Podcasts
[Horror Queers Podcast] The Style (and the Substance) of Tarsem Singh’s ‘The Cell’
Bubble Gum for the Eyes.
Surprise! We usually take this week off because of the holidays and whatnot but we figured we’d treat you all to a special episode of Horror Queers, and that episode is one that we did for the Nightstream Film Festival back in October. Our film of choice? Tarsem Singh‘s visually stunning 2000 sci-fi horror film The Cell.
The Cell takes a shocking, riveting mind trip into the dark and dangerous corridors of a serial killer’s (Vincent D’Onofrio) psyche — a psyche that holds the key to saving the killer’s final, trapped victim who remains alive. Making this journey into the recesses of a killer’s nightmarish fantasy world is Catherine Deane (Jennifer Lopez), a psychologist who has been experimenting with a radical new therapy. Through a new transcendental science, Catherine can experience what is happening in another person’s unconscious mind.
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Episode 105 – The Cell (2000)
Happy holidays, everyone! We usually take this week off, but we had an extra episode in the Horror Queers archives that we recorded back in October for the Nightstream Film Festival, and we thought we’d release it as a little holiday treat for all of you. That treat comes in the form of a discussion of all things J. Lo in Tarsem Singh’s The Cell!
Join us as we enter the mind of a killer and try to figure out whether the film really is “style over substance,” defend Lopez against the haters and discuss the implications of giving a serial killer an empathetic backstory (especially one that involves potential queerness).
Plus, suspension masturbation, a Sindel cameo and another Lizzie McGuire connection! The Cell really is a better Nightmare on Elm Street sequel than, well, some of the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels.
Cross out The Cell!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re celebrating New Year’s with a film that has a direct tie-in with the holiday (as well as containing some problematic queer elements): the 1980 Jamie Lee Curtis slasher film Terror Train!
– Joe & Trace
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for tons of additional content! This month we’ll have episodes on Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor and Christopher Landon’s Freaky, and we’ll have an audio commentary on Deadly Games (aka Dial Code: Santa Claus), which is currently streaming on Shudder.
Podcasts
Freddy’s Back, So Is Jason, ‘Hellraiser’ Goes to Horror Nights, and ‘The Odyssey’ [Halloweenies Podcast]
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 week, Michael Roffman and McKenzie Gerber hit up Elm Street, Haddonfield, and Crystal Lake before braving the high seas to discuss the horrors within Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey. They also review this year’s Exit 8 and Forbidden Fruits before dusting off old classics for the first time in 2020’s Caveat and 1985’s The Mean Season.
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.