''Eggshells'' is a 1969 American

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...

directed by

Tobe Hooper Willard Tobe Hooper (; January 25, 1943 – August 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker, best known for his work in the horror film, horror genre. The British Film Institute cited Hooper as one of the most influential horror filmmakers of al ...

in his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

. 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 A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

, who slowly become aware of an otherworldly presence that resides in the basement.

Plot

A group of young

, 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 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 ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...

'' gave the film a positive review, stating that the film very much emulated the works of

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

. Black also praised the film for its capturing of 1960s

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

attitudes and lifestyles, as well as the psychedelic visuals and Hooper's direction.

Citations

Sources

Books

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Websites

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External links

* * 1960s avant-garde and experimental films 1969 films 1969 directorial debut films 1969 independent films American avant-garde and experimental films American independent films Films directed by Tobe Hooper Films with screenplays by Kim Henkel Films shot in Austin, Texas Hippie films Psychedelic films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films English-language independent films {{1960s-US-film-stub