Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

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

After watching this movie I had to distance myself from it for a while. Had I sat down to write about it immediately after the end result would have been no more tasteful or artistic than the film itself (not that it will be now). I found that the movie fell into that category of film far too many do, a world where the end product is praised and held in high esteem in an attempt to sound like you're part of the scene it comes from, an elite group that caters to their friends while ignoring anyone willing to fork out money to see their work. In other words pretentious crap.The story begins with a small UFO landing on a building in New York City (because that IS the center of the world for people who make movies like this). The reason it has chosen this location is apparently because of the lower moral standards of the people there, in particular those who hang out in the club scene who are fond of heroin.As we later learn the aliens onboard, who are depicted as the retina of an eyeball veins and all, have come here in the hopes of gathering their own form of heroin. When humans are in the throes of passion and orgasm their brains emit the same chemical compounds that junkies claim to feel when getting high. The aliens then consume this chemical compound and dispose of the bodies.The apartment house the aliens have come to roost of bodes well for their collecting process. Living on the top floor are Margaret (Anne Carlisle) and Adrian (Paula E. Sheppard). Margaret is a bisexual model moved to the city in the hopes of pursuing a career and her inner muse. That muse inspires her to bleach and tease her hair, to wear clothing found only on the walkways of fashion designers and garish makeup that looks like neon colored war paint, all stripes and lines. Adrian is a lesbian electro punk composer/performer who also deals heroin.The club scene is where these two hang out along with a group of other scene members who seem to feed off of one another. Models and photographers who take pictures for magazines that only the models and photographers and scene members by, a circle of sorts. Adrian plays what passes as music here while others gyrate for what passes as music.Among this group is Jimmy (also Anne Carlisle), a young man who everyone considers beautiful and a definite junkie in need of a fix. When no one here will give him heroin for free he approaches his mother Sylvia for a loan to buy drugs and she writes him a check.Things begin to jump from there. A college professor meets with old colleague Johann who tells him about the aliens but doesn't help him. He then goes to Margret's, an ex-student, and has sex with her and is killed by the aliens. Johann wants to view the aliens he has located and the best location to do that is a high rise which happens to be where Sylvia lives. He meets her and she lets him in her apartment to view the aliens while at the same time trying to seduce him. From here it gets stranger. I know, that term seems odd by this point.If Ed Wood had been provided with the money needed to make a film, had done heroin and found himself in the art world of NYC during this time period, he might have been the person responsible for this film. But since he was dead when the film was made back in 1982 we can't blame him for this one. Instead we can pass that off to director/co-writer Slava Tsukerman and fellow co-writers Carlisle and Nina Kerova. One has to wonder if they came up with the idea during a drug induced binge at some point. I can hear them in my mind much like the character Larry Kroger in ANIMAL HOUSE the first time he's stoned discussing the possibility of Earth resting on the fingertip of some creature as if he's discovered the meaning of existence. It might have sounded amazing while wasted but once you came down how could this seem like a great idea? Unless of course you thought of yourself as an "artist".While I've come to appreciate the things others do as art and while it is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder, there is much out there that lays claim to that distinction yet falls far short. It almost always finds a home among a group of similar minded people who, like the characters in this film, feed off of one another. They support the group and the mentality of the group, insuring that each is fed enough of their belief in one another so as to continue and accept what they do as art. In addition to that they ridicule others who don't "get" them or "understand" their art. In essence they think of themselves above all the simple minded folk who are "beneath" them. The end result is a tiny enclave of "artists" who pat each other on the back and ignore the rest of the world.What is sad are the followers, those around the world who look to them for inspiration. These people think that the only place you can find anything worthwhile is in those small enclaves. They would die to be included in the group. They will support anything done by them, buy it all while being chastised for having money, promote it as the new thing while it is ignored by millions and talk about how only the elite understand. It boils down to the cool kids versus the rest so many remember from high school days. It's a tiny group.The dictionary defines pretentious as "attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed." This is exactly what this film and those like it are. Nothing more than an attempt to impress with something they don't honestly possess.All of that said the film has developed a cult following. Made for just $500,000 it grossed $1.7 million when it was released in 1983. No, that doesn't make it the next blockbuster film but it does mean it was at least profitable. It found more notice once it went to video, no doubt the images on the cover catching the eye of unsuspecting viewers. Even today many who love the film claim to have discovered it first on video when they were young and had no idea what it was about. One person told me the movie was great when you were drunk and watching it. I somehow think that perhaps that would be the best way to watch it.In looking up information on the movie before writing I found the typical style of praise for the film. Some called it visionary. Another written piece claimed it predicted the rise of AIDS. A review in the New York Times praised it while at the same time misidentifying one of the main characters as Larry instead of Jimmy. But more common than anything was reading that the movie had been rediscovered by hipsters. That explains a lot.Love it or hate it, much praise must be heaped on Vinegar Syndrome in their presentation of this film. They've rescued it from the low grade world of VHS and are offering it in premiere style packaging and production. The odds that you've found this film in this good a condition are non-existent. But then Vinegar Syndrome has dedicated itself to saving obscure and forgotten movies from disappearing. They should be applauded for that.The company released the film earlier this year with a 3,000 copy limited edition run that sold out. This should prove there is a market for strong independent films that have been forgotten by more mainstream companies. My guess is if those companies were handling a film like this it would not receive the same loving care that Vinegar Syndrome provides to their titles. That's already been seen in how major studios have handled several other low budget cult films.Vinegar Syndrome has heaped on the extras for this release, offering it to a wider audience this time around. Missing this time is the dayglow slipcover that was made for the limited edition but the rest is still all here. To start with the film has a newly scanned and restored in 4k from the 35mm original negative which means it is the cleanest the film has ever been presented. Other extras include a brand new commentary track with director Tsukerman, an interview with Carlisle, an introduction Tsukerman, a 50 minute making of documentary, a Q&A shot during a presentation of the film at the Alamo Drafthouse with Tsukerman, Carlisle and Clive Smith who did the music, an isolated soundtrack, outtakes, an alternate opening sequence, behind the scenes rehearsal footage, theatrical trailers, a still gallery and reversible artwork.As is obvious, this movie wasn't my type of film and my guess is that for the average film lover it won't be as well. The more adventurous might enjoy it. Those who view film only through the eyes of art will love it. And fans will want to make a point of picking up a copy as soon as possible since the rush to by the limited edition left many hanging. No matter what you think of the film, the fact that a company like Vinegar Syndrome has treated a movie like this with the affection they have speaks volumes for the company. Let's hope they continue to find and release movies the same way down the road.

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.

I can see what the fuzz is about, but this movie did nothing for me. Reasons for this might be that I was not born yet when this movie was made, I am not a part of any underground/subculture and I have never been to New York.What I did like was the looks of it, at times. They have played around with fashion and punk styles and made something that is at times very iconic. The soundtrack was interesting, and I appreciate it for being ahead of its time. I also liked some of the progressive opinions that Other than what is previously mentioned: this seems to me as a badly made movie. The actors are giving very poor performances, for one. You can say that it was intentional - but that does not make the performances any less forced or annoying. The acting makes this feel like a cheap porn. The plot is probably not to be taken seriously at face value, and while I can appreciate it being used to make a statement on certain lifestyles - it just doesn't work. And it's told in a way that is almost demonstrably unengaging.

Herion influenced.So why did it look like a bad acid trip?Artistic (hah) view of self-obsessed models in NYC during the (very) early 80's. This film is so dated it's almost a crime. Unfortunately only people alive in that era will like it.Pint sized Aliens land on a ledge in Manhattan and give a local model a killing.....no won't say it. However she uses it a lot and doesn't seem to be to upset by it. The male and female leads are the same person. Anna Carlisle doing double duty here. Not hard to tell really. The technical specs are very amateur.Paula Sheppard might be recognized from "Alice Sweet Alice." She almost steals the film with her OTT monologues. The rest of the cast were just there.A 100% Russian production.....in 80's NYC.