Directed by Ken Russell • 1984 • United States
Starring Kathleen Turner, Anthony Perkins, Bruce Davison
She is watched. She is worshiped. And she must remain a mystery. Fashion designer Joanna Crane (Kathleen Turner, at the height of her powers) leads a double life. By night she is China Blue, a sex worker who has attracted the unwanted attention of two men. One is a sexually frustrated private detective hired by her employees. The other is a psychopathic priest (played by Norman Bates himself, Anthony Perkins) in possession of a murderous sex toy. With its outré screenplay by Barry Sandler and over-the-top score by Rick Wakeman, this may just be the most outrageous film renegade director Ken Russell ever made—and that is saying something.
Up Next in American Independents
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Blood Simple
Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen • 1984 • United States
Joel and Ethan Coen's career-long darkly comic road trip through misfit America began with this razor-sharp, hard-boiled neonoir set somewhere in Texas, where a sleazy bar owner releases a torrent of violence with one murderous though...
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The Daytrippers
Directed by Greg Mottola • 1996 • United States
Starring Parker Posey, Hope Davis, Liev SchreiberWith its droll humor and bittersweet emotional heft, the feature debut of writer-director Greg Mottola announced the arrival of an unassumingly sharp-witted new talent on the 1990s indie film scene....
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Night on Earth
Directed by Jim Jarmusch • 1991 • France, United Kingdom, Germany, United States, Japan
Starring Gena Rowlands, Winona Ryder, Rosie PerezFive cities. Five taxicabs. A multitude of strangers in the night. Jim Jarmusch assembled an extraordinary international cast of actors (including Gena Rowlan...
