In the Grey Zone, a nebulous post-apocalyptic community built out of shipping containers, Axel (Steven Jesse Bernstein), Scratch (Linda Severt), and Razoreus (Marshall Reid) distract themselves from ennui by skateboarding and listening to the music of Orpheus (Robert McGinley) and his band, the Shredders.
On one such night, a mysterious cameraman films Orpheus's lover, Eurydice (Megan Murphy) and takes the footage to Hades (Gian-Carlo Scandiuzzi) and Persephone (Vera McCaughan), the managers of the Euthanasia Broadcast Network, or EBN.
Orpheus's manager, Linus (John Billingsley) gives the couple a "Gibsonian Lyre-Axe Guitar" supposedly made by Jimi Hendrix that can unlock new realms of human consciousness.
Inside the EBN, Orpheus meets his parents, Apollo and Calliope, and barely escapes having his memories erased by a magic paper shredder that shreds the minds of incoming souls.
Orpheus's interest is piqued when Axel's gang mentions a gate to the underworld in a mysterious parking garage no one has successfully skated before, but when Linus suggests a tarot reading from an oracle, she cautions him against unnecessary risks.
Special features include audio commentary, behind-the-scenes photos, the original VHS version, trailers and promos, writings on the myth, and subtitles.
Written by, directed by and starring On the Boards co-founder Robert McGinley, it was a complete anomaly during its initial 1989 release—an all-local feature film made back when Seattle was still considered a backwater town by most of the world (grunge and the dotcom boom were still gleams in the city’s collective eye).
Within this isolated Petri dish, McGinley enlisted a ragtag cast and crew of artists and creatives to put a unique spin on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.