In John Frankenheimer’s 1966 classic about life, consumer wish fulfillment, and ultimately the importance of reading the fine print, Rock Hudson pays a lot of money to a specialized (and on the down-low) corporation for the purchase a completely new identity, life, and location. A second start with a new face. Initially, he spends a fair bit of time in the purgatory waiting room (pictured above) for his ‘candidate’ to arrive – the man he will replace. A second trip to the same waiting room gives whole new meaning to corporate efficiency. A rare breed of dramatic horror film that leaves its mark from the bizarro opening credits, to the unusual story, to the stunner of an ending. Like nearly all good science fiction films, it flopped hard at the box office (and was Booed at Cannes), yet over the years has developed a nice place in film history and a loyal cadre of admirers. It, along with The Last Man On Earth, The Trial, and Carnival of Souls, philosophical horror-dramas all, was one the key prototypes for the ‘holy-mind-fuck’ movies that blossomed the 1970s (Don’t Look Now, Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes, The Wicker Man, The Omega Man, The Conversation); a genre which had major resurgence in 1999 and beyond into the 21st century: Donnie Darko, Fight Club, Pi, Primer, The Fountain, Inception.

There are many imitators, but this film is singular. It’s perfect.