Shelf Life is the previously unreleased final film from director Paul Bartel (Death Race 2000, Eating Raoul and Lust in the Dust). Filmed in 1993, Bartel’s final film is a dark comedy with a fairly original premise that sets it apart from most other comedies of the time. Shelf Life stars O-Lan Jones (Mars Attacks, Edward Scissorhands and Beethoven), Andrea Stein (Hard to Kill, Trouble in Mind and Lois and Clark), Jim Turner (The Lost Boys, Kicking and Screaming and Joe’s Apartment), Paul Bartel (The Usual Suspects, Piranha and Escape from LA) and Shelby Lindley (Noragami, Puella Magi Madoka Magica and K-On!).

The film starts in 1963, directly after the murder of JFK, a paranoid couple moves themselves and their three children into their bomb shelter. The family remains in the shelter for 30 years, both parents age and die, and the three children (played by Jones, Stein and Turner) have grown up physically without any peer contact or outside influences, but they remain childlike in their behaviour. The three of them have grown up watching TV, and this is all they know about the outside world, now, they’re rapidly running out of food and perhaps the real world beckons?

Based on the stage play of the same name, Shelf Life is a fascinating albeit short movie that asks the viewer to think about modern society by looking at three grown-up children who have never experienced it. The bliss of ignorance and the madness that comes from having no contact with the real world, their own peer group, or an education leaves them with no sense of what it means to be an adult in the 1990s.  The cast is superb, particularly Jones, Stein and Turner, who give amazing performances as big kids, however, the script is noticeably that of a stage play, and it never feels like a real movie. It feels much more like a one-off TV play, the sort of thing the BBC were always good at during the 60s and 70s in the UK. 

Ultimately, I think it’s definitely worth a look, particularly for fans of Paul Bartel, who will find plenty to enjoy here. It’s certainly not a bad film, but it does feel as though it was never fully developed from the original play script. This may explain why it has lain unreleased for so many years. On the other hand, it’s great to be able to finally watch it and make that decision for myself. This new disc from Liberation Hall features some bonus materials. Firstly, there is a Q&A with O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, Jim Turner and Alex Mechanik. There is also a Q&A with the characters Tina, Pam and Scotty, an audio commentary from Stein, Jones, Turner, Mechanik and Philip Holahan, as well as the ubiquitous trailers and TV spots. Overall, this is a really good set for a movie that was never released, and whilst the film is an interesting piece that is worth viewing, it’s not going to change anyone’s life.