Podcasts
The Exploitation of Young Reese Witherspoon in ‘Freeway’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
Famous in Mexico.
Trace and I are closing out a very random February. We’ve discussed found footage demons with The Taking of Deborah Logan, a Canadian slasher classic with My Bloody Valentine, and my birthday pick, the gonzo WTF-ery of Splice.
Now it’s Trace’s birthday pick and he’s opted for…exploitation/trash?
Welcome to Matthew Bright’s 1996 film Freeway, a contemporary take on Little Red Riding Hood which finds a young Reese Witherspoon attempting to escape from an impoverished life of poverty and sexual assault. She hitches a ride from Keifer Sutherland‘s predatory Bob Wolverton, who threatens to rape and kill her (though maybe not in that order) before she turns the tables on him.
What happens next involves about five different subgenres as the film tackles girls-in-prison (hi Brittany Murphy!), rape-revenge, courtroom comedy, police investigation (hi Dan Hedaya!) and lifetime melodrama (Brooke Shields sporting *enormous* earrings). It’s over the top, completely offensive and ridiculously funny, while still being incredibly prescient and disturbing.
In short, it’s a perfect pick for Trace!
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 114 – Freeway (1996)
This week, in honor of trick baby Trace’s birthday, we’re delving into Matthew Bright’s Freeway (1996), a “white trash” exploitation/rape revenge/little red riding hood genre mash-up starring a very foul-mouthed Reese Witherspoon and predatory perv Keifer Sutherland. Content warning: pedophilia, sexual assault, suicide and racism.
We discuss the stacked cast, the line between satire, parody and offensive humor, and the film’s surprisingly smart class critique. Plus: Trace’s favorite lines, Joe’s difficulty divorcing the film from recent events and Brooke Shields’ earrings! This is basically “genre whiplash, the movie” – it’s A LOT and it’s amazing.
Cross out Freeway!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re starting off March with a laugh as we tackle an even more offensive property: the Wayans brothers parody, Scary Movie 2.
– Joe & Trace
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for tons of additional content! Thanks to the release of the new Wrong Turn (2021), March is Hillbilly Horror-themed. In addition to tackling that new film, we’re revisiting the controversial The X-Files episode “Home”, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake (2003) and delivering an audio commentary on Alexandre Aja’s The Hills Have Eyes remake (2006).
Hoot Hoot, Bitch.
After discussing the positive queer representation in John Carpenter’s Someone’s Watching Me! and the queer safe space of Midian at the center of Clive Barker’s Nightbreed, we’re heading over to Italy to wax poetic over Michele Soavi‘s 1987 giallo-cum-slasher Stage Fright!
In the film, a narcissistic director (David Brandon) locks a group of stage actors in a theater for a rehearsal of their upcoming musical production, unaware that an escaped psychopath has sneaked into the theater with them.
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 191: Stage Fright (1987)
Get ready to sell your ass in the men’s room because we’re getting locked in a theatre with a theatre troupe in Michele Soavi’s giallo-cum-slasher Stage Fright (1987)! Joining us for the conversation is Arrow Video contributor and the Fragments of Fear Podacast co-host Rachael Nisbet!
After trying to figure out why Stage Fright is included in lists of gialli, we go all in on Soavi’s directorial debut and discuss how his tutelage from Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava fueled his creative vision for this film.
Plus, a subversive opening scene, another dull final girl, a delightfully sassy gay character, horny orderlies, one enormous skeleton key, face-level glory holes and…toilet troubles? Hoot hoot, bitch.
Cross out Stage Fright!
Coming up on Wednesday: Take some dramamine because we’re heading to the open seas to check in with Mr. Winslow, Mr. Wake and a pesky seagull in Robert Eggers’ The Lighthouse (2019).
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for more than 195 hours of additional content! This month, we’re discussing Netflix’s Resident Evil series, Dan Trachtenberg’s Predator film Prey, Peacock’s queer slasher They/Them and A24’s queer murder mystery Bodies Bodies Bodies. Oh, and we’ve got an audio commentary on Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon just in time for its 25th anniversary!
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