Coming to you live from Salem Horror Fest, Andrea and Alex prowl the darkest corners of RKO’s cult classic Cat People. From the themes of immigration and assimilation to the parallels of sex and power, we uncover how Jacques Tourneur and Val Lewton’s dark vision of 1940s America remains a prescient warning.   

REQUIRED READING

Cat People. Dir. Jacques Tourneur, 1942.   

EXTRA CREDIT

What history tells us about assimilation of immigrants. The paper published by Stanford University that explains the trends that followed immigration booms in the US in the first half of the 20th century.    On Female Rage: Does the Wallpaper Look Yellow to Anyone Else? The Harvard Crimson’s examination of a new age of feminine anger that is forever grappling with the past.    When God Was a Woman. Merlin Stone’s 1976 exploration of pre-Christian religions where women led.    The uproar over the New Yorker short story “Cat Person,” explained. Male hysteria at women writing fiction about their feelings.   Gore-Geous: Personal Essays on Beauty and Horror. Alex’s new book includes more thoughts on Cat People.  

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In this episode, Andrea and Alex investigate how multiple characters are perceived and perceive Michael Mann’s entry into the Hannibal Lec(k)tor cinematic universe. From cops to killers and the humanity in between, these cuts go deep.   

REQUIRED READING

Manhunter. Dir. Michael Mann, 1986.   

EXTRA CREDIT

How Thomas Harris defined a genre and created fiction’s most likeable villain. An overview of the Hannibal Lecter saga and what made it unique.    The Tabloid that Launched America’s Obsession with True Crime. Joe Pompeo’s look back at the lasting impact of the Daily News.    Eating Blake, or an Essay on Taste: The Case of Thomas Harris’s “Red Dragon”. An examination of the use of high art in a mass market paperback.    Hollywood, Home Movies, and Common Sense: Amateur Film as Aesthetic Dissemination and Social Control, 1950-1962. How technology shaped suburban America’s leisure time.    How 70 years of cop shows taught us to valorize the police by Constance Grady. A history of depictions of law enforcement, from bumbling buffoons to modern day menace.  

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We’re packing our bags to hop onto our broomsticks for our annual trip to SALEM HORROR FEST 2024 – and you’re invited!
Listen in for important info, dates, and highlights!   Buy your tickets here!

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  From the depths of Warner Bros archives, Ken Russell’s infamous film The Devils has been resurrected (ish) once more! Andrea and Alex take this opportunity to dive into the politics, contractions, and naughtiness present within one of the most controversial cult films ever made.   

REQUIRED READING

The Devils. Dir. Ken Russell, 1971.   

EXTRA CREDIT

Ars Erotica. Excerpt from Mario Vargas Llosa book on the influence of spectacle on the West.    Society of the Spectacle. Guy Debord’s treatise on performance and coercion.    Sex Education in the 1970s. A rundown of the controversial sex education film Growing Up.   

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  It’s time to look back before we scream forward! Join Andrea and Alex for horror and non-horror faves and a game that will decide their fate for 2024.    Alex’s Horror/Horror Adjacent Faves   1. Red Rooms (dir. Pascal Plante) 2. Godzilla Minus One (dir. Takashi Yamazaki) 3. Talk to Me (dir. Danny and Michael Phillippou) 4. The Curse (TV, created by Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie) 5. Poor Things (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos) 6. Fall of the House of Usher (TV, created by Mike Flanagan) 7. Beau is Afraid (dir. Ari Aster)    Andrea’s Horror/Horror Adjacent Faves   1. Talk to Me (dir. Danny and Michael Phillippou)
2. Poor Things (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)
3. Huesera: The Bone Woman (dir. Michelle Garza Cervera)
4. Godzilla Minus One (dir. Takashi Yamazaki)
5. The Blackening (dir. Tim Story)
6. The Last of Us (TV, created by Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin)
7. Red Rooms (dir. Pascal Plante)
8. Fall of the House of Usher (TV, created by Mike Flanagan)     Alex’s Non-Horror Faves   Stories I Might Regret Telling You by Martha Wainwright Monster: A Fan’s Dilemma by Claire Dederer The Cure live in June  May/December (dir. Todd Haynes) Past Lives (dir. Celine Song)   Andrea’s Non-Horror Faves   Inscryption (PC) Slay the Spire (PC) Vanderpump Rules (TV) Tetris (dir. Jon S. Baird) If Books Could Kill podcast  

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  Andrea and Alex delve into the murky depths of Nicolas Roeg’s classic to uncover the film’s themes of mysticism, misogyny and the ethics of mourning.    Class of 2023 merch Artwork by @thelastjohnyontheleft   

REQUIRED READING

Don’t Look Now. Dir. Nicolas Roeg, 1973.  

EXTRA CREDIT

Daphne du Maurier’s short story.
The Year of Magical Thinking. Joan Didion’s memoir of the year following her husband’s death.
Mysticism as a Female Path. Mary Sharratt’s look and the intertwining history of mysticism and women.
Take Some Pills for Your Hysteria, Lady. A history of men putting women on pills.   Devil’s Advocates: Don’t Look Now by Jessica Gildersleeve – accessible thru JStor via your local library perhaps?   The Social Regulation of Grief by Martha R. Fowlkes. Some emotional attachments are socially undervalued.  

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In this episode Andrea and Alex delve into some truly long-term relationships and their lasting implications. From ageless vampires to hipster gentrification, sometimes loving someone “forever and ever” isn’t as fun as it seems.    Class of 2023 merch Artwork by @thelastjohnyontheleft   

REQUIRED READING

The Hunger. Dir. Tony Scott, 1983.  Only Lovers Left Alive. Dir. Jim Jarmusch, 2013.   

EXTRA CREDIT

Not All Fangs are Phallic. James Craig Holte’s investigation of the female vampire film.    Why hipsters could be seen as modern-day colonisers. The article by Melissa Tandiwe Myambo on the political and cultural effects of gentrification.    Rising costs and gentrification force locals out of Detroit’s downtown and Midtown. Detroit Metro Time’s piece on seniors being forced out of their subsidized housing due to market inflation.    Contemporary myths on boredom. An emergent field of study about when people feel out of sync with the present.  

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We all float down here… or we’ll lose our minds trying to make sense of Andy Muschietti’s blockbuster horror films based on Stephen King’s classic novel. In this episode, Andrea and Alex investigate the depths of Derry’s sewer system, summer holidays and sexual awakenings.   Class of 2023 merch Artwork by @thelastjohnyontheleft   

REQUIRED READING

It Chapter 1 and It Chapter 2. Dir.  Andy Muschietti, 2017 and 2019.  

EXTRA CREDIT

Danse Macabre. Stephen King’s treatise on horror.    Why do Students Get Summers Off? A history of getting to play hooky in the summer.    The American Small Town in the Age of the US Empire. The dream and reality of the American small town.    Return of the Repressed. Robin Wood’s iconic essay about the American horror film.   

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What kind of person could you live with? Barbet Shroeder’s paranoid erotic thriller seeks to answer that question and more as it delves into queer fear, sexual conservatism, property rights and female intimacy.    Class of 2023 merch Artwork by @thelastjohnyontheleft    If you’re Toronto, catch Alex’s lecture on Brexit in the modern British horror film on October 17 at the Revue Cinema – get your tickets here.   

REQUIRED READING

Single White Female. Dir. Barbet Schroeder, 1992.   

EXTRA CREDIT

You Must Remember This. Katrina Longworth’s in-depth look at Hollywood, including the last two seasons on the Erotic ’80s and ’90s   The Rise and Fall of the Erotic Thriller. An overview of the complicated sub-genre.    ‘Single White Female’ at Thirty: The Legacy of the Women Stalkers of the 1990s – Lesbianophobia in SWF.   A Room Of One’s Own. Virginia Woolfe’s treatise on women and access to private spaces.    Revolting Doubles: Radical Narcissism and the Trope of the Lesbian Double by Olu Jenzen    Queersighted: The Gay Best Friend Criterion Collections video discussion of the problematic trope   Barbet Schroeder’s quite a character.  

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From economic disruptors to controlling techbro exes, the unseeable has been used as a metaphor in a variety of ways. In this episode, Andrea and Alex look back at H.G. Wells’ original text, James Whale’s Universal classic and how #MeToo created a new kind of monster.    Become a Patron!  

REQUIRED READING

The Invisible Man. Dir. James Whale, 1933. The Invisible Man. Dir. Leigh Whannell, 2020.   

EXTRA CREDIT

The Invisible Man. H.G. Wells’ Victorian classic.    Simulacra and Simulation. Baudrillard continues to be worried about copies.    Evolution of Horror: Sleeping with the Enemy and Fear. Alex joins friend of the pod Mike Muncer to talk about home invasion and visibility.    The Dark Universe Cast Photo. Universal Studios’ lost cinematic universe (and the article that photoshopped out one of the key players).    “The Invisible Man” and the Invisible Hand: H. G. Wells’s Critique of Capitalism. Paul A. Cantor dissects the anti-capitalist sentiment of Wells’ story.   WomenWriteAboutComics.com – Kate Tanski dissects the male gaze in Sue Storm’s long overdue solo debut.  

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Dust off the telepods and put your swatters away – it’s time for our thoughts about a short story, an iconic original film, and an even better remake to mingle molecules in an all-new episode.   Become a Patron!  

REQUIRED READING

The Fly. Dir. Kurt Neumann, 1958.  The Fly. Dir. David Cronenberg, 1986.   

EXTRA CREDIT

“The Fly” By George Langelann. The original short story that appeared in Playboy in 1957.
From Pathos to Tragedy: Two Versions of The Fly. Mary Ferguson Pharr’s essay about the different interpretations of the two films.
The Beetle and the Fly. David Cronenberg’s essay about aging, Kafka and his version of The Fly.   On translating Kafka’s “The Matamorphosis.” Susan Bernofsky’s afterword to her 2014 translation of Kafka’s story.  

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