Eggshells (film)

Eggshells
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tobe Hooper
Written by	Tobe Hooper Kim Henkel
Produced by	David L. Ford Tobe Hooper Raymond O'Leary
Starring	Ron Barnhart Pamela Craig Allen Danziger Sharron Danziger Kim Henkel
Cinematography	Tobe Hooper
Edited by	Robert Elkins Tobe Hooper
Music by	Spencer Perskin Shiva's Headband Jim Schulman
Distributed by	Watchmaker Films (2009 re-release)
Release date	1969 (1969)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40,000

Eggshells is a 1969 American independent experimental film directed by Tobe Hooper in his directorial debut. Hooper, who co-wrote the film with Kim Henkel, also served as one of the film's producers. The film centers on a commune of young hippies, who slowly become aware of an otherworldly presence that resides in the basement.

Plot

A group of young hippies, having recently moved into an old house in the woods, slowly become aware of an otherworldly presence residing in the basement of the house.

Cast

• Mahlon Foreman as Mahlon
• Ron Barnhart as Ron
• Amy Lester as Amy
• Kim Henkel as Toes
• Pamela Craig as Pam
• Jim Schulman as Jim
• Allen Danziger as Allen

Production

Hooper reflected on the film later when recounting his first efforts as a filmmaker: "It's a real movie about 1969. It's kind of vérité but with a little push. Like a script on a napkin, improvisation mixed with magic. It was about the beginning of the end of the subculture. Most of it takes place in a commune house. But what they didn't know is that in the basement is a crypto-embryonic-hyper-electric presence that managed to influence the house and the people in it. The influences in my life were all kind of politically, socially implanted."

Reception

In 2017, Zane Gordon-Bouzard of Birth.Movies.Death stated that the film "lay[s] out its rambling vision of hippie life in Austin, Texas in a series of acid-splashed reveries". Gordon-Bouzard also noted that the film displayed many of the themes and motifs that would become a staple in director Hooper's later films. Louis Black from The Austin Chronicle gave the film a positive review, stating that the film very much emulated the works of Jean-Luc Godard. Black also praised the film for its capturing of 1960s Austin attitudes and lifestyles, as well as the psychedelic visuals and Hooper's direction.

See also

• List of American films of 1969

Sources

Books

• Macor, Alison (February 22, 2010). Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids: Thirty Years of Filmmaking in Austin, Texas. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-77829-0.
• Towlson, Jon (March 20, 2014). Subversive Horror Cinema: Countercultural Messages of Films from Frankenstein to the Present. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0-7864-7469-1.

Websites

• Black, Louis (March 13, 2009). "SXSW FILM - Found Film: The rehatching of Tobe Hooper's 1969 debut, 'Eggshells'". AustinChronicle.com. Austin, Texas: The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
• Bloom, John (November 2004). "They Came. They Sawed". TexasMonthly.com. Texas Monthly. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved May 13, 2020.
• Gordon-Bouzard, Zane (September 14, 2017). "The Psychedelic Illumination Of Tobe Hooper's EGGSHELLS". BirthMoviesDeath.com. Birth.Movies.Death. Retrieved May 13, 2020.

Further reading

• Earl, William; Nordine, Michael; O'Falt, Chris; Ehrlich, David; Kohn, Eric (August 28, 2017). "Tobe Hooper's Best Films: An IndieWire Tribute to 'Texas Chainsaw,' 'Poltergeist,' and More". IndieWire.com. IndieWire. Retrieved May 13, 2020.

External links

• Eggshells at IMDb
• Eggshells at Rotten Tomatoes