At the onset of the ’90s, writer and director Allan Moyle’s films were a precursor of a trendy period for big film companies looking to cash in on indie culture by building films around the promotion of so-called “grunge” compilation soundtracks.

Following closely behind the release of pioneering pitch-black teenage comedy Heathers, Moyle’s film Pump Up The Volume, released in 1990, delved into the underexplored dark recesses of the suburban American teenage nightmare. Up until this point, no film had so boldly presented onscreen themes of teenage sexuality, suicide, and family based trauma.

Following an initial series of inexplicable bad reviews from critics potentially not yet prepared to see these dark youth narratives played out in a pop-cultural context, Moyle retreated into a brief retirement from the industry. In the meantime, other directors made a slew of films — SFW, Reality Bites, Tank Girl — that succeeded with these same themes.

It wasn’t until five years later that Moyle returned with Empire Records, his quirky stoner comedy follow-up to PUTV. With an ensemble cast of soon-to-be-stars featuring a young Liv Tyler, there was the hope that Moyle would finally get the credit he deserved for his contributions to the genre, only to have the film buried completely and never properly released into cinemas.

Despite the impact of films like this on the industry, Moyle’s films continued to be panned by mainstream film industry critics only to develop large cult audiences in the decades to follow.

We spoke with Allan before his packed screening of Empire Records at this year’s POP Montreal Festival about staying resilient after constant rejection by the mainstream film industry, as well as to reflect on the impact his films had on the teenage movie genre he helped create a language for.

Read the full Q&A after the jump!

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