Eggshells

My summary line will be something of an inside joke that only people who have watched the movie at the Frightfest in London earlier this year (2010) will understand. Those who went ahead and watched it of course. And stayed until the end. Because this is very experimental. Very different too.

And yes if you like it, you will state that this is good because it isn't like any Hollywood movie (well it's not supposed to be). And yes it has it's scenes (though the staircase montage gets a bit annoying after a bit). And also yes to the fact, that this is not really a horror movie. It is more a sci-fi movie than a horror movie. Just in case you expected that, from the man who brought you Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original that is).

If you are into experimental movies with (almost) no story at all, than this might be for you. Ignore my rating (and all the others who said it's not good). I'm not gonna tell you, how to feel about the weird things you (probably) are about to see.

this film was a classic hippie film ..........i saw it in Florida at the midnight surf movie theaters. totally unique---- and i have been wondering about it for more than thirty years.

hard to believe this director went on the the chainsaw thing............almost impossible to imagine since the love message of the late 60's was so central to eggshells.

hopefully someone will know how to get a copy.

it's is very satisfying to know that someone else out there remembers this great piece of film and that i just didn't imagine the whole thing.

peace and twang, cg

The Wedding was performed in the Park by Rabbi Clyde T. "Mickey" Sills. As a student, I remember him giving a sermon about the wedding scene at the Hillel. He was a wonderful story teller and was one of the 16 Rabbis arrested in 1964 with Martin Luther King In St Augustine, Florida for Swimming in a pool with blacks. The sheriff poured acid into the pool.

In any event, he gave a wonderful sermon in about 1969 about performing a wedding next to the Courthouse which must have also housed the jail. As I recall, it was about creating a joyful and solemn occasion in the park under the Wedding Canopy (Huppah) while the prisoners were entertaining themselves heckling the wedding.

Woolridge Park is located between W 9th Street and W 10th Street on the West Side of Guadalupe St. The Travis County Courthouse address is 1000 Guadalupe Street. The current "high rise" county jail is adjacent to the county courthouse. The address is 509 W. 11th. I believe that it moved there after the movie was filmed.

Rabbi Sills now leads a Congregation in Oregon.

Eggshells (1969)

** (out of 4)

Normally I start my reviews off with a brief description of the plot but that's not really needed here because there isn't one. Basically you've got a couples sitting around and talking about various deep topics including war and haunted houses.

EGGSHELLS was Tobe Hooper's first feature film and it's easy to see why it has been forgotten. Usually whenever director's make a name for themselves their early works come back into play but that never happened with EGGSHELLS and it pretty much remained a mystery until here recently when it got a re-release. The film isn't awful. The film certainly isn't great. It's just pretty much in the middle without anything overly interesting in it outside of the film's the director would make after it.

This is one of those films where there's no plot but instead hippies are sitting around talking about "deep" stuff that no one but stoned hippies would find deep. Most of the conversations had here are pretty boring and none of them are interesting enough to really grab your attention and hold it throughout the running time. Just take a look at the discussion of haunted houses and you'll see how silly it actually is and how pointless it is.

The film really drags at spots and especially the final ten-minutes of the movie. I'm going to guess Hooper was trying to deliver some sort of weird acid trip but that doesn't happen and instead of being entertained the viewer will be looking at his watch. EGGSHELLS is technically well-made and it features some nice performances but that's not enough to keep you glued into the film.

My dad went to film school in Austin, Texas in fact he was a freshman the year after Tobe Hooper graduated. He told me that as part of a class he had to watch 'Eggshells.' What he liked most about it was that it showed the power of editing, just simple cuts and that was all it needed. There was one scene in particular, of a man having a sword fight with himself he would swing the sword, and BAM! cut he would appear on the other side ready to parry, the scene probably took hours to choreograph but for the primitive effects it was truly remarkable.

I would love to try to find a copy of it somewhere, i may just have to go to Austin to get it.