Late Night Psycho Twisted Noir
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Fri 11 June 2004 // 23:00
LATE NIGHT PSYCHO TWISTED NOIR
(Fri 11th / from 11pm / £6)
Three bizarro takes on the institution of insanity have been brought together for a tour of the country in May and June, settling finally at the Cube Microplex after taking in: The Horse Hospital London, Newcastle Side Cinema and Brighton Cinematheque.
BRAINSTORM
(William Conrad / 1965 / USA / 106 mins / 16mm / cert 15)
Unforeseen complications throw a macabre wrench into a young scientist's plot to kill the husband of his lover. There is lots of pleasure to be gleaned from this strangely compelling mid-60s noir sleeper. Amongst others, the unusual cast features Sci-Fi veterans Jeffrey Hunter and Anne Francis (the cause of Walter Pidgeon's "Monsters of the Id" from FORBIDDEN PLANET) team up in this effort to cheat the system by having Hunter feign insanity. Viveca Lindfors is
particularly effective in the sympathetic yet ultimately cold-blooded shrink. It is a clever little script which takes a alternative approach to psychotherapy and insanity which is well-suited to the low budget. The music, cinematography and fashions are all pure mid-60s, a compliment to a bygone era full of excesses but also occasionally blessed with productive experimentation.
SHOCK CORRIDOR
(Sam Fuller / 1963 / USA / 96 mins / 16mm / cert 15)
Newspaper reporter Barrett is so obsessed with winning the Pulitzer Prize that he plans to get himself committed to the state hospital as a sexual pervert. Once there, he plans to solve a murder by gaining the trust of three inmates who witnessed the murder, and finding out the truth that eluded the police. Strongly independent film auteur Samuel Fuller filmed this mostly in black and white-with a few bizarre colour sequences shot in different film stock to represent dream sequences.
MENTAL HOSPITAL
This 1953 short film, sponsored by the University of Oklahoma, tries to make you feel OK about "modern" treatment (institutionalisation, insulin
shock and electro shock) of mental illness and reduce the stigma, yet begins and ends with a full screen disclaimer: "Recognizable personages appearing in this film are not patients in a mental institution". A gem of a retro-oddity from the Stevenson camp.
Jack Stevenson is a film archivist and B-Movie historian based in Denmark who is brought the show to the UK. Jack has toured with several programmes of films from his collection- most recently with 3 shows that the Cube hosted in Feb2004. They were- a lecture about the DOGMA 95 movement, a set of USA War Propaganda films and a beginners guide to Exploitation Cinema (Jack's pet topic, I fancy).
Classic midnight material, see them all for £6 on Friday 11th
starting at 11pm sharp, or individually at earlier times on the following days..
SHOCK CORRIDOR + MENTAL HOSPITAL
(Sun 13th + Mon 14th / 7pm / £4/3cons)
BRAINSTORM
(Sun 13th + Mon 14th / 9pm / £4/3cons)
(Fri 11th / from 11pm / £6)
Three bizarro takes on the institution of insanity have been brought together for a tour of the country in May and June, settling finally at the Cube Microplex after taking in: The Horse Hospital London, Newcastle Side Cinema and Brighton Cinematheque.
BRAINSTORM
(William Conrad / 1965 / USA / 106 mins / 16mm / cert 15)
Unforeseen complications throw a macabre wrench into a young scientist's plot to kill the husband of his lover. There is lots of pleasure to be gleaned from this strangely compelling mid-60s noir sleeper. Amongst others, the unusual cast features Sci-Fi veterans Jeffrey Hunter and Anne Francis (the cause of Walter Pidgeon's "Monsters of the Id" from FORBIDDEN PLANET) team up in this effort to cheat the system by having Hunter feign insanity. Viveca Lindfors is
particularly effective in the sympathetic yet ultimately cold-blooded shrink. It is a clever little script which takes a alternative approach to psychotherapy and insanity which is well-suited to the low budget. The music, cinematography and fashions are all pure mid-60s, a compliment to a bygone era full of excesses but also occasionally blessed with productive experimentation.
SHOCK CORRIDOR
(Sam Fuller / 1963 / USA / 96 mins / 16mm / cert 15)
Newspaper reporter Barrett is so obsessed with winning the Pulitzer Prize that he plans to get himself committed to the state hospital as a sexual pervert. Once there, he plans to solve a murder by gaining the trust of three inmates who witnessed the murder, and finding out the truth that eluded the police. Strongly independent film auteur Samuel Fuller filmed this mostly in black and white-with a few bizarre colour sequences shot in different film stock to represent dream sequences.
MENTAL HOSPITAL
This 1953 short film, sponsored by the University of Oklahoma, tries to make you feel OK about "modern" treatment (institutionalisation, insulin
shock and electro shock) of mental illness and reduce the stigma, yet begins and ends with a full screen disclaimer: "Recognizable personages appearing in this film are not patients in a mental institution". A gem of a retro-oddity from the Stevenson camp.
Jack Stevenson is a film archivist and B-Movie historian based in Denmark who is brought the show to the UK. Jack has toured with several programmes of films from his collection- most recently with 3 shows that the Cube hosted in Feb2004. They were- a lecture about the DOGMA 95 movement, a set of USA War Propaganda films and a beginners guide to Exploitation Cinema (Jack's pet topic, I fancy).
Classic midnight material, see them all for £6 on Friday 11th
starting at 11pm sharp, or individually at earlier times on the following days..
SHOCK CORRIDOR + MENTAL HOSPITAL
(Sun 13th + Mon 14th / 7pm / £4/3cons)
BRAINSTORM
(Sun 13th + Mon 14th / 9pm / £4/3cons)