Mad Science

Overview

Watching Poor Things and not thinking about the mother of all tales about reviving the dead, aka Frankenstein, was impossible. At GOMA's latest film program, embracing their thematic similarities — and the entire genre about madcap creators experimenting that came alive when Mary Shelley's tale made it to celluloid in 1931 — is the entire point.

Screening from Friday, May 3–Sunday, June 23, the Mad Science lineup doesn't just boast movies that owe one of the greatest sci-fi novels ever a massive debt, but it throws plenty of love that way. Think: the above duo, including together on the retrospective season's opening night, plus The Bride of Frankenstein, Young Frankenstein, The Curse of Frankenstein, Re-Animator, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Andy Warhol's Flesh for Frankenstein and M3GAN.

This new excuse to spend Wednesday and Friday evenings at the Australian Cinematheque — and also Saturday and Sunday during the day — has been programmed with a jolt of inspiration. Covering over a century of horror and thriller flicks, it's filled with films that ponder scientific investigation, where humanity is willing to push it, and the ethics and consequences of playing god.

Other highlights span 1920's Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, both 1933's and 2020's The Invisible Man, Bond entry Moonraker and Stanley Kubrick's Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Or, plug in for the OG Ghost in the Shell, get immersed in French great The City of Lost Children and see one of Antonio Banderas' (Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny) stunning performances for Pedro Almodóvar (Parallel Mothers) in The Skin I Live In.

And yes, life has found a way to get Jurassic Park onto the bill, too. Whatever you catch, this is a ticketed lineup, starting at $10 for adults.