Shelf Life – Liberation Hall (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1993
Director: Paul Bartel
Writers: O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner
Cast: O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner, Paul Bartel, Justin Houchin, Shelby Lindley, Jazz Britany

Release Date: January 21st, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 80 Minutes 45 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $26.95

"On November 22, 1963, Mr. and Mrs. St. Cloud hear about the tragic assassination of the President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Consumed with paranoia and believing that WWIII is now inevitable, they take their small children Tina, Pam and Scotty and hide with them in their fallout shelter, never to leave it again.

By 1993, the parents had died but their three adult man-children still live in the nuclear bomb shelter alone without any human contact. They've developed their own rules and rituals based on their fading memories of the life above, their old records that still work and whatever they catch on TV, when some station's signal reaches them now and then, for a few moments. Most of their day is spent in play sessions, in which they act out various common activities like going to school, eating out or staging musical numbers. They love to dance, sing and on occasion wrestle. Sometimes they even play their parents and reenact the parents' speeches to them. At one point, Tina and Scotty even pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend but in a quite innocent manner.

They play many other bizarre games that only make sense to them and tell each other stories that are amalgams of things they heard about like the Bible, Superman or the Pledge of Allegiance. Scotty even has a make-believe superhero alter ego - Supercar. The movie uses vignettes to tell the story but there's also a thin central plot that revolves around the fact that Mom and Dad gave the only key to the vault with food to Pam." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.25/5

Shelf Life comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 31.4 GB

Feature: 20.1 GB

Colors look correct, image clarity is strong, compression is very good, and there does not appear to be any digital noise reduction. That said, black levels are not as convincing as they should be.

There is no information provided about this transfer's source; there are nicks, scratches, and other imperfections throughout.

Audio: 3.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM stereo mix in English with removable English SDH. Though there are occasional hisses, pops, and other imperfections, the dialog comes through clear enough to follow. Range-wise, things are limited.

Extras:

Extras for this release include teaser #1 (30 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), teaser #2 (39 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), a theatrical trailer (1 minute 25 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), Clip - 'Chain Reaction' (1 minute 20 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), American Cinematheque Q&A with O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner, and Alex Mechanik, moderated by Grant Moninger (35 minutes 5 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), The Horace MacGrune V.I.P. Q&A with Tina, Pam, and Scotty (9 minutes 14 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary with O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner, Philip Holahan, and Alex Mechanik, reversible cover art, and an insert with cast, crew and soundtrack information.

Summary:

Paul Bartel directed Shelf Life. His other notable films include Private Parts, Death Race 2000, and Eating Raoul.

After the Kennedy assassination, a paranoid middle-class family locks themselves in a fallout shelter. Flash forward 30 years later, the parents are now dead, and their three children remain in the fallout shelter.

Shelf Life began as a stage show written by O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner, they all appear in the film adaptation. Shelf Life is the final feature film directed by Paul Bartel. Though Shelf Life is filled with the black humor that’s synonymous with the cinema of Paul Bartel, it is more aligned with its three creators, O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, and Jim Turner.

After a brief introduction where the three main characters are children, the remainder of the narrative takes place 30 years later when they are now adults. Though time has passed, these three characters are locked in time, outwardly grown-ups but internally still children. Their only form of entertainment is pretending to be characters and acting out scenarios they concocted.

Though Shelf Life is based on a stage play, the parameters in which the actors are working give them a tremendous amount of freedom to create. All of the performances are flawless, which is not surprising since the cast wrote and acted in the stage play. That said, the cast are all locked in as they fully commit themselves to what's unfolding on screen.

Visually, Shelf Life stays true to its stage show origins. That said, the visuals let the performances take center stage. Though the characters daily perform a set of rituals, the narrative is nothing more than a series of nonsensical moments. If you go into Shelf Life expecting a film directed by Paul Bartel, you will be disappointed, while those who embrace Shelf Life's eccentricities will be entertained.

Shelf Life gets a strong release from Liberation Hall that comes with a serviceable audio/video presentation and a trio of informative extras.

Written by Michael Den Boer