Get movie widget Recommend it Add to Favorites

Anne Carlisle, Paula E. Sheppard, Susan Doukas, Otto von Wernherr, Bob Brady ... see more see more... , Elaine C. Grove , Stanley Knap , Jack Adalist , Lloyd Ziff , Harry Lum , Roy MacArthur , Sara Carlisle , David Ilku , Zora Kerova , Lucille , Angelo

A glitzy updating of Andy Warhol's Trash with aliens, this campy, stylish, but ultimately depressing film is one of the most keenly observed portraits of New York's early '80s downtown new wave scene.... read more read more... Anne Carlisle, who co-wrote the script, is terrific in a dual role as the wan lesbian Margaret and her arrogant gay nemesis, Jimmy. Tiny space aliens see Margaret shooting up and choose her to feed their heroin-like addiction to a substance produced in the human brain during sexual climax. Her partners end up vaporized, but since most of them treat her like dirt, Margaret doesn't mind. Meanwhile, a German scientist (Otto von Wernherr) has been tracking the plate-sized alien craft and observes it from the apartment of a horny Jewish woman (Susan Doukas); all the while, he is oblivious to her comic frustration and increasingly blatant sexual advances. Despite the sci-fi elements, considerable humor, cool music, and a gorgeous production design, this is really a film about desperation and ugliness. Other than Von Wernherr and Doukas -- who are outside the punk scene -- the characters all loathe themselves and treat each other horribly. Most of their sex involves rape, and when they die, each seems to be better off. Perhaps the bitter aftertaste of this film explains why it never really caught on as a midnight movie, but it is a dark gem and well worth seeing. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi

Flixster Users

67% liked it

4,365 ratings

Critics

94% liked it

17 critics

R, 1 hr. 58 min.

Directed by: Slava Tsukerman

Release Date: January 1, 1983

Invite friends to see

DVD Release Date: February 15, 2000

Stats: 300 reviews

Your Rating



clear rating

Flixster Reviews (300)


  • May 29, 2011
    This was meant to appeal to that warhol-ish, "fuck me, im original." crowd. but if this was a book, and it looks like it might have been, then it wouldn't be very shocking at all since the characters talk like the kids in the hall in one of their bitchy, whatever sketches. your b... read morerain has to have a hole in it big enough to shove applesauce into with a wooden spoon if you have any hope of knowing what the fuck the movie means. anyway, its nice and pretty. and original and shit... once you see it you'll realize "oh, so Lady Gaga DID'NT come up with the idea for those ugly stupid costumes?"
  • April 21, 2010
    Completely bizarre disjointed collection of psychedelic scenes can't even really be called a film at least in the narrative sense.
  • May 22, 2009
    A bit too many rape scenes for my taste, otherwise I would've given this a full three stars. The theme song was awesome.
  • February 21, 2008
    AMAZING on SO many levels. Costumes that will bring to mind the results of "Project Runway" had they created it in the 80's. A sountrack that will blow your mind (and your Casiotone). And orgasmic seeking aliens! What more could you as for?
  • January 29, 2010
    I don't know what to say about this movie other than it was strangely hipnotic. I wasn't completely sure of what ws on screen, but it captivated and took me on a strange ride I don't see myself forgetting. Definitely something that could have only been made in its time but manage... read mores to live up even today.
  • June 8, 2011
    The quintessential independent film when it cam out, it;s about brain sucking alien heroin junkies, and it's really pretty clever and colorful.
  • August 18, 2009
    Sci-fi/horror flick about men & the women from out of this world that love their guys to death. Totally bizarre but very hard to turn away...
  • April 15, 2007
    Oh my God...I hated this movie so much. Yet, looking away was absolutely unthinkable.

    Horrible. Yet enjoyable. I mean, if you don't like yourself enough to spend two hours doing something useful, like doing your thesis...
  • March 22, 2007
    HISS! The film that shall not be named! An atrocious, abominable attemt at subverting the alien invasion flick and suffusing it with a punk-filmmaking edge. It fails. Miserably. I've wasted many, many hours of my life watching and rewatching some of the worst films ever made, and... read more yet this is the one that my group and I cannot even call by name, for fear of invoking its unholy prescence. Sadly, I've still seen worse, but the effect this film has on my brain is unquestionably bad, turning me into a semi-catatonic, mumbling fool for indeterminate amounts of time. While many could argue I spend most of my life that way anyway, I assure you if that is the case, it is only due to the resurfacing residual effects of watching this movie. And watching it again will only make it worse. The half star is only for one endlessly repeatable line of dialog and, well, becaues I haven't figured out how to give no stars yet.
  • January 12, 2007
    I love the androgeny and campy alien feel. The sexual tension between the dual roles was erotically nacicistic.

Critic Reviews


April 11, 2007
Variety

Liquid Sky is an odd, yet generally pleasing mixture of punk rock, science fiction, and black humor. Full Review

Dave Kehr
April 11, 2007
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Anne Carlisle, who stars as both the model and her creepy male counterpart, projects a disturbing and original aura of opaque, ingrained despair. Full Review

Janet Maslin
August 30, 2004
Janet Maslin, New York Times

[This] film, with a heroine who is sometimes a hero and who is apt to show up in a red corset with matching red-and-blond skunk hairdo, can hardly be for everyone. But the right audiences are bound to... Full Review

May 30, 2007
Empire Magazine

Knowingly kitsch, Liquid Sky uses the most basic effects and featuring music and fashion that were cutting edge at the time, it now looks fashionably retro. Full Review

May 30, 2007
Film4

Liquid Sky is one of the forerunners of the quirky American independent movement that exchanged substance for style, and, love it or hate it, is a true original. Full Review

April 11, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Outrageous fun, this film is New Wave chic, satire, self-parody, science fiction, and certainly one of the more accessible independent features ever made. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
November 15, 2006
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Capturing the manner and humor of a comic strip about punk culture, Liquid Sky is the brain product of Slava Tsukerman, a Soviet emigre in NY; like the aliens in his cult flick, he explores the exotic... Full Review

Geoff Andrew
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew, Time Out

A bizarre, often hilarious melee of weird drugs, weird sex and off-the-wall camp SF. Full Review

Jake Euker
July 8, 2004
Jake Euker, F5 (Wichita, KS)

Bad, but sometimes fascinating. It's genuinely strange and, at least, truly independent.

Emily Blunt
December 24, 2003
Emily Blunt, Blunt Review

Truly a punk quirk film...

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

More Like This


Click a thumb to vote on that suggestion, or add your own suggestions.

  • The Driller Killer
    The Driller Killer (100%)
  • Party Monster
    Party Monster (100%)
  • Entre tinieblas (Dark Habits) (Dark Hideout)
    Entre tinieblas (Dark Habits) (Dark Hideout) (0%)
  • Repo Man
    Repo Man (100%)

Facts


No facts approved yet. Be the first

Liquid Sky : Watch Free on TV


Recent News


No recent headlines. Got one?

Recent Lists


Most Popular Skin


No skins yet. Interested in creating one?