Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A lot of fun.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Liquid Sky (1982) ** (out of 4)A small spaceship lands on an apartment roof in New York and before long the invisible aliens are in need of heroin. Inside the apartment building is a fashion model, a heroin dealer and a bisexual woman and soon the aliens begin playing games.LIQUID SKY comes from director Slava Tsukerman and it was (I'm told) a huge hit at the midnight circuit back in the day. I somewhat find that hard to believe but at the same time I can see how this film would be a cult favorite to certain groups of people. With that said, I must admit that the look of the film was quite impressive as were the colors but at the same time dragging this film out to nearly two-hours was just murder.The visual style of the film is certainly the highlight of the picture with its new wave colors that really leap off the screen. Watching this movie on a large screen would certainly enhance your appreciation of how the film looked and there's no question that this here keeps it mildly interesting. The bizarre story is also quite unique in its own way and when viewing the film today it seems even more brave just because of the pre-AIDS attitude.The performances are good for the most part and technically speaking the film is fine. For me, however, the biggest problem is the fact that the movie just kept going and going and for no good reason. I really did feel as if the film ran twenty or thirty-minutes too long. The characters were unique and weird but I wouldn't say any of them were interesting enough to spend two hours with.

Watched it after about 30 years again, and it was still a stunning, shocking and hilarious experience today as it was when I saw it the first time. This was in the mid 1980s in a cinema in Munich where Liquid Sky was shown every week for at least ten years. The only film I am aware of that gained an even more prominent cult status is the "Rocky Horror Picture Show".There are other parallels to the "Rocky Horror Picture Show": Liquid Sky has a similar effect on your mind that could best be described as liberating. It is a bold movie, an attack of sound and color, sex, violence, drugs and crazy characters. What makes all this bearable is the hilarity of the whole story. While normally in movies you are often required to suspend your disbelief to enjoy it, in Liquid Sky disbelief is the rescue line that keeps you sane and lets you enjoy it.Some scenes were burned into my mind forever when I first saw it. However, it is the kind of movie you can watch over and over, like a good piece of art.It is also a child of its time, giving a glimpse into subcultures in New York in the late 70s/early 80s that may have been the avant-garde for the 90s Rave-Culture.Liquid Sky is one of a kind, and you will have missed a life experience if you never saw it.

1. Absolutely the worst music of any film, ever. I'm not convinced that anyone will ever create music worse than this, no matter how many chances they are given. I just don't think it is actually possible. It's in my head now, and I want it back out. 2. Worst editing, ever. The plot and characters of this thing are nearly destroyed by bad editing. Lots of scenes where nothing happens. Lots of scenes abruptly cut short for no apparent reason. No flow. At least a half hour too long, probably more.3. Acting. Was there any? I've seen better acting in discount porn.4. Writing. It seems to be just this side of really bad single-take ad lib. One thing I can say is the plot seems to be open to interpretation. The plot summary given on Wikipedia bears only superficial resemblance to the plot of the film I saw.5. Effects. I realize everyone had a Commodore 64 in those days, but that level of technology doesn't do for good film-making. Today, there are a lot of fans of 8-bit games, sound, and video, and I'm one. But if you're going to use such a limiting technology, you've got to give it to someone with actual talent.Frankly, I have a hard time imagining anyone enjoying this film without first being temporarily or permanently mentally impaired in some way. One of the other comments here said it's "multilayered" requiring multiple viewings to "work at" it. First, no it isn't. But second, if you are an average person, and you have to "work at" viewing a film, then it's a colossal failure. The filmmakers are the ones paid to do the work, not the audience.I give this a 4/10 because it's irritating, but I don't actively hate it. Just the music. It makes as much sense with the sound off, so I recommend watching it that way, if you decide you have to see it at all. But it's almost certainly the worst 1982 film I've seen, or am likely to ever see.I guess there are some good things I can say about it. A. There was at least an identifiable plot. B. The costumes and make-up were interesting.

I can understand why many people would hate this film because it is very extreme, but more than any film I've ever seen, it captures that very brief era in New York City. Punk was over and pseudo-bohemianism was coming next but hadn't arrived yet. The film depicted a fantasy, but that's what New York felt like at that time. I remember going to see it with some friends and being astonished because I had never seen anything remotely like it. It was like "The Wizard of Oz" meets "Naked Lunch". I think what made it work was the combination of the clothes, the disaffected people, and the soundtrack which probably sounds a little cheap now, but sounded spectacularly strange and beautiful at the time. Anne Carlisle's performance as Margaret was a heartbreaker. It wasn't until near the end of the movie that I realized that it was, essentially, a love story between her and the aliens. Paula Sheppard's performance as Adrien was also a standout. Unfortunately it was Paula's last movie, and Anne only had a couple of very small roles after that. A couple of trivia points: the club they went to was The Underground, which was located at the corner of Broadway and 17th Street, across from Union Square. There is a now a big box pet supply store at that location, but it was kind of a seedy area in those days. I was working down the street at the time and remember the movie being made. The penthouse apartment appeared to be somewhere nearby. I would guess that it was on 18th, 19th or 20th Street, between Fifth Ave and Sixth Ave. It's now a very fashionable area, but in those days it was the photo district, and was semi-industrial with very little residential space.