Liquid Sky

A spaceship lands unnoticed in New York, carrying aliens in search of “Liquid Sky” (a slang term for heroin). They take up residence in a penthouse inhabited by a drug dealer and his girlfriend, the beautiful and androgynous Margaret, who works as a model. The extraterrestrials soon discover that there is something that gives an even greater high than heroin: the pheromones the human brain produces during orgasm. As a result of this discovery, Margaret’s frequently changing lovers begin to mysteriously disappear…

The outrageous trash story about the aliens is more thought-out than it initially appears, but Liquid Sky primarily draws its strength from its frenetic editing and its indulgence in New Wave and neon aesthetics (even the spaceship looks like a designer lamp). At times, the film abruptly transitions into a virtual art world — the world as seen through the eyes of the aliens. The computer effects used for these scenes may be no more advanced than a modern screensaver, but they are nonetheless well-placed and edited. Liquid Sky is a radically underground film in every sense, and it still delivers quite a punch today.

Tsukerman about the film:
„My basic idea behind Liquid Sky was creating a parable which would include most of the hot mythical topics of the period: sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll, violence, aliens from the outer space. The story of Cinderella was the basic … This story was very often used in traditional Hollywood, as the embodiment of the American dream: the American Cinderella always finds her Prince Charming. I thought that the post-punk Cinderella of the ‘80s wouldn’t be able to find her prince among the men surrounding her. Her Prince Charming, ironically, would come in a small flying saucer from outer space.“