Fright Night (2011)
This week Abby and Rebecca cackle over Fright Night (2011). There are discussions of vampiric lore, boring female characters, and lots and lots of I,Tonya talk. Can you film a vampire? Let’s find out!
Pan’s Labyrinth
This bi-week(ish), Abby and Rebecca are discussing Pan’s Labyrinth! Join us as we break down more shit we don’t understand (the Spanish Civil War) and imagine a world where men get therapy.
The Blair Witch Project
We’re back to decimate another beloved horror staple with the Blair Witch Project! Despite antagonist Heather’s professed desire to “avoid cheese”, it is SO cheesy and cringe, but then we also end up drawing parallels with snuff films so who even knows what’s going on. But, as usual, the filmmakers definitely hate women!
Insidious
Wan and Whannell are making another appearance on the Cast with Insidious! This movie finds Rose Byrne playing a weird simpering housewife in some very frumpy floral tops, cementing our opinion that James Wan really hates women. Plus: our angelic genre hero Lin Shaye and the Darth Maul demon!
Coraline
It’s our first ever animated movie! Also please forgive Abby’s almost unlistenable audio in the first half - she is an elder millennial and doesn’t know how to use her computer!
This week, we’re talking Coraline. It’s an enchanting and stunning feat of stop-motion animation, but unfortunately we’ve got a mommy complex, people! Plus, fat women as punchlines, the tokenization of black and brown characters, and a dancing mouse circus. Listen now!
The Night House
CW: Suicide + self harm
Even Rebecca Hall can’t save this stinker, and maybe we don’t even like Rebecca Hall anymore BECAUSE of this stinker. The Night House follows Beth as she tries to unravel the supernatural mystery of why her husband unalived himself on a gently rocking rowboat. Spoiler alert: many unnamed brunette women end up as collateral damage in this absolute dirge of a movie. Join us along this ride!
Gothic (1986)
This week Abby and Rebecca walk through the fever dream that is 1986’s Gothic. We follow Mary Godwin (later Shelley), Percy Shelley, and Claire Claremont as they arrive at Lord Byron’s castle. They drink a lot of laudanum, interact with leeches, and sort of have orgies. After this haunted summer, Mary Shelley would write Frankenstein and Polidori Vampyr. Two better stories but instead we have to watch Lord Byron abuse people.
Little Monsters (2019)
In Little Monsters, Lupita Nyong’o plays a kindergarten teacher tasked with keeping her class safe and happy while also taking on the emotional labor of the men she’s stuck with. She is perfect as usual and for the most part, this little horror-comedy slaps, but there is weird ableism and some serious racism that cannot be excused. Listen to Abby and Rebecca rant, rave, and McGiggle!
Interview with the Vampire
Neil Jordan’s 1994 adaptation of Anne Rice’s blood-sucking epic Interview with the Vampire has it all. It’s a story of love, betrayal, overt racism, and subtle and not-so-subtle ped0philia. We discuss all this, plus does Brad Pitt have personal hygiene issues? Allegedly.
El Hoyo (The Platform)
Would you believe we are talking about the abolition of class yet again? In El Hoyo, a white savior awakens in a vertical prison that echoes actual life in a caste system which we are actually living in, but the NYT called it satire so everything’s fine. Listen to Abby and Rebecca once again prep for the impending class war. Plus, a peppering of racism and misogyny. Yay!
The Lost Boys
All the boys want to kiss the other boys but don’t want to admit it so they just turn into weird horny vampires instead. It’s the Lost Boys! David and Michael face off in the cutie pie showdown and Rebecca and Abby talk about motherhood tropes, classism, and vampire movies in the 80’s and the AIDS epidemic.
Also, an announcement! We are moving to bi-weekly to preserve our peace, so catch us for the next episode on 4/22!
Stir of Echoes
CW: SA, self harm
This week, we’re heading to CHICAGO, BUDDY (read: Midwestern accent) to talk about classism, redlining, rape culture, and a bunch of other things that make Amerikkka a terrible place to exist for marginalized people. But plus side, Kevin Bacon’s jawline? Maybe? Join us for Stir of Echoes!
Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
We had so much fun talking Tucker & Dale! This week, we talk about the long history of marginalization of Appalachian people, healthy male friendships, and how Alan Tudyk married a woman that looks exactly like him (plz google it). Also, one of Abby’s book club books finally comes in handy in a podcast discussion! Unfortunately that discussion is about the opioid crisis. Womp.
Arachnophobia
EIGHT LEGS,TWO FANGS, AND AN ATTITUDE. Of course, we must be describing hosts Abby and Rebecca because stinker Arachnophobia has no bite. This Regan-era creature feature is absolutely seeping in the worst xenophobic metaphor imaginable, and even hunk John Goodman couldn’t save us! We hope you enjoy!
Train to Busan
Welp, film experts Rebecca and Abby have spoken and we declare Train to Busan a near-perfect horror movie! The pacing, casting, and cinematography are all ::chef’s kiss::, though we do have to combat some minor (read: major) classism and a woman in a mini-fridge. Also, why can’t trains in America not smell like human shit? No way to know!
The Last House on the Left (1972)
Wes Craven’s directorial debut, The Last House on the Left is whip-smart, uncanny, and truly scary. Abby and Rebecca discuss the conflation of sex and violence, 1970s decorum, and our ever-present class divide. Is the actor who plays the most terrifying villain in mid-century horror also unfortunately very hot? Big yes.
Jawbreaker
Well yet again we are a few days late and a few dollars short, but since we are covering a beloved cult classic this week, we hope you can forgive us in the spirit of St. Valentine. We hope you LOVE this episode on this movie we LOVE on this LOVE holiday.
It Follows
::content warning:: this episode contains descriptions of sexual assault.
This week (slightly tardy - our bad!) we are chatting about problematic instant classic It Follows! We talk about the pervasiveness of rape culture and other stuff I can’t remember but I’m sure it’s very cogent.