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John Sayles Retrospective: Piranha & The Howling

February 14, 2020 at 6.30pm – 9.30pm

Egyptian Theater

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JOHN SAYLES: INDEPENDENT

Double Feature! John Sayles & Joe Dante In Person!

PIRANHA / THE HOWLING

Co-presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive, the Hugh M. Hefner Classic American Film Program and Beyond Fest

Discussion between films with screenwriter John Sayles and director Joe Dante, moderated by Mick Garris. Join us at 6:30 PM in the lobby, where Sayles will sign his new book, Yellow Earth.

35 mm!

 

PIRANHA (1978)

1978, AGFA, 94 min, USA/Japan, Dir: Joe Dante

Screenwriter John Sayles cleverly riffs on JAWS in this early directorial effort from Joe Dante, in which a school of deadly mutant piranha heads for a sleepy summer community. Combining crisp action with razor-sharp satire, this fast, funny and scary creature feature is one of the best films to come out of producer Roger Corman's New World Pictures in the 1970s.

TRAILER 

35 mm!

 

THE HOWLING

1981, Rialto Pictures, 91 min, USA, Dir: Joe Dante

TV anchorwoman Dee Wallace, traumatized after acting as bait for a Hollywood serial killer’s bloody demise, takes a sojourn in an Esalen-type retreat - only to find the entire New Age community is made up of werewolves! Directed with tremendous energy and black humor by genre specialist Joe Dante (and co-written by indie film godfather John Sayles), this tongue-in-cheek chiller features a Who’s Who of great genre character actors.

TRAILER 

35mm print of PIRANHA courtesy of the Jon Davison Collection at the Academy Film Archive.

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Authors

  • John Sayles

    John Sayles

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