Addicted to Addiction Films
As #OtherWorlds2019 approaches, staff members have been sharing the feature films they’re most excited about. The final entry is from Senior Programmer Dan Repp. Inspired by the US premiere of ALIEN ADDICTION, Dan provides a quick primer on addiction films.
ALIEN ADDICTION screens Friday, December 6 at 7:20PM.
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I’m so excited that Other Worlds Film Festival gets to host the U.S. Premiere of ALIEN ADDICTION. There are two opportunities to check out this SciFi Comedy on the schedule. It’s truly in the vain of BAD TASTE and other Kiwi genre films. Since I want to avoid spoilers at all costs, I thought I’d base my blog on the title alone and talk about some of the deadly addictions in SciFi and Horror films. I definitely think the cutest addiction was E.T.’s untamable hunger for of Reese’s Pieces, but I want to go deadlier than that because who knows, candy may have been a health food for his kind. Here’s a fun list of addiction films:
1. BRAIN DAMAGE – Frank Henenlotter filled my teenage brain with cheesy low budget exploitation fills in 80’s and early 90’s. The box art for all his films would always grab my attention. BRAIN DAMAGE definitely has the thickest subtext and social commentary of his small library of films. In it, the main character Brian wakes up to find a strange creature attached to the back of his neck. The creature slowly becomes his dealer as Brian gets addicted to narcotic substance that it injects into him. As Brian tweeks out on the drug, the creature starts demanding to be fed.
2. THE STUFF – No one knows really what THE STUFF is but thank god a random security guard decided to taste it. Another exploitation great Larry Cohen comments on America’s addiction to sweets and how little we paid attention to the deadly side effects in the 80’s. THE STUFF won’t just cost you a foot from diabetes, but it will take control of you and make your face contort in ways you didn’t think possible.
BRAIN DAMAGE
3. HELLRAISER and it’s many not so great sequels and remakes – If you’re smart enough to open this demonic puzzle box then you win the prize of being tortured by a bunch of leather bound, pale-faced, mutilated cenobites that are addicted to causing you pain. There is not a safe word unless you have another soul to give them to replace yours. Whatever you do, don’t fight it. It just will hurt more and feed Pinhead’s lust for pain. I’ve always been impressed how Pinhead manages to stay calm and collected and never seems to sweat in all that leather.
4. Any Vampire Movie – Vampires lust for blood has always been a metaphor for drug addiction. There have always been two key versions of the story: One, the cool, beautiful vampires peer pressure people to join their club but usually leave out all the negative side effects while recruiting. After the recruit takes their first sip of that red juice, they love the high. Then they realize the pain of withdrawals. The second version is the monstrous drug addict, I mean a vampire that lives in the shadows and will do anything for a hit.
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