Hailed as “great trash” by John Waters, director Paul Verhoeven’s dazzling disaster remains the subject of virulent discussion, perpetually seeming to elude the grasp of interpretation. We follow the various misfortunes of our histrionic heroine Nomi Malone (Elizabeth Berkley) as she attempts to retain her virtue in the city of sin. Nomi’s aspirations of becoming a showgirl at the illustrious Stardust Casino plunge her into the acrylic-clawed clutches of the topless-revue prima-donna Cristal Connors (Gina Gershon). Naturally vicious competition and erotically charged cruelty ensue. A blinding effulgence of neon-lights, oceans of gemstones, gratuitous nudity, peroxide blondes, fever-pitch performances: This glamorous cataclysm blazes with the undeniable hypnotic allure of a violent car crash. Resist and suffer or blissfully yield to the mania. That’s Vegas baby!

How did they ever make a movie about showgirls?

Set against the vibrant cultural tapestry of 1950s Kerala, Vanaprastham is a Malayalam-language film that intricately explores the boundaries between reality and performance, tradition and modernity, and personal desires versus societal expectations. This captivating psychological drama follows the journey of a Kathakali dancer who faces ostracization due to his lower caste background while navigating a torrid love affair that blurs the lines between truth and fiction. Considered a landmark in Indian cinema, the film's breathtaking visuals and innovative use of classical dance and music as a storytelling medium provide a poignant reflection on the multifaceted role of artists in shaping the politics of art and mythology within a society undergoing rapid change.

In You, the Living (2007), the second film of his loosely connected Living trilogy, Andersson artfully stages a series of tragicomic vignettes. Notably, a carpenter stuck in traffic dreams of being executed for breaking a china set during dinner. Influenced by the German New Objectivity Andersson paints his sets like canvases on which the grey mundane, slowly, comes to life as lyrical absurdity. It’s a world in which “the colors aren’t so much muted, as they have taken a stripped vow of silence.” Despite its existential undertones, however, the film is a hilarious mood piece that, perhaps, could even be considered a musical!

From the secret files of the Vatican! 

An unsettling and unconventional addition to the subgenre of nunsploitation films, Killer Nun stars Anita Ekberg as Sister Gertrude, a tormented nun whose psyche is besieged by disquieting visions filled with graphic and violent imagery. Her morphine addiction triggers her psychotic behavior while fostering a nightmarish realm where lesbianism, torture, and death reign supreme. Originally banned in the UK for its provocative content, Killer Nun is loosely based on the story of a Belgian nun who allegedly committed a series of murders in a geriatric hospital in 1977. This cinematic journey into darkness beckons us to a transgressive Halloween screening, where an unholy exploration of faith, perversion, and psychological turmoil unfolds. 

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