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The sensuous and the menacing meet in this striking, highly detailed poster for Tony Scott's The Hunger
In New York an immortal, beautiful woman lives with her vampire lover, who suddenly starts aging at a rapid speed. An aging-focused scientist is sought out and starts to overtake the man's position...
The Hunger is written by James Costigan (On Borrowed Time (1957)) and Michael Thomas (Countryman (1982)), adapting the same-titled 1981 novel by Whitley Strieber (The Wolfen (1978)), and directed by English master filmmaker Tony Scott (Loving Memory (1971)), whose 2nd feature it was.
Scott's finest film, The Hunger is a visual treat, (cinematography by Stephen Goldblatt (For the Boys (1991))), hyper-stylized with dream compositions and lights, beautiful sound work and music choices, (score by Denny Jaeger (What Waits Below (1984)) and Michel Rubini (Manhunter (1986))). Susan Sarandon (Lovin' Molly (1974)), otherworldly beautiful Catherine Deneuve (Changing Times/Les Temps qui Changent (2004)) and über-cool David Bowie (Zoolander (2001)) give formidable performances. The make-up jobs are unparalleled, the special effects radical and troubling.
The film's handling of its central themes of immortality and love seems to encourage its audience to take on and rejoice in our own mortality. The Hunger is a fierce and absolutely fantastic masterpiece.
Scott talks about making the film many years later in a video here
Cost: Reportedly 10 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly 10.2 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 1.02 times its cost)
[The Hunger was released 29 April (USA) and runs 97 minutes. Shooting took place from March 1982 - ? in New York and in England, including in London. SPOILER The final balcony scene with Sarandon's character was a studio-mandated addition. The film opened #5, behind holdover hit Flashdance, fellow new release Something Wicked This Way Comes, holdover hit Tootsie and fellow new release Valley Girl, to a 1.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 5.9 mil. $ (57.8 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 1.5/4 star review, translating to 5 notches under this one. Scott returned with Top Gun (1986). Deneuve returned in Le Bon Plaisir (1984); Bowie in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983); and Sarandon in The Buddy System (1984). The Hunger is rotten at 55 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
A simple, elegant poster for Michael Apted's Gorky Park
Three dead bodies are found the snow of Moscow's Gorky Park with their faces peeled off. The city's most successful cop smells KGB on the case, but his investigation also points him towards an American. Gorky Park is written by Dennis Potter (Tender Is the Night (1985, miniseries)), based on the same-titled 1981 novel by Martin Cruz Smith (The Indians Won (1970)), and directed by Michael Apted (The Triple Echo (1972)). It is a great proponent of a crime thriller with plenty of local color colors. The film also gives its audience a feeling of the repression the people suffered under in the USSR. William Hurt (Syriana (2005)) is excellent as our cop protagonist; Lee Marvin (The Killers (1964)) doesn't seem to actually act much, but he's there and it works. Also in the solid cast; Ian McDiarmid (Spooks (2004, TV-series)) as a morbid coroner. Gorky Park is a cold-looking place and its score (by James Horner (Avatar (2009))) is very much of its time. But the film is full of suspense and action, and it has a showdown in Stockholm.
Watch a 4-minute scene from the film with Hurt and Marvin here
Cost: 6.5 mil. $ Box office: 15.8 mil. $ (North America alone) = Uncertain - but at least a box office success (returned 2.43 times its cost in North America alone) [Gorky Park was released 16 December (USA) and runs 123 minutes. Shooting took place in Glasgow, Scotland, Helsinki, Finland, Stockholm, Sweden and in Moscow, then the USSR, from February - May 1983. Helsinki stood in for Moscow for most of the film, as the crew were denied permits to shoot there. The film opened #13 to a 1.2 mil. $ first weekend in 629 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #5, behind holdover hits Terms of Endearment, Silkwood, new release Reckless and holdover hit Never Cry Wolf. The film's international gross numbers are regrettably not available. If it made a realistic 20-30 mil. $ worldwide it would rank as either a box office success or a big hit. It was nominated for a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Apted returned with Firstborn (1984). Hurt returned in Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985); Marvin in Dog Day (1984). Gorky Park is fresh at 75 % with a 6.53/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of Gorky Park?
A man seems caught in a nightmarish situation with a sinister, cross-wearing lady on this great poster for Paul Verhoeven's The Fourth Man
A predominantly gay writer meets a woman at a Q&A session, who becomes his girlfriend. But he then starts to learn about her former men and their unenviable fates, while he suffers frightening dreams. The Fourth Man is written by Gerard Soeteman (Floris (2004)), based on the same-titled 1981 novel by Gerard Reve (De Avonden/The Evenings (1947)), and directed by great Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven (Spetters (1980)). Verhoeven's grip on the sex thriller is already well-developed here in this highly cinematic and exciting film, which is formed around a very simple story. Jeroen Krabbé (Fogbound (2002)) is outstanding as the pitiful, often amusing rascal hero. I love all the coincidences and implausibilities in the plot, which leaps forward with a great visual energy, (cinematography by Jan de Bont (Growing Pains (1984))), special effects and a wealth of skin and naughty scenes. Verhoeven's direction is strong and distinctive. SPOILER I have a reservation about the grave chamber scene; in it our hero should reasonably first have sex with the guy of his desire there, before surrendering to the grip of anxiety, - this is essentially a psychological error in the script. The film is like a Freudian nightmare, one left wide open for interpretation. The Fourth Man is a very attractive piece of work, you are likely to want to see more than once.
Listen to some of Loek Dikker's score from the film here
Cost: Unknown Box office: Unknown = Uncertain [The Fourth Man was released 24 March (Netherlands) and runs 102 minutes. Shooting took place in the Holland, including Amsterdam. Verhoeven has said of the film: "The Fourth Man has to do with my vision of religion. In my opinion, Christianity
is nothing more than one of many interpretations of reality, neither
more nor less. Ideally, it would be nice to believe that there is a God somewhere out there, but it looks to me as if the whole Christian religion is a major symptom of schizophrenia
in half the world's population: civilizations scrambling to rationalize
their chaotic existence. Subsequently, Christianity has a tendency to
look like magic or the occult.
And I liked that ambiguity, because I wanted my audience to take
something home with them. I wanted them to wonder about what religion
really is. Remember, that Christianity is a religion grounded in one of
the most violent acts of murder, the crucifixion.
Otherwise, religion wouldn't have had any kind of impact. With regard
to the irony of the violence, much of that probably comes from my
childhood experiences during and immediately following the Second World War. In fact, if it hadn't been for the German occupation and then the American occupation, I would have never been a filmmaker." The film's box office take is unknown; it sold 274k tickets in production country Holland, less than Verhoeven's earlier hits, and it was his last film in his native country. It won a National Board of Review award and was chosen as Holland's Oscar entry of the year but wasn't nominated. It was remade as The Good Thief (2002). Verhoeven considered his 4th Hollywood movie Basic Instinct (1992) a 'spiritual prequel' to The Fourth Man. Verhoeven returned with Flesh+Blood (1985). Krabbé returned in 4 TV credits before theatrically in Turtle Diary (1985); Renée Soutendijk (Suspiria (2018)) returned in An Bloem (1983). 6,355 IMDb users have given The Fourth Man a 7.3/10 average rating.] What do you think of The Fourth Man?
One of the few posters for Nicolas Roeg's Eureka is this hideous concoction
QUICK REVIEW:
Jack McCann's (Gene Hackman (The Royal Tenenbaums (2001))) passion is the hunt for gold. But when he in 1925, after a 15 years long search, finally hit a big ore, he metaphorically dies. SPOILER He later dies literally: After getting beaten vehemently, his head is burned with a blow torch, he is covered in feathers and then decapitated in what may be one of cinema's ugliest death scenes. Eureka, written by Paul Mayersberg (The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)), based on Marshall Houts' non-fiction book Who Killed Sir Harry Oakes?, and directed by Nicolas Roeg (Walkabout (1971)), is a film which is carried out in a demonstratively expressive, loud, Freudian palette with excessive use of zoom and a trite orgy scene. What Roeg tried to do here seems very old-fashioned today in the shadows of such much superior, related films as Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2007).
In lieu of a trailer for the movie, which isn't on Youtube, here's an interview with Roeg about his David Bowie-starring The Man Who Fell to Earth
Cost: Unknown Box office: 123k $ (North America only) = Mega-flop [Eureka was released May 20 (UK) and runs 130 minutes. It is loosely based on the life and death of Sir Harry Oakes, who was murdered in the Bahamas in 1943. The film was shot in England, Florida, Jamaica and Canada. As of 1986, it was only released theatrically in 4 countries. It was produced during troubled times for its American distributor MGM/UA, who "dumped it" in a few theaters in the fall of 1984. Millions of dollars were lost on Eureka, which, nevertheless, didn't end Roeg's career. 1,948 IMDb-users have given Eureka a 6/10 average rating.] What do you think of Eureka?
The eerie, well-composed poster for David Cronenberg's The Dead Zone
QUICK REVIEW:
Our school teacher hero is set to be married, as he gets involved in a traffic accident that puts him in a five-year coma. When he awakes to a reality that has moved on, he has a new ability: He sees horrific things ...
The Dead Zone is a good Stephen King-adaptation (Misery (1987)). Jeffrey Boam (The Lost Boys (1987)) adapted King's same-title 1979 novel, and Canadian master filmmaker David Cronenberg (Naked Lunch (1991)) has directed it. Fans of Cronenberg might be a bit disappointed with the film, because there are only a few Cronenberg touches to it, and it feels a little novel-like; this happens, then that happens and so on. But Christoper Walken (A Late Quartet (2012)) and Martin Sheen (The West Wing (1999-06)) are good in it, and it is still a well-done and exciting film.
In lieu of a trailer, not currently on Youtube, watch the opening credit sequence of the film here
Cost: 10 mil. $ Box office: 20.7 mil. $ (North America only) = Unknown [The Dead Zone was released October 21 and runs 103 minutes. Stanley Donen, Andrei Konchalovsky and John Badham were contacted to direct before Cronenberg was set. King wrote a screenplay himself and originally wanted Bill Murray for the lead, but his script was rejected, and he reportedly ended up complimenting Boam and Cronenberg's changes to the story, saying that [they] "improved and intensified the power of the narrative." The film was shot on location in Cronenberg's native Ontario, Canada during a deep freeze winter, which contributed greatly to the freezing atmosphere in the film. Dead Zone opened #2 in North America with 4.5 mil. $, behind Never Say Never Again. Without foreign box office numbers, it isn't possible to say whether the film crept up into profitability theatrically, although it probably became a small success. The Dead Zone is fresh at 90 % with a 7.6 average on Rotten Tomatoes.] What do you think of The Dead Zone?
Text-over-crowded poster for John Carpenter's Christine
QUICK REVIEW:
Arnie is a bespectacled loser, while his best friend is the football lover-boy. But then Arnie discovers Christine, a wrecked 1958 Plymouth, and he fixes her up. - But Christine is more than just a car ... Christine is a classical horror flick, which, if Christine had been a whisky bottle instead of a car, could have been called a drama. The best and coolest thing about this high school car horror fare is its look: With cinematography by Donald M. Morgan (Starman (1984)) and the visually masterful, great director John Carpenter (The Thing (1982)), Christine looks rad. And the 50's music, which must have worked like a childhood-anxiety-provoking element especially for the writer of the novel the film is adapting, Stephen King (The Dead Zone (1983)), is cool. Christine is cool. Unfortunately, many of the actors are amateurs, and several of the young performances are a bag that's a bit too mixed in quality. Also, a little humor wouldn't have hurt Christine. Robert Prosky (Last Action Hero (1993)) plays a wonderful mechanic in the film. Carpenter made this between The Thing (1982) and Starman (1984). He's in his late 60's today and seems to have retired from film-making.
Stylized poster for Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson's The Black Adder
QUICK REVIEW:
The Black Adder is the first season of the long-running historical BBC sitcom, made upon the success of Fawlty Towers (1975-79) by writer-creators Richard Curtis (Notting Hill (1999), writer) and Rowan Atkinson (Bean (1997)). The series is, in short, a barrel of laughs. The way that it stomps on and around Anglo-Saxon history, culture and traditions, - and the English language none the least, - is irreverent madcap fun, and it gets combined with a boastful pomposity, black humor en masse and actors with superb skills in mimicry and comedy; first and foremost, of course, Atkinson himself, but also Brian Blessed (Hamlet (1996)) as Richard III is phenomenal. The character of Black Adder is abominably ugly and hilarious; Atkinson's job here is a triumph for BBC and for England! The plot in the show is often incoherent and always gaga. Because the season only spans six episodes, I will delineate their plots very shortly here:
1. The ever-scheming protagonist decides against the alias 'Black Vegetable' in the first episode and goes ahead with 'Black Adder' instead. 2. In Born to Be King, a primitive, Scottish duke comes visiting. 3. Prince Edmund 'Black Adder' is appointed bishop of Canterbury. 4. In The Queen of Spain's Beard, Black Adder tries to play homosexual so as to avoid matrimony with the horrid, Spanish queen, but instead ends up marrying a little girl!?! 5. Pest! 6. Black Adder joins a gang, who end up poisoning the entire royal house and themselves. SPOILER Everyone dies! The anarchy of the show is redeeming fun, and is basically about the royal outsider, Edmond 'Black Adder', who wishes so badly to be king, but never succeeds in his many ploys to achieve his goal. The edition that I enjoyed seeing was the official BBC release, but it badly needed a restoration, and I think it a scandal, if BBC still hasn't awarded this grand series proper care in that regard. Another critique is that Black Adder is choreographed and filmed as if it were a recorded theatrical play. This is no great impediment, since smiles and laughs erupt so frequently, as one sees the series, but it still is a rather lax concept for a visual medium.
Here are some more faces of the singular Rowan Atkinson as Black Adder. Click to enlarge
The familiar, beloved intro speak of series creator Rod Serling is the center of this name-heavy, atmospheric poster for Joe Dante, John Landis, George Miller and Steven Spielberg's Twilight Zone: The Movie
Twilight Zone The Movie is an anthology homage to Rod Serling's (The Loner (1965-66), writer) classic 1959-64 science fiction/horror/fantasy TV-series of the same name, created by Rod Serling. The film consists of 4 stories, each by a different filmmaker. The original segment is the first one, written and directed by Illinoisan master filmmaker John Landis' (An American Werewolf in London (1981)). The three later are remakes of stories from the show; segment 2 by Ohioan master filmmaker Steven Spielberg (Jaws (1975)), written by Richard Matheson (Duel (1971), TV movie) and Melissa Mathison (The Indian in the Cupboard (1995)), segment 3 by great New Jerseyite filmmaker Joe Dante (Small Soldiers (1998)), written by Matheson, and segment 4 by great Australian filmmaker George Miller(Mad Max (1979)), also written by Matheson. The movie opens with a prologue segment about two men on a long night drive with no entertainment but what they can make up by themselves. They are played by Albert Brooks (Finding Nemo (2003)) and Dan Aykroyd (The Blues Brothers (1980)). The first segment deals with a racist who gets catapulted into various historical places where racism has been prevalent, and where he fares poorly. The second segment is about a retirement home that gets a new resident (Scatman Crothers (The Shining (1980))), who teaches them how to play again. This segment is by no means fantasy, horror or science fiction and falls somewhat out of place in the film, although it does have a nice morale to it, and some nice, elderly actors. It is characteristic of Spielberg to direct this particular story, and a red line about playfulness as the driving component in life can be drawn from it and back to his two preceding great films, Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and ahead to later Spielberg films like Hook (1991) and Catch Me If You Can (2002). The third segment revolves around a lady who accidentally backs into a boy on a bike, and who subsequently drives him home and has dinner with his insane family. This segment deals with sanity vs. insanity, and I found it quite unnerving. The last segment concerns a man on an airplane who's afraid of flying and begins seeing a creature outside on the wing of the plane. The man is played by John Lithgow (The World According to Garp (1982)), who turns in an amazingly anxious performance in an otherwise somewhat stale story.
While all of these stories would have most likely been amazing to watch on TV, they need to be elevated greatly to fully function on the big screen, and Twilight Zone: The Movie doesn't fully succeed in doing this. Still the film is highly enjoyable, with excellent production value and special effects and a fine score by Jerry Goldsmith (The Mummy (1999)), a mostly fine anthology largely thanks to the 'anything-can-happen' quality of the Twilight Zone universe.
Cost: 10 mil. $ Box office: 42 mil. $ = Big hit (returned 4.2 times its cost)
[Twilight Zone: The Movie was released 24 June (North America) and runs 101 minutes. Shooting took place from July - November 1982 in California, including in Los Angeles. Tragedy struck early on in filming on Landis' segment, when pyrotechnical explosions interfered with the low-flying helicopter in the Vietnam War-set episode, causing the chopper to crash onto star actor Vic Morrow (Charlie's Angels (1978-80)), who was fleeing in the scene from the helicopter, holding two Vietnamese children. All three were killed, with Morrow and one of the two children being beheaded by the rotor blades. Amazingly the rest of the film was completed, and the segment was kept in the finished film with only the kids, - who were also working against California's child labor laws, - being left out. The film opened #4, behind holdover hits Star Wars: Episode VI - The Return of the Jedi and Superman III and fellow new release Porky's II: The Next Day, to a 6.6 mil. $ first weekend. It remained in the top 5 for one more weekend (#4), grossing 29.4 mil. $ (70 % of the total gross). The foreign numbers are regrettably not public information. Spielberg distanced himself publicly from Landis, who was prosecuted along with 4 other crew members for their involvement in the accident. The trial lasted nearly a decade but all were eventually acquitted. Landis returned with Michael Jackson: Thriller (1983, music video) and theatrically with Into the Night (1985); Spielberg with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984); Dante with Gremlins (1984) and Miller with Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). Twilight Zone: The Movie is rotten at 59 % with a 5.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
