Survival of the Film Freaks

Very few documentary films engage with me on a personal level. I have not had the experience of anticipating what might be the next topic or era of time discussed eagerly before. With documentaries I tend to view them clinically to simply gain the information they are conveying. I have never found myself wanting to find a missing piece or overlooked moment to prove something to myself about my own passion on a subject while watching a documentary until now. Every time I thought about a topic that would probably not be mentioned, even something so trivial as a lost video format, it was brought up right as the thought occurred, and expanded on with the same enthusiastic joy from those interviews as I myself have.

I have watched many documentaries on cult films, exploitation films, and other movies that were often dismissed and maligned. Those docs have all championed the films, the hey day they existed in, and the makers behind the scenes. Survival of the Film Freaks is about those of us who traded tapes, spent a fortune on a doomed video format, fought tooth and nail for that rare out of print DVD or Blu Ray, and even stooped to sourcing torrents when there where no other means to find a film all for the love of watching movies.

Besides connecting with this film on such a personal level, it tells the narrative of how the evolution of viewing formats changed the way we consume entertainment expertly and enthusiastically. It is a terrific independent documentary that all film fanatics and physical media collectors should check out.

This is a documentary that caught my attention when searching out the bigger name ones. What pulled me in, outside of the title, was using the Maniac poster, just a variation on it. When settling in to watch this and seeing the likes of Ted Raimi, Lloyd Kaufman, Adam Green and John Bloom aka Joe Bob Briggs, that was enough to know that I'd enjoy this to an extent.

What we're getting here is talking to people about the golden age of seeking out films by going to video stores. I grew up in a small city in Michigan so we had one locally owned video store which was my secondary one. They did have solid horror films. Video Watch then turned into Hollywood Video was my go-to until Family Video came in. I'll say though, these both had a solid number of 'classics' that I hadn't seen yet to start me on my journey. It was fun to hear the people that I've mentioned already saying what they did or hearing about people in these movies. Also, Joe Bob Briggs hosting MonsterVision was a part of my childhood as well.

There is a dark side to this as well. Streaming movies has been a big thing to help gain access to more than what we could on VHS or early into DVD. It is rare that I can't find a movie that I need to watch through my personal collection or online. Green and other filmmakers bring up though that it leads to pirating which kills independent cinema. Kaufman doesn't fully disagree and I do like his argument. Personally, I've been guilty of pirating, but have come around to only doing it when there's no other way to see it. That usually leads to if a proper release comes out, I'll buy it to make up. Going through more proper means is how I like to continue now.

I'd also say that this is well-made. They reference so many different films, incorporate clips from a ton of cult classic films. That made me smile. I did take pictures of the different titles to ensure that I've seen them or make sure they're on my ever-growing list to films to seek out. If I do have an issue, there are times where people come off as whiny, but if I was a filmmaker or had a label that released films, I'd be annoyed if people weren't paying to help continue business. We are in a golden age now of collecting though so there is that.

I'd recommend it to horror and low budget film fans.

My Rating: 8 out of 10.