Podcasts
‘The Faculty’ Is the ‘Season of the Witch’ of the ‘Scream’ Franchise [Halloweenies Podcast]
We’re not aliens, we’re discontent.
For the final installment of this season’s Randy’s Recs, which finds the Halloweenies dissecting a film that inspired the Scream franchise, the gang heads to Ohio. No, not Springwood, but the small town of Herrington, where young Midwestern teens are having close encounters with the third kind. The only way to stop ’em? Designer drugs.
You guessed it: We’re talking about The Faculty.
Released on Christmas Day in 1998, Kevin Williamson and Robert Rodriguez‘s sci-fi teen thriller capitalized on the Scream wave with a new genre and a killer cast of Hollywood hotties — from Clea DuVall to Josh Harnett, Elijah Wood to Usher. Although not as successful as its slasher predecessor, The Faculty has since become a beloved cult classic — and, more importantly, is a vital detour when discussing the Scream franchise altogether.
Join co-hosts Justin Gerber, Michael Roffman, Mike Vanderbilt, and Mac Gerber in the lab as they dissect this specimen. Together, they theorize on What-if scenarios involving Williamson’s career, the pros and cons of conformity, whether or not Mary Beth is a tragic character, and, naturally, the film’s unstoppable ’90s soundtrack. Needless to say, the gang doesn’t let up, delivering an epic episode that’s guaranteed to jack you up.
Stream the whole thing below or via iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. Don’t go away, though, as the Halloweenies will return yet again to Woodsboro, California in January to slice and dice through the highly anticipated fifth Scream, which they’ve properly dubbed 5-cream.
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, and this year’s Scream. You can also become a member of their Patreon for hilarious commentaries and one-off episodes, including their recent deep dive on 2019’s Black Christmas.
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.
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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.