Verdict
Summary
The film isn’t bad, but it’s a little baffling to figure out what he was going for. It’s technically a comedy or a farce, but it’s not that funny and it’s not really making much of a comment on society or politics or even gender or family dynamics, so it’s just sort of a “here you go” serving of three capable and very willing actors who give the material their all. It’s interesting only as long as you’re willing to accept it as such, but beyond that it’s just a very slight and inconsequential film. For someone such as myself who already has an interest in films that are set in and around a bomb shelter, it’s adequate but not essential.
Plot:
Thirty years after three kids are locked in a bomb shelter, the kids have grown up … but not really.
Review:
When JFK is assassinated, a reactionary father of a family of three kids and an alcoholic wife, barricades his family in a pretty big bomb shelter fully stocked with supplies to outlast nuclear winter. Thirty years pass and the kids have grown up into adults, but they’re all basically still children. The oldest is Pam (Andrea Stein, who also played the mom), the middle is Tina (O-Lan Jones), and the youngest is Scotty (Jim Turner), and they’re running out of supplies, but you wouldn’t know it because they have no cares in the world. They behave like children with their own made-up culture (mom and dad have been dead for many years) with weird, funky prayers, pretend games that make no sense, and the kids are beyond stir-crazy … maybe they’re just crazy at this point. There’s a little bit of a power struggle between Pam and Tina who vie for their brother’s attention, but Scotty is clueless that his sisters are jealous of his focus. There is a natural order to things within their tight circle: Scotty is the dad, Pam is the mom, and Tina is the child, but it’s just a never-ending cycle of how these kids will never grow up because they’ve been cloistered so long. If they ever get out (which they do at the very end), the world will seem unreal to them because they’re so far gone.
Having written a book about post-apocalyptic movies (see: World Gone Wild: A Survivor’s Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Movies), I’ve seen all the bomb shelter movies, and this one – though it’s not post-apocalyptic – follows all the tropes of the subgenre, and while it doesn’t really say much or add anything new, it’s more or less what you’d expect but without the realism or the nastiness that a lot of bomb shelter movies contain. Filmmaker and actor Paul Bartel (best known for Eating Raoul) made this film and it was shelved for more than 30 years, having never gotten a release of any kind until now. The film isn’t bad, but it’s a little baffling to figure out what he was going for. It’s technically a comedy or a farce, but it’s not that funny and it’s not really making much of a comment on society or politics or even gender or family dynamics, so it’s just sort of a “here you go” serving of three capable and very willing actors who give the material their all. It’s interesting only as long as you’re willing to accept it as such, but beyond that it’s just a very slight and inconsequential film. For someone such as myself who already has an interest in films that are set in and around a bomb shelter, it’s adequate but not essential.
Liberation Hall brings the long unreleased Shelf Life (an ironic title considering how long it sat on the shelf) to DVD and Blu-ray, and I’ve gotta say bravo for making the effort to get this film released to an audience that might appreciate it. I also love the transfer of the film, as it was sourced from the only print available from Bartel’s personal collection. The transfer isn’t restored or cleaned up, but has all the nicks and scratches from the print itself, which I absolutely love. I wish more Blu-ray transfers looked this authentic and grainy. To my eyes, this is the best-looking Blu-ray I’ve seen in a long time, but that’s just my preference. Extras include an audio commentary with the cast members, a recorded Q & A from a recent theater screening, some teasers and trailers, and a clip from another film.
