By Jake Wilson
THE BIRDS (119 minutes) PG
A romance between a lawyer (Rod Taylor) and a rich party girl (Tippi Hedren) is derailed when birds launch a mass attack on a small Californian coastal town. Alfred Hitchcock was at the peak of his poetic powers when he made this seminal 1963 disaster movie, a technical tour de force that remains both shocking and mysterious. Digitally projected. Kino, tomorrow, 3pm.
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE (132 minutes) M
Robert Aldrich's campy 1962 Gothic nightmare from 1962 ups the ante on Sunset Boulevard, with former screen goddesses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford as grotesque harpies battling it out in the Los Angeles mansion which serves as a shrine to their lost stardom. Like much of Aldrich's work, it's tasteless, gruelling, and unforgettable. Digitally projected. Elsternwick Classic and Cameo Belgrave, today, noon.
Tippi Hedren in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.
SHOCK VALUE: THE MOVIE (75 minutes) Unrated 18+
A rare treat for genre fans, this compilation of student films made in the late '60s and the early '70s at the University of Southern California includes early work by a couple of major names in horror cinema: the legendary John Carpenter (Halloween) and the brilliant, neglected Dan O'Bannon (Return of the Living Dead). Screens as part of the St Kilda Film Festival. Digitally projected. St Kilda Town Hall, today, 9.30pm.
LONG WEEKEND (97 minutes) M
Mother Nature turns avenger in this lean, effective 1978 Australian supernatural thriller, directed by Colin Eggleston from a script by genre stalwart Everett de Roche (Patrick, Razorback). John Hargreaves and Briony Behets play an unlovely, bickering couple who run into trouble on a trip to the New South Wales coast. Presented by the Cinerarium film society, with special introduction by author Lee Gambin. Digitally projected. The Wilde (153 Gertrude St, Fitzroy), tomorrow, 7pm.
The camp gothic nightmare Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
SHOW ME LOVE (89 minutes) MA
Swedish director Lukas Moodysson (We Are The Best!) is at his most appealing in his 1998 first feature, about a couple of bored teenage girls (Rebecka Liljeberg and Alexandra Dahlstrom) who have a few hurdles to overcome before they can admit their feelings for each other. The balance of innocence and provocation is kept to the very end. Screens as part of a spotlight on Moodysson. 35-millimetre print. ACMI, today 7.30pm and tomorrow 3pm.