LINK (M) Presented in 35mm Film

Link at The Revival House Perth

American zoology student Jane Chase (Elisabeth Shue) accepts a research position with the reclusive Dr. Steven Phillip (Terence Stamp), a primatologist conducting behavioral studies with three chimpanzees at his isolated coastal manor in England. The apes form an unusual household: Voodoo, an elderly circus performer; Imp, a playful young female; and Link, a highly intelligent orange-utan who serves as the professor's assistant, performing complex tasks like cooking and answering the phone. When Dr. Phillip mysteriously disappears, Jane finds herself alone with the chimps in the remote estate. As Link begins exhibiting increasingly aggressive and possessive behavior, Jane realizes she's trapped in a deadly game of dominance with a powerful primate who has decided he's now in charge—and she's not leaving.

Director Richard Franklin crafts a uniquely unsettling 1986 thriller that taps into primal fears about the thin line between humans and our closest evolutionary relatives. The film benefits enormously from the remarkable performance of Locke, the orangutan playing Link, whose expressive face conveys intelligence, menace, and disturbing human-like calculation without a word of dialogue. Shue delivers genuine terror as the situation spirals from unsettling to life-threatening, while the remote Scottish locations amplify the isolation and helplessness. Jerry Goldsmith's discordant score heightens the psychological tension of this creature feature that's less about monster movie thrills and more about the breakdown of the human-animal power dynamic.

Original format and audio experience of this film faithfully reproduced by The Revival House. Presented in 35mm film unless noted otherwise.

When: Thursday, January 29th at 7:45PM
Where: The Revival House at the Como Theatre
Rating: M (Suspense and violence)

Nature turns terrifying in this gripping primate thriller—experience Franklin's underrated creature feature on 35mm film.