A podcast about films of quiet horror
To follow up our discussion with Toby Poser and John Adams, we take a closer look at their recent feature, also starring daughter Zelda Adams, Hellbender, and talk about folktales, monstrous mother-daughter relationships, and coming to terms with who you are.
A little something different this time: we sit down with filmmakers Toby Poser and John Adams to discuss their homegrown horror films and what it’s like working on a film as a family. Enjoy!
We go on an existential romp through loneliness, isolation, and serial killings, with a dash of bizarre sailor-themed nightclub musical. 1970’s The Strangler is a French giallo of deep weirdness and opportunity for discussion—which is what we do around here, so this one is a good one.
We hate the title, but we love the movie. And we love Liz Taylor, who gives a striking performance as an odd, difficult woman hell-bent on self-destruction in 1974’s Indentikit. Also Andy Warhol shows up for a bit, because why not.
While we don’t often cover new releases so close to their release dates, we anticipated that Longlegs was a good opportunity for an exception. This episode, we bookend our earlier episode on director Oz Perkins’s debut feature with a discussion on his latest. Covered topics include the legacy of Anthony Perkins, the mythic potential of horror film, creeping dread, existential terror, unsettling silence. You know. The usual.
It’s Oz Perkins season here at the podcast. In anticipation of Longlegs, we went back to his debut The Blackcoat’s Daughter—a film we’ve mentioned before, because it’s about 200% our thing, but this is the first time we’ve discussed it in depth. Devils, psychosis, and another installment in our favorite ongoing thematic series, “teenage girls are terrifying.”
Since we got on the topic of demonically possessed faux documentary, what else could we do next but talk about Ghostwatch and its timeless capacity for inspiring abject horror and lasting mental trauma. Have fun!
Once more into the breach of found footage, although this time with a self-aware twist in Late Night with the Devil. We discuss the evolving genre, doing a lot with a little, and the haunted brillance of David Dastmalchian.
The last in our mini series of episodes about doppelganger films is one about a little known Roger Moore gem: The Man Who Haunted Himself, from 1970. The swinging sixties are never over if you’ve got a reckless, hard-living double of yourself running around town causing trouble. We discuss the tension of determining what is reality and what’s in one’s head, how much we enjoy a solid psychological thriller, and why emotional repression is probably not the way to live one’s life (even if it doesn’t result in an evil doppelganger).
We’re still on a tear about doubles, so this time we talk about one of the most direct, recent horror films on the subject: Jordan Peele’s Us, from 2019. We discuss real-world parallels, social antiheroines, unsettling endings, and, of course, The Twilight Zone.