
And all those pictures set
the imagination running.

00:05:15.886 --> 00:05:18.305
Started making Super 8
movies with friends where we

00:05:18.429 --> 00:05:22.933
would take tools out of the
garage and chop each other up.

00:05:24.476 --> 00:05:28.271
My fandom started
with Italian horror.

00:05:28.395 --> 00:05:32.900
I bought the VHS of
Gates of Hell when I was 14.

00:05:33.024 --> 00:05:37.111
Had never seen anything like it.

00:05:40.154 --> 00:05:44.116
Lady vomiting up her intestines
and eyeballs bleeding.

00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:45.867
I was just like, this is
the greatest thing I've

00:05:45.992 --> 00:05:49.287
ever seen and I need to
see all of these movies.

00:05:49.411 --> 00:05:51.914
From there I got into
Spaghetti Westerns.

00:05:52.038 --> 00:05:53.664
And I got into film noir.

00:05:53.789 --> 00:05:56.626
It grew from that love.

00:05:56.750 --> 00:06:01.004
How can I see as many
of these as possible?

00:06:01.128 --> 00:06:02.942
And in the past that often meant

00:06:02.966 --> 00:06:06.124
finding some pretty
bad quality bootlegs.

00:06:06.382 --> 00:06:09.219
Evil Dead on Thorn AMI on VHS.

00:06:09.343 --> 00:06:12.429
I rented this 76
times in four months.

00:06:12.554 --> 00:06:14.640
I actually wore out the tape.

00:06:14.764 --> 00:06:16.849
The owner of the video
store gave me a job.

00:06:16.974 --> 00:06:20.144
I sat and read the back of
the boxes of all these films.

00:06:20.268 --> 00:06:21.938
I couldn't afford
to buy VHS tapes

00:06:21.963 --> 00:06:23.455
because they were
horribly expensive.

00:06:23.479 --> 00:06:26.815
I bought a second VCR
and I dubbed films and

00:06:26.940 --> 00:06:29.317
I proceeded to create
a collection like that.

00:06:29.442 --> 00:06:31.236
And then I started
selling them to friends so

00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:33.529
they'd get second or
third generation copies.

00:06:37.114 --> 00:06:39.367
Now before I even knew
what a VHS or Beta was,

00:06:39.491 --> 00:06:42.702
the family would rent
the RCA video discs.

00:06:42.826 --> 00:06:44.383
Still gonna watch
something great

00:06:44.407 --> 00:06:47.070
with our RCA video disc
player and video discs.

00:06:47.146 --> 00:06:48.612
Not a lot of people
talk about them.

00:06:48.636 --> 00:06:50.483
They talk about the war
between VHS and Beta.

00:06:50.667 --> 00:06:51.960
But you know, kind
of bubbling around the

00:06:52.084 --> 00:06:54.878
cauldron and the sidelines
was the RCA video disc.

00:06:55.003 --> 00:06:56.547
The RCA Video Disc Player.

00:06:56.671 --> 00:06:58.923
The remarkable machine
that plays records of movies.

00:06:59.048 --> 00:07:01.425
These gigantic,
bad-ass plastic shelves.

00:07:01.486 --> 00:07:02.740
The size of record albums.

00:07:02.764 --> 00:07:05.380
Because inside was a
fucking record album.

00:07:05.970 --> 00:07:08.764
They were vinyl.
Absolutely gorgeous.

00:07:08.888 --> 00:07:11.182
So my parents would rent
that machine, the entire

00:07:11.307 --> 00:07:14.978
plastic case, and shove that son
of a bitch inside the machine.

00:07:17.270 --> 00:07:18.481
When we did get a VCR,

00:07:18.505 --> 00:07:20.773
that was it, baby.
That was the game over.

00:07:26.151 --> 00:07:28.737
They've become one of
the hottest items of the 80s.

00:07:28.862 --> 00:07:31.532
Forecasters say that by
the end of the year, one

00:07:31.656 --> 00:07:35.660
out of every four homes
in the U.S. will have a VCR.

00:07:35.784 --> 00:07:37.744
Is it a fad or for real?

00:07:37.869 --> 00:07:38.579
It's for real.

00:07:38.703 --> 00:07:41.581
Not just renting movies
every day if I could.

00:07:41.706 --> 00:07:42.999
But having sleepovers.

00:07:44.708 --> 00:07:48.295
Finding stuff that you
couldn't find anywhere else.

00:07:48.419 --> 00:07:50.129
And not just the
mainstream stuff.

00:07:50.254 --> 00:07:51.505
The blockbusters.

00:07:51.629 --> 00:07:52.922
Like Bandito Video.

00:07:53.047 --> 00:07:56.926
Video stores now number
about four per square mile.

00:07:57.018 --> 00:07:58.091
That's a lot of video.

00:07:58.115 --> 00:07:59.908
The whole world's
opened up further.

00:08:00.113 --> 00:08:04.076
There are now more than 25,000
titles available on videotape.

00:08:04.167 --> 00:08:06.738
You're able to see
fantastic genre films

00:08:06.958 --> 00:08:08.535
from all over the world.

00:08:08.559 --> 00:08:11.562
Stores that specialize in
non-English speaking videos.

00:08:11.687 --> 00:08:13.439
Spanish, Asian, Korean.

00:08:13.563 --> 00:08:15.064
I just wanted to
watch horror movies.

00:08:16.857 --> 00:08:18.609
Don't go in the basement,
back to the demon.

00:08:20.527 --> 00:08:22.529
We opened Suspect Video in 1992.

00:08:22.653 --> 00:08:24.864
Me and my partner
went to film school.

00:08:24.989 --> 00:08:26.782
We opened Suspect
as a short-term venture

00:08:26.906 --> 00:08:29.993
that would give us
access to distributors.

00:08:30.117 --> 00:08:31.744
So that we could
make our own films.

00:08:31.869 --> 00:08:33.329
Of course that didn't
happen because renting a

00:08:33.454 --> 00:08:36.790
store takes a lot more
energy than we thought.

00:08:36.914 --> 00:08:39.208
Plus, you know, we
did a lot of partying too.

00:08:43.044 --> 00:08:46.756
At that time it was just
VHS. Really expensive.

00:08:46.880 --> 00:08:49.799
We would scrounge through
used video warehouses.

00:08:49.924 --> 00:08:51.926
Picking titles that
we saw the value in.

00:08:51.950 --> 00:08:54.480
What people would
consider really horrible movies

00:08:54.504 --> 00:08:55.949
have their own value.

00:09:03.101 --> 00:09:04.391
My family would sit around

00:09:04.415 --> 00:09:06.874
and we'd watch Psychomania
together as a family.

00:09:07.063 --> 00:09:09.315
Can you imagine like
Mom, Dad, everyone

00:09:09.439 --> 00:09:12.400
cuddled around the TV
watching Psychomania today?

00:09:12.524 --> 00:09:14.443
Like I mean that wasn't
a Mom and Dad movie.

00:09:14.568 --> 00:09:16.528
But they were happy
to watch it because of

00:09:16.654 --> 00:09:19.531
we had just bought this movie,
we owned it now, it was ours.

00:09:21.406 --> 00:09:23.075
Interglobal Video.

00:09:23.200 --> 00:09:24.868
Saturn.

00:09:24.993 --> 00:09:26.036
Video Gems.

00:09:26.160 --> 00:09:28.087
All that shit where
they were scouring

00:09:28.111 --> 00:09:31.779
the bowels of the planet to find
the cheapest European garbage

00:09:31.803 --> 00:09:33.059
that they could find.

00:09:33.083 --> 00:09:35.293
And just blow it out
onto cheap discounted

00:09:35.417 --> 00:09:38.045
VHS because they knew
some schmuck would buy it.

00:09:38.946 --> 00:09:39.979
You're joking.

00:09:40.004 --> 00:09:43.132
And to really, really search.
We didn't have the internet.

00:09:44.174 --> 00:09:46.463
If it was put out by
a certain company,

00:09:46.487 --> 00:09:48.740
I knew I was in
for something cool.

00:09:49.009 --> 00:09:51.660
Media is one of
the most important

00:09:51.684 --> 00:09:54.103
early first wave imprints.

00:09:54.265 --> 00:09:57.018
You know, licensed Halloween
and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

00:10:01.020 --> 00:10:06.234
I discovered so much. Just wild
shit via that Vestron imprint.

00:10:10.027 --> 00:10:11.779
Taping Simon's Pieces.

00:10:11.904 --> 00:10:14.365
Tobe Hooper's
Lifeforce, which I think is

00:10:14.489 --> 00:10:16.616
you know still one of the
greatest movies ever made.

00:10:23.996 --> 00:10:25.044
Paragon.

00:10:26.331 --> 00:10:29.167
Magnum. Were releasing
stuff that the major labels

00:10:29.292 --> 00:10:32.963
really found no intrinsic
value in these things.

00:10:33.087 --> 00:10:35.881
Criterion was the
absolute zenith of labels.

00:10:36.005 --> 00:10:39.634
Their focus was classic
films, but they also strove

00:10:39.758 --> 00:10:43.637
to remaster, to release the
most complete versions possible.

00:10:43.761 --> 00:10:47.056
But they also included a lot
of supplementary material.

00:10:49.057 --> 00:10:51.268
The world on a silver platter.

00:10:52.502 --> 00:10:55.588
You command. Laservision obeys.

00:10:55.734 --> 00:10:56.817
Laserdisc was really exciting.

00:10:56.841 --> 00:10:59.127
It provided you with a much
better picture,

00:10:59.151 --> 00:11:00.124
much better sound,

00:11:00.149 --> 00:11:04.695
and the possibility for an
unheard of audio commentary.

00:11:04.819 --> 00:11:08.531
You could actually listen to
Scorsese talk about Taxi Driver.

00:11:08.655 --> 00:11:09.698
Such a beautiful script.

00:11:09.823 --> 00:11:11.450
There was two scripts
I've ever gotten since I've

00:11:11.575 --> 00:11:13.827
been making films that I've
hardly done anything with.

00:11:13.951 --> 00:11:17.329
And it's the supplementary stuff
that really made it interesting.

00:11:17.454 --> 00:11:19.289
It was revelatory.

00:11:19.414 --> 00:11:19.914
The Abyss.

00:11:22.666 --> 00:11:25.836
Talk to me, bud.
Please. Do you hear me?

00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:28.171
The sound was just so crisp.

00:11:28.195 --> 00:11:30.579
I mean, there's no way
that you could put in a VHS

00:11:30.603 --> 00:11:32.157
and turn up the sound like that.

00:11:32.382 --> 00:11:34.676
We rented laserdiscs
for a little while.

00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:36.513
We found that most
people didn't have players,

00:11:36.537 --> 00:11:37.620
and the players were really

00:11:37.844 --> 00:11:40.972
quite large, and so you
couldn't really rent them.

00:11:41.097 --> 00:11:44.893
Image was great, too, and much
more focused on genre stuff.

00:11:45.017 --> 00:11:47.561
They had an agreement
with Something Weird.

00:11:47.685 --> 00:11:53.649
[Trippy music]

00:11:57.526 --> 00:12:01.489
Something Weird video
had a very strong presence,

00:12:01.513 --> 00:12:03.407
really strong identity.

00:12:03.530 --> 00:12:04.323
Grindhouse.

00:12:08.493 --> 00:12:10.119
The Grindhouse era,
the film was done

00:12:10.244 --> 00:12:14.165
extremely cheap, and
they were essentially lost.

00:12:15.457 --> 00:12:16.656
My husband, Mike Vraney,

00:12:16.680 --> 00:12:19.294
is the whole reason there
is a Something Weird video.

00:12:19.318 --> 00:12:22.196
He started bootlegging
videos in the 1980s.

00:12:22.329 --> 00:12:26.041
He used to manage punk
rock bands in the 1980s, and he

00:12:26.256 --> 00:12:30.302
actually started a venue here
in Seattle called The Showbox.

00:12:30.426 --> 00:12:33.429
The Dead Kennedy's came through
town, and they liked Mike so

00:12:33.553 --> 00:12:35.263
much, they were like, "Hey, do
you want to be our manager?"

00:12:35.388 --> 00:12:37.349
So he ended up going
down to San Francisco to

00:12:37.474 --> 00:12:41.102
manage them, and then moved
to LA to manage the T.S.O.L.

00:12:41.227 --> 00:12:43.896
and a few other bands in
the punk scene down there.

00:12:44.020 --> 00:12:45.939
He's not a very athletic
person, but for some reason he

00:12:46.064 --> 00:12:48.675
decided to skateboard and broke
his foot,

00:12:48.699 --> 00:12:50.869
and that didn't go well.

00:12:50.893 --> 00:12:53.937
So he's laid up, and one of
his friends says, "Okay, I'm

00:12:54.237 --> 00:12:58.741
going to bring over my VCR",
and Mike's eyes just lit up.

00:12:58.865 --> 00:13:02.244
He's like, "You can like record
stuff off of television and then

00:13:02.268 --> 00:13:03.770
like watch it again,

00:13:03.794 --> 00:13:07.189
and you could
probably sell the tapes, right?"

00:13:07.413 --> 00:13:10.788
And he just started
recording obscure movies,

00:13:10.813 --> 00:13:12.809
and then he started reselling.

00:13:12.834 --> 00:13:15.211
And fanzines. It wasn't
Something Weird then,

00:13:15.336 --> 00:13:17.880
it was just Mike
Vraney and a P.O. Box.

00:13:19.589 --> 00:13:22.050
Then one of his friends
ended up getting hit up by

00:13:22.174 --> 00:13:25.928
Universal, and that kind of was
like, "Oh, okay, wake up call.

00:13:26.052 --> 00:13:28.888
Maybe I need to re-figure
out how I'm going to do this."

00:13:29.012 --> 00:13:33.684
[music]

00:13:39.326 --> 00:13:41.790
Seattle was always
a big cinema city.

00:13:41.815 --> 00:13:44.703
There were a lot of
movie theaters on skid row.

00:13:44.727 --> 00:13:47.300
And there were depots
of films all over the place,

00:13:47.324 --> 00:13:48.452
especially adult films.

00:13:49.153 --> 00:13:52.349
It was a major player back in
the days of hardcore cinema,

00:13:52.373 --> 00:13:55.008
and Mike was a projectionist
at a porno theater.

00:13:55.032 --> 00:13:57.731
He started finding
35 millimeter films,

00:13:57.755 --> 00:14:00.454
and he would show
them in the theater

00:14:00.579 --> 00:14:02.289
because it didn't really
matter what was showing.

00:14:03.664 --> 00:14:06.000
He started filming
with a camcorder.

00:14:06.125 --> 00:14:07.501
"A Smell of Honey,
A Swallow of Brine".

00:14:07.625 --> 00:14:08.793
"The Sin Syndicate"

00:14:08.918 --> 00:14:11.421
So the first Something
Weird titles, you see

00:14:11.546 --> 00:14:14.591
people walking by,
you hear people talking.

00:14:14.715 --> 00:14:17.885
They're really charming
in their own ways.

00:14:18.009 --> 00:14:22.138
There was a film depot here
that had Oody Cutie Loops and

00:14:22.262 --> 00:14:25.515
women's wrestling. He decided
to transfer those to home video.

00:14:25.639 --> 00:14:29.643
So very primitive, but that was
the birth of Something Weird.

00:14:29.767 --> 00:14:33.313
He got contacted by
Jimmy Maslin, who owns

00:14:33.437 --> 00:14:35.564
the Herschell Gordon
Lewis film collection.

00:14:35.689 --> 00:14:39.151
2000 maniacs crazed
for carny started

00:14:39.275 --> 00:14:43.446
bathing an entire town
and pulsing human blood.

00:14:43.570 --> 00:14:46.489
He's like, "Hey, you're
selling my movies on VHS,

00:14:46.614 --> 00:14:49.074
and you don't have
permission to, so stop it."

00:14:49.199 --> 00:14:52.912
It's the most brutal, the
bloodiest film ever produced.

00:14:52.936 --> 00:14:54.758
Mike just had a way
with working with people.

00:14:54.882 --> 00:14:56.205
I mean, it was
very charming, and

00:14:56.308 --> 00:14:58.173
within an hour they
were new best friends

00:14:58.197 --> 00:15:00.349
and had made a
deal with each other.

00:15:00.374 --> 00:15:03.085
And then, this phone call
one day, "I'm David Friedman."

00:15:04.628 --> 00:15:06.269
Mike thought it was a joke.

00:15:06.293 --> 00:15:09.231
He's like, "No, you're not."
He's like, "No, I'm Dave

00:15:09.255 --> 00:15:11.098
Friedman, and I
need to talk to you

00:15:11.123 --> 00:15:12.401
because you're selling
one of my movies."

00:15:12.425 --> 00:15:17.263
Hahahahahahaha

00:15:17.328 --> 00:15:19.693
Once again, people
read his enthusiasm.

00:15:19.717 --> 00:15:22.083
This guy's for real.
He really is excited

00:15:22.107 --> 00:15:25.027
about things that
nobody else cares about.

00:15:25.310 --> 00:15:28.146
And Dave took him to
his film depot. Mike starts

00:15:28.271 --> 00:15:30.607
looking around, and he
goes, "What's this thing?"

00:15:32.024 --> 00:15:34.777
And Dave goes,
"That's the worst science

00:15:34.901 --> 00:15:38.071
fiction movie ever made.
You don't want that."

00:15:38.195 --> 00:15:40.906
And Mike's like, "Well, that
makes me want it even more."

00:15:41.031 --> 00:15:43.825
Fasten your seatbelt,
loosen all tight clothing

00:15:43.950 --> 00:15:49.163
And behold light and
love, and lust and passion.

00:15:49.287 --> 00:15:52.757
Dave Friedman had
heard about this film depot

00:15:52.782 --> 00:15:54.125
on the East Coast, and he got in

00:15:54.149 --> 00:15:56.277
touch with Frank
Henenlotter at the same time.

00:15:56.302 --> 00:15:58.204
And they were like, "You
guys can get in there.

00:15:58.228 --> 00:16:00.232
You just got to hand the
security guy some money,

00:16:00.256 --> 00:16:01.521
and you take what you want."

00:16:01.546 --> 00:16:04.380
And they end up going to
this disgusting warehouse,

00:16:04.404 --> 00:16:05.759
dripping with water,

00:16:05.883 --> 00:16:08.022
and there's just thousands and
thousands

00:16:08.046 --> 00:16:09.402
and thousands of boxes.

00:16:09.427 --> 00:16:11.767
They're literally screaming
out to each other,

00:16:11.791 --> 00:16:13.348
"Cottonpickin' Chickenpickers"

00:16:13.472 --> 00:16:14.431
"Blood Pit of Horror"

00:16:14.556 --> 00:16:15.975
"Monster of Camp Sunshine"

00:16:16.099 --> 00:16:19.102
They ended up leaving there with
a U-Haul truck full of stuff.

00:16:19.126 --> 00:16:21.920
Mike Vraney got rest
and God bless him.

00:16:22.145 --> 00:16:24.106
Just going for
broke, throwing every

00:16:24.130 --> 00:16:27.216
little scrap of 16 millimeter
film from his collection,

00:16:27.441 --> 00:16:29.360
from all his awesome
heists with Frank

00:16:29.384 --> 00:16:31.845
Hennenlotter, and
throwing it onto the screen.

00:16:32.070 --> 00:16:34.446
I don't think he had the
money to really restore them

00:16:34.470 --> 00:16:35.699
other than the most cursory

00:16:35.823 --> 00:16:38.018
gaping of sprockets
and things like that,

00:16:38.042 --> 00:16:39.410
and release them on tape.

00:16:41.868 --> 00:16:45.080
Something Weird had a
very specific aesthetic to them,

00:16:45.205 --> 00:16:49.167
and fans of those movies
were fans of the whole library.

00:16:51.876 --> 00:16:54.879
Something Weird was
exactly that. It was weird.

00:16:58.283 --> 00:17:00.113
I got the catalog
of Something Weird.

00:17:00.137 --> 00:17:02.120
I flick over the
pages like, "I've never

00:17:02.144 --> 00:17:04.521
heard of these things."
It was like that next level.

00:17:08.883 --> 00:17:11.770
Frank Hennenlotter
was such an integral part

00:17:11.800 --> 00:17:13.811
of Something Weird's identity.

00:17:13.935 --> 00:17:16.062
He and Mike were very
kindred spirits, and they

00:17:16.186 --> 00:17:18.480
talked to each other on
the phone every single day.

00:17:18.605 --> 00:17:20.941
They were best friends.
It wasn't just about

00:17:21.065 --> 00:17:24.110
exploitation film. It
was all kinds of cinema.

00:17:24.234 --> 00:17:26.361
Whatever film noirs they
watched the night before,

00:17:26.486 --> 00:17:29.573
or Little Rascal episodes, it
was a joyful thing for them.

00:17:29.697 --> 00:17:32.074
What Frank Hennenlotter says
about Something Weird video,

00:17:32.199 --> 00:17:35.619
just tits and madness. Tits and
madness. That's what we got.

00:17:35.744 --> 00:17:39.164
And we never knew what planet
these movies were coming from.

00:17:39.288 --> 00:17:41.415
I was always overjoyed when
I didn't hear about the titles,

00:17:41.539 --> 00:17:44.625
because again, you never knew
what you were going to get.

00:17:46.376 --> 00:17:48.253
And I knew I had to start
collecting them all, which

00:17:48.378 --> 00:17:52.966
I don't think I got them
all, but I got a lot of them.

00:17:53.090 --> 00:17:55.176
This is DVD

00:17:57.093 --> 00:17:59.721
It looks just like a CD,
but it holds much more

00:17:59.845 --> 00:18:03.182
information, and it's
redefining home entertainment.

00:18:04.390 --> 00:18:06.434
With the advent of
DVD, there was a new

00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:08.853
focus on the viewing experience.

00:18:09.978 --> 00:18:10.979
The widescreen.

00:18:19.360 --> 00:18:21.652
But also the fact that these
things were coming out uncut

00:18:21.676 --> 00:18:24.279
was amazing to us.

00:18:26.773 --> 00:18:29.608
We knew how rare a lot of
the tapes were to begin with,

00:18:29.632 --> 00:18:31.157
and so there's the presumption

00:18:31.181 --> 00:18:33.294
that everything's
going to be ported over,

00:18:33.318 --> 00:18:34.706
and that's simply not true.

00:18:36.082 --> 00:18:37.251
But for us fans,

00:18:37.275 --> 00:18:40.586
it really offered
a really unique opportunity.

00:18:40.710 --> 00:18:42.462
New interviews, trailers,

00:18:43.629 --> 00:18:45.798
Anchor Bay, Full Moon.

00:18:45.922 --> 00:18:47.892
They were run by cinephiles.

00:18:47.916 --> 00:18:51.302
They were including
things that film fans wanted.

00:18:59.933 --> 00:19:02.999
I've been collecting physical
media since Laserdisc,

00:19:03.023 --> 00:19:05.266
you know, so 30-something
years ago.

00:19:05.290 --> 00:19:07.603
To have them around, to actually
have a library in my home.

00:19:08.815 --> 00:19:11.449
And not have to
rely upon, you know,

00:19:11.473 --> 00:19:15.402
what revival cinema
is playing some thing,

00:19:15.478 --> 00:19:19.106
or now in the modern age, what
is streaming on the services.

00:19:19.573 --> 00:19:23.160
To be able to walk in here,
into this room, and pull

00:19:23.184 --> 00:19:24.719
something off the shelf and just
say,

00:19:24.743 --> 00:19:26.021
"I'm going to watch this now."

00:19:26.245 --> 00:19:28.067
And maybe I just want
to listen to a commentary.

00:19:28.091 --> 00:19:30.000
I just want to learn
more about the movie.

00:19:30.024 --> 00:19:32.917
If it has those extras on it, I
can sit down and I can do that.

00:19:33.041 --> 00:19:35.631
I grew up with the
Criterion Collection.

00:19:35.656 --> 00:19:37.646
The first three
Laserdiscs I purchased

00:19:37.670 --> 00:19:42.091
were Blade Runner, Forbidden
Planet, and King Kong.

00:19:42.114 --> 00:19:45.285
They were $100 each,
and this 1990 dollars,

00:19:45.310 --> 00:19:47.072
I don't know where
the fuck I got the money.

00:19:47.096 --> 00:19:48.488
I probably put it
on a credit card.

00:19:48.512 --> 00:19:51.056
I'm probably still paying
for it 30 years later.

00:19:52.320 --> 00:19:53.493
And that was it.

00:19:53.517 --> 00:19:55.700
You know, they were the
ones that were doing it,

00:19:55.724 --> 00:19:59.995
so Criterion has come down like
legend, like lore, like bible.

00:20:00.020 --> 00:20:01.772
You know, you just
chapter and verse

00:20:01.795 --> 00:20:03.551
It's like "Oh Criterion,
they're the top of the line.

00:20:03.575 --> 00:20:04.976
That's what they do."

00:20:05.009 --> 00:20:07.640
And I feel like the landscape
has changed so much.

00:20:07.665 --> 00:20:10.410
Even back in the day, we
had something like Synapse,

00:20:10.434 --> 00:20:12.531
when they restored
Night of Living Dead.

00:20:12.655 --> 00:20:14.657
That was in total
disrepair, available

00:20:14.680 --> 00:20:17.516
in tenth generation
bootlegs that looked terrible.

00:20:17.540 --> 00:20:18.321
And they said,

00:20:18.345 --> 00:20:19.685
"No, no, let's go to the
negative

00:20:19.709 --> 00:20:21.116
and make it look great."

00:20:21.954 --> 00:20:24.957
I would say that was one of
the earth shattering moments.

00:20:30.043 --> 00:20:33.797
I feel like my gateway was
Criterion. And then now it seems

00:20:33.921 --> 00:20:36.799
like there are just so many
different labels to choose from.

00:20:36.923 --> 00:20:38.216
Like Vinegar Syndrome is one.

00:20:38.341 --> 00:20:40.635
Vinegar Syndrome, we're
talking about Severin...

00:20:40.760 --> 00:20:43.763
Severin also does a really great
job. Arrow does a great job.

00:20:43.888 --> 00:20:45.014
Arrow, Eureka.

00:20:45.139 --> 00:20:45.848
Second Sight.

00:20:45.972 --> 00:20:46.472
Agfa.

00:20:46.592 --> 00:20:49.616
All these companies are born of
passionate people.

00:20:49.745 --> 00:20:51.035
I mean, real passion.

00:20:51.059 --> 00:20:54.521
These people love the
smell of film. They like

00:20:54.645 --> 00:20:57.648
the feel of it in their
hands. I mean, that's...

00:20:57.773 --> 00:20:59.692
Wow, it's either
in you or it's not.

00:21:11.742 --> 00:21:14.119
My mom was a librarian.

00:21:14.244 --> 00:21:16.413
And one of my foremost memories,

00:21:16.537 --> 00:21:19.498
probably about three
years old, in Chicago,

00:21:19.623 --> 00:21:22.667
my dad brought me to the
library and put me into the

00:21:22.792 --> 00:21:26.087
auditorium. It was pitch
black, just complete blackness.

00:21:26.212 --> 00:21:28.005
And I could see
nothing around me

00:21:28.029 --> 00:21:30.844
except for an image on
a screen, which was of the

00:21:31.049 --> 00:21:33.552
16 millimeter Weston Woods
cartoon

00:21:33.576 --> 00:21:35.470
of Frog and Toto Friends.

00:21:35.594 --> 00:21:37.650
And I watched this thing,

00:21:37.675 --> 00:21:40.115
and I didn't even know where
I was. And then eventually

00:21:40.139 --> 00:21:42.892
the lights came on. It was
all these other little kids.

00:21:43.016 --> 00:21:44.869
There's my mom at
the back of the room,

00:21:44.893 --> 00:21:46.320
sitting next to the projector.

00:21:46.727 --> 00:21:50.856
And something clicked in
my head at three years old.

00:21:50.980 --> 00:21:53.775
It just occurred to me, like,
she made that movie happen.

00:21:53.899 --> 00:21:56.109
Whatever that meant,
I didn't really know.

00:21:56.235 --> 00:21:59.363
But I knew that somehow
she was responsible

00:21:59.487 --> 00:22:03.282
for that film playing

00:22:03.406 --> 00:22:04.991
or my being able to see it.

00:22:05.116 --> 00:22:07.661
Very shortly thereafter,
I demanded that every

00:22:07.785 --> 00:22:12.248
single time she played a film,
I had to be present for it.

00:22:12.372 --> 00:22:15.360
And that segued
into my demanding

00:22:15.385 --> 00:22:18.503
that she teach me how
to play the film. So by age

00:22:18.627 --> 00:22:22.381
four, I was obsessively
wanting projectors

00:22:22.505 --> 00:22:26.926
and cameras and things
that made movies exist.

00:22:27.050 --> 00:22:29.649
I had a small, but
growing collection

00:22:29.673 --> 00:22:32.055
of 16 millimeter
children's films.

00:22:32.178 --> 00:22:33.471
Encyclopedia Britannica,

00:22:33.596 --> 00:22:34.967
"The Most Important Person"

00:22:34.991 --> 00:22:37.183
in the series, was the
first one that I had.

00:22:37.307 --> 00:22:39.359
And I loved looking at them

00:22:39.383 --> 00:22:43.272
and just unrolling them
and trying to figure out how

00:22:43.396 --> 00:22:46.190
projectors worked and
how cameras worked.

00:22:46.314 --> 00:22:50.235
And I would buy slide projectors
and try to deconstruct

00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:53.737
and reconstruct them into
film motion picture projectors.

00:22:53.861 --> 00:22:55.733
That never really worked.

00:22:55.758 --> 00:22:59.532
But I became really interested
in the mechanics of film.

00:23:03.995 --> 00:23:06.247
I didn't have a lot in common
with other kids my age.

00:23:07.580 --> 00:23:11.710
So in high school, I started
to help manage a video store,

00:23:11.834 --> 00:23:12.918
Odd Obsession Movies.

00:23:13.043 --> 00:23:17.555
And that gave me a social scene

00:23:17.580 --> 00:23:20.514
and a life that I didn't
really have otherwise.

00:23:20.632 --> 00:23:23.719
A sense of communal
belonging. A kind of club

00:23:23.843 --> 00:23:28.139
hangout for a whole bunch
of people who were cinephiles.

00:23:28.263 --> 00:23:29.155
And they were all older than me,

00:23:29.180 --> 00:23:30.406
but we all got along

00:23:30.431 --> 00:23:31.912
because we all had
the same interest

00:23:31.936 --> 00:23:35.076
and the same taste or would
introduce each other to stuff.

00:23:35.644 --> 00:23:36.560
By this time,

00:23:36.584 --> 00:23:39.555
I was also very heavily
invested in film collecting

00:23:39.580 --> 00:23:43.042
and working in a
theater called Doc Films.

00:23:43.066 --> 00:23:44.248
I was doing film programming,

00:23:44.272 --> 00:23:46.403
so I was also getting to
know more distributors

00:23:46.427 --> 00:23:47.731
and producers and filmmakers

00:23:47.755 --> 00:23:50.281
and people who had actually
been involved in making and

00:23:50.405 --> 00:23:53.408
selling films, not just
the video side of things.

00:23:54.783 --> 00:23:57.953
I was contacted eventually
by a guy who wanted to

00:23:58.077 --> 00:24:02.999
borrow a print that I had to
transfer it for a video release.

00:24:03.123 --> 00:24:04.323
I said, "Well, that's fine,

00:24:04.347 --> 00:24:06.626
but I want to supervise
it because I've never really

00:24:06.751 --> 00:24:10.671
had the opportunity to be
involved in such a project."

00:24:11.821 --> 00:24:14.128
So this is our scanner room,

00:24:14.152 --> 00:24:17.785
we have our two primary
film scanners in here

00:24:17.968 --> 00:24:21.180
The ARRI XT and the
Lithographics Director

00:24:21.304 --> 00:24:24.133
The colorist that
I was assigned to,

00:24:24.158 --> 00:24:26.909
you know, I didn't know
him at all, was Ryan,

00:24:26.933 --> 00:24:29.173
who ended up being Vinegar
Syndrome's co-founder

00:24:29.197 --> 00:24:30.317
along with me.

00:24:30.342 --> 00:24:32.489
He worked on this project
and then a couple weeks later

00:24:32.513 --> 00:24:33.581
he sent me an email saying,

00:24:33.605 --> 00:24:35.574
"Do you have more
films of this sort

00:24:35.598 --> 00:24:37.567
that you're interested
in working on?

00:24:37.590 --> 00:24:40.630
I would like to beef
up my own skills

00:24:40.655 --> 00:24:42.203
and experience in
terms of restoration

00:24:42.227 --> 00:24:44.113
and I'd like to work
on these types of films."

00:24:46.990 --> 00:24:48.617
And said, "Yes."

00:24:54.287 --> 00:24:57.916
The director who I knew had
known the owner of a defunct lab

00:24:58.040 --> 00:25:01.210
in the New York area that
had been sitting in storage.

00:25:01.335 --> 00:25:03.543
I helped acquire the contents,

00:25:03.568 --> 00:25:06.314
moved to the East
Coast. I was happy to leave

00:25:06.338 --> 00:25:09.174
Chicago. I wasn't
exactly thrilled about

00:25:09.304 --> 00:25:12.516
where we were gonna to
be going, but it was fine.

00:25:12.635 --> 00:25:14.048
In the midst of all of this,

00:25:14.072 --> 00:25:16.555
I was moving all of my
film, which now amounted to

00:25:16.679 --> 00:25:19.849
pallets worth, and
Ryan says to me one day,

00:25:19.973 --> 00:25:21.934
"What are you going
to do with all this film?

00:25:22.059 --> 00:25:24.186
We have pallets and
pallets and pallets of film and

00:25:24.310 --> 00:25:27.897
you know filmmakers and you
know producers and distributors.

00:25:28.021 --> 00:25:28.897
What are we getting-

00:25:29.022 --> 00:25:33.902
How would you feel about
trying to do some releases?

00:25:34.126 --> 00:25:36.795
What do you think of the name
Vinegar Syndrome

00:25:36.819 --> 00:25:37.880
as a company name?

00:25:37.904 --> 00:25:40.949
Because it calls attention to
the importance of preservation

00:25:41.073 --> 00:25:42.449
the importance
of restoration and

00:25:42.574 --> 00:25:45.452
what happens to film if
it's not properly cared for."

00:25:45.576 --> 00:25:50.164
We stuck with it and in
this lab that we had acquired

00:25:50.288 --> 00:25:52.082
3 Herschell Gordon Lewis films,

00:25:52.207 --> 00:25:54.793
which is what became Vinegar
Syndrome's first release.

00:25:57.378 --> 00:26:00.165
It just felt like the right
thing to start off with.

00:26:00.189 --> 00:26:02.851
This notable lost
films collection

00:26:02.876 --> 00:26:04.734
of the three Herschell
Gordon Lewis films

00:26:04.758 --> 00:26:06.385
that you'll never
be able to see.

00:26:06.461 --> 00:26:08.979
It just felt like the perfect
way to start the label.

00:26:09.051 --> 00:26:11.438
He'd also acquired
Massage Parlor Murders,

00:26:11.888 --> 00:26:13.983
which is one of
our earlier releases.

00:26:14.679 --> 00:26:16.931
Sex films have
always been left on the

00:26:16.955 --> 00:26:19.499
sidelines, but I don't
think there's this interest.

00:26:19.853 --> 00:26:24.489
The biggest hurdle is knowing
what films are worthwhile,

00:26:24.513 --> 00:26:26.706
both in terms of good films

00:26:26.730 --> 00:26:29.903
as well
as potentially marketable films.

00:26:29.927 --> 00:26:33.013
Radley Metzger films,
Story of O, Part 2,

00:26:34.197 --> 00:26:36.491
Immoral Tales, they'd
always been evergreen.

00:26:37.867 --> 00:26:43.038
Started Severin to do that
sort of movie, Gwendoline,

00:26:43.163 --> 00:26:44.315
Felicity.

00:26:45.247 --> 00:26:49.251
Those were the first two
Did very well, both of them.

00:26:49.375 --> 00:26:51.462
You have to keep in
mind that Arthur Weisberg,

00:26:51.486 --> 00:26:54.717
who produced Driller
Killer and Miss 45,

00:26:54.741 --> 00:26:59.718
for example, was a very, very
prolific producer of sex films.

00:26:59.742 --> 00:27:02.229
And he also produced
Drive-In Massacre,

00:27:02.253 --> 00:27:04.412
which was made
by sex film people.

00:27:04.637 --> 00:27:06.890
So there was a
huge intersection of

00:27:07.014 --> 00:27:09.850
directors and producers,
especially crew people.

00:27:09.975 --> 00:27:12.936
So it just made sense
to me to have sex films

00:27:13.060 --> 00:27:16.772
included as part of the
identity of the company.

00:27:16.897 --> 00:27:19.107
Pornography has always
led the way. The reason we've

00:27:19.231 --> 00:27:21.775
got VHS machines is so
people can watch it at home.

00:27:21.901 --> 00:27:26.007
Every format in video,
porn was a pioneer,

00:27:26.031 --> 00:27:29.033
a way forward, DVD, Laserdisc.

00:27:29.056 --> 00:27:33.394
Porn in 2K and
4K is spectacular.

00:27:33.458 --> 00:27:36.085
You know, on a certain level,
I guess, for most of those

00:27:36.369 --> 00:27:38.788
titles, you really should make
sure the skin tones are good.

00:27:38.914 --> 00:27:41.841
Which, when you consider how
pornography has been treated

00:27:41.865 --> 00:27:43.406
in terms of transfers
over the years,

00:27:43.430 --> 00:27:46.692
is a small miracle right
there, that kind of fidelity.

00:27:53.925 --> 00:27:55.902
Joe and I's favorite projects

00:27:55.926 --> 00:28:00.054
are the ones which take crazy
amount of work and effort

00:28:00.079 --> 00:28:02.497
because of the fact that other
distributors,

00:28:02.521 --> 00:28:05.552
other institutions, won't
really put the resources

00:28:05.577 --> 00:28:08.839
or time and effort into actually
making them come to light.

00:28:10.145 --> 00:28:12.652
If you have a
negative like this,

00:28:12.677 --> 00:28:14.215
which has gone
through a collector

00:28:14.239 --> 00:28:16.258
who doesn't really know
exactly what they're doing,

00:28:16.282 --> 00:28:18.378
they can have big ramifications.

00:28:19.249 --> 00:28:21.501
In the longevity
of an actual film.

00:28:25.491 --> 00:28:27.641
Okay so this film,
which was shot hard,

00:28:27.665 --> 00:28:30.337
they removed sections
of the sex scenes

00:28:30.362 --> 00:28:32.854
which depicted
visible, unsimulated sex

00:28:33.080 --> 00:28:35.463
created a "kit"
negative out of them

00:28:35.487 --> 00:28:38.415
and then took the
remainder of the film,

00:28:38.439 --> 00:28:40.331
the majority of the film,

00:28:40.355 --> 00:28:44.382
and treated that as the
primary cut, the soft version.

00:28:44.505 --> 00:28:47.476
Those are small magnetic
strips that are applied

00:28:47.500 --> 00:28:50.252
to the side of the film to
automatically cue

00:28:50.276 --> 00:28:51.679
the next light switch.

00:28:54.555 --> 00:28:56.974
This is a timing tape.

00:28:58.266 --> 00:29:06.899
And all of these punches in
them indicates light switches.

00:29:07.022 --> 00:29:11.887
So the amount and intensity
of red, green, and blue lights

00:29:11.912 --> 00:29:13.964
being projected through the film

00:29:13.988 --> 00:29:15.846
while the print is being made,

00:29:15.870 --> 00:29:18.003
thus to basically color correct
it,

00:29:18.027 --> 00:29:19.908
photochemically color time it.

00:29:20.033 --> 00:29:22.876
I'm extremely happy that these
movies are accessible to us

00:29:22.900 --> 00:29:23.594
and they exist.

00:29:23.618 --> 00:29:26.502
And that, yes, print,
film disintegrates.

00:29:26.526 --> 00:29:29.313
It dies. It's not meant to last.

00:29:30.040 --> 00:29:32.781
And it's great that people are
finding these source materials

00:29:32.805 --> 00:29:34.917
and giving them with
so much love and care

00:29:34.941 --> 00:29:36.348
and attention and
preserving them

00:29:36.372 --> 00:29:38.222
so that the masses
can feed on them.

00:29:42.967 --> 00:29:44.885
These 42nd Street cinemas,

00:29:46.595 --> 00:29:49.973
the bizarre porno, this bizarre
comedy, bizarre horror film...

00:29:51.432 --> 00:29:53.433
These are movies that
nobody really watched,

00:29:53.457 --> 00:29:54.993
relegated to punchlines.

00:29:55.018 --> 00:29:57.437
And it's entirely because
those movies were rediscovered

00:29:57.561 --> 00:30:01.356
recently through labels like
Vinegar Syndrome, Severin.

00:30:01.480 --> 00:30:03.024
Now they're providing
far more entertainment

00:30:03.149 --> 00:30:05.776
than I think anyone
would ever believe possible.

00:30:08.903 --> 00:30:12.866
House on Straw Hill is actually
one of the extreme examples.

00:30:12.990 --> 00:30:16.660
I've actually found the element,
but it's in terrible condition.

00:30:20.203 --> 00:30:21.858
He had kept them in his barn.

00:30:21.882 --> 00:30:23.999
It was actually worse
than I expected.

00:30:24.123 --> 00:30:26.157
I mean, there was
hole in the roof

00:30:26.181 --> 00:30:28.961
and there was pigeons
and doves flying around,

00:30:28.985 --> 00:30:32.155
so there was shit
all over the celluloid.

00:30:39.004 --> 00:30:40.649
And some of the
cans I would just touch

00:30:40.679 --> 00:30:41.888
and they would turn to dust.

00:30:42.012 --> 00:30:45.390
They used some really
bad adhesive tape,

00:30:45.514 --> 00:30:49.435
which essentially can damage
the actual emulsion image.

00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:51.129
We added it into a solution,

00:30:51.153 --> 00:30:53.855
but then in order to
remove all of that solution,

00:30:53.979 --> 00:30:56.732
we have the four fans
blowing on it at the same time.

00:30:56.850 --> 00:30:59.216
It's very important
that these elements

00:30:59.245 --> 00:31:01.861
are actually kept in
good condition because

00:31:01.985 --> 00:31:04.542
the technology for actually
transferring them

00:31:04.566 --> 00:31:05.588
keeps improving.

00:31:05.613 --> 00:31:09.241
So these films will keep on
being released as time goes on,

00:31:09.367 --> 00:31:11.294
but only if you've
got the element

00:31:11.318 --> 00:31:12.953
to do the new transfer from.

00:31:13.078 --> 00:31:15.497
Without that element, they're
going to be stuck in time.

00:31:20.124 --> 00:31:24.587
It's terrible when
film falls apart and it

00:31:24.711 --> 00:31:29.383
dissolves when film is not in
temperature controlled places.

00:31:31.508 --> 00:31:33.927
I feel so lucky that
my films have been

00:31:34.052 --> 00:31:37.222
restored, that they've
been chosen to be restored.

00:31:37.346 --> 00:31:39.473
I thank Scorsese.

00:31:39.597 --> 00:31:44.268
He helped the Anthology Film
Archives restore Born in Flames.

00:31:46.478 --> 00:31:51.525
I really appreciate UCLA
Archives because my film,

00:31:51.649 --> 00:31:54.402
I had a storage space that
was exposed to the elements.

00:31:54.526 --> 00:31:59.384
And I had kept the
stuff there for years

00:31:59.409 --> 00:32:01.750
before I just called
them up randomly.

00:32:03.950 --> 00:32:07.577
I said, "Will you hold
these until one day?"

00:32:07.601 --> 00:32:09.706
And the one day happened.

00:32:14.416 --> 00:32:17.648
How does one choose
between the thousands of films

00:32:17.672 --> 00:32:19.713
that do exist in these archives

00:32:19.937 --> 00:32:23.023
and the ones that are
chosen for restoration?

00:32:23.047 --> 00:32:25.061
Vinegar Syndrome, Severin.

00:32:25.218 --> 00:32:29.103
They rescue the films
that fall through the cracks.

00:32:44.814 --> 00:32:46.941
The Passing got
completely destroyed.

00:32:48.567 --> 00:32:49.892
I was like, "Oh my God,

00:32:49.916 --> 00:32:52.988
how much does God not want
anybody to see this movie?"

00:32:53.013 --> 00:32:54.017
You know what I mean?

00:32:54.041 --> 00:32:56.040
It's like everything
just kept going wrong.

00:32:59.576 --> 00:33:01.494
I just figured it
was lost. That was it.

00:33:03.954 --> 00:33:06.707
And I had one badly
toned print of the original.

00:33:09.708 --> 00:33:13.420
Then I got contacted one
day by Vinegar Syndrome

00:33:13.545 --> 00:33:19.009
and, um, tells me they
were thinking of releasing it.

00:33:19.132 --> 00:33:22.886
I'm like, "Where did
you even hear about it?"

00:33:23.010 --> 00:33:24.845
I know there's half a
dozen that are pretty

00:33:24.970 --> 00:33:28.265
big, but Joe tries to
do everything he can.

00:33:28.389 --> 00:33:33.644
I'm actually amazed
that Joe exists.

00:33:33.769 --> 00:33:35.854
You will be held in the
grip of tense excitement,

00:33:35.978 --> 00:33:38.022
as one unexpected
event follows another

00:33:38.147 --> 00:33:41.650
to a startling climax
of Sudden Fury

00:33:41.775 --> 00:33:45.987
A lot of times smaller theaters
and festivals really save you.

00:33:46.111 --> 00:33:51.700
In Sudden Fury, Anthology
Film Archives in 2017 decided to

00:33:51.824 --> 00:33:55.495
do a show about Canadian films
and they put Sudden Fury on.

00:33:55.619 --> 00:33:59.247
And Jonathan Culp
did a rave review.

00:33:59.371 --> 00:34:04.293
Then up here, Geoff
Pevere at the Royal put it on.

00:34:06.418 --> 00:34:07.720
And more rave reviews.

00:34:07.744 --> 00:34:10.839
Geoff Pevere said, "We've
got to have this restored."

00:34:10.963 --> 00:34:11.839
And there were all the
people in the audience,

00:34:11.964 --> 00:34:13.299
"This is great, but it
needs to be restored."

00:34:13.424 --> 00:34:15.510
In the audience,
we're saying that.

00:34:15.634 --> 00:34:18.470
And so he put together
with the Canadian Archives

00:34:18.594 --> 00:34:20.930
that he discovered they
had everything there.

00:34:21.055 --> 00:34:22.190
All the 35 NEGS,

00:34:22.214 --> 00:34:25.643
their blow-ups, the mix,
everything was there, originals.

00:34:25.667 --> 00:34:29.379
And Vinegar Syndrome, they
combined with the archives

00:34:29.603 --> 00:34:33.357
and they actually did a
beautiful restoration of it.

00:34:33.481 --> 00:34:36.502
Peter Kuplowsky organized
the Fantastic Fest in Austin,

00:34:36.527 --> 00:34:37.585
who premiered it.

00:34:37.609 --> 00:34:39.425
That was great. And
people loved that.

00:34:39.735 --> 00:34:41.779
And then it went to the
Glasgow Film Festival.

00:34:41.904 --> 00:34:43.906
TIFF, amazing. And
you know what?

00:34:44.030 --> 00:34:47.325
These are people who
cared about trying to help

00:34:47.450 --> 00:34:51.120
the cinema and save
cinema and bring back stuff.

00:34:51.245 --> 00:34:53.692
And I believe that these
festivals and the critics,

00:34:53.716 --> 00:34:55.082
in that they are so valuable

00:34:55.105 --> 00:34:58.817
and have done so
much good for all of us.

00:34:59.042 --> 00:35:01.044
It's not for the squeamish.

00:35:01.168 --> 00:35:03.921
Or the faint of heart.

00:35:04.046 --> 00:35:06.757
It's for everyone with
a taste for torture.

00:35:06.881 --> 00:35:11.135
My first horror film,
Death Warmed Up, won the

00:35:11.260 --> 00:35:16.181
1984 Paris Festival of
Horror and Science Fiction.

00:35:16.305 --> 00:35:18.015
Jodorowsky was on the jury.

00:35:19.140 --> 00:35:21.101
And I ended up
getting the Grand Prix.

00:35:24.728 --> 00:35:27.166
Death Warmed Up
was the first kiwi film

00:35:27.190 --> 00:35:29.868
to get a big release
up in the States.

00:35:32.295 --> 00:35:34.186
A intern went down

00:35:34.211 --> 00:35:38.632
into one of the government
film lab bunkers to do some

00:35:38.656 --> 00:35:44.912
tidying up and somehow
ended up burning the negatives.

00:35:45.035 --> 00:35:47.788
If you like seeing
people fight fire

00:35:47.912 --> 00:35:51.374
Which is my international
success, if you like.

00:35:51.499 --> 00:35:52.584
So it took

00:35:53.959 --> 00:35:58.922
30 years with the help
of the Heritage Trust

00:35:59.046 --> 00:36:03.259
of the New Zealand Film
Commission to restore the film.

00:36:04.509 --> 00:36:08.555
We ended up searching
the world for an uncut print.

00:36:09.721 --> 00:36:10.805
We never found it.

00:36:12.682 --> 00:36:16.844
And the wonderful thing is
that Severin Entertainment

00:36:16.868 --> 00:36:19.105
and Umbrella worked together

00:36:19.129 --> 00:36:24.009
to bring that film, Death Warmed
Up, to the Blu-ray market.

00:36:24.232 --> 00:36:27.485
These archivists, these
powerhouses behind these

00:36:27.610 --> 00:36:30.404
labels, they're doing God's
work. There's no doubt about it.

00:36:30.528 --> 00:36:32.614
There's an underdog
story to all these kind of

00:36:32.739 --> 00:36:34.949
indie films that maybe
shouldn't be remembered.

00:36:35.073 --> 00:36:37.885
And the fact that they
sometimes endure more

00:36:37.910 --> 00:36:39.614
than 40 million
dollar Hollywood films,

00:36:39.638 --> 00:36:41.731
I think, is both
endearing and inspiring.

00:36:43.914 --> 00:36:46.750
Burial grounds for martial
arts masters from the past.

00:36:46.875 --> 00:36:49.836
With every technology
change, stuff gets left behind.

00:36:49.960 --> 00:36:51.576
Initially these
streaming companies

00:36:51.600 --> 00:36:53.026
started with massive libraries

00:36:53.050 --> 00:36:55.548
that they've now realized
are prohibitively expensive.

00:36:55.603 --> 00:36:58.690
So they're now cutting stuff and
things are going into vaults.

00:37:00.732 --> 00:37:02.463
It's becoming a lot
harder to find stuff,

00:37:02.488 --> 00:37:03.742
which is why I
think physical media

00:37:03.766 --> 00:37:06.334
is still really important.
You can archive this stuff.

00:37:06.848 --> 00:37:11.102
Siege, today their
city, tomorrow yours.

00:37:11.226 --> 00:37:15.512
But even that, there's also a
lot of physical media degrades

00:37:15.536 --> 00:37:18.389
and I think you need
to be internally vigilant

00:37:18.413 --> 00:37:21.903
to keep making sure that
this stuff endures and remains.

00:37:23.319 --> 00:37:26.614
No, for me it was just
incredible to have that film

00:37:26.738 --> 00:37:32.369
restored. I've had a huge amount
of feedback from social media.

00:37:32.493 --> 00:37:35.537
Plus fans making
their own little videos.

00:37:35.662 --> 00:37:39.540
Death Warmed Up, the first
New Zealand film we've reviewed.

00:37:39.665 --> 00:37:42.918
It's amazing how many people
listen to the commentaries.

00:37:48.129 --> 00:37:50.548
When DVD was
pioneered and was first

00:37:50.674 --> 00:37:53.009
marketed, it was all
about the special features.

00:37:53.033 --> 00:37:54.877
You can watch it in widescreen,

00:37:54.901 --> 00:37:57.705
listen to audio commentary,
choose from features

00:37:57.929 --> 00:38:00.590
like director's notes,
behind the scenes footage,

00:38:00.614 --> 00:38:02.137
trailers and more.

00:38:02.162 --> 00:38:03.232
The commentary track,

00:38:03.256 --> 00:38:05.461
the behind the scenes,
the alternate angles.

00:38:05.485 --> 00:38:07.562
I feel like studios
have given up on that.

00:38:07.687 --> 00:38:09.781
It's so rare that a
studio film is released

00:38:09.805 --> 00:38:11.290
with a commentary
track these days.

00:38:11.314 --> 00:38:13.508
Usually the filmmaker
kinda has to ask for it.

00:38:13.941 --> 00:38:17.180
The genre is for
these indie cult movies

00:38:17.205 --> 00:38:19.129
that is still very important.

00:38:19.153 --> 00:38:20.742
When I was teaching
general film history,

00:38:20.766 --> 00:38:23.469
first day of class I would go
to my students and I would say,

00:38:23.493 --> 00:38:26.434
"I'm not supposed to tell
you this, but go to the dean's

00:38:26.659 --> 00:38:29.912
office, get your money
back, drop out right now.

00:38:30.037 --> 00:38:32.164
I want you to buy Roger
Corman's The House of Usher

00:38:32.188 --> 00:38:33.473
and The Pit in the Pendulum.

00:38:33.498 --> 00:38:35.458
I want you to watch them
and then I want you to

00:38:35.582 --> 00:38:38.335
watch them again back to
back with Roger's commentary.

00:38:38.460 --> 00:38:40.754
You won't need film school after
that. You're done. That's it.

00:38:40.777 --> 00:38:44.656
Get someone to teach you how
to load a camera. You're fine.

00:38:44.790 --> 00:38:48.087
The rest, you do not need to
know how to become a filmmaker.

00:38:48.112 --> 00:38:51.262
He will tell you everything you
fucking need to know.

00:38:51.386 --> 00:38:52.503
Go off with you.

00:38:52.527 --> 00:38:54.204
I've been writing about the work

00:38:54.228 --> 00:38:55.905
of David Cronenberg
for years now.

00:38:56.056 --> 00:38:58.440
The fact that there are
commentary tracks of him

00:38:58.464 --> 00:38:59.727
talking about Videodrome,

00:38:59.852 --> 00:39:02.062
I get to sit there and
just take all of these notes.

00:39:02.090 --> 00:39:05.808
The commentary tracks, they feel
really essential to,

00:39:05.833 --> 00:39:07.000
like, research.

00:39:07.024 --> 00:39:09.651
The little tidbits of knowledge
that I wouldn't have known about

00:39:09.674 --> 00:39:12.803
unless I had watched
those commentary tracks.

00:39:12.931 --> 00:39:15.486
David Gregory was
interested in the right

00:39:15.511 --> 00:39:18.256
to Michael Heath and
I doing a commentary,

00:39:18.280 --> 00:39:21.003
interested in any
kind of interviews,

00:39:21.027 --> 00:39:23.446
trailers, photographic material.

00:39:23.619 --> 00:39:26.748
The featurettes and extras
on discs, I think we're kind

00:39:26.872 --> 00:39:29.791
of in a whole new era. It's
a little bit unprecedented.

00:39:30.662 --> 00:39:32.793
When we first started
getting commentaries, there's

00:39:32.918 --> 00:39:37.465
usually a Dr. So-and-so or
a professor at a university.

00:39:37.589 --> 00:39:40.550
Whereas now, that's been
completely democratized.

00:39:40.674 --> 00:39:43.093
My name is Kier-La Janisse
and the film that I wanted to

00:39:43.217 --> 00:39:46.429
talk about today is Robert
Freeman's film The Touchables.

00:39:46.537 --> 00:39:50.166
Talking about Kier-La Janisse
who has this huge background

00:39:50.190 --> 00:39:54.819
and niche of the films that
she curates and excavates.

00:39:54.876 --> 00:39:55.868
Sarah Ty Black.

00:39:55.894 --> 00:39:56.860
I'm Sarah Ty Black.

00:39:56.884 --> 00:39:59.189
Thank you to the Walrus
for having me tonight.

00:39:59.314 --> 00:40:00.315
Anya Stanley.

00:40:00.439 --> 00:40:03.108
You can throw a stone
and hit five horror remakes.

00:40:03.233 --> 00:40:06.631
If you're doing that within the
prism of the Black experience,

00:40:06.655 --> 00:40:08.684
of the Native
American experience,

00:40:08.708 --> 00:40:12.283
of the Muslim experience, all
of these things become fresh.

00:40:12.407 --> 00:40:13.325
Ashley Blackwell.

00:40:13.348 --> 00:40:15.475
She started a website
called Graveyard Shift

00:40:15.499 --> 00:40:18.836
Sisters talking about
Black women in genre films.

00:40:18.986 --> 00:40:20.279
Stephen Thrower.

00:40:20.580 --> 00:40:21.164
Kat Ellinger.

00:40:21.288 --> 00:40:26.919
I was given this. The Monster
Kid Hall of Fame Award.

00:40:26.942 --> 00:40:30.738
They are reliable to talk
about their area of expertise.

00:40:30.780 --> 00:40:33.080
Laura Marks who did the
commentary

00:40:33.104 --> 00:40:34.633
on Naughty Victorians.

00:40:34.657 --> 00:40:37.474
Her research and
dedication is incredible.

00:40:37.593 --> 00:40:41.097
Her book, Alice in Portland,
is highly recommended.

00:40:41.221 --> 00:40:43.223
Less of a historian
but more of a critical

00:40:43.247 --> 00:40:48.419
analysis academic who uses
history to inform the analysis.

00:40:48.557 --> 00:40:51.601
All of the Kat 3
movies have such wild

00:40:51.812 --> 00:40:54.397
over-the-top plots that I
don't think they're trying.

00:40:54.523 --> 00:40:57.465
I think that is the type of
historian

00:40:57.588 --> 00:40:59.507
that we like to work with.

00:40:59.531 --> 00:41:04.119
Sam, for instance, is a good
historian and a good academic,

00:41:04.446 --> 00:41:08.200
both aware of the history,
and the political and social and

00:41:08.324 --> 00:41:11.077
artistic context in which
the work was created,

00:41:11.202 --> 00:41:17.773
but can also discuss it in ways
that go beyond the work itself.

00:41:17.797 --> 00:41:21.366
I started just writing reviews

00:41:21.391 --> 00:41:24.139
and blogging
basically for myself.

00:41:24.339 --> 00:41:28.427
I developed this intense habit
of writing every single day.

00:41:28.451 --> 00:41:31.142
And it was like my boot camp.

00:41:31.167 --> 00:41:34.112
And I would do
these complete series.

00:41:34.136 --> 00:41:38.348
Like I wrote about 200
Jell-O movies one year.

00:41:38.472 --> 00:41:40.981
I wrote about every single
Universal horror movie

00:41:41.005 --> 00:41:43.810
and all kinds of arthouse films.

00:41:44.110 --> 00:41:49.115
And it really is how I
trained to become a writer.

00:41:49.314 --> 00:41:52.651
But I also started doing
things like podcasting.

00:41:52.775 --> 00:41:56.654
Very special guest for me and
that is the esteemed Sam Degan.

00:41:56.778 --> 00:41:59.114
Sam Degan. We're talking
to Sam Degan today.

00:41:59.239 --> 00:42:02.325
The movie is going to
be Abel Ferrara's Ms .45

00:42:02.449 --> 00:42:06.745
This is one of the relatively
rare examples of a woman

00:42:06.870 --> 00:42:11.499
starring in a rape revenge film
who had a lot of story input.

00:42:11.623 --> 00:42:17.296
It got my work out there. And
because there are more now,

00:42:17.419 --> 00:42:21.506
but relatively few female
film critics or film historians,

00:42:21.630 --> 00:42:24.425
I think that's why I started
getting work, working for

00:42:24.550 --> 00:42:27.678
Blu-ray companies doing
liner essays and commentaries.

00:42:29.387 --> 00:42:30.889
And then I just kind
of never stopped.

00:42:33.265 --> 00:42:35.893
I would sometimes get
frustrated because I felt like

00:42:36.116 --> 00:42:37.331
people were hiring me

00:42:37.355 --> 00:42:39.620
just because
they wanted a female voice.

00:42:39.644 --> 00:42:43.648
And I don't always feel like I'm
writing from that perspective.

00:42:43.772 --> 00:42:47.526
But I got really interested
in going from just

00:42:47.650 --> 00:42:51.613
writing about genre films,
horror genre and like Euro cult,

00:42:51.737 --> 00:42:54.323
into how does this
connect to things

00:42:54.348 --> 00:42:57.050
like Asian cinema
or classic Hollywood.

00:42:57.074 --> 00:43:00.953
Finding those threads. The first
three releases I worked on.

00:43:01.077 --> 00:43:03.288
I went from Symptoms

00:43:05.748 --> 00:43:10.336
to Takashi Miike's
Shinjuku Triad Society

00:43:12.669 --> 00:43:15.714
to Andrzej Zulawski's Cosmos.

00:43:15.839 --> 00:43:17.716
Obviously wildly different.

00:43:23.220 --> 00:43:26.514
I think these companies
put all of this love and

00:43:26.639 --> 00:43:30.226
time and attention and money
into restoring these films,

00:43:30.350 --> 00:43:31.854
tracking down the prints,

00:43:31.878 --> 00:43:35.315
finding people who can talk
about them on the releases.

00:43:35.520 --> 00:43:37.940
I think it's such
important work.

00:43:38.064 --> 00:43:42.139
And it, to me that
really is the area

00:43:42.164 --> 00:43:44.754
that I think is still
so unexplored,

00:43:44.778 --> 00:43:48.615
is looking at films not
made in the US, not made

00:43:48.739 --> 00:43:51.450
in Europe, but made in
other parts of the world

00:43:51.574 --> 00:43:55.086
that have all of these
really rich cultural histories

00:43:55.110 --> 00:43:58.252
and often really tie
into things going on

00:43:58.277 --> 00:44:01.166
around political violence
and political oppression.

00:44:01.290 --> 00:44:04.835
And so I feel like
the well is bottomless

00:44:04.960 --> 00:44:07.587
of films that still
need to be discovered.

00:44:07.712 --> 00:44:09.381
There's films that are
coming out that haven't

00:44:09.505 --> 00:44:12.633
seen any kind of release
since the days of VHS.

00:44:14.509 --> 00:44:16.678
And they haven't really
been seen in decades.

00:44:22.932 --> 00:44:24.350
Because of the
restorations, when they're

00:44:24.475 --> 00:44:27.103
all cleaned up in a
proper aspect ratio

00:44:27.227 --> 00:44:29.521
you can appreciate them
differently than if you'd

00:44:29.645 --> 00:44:33.065
seen them on VHS or you're
going and tracking down dubs.

00:44:33.190 --> 00:44:35.901
The first commentary I did
was for a film called The Mask.

00:44:36.025 --> 00:44:37.735
The new realm of horror.

00:44:37.859 --> 00:44:40.112
The 1961 film,
considered Canada's first.

00:44:40.237 --> 00:44:41.530
The Mask

00:44:43.823 --> 00:44:45.283
The next film is The Pit.

00:44:49.202 --> 00:44:50.161
The Bloody Brood.

00:44:50.287 --> 00:44:53.123
The story, the Bloody Brood.

00:44:53.247 --> 00:44:55.165
The stories behind them
are always very fascinating.

00:44:56.833 --> 00:44:59.711
You know Stephen Thrower
will deliver the goods.

00:44:59.835 --> 00:45:02.879
It's almost like she's on some
strange kind of karmic wheel.

00:45:03.005 --> 00:45:05.058
I talk about this quite a
bit with Kier-La Janisse,

00:45:05.082 --> 00:45:06.232
who works with us.

00:45:06.256 --> 00:45:08.937
She has actually a
rolodex of the academics

00:45:08.961 --> 00:45:11.644
that have a certain
area of expertise.

00:45:12.018 --> 00:45:14.588
And she is very judicious

00:45:14.613 --> 00:45:17.741
about who should
be talking about what.

00:45:17.765 --> 00:45:20.226
Kier-La Janisse has been
shining a light on films.

00:45:20.351 --> 00:45:23.271
It's work that she's been
doing for years as a curator.

00:45:23.395 --> 00:45:25.939
Now that work can be
preserved in the form

00:45:26.063 --> 00:45:29.400
of a commentary track
or mini essay booklet

00:45:29.524 --> 00:45:35.572
that is contextualizing the
history of these films forever.

00:45:35.696 --> 00:45:38.824
House of Psychotic Women
was a game changer for me.

00:45:38.948 --> 00:45:42.994
I read that book and it
just like schooled me in the

00:45:43.118 --> 00:45:45.245
fact that there was still so
much I didn't know about

00:45:45.370 --> 00:45:47.497
or so much I hadn't
heard of before.

00:45:47.520 --> 00:45:50.802
I spent most of the time
reading it with my phone out

00:45:50.827 --> 00:45:53.303
with Letterboxd so I could like
keep adding things

00:45:53.327 --> 00:45:55.679
to my watch list
because a lot of them

00:45:55.703 --> 00:45:57.672
I wasn't able to get a hold of.

00:45:57.896 --> 00:46:01.150
But now in recent years
because her voice has become so

00:46:01.174 --> 00:46:03.843
prevalent, like we're getting
access to all of these movies,

00:46:04.885 --> 00:46:06.197
she was able to come out

00:46:06.221 --> 00:46:08.472
with the House of
Psychotic Women box set.

00:46:08.496 --> 00:46:12.333
One of the most beautiful
box sets I've bought in a while.

00:46:12.402 --> 00:46:14.075
First and foremost
is the presentation of

00:46:14.100 --> 00:46:17.103
the movie and you
aspire to make the best,

00:46:17.194 --> 00:46:19.903
noticeably the best
version of the film

00:46:19.928 --> 00:46:21.140
that's ever been on the market.

00:46:21.165 --> 00:46:22.985
You want to make
sure the color correction

00:46:23.009 --> 00:46:25.250
and the restoration
and the resolution

00:46:25.275 --> 00:46:29.654
are the best that
they've ever been on disc.

00:46:29.779 --> 00:46:31.947
And then secondly,
it's the extras.

00:46:32.073 --> 00:46:33.937
We put more care and attention

00:46:33.961 --> 00:46:36.952
into our extras than a
lot of labels just because

00:46:37.077 --> 00:46:40.372
that's how I sort of
started in the disc business,

00:46:40.496 --> 00:46:43.082
was doing the extras
and it was something that

00:46:43.206 --> 00:46:45.917
mattered to me that they
were actually well produced

00:46:46.042 --> 00:46:51.089
and have interesting contents
and relevant information,

00:46:51.212 --> 00:46:53.923
not just some type that's got
nothing to do with the movie.

00:46:59.635 --> 00:47:02.388
David Gregory at
Severin Entertainment is

00:47:02.513 --> 00:47:06.683
genuinely passionate
about films and filmmakers.

00:47:11.728 --> 00:47:16.942
And he personally sat
in on the commentary.

00:47:17.065 --> 00:47:20.944
He was part of it
and asked questions.

00:47:20.969 --> 00:47:24.722
It's so wonderful to have people

00:47:24.746 --> 00:47:29.008
that actually appreciate
and enjoy your films.

00:47:29.032 --> 00:47:32.077
In the case of "My
Grandpa is a Vampire"

00:47:32.202 --> 00:47:37.082
there was a radio play
of the original story.

00:47:38.790 --> 00:47:41.543
It's part of the
extras on the Blu-ray.

00:47:41.668 --> 00:47:46.381
Well that's a level of,
you know, excellence

00:47:46.504 --> 00:47:51.634
and depth that you
just don't normally get.

00:47:51.758 --> 00:47:54.886
I wanted to talk about "My
Grandpa is a Vampire" today.

00:47:55.010 --> 00:47:58.576
I've loved the fact
it's introduced me

00:47:58.600 --> 00:48:02.753
to a whole new
generation of fans and,

00:48:03.722 --> 00:48:07.439
you know, I've got those Blu-ray
companies to thank for that.

00:48:07.562 --> 00:48:09.230
His name is Cru.

00:48:09.355 --> 00:48:10.440
Hey, good looking.

00:48:10.565 --> 00:48:12.233
BMX is his world.

00:48:13.316 --> 00:48:14.860
Rad is his way of life.

00:48:14.985 --> 00:48:19.322
I'm most well known for
a 1986 movie called RAD.

00:48:19.447 --> 00:48:24.827
I started to see the masses,
en masse, celebrating the movie.

00:48:24.851 --> 00:48:27.810
I became aware, I want
to say about 15 years ago,

00:48:27.834 --> 00:48:30.221
that this is like a Star Trek.

00:48:30.246 --> 00:48:30.997
It's not going away.

00:48:31.122 --> 00:48:32.748
It's only growing in stature.

00:48:32.874 --> 00:48:34.500
And the more you try
to hold the thing down,

00:48:34.624 --> 00:48:36.543
it's like a beach ball
holding it underwater.

00:48:36.593 --> 00:48:38.091
The more you try
to hold it down,

00:48:38.120 --> 00:48:39.476
the more it wants to rise up.

00:48:39.670 --> 00:48:45.593
And as soon as it got released
on DVD and streaming services,

00:48:45.717 --> 00:48:49.929
that beach ball just exploded
and it's still in the air.

00:48:50.053 --> 00:48:52.238
It was a long time in coming

00:48:52.263 --> 00:48:55.700
and I didn't believe it
until I had the Vinegar

00:48:55.724 --> 00:48:58.268
Syndrome release in
my hands, it was easy

00:48:58.393 --> 00:49:01.313
to go, "Well, they
may be bluffing here."

00:49:01.437 --> 00:49:07.151
So when it actually
happened, it was amazing.

00:49:07.274 --> 00:49:09.276
The public just went nuts.

00:49:09.401 --> 00:49:11.778
A huge amount of people
who have never bought

00:49:11.903 --> 00:49:15.907
anything from us before
are suddenly buying RAD.

00:49:16.031 --> 00:49:20.785
I was buying a house at that
point, my real estate agents.

00:49:20.910 --> 00:49:22.536
Didn't even know
any affiliation.

00:49:22.661 --> 00:49:23.454
We were just
talking about movies.

00:49:23.579 --> 00:49:25.206
I was like, "Oh yeah,
one of my all-time

00:49:25.330 --> 00:49:27.373
favorite movies as a
kid is finally coming out

00:49:27.499 --> 00:49:29.667
on Blu-ray and 4K, and we're
like "Yeah, I'm releasing that".

00:49:29.791 --> 00:49:31.249
He was so excited,

00:49:31.273 --> 00:49:32.853
"you're the guy,

00:49:32.878 --> 00:49:35.528
I'm just honored
to be selling you a house."

00:49:35.551 --> 00:49:38.081
It was sort of
interesting to see

00:49:38.105 --> 00:49:44.034
how that title transcended
a lot of barriers.

00:49:44.058 --> 00:49:47.840
Limited edition, very special
thing for the fans because

00:49:47.865 --> 00:49:50.909
RAD didn't have a lot of
merchandising involved with it.

00:49:50.933 --> 00:49:54.993
So to have something tangible
that you could have signed,

00:49:55.017 --> 00:49:56.605
stick up on your wall,

00:49:57.750 --> 00:50:01.165
have a DVD and a Blu-ray

00:50:01.190 --> 00:50:03.506
so you could keep
one and play the other.

00:50:03.651 --> 00:50:06.820
I mean, this is the
stuff that fans, they love.

00:50:06.946 --> 00:50:08.489
They don't want to
just watch the movie.

00:50:08.613 --> 00:50:10.740
They want to feel
it and be a part of it.

00:50:12.616 --> 00:50:17.412
What are you doing?

00:50:17.537 --> 00:50:19.976
Come on, I'm want a
picture of your beautiful body,

00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:21.165
it's for my locker door.

00:50:21.289 --> 00:50:24.292
I went from Funeral Home
into Happy Birthday to Me,

00:50:25.918 --> 00:50:27.753
Happy Birthday
to Me into Curtains,

00:50:29.295 --> 00:50:30.547
and then Curtains
into Deadly Eyes.

00:50:32.715 --> 00:50:35.426
Deadly Eyes, rated R.

00:50:35.551 --> 00:50:38.262
So I just kind of kept getting
cast in that type of genre.

00:50:38.386 --> 00:50:42.063
Thanks to the Blu-ray and the
restoration of it,

00:50:42.087 --> 00:50:43.724
it's really exciting.

00:50:43.848 --> 00:50:46.309
And, you know, hopefully more
and more people will go back,

00:50:46.433 --> 00:50:48.143
if they like horror,
will go back

00:50:48.269 --> 00:50:50.771
and discover the earlier
films from the 70s and 80s.

00:50:54.481 --> 00:50:57.234
I said I'm shocked but
I'm, I'm also very pleased

00:50:57.359 --> 00:50:59.987
that people have seen those,
and even young people, right?

00:51:00.111 --> 00:51:02.280
They come up to me and they go,
"Oh my God, the skating scene."

00:51:02.405 --> 00:51:04.574
Someone is watching.

00:51:08.752 --> 00:51:10.219
You think that
you're doing a movie

00:51:10.243 --> 00:51:11.711
that nobody's ever going to see,

00:51:11.735 --> 00:51:16.539
and then it's restored
and people are loving it,

00:51:16.563 --> 00:51:18.293
and eating it up,

00:51:18.417 --> 00:51:22.296
and asking me to do lines
from Happy Birthday to Me,

00:51:22.420 --> 00:51:24.630
you know, "Come along
Winston, give Mommy head."

00:51:24.754 --> 00:51:27.299
Come along Winston,
give Mommy head.

00:51:27.424 --> 00:51:29.301
That's exciting. I love it.
I love meeting the fans.

00:51:29.425 --> 00:51:33.053
I'm thinking, "Wow,
this is great that

00:51:33.177 --> 00:51:36.139
you've taken the time
to watch these movies."

00:51:36.264 --> 00:51:37.932
If you like the genre,
you need to watch

00:51:38.056 --> 00:51:41.059
these movies because
they are the forerunners.

00:51:41.184 --> 00:51:42.269
You need to watch Hitchcock.

00:51:42.293 --> 00:51:43.769
He's the forerunner.
He started it all.

00:51:52.443 --> 00:51:55.195
It was exciting to me to
finally have a film on Blu-ray.

00:51:55.320 --> 00:51:59.449
I mean, I got fan mail. I've
never gotten fan mail before.

00:52:01.366 --> 00:52:04.870
I went to an autograph
show and the fans get dressed

00:52:04.994 --> 00:52:10.333
up as the characters, and
it's just really wonderful.

00:52:10.457 --> 00:52:12.707
Now the CIA funded Coldhaven,

00:52:12.731 --> 00:52:16.463
and they paid that man
to play with human brains.

00:52:18.796 --> 00:52:21.424
Things aren't always restored
right. There's pan and scan,

00:52:21.547 --> 00:52:24.403
and then there's
restoration from the actual,

00:52:24.427 --> 00:52:25.718
you know, celluloid,

00:52:25.843 --> 00:52:28.803
and that's when it's
exciting because you can

00:52:28.928 --> 00:52:32.432
see the true intent of
the DP and the director.

00:52:32.556 --> 00:52:34.210
John Houston's Phobia,

00:52:34.234 --> 00:52:37.948
he examines things that
maybe nobody else had.

00:52:38.227 --> 00:52:40.605
I'm happy when it gets
re-released because that film

00:52:40.730 --> 00:52:45.777
really, really did not get any
kind of release whatsoever.

00:52:45.900 --> 00:52:49.612
And with these re-releases,
these interviews, people are

00:52:49.736 --> 00:52:53.323
getting an inside look that
they wouldn't have had before

00:52:53.448 --> 00:52:57.982
because we're no longer bound

00:52:58.007 --> 00:53:01.706
by a studio system or PR
people who are telling us

00:53:01.829 --> 00:53:04.874
what we should be saying
in the quotable quotes.

00:53:04.998 --> 00:53:07.501
Let's get him before he
peels those clothes off.

00:53:08.709 --> 00:53:10.711
The man who wasn't there.

00:53:10.836 --> 00:53:13.255
It's part of your heart, part
of your mind, part of your soul.

00:53:13.380 --> 00:53:15.924
The history is being
recorded on these commentary

00:53:16.048 --> 00:53:19.510
tracks, or in these interviews,
and the audience loves it too.

00:53:19.534 --> 00:53:21.077
I mean, that's the thing
that's really exciting.

00:53:21.101 --> 00:53:23.985
Where studios have kind of
given up on special features,

00:53:24.010 --> 00:53:27.683
the fact that the collector
audience is so encouraging of it

00:53:27.808 --> 00:53:31.603
and that it provides an
outlet for scholars that,

00:53:31.727 --> 00:53:35.189
you know, often their audience
was limited to academic spheres.

00:53:35.371 --> 00:53:39.333
And now I think are, you know,
much more further exposed.

00:53:39.400 --> 00:53:40.675
I think it puts more
interest in their work,

00:53:40.699 --> 00:53:41.735
which means people
are going to find

00:53:41.859 --> 00:53:44.195
their books, and there's
going to be more scholarship,

00:53:44.320 --> 00:53:47.174
there are more
opportunities for film scholars

00:53:47.198 --> 00:53:49.033
to get their voice out there.

00:53:49.157 --> 00:53:51.118
And, I mean, it's important
because these are the people

00:53:51.242 --> 00:53:55.162
that are doing the work in, in,
they're doing the archeology.

00:53:55.286 --> 00:53:56.079
These are the people
that are doing the

00:53:56.204 --> 00:53:58.623
archeological work of
discovering these movies.

00:54:00.290 --> 00:54:02.084
And without them,
we'd just be watching

00:54:02.209 --> 00:54:04.294
whatever the studios are
shoveling down our throat.

00:54:06.295 --> 00:54:07.990
Gatekeeping has a
negative stigma sometimes,

00:54:08.014 --> 00:54:09.287
but I think sometimes
gatekeeping

00:54:09.311 --> 00:54:10.424
can be incredibly important.

00:54:12.236 --> 00:54:13.696
Let me, let me figure
this metaphor out,

00:54:13.721 --> 00:54:15.294
but I think gatekeeping
can be a positive

00:54:15.760 --> 00:54:17.554
thing because sometimes
the gate is actually

00:54:17.679 --> 00:54:19.931
just channeling you away
from mainstream stuff

00:54:20.055 --> 00:54:22.233
and into a stream of, like,

00:54:22.257 --> 00:54:25.114
really fascinating and
interesting esoteric

00:54:25.138 --> 00:54:28.015
and eccentric work
that was obscure

00:54:28.040 --> 00:54:29.953
and marginalized
and disenfranchised.

00:54:29.977 --> 00:54:30.853
That's good gatekeeping.

00:54:31.016 --> 00:54:32.685
Blue.

00:54:32.857 --> 00:54:35.221
And black as a ring.

00:54:35.245 --> 00:54:36.625
Marlon Riggs.

00:54:36.651 --> 00:54:38.445
Pedro Almodovar

00:54:38.570 --> 00:54:40.697
They are now part
of Criterion Collection.

00:54:40.721 --> 00:54:42.389
I think they've done a
really great job about

00:54:42.614 --> 00:54:49.079
being more inclusive
and lately, and it's exciting.

00:54:49.203 --> 00:54:49.746
It's so important.

00:54:49.870 --> 00:54:51.872
And now, of course,
there is Altered Innocence.

00:54:54.123 --> 00:54:55.166
Vinegar Syndrome.

00:54:55.291 --> 00:54:57.001
I love you very much, Claire.

00:54:57.126 --> 00:54:59.086
I love you too.

00:54:59.210 --> 00:55:01.963
They are doing an incredible
job rediscovering gay

00:55:02.088 --> 00:55:05.633
films from era's past that
are just really amazing.

00:55:05.758 --> 00:55:07.259
Some of them I've
never even heard of.

00:55:07.383 --> 00:55:08.718
I started working
at Strand Releasing.

00:55:08.843 --> 00:55:11.721
That was the first boutique
kind of house I worked for.

00:55:14.362 --> 00:55:16.095
When I first got to Strand,

00:55:16.119 --> 00:55:19.534
they had an amazing reputation
for arthouse cinema and

00:55:19.684 --> 00:55:22.061
LGBT cinema, which is
exactly where I wanted to be.

00:55:22.202 --> 00:55:23.312
And the movies they worked on

00:55:23.336 --> 00:55:24.814
are just some of
my all-time favorites.

00:55:24.938 --> 00:55:29.610
But they definitely didn't have
a great home video business.

00:55:29.734 --> 00:55:33.334
So one of my big goals when I
joined Strand

00:55:33.358 --> 00:55:35.239
was to get that going.

00:55:35.363 --> 00:55:39.701
And under my enthusiasm,
you could say, we produced

00:55:39.825 --> 00:55:42.411
so many more Blu-rays
than they'd ever done before.

00:55:42.535 --> 00:55:44.871
Cemetery Splendor, Stranger
by the Lake, Wetlands.

00:55:46.413 --> 00:55:48.457
Wetlands, one of my favorites.

00:55:48.582 --> 00:55:51.031
I noticed that there
are so many films

00:55:51.055 --> 00:55:53.975
that just never get
released, like Gobs.

00:55:54.000 --> 00:55:54.937
It's insane.

00:55:54.960 --> 00:55:56.537
When you go to
these film festivals

00:55:56.561 --> 00:55:58.465
and they're programming
150 feature films,

00:55:58.489 --> 00:56:02.159
maybe 25 get picked up, and
then there's just 125 left over.

00:56:02.184 --> 00:56:05.174
And so there
were films I noticed

00:56:05.198 --> 00:56:07.639
that Strand would say no to.

00:56:07.698 --> 00:56:10.200
And it wasn't because
they were bad films at all.

00:56:10.390 --> 00:56:12.643
It was just because, you
know, they focused on

00:56:12.767 --> 00:56:15.937
theatrical releasing and they
couldn't take a chance on it.

00:56:16.061 --> 00:56:17.979
You know, it wasn't going
to do well theatrically.

00:56:18.104 --> 00:56:22.275
So I saw a few films
where they passed on it and

00:56:22.399 --> 00:56:25.069
I was just like, whoa,
these are gorgeous films.

00:56:30.364 --> 00:56:33.450
These are films like
Concrete Night and Violet.

00:56:37.285 --> 00:56:40.330
I always say if I want to see
them, that probably means

00:56:40.455 --> 00:56:41.794
other people want to see them

00:56:41.818 --> 00:56:44.690
because I'm also
a big film nerd.

00:56:44.958 --> 00:56:45.834
So and a Blu-ray nerd.

00:56:45.959 --> 00:56:48.347
So that's kind of
how I got started was,

00:56:48.371 --> 00:56:50.882
you know, Strand
would pass on a film and

00:56:51.129 --> 00:56:53.751
that gave me the
kind of authority

00:56:53.775 --> 00:56:55.759
to go after it on my own.

00:56:55.883 --> 00:56:57.343
And so that's how
I started for a while.

00:56:57.468 --> 00:56:59.220
I was just kind of
working on these tiny

00:56:59.344 --> 00:57:02.222
little films that other
distributors passed up on.

00:57:02.346 --> 00:57:05.060
I love that these smaller labels

00:57:05.084 --> 00:57:07.799
are catering to a
specific audience

00:57:07.823 --> 00:57:11.646
because that's how they
make their money, right?

00:57:11.770 --> 00:57:13.814
Women, queer voices.

00:57:16.941 --> 00:57:17.942
People of colour.

00:57:19.234 --> 00:57:20.861
Government business.

00:57:22.028 --> 00:57:23.947
Bullshit.

00:57:24.071 --> 00:57:25.588
You go back historically,

00:57:25.612 --> 00:57:29.036
Oscar Micheaux created
films so that he could counter

00:57:29.060 --> 00:57:31.445
things like Birth of a Nation

00:57:31.469 --> 00:57:34.847
and to show that Black
people aren't these

00:57:34.872 --> 00:57:38.500
caricatures that these white
supremacists wanted to portray.

00:57:38.624 --> 00:57:41.168
He shows Black people
in love and family.

00:57:44.920 --> 00:57:48.799
That whole boom of
Black filmmakers in the 90s.

00:57:50.049 --> 00:57:53.970
One out of four black men is
currently in the penal system.

00:57:54.094 --> 00:57:58.599
There were Black stories coming
out that weren't the stereotype.

00:57:58.723 --> 00:58:01.309
Julie Dash is very important,
Daughters of the Dust.

00:58:01.434 --> 00:58:03.793
She created these characters,

00:58:03.817 --> 00:58:07.648
an historical fact, and
created this world where

00:58:07.771 --> 00:58:10.816
instead of seeing
trauma, you see progress

00:58:10.940 --> 00:58:14.694
after the trauma and
this generational move.

00:58:16.653 --> 00:58:20.908
Ganja & Hess kind
of blew my mind.

00:58:21.032 --> 00:58:25.828
Bill Gunn wrote one script
to get the film greenlit.

00:58:25.952 --> 00:58:27.662
And then he just
did his own thing.

00:58:27.786 --> 00:58:34.418
And to me that is such an
act of defiance and resistance.

00:58:34.542 --> 00:58:37.712
And I think the offshoots
of that, Def by Temptation,

00:58:39.254 --> 00:58:40.923
J.D.'s Revenge,

00:58:41.047 --> 00:58:45.676
they approach social issues,
stories that may not have

00:58:45.800 --> 00:58:49.930
been handled in the right
way by a white director.

00:58:50.054 --> 00:58:54.384
I mean, I think so much
of what I'm interested in

00:58:54.408 --> 00:58:59.525
in the preservation and
celebration of obscure cinema

00:58:59.549 --> 00:59:03.483
is all about sharing
marginalized voices.

00:59:03.606 --> 00:59:07.537
And what makes these
kinds of films so exciting to me

00:59:07.561 --> 00:59:10.660
is it's not just the
same five guys

00:59:10.685 --> 00:59:13.485
making the same movies in this
subgenre

00:59:13.510 --> 00:59:15.382
with these very narrow rules.

00:59:15.406 --> 00:59:18.159
You have people
like Lizzie Borden.

00:59:22.245 --> 00:59:24.665
And Black queer women
filmmakers are some

00:59:24.789 --> 00:59:27.750
of the most marginalized
voices even still.

00:59:30.043 --> 00:59:33.994
And so having someone
who was so fearless

00:59:34.018 --> 00:59:39.549
that she just found the
resources to make these films,

00:59:39.574 --> 00:59:41.613
films that are so unique

00:59:41.638 --> 00:59:44.155
that nobody else was
making at the time,

00:59:44.179 --> 00:59:48.517
it's like these are classic
pieces of cinema that need to be

00:59:48.641 --> 00:59:53.688
restored and preserved and need
to be accessible to audiences.

00:59:53.811 --> 00:59:57.678
A lot of those queer hardcore
films from the 70s and 80s,

00:59:57.872 --> 00:59:59.628
Wakefield Poole,

01:00:01.324 --> 01:00:04.995
even Radley Metzger with
queer characters or bisexual

01:00:05.125 --> 01:00:09.838
love triangles, so many of those
directors, Poole, definitely,

01:00:10.074 --> 01:00:14.222
approaches those films like
they're important works of art.

01:00:14.246 --> 01:00:16.729
They are also sex films,

01:00:16.753 --> 01:00:20.538
but because so much importance
is put

01:00:20.562 --> 01:00:23.293
on making a gorgeous film,

01:00:23.417 --> 01:00:25.702
I think it's also
a way of saying

01:00:25.727 --> 01:00:27.362
we don't need to demonize sex,

01:00:27.386 --> 01:00:29.086
we need to celebrate it,

01:00:29.110 --> 01:00:31.490
especially sex that's outside

01:00:31.515 --> 01:00:34.103
some sort of rigid
heteronormativity.

01:00:34.426 --> 01:00:36.136
All the people in the
film give of themselves

01:00:36.260 --> 01:00:39.304
and tell who they are
and who they are sexually.

01:00:39.430 --> 01:00:42.483
Twenty years ago when Criterion
was the biggest game in town,

01:00:42.507 --> 01:00:45.251
it kind of felt like
they were saying

01:00:45.275 --> 01:00:49.036
these films that we're
putting out are art films.

01:00:49.161 --> 01:00:52.201
They belong in this sort
of like special category.

01:00:52.225 --> 01:00:55.387
And what's so great about
some of these boutique labels

01:00:55.411 --> 01:01:00.143
is they're saying you
can apply that same logic

01:01:00.167 --> 01:01:06.034
to Mexican horror movies and
Japanese sexploitation films.

01:01:06.158 --> 01:01:08.301
And we're going
to take this away

01:01:08.326 --> 01:01:10.887
from this sort of notion
of who gets to say what

01:01:10.911 --> 01:01:13.164
films are important,
and we're going to

01:01:13.289 --> 01:01:16.834
look into what films
have never been released.

01:01:16.958 --> 01:01:19.657
Criterion is obviously
the pinnacle.

01:01:19.681 --> 01:01:22.380
They were called
out a few years ago

01:01:22.404 --> 01:01:27.284
on Twitter, the
cesspool of the world,

01:01:27.507 --> 01:01:31.011
for not having enough
people of color in their roster.

01:01:32.109 --> 01:01:33.986
Criterion has this prestige.

01:01:36.181 --> 01:01:39.100
They were able to get
these prestige titles.

01:01:39.225 --> 01:01:42.062
A half block away walking
towards me is another

01:01:42.086 --> 01:01:45.589
black gay man. We've
seen each other in the clubs.

01:01:45.613 --> 01:01:46.779
Marlon Riggs,

01:01:46.976 --> 01:01:49.462
there's no way that people would
not want

01:01:49.487 --> 01:01:50.626
to preserve Marlon Riggs

01:01:50.650 --> 01:01:53.478
because Marlon
Riggs was so essential

01:01:53.502 --> 01:01:56.797
to so many people's histories.

01:01:56.822 --> 01:01:58.599
It was written about, it was,

01:01:58.623 --> 01:02:02.259
you know, his films
were monumental.

01:02:02.284 --> 01:02:04.115
Then it is the other way around.

01:02:04.139 --> 01:02:06.663
Company like Criterion
introducing films that

01:02:06.687 --> 01:02:09.629
people might not
have necessarily seen,

01:02:09.653 --> 01:02:11.274
but are on the radar.

01:02:12.198 --> 01:02:13.664
Are they at a festival?

01:02:13.688 --> 01:02:16.953
Does somebody in the
company fall in love with them?

01:02:16.977 --> 01:02:18.475
Do they win a prize?

01:02:18.499 --> 01:02:21.167
What is it that makes them
worthy

01:02:21.191 --> 01:02:23.358
of that kind of treatment?

01:02:23.383 --> 01:02:25.434
Watermelon Woman
is so important.

01:02:25.458 --> 01:02:27.322
It was something new to me

01:02:27.346 --> 01:02:33.275
to see a queer woman pursuing
this mythological figure.

01:02:33.748 --> 01:02:35.792
Such a groundbreaking
piece of cinema.

01:02:35.996 --> 01:02:38.714
It's great that companies
like Vinegar Syndrome,

01:02:38.738 --> 01:02:41.235
Kino Lorber, Criterion,

01:02:42.107 --> 01:02:46.111
aren't just emphasizing
the hetero hardcore films.

01:02:46.235 --> 01:02:49.713
They're trying to
find as many examples

01:02:49.737 --> 01:02:53.492
of inspiring important
cinema as they can.

01:03:02.116 --> 01:03:05.753
We have to fight news
that's happening every day.

01:03:05.783 --> 01:03:08.128
Gun violence. Issues of choice.

01:03:08.252 --> 01:03:11.839
Films can be there as witness.

01:03:15.048 --> 01:03:16.327
In the face of all that,

01:03:16.351 --> 01:03:22.738
the idea of restoration is
saying all of this existed.

01:03:23.096 --> 01:03:28.726
These films existed and the
films create a kind of story.

01:03:28.851 --> 01:03:31.270
And the story is the
narrative of our lives.

01:03:35.522 --> 01:03:37.566
One of the cool things
about my company is

01:03:37.691 --> 01:03:40.652
that I work with both
new films and old films.

01:03:40.676 --> 01:03:44.632
I get excited about going
to the Berlin Film Festival

01:03:45.103 --> 01:03:47.028
and discovering the next.

01:03:48.782 --> 01:03:51.910
Fassbender or someone like that.

01:03:52.035 --> 01:03:56.582
Arrebato is a fun one. No
one could get the rights.

01:04:01.542 --> 01:04:03.961
You know everyone told me later
on that they tried and they were

01:04:04.086 --> 01:04:07.006
never able to. I just got lucky.
I hit it at the right time.

01:04:07.130 --> 01:04:09.157
I emailed this one
sales agent that I heard

01:04:09.181 --> 01:04:10.967
had possibly had
it and they were just

01:04:11.091 --> 01:04:13.909
connected to a producer
of a producer of a producer

01:04:13.933 --> 01:04:15.053
that had the rights.

01:04:15.178 --> 01:04:19.140
I'm not asking questions at that
point. They had the negative.

01:04:19.264 --> 01:04:22.767
So they did the 4K scan in
Spain and then we got the raw

01:04:22.892 --> 01:04:26.270
files over to AGFA and then
AGFA did the 4K restoration.

01:04:26.395 --> 01:04:27.382
And that was a fun one

01:04:27.406 --> 01:04:29.940
because that was one of the
only ones where I've actually

01:04:30.064 --> 01:04:33.338
been watching the
dailies of the restorations

01:04:33.363 --> 01:04:35.961
and going through
them with a notepad

01:04:35.985 --> 01:04:39.322
and being like, "OK, remove
that yellow line at 329."

01:04:39.447 --> 01:04:40.374
And then AGFA being like,

01:04:40.398 --> 01:04:42.491
"I don't know if we can do
that." I'm like, they're like,

01:04:42.515 --> 01:04:43.572
"Is it a big deal?"

01:04:43.596 --> 01:04:45.312
I'm like, "Yes, it's a big deal.

01:04:45.336 --> 01:04:47.431
I don't want that
yellow line in there."

01:04:49.537 --> 01:04:51.856
Equations to an Unknown,

01:04:51.880 --> 01:04:56.920
Altered Innocence movie
from the 70s, French, erotic,

01:04:56.944 --> 01:04:57.939
Odyssey.

01:04:57.963 --> 01:05:02.143
It's just a stunning film. It's
such a beautiful work of art.

01:05:02.756 --> 01:05:05.508
It's another film that I'm
telling everybody about.

01:05:05.633 --> 01:05:08.093
You have to watch it.
You have to watch it.

01:05:08.219 --> 01:05:09.622
You know, Equations
to an Unknown

01:05:09.646 --> 01:05:12.322
was the first hardcore
film I worked on.

01:05:12.347 --> 01:05:16.059
Yan Gonzalez, he
discovered this film and fell in

01:05:16.183 --> 01:05:19.770
love with it and did a
quick scan of a 16mm print.

01:05:19.794 --> 01:05:21.019
And he kind of
toured around with that

01:05:21.044 --> 01:05:22.355
and we toured around
with that in the US and

01:05:22.479 --> 01:05:24.564
it got such a great
response. We were like,

01:05:24.689 --> 01:05:26.983
"Should we go back and
scan the original negative?"

01:05:27.107 --> 01:05:27.983
I'm like "Uhhhh

01:05:28.108 --> 01:05:32.029
yeah, let's do it. Let's
do it." So we did that and

01:05:32.147 --> 01:05:33.535
I mean obviously
it looks amazing

01:05:33.565 --> 01:05:34.822
so we're so glad we did that.

01:05:34.948 --> 01:05:38.932
But the response to the
film has been amazing.

01:05:38.957 --> 01:05:40.659
It's actually one
of my best sellers.

01:05:40.684 --> 01:05:43.138
Equations to an Unknown
is still one of my best sellers.

01:05:43.162 --> 01:05:44.987
And it's great to know that

01:05:45.011 --> 01:05:48.334
even if it's hardcore gay
porn, people can see the

01:05:48.358 --> 01:05:50.861
you know, the arthouse
aspect of it and the beautiful

01:05:50.885 --> 01:05:53.269
nature of the film.
It's one of my favorites.

01:05:53.294 --> 01:05:55.046
And...

01:05:55.171 --> 01:05:56.487
So when we did that,

01:05:56.512 --> 01:05:58.983
it was kind of obvious that
people were hungry for more.

01:05:59.007 --> 01:06:03.804
And then that's when I randomly
got an email from MoMA.

01:06:03.928 --> 01:06:06.389
"Hey, we're doing these
Fred Halstead Restorations and

01:06:06.513 --> 01:06:09.266
we're going to premiere them
in our festival preservation."

01:06:09.290 --> 01:06:11.790
They almost never do that
where MoMA restores something

01:06:11.815 --> 01:06:13.229
and then someone
else releases it.

01:06:13.253 --> 01:06:15.187
Usually it's too
complicated, but for this one

01:06:15.211 --> 01:06:17.171
they figured they could go
kind of an indie route with it.

01:06:17.397 --> 01:06:19.524
And so they went
with me and I was so

01:06:19.648 --> 01:06:23.068
grateful because it's
also been a great seller.

01:06:23.092 --> 01:06:25.111
I like working with academics

01:06:25.136 --> 01:06:26.879
because I'm not
an academic myself.

01:06:26.903 --> 01:06:28.641
And the Fred Halstead films

01:06:28.666 --> 01:06:30.409
need a critical eye
on them sometimes

01:06:30.433 --> 01:06:32.729
in order to fully
appreciate them

01:06:32.753 --> 01:06:35.995
because they're not just
jerk off films.

01:06:36.019 --> 01:06:37.259
Definitely not.

01:06:37.538 --> 01:06:39.638
Two-thirds of American
movies are missing.

01:06:39.663 --> 01:06:43.243
It's really scary to
me as a lover of film.

01:06:43.268 --> 01:06:44.810
We have to preserve those films.

01:06:44.834 --> 01:06:48.838
And the companies who
are releasing those films,

01:06:48.962 --> 01:06:51.485
I just want those companies to
continue

01:06:51.509 --> 01:06:53.506
to thrive forever and ever.

01:06:53.924 --> 01:06:56.174
And I love that they
don't discriminate.

01:06:56.198 --> 01:07:01.160
They do porn, horror, weird
martial arts movies, comedies.

01:07:01.467 --> 01:07:04.260
All of those things are
part of our cultural heritage.

01:07:04.285 --> 01:07:08.462
Let's rejoice as a
fan base, as viewers,

01:07:08.486 --> 01:07:11.069
in the fact that the movies
are being brought up to date.

01:07:11.093 --> 01:07:13.398
They're going to look the
best that they ever have.

01:07:13.522 --> 01:07:15.858
Meet the in crowd
at Central High.

01:07:15.883 --> 01:07:17.298
Massacre at Central High.

01:07:17.322 --> 01:07:20.684
I saw it on really bad
VHS from Scarecrow Media

01:07:21.252 --> 01:07:23.174
and it wasn't released on DVD.

01:07:23.198 --> 01:07:27.040
Now there's a beautiful
Blu-ray edition from Synapse.

01:07:28.409 --> 01:07:31.537
I won't wear your stupid
communist bloodthirsty scarf.

01:07:35.232 --> 01:07:37.942
When I learned that
my distributor Dark Star

01:07:37.967 --> 01:07:39.794
had partnered with
Vinegar Syndrome,

01:07:39.818 --> 01:07:41.405
of course I just
kind of freaked out.

01:07:41.429 --> 01:07:44.896
They hired Jess Rotter
to do the slipcover,

01:07:44.921 --> 01:07:46.207
which is just incredible.

01:07:46.231 --> 01:07:48.400
She really
captured the spirit of the film.

01:07:48.424 --> 01:07:53.750
And I love the retro, kind
of 70s style that she has.

01:07:53.775 --> 01:07:56.008
And then there's another artist

01:07:56.032 --> 01:07:58.266
that I met years
ago on Instagram.

01:07:58.379 --> 01:08:00.784
So I asked them to
do the inside cover.

01:08:00.819 --> 01:08:04.190
And then of course it's
packed with special features

01:08:04.214 --> 01:08:05.819
like all of their movies are.

01:08:05.843 --> 01:08:09.374
So it was really,
really, really exciting.

01:08:09.398 --> 01:08:12.007
The first time I was
approached about my own stuff

01:08:12.031 --> 01:08:15.181
being released was
by Saturn's Core.

01:08:16.237 --> 01:08:18.114
They're very passionate.
They know this stuff.

01:08:18.686 --> 01:08:19.889
And they're like,

01:08:19.918 --> 01:08:23.550
"Yeah, we want to do Shatter
Dead." So I said, "Yes.", saying

01:08:23.576 --> 01:08:26.496
"Look, can I restore it? Can
I go back to the elements?"

01:08:27.704 --> 01:08:30.207
It looks and sounds better
than it ever has. As good as

01:08:30.332 --> 01:08:33.293
it ever will sound for a shot
on video production, right?

01:08:33.417 --> 01:08:36.462
So the attention was
nice. But I was also like,

01:08:36.586 --> 01:08:39.047
"Wow, does anyone really
want this at this point?"

01:08:41.423 --> 01:08:46.010
I feel like, I guess I can't
judge audiences anymore.

01:08:46.135 --> 01:08:49.660
I just never know if someone has
that nostalgia

01:08:49.685 --> 01:08:50.740
going that far back.

01:08:50.764 --> 01:08:55.977
And I'm shocked to discover
that new viewers have come in.

01:08:56.101 --> 01:08:57.977
They're like, "Oh, Shatter Dead,
I've heard of that." And they

01:08:58.103 --> 01:09:00.021
buy it. And I get, "Oh,
that's really good."

01:09:00.146 --> 01:09:02.541
And getting messages
from people I don't know,

01:09:02.565 --> 01:09:04.512
seeing good reviews from people.

01:09:04.982 --> 01:09:07.276
It's a great feeling.
It was worth the effort.

01:09:13.613 --> 01:09:15.019
It makes me hopeful.

01:09:15.044 --> 01:09:17.987
My wish list of
movies will eventually

01:09:18.011 --> 01:09:20.966
become these beautiful
packaged pieces of art

01:09:20.990 --> 01:09:25.558
that I put on my shelf and love
and take out when I want to.

01:09:29.299 --> 01:09:32.289
But then, plenty of movies
that I have not heard of.

01:09:32.494 --> 01:09:34.117
That might be the
only way I can watch it,

01:09:34.141 --> 01:09:38.300
is if I actually own that, like,
Blu-ray release of something.

01:09:38.685 --> 01:09:41.563
And so that's
also exciting, too.

01:09:41.886 --> 01:09:45.695
One of my favorite
things about the direction

01:09:45.720 --> 01:09:48.393
that boutique labels
have been going in,

01:09:48.516 --> 01:09:50.184
some of them
obviously have to be

01:09:50.208 --> 01:09:54.046
commercially focused to
bring money in to keep running.

01:09:54.153 --> 01:09:55.830
But I think because of the way

01:09:55.854 --> 01:09:57.831
that the industry has been going

01:09:57.855 --> 01:09:59.695
and how supportive fans are

01:09:59.720 --> 01:10:02.574
and how willing they
are to take a chance on

01:10:02.599 --> 01:10:04.262
releases they've never heard of

01:10:04.286 --> 01:10:07.432
and sub-genres maybe
they've never even seen before.

01:10:09.024 --> 01:10:12.244
I feel like there's almost this
shared sense of responsibility

01:10:12.268 --> 01:10:15.016
that it's not just a
commercial endeavor.

01:10:15.041 --> 01:10:17.443
Like, it feels so much
bigger than that.

01:10:17.872 --> 01:10:21.334
Like, it's a historical project
but also a labor of love,

01:10:21.358 --> 01:10:26.266
basically rescuing these films
that have been lost to time.

01:10:26.291 --> 01:10:29.523
And I think the people
who actually buy these

01:10:29.548 --> 01:10:33.051
films and watch them are
participating in that, too.

01:10:34.177 --> 01:10:35.444
You should always
have collecting

01:10:35.468 --> 01:10:37.492
because digital media, you know,

01:10:37.517 --> 01:10:38.965
it's fun to have access to
everything on the internet,

01:10:38.989 --> 01:10:40.264
but it's not the same as
holding it in your hand.

01:10:40.622 --> 01:10:42.401
Being able to have
an archive and,

01:10:42.425 --> 01:10:44.889
you know, just look
through everything.

01:10:44.914 --> 01:10:46.225
It's like kind of
being a historian,

01:10:46.249 --> 01:10:47.786
you know, having
your own private library.

01:10:47.811 --> 01:10:50.200
But it also feels
like respecting

01:10:50.224 --> 01:10:53.852
some often times
very obscure films

01:10:53.877 --> 01:10:56.773
that has more of a permanence

01:10:56.798 --> 01:10:58.623
and more of a
weight than just like,

01:10:58.647 --> 01:11:00.605
"Oh, I'm going
to stream this file."

01:11:00.863 --> 01:11:01.883
It's like,

01:11:01.907 --> 01:11:04.568
I think it shows that
not only do you care

01:11:04.593 --> 01:11:08.058
about individual films you might
love by your favorite directors,

01:11:08.082 --> 01:11:10.837
but you just care
about cult cinema

01:11:10.862 --> 01:11:13.608
in general and more
obscure cinema.

01:11:23.713 --> 01:11:25.120
What I hope is
that this persists.

01:11:25.144 --> 01:11:27.608
I hope that this audience
continues to exist,

01:11:27.633 --> 01:11:29.032
continues to be adventurous,

01:11:29.056 --> 01:11:31.383
continues to be
inspired both by the films

01:11:31.407 --> 01:11:34.932
and the scholarly research and
context provided by these films.

01:11:35.056 --> 01:11:36.979
Now I see
independent filmmakers.

01:11:37.103 --> 01:11:39.994
I see people who haven't
made a movie in 20 years

01:11:40.018 --> 01:11:43.355
and once they got
the reaction they got,

01:11:43.379 --> 01:11:46.131
they're now interested in
making another movie again.

01:11:46.196 --> 01:11:49.199
I said, "Fuck it. I'm going to
go out and make another movie."

01:11:49.584 --> 01:11:52.211
So we started this new one.
It's called The Ghost in Me.

01:11:52.236 --> 01:11:54.001
I think that's really exciting.

01:11:54.025 --> 01:11:57.322
There's been a lot of brand
loyalty and a lot of trust.

01:11:57.347 --> 01:11:59.567
People want to be surprised

01:11:59.592 --> 01:12:01.698
and they want to be
introduced to new things

01:12:01.722 --> 01:12:05.713
and they don't just want to
watch the same 70s slasher movie

01:12:05.737 --> 01:12:07.082
over and over again.

01:12:07.106 --> 01:12:08.839
All of the labels that
are working so hard

01:12:08.863 --> 01:12:11.252
to bring this stuff to you
are doing it the best they can.

01:12:11.276 --> 01:12:13.322
We're truly blessed by having
all these labels out there that

01:12:13.346 --> 01:12:14.615
are doing wonderful stuff.

01:12:14.639 --> 01:12:17.141
They're putting out like,
wicked transfers of stuff.

01:12:17.421 --> 01:12:19.799
Joe and I's favorite
projects are the ones

01:12:19.924 --> 01:12:24.262
which take a crazy
amount of work and effort.

01:12:24.286 --> 01:12:27.312
There's a huge misconception
that a physical release

01:12:27.336 --> 01:12:29.291
means that the
materials are safe.

01:12:29.615 --> 01:12:33.661
These film materials
are inherently in danger.

01:12:33.685 --> 01:12:35.478
Even if they're kept
in the best conditions.

01:12:35.579 --> 01:12:38.300
It's not about how
nice was this cardboard,

01:12:38.324 --> 01:12:40.460
how well produced
were the extras,

01:12:40.504 --> 01:12:43.652
how pretty was the menu.

01:12:43.677 --> 01:12:45.663
It should be always
about the film.

01:12:48.304 --> 01:12:53.760
[upbeat music]