Podcasts
[Horror Queers Podcast] Cults, VPL and Famke in Clive Barker’s ‘Lord of Illusions’
The Third Eye is the Butthole of the Face.
After kicking off Pride Month with a double feature of the first (Hellbent) and latest (Killer Unicorn) gay slasher films, we’re marching on with an analysis of Clive Barker‘s 1995 cult classic Lord of Illusions, which was adapted from his own short story “The Last Illusion” in his Books of Blood.
In the film, private eye Harry D’Amour (Scott Bakula) travels to Los Angeles and meets with a new client, Dorothea Swann (Famke Janssen). Swann reveals that she and her husband — famed magician Philip Swann (Kevin J. O’Connor) — have been targeted by a religious cult experimenting with reincarnation. After Philip dies on stage in the midst of a dangerous trick, D’Amour must struggle to protect Dorothea from the ruthless cult members and their newly reanimated religious leader, Nix (Daniel Von Bargen).
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Episode 77 – Lord of Illusions (1995)
Continuing our Pride Month marathon, we’re checking in with Clive Barker’s third (and final directorial effort Lord of Illusions, which features the first (and only) live-action appearance of Barker’s recurring protagonist Harry D’Amour (Scott Bakula).
Topics up for discussion include: forehead buttholes, studio interference leading to a Director’s Cut, mid-’90s special effects, magic vs. illusion and queer henchman Butterfield’s Visible Penis Line.
Also, Trace lauds everything cult-related in the film, but struggles with all of the noir elements. Joe gushes over all things Famke Janssen. And both of us praise Barker for the unapologetic queerness that he injects into so much of his work, paving the way for queer horror outlets like us.
Cross out Lord of Illusions!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re going back to the ’80s to check out a film with….positive queer representation? That’s right, it’s Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (aka Night Warning)!
– Joe & Trace
P.S. Check out last month’s article on 1986’s extremely upsetting In a Glass Cage. You can find all of the old articles here.
P.P.S. If you subscribe to our Patreon you can listen to bonus episodes! Since every new horror release has been delayed, we decided to go with a creature feature theme this month, so you can listen to full-length episodes on Deep Rising and Arachnophobia, as well as an audio commentary on Snakes on a Plane!
On the DL.
After spending June on explicitly queer texts like Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn (listen) and William Castle’s Homicidal (listen), it’s only appropriate that Horror Queers celebrate the American holiday with a blockbuster film with a not-so-secret gay connection.
In Independence Day, an unlikely group of people come together when the human race faces extinction from a threatening alien race. After spaceships destroy every major city, pilot Steven Hiller (Will Smith) must team up with secret tech genius David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), as well as the US President (Bill Pullman), to execute a daring plan to save the planet from annihilation.
Along for the ride are the two saviors’ romantic partners – WH Communications Director Constance (Margaret Colin) and stripper Jasmine (Vivica A. Fox) – plus eccentric scientist Dr. Okun (Brent Spiner), who is at the center of the film’s most horrific set piece.
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 393: Independence Day (1996)
Today, we celebrate our Independence Day…courtesy of gay German director Roland Emmerich.
As the summer blockbuster celebrates its 30th anniversary, we’re looking back on an alien disaster film that scared young Trace (thanks to that alien autopsy scene) and turned Will Smith into a star.
Plus: the death that upsets the most; bemoaning Vivica A. Fox’s career; pondering what could have been with the casting; why Smith’s bravado and the film’s patriotism doesn’t always work for Joe; and plenty of riffing on the atrocious sequel.
Cross out Independence Day!
Coming Up Next: We’re retreating to the country for some questionable therapy courtesy of Joe Dante’s 1981 classic, The Howling!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 503 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 the utterly ridiculous sequel Howling II: Your Sister Is A Werewolf (1985), and the conclusion of our Requel Tier coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat.