The Kuchar Brothers, Mike and George, are not household names, nor is it likely that they ever will be. That said, since the sixties they've assembled an interesting, and in its own bizarre way, completely impressive body of work in the world of underground filmmaking. In fact, the Kuchar's legacy actually extends back even further in time than that, to their boyhood film projects of the 1950s where the pair of twin brothers made monster movies in their back yard.

Currently, and when we start the film we see this, George works as a filmschool teacher in California where he plies his trade on plenty of appreciative students, using his experience from the low budget trenches to teach them that filmmaking doesn't have to be elitist or done on a massive budget. Technology has come a long way and has made it pretty much accessible to anyone with a few hundred bucks for a computer and a digital camcorder. The Kuchar's, however, didn't have that technology available to them when they cut their teeth. Instead, they had to scramble for resource and sometimes make do without. This didn't stop them from going at it full force whenever they could, and as such, they've amassed a pretty substantial collection of oddly personal projects over the years.

Director Jennifer Kroot's documentary lets the Kuchar's tell their story to us. A combination of interviews with the brothers themselves, pertinent film clips, and interviews with those who appreciate their work (an interesting cast of characters in and of itself, made up of the likes of Buck Henry, John Waters, Bill Griffith, and plenty of others), this is an interesting look at why films like Sins Of The Fleshapoids matter. The Kuchar's often didn't have two pennies to rub together as far as an effects budget or talent budget were concerned, but, like other low budget filmmakers before and since, they had drive and in their case that drive was enough to keep them going. Their films lean towards artsy genre fare, and almost seem like something Andy Milligan might have made had he had more talent. Like Milligan, the Kuchar's are gay and as such, there are homosexual themes and undertones throughout some of their work but to label their films as 'gay cinema' would be limiting - this stuff is interesting regardless of sexual orientation.

It's also interesting to note that, though they started off in film together, they've since gone in separate directions but those separate directions have often intertwined and frequently crossed paths. You get a sense for the camaraderie that they feel and for the passion that they show for their work, and on top of that, as they reminisce on camera you get a feeling for what put them where they are. It wasn't just hard work and an obsession with the media, but support from family and friends, an interesting circle of co-conspirators, and maybe just a little bit of luck as well.

Completely devoid of the type of pretension that can easily ruin a project like this, It Came From Kushar is frequently hilarious, occasionally touching, and consistently interesting. The subjects come off as very approachable, with a keen sense of humor and a unique slant on their own art. Their stories are entertaining, their films are bizarre enough to stand out, and if George has more to say simply because his career has been more direct, well, Mike still has some great ideas and stories to share and gets plenty of words in edge wise. When it's all said and done, it's hard not to have a good time with this one. It could have gone into more biographical detail than it does and it's fairly clip heavy at times but ultimately, this is just a whole lot of fun to watch and quite interesting at that.

Video:

It Came From Kuchar is a bit erratic as far as the video quality goes. Many of the newly shot interviews, done on DV, look crisp and clean but sometimes the colors look bleached out for some reason. The film clips used throughout the documentary are all over the place, some looking fairly good, others looking like the older low budget movies that they are. If you look at the bigger picture, it all works and the movie's style sort of reflects that of its subjects, but if it's visual perfection you're after, you won't find it here. The image is presented in 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen.