Freefall Productions

Two Hands (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1999 / Australia / 103 minutes “If you’re going through some sort of shit in your life, chances are someone else has been through the same thing before you- and they’ve written it down. Some poet or philosopher has been through the same type of crap- and they’ve written about it. And when you find that poem or that piece of writing, and you think “Bloody hell! This bastard’s just summed it all up!” it’s kind of comforting, know what I mean?” Director: Gregor Jordan / Screenplay: Gregor Jordan / Director of Photography: Malcolm McCulloch / Music: Cezary Skubiszewski / Production: Marian MacGowan for Meridian Films / Cast: Heath Ledger (Jimmy), Bryan Brown (Pando), David Field (Acko), Tom Long (Wally), Tony Forrow (Eddie), Steve Vidler (“The Man” / Michael), Rose Byrne (Alex), Dale Kalnins (Kiwi Bob), Kiri Paramore (Les), Mariel McClorey (Helen), Matt...

New Rose Hotel (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1998 / US / 93 minutes “Attention to detail- that’s our strong point.” Director: Abel Ferrara / Screenplay: Abel Ferrara & Christ Zois, based on the short story by William Gibson / Director of Photography: Ken Kelsch / Music: Schoolly D / Production: Edward R. Pressman for Quadra Entertainment / Cast: Christopher Walken (Fox), Willem Dafoe (“X”), Asia Argento (Sandii), Annabella Sciorra (Madame Rosa), Yoshitaka Amano (Hiroshi), Gretchen Mol (Hiroshi’s Wife), Phil Neilson (The Welshman), Ken Kelsch (The Expeditor), Victor Argo (Portuguese Businessman), Echo Danon (Singer #1), Kyrie Tinch (Singer #2). William Gibson’s short story New Rose Hotel was written in 1984 and is included in the author’s 1986 collection, Burning Chrome. A brief but memorable piece on corporate espionage in the near future, it almost immediately attracted the attenti...

Event Horizon (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1997 / US-UK / 96 minutes “This ship has been beyond the boundaries of our universe, of known scientific reality… No one knows where it’s been, what it’s seen- and what it’s brought back with it…” Director: Paul W.S. Anderson / Screenplay: Philip Eisner / Director of Photography: Adrian Biddle / Music: Michael Kamen and Orbital / Production: Jeremy Bolt, Lawrence Gordon and Lloyd Levin for Paramount Pictures / Cast: Laurence Fishburne (Miller), Sam Neil (Weir), Kathleen Quinlan (Peters), Joley Richardson (Starck), Richard T. Jones (Cooper), Jack Noseworthy (Justin), Jason Isaacs (D.J.), Sean Pertwee (Smith). In 1995, British director Paul Anderson (it would be a couple of years until the rise of Paul Thomas Anderson necessitated him always having to add his middle initials to his credit) made what is still the only half- decent video game to m...

The Addiction (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1995 / US / 82 minutes “My indifference is not the issue here. It’s your astonishment that needs study.” Director: Abel Ferrara / Screenplay: Nicholas St. John / Director of Photography: Ken Kelsch / Music: Joe Delia / Production: Dennis Hann and Fernando Sulichin for Fast Films / Cast: Lili Taylor (Kathleen Conklin), Christopher Walken (Peina), Annabella Sciorra (Casanova), Edie Falco (Jean), Paul Calderon (Professor), Fredro Starr (Black), Kathryn Erbe (Anthropology Student), Michael Imperioli (Missionary), Jamal Simmons (Black’s Friend), Robert Castle (Priest). After the disappointing experience of directing Body Snatchers (1993) and it’s even more disappointing opening, Abel Ferrara again returned to independent filmmaking- this time for good. Having had a much better time quickly making Bad Lieutenant with his old crew in their old school...

Land and Freedom (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1995 / UK-Spain / 109 minutes “Some of the most sincere and dedicated fighters against fascism have been murdered. But if you get this letter, understand that I regret nothing. Revolutions are contagious and had we succeeded here- and we could have done- we would have changed the world.” Director: Ken Loach / Screenplay: Jim Allen / Director of Photography: Barry Ackroyd / Music: George Fenton / Production: Rebecca O’Brien for Canal Plus / Cast: Ian Hart (David Carr), Rosana Pastor (Blanca), Iciar Bollain (Maite), Tom Gilroy (Lawrence), Marc Martinez (Juan Vidal), Frederic Pierrot (Bernard Goujon), Suzanne Maddock (Kim). Land and Freedom opens in the then present day Liverpool of 1995. David Carr, a onetime hero of the Spanish Civil War, has just died and his granddaughter is piecing together his story from the few possessions he left behin...

Gunmen (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1993 / US-Mexico / 97 minutes “I wouldn’t do that. You’ve got candiru in there! Spiny little fish that like to swim up your penis! It’s true! I know a guy who lost his entire penis from one! It was horrible!” Director: Deran Sarafian / Screenplay: Stephen Sommers / Director of Photography: Hiro Narita / Music: John Debney / Production: John Davis, John Flock and Laurence Mark for Davis Entertainment / Cast: Christopher Lambert (Dani Servigo), Mario Van Peebles (Cole Parker), Patrick Stewart (Loomis), Brenda Bakke (Maria), Denis Leary (O’Malley). After his unexpected international breakout success with Highlander (1986), French actor Christopher Lambert briefly became one of Hollywood’s unlikeliest leading men. Having somehow landed the part of an immortal Scottish swordsman despite his dangerously limited eyesight and even more limited English, L...

Alien 3 (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1992 / US-UK / 145 minutes “When they first heard about this thing, it was “Crew Expendable”. The next time they sent in marines- they were expendable too. What makes you think they’re going to care about a bunch of lifers who found God at the ass end of space? You really think they’re going to let you interfere with their plans for this thing? They think that we’re crud- and they don’t give a fuck about one friend of yours that’s died, not one. ” Director: David Fincher / Screenplay: David Giler & Walter Hill and Larry Ferguson, based on a story by Vincent Ward and characters created by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett / Director of Photography: Alex Thomson / Music: Elliott Goldenthal / Production: Gordon Carroll, David Giler and Walter Hill for Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century Fox / Cast: Sigourney Weaver (Ellen Ripley), Charles Danc...

Bad Lieutenant (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1992 / US / 96 minutes “I’ve been dodging fucking bullets since I was fourteen. No one can kill me. I’m blessed- I’m a fucking Catholic.” Director: Abel Ferrara / Screenplay: Zoe Lund & Abel Ferrara / Director of Photography: Ken Kelsch / Music: Joe Delia / Production: Mary Kane & Edward R. Pressman for Aries Films / Cast: Harvey Keitel (The Lieutenant), Paul Calderon (Cop #1), Leonard L. Thomas (Cop #2), Zoe Lund (Zoe), Victor Argo (Beat Cop), Frankie Thorn (The Nun), Paul Hipp (Jesus), Heather Bracken (Nurse). In 1990, Abel Ferrara had made his biggest film yet with King of New York. Designed as an NYC Scarface, the gangster epic starred Christopher Walken as complex, conflicted mob boss Frank White and featured an impressive supporting cast including Laurence Fishburne, Steve Buscemi and Wesley Snipes. But for all of it’s big budge...

Predator 2 (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1990 / US / 108 minutes “I didn’t think he was vegetarian…” Director: Stephen Hopkins / Screenplay: Jim Thomas & John Thomas / Director of Photography: Peter Levy / Music: Alan Silvestri / Production: John Davis, Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silver for Twentieth Century Fox / Cast: Danny Glover (Mike Harrigan), Gary Busey (Peter Keyes), Ruben Blades (Danny Archuleta), Maria Conchita Alonso (Leona Cantrell), Bill Paxton (Jerry Lambert), Robert Davi (Phil Heinemann), Adam Baldwin (Garber), Morton Downey, Jr. (Tony Pope), Calvin Lockhart (King Willie), Henry Kingi (El Scorpio), Elpidia Carillo (Anna), Kevin Peter Hall (The Predator). In 1987, John McTiernan’s Arnold Schwarzenegger- led Sci- Fi actioner Predator arrived the year after James Cameron’s Aliens and gave Twentieth Century Fox a second instantly iconic extraterrestrial monster to terrorise...

Cyborg (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1989 / US / 86 minutes “They need us out there…” Director: Albert Pyun / Screenplay: Albert Pyun / Director of Photography: Philip Alan Waters / Music: Kevin Bassinson / Production: Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan for Cannon Films / Cast: Jean- Claude Van Damme (Gibson Rickenbacker), Deborah Richter (Nady Simmons), Vincent Klyn (Fender Tremolo), Alex Daniels (Marshall Strat), Dayle Haddon (Pearl Prophet), Blaise Loong (Furman Vux), Ralf Moeller (Brick Bardo), Haley Peterson (Haley), Terry Batson (Mary), Jackson “Rock” Pinckney (Tytus). Throughout the ’80’s, Cannon Films had been churning out micro- budget action B movies at a rate of dozens a year. The notoriously low end outfit was run by dodgy Israeli businessmen Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan and specialised in buying screenplays nobody else wanted then filming them as cheaply as possible. As M. Em...

Salvador (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1986 / US-UK-Mexico / 122 minutes “You’ve got to get close to get the truth… You get too close, you die.” Director: Oliver Stone / Screenplay: Richard Boyle & Oliver Stone / Director of Photography: Robert Richardson / Music: Georges Delerue / Production: Gerald Green, Oliver Stone and John Daly for Hemdale / Cast: James Woods (Richard Boyle), James Belushi (Dr. Rock), Michael Murphy (Thomas Kelly), John Savage (John Cassady), Elpidia Carillo (Maria), Tony Plana (Major Max), Colby Chester (Jack Morgan), Cindy Gibb (Cathy Moore), Will MacMillan (Colonel Hyde), Valerie Wildman (Pauline Axelrod), Jose Carlos Ruiz (Archbishop Romero), Juan Fernandez (Army Lieutenant). Before he started producing movies, John Daly managed Black Sabbath, promoted the Muhammad Ali / George Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle” fight in Zaire and founded Hemdale Films. In 198...

Blood Simple (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1984 / US / 99 minutes “In Russia, they’ve got it all mapped out so that everyone pulls for everyone else- that’s the theory anyway… But what I know, is Texas. And down here, you’re on your own.” Director: Joel Coen / Screenplay: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen / Director of Photography: Barry Sonnenfeld / Music: Carter Burwell / Production: Ethan Coen for River Road Productions / Cast: John Getz (Ray), Frances McDormand (Abby), Dan Hedaya (Julian Marty), M. Emmett Walsh (Loren Visser), Samm-Art Williams (Meurice). If Streets of Fire is the perfect example of what happens when a studio launches shitloads of money at a big name director’s project that goes horribly wrong, Blood Simple is the perfect example of an independently funded production made by complete unknowns that becomes a huge success, which is especially ironic as, in it’s own way, the ...

Streets of Fire (from Weird and Wonderful II: Fifty More Cult Films by George Hughes, available from freefall-productions.com on 02/11/20) 1984 / US / 93 minutes “You guys really know how to come through a door. What are you trying to prove?” Director: Walter Hill / Screenplay: Larry Gross & Walter Hill / Director of Photography: Andrew Laszlow / Music: Ry Cooder / Production: Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silver for Universal / Cast: Michael Pare (Tom Cody), Diane Lane (Ellen Aim), Willem Dafoe (Raven Shaddock), Deborah van Valkenburgh (Reeva), Rick Moranis (Billy Fish), Amy Madigan (McCoy), Bill Paxton (Clyde), Grand L. Bush (Reggie), Mykelti Williamson (B.J.), Ed Begley, Jr. (Ben Gunn). In addition to being the beginning of the home video age, the ’80’s were also the decade in which the music video properly caught on. The biggest artists produced movie- quality mini- epics to bring their new singles to TV and a new relationship between film and music took shape. This was the ...