AGFA MYSTERY MIXTAPE #2: LATER IN L.A. (2020) **

The second volume of Mystery Mixtapes from the American Genre Film Archive kicks off with that “You Wouldn’t Steal a Car” anti-piracy PSA that used to play on DVDs back in the ‘00s.  Some younger folks may have nostalgia for this PSA, but as someone who worked at a video store during this era, I always found it to be grating and annoying.  That was the first sign that Later in L.A. wasn’t exactly going to be my cup of tea.  

As with the first installment, most of the sequences come from the same four or five sources, which takes some of the fun out of it.  Segments include Bob Costas interviewing Tim Burton just before the release of Batman Returns (he asks about Sean Young’s unorthodox campaign to play Catwoman, but Burton unfortunately dodges the question), a documentary on the making of Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu, snippets from Gorgon Video Magazine (including Lloyd Kaufman being interviewed at Troma Studios, KNB doing effects for The Horror Show, and the making of Linnea Quigley’s Horror Workout), an ad for VHS horror releases (including Howling 2 and Dawn of the Dead), a behind the scenes look at the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles “Coming Out of Their Shells” Tour, and the making of Tobe Hooper’s Lifeforce.  It all ends with Tom Snyder interviewing Peter Cushing, Forrest J. Ackerman, and a “Professor of Monsters”.  Along the way, the tape is interspersed with local news bumpers as well as Vincent Price doing commercials for cheesesteaks and videotapes.  

As someone who enjoys these things for nostalgic purposes, AGFA Mystery Mixtape #2:  Later in L.A. kinda fell flat.  I guess ‘90s kids will dig it, but since I am a child of the ‘80s, it didn’t do a whole lot for me.  (The Ninja Turtles shit goes on way too long.)  At any rate, the random bit of Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig cutting up at the Golden Globes seemed like a rather useless inclusion for something like this.