Capital Celluloid 2013 - Day 180: Sat Jun 29

Murder by Decree (Clark, 1979): Masonic Temple at Andaz Hotel, Liverpool Street, 2pm

This movie screens as part of the East End Film Festival, which runs from June 25 to July 10. Here are the details of the full programme. The attraction here is the venue which looks amazing.

Time Out review:
Not entirely successful, but still an imaginative and ambitious attempt to combine historical speculation, conspiracy thriller, and the world of Conan Doyle. Treading much the same territory as Stephen Knight's book The Final Solution, it sees Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson investigating the Jack the Ripper murders, and coming up with an answer that involves royalty, Parliament and the Masons. For a full account of the theory - largely convincing - read Knight's book; but this will give you an idea of what may have prompted the murder of five prostitutes in Victorian London. The different threads are neatly interwoven, suspense and explanation being carefully balanced, and the horror of the crimes evoked in suitably nightmarish images. The only drawbacks, in fact, lie in Sutherland's appearance as a loony visionary, and in Plummer's occasional adoption of ludicrous disguises.
Geoff Andrew

Here is the trailer.

*************************

Here is the introduction to the full screenings on the day at the Masonic Temple: Taking in evil cabals, hidden orders, occult coteries and mysterious cloak and dagger exercises, Secret Societies at the East End Film Festival returns to the Masonic Temple at the Andaz Hotel Liverpool Street with a day’s selection of cult-classics.

Schedule from 2pm onwards:
Sherlock Holmes hunts Jack the Ripper in British classic Murder By Decree, introduced by critic and novelist Kim Newman; a woman begins seeing strange apparitions in 1970’s giallo The Perfume of the Lady in Black; Jodorowsky’s Mexican circus grotesque Santa Sangre is introduced by its composer Simon Boswell; and finally, we descend into theTombs of the Blind Dead, a rarely seen but influential Spanish chiller.

2.00pm | Murder By Decree | Dir. Bob Clark
4:30pm | The Perfume of the Lady in Black | Dir. Francesco Barilli
6:15pm | Santa Sangre | Dir. Alejandro Jodorowsky
8:45pm | Tombs of the Blind Dead | Dir. Amando de Ossorio