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podcast

a closeup of a lion looking out at its kingdom
Posted on April 26, 2025

Environmental Anxiety: Talking Day of the Animals (1977) and Nature’s Grave (2007)

Podcast

In this episode, we’re exploring the intersection of environmental anxiety and horror cinema via the tangled roots of eco-horror. In Day of the Animals (1977), high altitude radiation stemming from the hole in the ozone layer triggers an animal uprising in the mountains and leaves a group of stranded hikers battling the elements and each other. In Nature’s Grave (2007), a troubled couple descends upon a remote beach where their careless and, at times, cruel treatment of the natural world finally causes nature to push back. Both films serve as generative time capsules in understanding our current escalating climate crisis and leave us wondering what happens when the natural world refuses to stay silent. We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers so stay tuned.

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A woman clutches her steering wheel while she screams in her car.
Posted on March 25, 2025

The Man Downstairs: Talking Longlegs (2024)

Podcast

On today’s episode, it is Nicolas Cage unleashed to somewhat questionable results in Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs. In the film, FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe), a woman with possible clairvoyant abilities, is drawn into a series of murder-suicides spanning decades. A Lynchian crime procedural that leans into a fusion of supernatural and religious horror, Longlegs is a highly stylized descent into darkness that has left audiences divided. We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers so stay tuned.screenshot announcing name of the podcast.

 

A woman's face is distorted as she looks through a key hole.
Posted on January 23, 2025

Down the Rabbit Hole: Talking The Substance (2024)

Podcast

With multiple Academy Award nominations under its belt, Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance (2024) is one of the most talked-about films of the year. Fusing body horror with a feminist twist, the film follows Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a Hollywood star celebrating her fiftieth birthday. When she is unexpectedly released from her contract by network executives who suddenly deem her too old to host her long-running aerobics show, Elisabeth turns to “The Substance,” a secret serum that promises to rejuvenate her appearance by generating a younger version of herself, named Sue (Margaret Qualley).  But as the two grow to resent each other, it becomes clear that perfection comes with a cost. With awards buzz and an imminent second theatrical run, The Substance is connecting with audiences and critics alike. But is the hype earned? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers, so stay tuned.

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An undead entity that looks grotesque and is dressed in an old fashioned style tuxedo stands next to a girl in a red wedding dress.
Posted on August 22, 2024

A Living Death?: Talking Beetlejuice (1988)

Elizabeth Erwin

In today’s episode, it’s Tim Burton’s fever dream masterpiece Beetlejuice—a horror-comedy classic with shades of surrealism that’s as colorfully bizarre as its namesake character! The film follows Barbara and Adam Maitland, a recently deceased couple, intent on scaring off the new living occupants of their home, the Deetz family. When their best ghostly efforts prove futile, they decide to enlist the services of Betelgeuse, a freelance bio-exorcist more interested in causing havoc than in helping. With its long awaited sequel set to hit theaters September 6, we’re taking a look back at Burton’s first commercial success so stay tuned.

 

 

Recommended Reading:

Fowkes, Katherine A. “Tim Burton and the creative trickster: A case study of three films.” The Works of Tim Burton: Margins to Mainstream. Ed. Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, pp. 231-244.

Middlemost, R. “”My whole life is a dark room”: Nostalgia and domesticity in Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands.” A Critical Companion to Tim Burton. Ed. A. Barkman & A. Sanna. Lexington Books, 2017, pp.207-220.

van Elferen, Isabella. “Dannv Elfman’s Musical Fantasyland. Or, Listening to a Snowglobe.” The Works of Tim Burton: Margins to Mainstream. Ed. Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock. Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, pp. 231-244.

A man and a woman look down into a manhole to the sewer below.
Posted on June 4, 2024

Are all creature features the same?: Talking The Great Alligator (1979) and Alligator (1980)

Podcast

In today’s episode, it’s creature feature, B-movie summer horror with 1979’s The Great Alligator and 1980s’s Alligator. Despite their very different settings, both films lean into the carnage caused by their snappy, tail-spinning reptilian monsters while simultaneously suggesting that the true villains are more of the two legged variety. But do their eco-critical considerations resonate with today’s audiences? We’re breaking it all down today with spoilers, so stay tuned.

Recommended Reading:

Bould, Mark. The Cinema of John Sayles: Lone Star (Wallflower Press, 2009)

Gambin, Lee. Massacred by Mother Nature: The Natural Horror Film (Midnight Marquee Press, 2012).

Jones, Matthew. “Antagonistic Nature: The Loss of Anthropocentric Authority in Eco-Horror of the 1970s and 80s.” Supernatural Studies, vol. 7, no. 1, Spring/Summer 2021, pp. 33–47.

Mann, Craig. “America, Down the Toilet: Urban Legends, American Society and Alligator,” in Animal Horror Cinema, edited by Katarina Gregersdotter, Johan Hoglund, and Nicklas Hallen (Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), pp. 110-25.

The Great Alligator has just got a 2-disc 4K UHD DVD special release from Severin Films.

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