This March, the American Cinematheque will play host to two programmes that will send a succulent shiver down the spine of any buff of classic horror and science fiction.
On Saturday, March 20th, the Egyptian theatre presents Encounters at the Edge of Sanity: A Tribute to Werner Herzog, and welcomes legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog, for a live discussion between his seminal films Nosferatu the Vampyre and Cobra Verde, both starring Herzog’s favorite collaborator, the genius actor Klaus Kinski.
Nosferatu, of course, needs no introduction to monster maniacs. Citing F.W. Murnau’s milestone 1922 (unauthorized) Dracula-adaptation Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror- featuring the immortal performance of Max Schreck as the vampire Orlock – as the best film ever made in Germany, Herzog, already a lauded writer/director himself, remade the film in 1979 as an homage to the work that inspired him so, and that had defined German cinema of the time.
While it may seem to be a deviation from Herzog’s typical ouvre (is there really such a thing with a filmmaker as eclectic and prolific as Herzog?), Nosferatu is chock full of the master’s usual preoccupations. The beautifully barren landscapes of Czechoslovakia illustrate Dracula’s homeland as a suitably eerie, yet strangely spellbinding land of the dead, and deftly illustrate the loneliness of this interpretation of Dracula, in his eternal life of plague and isolation.
Kinski turns in a truly frightening performance, intensely brooding but – like the vermin that surround and precede him – always on the verge of feral and unpredictable attack. His Dracula is an exquisite picture of the longing and the craving associated with the vampire monster.
With a haunting score by German band Popol Vuh, and with great supporting performances from Isabelle Adjani and Bruno Ganz, Herzog’s take on Nosferatu is a loving tribute to a classic film, and a very unique experience all its own.
Following that, on Thursday March 25, the Egyptian will present its tribute to genre legend Dan O’Bannon, the writer/director who originated and co-wrote Ridley Scott’s landmark Alien(1979), and who thereafter was responsible for some of the best-of-the-best in horror filmmaking, including 1985′s classic Return of the Living Dead.
First up is a screening of O’Bannon’s 1992 thriller The Resurrected, an adaptation of one of H.P. Lovecraft’s most famous works, The Case of Charles Dexter Ward. Starring Chris Sarandon as Ward, the story revolves around Ward’s wife’s (Claire Ward) investigation into the increasingly frightening occult experiments by her husband, and their connection to a long dead relative.
After The Resurrected will be a screening of O’Bannon’s Dark Star (1974), a film school collaboration with celebrated horror-director John Carpenter.
A bizarre science fiction satire (described by directed Carpenter as “Waiting for Godot in space”), Dark Star finds the crew of a long term space mission falling apart mentally in the course of their menial existence, delivering literal Smart Bombs to planets deemed dangerous to interstellar peace. When one of these smart bombs develops a mind of its own, its existential crisis threatens the lives of everyone on board.
Featuring an alien “beach ball with claws,” a sub-plot that O’Bannon stated helped inspire him to write what finally became Alien – and some wonderful, low-tech effects (with designs supervised by genre great Ron Cobb), Dark Staris an unusual treat.
Finally, Sunday March 28, the Egyptian will unleash the 1976 camp classic Logan’s Run.
Based on the novel by luminaries William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, Michael Anderson’s adaptation finds Logan 5 (Michael York) desperately trying to escape his futuristic dystopia, a seemingly ideal domed city that prospers only because the population is controlled through lethal means: at age 30, everyone submits to Carousel, where they are killed, even though some hope for mythical “Renewal.” Accompanied by the beautiful Jessica 6 (genre fave Jenny Agutter), and pursued by his fanatical former partner Francis 7 (Richard Jordon), Logan flees in search of Sanctuary, a legendary place where “Runners” may endure.
Full of extravagant sets, kitchy fashions, goofy visual effects and ludicrous erotica, Logan’s Run is a highly entertaining favorite, and the chance to see such visual spectacle on a big screen must not be missed.
In attendance for this screening will be special guests William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson.
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