Podcasts
[Horror Queers Podcast] Exploring Toxic Masculinity in ‘Better Watch Out’
Power Rangers.
The month of December has been dominated by holiday horror so far. Trace and I have tackled Krampus and the ill-advisedly-released-at-Christmas animated film, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.
Now it’s time to dissect a new classic: queer director Chris Peckover‘s Better Watch Out.
In the film, teenage babysitter Ashley (Olivia DeJonge), her young charge Luke (Levi Miller) and his best friend Garrett (Ed Oxenbould) are caught up in a home invasion. Events quickly and unexpectedly spiral out of control to include Ashley’s boyfriend Ricky (Aleks Mikic) and her ex-boyfriend Jeremy (Dacre Montgomery) in a film where not everything is as it seems.
The podcast does contain MAJOR spoilers, so be sure to watch the film before listening if you haven’t already seen it!
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, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS.
Episode 104 – Better Watch Out (2016) feat. Ariel Fisher
This week on the pod, we’re wrapping up the holiday season with queer writer/director Chris Peckover’s 2016 film Better Watch Out. We’re joined by returning guest Ariel Fisher and…well let’s just say that both the film and the discussion go places that you might not expect.
Big, flashing SPOILER WARNINGS for the film, as well as We Summon the Darkness.
Also: TRIGGER WARNING. We get into some heavy, uncomfortable, challenging topics, including rape, sexual assault, toxic masculinity and microaggressions. Take care of yourself before listening.
It’s not all doom and gloom, though: there’s also a running gag about the Power Rangers movie.
Cross out Better Watch Out!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re taking a week off for the holidays, but rest assured that we’re still dropping a “new to most folks” episode. For its 20th anniversary this year, we’re looking back on Tarsem Singh’s The Cell with the release of the audio from our Nightstream Festival appearance back in October!
– Joe & Trace
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for tons of additional content! For December, we’re digging into the top horror stories of 2020 and our Best films of the year. Plus: full length episodes on Possessor, Freaky and an audio commentary on Dial Code Santa Claus, the R-rated Home Alone film that came out before Home Alone!
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.