HOWARD THE DUCK and DROP DEAD FRED screening back-to-back.
HOWARD THE DUCK @ 7:00 PM
1986, 110 minutes
Directed by Willard Huyck
Howard the Duck, executive produced by George Lucas, is an offbeat, visual effects-filled comedy based on the cult favorite Marvel Comics series of the same name. It was written by Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, the same husband-and-wife team who scripted American Graffiti (1973), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), and who wrote and directed the cult classic Messiah of Evil (1974).
Howard the Duck is suddenly beamed from Duckworld, a planet of intelligent ducks with arms and legs, to Earth, where he lands in Cleveland. There he saves rocker Beverly (Lea Thompson) from thugs and forms a friendship with her. She introduces him to Phil (Tim Robbins), who works at a lab with scientist Dr. Jenning (Jeffrey Jones). When the doctor attempts to return Howard to his world, Jenning instead transfers an evil spirit into his own body.
Above the heads of the kid audience it was aimed at, Howard the Duck is an inventive offbeat film now with a devoted audience.
DROP DEAD FRED @ 9:10 PM
1991, 99 minutes
Directed by Ate de Jong
Elizabeth’s life is in shambles. Her husband has just dumped her for another woman, her car has been stolen which causes her to arrive late for work only to get fired, and her overbearing mother has convinced her to move back home. One night when she can’t sleep, Elizabeth happens upon the small box which housed her childhood imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred, who used to cause all kinds of mischief. But, when Elizabeth opens the box causing Fred to reappear, she is drawn into a raucous series of new, highly destructive, and hilarious adventures.
Although derided by critics upon its initial release, Ate de Jong’s DROP DEAD FRED has since become a cult favorite, earning a hardy reputation as one of the strangest and most unhinged ‘family’ films to ever emerge from a major studio. Starring Phoebe Cates, Rik Mayall, Marsha Mason, Tim Matheson and featuring Carrie Fisher.