CGC Grades Carbolic Soap, a Lost Film by Edgar Wright

If you’re a fan of satirical comedy or action films, you’ve likely heard of Edgar Wright, the English filmmaker responsible for hits such as Spaced (1999-2001), Shaun of the Dead (2004) and The Running Man (2025). However, no established filmmaker begins their journey at the top. Before he was churning out big-screen hits, Wright self-produced short films shot with a Video8 camcorder. One of these films was called Carbolic Soap, and it was considered lost media for several decades… but not anymore!

CGC recently certified an extremely rare copy of Carbolic Soap on VHS. The complete-in-box VHS received a grade of CGC 9.4, with a 9.0 grade for the case and 9.8 for the media inside. The hand-drawn case cover is in impressive condition for being more than 30 years old.

Carbolic Soap is a 60-minute superhero parody film starring Graham Low, who is known for acting in several of Edgar Wright’s early films and TV shows. Recorded on a Video8 camera for Video8 and VHS players, Wright wrote, produced and directed the entire film himself at the age of 17. After producing the film, he released it to a limited audience in a screening held in May 1992. Additionally, several copies of the movie were made available for purchase on VHS.

Unfortunately, Carbolic Soap was never re-released after that initial theatrical run and the VHS copies made available for sale were either all purchased or otherwise lost, and any copy on the secondary market became extremely rare and expensive. Wright’s other short films from the time were either re-released on DVD or made available online, Carbolic Soap essentially disappeared in the ensuing decades and was eventually considered lost media.

Then, in 2022, a Carbolic Soap VHS resurfaced on Ewbank's, where it was offered in a November auction. According to the auction house, one of Wright’s past co-workers had purchased the VHS back in 1992 and had kept it in a private collection until it was offered in that auction. The ungraded Carbolic Soap VHS sold for £1,040 (about $1,400), double its estimate of £400 to £600.

Now this year, in January 2026, an anonymous user uploaded the entirety of Carbolic Soap to the Internet Archive, allowing the film to be watched by modern audiences for the first time. Soon after, the video was uploaded to YouTube to reach a wider audience, and many Edgar Wright fans and film enthusiasts alike have watched the film since.

“This is an incredible piece of film history,” said Kenneth Thrower, Director of CGC Home Video. “After being lost media for so long, it’s important to keep any physical copies of Carbolic Soap (and other physical media) preserved. Luckily, with CGC's industry-leading holder, the VHS will be preserved for decades to come.”

About CGC

Since revolutionizing comic book grading in 2000, CGC has grown to include certification services for a vast variety of pop culture collectibles. These divisions include CGC Cards, CGC Video Games and CGC Home Video. CGC Cards provides expert card grading for sports cards, TCGs and non-sports cards. CGC Video Games is dedicated to video game grading for the most popular consoles, including Nintendo, Sega, Atari, PlayStation and more. CGC Home Video provides expert VHS grading in addition to other types of videocassettes, DVD, Blu-ray and more. CGC also offers seamless solutions for autograph collectors with CGC Signature Series and JSA Authentic Autograph services.

CGC is part of the Certified Collectibles Group, a global provider of expert and impartial authentication and grading services for collectibles. Since 1987, the Certified Collectibles Group companies have certified more than 110 million collectibles, including coins, banknotes, comic books, cards, autographs and stamps.