After Hours (1985)

Set in Manhattan, a computer technician (Griffin Dunne) meets a girl (Rosanna Arquette) at a diner. He's invited to the apartment she shares with a sculptor (Linda Fiorentino). But once there, he becomes uncomfortable and senses something is not right. Thus begins a nightmare that will continue to spiral downward until the dawn. Directed by Martin Scorsese (who won the Cannes film festival best director prize for his work here), this dark comedy is a perverse delight! Griffin Dunne's everyman is an Alice in an ever increasing malevolent and surreal Wonderland. Actually, Dunne's character isn't particularly likable which is a good thing here because if he were it wouldn't be so funny as the things that happen to him are awful. Since we don't particularly care for him, we can laugh without guilt. I suppose one could make a weak case for misogyny since all the female characters are monstrous on some level while the male characters are simply "weird" or eccentric. The ensemble cast is excellent right down the line and includes Teri Garr, Tommy Chong, Cheech Marin, Catherine O'Hara, John Heard, Will Patton, Verna Bloom and Bronson Pinchot.