Boutique: To Preserve and Collect (2024)

I was excited when I heard about Boutique: To Preserve and Collect. A documentary about home video, movie collecting, and specialty distributors is right up my alley. I ordered it without the slightest hesitation.

I watched Boutique the very next morning. Yes, I did enjoy the documentary, even if it isn’t the end-all, be-all look at the subject I hoped for.

Some of the interviewees are excellent. There’s Lisa Petrucci, who along with the late Mike Vraney, was behind Something Weird Video and its successor, AGFA. There’s Chris Alexander, Lizzy Borden, David Blyth, and Scooter McCrae.

A lot of attention is devoted to Something Weird and especially to Vinegar Syndrome. I loved these parts. The Criterion Collection is discussed at length.

I wish Boutique had been a lot longer. At seventy-two minutes it seems like a lot of important subjects were whisked over too quickly. Or completely ignored.

Anchor Bay Entertainment was a pioneer in home video and deserved more than a cursory mention. How could Tim Lucas and the essential Video Watchdog magazine be omitted? Tim and his mag were the conscience of the industry.

How about Don May, Jr. and Synapse? They were prototypes of the specialty movie releasing field. Or Grindhouse Releasing and the visionary work and tragedy of Sage Stallone?

I know they didn’t want to merely focus on the horror film, but let’s face it: Horror people are collectors. They are the most fanatical group in the world about these things.

I don’t object to any of the material covered in Boutique, but the subject is a big one. We still need a more comprehensive look at it. A monster of a documentary along the lines of Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy or Crystal Lake Memories: The Complete History of Friday the 13th. Horror people don’t fuck around when it comes to this sort of thing.

I do like that Boutique shined a light on queer cinema and how porn was a driving force in the inception and development of home video.

Should you get Boutique: To Preserve and Collect? If you've got the movie collecting bug, of course you should buy it. Is it worth thirty dollars? Uh, maybe try to catch it on a Vin Syn Sale.

Collecting the pricy blu-rays has been a lot of fun, rather like being in a club. I'm afraid, however, my flirtation with the boutiques is drawing to a close. It's like the old days of buying so many limited-edition books. It was fun and we love to support our favorites, but in the end, it is devastating to a budget. Besides, how often do I think I'm going to watch most of the movies? It's time to rein myself in and rearrange my priorities. Again.

Written by Mark Sieber