Amoeba Music

I had seen segments of Liquid Sky ironically being projected or shown at parties that could rival its energy. But a couple of months ago, it was shown at The Silent Movie Theater where a DJ spun the soundtrack and the director and some members of the crew attended and gave a Q&A afterwards. Looking at the film alone, it is obvious that boatloads of extraordinary work went into it, but after hearing the director reminisce about squatting in a building with no electricity or gas and gluing tape reels together in the editing process with the heat and moisture of his thumb, it only painted a bigger picture and allowed me to appreciate it even more.

It seems almost distasteful to mention the plot because the film as a whole must not be defined by it, nor does it fit into your average story of the paranormal. It’s more of an ode to androgyny and feminist expression, and also shows a sort of heroin-chic glamour that would soon become a staple in fashion worldwide. Anne Carlisle plays the roles of a model named Margaret and her rival male model, Jimmy, with excellence and style. Margaret’s roommate and lover is a woman named Adrian (Paula E. Sheppard), a musician of the oddest sort, with a decent following and a knack for some outrageous spoken word. One night while Adrian is performing in a club and Jimmy is hassling Margaret for heroin, a small flying saucer the size of CD player lands on top of her apartment complex. But these are not your average aliens, invading Earth to probe humans or take over. They’ve come to Earth because they desire the energy secreted by human ecstasy. New York, or more specifically Margaret’s building, seems to have a ton of it, thanks to heroin. But upon closer inspection of Margaret, who happens to be a nymphomaniac, they discover a grander source: orgasm.

Thus, Margaret becomes a sort of blind henchman for their work. Unaware of the new change in herself, she beds her lovers only to witness them grow a large crystal in their heads after climax and disappear shortly after that, assumingly being transported to the mother ship above. With this new tool, she begins to seduce victims for sheer excitement, or in some cases, to get even. But lurking just across the street is a foreign scientist named Johann who knows that the aliens exist and wants to get a better look at their activities. His host is a lonely woman named Sylvia, who provides plenty of comic relief when she tries to woo Johann, though she thinks he’s out of his mind for believing in aliens. And while the scientist is trying to get to the bottom of events before disaster strikes, tensions rise between rivals Margaret and Jimmy as the film proceeds to show the more ugly and aggressive sides of modeling and drug addiction.

The difference in the characters that Carlisle plays is astounding. Though it’s not far of a stretch to cast an androgynous woman as man, this particular role is not your average man. Carlisle played the desperate and yet suave Jimmy wonderfully, and Sheppard provided plenty of tension with the controlling and sadistic Adrian who was both Jimmy’s dealer and Margaret’s girlfriend.

The wardrobes and makeup for this film must have been exhausting to gather. Shooting them is whole different story. There is an awesome monologue by Margaret where she puts on a sort of war-paint in the dark before going to seduce her final victim. The effects of the special paint and bulbs needed to pull it off is amazing. Though comparing this to other sci-fi films isn’t really called for, it does have a similar sense of wonder and imaginative design that films of the genre need in order to be successful. This is a bizarre interpretation of feminist expression and newly defined gender roles that will leave any cult fan drooling. Highly recommended!