Thursdays 2
Altered States: Body Horror in Cinema
Programmed by Alexander Fee
Deriving itself from the distortion of what is most familiar to us, Body Horror preys upon destabilizing the very structure of the human body. The human figure and form are manipulated and molded, allowing for even human nature to be twisted and changed into something entirely unknown.
9/29/2016 @ 9:30 PM
The Fly
(David Cronenberg, 1986) · A visceral, disturbing remake of the 1958 classic, David Cronenberg's The Fly stars Jeff Goldblum as Seth Brundle, a scientist dedicated to creating a teleportation device. Brundle meets and falls in love with reporter Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis), revealing his project to her. When Brundle attempts to be the first human subject for his device, the presence of a housefly in the teleportation chamber results in dire consequences for his future humanity.
runtime: 96 min format: 35mm
10/6/2016 @ 9:30 PM
Eraserhead
(David Lynch, 1977) · David Lynch's debut, Eraserhead is a gloomy, feverish immersion into the life of Henry Spencer (Jack Nance). Henry inhabits a bleak, industrial reality where he discovers that his girlfriend, Mary X (Charlotte Stewart) has given birth to his child—something not entirely human. With its surreal imagery and disquieting atmosphere, Eraserhead plunges headfirst into Henry's own fears and insecurities.
runtime: 89 min format: 35mm
10/13/2016 @ 9:00 PM
The Blob
(Chuck Russell, 1988) · A meteorite crash in California unleashes a corrosive, amoeba-like organism that invades a nearby town. Melting the flesh of anyone that crosses its path, the Blob challenges the survival of the small town and humanity itself. Another remake of a '50s genre classic, Chuck Russell's newer take lives up to the source material, enhanced in particular by a relatively flexible budget, well spent on surprisingly inventive and grisly blob death set pieces.
runtime: 95 min format: 35mm
10/20/2016 @ 9:30 PM
The Thing
(John Carpenter, 1982) · A remake of Howard Hawk's seminal 1951 sci-fi thriller, John Carpenter's version doubles down on suspense and vicious gore. An Antarctic research team encounters a creature that can replicate other lifeforms, sowing paranoia in the confined research base when the crew members realize one of them may have been replaced. Starring Kurt Russell and accompanied by Ennio Morricone's chilling score, The Thing is regarded as a horror classic.
runtime: 109 min format: 35mm
10/27/2016 @ 9:45 PM
Alien
(Ridley Scott, 1979) · In the depths of space, the Nostromo crew come across an unknown distress beacon emitted from a nearby planet. Upon further investigation, they find the ruins of a derelict spacecraft that brings the crew into contact with a primal and parasitic organism whose very function is predatory perfection. Introducing Sigourney Weaver as the strong-willed Ellen Ripley and directed by Ridley Scott, Alien evokes a nightmare of isolation and terror.
runtime: 117 min format: 35mm
11/03/2016 @ 9:30 PM
Altered States
(Ken Russell, 1980) · Dr. Edward Jessup (William Hurt), a professor of abnormal psychology, starts to experiment with sensory deprivation tanks and hallucinogens in an attempt to induce altered states of human consciousness. Descending deeper into his work, Jessup begins to experience troubling mutations. Reality begins to slip away in this 1980 film penned by auteur Paddy Chayefsky and directed by the wildly indulgent Ken Russell. Note: 35mm print is faded and red.
runtime: 102 min format: 35mm
11/10/2016 @ 9:30 PM
Videodrome
(David Cronenberg, 1983) · Sleazy cable exec Max Renn (James Woods) discovers a pirate broadcast of torture porn right when he's in the market for new programming. Increasingly obsessed by this elusive signal, simply named Videodrome, Max succumbs to the seductive reality emanating from his TV, slowly sucked into an underworld of esoteric cults and corporate conspiracies. At its most disturbing, Videodrome blurs the boundaries between flesh, mind and cathode ray tube.
runtime: 87 min format: 35mm
11/17/2016 @ 9:30 PM
Tetsuo, the Iron Man
(Shinya Tsukamoto, 1988) · After hitting a metal fetishist with his car and hiding the body, a Japanese businessman finds himself transforming into a hybrid of flesh and scrap metal. His metamorphosis is a hallucinatory nightmare, a necrotic industrial makeover, swelling with high pitched venereal terror. Now regarded as a classic of Japanese cyberpunk, Tetsuo enhances gritty, low-budget practical effects with frenetic stop-motion animation and intense chiaroscuro.
runtime: 67 min format: DCP
12/1/2016 @ 9:30 PM
An American Werewolf in London
(John Landis, 1981) · While hiking in the misty English Moors, American college students David Kessler (David Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Griffin Dunne) cross paths with a large, deadly wolf. Surviving the vicious mauling, David starts to experience visions and realizes that he may become a wolf when the full moon rises again. Thanks to Rick Baker's Oscar-winning special effects, An American Werewolf in London remains one of the most iconic and lauded werewolf movies ever made.
runtime: 97 min format: 35mm
