Customer Reviews

Liquid Sky [VHS]

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I have loved this movie since 1984. It's a cult classic that rivals films like THE WALL, REPO MAN & THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. And it's better than any of the above, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. I never known a film-maker with such a bizarre, fantastic imagination, a native sense of pure shock-factor and just plain fun!!! The dark atmosphere/mood is unparalleled.

Basically, LIQUID SKY is the irresistible story of a gorgeous, androgonous, female fashion model who is addicted to heroin (or something equally bad news), and who gets her drugs from her female lover Adrian. She dresses as both a man and a woman--the height of 80's beauty and mystery. The actress, Anne Carlisle, who plays the protagonist could not have been better cast. In fact, I think she helped write the screenplay and the novel on whivh the film is based. She's pure genuis and pure sexuality.

There are elements of sexual & chemical adiction, male-hatred by lesbians and lots of voyuerism.

Thhis movie is so far out, nothing has even come close to its allure since 1983, when it was first released on VHS.

YOU MUST SEE THIS FILM!!!!

I have a special attachment to this movie in that a) I met Ms. Carlisle personally at a family function and discussed the film; b) In the neighborhood which the movie takes place, I saw one of the first screenings; and c) I own and listen to the vinyl LP to this day.

I remember Ms. Carlisle relating to me in 1985 in her own words: "those involved with the movie did not expect it to do as well as it did." This is a testament to the quality of the film artistry (costumes, acting, cinematography, scene interleaving, etc..) albeit in the obvious face of low budget constraints. I think of the film as having the "best artistic bang for the least production buck".

The viewing value is not in its plot, moral commentary, projection of role models or "feel good" character, but rather in its brilliant snapshot, in grand vivid fashion, of that unique New York subculture which occurred in a specific place and at a specific time. It was a stroke of genius to stop and make this snapshot when it was and where it was or else it's neo-pristine form could have been lost forever. Without it, we would have at best some gothic shopping mall pop culture remnants. The reviewer from March 2002 below is right on target when he says "...the film gets interesting is in its look at the early 1980s New Wave subculture before it got watered down through commercialism and got swallowed up into pop culture". We are speaking of that area between Greenwich Village and the, often-photographed in the film, Empire State building; we are speaking of that period between disco and the compact disc.

One of the vehicles used to portray the subculture realistically, to the film's merit, is the depiction of the subculture envelope boundaries with the main stream. This is done by several "main stream" character developments: the level-headed logical German scientist who flew in from Berlin with a bad haircut; Jimmy's beautiful, affection-starved, Jewish middle-aged TV producer mother; and Owen, the silver-haired middle-aged college professor. The interaction of the main stream with the subculture is a key component to the film's (arguable) success.

Although the soundtrack, using an 8-bit synthesizer exclusively in minimalist style, can be rough on the ears in many places, it is one of the main components for the scene setting and decidedly one of the artistic forms the film uses in expository fashion. Simultaneously there is a set of more pleasant musical numbers which are actually electronic revisions of classical music, specifically a) Marais' hypnotic, but yet Baroque "Bells of St. Genevieve of the Mountain.."; Carl Orff's "Trionfo di Afrodite"; and Anthony P. Heinrich's "Laurel Waltz".

Why should you view such an off-normal film? After all, the main characters are unreliable drug addicts, the rape scenes are numerous, the colors are unrealistically vivid, the make-up is heavy, the neon is overplayed, the sex is deadly, the aliens are indomitable, and "good" coexists (but does not prevail over) "evil".

The answer is: like all the various substances consumed by the characters of Liquid Sky, it should be best appreciated for its "effect" rather than for its "taste".

Wow, the reviews here are pretty high strung, like they're expecting this to be some kind of serious avant garde film, critiquing the early 80s, the art/fashion scene rebellion against the dullness of suburbia, sexuality, etc. I suppose you could try to load all of that into this, but I saw it as a parody that pokes fun at these types of pretention more than anything else. You get some of the atmosphere from that time, the characters and acting are pretty good, and it hangs together as scifi. There are some fun mind games in it as well, which are surprising to some viewers, but I do not want to reveal the hilarious plot twists. That is about it, no big deal, nothing all that deep. If you look at it as, well, entertainment, you can allow yourself to enjoy it for the fairly simple thing that it is.

Recommended. Warmly.

I watched this DVD last night, but will leave the critique of the film itself to the other reviewers here.

The DVD is very impressive, especially for such an underground/cult masterpiece. It contains three theatrical trailers, and also video of some of the actors rehearsing their lines before actual filming began. Also included is an alternate beginning to the film (about 13 minutes).

Great movie to add to your collection if you are into ecclectic films! The extras really make the DVD version shine.

Sex, drugs, androgyny, fashion, nihilism, and aliens from outer space--a post-modern riff on the verb "to f*ck," and a postcard from the counter-culture on what they did while Reagan was president. In 1983 it all made sense.

Margaret's face-painting monologue, delivered in deadpan--"I'm from Connecticut. Pilgrim stock"--is the saddest, most profound depiction of loneliness and alienation, of rejecting roles you were expected to play and ending up with nothing except a mysterious ability to kill people with your vagina.

Kooky. The heroin-chic new-wave 80's meets ... aliens that feed on deviant energy. Drug addicts wander trashy clubs and streets looking for sex and opiates. My favorite scene is where Margaret's friend "performs" for the gang. "Me and my rhythm booooooooooooxxxx...," she "sings" while her HUGE but primitive drum machine belches and bleeps. Cool clothes, cool music, cool stories, cool cheesy effects. Not for everyone's taste, but this is a film that shouldn't be ignored if you have a taste for the weird and self-aware, drippingly over-done avant-garde.

Sometimes when watching a movie, I know from the very first second that I will hate the movie. I know that I hold some bias that will make me at least publically denouce the film and think to myself that I can't stand it. From the moment I saw Liquid Sky, I knew that I would like it. I knew from its inherent quirkieness and anarchic mood that this was a movie that I will, if nothing else, remember and tell someone else that I saw it.

The movie is simple enough. Aliens come to Earth in search of heroin like substances. They find it above the apartement of a junk face model, who gets violated by just about everybody, but that is ok because she "kills with her kunt." A German scientist is hot on the alien's track, but his efforts are sidelined by a shrimp loving lover.

Sure, the story sounds interesting. It sounds like a solid framework for a Troma B-flick, but it manages to convey the story without being in the least bit gratuitous. Tsuckerman could have easily taken the premise and drove it off a cliff, but either he had restraint or legitimate talent. Instead of trying to let the premise carry itself, Tsuckerman paints a world that creates a mood, that either recreates the new wave scene of the early 80s or builds a fantasy world.

The imagery is vivid, to say the least, the lighting and the backdrop is adjusted to each scene, maybe it is not perfect, but it works within the context. Ultimately, the world created in Liquid Sky reminded me of the works of William S. Burroughs, both are about heroin, but create their own world of nightclubs, penny arcades and whatever else to convey the modicum of social message and a heap of artistic expression. Even the dialouge of Liquid Sky maintained a very Burroughsesque feel, which might have been one of the reasons that I liked it so much.

This movie moves at its own speed and might require effort to walk in cadence, but if you are interested, the trip you'll take will be not only memorable but rewarding.

I saw this film in the theatre when it was first released, and thought it was one of the truly greatest, most creative, well written, scripted, and acted of any sci-fi film I'd ever seen. I still feel that way almost 20 years later, and I enthusiastically recommend this movie to anyone who displays an open mind for this sort of no-holds-barred indie film. I remember walking out of the theatre and hearing some guy say, "I don't get it. I just don't get what the point of it was.", and I was thinking, films like this are just wasted on small-minded folk like him. To appreciate this film, you have to just let go, suspend disbelief, allow your mind to be invaded and expanded, and just have fun...the humour is deep. ANd if ya don't get it, you're not the kind of person this film was made for. I especially love Margaret's monologue on the roof top of her east side apartment, when she explains to one of her Johns why she does what she does and why she believes in what she does - one of the most creative and confident statements of self-affirmation ever put to film. Just great.

An enjoyable mix of humor and sci-fi with a perverserly fun view of new wave life on drugs in the early eighties. It is a bit slow, but that might just be the heroin or the low budget. I enjoy it most for the documentation of fashion and design for that period in time and it works as a thorough reference document for early eaighties proto-punk/new wave style.

I usually have little patience with avant garde "art" films, but this movie blew me away. The bright primary color schematics of the sets, costumes and outlandish makeup lend to the films dream-like feel. This atmosphere is further embellished by the crude (but effective) techno score (all of the music is carnivalesque and hellish...good score for a new wave freakshow). Anne Carlisle is mesmerizing in both roles (Margaret the struggling actress and Jimmy the bisexual model)and manages to pull off a rather difficult task: coming across as believable in a movie with a totally off the wall story (an alien on the roof feeds off chemicals produced by peoples' brains when they are on oppiates or having orgasms...the feedings are lethal and Margaret's bothersome male acquaintances discover this the hard way). The movie pokes fun at the heroin chic new wave scene of the early 80s and if the alien is symbolic of anything it's probably death by excess.