80s Arthouse Cinema: Liquid Sky (1982) - a podcast by GDC and PJ

If you stood in the margins of culture in the early 80s you marvelled at the sound of the ragged punk larvae metamorphose into an atmosphere of new creatures or electronica, mangled rock and industrial noise. But even if you pushed no further into that evolving biosoup than your toe, chances are that you stepped knee deep into the realm of arthouse cinema. Call it indy, underground, art or just second run. It was the hallway off to one side from the cinema franchises (which you also went to) and led down dark turns to the same place that let you know that the band you liked looked and dressed like you and was you but for one or two special ideas.

Arthouse cinema was part of the education as much as long discontinued movie marathons on tv or community radio. Whether it was the dark and powerful weirdness of Eraserhead, the quirky hilarity of Repo Man, the solemnity of Paris Texas the title was on your list or on your lips whenever you met with your tribal others. The mainstream exploded with Spielbergianism which you also knew about and chewed popcorn to but down there in the gummatted carpet of the arthouse you went in tanked on goon because you never knew how much protection you were going to need. Arthouse wasn’t just cool it was scary. This episode focuses on Liquid Sky (1982), a cult film about sex, drugs and aliens! Directed by Slava Tsukerman and starring Anne Carlisle and Paula E. Sheppard, Liquid Sky has been digitally remastered in 4K and was released as a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on April 24, 2018.

Further episodes of Ushers to Ashes: Alternative 80s

Further podcasts by GDC and PJ

Website of GDC and PJ