Film School Confidential
Cult screenings to slake your thirst for horror, fantasy
"…to love cinema is to love all of cinema." — Thierry Fremaux
Crimes of Passion
Thursday, December 15 at 9:00 p.m.
- Directed by Ken Russell
- Starring Kathleen Turner, Anthony Perkins, Annie Potts
- 107 mins
- Rated R
In honour of the life and passing of British enfant terrible Ken Russell, The Revue is pleased to present one of his most fascinating and controversial films, the 1984 ode to sex and obsession Crimes of Passion. Kathleen Turner owns the screen as a beautiful, cordial fashion designer by day and a wild eyed fetish-specializing prostitute named China Blue by night. When a sexually bored married man (John Laughlin) falls in love with her, the relationship threatens to derail both of their lives…meanwhile a psychotic street preacher (Anthony Perkins in his best role outside of Norman Bates) is getting more and more fixated upon China… FANGORIA editor and Film School Confidential founder Chris Alexander will introduce this special screening, one of Russell’s naughtiest, funniest, smartest and coolest films, made during his “comeback” in the 1980’s. Don’t miss it…and leave the kids at home.
Admission:
$10 for seniors and Revue members
$12 for non-members
Each screening is accompanied by an informative mini-lecture, surprising celebrity guest appearances and intelligent Q&A’s.
For more information on Chris Alexander, click here. For more about the film, click here.
About Film School Confidential
The monthly cult film lecture and screening series is hosted by Toronto film critic and FANGORIA magazine editor-in-chief Chris Alexander.
Chris has most recently been working on a new dark, horror radio drama series featuring Malcolm McDowell as host and featuring Chris's own experimental music scores with guitar, weird objects and analog synth. Have a listen in the dark to "The Late Shift" by Dennis Etchison, a blackly comic creeper about an after-hours conspiracy of the living dead.
PAST EVENTS
Shivers
October 27, 2011
Host, film critic and Fangoria magazine editor Chris Alexander gets us ready for Halloween. As always, expect great things from our talented and knowledgeable presenter.
At each screening, Chris lines up interesting guests, key people associated with the movie. For this evening, expect influential film producer Don Carmody.
In Shivers, Cronenberg's debut feature, the residents of a suburban high-rise apartment builidng are being infected by a strain of parasites that turn them into mindless, sex-crazed fiends out to infect others by the slightest sexual contact. (from IMDB)
The 1975 feature generated a lot of controversy because of its violent and sexual content. In fact, MPs debated its social and artistic merits in Parliament.
Prom Night
September 22, 2011
"Legendary composer Carl Zittrer (Black Christmas, Deathdream) joins us for Film School Confidential's special 35mm screening of the ultimate Canadian slasher classic Prom Night. See Jamie Lee Curtis run afoul of another heavy breathing masked killer while Zittrer's eerie music seeps from the speakers. The composer will introduce the picture and engage in an extensive, career spanning Q&A. Come meet an icon of horror film music!"
Also attending the screening is actress Mary Beth Rubens, who comes to a most unfortunate end at the hands of the slasher in this 1980 horror.
For August, Chris featured Homicidal. Chris described it as follows: "Legendary gimmick master William (The Tingler) Castle's delirious post-Psycho trash thriller might just be his best film; a Hitchcock tinted venture into overheated Gothic melodrama, sexual taboo and - for the time - surprisingly graphic murder. Features the infamous final reel "Fright Break", a prime bit of Castle showmanship that stops the film dead to allow easily spooked viewers to run for the exits and get a refund. Film School Confidential and The Revue promises no such refund, but we do promise a solid night of vintage camp thrill, Castle style...."
William Castle's daughter Terry called in (by phone) to introduce the screening and talk about her dad. She also sent the sell sheet her dad wrote for the film back in 1961. Those attending Film School Confidential received copies.
Every month, Alexander showcases another weird and wonderful slab of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy cinema, often lesser known titles that need more love or masterpieces of counter-culture bravado that rarely get screened -- or as Alexander often says, “Cinema that never makes the syllabus of any serious film school.”
July Debut:
For his first show at The Revue, Alexander unleashed an Italian Zombie movie, a long dormant genre beloved by serious horror film scholars.
Get ready for Luca Boni and Marco Ristori’s EATERS, a brand spanking new slab of cinematic sickness in the (spurting) vein of such spaghetti ghoul classics as Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE and Bruno Mattei’s HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD.