Tag Archives: The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Earthling Wanted as Spokesperson for Extraterrestrials

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A rebellious young woman (Jane Hardens) is selected by aliens to be their representative on Earth in the 1972 Australian underground film SHIRLEY THOMPSON VERSUS THE ALIENS.

During the early years of the science fiction film craze of the 1950s most alien visitors were hostile or extremely dangerous as in The Thing from Another World (1951), The War of the Worlds (1953) and Invaders from Mars (1953). There were a few exceptions to this such as the peaceful Klaatu (Michael Rennie) in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1953) and the benign visitors of It Came from Outer Space (1953) but rarely has a science fiction film depicted aliens trying to recruit a human to be the vocal spokesperson for their group. In Shirley Thompson Vesus the Aliens (1972), directed by Jim Sharman (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), the title character is a disaffected young woman still living at home in the dreary suburbs with her parents and young sister and clearly not the sort of person to represent any group due to her antagonistic, rebellious nature. Nevertheless, Shirley (Jane Hardens) is chosen by extraterrestrials to warn earthlings to stop all wars or they will destroy the planet. And do you think anyone pays attention to her?

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Battle of the Bands Throwback

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Among the many titles being released through the no-frills Warner Archive Collection are a few oddball orphans and obscurities that didn’t get much love the first time around such as 1971’s Dusty and Sweets McGee, a docudrama of Los Angeles heroin addicts, Carny (1980) starring The Band’s Robbie Robertson, Jodie Foster and Gary Busey, the eccentric Italian sci-fi thriller Wild, Wild Planet (1966) and The Cats aka The Bastard (1968), a Eurocrime drama with Rita Hayworth and Klaus Kinski. These are definitely worth a look but the one that has the potential to make you pogo is Urgh! A Music War (1981), a compilation concert film featuring 33 live music acts recorded in different cities in the U.S. (Los Angeles, New York) and Europe (London; Portsmouth, England, Fréjus, France). Some of the more famous groups featured include X, Devo, The Police, The Go-Gos and The Dead Kennedys but there are also now forgotten acts like Chelsea, John Cooper Clarke and The Alley Cats. And for some reason, Splodgenessabounds, who performed “Two Little Boys,” were completely omitted from the Warner Archive DVD-R.   Continue reading →

God Stave the Queen

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Criterion DVD cover of Derek Jarman's JubileeOne of the few films to emerge from Britain’s punk rock movement of the mid-seventies that succinctly expressed the anger and anarchic spirit of the times, Jubilee (1978) is possibly director Derek Jarman’s most accessible film though its irreverent mixture of history, fantasy and agitprop shot, guerilla-style, on the back streets of London is not for everyone. The loosely structured film has a framing device that is set in the year 1578 as Queen Elizabeth I ponders the future of her country. Along with her court magician, Dr. John Dee, and lady-in-waiting, she is transported to contemporary England by the angel Ariel. There she finds a mirror image of herself as Bod, the leader of an outlaw band of deviants, who struggles for dominance in a post-Margaret Thatcher wasteland controlled by the fascist media mogul Borgia Ginz.   Continue reading →