This film is currently unavailable
The Contraption
Darkly humorous short in which a man builds a sinister contraption, the dreadful purpose of which is only revealed in the final shot.
Overview
In a final act of defeat or defiance, a man builds a sinister contraption. This darkly humorous low-budget short film satirises the typical male pursuits of physical toil and precision craftsmanship. The Contraption is directed by James Dearden who would go on to write Fatal Attraction (1987) and stars The Rocky Horror Picture Show's Richard O'Brien.
This title is also available on the DVD/Blu-ray 'Little Malcom and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs' in the BFI Flipside collection.
Related
The Woman in Black The Woman in Black
Horror 2012 95 mins Director: James Watkins
A young solicitor, administering the will of a recently dead old lady, is drawn into a sinister web of events centring on her abandoned house.
Tiger Stripes Tiger Stripes
Horror 2023 95 mins Director: Amanda Nell Eu
Nothing is quite as scary as puberty in this exuberant feminist pre-teen body horror from first time Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu.
Late Night with the Devil Late Night with the Devil
Horror 2023 93 mins Director: Colin Cairnes and Cameron Cairnes
Like Ghostwatch reimagined as a cheesy 1970s chat show, this deviously clever found-footage horror has scares to spare.
She Will She Will
Thriller 2021 96 mins Director: Charlotte Colbert
In Charlotte Colbert’s strikingly gothic film, an ageing actor recovering from a mastectomy taps into a mysterious power at a remote Scottish retreat.
Out of Darkness Out of Darkness
Horror 2024 87 mins Director: Andrew Cumming
Bringing a whole new meaning to the term ‘period film’, Andrew Cumming’s Palaeolithic horror movie is a true original.
Talk to Me Talk to Me
Horror 2022 95 mins Director: Danny Philippou and Michael Philippou
Australian filmmaking brothers Danny and Michael Philippou’s feature film debut nods to their background as viral-video sensations.
Children Children
Drama 1976 46 mins Director: Terence Davies
The first part of Terence Davies' formidable Trilogy explores the effects of violence on a Liverpool schoolboy, told in a series of flashbacks.
Madonna and Child Madonna and Child
Drama 1980 28 mins Director: Terence Davies
Autobiography as art: the centrepiece of Terence Davies' devastating Liverpool-set Trilogy focuses on his fictional alter-ego in middle age.
Death and Transfiguration Death and Transfiguration
Drama 1983 26 mins Director: Terence Davies
The Terence Davies Trilogy reaches its astonishing climax as tortured Liverpool clerk Robert Tucker prepares to meet his maker.
The Pendulum, The Pit and Hope The Pendulum, The Pit and Hope
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1983 15 mins Director: Jan Svankmajer
Švankmajer's second adaptation of the work of Edgar Allan Poe, in which a prisoner is forced to undergo trials of torture.
The Castle of Otranto The Castle of Otranto
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1977 18 mins Director: Jan Svankmajer
Czech animator Jan Švankmajer's adaptation of Horace Walpole's Gothic novel.
The Fall of the House of Usher The Fall of the House of Usher
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1982 16 mins Director: Jan Svankmajer
The first of Švankmajer's 'tactile experiments', chosen partly because the title was on an official list of 'approved' texts. In this version there are no humans, just a glimpse of a live raven as the camera roams around an eerie derelict house.
White Hunter Black Heart White Hunter Black Heart
Drama 1990 112 mins Director: Clint Eastwood
A renowned film director (loosely based on John Huston) becomes obsessed with hunting elephants during a film shoot, in Clint Eastwood's dark moral tale.
South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic South: Sir Ernest Shackleton's Glorious Epic of the Antarctic
Documentary 1919 81 mins Silent Director: Frank Hurley
An extraordinary story of survival in the wastes of Antarctica.
Night Courier (Mandoob) Night Courier (Mandoob)
Comedy 2023 112 mins Director: Ali Kalthami
A desperate delivery driver gets caught up in the dark underworld of Riyadh in Ali Kalthami’s gripping, pitch-black satire.
The Ballymurphy Precedent The Ballymurphy Precedent
Documentary 2018 108 mins Director: Callum Macrae
John Pilger's film on the conflict in Northern Ireland is a skilful mix of investigative journalism, documentary storytelling and reflections on contemporary history.
Utopia Utopia
Documentary 2013 111 mins Director: John Pilger and Alan Lowery
John Pilger's portrayal of the oldest continuous human culture is also an investigation into a suppressed colonial past, and rapacious present.
The Coming War on China The Coming War on China
Documentary 2016 113 mins Director: John Pilger
John Pilger’s prescient 60th film for ITV is both a warning and an inspiring story of resistance.
Girls Will Be Girls Girls Will Be Girls
Drama 2024 119 mins Director: Shuchi Talati
Teenage romance simmers in a strict Himalayan boarding school in this sublime coming-of-age tale. Winner of the 2024 Sundance audience prize.