Glass Eye Pix, the New York production company run by filmmaker Larry Fessenden, is marking 40 years with a seven-film retrospective at IFC Center on Sixth Avenue. The series, titled Optic Nerve: A Tribute to Glass Eye Pix, runs one film a day through Tuesday, November 3, and it leads straight into the theatrical opening of Fessenden's new feature, Trauma, or Monsters All, on Wednesday, November 4, with the director on hand for a Q&A after the 7 p.m. show.

Fessenden has written, directed and acted in a long run of low-budget horror films through the company, and Glass Eye Pix has also produced films by other directors, including Ti West and Jim Mickle, and gave early support to filmmakers ranging from West to Kelly Reichardt. The IFC Center lineup mixes his own films with titles he produced for others, and each film page on the theater's site carries a short note from Fessenden about how the movie came together.

The seven films, night by night

Each title plays twice on its day, at 1 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. The series opened with Habit on Wednesday, and Stake Land plays today, Thursday, October 29. The rest of the schedule:

  • Friday, October 30: The Innkeepers (2011), Ti West's ghost story, which he wrote for a hotel where his crew had stayed while shooting an earlier film, with Sara Paxton, Pat Healy and Kelly McGillis. It was West's fourth film with the company.
  • Saturday, October 31: I Sell the Dead (2008), Glenn McQuaid's period horror comedy, which began as a smaller project and grew as the cast was added, with Dominic Monaghan, Ron Perlman, Angus Scrimm and Fessenden himself. The 9:30 p.m. Halloween show is sold at the box office only.
  • Sunday, November 1: The Last Winter (2006), Fessenden's story of climate collapse, conceived as a sequel of sorts to his film Wendigo, with Ron Perlman, James Le Gros and Connie Britton, shown on 35mm. Fessenden notes that the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
  • Monday, November 2: Depraved, his modern Frankenstein story, built partly on a set in a Brooklyn loft, with Alex Breaux as the creature.
  • Tuesday, November 3: Blackout, Fessenden's update of the werewolf movie, set in a town divided by racism and a corrupt patriarch, with Alex Hurt, Addison Timlin and Barbara Crampton.

The two earlier titles round out the set. Habit (1995) is Fessenden's personal story of addiction and obsession set in New York, which he wrote, directed and starred in. Stake Land (2010), directed by Jim Mickle with Nick Damici and Connor Paolo, was a central title in the company's slate with the distributor MPI and its Dark Sky label.

The new film: Trauma, or Monsters All

The retrospective is timed to the release of Trauma, or Monsters All, a 2026 feature that runs 119 minutes. IFC Center describes it as the last of Fessenden's creature features, following Habit, Depraved and Blackout. The story follows a writer who stirs up her town's fears about lurking monsters while she investigates its past. In his note on the film, Fessenden explains that he took the monsters from those three earlier films and chose to look at them from the outside, through a new main character.

The cast includes Barbara Crampton, James Le Gros, Joshua Leonard, Addison Timlin and Fessenden. Opening day showtimes are 12:55 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, and the theater says more showtimes for November 4 through 10 will be posted.

Tickets

Tickets for each screening are sold through the series page and at the box office. IFC Center is also selling an Optic Nerve three-ticket pack, good for any three films in the series, for $30 for members and $45 for everyone else. All IFC Center shows are general admission.

Getting there

IFC Center is at 323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd Street. The theater recommends the A, B, C, D, E, F or M train to West 4th Street/Washington Square, or the 1 train to Christopher Street/Sheridan Square.

The series runs daily through Tuesday, November 3, with screenings at 1 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Trauma, or Monsters All opens Wednesday, November 4, with Larry Fessenden's Q&A after the 7 p.m. show. Showtimes and tickets are on the IFC Center site.

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