Blu-ray Review: Shelf Life

Blu-ray Reviews, Reviews, Top Story

Paul Bartel was a king of independent film who rarely has his name mentioned during discussions. I don’t get why his key films aren’t in the national film registry. His first movie The Secret Cinema was revolutionary in the wake of reality TV. A woman discovers she’s being tracked by spy cameras. At night, a crowd gathers at a movie theater to watch her life on the big screen. He predicted reality TV in 1966. His second film Private Parts was creepy tale of a serial killer in a nasty LA hotel. Proving he could also do action, Bartel directed the legendary Death Race 2000. He conquered the art houses in the ’80s with the twisted Eating Raoul about fine dining and cannibalism. He deserves to have his name mentioned with John Sayles, John Waters and John Cassavetes. Maybe he should have renamed himself John Bartel? What’s sad is Bartel’s final directorial effort was pretty much ignored by the indie world when it sought to be released in 1993. For decades, Shelf Life was something you saw mentioned on Bartel’s filmography, but could never find. Now it’s finally arrived on Blu-ray.

On November 22, 1963, JFK was shot in Dallas. In Anaheim, California, the St. Cloud family ran down into their bomb shelter in fear of the destruction of America. For 30 years, Tina (Edward Scissorhands‘ O-Lan Jones), Pam (Trouble In Mind‘s Andrea Stein) and Scotty (Arli$$‘s Jim Turner) have been raising themselves since their parents died of food poisoning early on. We see them on what seems like a normal day for the siblings. They play, sing and attempt to educate each other. It’s like watching a bizarre subterranean variety show. There is a strange dynamic between them as they maintain a childhood playfulness while they’re in their mid-30s. They dress up as their parents to play grown-ups. They don’t realize that they’re no longer little kids. Their only contact with the outside world is an occasional few minutes of TV that comes down to from the antenna outside to their ancient set forty feet below the earth. They absorb the strangest things and combine things since there’s no one to correct them.

There have been other movies and TV shows about people stuck in bomb shelters for prolonged periods of time. They always focus on the “survivors” emerging and coping with the modern world. Shelf Life shows us how these three siblings act during their everyday existence. Tina declares this is her birthday, but the kids have no real way to track time after all these years. They don’t know if it’s morning or night in their windowless life. Bartel does an amazing job of keeping the action a bit expansive in the bomb shelter. We are stuck in the space with the siblings, but the story doesn’t feel confined. We see how they’ve turned it into their whole wide world. It also helps that the movie is a brisk 80 minutes. We don’t get feel like we’ve also been stuck down there for 30 years. How did Sundance turn this down?

Shelf Life is the perfect bookend for Paul Bartel’s directing career (he would continue to act until his passing in 2000). The Secret Cinema is about a woman whose life is being secretly being viewed by others. Shelf Life has three kids that nobody knows exist 40 feet under the ground. Yet those kids are putting on a show for each other to stay entertained.

It needs to be pointed out that this wasn’t Jim Turner’s first notable character that seemed released in a time capsule. At the end of the ’80s, he played Randee of the Redwoods on MTV. He was the hippie who was trying to relate with the modern videos starring people who didn’t play at Woodstock. He even ran for president in 1988. I don’t get how someone didn’t distribute to film just based on Randee being a star. There is a fitting irony that a film about three kids stuck in a bomb shelter for 30 years took 30 years to emerge the film vault. It’s the kind of joke that Paul Bartel might laugh at.

Image

The Video is 1.85:1 anamorphic. The transfer was taken off Paul Bartel’s personal 35mm copy of the film. You can see scratches on the print which normally be wrong for a Blu-ray. These scratches how much Paul Bartel showed this film at festivals and to distributors in hopes of getting a release deal. The good news is that the original camera negative exists so hopefully some preservation organization will make a 4K transfer down the road. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 Stereo. The mix is good for a group of people stuck in a bomb shelter. The movie is subtitled.

Audio Commentary features O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner and Alex Mechanik. They point out the opening above ground location is Paul Bartel’s house. He really did have a secret bookcase door that led to a stairway. It’s where he stashed his art collection.

American Cinematheque Q&A (35:05) was recorded in 2020 during the lockdown so that it is all done via a video conference. This works out for the best since everyone is properly heard. O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein and Jim Turner get into how Shelf Life happened as a late-night stage play. The premise was what would people do if they are contained. Children growing up alone in a bomb shelter became the perfect scenario. Paul Bartel approached them at the end of the run to propose turning it into a movie. We learn about Andy Paley and Brian Wilson’s musical contributions.

Q&A with Tina, Pam and Scotty (9:14) has the kids on The Horace MacGrune V.I.P. Show recounting their lives outside of the bomb shelter. They stay in character. This was taped in 2023.

Trailer Gallery includes Trailer (1:25) is from the re-issue after the film emerged from the vault. There’s also Teaser 1 (0:30) and Teaser 2 (0:39) sets up the weirdness in the bomb shelter.

Clip – Chain Reaction (1:20) is Tina’s classroom presentation.

Liberation Hall presents Shelf Life. Directed by Paul Bartel. Screenplay by O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein and Jim Turner. Starring O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner and Paul Bartel. Running Time: 81 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: January 21, 2025.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.