Against the Grain (2023)

Featured on Vinegar Syndrome's Lost Picture Show DVD Collection, this documentary soothed the film geek that I am.

The film looks at some of the distribution companies that have sprung up in the past few years that release films that were thought to have been lost. Not a lot of these lost films were Hollywood classics or Oscar winners, they are mostly exploitation films that were printed once and then driven around from town to town to be shown. Who cares if some of those garbage flicks are gone? Because you never know who may have been involved in their production, as in the "huh?" musical showcase "Corn's-A-Poppin'," a 1955 film co-written by Robert Altman. Maybe some of these films don't feature anyone famous? They were still produced, and provide a snapshot of a long-gone time in history. It's still a little unsettling to see a sexually explicit or over-the-top gore film from the 1960s or 1970s, and know that most of the cast have either passed on, or might be sitting in a retirement village somewhere, not knowing that their one film "Violated!" is getting screened in a few hundred homes across the country.

Although a Vinegar Syndrome film, the film makers open up the interviews to include other companies, including my first "gateway" distributor- Something Weird Video. The company today has moved away from selling films, but their marketing of exploitation films is iconic. Finding a lost film, or a film that needs a restoration, isn't very glamorous. I worked warehouse for almost twenty-five years all over the world, dealing with very harsh conditions like the humid heat of Guam to unloading trucks in twenty below zero temps in North Dakota. That was a cake walk compared to some of the "film vaults" filled with animal feces, leaky roofs, and hundreds of rusted film cans. There's a scavenger hunt going on out there, as collectors begin selling off collections they never took care of properly, or someone discovers some home movies they forget they had.

A lot of celluloid was tossed in the 1980s once a film was recorded onto VHS or disc, not knowing that physical media is also flawed. As one interview subject puts it, you can't stop celluloid films from decomposing- you can slow it down, but there's not a magical cleaning product that will freeze its perfection for generations to enjoy.

I have a degree in Broadcasting, a compromise with my parents back when I wanted to go to film school. I remember having to sit through hours of boring video recitals, including my own one stab at music video direction- I found out I enjoyed watching and writing about films more than making them. I often wonder what happened to all those video projects once a student dropped out or graduated. My own music video featured two friends of mine, and part of it was shot outside a house that was lost in a flood, and inside a university building that later underwent a floor-to-ceiling remodel. I should dig it out and put it on disc at least, it's on a moldy VHS videocassette in my home office, waiting for me to finally claim an IMDb page. I have many friends who went on to film making, they know who they are, and I pray they are preserving their videos and films, as are all the other artists in my life sitting on a trove of writing, art, music, and keepsakes. "No one wants this stuff!"- no, someone does.

I love movies, all kinds of movies, but my favorite genres are among the hardest to find- avant-garde, experimental, horror, exploitation, foreign, and the just plain weird. Seeing this documentary, I realize I'm not alone, and I loved living vicariously through the interview subjects. In college, I should have taken a few more business classes and opened a distribution company, instead.

Stats:
(2023) 77 min. (8/10)
-Directed by Elijah Drenner, Joe Rubin
-Featuring Oscar Becher, Joe Rubin, Lisa Petrucci, Bob Murawski, Dennis Doros, Steven Morowitz, Lindsay Miller, David Gregory, Ryan Emerson, Bret Wood
(Not Rated, but I would equate this to an (R) MPA rating)- physical violence, strong gore, profanity, strong nudity, sexual content, sexual references, strong adult situations