Anthology Film Archives

HELTER SHELTER

March 25 – April 30

To help fill the long quarantine hours and provide some structure for our desperate wanderings through the vast landscapes of online entertainment, we here at Anthology have created a “virtual” film series to share while our cinemas remain shuttered. Reflecting (often darkly) the radically transformed daily lives of those instructed to shelter-in-place, “Helter Shelter” highlights movies that take place almost solely – if not entirely – within the confines of the protagonists’ apartments or houses.

Admittedly, this may not sound like the ideal form of distraction at the moment. But aside from the fact that it’s never a good idea to indulge in denial, the films listed below will hopefully help put things in perspective. A few of them demonstrate the infinite imaginative possibilities that lie within even the most circumscribed spaces: the fact that James Bidgood could create the rich and elaborate world of PINK NARCISSUS by means of homemade sets constructed entirely within his Manhattan apartment, and that Zachary Oberzan could single-handedly conjure a full shot-for-shot remake of RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD from his own small abode, should represent a model for all of us. That said, most of the house-bound films we’ve suggested operate at the other end of the spectrum: consisting mainly of horror films (NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, DEMONS 2, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY), psychological thrillers (MISERY, WAIT UNTIL DARK), and other depictions of encroaching psychosis and unhinged madness (JEANNE DIELMAN, THE TENANT, THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT), the lesson here is, quite simply: It could be worse. Much, much worse!

What follows is a list of suggested viewing, with some (non-definitive) info on where each film can be found. A few don’t appear to be available via the usual streaming channels, but we’re listing them in any case – after all, if this isn’t a time to be resourceful, when is?

EXTERMINATING ANGEL (Luis Buñuel, 1962, 93 min) (Criterion Channel)
REPULSION (Roman Polanski, 1965, 105 min) (Criterion Channel)
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (George A. Romero, 1968, 96 min) (Criterion Channel)
SAUTE MA VILLE (Chantal Akerman, 1968, 13 min) (Criterion Channel)
LA CHAMBRE (Chantal Akerman, 1972, 11 min) (Criterion Channel)
BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VON KANT (Rainer Werner Fassbinder, 1972, 125 min) (Criterion Channel)
DARK STAR (John Carpenter, 1974, 83 min) (Criterion Channel)
JEANNE DIELMAN, 23, QUAI DU COMMERCE, 1080 BRUXELLES (Chantal Akerman, 1975, 201 min) (Criterion Channel)
THE MODEL COUPLE (William Klein, 1977, 101 min) (Criterion Channel)
IN VANDA’S ROOM (Pedro Costa, 2000, 171 min) (Criterion Channel)
DOGTOOTH (Yorgos Lanthimos, 2009, 97 min) (Criterion Channel)

ROPE (Alfred Hitchock, 1948, 80 min) (Amazon, Google, Hulu)
REAR WINDOW (Alfred Hitchock, 1954, 112 min) (Amazon, Google, Hulu)
WAIT UNTIL DARK (Terence Young, 1967, 108 min) (Amazon, Google)
PINK NARCISSUS (James Bidgood, 1971, 71 min) (archive.org)
NUMÉRO ZÉRO (Jean Eustache, 1971/2003, 104 min)
SHIVERS (David Cronenberg, 1975, 87 min) (Amazon, Google)
THE TENANT (Roman Polanski, 1976, 126 min) (Amazon, Google, Hulu)
THE SHINING (Stanley Kubrick, 1980, 146 min) (Amazon, Google)
ALMANAC OF FALL (Bela Tarr, 1984, 119 min) (Facets DVD)
DEMONS 2 (Lamberto Bava, 1986, 88 min) (Amazon)
THE TELEPHONE (Rip Torn, 1988, 96 min) (Amazon)
RED DAWN / ROJO AMANECER (Jorge Fons, 1989, 100 min) (archive.org)
MISERY (Rob Reiner, 1990, 107 min) (Amazon, Google)
HOME ALONE (Chris Columbus, 1990, 113 min) (Amazon, Google, Netflix)
THE HOLE (Tsai Ming-Liang, 1998, 95 min) (Fox Lorber DVD)
PANIC ROOM (David Fincher, 2002, 112 min) (Amazon, Google)
THE TIME WE KILLED (Jennifer Reeves, 2004, 94 min) (Fandor)
BUG (William Friedkin, 2006, 102 min) (Amazon, Google, Hulu)
PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (Oren Peli, 2007, 86 min) (Amazon, Google, Netflix)
FLOODING WITH LOVE FOR THE KID (Zachary Oberzan, 2007, 117 min) (https://vimeo.com/ondemand/zackflood)
FENGMING (Wang Bing, 2007, 184 min) (Grasshopper Film)
THIS IS NOT A FILM (Jafar Panahi, 2011, 75 min) (Palisades Tartan DVD)
UNFRIENDED (Leo Gabriadze, 2014, 83 min) (Amazon, Google, Hulu)
THE OTHER SIDE OF EVERYTHING (Mila Turajlić, 2017, 104 min) (Amazon)

Andy Warhol:
SLEEP (1963, 321 min)
POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL (1965, 66 min)
BEAUTY #2 (1965, 66 min)
KITCHEN (1965, 66 min)
BLUE MOVIE (1968, 133 min)

MING GREEN (Gregory Markopoulos, 1966, 7 min)
WAVELENGTH (Michael Snow, 1967, 45 min)
ROOM FILM (Peter Gidal, 1973, 47 min) (UbuWeb)
NEW IMPROVED INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY (Owen Land, 1976, 10 min) (Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film DVD set)
LEO ES PARDO (Iván Zulueta, 1976, 10 min) (UbuWeb)
LIVING INSIDE (Sadie Benning, 1989, 5 min) (UbuWeb)
DOIN’ TIME IN TIMES SQUARE (Charlie Ahearn, 1991, 39 min) (Fandor)
RABBITS (David Lynch, 2002, 43 min) (YouTube)

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