Podcasts
[Horror Queers Podcast] Worshiping at the Altar of Grace Jones in ‘Vamp’
Adventures in Babysitting….With Vampires
After spending the past few weeks discussing Chuck Russell’s 1988 remake of The Blob, the much-maligned 10th installment in the Friday the 13th franchise (Jason X) and the punk-but-not-really slasher film The Ranger, we’re heading to New York to discuss Richard Wenk’s 1986 comedy horror film Vamp.
In the film, two pledges (Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler) try to bring home a stripper to impress their future fraternity brothers. Their search takes them to the After Dark Club, which just so happens to be run by a tall, performance art stripper vampire (Grace Jones). Mayhem ensues.
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Episode 66 – Vamp (1986)
We’re heading over to New York City (or is it Los Angeles?) to party it up with a vampiric Grace Jones in Richard Wenk’s 1986 comedy horror film Vamp! Joining us for the shindig is Cecil Baldwin, the narrator of Welcome to Night Vale!
Join us as Cecil educates us on the goings-on of 1980s New York City, which apparently is not actually filled with green and magenta lighting. We finally make our way to the emptiest strip club ever: the aptly named “After Dark Club”. While there, we’ll chat with Dedee Pfeiffer (sister of Michelle) before being seduced by a Kabuki’d out Grace Jones and her hypnotic performance art striptease.
We’ll try to label all of the films Vamp is trying to be (Adventures in Babysitting, The Warriors, Fright Night, etc.), while commending the film for not making Gedde Watanabe’s Duncan a racist stereotype (even if the movie forgets about him after the first act).
Oh, and does Trace make yet another Lizzie McGuire connection? You betcha!
Cross out Vamp!
Coming up on Wednesday: It’s April Fool’s Day, which means we’re covering…..April Fool’s Day (the 1986 slasher film, not the atrocious 2008 remake)! So grab your retractable knife and accept Muffy St. John’s invitation to her island mansion and get ready for a party to (not) die for.
– Joe & Trace
P.S. Check out this month’s article on 1981’s Roadgames. You can find all of the old articles here.
P.P.S. As an added bonus, if you subscribe to our Patreon you can listen to episodes on Leigh Whannell’s The Invisible Man and Craig Zobel’s The Hunt. Plus: a full-length audio commentary on Paul Verhoeven’s Hollow Man (2000)!
After winding down June with discussions of our vey first William Castle film Homicidal (listen) and queer director Roland Emmerich’s summer tentpole Independence Day (listen), we’re heading back to 1981 to check out Joe Dante‘s seminal werewolf film The Howling.
The Howling sees television journalist Karen White (Dee Wallace) attend a psychiatric retreat with her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) after being attacked and traumatized by local serial killer Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo). It isn’t long before Karen realizes that the retreat is actually a secret cult of werewolves, and they’ve already got their sights set on Bill.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.
Episode 394: The Howling (1981)
Make note of that smiley face sticker and snag that conveniently-placed jar of acid because we’re talking Joe Dante’s stealth werewolf classic The Howling (1981)!
Join us as we discuss the film’s deviations from its source material before doing a deep dive into this very tongue-in-cheek, self-aware horror film. It honestly feels like a precursor to Scream, in many ways!
Plus: Roger Corman (again!) those incredible special effects, differentiating “color movies” from “movies in color,” and why queer icon Elisabeth Brooks has us going “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!”
Cross out The Howling!
Coming Up Next: We’re tackling our very first Ken Russell film with a look at his controversial 1984 erotic thriller Crimes of Passion!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 508 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Forbidden Fruits, Saccharine, Evil Dead Burn, an audio commentary on Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (aka Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch), and the conclusion of our coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat on the Requel Tier.