Screening

About Thundercrack!

Year Released:

1975

Genres:

Comedy, Horror

Metadata:

Directed by Curt McDowell

As the punctuation mark affixed to its title might suggest, Thundercrack! is a study in excess. Directed by Indiana-native Curt McDowell and co-written/co-starring cult icon George Kuchar, the film follows a group of outré strangers (including an amorous gorilla) as they spend the night breaking social-sexual taboos in a gothic setting that queerly reimagines James Whale’s The Old Dark. It’s a forgotten entry in the canon of 1970s underground filmmaking that reminds us that the line between tastelessness and the sublime is very fine indeed.

The screening will be preceded by an introduction from Jamie Hook, a Ph.D. student whose work centers on taste politics and stigmatized films, genres, and spectators. Contains graphic nudity. (Digital presentation)