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Winners Tape All: The Henderson Brothers Story
USA 2015
produced by Justin Channell, Zane Crosby, Joshua Lively, Steve McElroy (associate), Chris LaMartina (associate) for IWC Films, Brainwrap Media
directed by Justin Channell
starring Zane Crosby, Josh Lively, Chris LaMartina, Laura Ciarolla, Latisha Kriston, Vincent Renfield, Steve McElroy, Madison Whiting, Justin Channell, Andrew N. Shearer (voice), Tim Gross
written by Justin Channell, Zane Crosby, Josh Lively, music by Portopak, Justin Channell, special effects makeup by Zane Crosby
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Avid VHS collector Henry Jacoby (Chris LaMartina) has just found out
that in the 1980s, a little production company, Cameo Video,
produced two slasher movies in his own hometown, two rather insignificant
low budget movies mind you, but two movies that have for some reason or
another gained cult status, and the old VHS' are selling on ebay for
record prices - and the film is the story of the men behind Cameo Video,
the Henderson brothers (Josh Lively, Zane Crosby), from their early days
as kid filmmakers on their dad's super 8 camera, to their first movie The
Curse of Stabberman and the problems they had with that, to their
second feature Cannibal Swim Club, to their eventual breakup and
then resurgence in family comedy, and to the renewed interest in their
early films and maybe-comeback ... Even though Winners Tape
All: The Henderson Brothers Story pretends to be a documentary, it's not,
the Henderson Brothers never were, and neither were their movies (even if
the vintage material looks very authentic) ... but that said, the film
really feels like it's based on true events, as it's really reminiscent of
a lot of stories of shot-on-video indie filmmakers from the 1980s, some of
whom are still around while others are "rediscovered", even
though their films are often lacking in several departments - as are the
Henderson Brothers', due to their over-confidence on their own acting,
directing and karate skills, and an over-reliance on genre formulas ...
and that's what makes the movie so funny and watchable, too, as the
discrepancy of the brothers' dialogue and the rather not so great film
footage makes for several a good laugh - but that said, director Justin
Channell still gives his lead characters true heart and some depth, making
them not idiots but at worst modern day Don
Quixotes who dare to dream big and for whom trying is almost
way more important than succeeding. Plus, again, the "vintage"
footage is really spot on, but not in a deprecating way (while being
utterly funny), which should appeal to genre fans at least - and most of
today's VHS collectors will find something of themselves in the movie as
well. Totally enjoyable, really!
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