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The Voyeuristic Pleasures of Proto-Slasher ‘Peeping Tom’ [Horror Queers Podcast]

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The Voyeuristic Pleasures of Proto-Slasher 'Peeping Tom' [Horror Queers Podcast]

Not Your Grindr’s Voyeurism

We spent the better part of 2.5 months exploring an “underseen or underrated?” theme, including Gaspar Noé’s Climax and Kurtis David Harder‘s Spiral before wrapping up with Michael J. Ahern, Brandon Perras and Christopher Dalpe‘s independent film Death Drop Gorgeous last week. Now that we’re free of the 2010s, Trace and I are jumping back to 1960 to discuss Michael Powell’s proto-slasher, Peeping Tom.

In the film,  Carl Boehm plays Mark Lewis, an introverted wannabe film director who works on movie sets by day, and shoots dirty photos in his spare. He also murders vulnerable women using a speared tripod leg as he films them, including his poor dancing co-worker Viv (Moira Shearer).

As Mark rushes to complete his snuff film, he initiates a tentative romance with his downstairs neighbour Helen (Anna Massey), which does not endear him to Helen’s blind and drunk mother, Mrs. Stephens (Maxine Audley). Will Helen fall victim to Mark’s passion project or will Mark learn to control his homicidal voyeuristic tendencies?

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple PodcastsStitcherSpotifyiHeartRadioSoundCloudTuneInAmazon MusicAcastGoogle Podcasts, and RSS.


Episode 170 – Peeping Tom (1960)

We’re jetting back to 1960 to check out Michael Powell’s classic Peeping Tom.

First: forget Psycho (ok, we can’t help but make comparisons!). But really, this film deserves more attention and recognition, and not just because it’s a trivia question in Scream 4!

Joe is adamant that the film is about more than gendered violence, while Trace has all of the medical deets about scopophilic fetishism aka voyeurism.

Plus: a Scorcese save, penis tripods, films within films (Singin’ in the Rain!), the film’s interest in disability, and our love of these female characters, especially Moira Shearer’s Vivian.


Cross out Peeping Tom!

Coming up on Wednesday: We’re celebrating Spring Break a little late with Alexandre Aja’s 2010 remake, Piranha 3D!

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for more than 165 hours of additional content! This month, we’re discussing horror movies where the villain wins, as well as Hulu originals No Exit and Fresh, Ti West’s X and a 20th anniversary audio commentary on Blade II!

Joe is a TV addict with a background in Film Studies. He co-created TV/Film Fest blog QueerHorrorMovies and writes for Bloody Disgusting, Anatomy of a Scream, That Shelf, The Spool and Grim Magazine. He enjoys graphic novels, dark beer and plays multiple sports (adequately, never exceptionally). While he loves all horror, if given a choice, Joe always opts for slashers and creature features.

Podcasts

‘Death Becomes Her’ and the Horror of Aging [The Lady Killers Podcast]

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“This is life’s ultimate cruelty. It offers us a taste of youth and vitality, and then it makes us witness our own decay.”

Is there anything more terrifying than the relentless passage of time? It’s a bitter truth that just when we’ve become accustomed to our bodies, the sands of time turn and we’re forced to watch them slowly break down in a cruel march towards inevitable death. But what if there were a way to stop the aging process – a potion that would return us to our peak physical condition and hold us there until the end of time? Would we take it? And would we eventually find that the blessing of perpetual life is actually a curse? No film explores this dilemma quite like Death Becomes Her. Robert Zemeckis’ 1992 horror comedy pits two showstopping divas against each other for a single spotlight while asking what they would do for eternal youth – and what will be the hidden cost?

Madeline (Meryl Streep) and Helen (Goldie Hawn) are old frenemies with a history of vicious competition. Madeline seems to have won the most recent battle and married Helen’s fiance Ernest (Bruce Willis), but decades later, their marriage is on the rocks and Madeline’s once thriving career is now a thing of the past. When Helen returns with a stunning new look, Madeline turns to unorthodox methods to maintain her feminine dominance. She drinks a potion designed to give her eternal youth, but returns home to find her life turned upside down by her downtrodden husband and jealous “friend.” Having both taken the potion, “Mad” and “Hel” engage in a bitter fight to the death over years of petty snipes and the right to claim the title of Most Desirable Woman.

In their latest episode, The Lady Killers dissect these two glamorous killers and the hidden social commentary in Zemeckis’ iconic film. Co-hosts Jenn AdamsMae Shults, Rocco T. Thompson, and Sammie Kuykendall dish over their own fears of aging, choose their favorite diva, and decide whether they would take the potion should they ever find themselves in Lisle’s (Isabella Rossellini) lavish home. How does the film hit differently when watching as an adult? Could Madeline, Helen, and Ernest ever make a polycule work? Is Lisle a hero or a villain and how does she keep that gorgeous necklace in place? They’ll wrestle with these questions and more in a podcasting shovel battle to the death on this unique horror comedy and one of the most glamorous casts of all time.

Stream below and subscribe now via Apple Podcasts and Spotify for future episodes that drop every Thursday.

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