Anyab

Blending camp, horror, disco musical and political satire with reckless energy, Anyab is an Egyptian remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show — this time with vampires and set in 1980s Cairo. Yet this is no pastiche: running beneath the surface is a continuous commentary on Egyptian class society and youth unemployment.

The film's basic tone is shaped by exuberant theatricality and a persistent sexual charge, with everything pushed deep into overdrive. The rarely seen cult film is a triumph of metatextuality. Director Mohammed Shebl does not merely reference but directly appropriates sound and musical fragments from Hollywood films such as Jaws, A Clockwork Orange, The Pink Panther, and James Bond. The gifted borrow; geniuses steal!

Director: Mohammed Shebl | 1981 | 100 min | Egypt | Arabic | English subtitles | 15+