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Elizabeth Erwin

Posted on August 9, 2019

Jaw Crushing Horror: Talking Crawl (2019)

Elizabeth Erwin

In today’s episode, we’re wading into Alexandre Aja’s Crawl. Now, we all know that Jaws made a generation afraid to go into the ocean, but does this film’s ode to bloodthirsty alligators offer up a similar heart-pounding experience? And why are we so afraid of what lurks within the water? We’re giving some gator love on this episode, so stay tuned!

And side note, for some inexplicable reason I kept saying crocodile when, in fact, our underwater stalkers are alligators. And as my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Moon, spent many weeks explaining, there is a difference.

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freaks still
Posted on July 25, 2019

Visible Disability: Talking Freaks (1932)

Elizabeth Erwin

On today’s episode, we’re heading back to 1932 with Tod Browning’s controversial film, Freaks. The behind the scenes story of a sideshow carnival, Browning cast real-life carnival performers with visible disabilities to mixed reaction. Both celebrated as an example of pre-Code horror and reviled as exploitation, this is, to put it mildly, a divisive film. But why?

We’re exploring depictions of disability in horror in this episode and asking what it is about Freaks, specifically, that audiences find so triggering so stay tuned.

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Posted on June 25, 2019

School’s Out Summer Special Part 2: Talking Queer Horror

Elizabeth Erwin

From using queer bodies to shock audiences to lecherous lesbians to effeminate gay men, the history of LGBTQ+ horror film is a very mixed bag. In part two of our School’s Out series for June, we’re diving into the history of queer horror film and considering how evolving concepts of monstrosity correlate to cultural attitudes on queerness. We’re also giving our top 10 list of favorite non-horror LGBTQ+ titles to celebrate Pride 2019! Read more

Posted on June 25, 2019

School’s Out Summer Special Part 1: But I’m a Cheerleader and Psycho Beach Party

Elizabeth Erwin

What do murder sprees and conversion therapy camp have in common? According to our latest podcast, everything! In part one of our School’s Out series for June, we’re pairing one horror film with one non-horror film in order to show the fluidity of the genre. In this episode, we’re celebrating Pride 2019 by breaking down all of the components that make But I’m a Cheerleader (1999) and Psycho Beach Party (2000) so darn irresistible. From camp culture to gender norms to killer soundtracks, these two films leverage a specifically queer sensibility in order to remind viewers that to be labeled ‘different’ is not always a bad thing. Read more

Posted on May 21, 2019

Eat ‘Em All: Talking the Piranha Franchise

Elizabeth Erwin

Think Jaws is the scariest reason to stay out of the water? Well, think again! In today’s episode, we’re deep diving into the Piranha franchise. A glorious mixture of exploitation and, at times, shockingly relevant social critique, Piranha is often dismissed as an uninspired parody but does it deserve that label? We’re breaking it all down on today’s episode so stay tuned!

You will find that we were in some serious disagreement over our favorite Piranha film, with some arguing that the first, directed by Joe Dante and written by John Sayles, is by far the best. You can stream that 1978 original here: Read more

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