Christopher P. Garetano's Horror Business is a documentary that focuses on a group of filmmakers who are digging under the couch cushions of mainstream cinema and making genre flicks on the change found within. It's part tribute to the "indies" who are going it on their own as well as a look at what drives someone to dedicate years of their lives to the "movies" while briefly touching on why the horror genre gets much of the blame about violence in film (and, to some extent, society). And while some of his subjects are truly eccentric in their own right, Garetano never goes out of his way to ridicule them, instead choosing to focus on their passion and trials - it's too bad that, for the most part, a lot of his subjects just aren't very likeable.

Horror Business has the standard brief "cameo" appearances by veterans such as Herschell Gordon Lewis and Lloyd Kaufman but Garetano mostly focuses on Mark Borchardt (the subject of the Chris Smith's 1999 documentary American Movie), Las Vegas do-it-yourselfer Ron Atkins (Schizophreniac: The Whore Mangler), and David Stagnari. There's also a few side trips to visit other low-budget filmmakers, but Garetano doesn't try to overdo it and sticks mainly to the three main people which turns out to be a good choice as his selections all bring a different attitude to the table. In fact, the only way in which all three of them seem similar is in their extremely bitter opinions of Hollywood.

Wisely being a bit more than a "talking head" series of interviews, Garetano also throws in snippets for various horror movies, stages a few live action sequences (like a youngster making a video camera flick in his backyard), and uses some various effects to keep things pleasing to your eyes. This is a very good thing, especially for those of us out there who get incredibly bored during the many interview segments that adorn our favourite DVD's. It's always good to take your audience away from the subjects long enough to mull over what they've just said and Garetano does do a good job at adding them a the right moment to help pace out the film better.

As for his subjects, they're not the most endearing batch as Borchardt really doesn't seem too interested in actually making movies (his opening line proclaims that he doesn't give a shit about movies and he later says literature is more important than film) and would rather coast on the mild success he's gotten from American Movie. Atkins is truly the wild card here and it shines through in not only the type of movie he produces as well as in his attitudes. When the guy tells the server at Burger King that, "a new f*cking attitude'd be nice..." you know he's not exactly a friendly guy. In fact, he's probably the hardest to take seriously thanks to his "f*ck the World" outlook (though things get even worse then his equally nutty conspiracy theorist friend, John Brodie, is in the mix). As for, Stagnari, he truly does seem committed not only to bringing back the "artistic value" to movies, but he truly, honestly seems to have a love affair with celluloid. He knows a lot about the genre, he appreciates it, and he really seems to want to make something nobody has ever seen before (and judging from his short, Catharsis, he might've succeeded).

If you're at all interested in how those living as far away from the Hollywood system as possible manage to make a movie (no matter how awful it turns out), then Horror Business will make compelling viewing for you. Garetano took two years out of his life to follow these people around and there's some interesting stuff within, it's just too bad he didn't spend quite enough time looking at why the genre seems to get blamed for a lot of societies wrongs - but I suppose that could be a documentary unto itself.

Garetano is currently prepping Son Of Horror Business which is a look at what his subjects have been up to since he finished filming this one. (Chris Hartley, 5/21/07)

Directed By: Christopher P. Garetano.

Picture Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen.

Picture Quality: Considering that much of Horror Business is taken from various sources (digital, VHS, etc.) it looks pretty solid on DVD.

Extras: An alright batch of special features here with a trailer, trailers for Catharsis and Birdy, a Trevor Cook art gallery (he created the DVD cover), the director's short film "365 Ways To Cook Chicken" with introduction, a making of featurette entitled "The Escape of Horror Business" and an introduction to the feature by Garetano.