As teenagers, this was our magnum opus, our surrealistic masterpiece, and undoubtedly the best movie we made back then. It was lost for 30 years, and only recently unearthed in the basement of my mom & dad's house.

 

Yes, there are lots of blurry shots. This film was made before digital video, before camcorders were invented, before iPhones and YouTube were a gleam in anyone's eye. We shot it on a Super 8 camera, exposing and focusing as best we could, and crossing our fingers that the image would be crisp. There was no playback, so we couldn't know if we'd got it right. Was that explosion on camera? We sure hoped so. Then we'd take the negative to the local stationary store, send it out for processing, and wait a couple of weeks (a couple of weeks!) for the little reels of film to come back. And when they did... what we got was what we had to work with. So yes, you can see me making a "kapow" noise every time I fire the rifle. Yes, Louis keeps laughing in that dramatic knife scene (nice 6 pack, though, Lou). While other teens were hanging out in the woods smoking weed, drinking beer, and making out with girls, we were shooting Super 8's.

 

OK, we spent a fair amount of time smoking and drinking and making out too. But we also made a bunch of movies.