Podcasts
[Horror Queers Podcast] Beef and His Beef in Brian De Palma’s ‘Phantom of the Paradise’
The real Josie and the Pussycats.
As October ends, so to does our eight-week Camp Marathon. We’re going out with a musical bang as we discuss Brian De Palma‘s Phantom of the Paradise on the heels of its 45th anniversary! Over the last several weeks you’ve heard us explore the gonzo twists in Netflix’s The Perfection and analyze the sociopolitical commentary in Wes Craven’s The People Under the Stairs and party it up at the Vannacutt Psychiatric Institute for the Criminally Insane in the remake of House on Haunted Hill. Oh, and don’t forget our surprise bonus episode on our live recording of A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge with special guests Mark Patton (Jesse), Robert Rusler (Grady) and Kim Myers (Lisa)!
In Phantom of the Paradise, a disfigured composer (William Finley) writes his music for a woman he loves (Suspiria‘s Jessica Harper) so that she will sing it. However, a record producer (Paul Williams) betrays him and steals his music to open his rock palace, The Paradise. Betrayed, the composer dons a new appearance and exacts revenge on the producer.
Joining us for the discussion is fellow Bloody Disgusting writer BJ Colangelo, who might be the film’s biggest fan!
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Episode 45 – Phantom of the Paradise (1974)
Happy Halloween, fellow Horror Queers! And here we are: the final week of the Horror Queers eight-week Camp Marathon! We’re singing our hearts out, bathing in glitter and snorting just a *touch* of cocaine with Brian De Palma’s musical rock opera horror film Phantom of the Paradise! Joining us for this phantasmagorical ride is self-described Phantom nut BJ Colangelo! So grab your plunger and hop on board for this wild and crazy ride.
In what is a first-time watch for Trace, a second-time watch for Joe and a 4,987,523,496,084,237,698th-time watch for BJ, the trio celebrate the cult film’s 45th anniversary and all things Beef (Gerrit Graham).
Trace (wrongfully) questions the singing abilities of Jessica Harper, Joe discusses the upcoming documentary Phantom of Winnipeg and BJ connects the film to the 2001 masterpiece Josie and the Pussycats.
In this week’s game: Give Beef an origin story!
Cross out Phantom of the Paradise!
Coming up on Wednesday: We leave the art of camp and move into some real horror with the supremely homoerotic 1994 vampire film Interview With the Vampire!
– Joe & Trace
P.S. Be sure to check out all of our online articles right here, including our FINAL Horror Queers article, which is on Basic Instinct 2 (2006) of all things.
P.P.S. As an added bonus, if you subscribe to our Patreon you can listen to our full-length bonus episodes on In The Tall Grass and Zombieland: Double Tap.
Coming Soon & Now Showing is a monthly series on Halloweenies that catches up on the latest horror headlines and round robins capsule reviews of new and old horrors.
This month, Michael Roffman and Justin Gerber discuss the blockbuster weekend involving Backrooms and Obsession. They also brush on some franchise news and dust off oldies for the first time: 1987’s Dead of Winter and 1977’s False Face.
Stream the episode below. Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, and RSS. New to the Halloweenies? Catch up with the gang by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Evil Dead, Chucky, Alien, and the Universal Monsters.This year? Hellraiser!
You can also become a member of their Patreon, The Rewind, for hilariously irreverent commentaries (e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Re-Animator, Darkman), one-off deep dives on your favorite rentals (e.g. Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Manhunter, ), and even spinoffs like their recent run Fortune & Glory: An Indiana Jones Podcast.