Podcasts
The AIDS Allegory at the Center of David Cronenberg’s ‘The Fly’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
He’s a squirter.
First we got cosmic with Adam Egypt Mortimer’s outstanding imaginary friend tale Daniel Isn’t Real, then we got hot with the 1981 parody Student Bodies before getting fancy (and super duper queer) with Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope. Now, we’re getting weird, gooey and tragic with David Cronenberg‘s masterful remake of The Fly!
In the film, scientist Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) completes his teleportation device and decides to test its abilities on himself. Unbeknownst to him, a housefly slips in during the process, leading to a merger of man and insect. Initially, Brundle appears to have undergone a successful teleportation, but the fly’s cells begin to take over his body. As he becomes increasingly fly-like, Brundle’s girlfriend Veronica (Geena Davis) is horrified as the person she once loved deteriorates into a monster.
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Episode 139 – The Fly (1986)
Check the windows in your teleportation pod because we’re heading up to Toronto to discuss all the gooey goodness in David Cronenberg’s seminal horror remake The Fly! Joining us is Bloody Disgusting’s lead critic (and co-host of The Bloody Disgusting Podcast): Meagan Navarro!
Join us as we trace the film’s journey from page to screen (rewrites, Mel Brooks, tragedy and Total Recall) before discussing the film’s possible AIDS allegory and, of course, all the praise for the film’s outstanding and Oscar-winning special effects.
Plus, respect for the film’s handling of abortion (in 1986, no less) normalizing the cock and references to Zenon: The Zequel and Cube 2: Hypercube. Hey, it wouldn’t be a Cronenberg discussion if it wasn’t weird!
Cross out The Fly!
Coming up on Wednesday: To celebrate the release of Nia DaCosta’s Candyman this weekend, we’ll finally be discussing Bernard Rose’s original adaptation of Clive Barker’s short story “The Forbidden.” That’s right, it’s time to finally dive into Bernard Rose’s Candyman!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for tons of additional content! This month, we’ll have episodes on The Boy Behind the Door, Old, The Night House, Don’t Breathe and Don’t Breathe 2.
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.