HOUR OF THE WOLF ("Vargtimmen") is Ingmar Bergman's spin on the demons that plague his fellow creative artists. Max von Sydow plays a painter who, while spending a summer in seclusion with his pregnant wife Liv Ullmann, is visited by bizarre and disturbing visions. Before long, Ullmann is also experiencing her husband's hallucinations; one of these, an old, faceless woman, advises Ullmann to read Von Sydow's diary. Doing so, Ullmann discovers that her husband has been cheating on her with Ingrid Thulin. In the subsequent domestic squabble, Von Sydow shoots and wounds his wife. The artist's punishment for this behavior is to have his lover, now dead, spring back to life and humiliate him in full view of Ullmann. Hour of the Wolf has something to say about the dangers of artists becoming too self-centered and self-involved; one hopes that most artists are not as thoroughly punished (or punishable) as Max Von Sydow. On a remote island, a troubled artist (Max von Sydow) feels his mind slipping away from him. Troubled by disturbing visions and paranoid delusions, he and his wife (Liv Ullmann) begin to suspect that the haunting memories are the machinations of a bizarre, perverted cult that reside on the other side of the island. The leader of this group (Erland Josephson) may hold the key to the artist's delusions. This is the only horror film in director Ingmar Bergman's legendary body of work.

"HOUR OF THE WOLF works magnificently." (Roger Ebert)

"A must for fans of horror and of Bergman. So good it makes you wish he had dabbled in the genre that bit more often." (Empire Magazine)

"It is unthinkable for anyone seriously interested in movies not to see it." (The New York Times)

Sunday, July 29
Doors 6:45 pm | Movie 7:15 pm
Advance tickets $10 | $12 at the door

*Minors welcome in the balcony! Must be 19+ w/ID for bar service and main floor seating.
**Rio Theatre Groupons and passes OK! Please redeem at the door.

HOUR OF THE WOLF "Vargtimmen" (Ingmar Bergman, 1968 / 89 mins / PG / In Swedish with English subs) An artist in crisis is haunted by nightmares from the past in Ingmar Bergman's only horror film, which takes place on a windy island. During "the hour of the wolf" - between midnight and dawn - he tells his wife about his most painful memories.