Labyrinth

Labyrinth (1986)
Jim Henson

If you are a true child of the 80’s that likes to embrace all that is .. well ... 80s you can’t go past a flick that combines the creator of The Muppets and David Bowie in tights.
Labyrinth follows the story of 15 year old Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) as she tries to retrieve her screaming baby brother from the King of the Goblins, Jareth (David Bowie) who is at the centre of a Labyrinth which was set as a trap.

Within the Labyrinth Sarah acts a total ditz while running into some interesting characters, all of which are puppets created by the genius Henson, as well as some sticky situations (or stinky if you are talking about the Bog of Eternal Stench) that are the typical “throw in a few moral dilemma stories” about family and friendship. But aside from that namby pamby there are some great scenes that truly bend the mind, such as the Escher-inspired castle and the masquerade ball on acid. And this is all before one even begins to talk about all that is Bowie.

This movie is really about Bowie. He appears throughout the entire film covered in glitter, hair FULL of product and his package bulging out of his super tight tights, rolling a crystal ball around in his hand. Fair to say this is how most of us imagine Bowie hangs around home in his spare time anyway. Bowie wrote and performed all the music that appears in the film specifically for the film, so prepare for some really awkward moments when it is just him on screen singing a song and playing with his crystal balls. Especially the one where there is a fleeting moment of sexual tension/desire between his character (assuming his age would be mid 30s) and Sarah, who we have established is 15 ... Jail bait.

This movie defines my childhood so I am pretty keen on it, but if you haven’t seen it and are in for a bit of a laugh and the possibility of completely loving it, please do.
9/10

Alicia Grinch