For its 16th edition, SLASH is breaking the screen and bringing multidimensional horror with the retrospective “Hostile Dimensions – 3D in Genre Cinema.” Decades before the three-dimensional film experience went through a digital renaissance around the 2010s, horror and genre cinema in particular produced remarkable 3D gems. The retrospective presents an illustrious selection of classics, rarities, and cinematic excesses.
First titles of the retrospective:
In 1953, HOUSE OF WAX caused a stir as the first 3D color feature film produced by a major Hollywood studio (Warner Bros.). Vincent Price starred in the blockbuster as sculptor and wax museum owner Henry Jarrod. Director André De Toth was unable to enjoy the 3D effect of his work—he had only one eye.
HOUSE OF WAX (1953 US, R: André De Toth) (c) Images Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures
“To know death, Otto, you must fuck life in the gall bladder,” says Udo Kier in Paul Morrissey and Antonio Margheriti’s magnificently macabre FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN from 1973. As the deranged Baron Frankenstein, Kier cobbles together a pair of monsters from corpse parts, intended to spawn a new Serbian “master race” and, incidentally, to serve his own sexual perversions. Two dimensions are insufficient for this softcore and gore extravaganza.
FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN (1973 IT/FR, R: Paul Morrissey, Antonio Margheriti)
Another 3D gem from the 1970s that is still relatively unknown in this country is the martial arts extravaganza DYNASTY (TW/HK 1977). Director Mei-Chun Chang used the story of a kung fu warrior who stands in the way of an evil ruler’s henchmen in the 17th century as an opportunity tounleash a barrage of swords, other murderous weapons, and severed heads on the audience.
Steve Miner’s FRIDAY THE 13TH – PART III not only gave Jason Voorhees his iconic hockey mask in 1982, but also made it the only installment in the cult slasher series to be released in 3D. Critics turned up their noses, but audiences flocked to theaters, knocking E.T. off the top spot at the US box office for at least a week.
FRIDAY THE 13TH – PART III (1982 US, R: Steve Miner) (c) Images Courtesy of Park Circus/Paramount
In the exuberant action adventure TREASURE OF THE FOUR CROWNS (IT/ES/US 1983), Italian director Ferdinando Baldi, who was also responsible for the 3D Italo Western COMIN’ AT YA!, pulled out all the stops to create a spatial cinema experience. Criticism that he was a little too inspired by Indiana Jones does not detract from the fun. The score was composed by none other than Ennio Morricone.
TREASURE OF THE FOUR CROWNS (1983 IT/ES/US, R: Ferdinando Baldi)
(c) 1983 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.