Podcasts
The Queer-Coded Villain in Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Strangers on a Train’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
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After spending time with Neil Jordan’s not-campy-enough stalker film Greta (listen) and Olivier Assayas’ Kristen Stewart starring 2016 thriller Personal Shopper (listen), it’s time to revisit Alfred Hitchcock with a look at his 1951 film, Strangers on a Train.
In the film, eccentric and unbalanced Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) approaches successful tennis player Guy Haines (Rope‘s Farley Granger) on a train with a proposal: they should commit a murder for the other.
While Guy laughs it off, Bruno strangles Guy’s ex-wife Miriam (Kasey Rogers), then stalks the tennis player in an effort to force him to fulfill his end of the bargain.
As Guy struggles under the weight of the police’s scrutiny, he confides in his new girlfriend Anne (Ruth Roman) and her younger sister Babs (Pat Hitchcock) for help. Can Guy avoid arrest? Will Bruno ruin his political aspirations? And how does one of the most memorable carousel sequences in film history figure into the climax?
Listen to find out!
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Episode 273: Strangers on a Train (1951)
We’re back in Hitchcock territory talking about queer villains again with 1951’s Strangers on a Train.
In addition to queer author Patricia Highsmith’s source material, we’ve got lead actor Farley Granger (Rope), obsessive stalking, “I like you” and shirt buttoning, plus climactic fucking on the carousel.
Plus: a tense tennis match, a reflective murder, slutty Miriam, frequent subversions, surprising comedy, and MVP Pat Hitchcock as Babs!
Cross out Strangers on a Train!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re fulfilling a two year promise to revisit the live-action Scooby Doo films in anticipation of the sequel, Scooby Doo: Monsters Unleashed (2004) hitting its 20th anniversary!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for nearly 293.5 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S01, Episode 03, Imaginary, Immaculate, Love Lies Bleeding and our audio commentary for the month will be on Renny Harlin’s dumb-but-fun murder mystery Mindhunters.
Deadpool isn’t typical horror fare, despite the franchise potentially being the bloodiest throughout the Marvel kingdom. (And in spite of the titular main character breaking the Fourth Wall and acknowledging the audience, which some people may find as jolting as a jump scare).
And look, the guy’s divisive! For the average person, the 2016 movie Deadpool may have been their introduction to the character, with Ryan Reynolds giving the titular character an abrasive, dirty sense of humor that some might place in the edgelord category.
But the character was spawned from a comic book series that’s changed hands a number of times and continues to this day. Naturally, that means there are several different interpretations of the antihero formerly known as Wade Wilson, including some that dial down the chimichanga jokes (a common fandom shorthand for the Deadpool of the comics’ baser comedy instincts).
This week on Guide to the Unknown, Kristen and Will discuss the good, the bad, and the unfortunate of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool. They also learn about some of the comic storylines that highlight a little bit more of the pain Deadpool goes through, which makes the overabundance of A Lot-ness feel more palatable to people who may not be into that sort of thing.
Breaking the Fourth Wall a la the man himself: This is Kristen, cohost and writer of these GTTU posts. This week was not great for Will or me and included hospital stays and beloved dog goodbyes. We blew off some steam with a punchdrunk episode in which I complained about Deadpool’s dearth of euphemisms for male genitalia. If that sounds like your thing, dig in! If not, proceed with caution. Ooh, we’re so edgy.
Subscribe to Guide to the Unknown on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to get a new episode every Friday.
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