Now here’s a real score: a noir quickie produced by American filmmaker Albert Zugsmith, director of the bizarro classic Confessions of an Opium Eater and producer of Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil and Douglas Sirk’s Written on the Wind. Robot Monster star George Nader plays a man suffering from temporary blindness who witnesses a murder, regains his sight and goes on the hunt for the killers. Now that’s an awesome logline! It’s a weird and uneasy affair as blind hysteria and baked hallucination intersect, criss-crossing between deadly dream and stark reality. A haunting organ score is balanced by compact black & white cinematography; nonprofessional actors mix with an exotic local. Filmed in the Philippines in 1963, Zigzag was nominated for a stack of Filipino Academy Awards but didn’t see a Stateside release until 1972. We’re still waiting for its home video debut but until then we’re delighted to showcase a rare 16mm print!
