If you recently saw the Sound of Story performance and are curious where all the film clips came from, here is the list. If you DID NOT see the performance, it’s probably better if you wait until you do.
Statement
Sometimes the fears, desires, beauty, and pain cast onto screens, palm sized and broad as a Olympic pools, reflect our deepest selves—though just as often, they produce absurd distortions, barely recognizable. The storytelling tradition of spoken word, conjured as easily as breath and edited naturally with each retelling, has been replaced by a form requiring obscene funding, hundreds of highly skilled workers, and finalized into an immutable product. The results range from brilliant to chaotic and ridiculous. But the realities and irregularities of the moving image have become an integral mode of narrative in modern culture. Characters have become archetypes, actors have become gods. Yet, for every indelible image, for every classic scene, there are mountains upon mountains of discarded efforts. These are our forgotten dreams. Just as psychoanalysis explores the depths of our unknown minds, foraging through the dark celluloid forests can reveal something new.
Every film in this performance comprises a failure of one type or another. Many were creatives failures. Some were merely financial failures. But every failure bounds with hope. Together, they form many overlapping stories, at times appearing to be linked. Our thoughts fold the scenes into narratives like a card player shuffling their hand, trying to make something meaningful out of disparate but thematically related elements. The music connects the clips into a single strand and alters our relationship with the material. The transitions between segments invert the experience: the film disclosing a linear narrative, not difficult to discern, while the music reverts to atonality. But just as we assemble disconnected images into something meaningful, we can’t help but hear disjointed notes as melody.
Segment 1: Something Isn’t Right
We are fearful, searching, and fleeing.
Sorority House Massacre
1986
I’m not sure a film with this title could ever be good, but it feels like there was an effort here to make something dimensional, like The Shining meets Rebecca. The desire was there, at least.
Note: The foley artist on this film really wanted to make sure you heard everyone’s shoes.
The Slumber Party Massacre
1982
A serial killer tries to get all his work done in one day. It’s a productive day, for sure.
When a Stranger Calls
1979
You guessed right—the calls are coming from inside the house. Starring the wonderful Carol Kane.
Visiting Hours
1982
A stalker flick. I love the way this actress double blinks before grabbing the knife.
William Shatner pops into this film a few times to say hello. We’re not done with Star Trek actors.
A Stranger Is Watching
1982
An abduction film starring Kate Mulgrew. I told you we weren’t done with Star Trek actors. And we’re still not done.
The Entity
1982
I don’t think I realized until now how many of the clips in this segment were from films released in 1982. Anyway, this one is about a woman repeatedly raped by a ghost. Sorry, I didn’t make these movies, I’m only stealing them.
Phenomena
1986
These clips come from a film starring Jennifer Connelly and Donald Pleasance about a girl who can communicate with insects.
Fade to Black
1980
I wanted to juxtapose some of the women with their male counterparts (or counterpoints?). This movie is about a lonely film buff who becomes a serial killer. I feel like there’s an analytical paper in this film somewhere, but thankfully, I’ve finished graduate school and I don’t have to write it.
Actress Gwynne Gilford was pregnant in this film with Chris Pine.
Chopping Mall
1986
Teens are hunted by faulty shopping mall security robots. Strangely, this is the only film that also shows up in another performance segment. I guess there was just a lot of material.
The Sender
1982
A supernatural thriller that’s received some respect.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
1970
An Italian thriller about a writer investigating a serial killer.
Xtro
1982
A man returns from an alien abduction and things get weird.
From IMDB: “Director Harry Bromley Davenport stated in an interview on the DVD release that he looks back on the film with embarrassment, saying that the bizarre atmosphere of the film was completely unintentional and that there is no deeper, symbolic meaning to the strange, random events that happen, because he and his co-writers were very high on drugs while writing the script and would often throw in whatever random ideas popped into their heads or thought would be neat, such as the panther scene and the toy soldier coming to life.”
The Incubus
1981
If you’re not already triggered by violence against women, you may want to skip this one.
Not of this Earth
1988
This campy remake of Roger Corman’s 1957 sci-fi film is a bit racier than the original.
Zombie Nightmare
1987
I tried not to include any films used on Mystery Science Theater 3000, but I didn’t try hard enough, because this one, featuring Adam West, slipped through.
The Visitor
1979
From IMDB: “John Huston stars as an intergalactic warrior who joins a cosmic Christ figure in battle against a demonic 8-year-old girl and her pet hawk, while the fate of the universe hangs in the balance. Multi-dimensional warfare, pre-adolescent profanity, and brutal avian attacks combine to transport viewers to a state unlike anything they’ve experienced–somewhere between Hell and the darkest reaches of outer space.”
It’s every bit as weird as it sounds and actually quite entertaining.
Segment 2: Kitty Hop
We are dancing backward through history.
Footlight Parade
1933
My original intent for this segment was to use footage from a host of old black-and-white song-and-dance films, but when I came across this bizarre number from the James Cagney film, Footlight Parade, I realized I had everything I needed. The actress featured here is Ruby Keeler, who was for a time married to Al Jolson. She showed up in a quite a few of these movies in the 1930s, but her career didn’t survive into the modern cinematic era.
This is the only segment where I manipulated the video.
Broadway Melody of 1940
1940
At the very end of this segment, I use this Fred Astaire film. It kind of sounds like they stuck with the working title for this movie.
Segment 3: They Have Guns
We are the victims of our crimes.
Trick Baby
1972
“Sometimes even the players get played.” These crime films have some of the best looks—the cars, the streets, the people.
It’s odd how this one actor breaks the fourth wall and does a kind of Bob Hope into the camera. Not sure what they were thinking there. But I used it.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
1973
The Robert Mitchum film based on the George V. Higgins novel.
Fighting Back
1982
Ugh, this film is the worst. Even though it was made over forty years ago, it plays like some Trumpy fever dream, where working class whites take on the Black drug dealers. It’s every bit as horrible as it sounds.
Well, anyway, I really just needed gritty footage of people driving around in cars from the 70s, and this shot gave me what I needed.
Foxy Brown
1974
She doesn’t pull any punches.
Perfect Friday
1970
I love the way this movie looks. I hate the way it sounds. It’s a good example of what music can do for a film, good and bad. If you replaced the score, it would be a much better classic bank heist film (though with a familiar and predictable “conners conning each other” plot).
The Driver
1978
This is one of my favorite films of the performance. It stars Bruce Dern and features gorgeous cinematography by industry veteran Philip Lathrop. If perhaps someone bigger had been attached this 70s noir crime film, we might remember it.
I’m intrigued by French actress Isabelle Adjani (shown here sipping coffee) who, despite being a wee twenty-three years old, is able to embody the jaded worldliness of a woman twice her age. She shows up again in the last segment of the performance.
Confessions of a Police Captain
1971
A well-reviewed Italian crime thriller.
Le Cercle Rouge
1970
A French crime thriller with a great look.
Super Fly
1972
Oh, the footage of driving around old New York in these cars, I could watch it all day. Having lived in New York for over fifteen years, the streets look so familiar to me, while still being a little alien. It’s such a remarkable time capsule. And I love the cinematography with that grainy “film” look.
The movie itself is a bit morose and not pleasant to watch, but the soundtrack by Curtis Mayfield is a must have.
Le Casse (A.K.A. The Burglars)
1971
This Greek heist film gave me some of my favorite material. First we have this amazing safe cracking machine embedded into a briefcase. If it looks complicated, fear not. As you can see, it comes with a manual.
Then we have this classy bubble burlesque show. My only lament about this scene is that it was filmed almost entirely from the perspective of our protagonist watching from backstage. I wish they had included more shots from the audience’s POV.
Caged Heat
1974
This prison chick flick was written and directed by Jonathan Demme(?!). You read that right—it’s his directorial debut. All I can say about this film is that the women maintain impeccable hygiene through frequent group showers.
But the film also delivers one of my other favorite clips from the performance, when Barbara Steele (best known for the Italian horror film, Black Sunday) has a dream she’s putting on a broadway show in front of colorful bathroom stalls. I could only describe her expression as delighted and terrified, which I’m inclined to believe was her genuine emotions at the time.
Switchblade Sisters
1975
Quentin Tarantino loved this 70s girl gang film so much, he bought the rights to it. Naturally.
Un Flic
1972
This French crime thriller has great cinematography, but I think they messed up the color when they transferred it to video, which is why it looks so overwhelmingly blue. Doesn’t look like this in the trailers. I’m tempted to rebalance the clip.
Segment 4: Space Love
We are drifting through the endless expanse of our desires.
Moontrap
1988
This was Walter Koenig’s big chance to not be Chekov, and I feel bad for him because you basically spend the entire film watching him not be Chekov. Sometimes you can’t win. (We are still not done with Star Trek actors.)
My favorite scene from this film is the futuristic strip club where a waitress is wearing an XTC T-shirt. Not featured in the performance, but here it is:
Dead Space
1991
This Mark Singer Alien knockoff also features Bryan Cranston.
Arena
1989
This utterly ridiculous 80s sci fi boxing film is one of my favorites, featuring TWO Deep Space 9 stars: Armin Shimerman and Marc Alaimo.
Space Truckers
1996
Did you know about this science fiction comedy (I think it’s a comedy?) starring Dennis Hopper? If not, you may want to keep it that way. It gets creepy disturbing.
Saturn 3
1980
That is indeed Harvey Keitel. And if you were really sharp, you might have also glimpsed Farrah Fawcett making out with Kirk Douglas. This film actually exists. Mostly, it’s Farrah Fawcett and Kirk Douglas lounging around the quarters of their space station in bathrobes, drinking wine and bitching about Harvey Keitel who is seriously creeping them out. The film also features real robots doing robotic things!
Conquest of Space
1955
This film was thought to have served as some inspiration for Stanley Kubrick’s 2001. The shots of this takeoff are really something.
Forbidden World
1982
When an investigator is called in to help a remote scientific outpost deal with their mutant alien problem, he sleeps with every woman on the station. And also, he helps with the alien problem, yada, yada.
Some of the footage from this film was repurposed for Not of this Earth.
Galaxy of Terror
1981
After you’ve watched enough of these bad 80s sci-fi films, they all start to bleed together in your head. For me, this is the one with Ray Walston. As it happens, James Cameron was the production designer, before he was inspired to go make his own terrible movies.
Galaxina
1980
A sci-fi comedy. Like many 80s comedies, it appears to have that brand of humor targeted squarely at the twelve-year-old demographic. Tragically, the star, Dorothy Stratten, was murdered by her husband two months after the film’s release.
Silent Running
1972
Speaking of Mystery Science Theater 3000, this film about a man stranded on a space station with only his robots to keep him company inspired the show. Here’s Bruce Dern again from the Driver.
Zardoz
1974
If you’ve never heard of this epically bizarre dystopian sci-fi film starring Sean Connery, it’s only because THEY’RE TRYING TO KEEP YOU FROM THE TRUTH.
Phase IV
1974
This is the only full-length feature directed by graphic designer Saul Bass, perhaps most famous for his work with Alfred Hitchcock. He really pulls out the stops for this sequence at the end—I wish he had just done this for ninety minutes.
Segment 5: The End
We are never truly done.
The Last American Virgin
1982
Somehow, this 1980s teen sex comedy slipped by me—only came across it while researching material for this performance, but I have the impression it may be a better known film. It looks horrifying. If only we could make a different movie backwards from this ending.
Solar Babies
1986
Now this post-apocalyptic rollerskating movie starring a young Luke Haas I actually remember.
Possession
1981
I gazed at this clip a hundred times before realizing it was actress Isabelle Adjani from the Driver. She stars alongside a baby-faced Sam Neill in this deeply disturbing, surreal, and artfully shot supernatural horror from director Andrzej Zulawski. If you have the nerve for this kind of thing, I recommend it. Apparently, an American remake is in the works.
Chopping Mall
1986
Here’s Chopping Mall again. You’d think after watching all their friends die, they’d be a little more shaken up.
Damnation Alley
1977
A post-apocalyptic survival film with George Peppard.
Dead End Drive-In
1986
This is another of my favorites. Some compare this film to Mad Max because it’s Australian and post-apocalyptic, but the similarities end there. In this dystopian future, drive-ins have been converted to concentration camps for wayward youths, and really it’s not so bad, but our hero, “Crabs,” is determine to escape. There’s a strong anti-fascist, anti-racist sentiment at the heart of the film, and despite the low budget, it looks and sounds great (though the score is about what you’d expect). It beautifully captures that unique disaffected 80s punk vibe.
There something a bit meta about this choice as the final clip as it’s to some extent a movie about watching movies. And the catharsis in this ending well reflects my feeling by the time I reach this moment of the performance. I’ve escaped.
The Transitions
Boardinghouse
1982
Right, you want to know about the transitions. Well, it’s a film called Boardinghouse.
I could tell you all about this film. But it defies explanation. Maybe you should just see it.