Connect with us

Podcasts

Doing It for the Lulz in ‘Assassination Nation’ [Horror Queers Podcast]

Published

2 years ago

on

Horror Queers Assassination Nation

Bitch, We’re All Bella Thorne.

After a few weeks of back-to-back quiet, moody films for our “underrated or underseen” theme, Joe and I have switched over to films that are some intense assaults on the senses. For 2017, we revisited Darren Aronofsky‘s religious/eco horror thriller mother!, and that trend continues this week with Sam Levinson‘s (Euphoria) film Assassination Nation (2018)!

In the film, high school senior Lily (Odessa Young) and her three best friends (Hari Nef, Suki Waterhouse and Abra) live in a haze of texts, posts, selfies and chats — just like the rest of the world. Their small town gets turned upside down when an anonymous hacker starts to reveal personal messages and secrets of thousands of people. As anger erupts into full-blown violence, the four girls soon find themselves in a fight for their lives against an armed mob.

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 166 – Assassination Nation (2018)

It’s trigger warnings for alllllll the things this week as we discuss the lulz in Sam Levinson’s (Euphoria) controversial, confrontational and very, very timely film Assassination Nation (2018)! Joining us for the discussion is writer Dani Bethea!

Join us as we discuss the film’s approach to violence (where is the line between empowerment and re-traumatization?), its unusual (but intentional) lack of slurs, its commentary on empathy, and that awesome single-take home invasion sequence that serves as the centerpiece of the film.

Plus, Chekhov’s Daddy, fisting Oscar the Grouch, Joe’s lesson on the film’s opening sequence, Trace’s comparisons to Detention and why “if you weren’t The Nun, you weren’t gettin’ none!”

Cross out Assassination Nation!

Coming up on Wednesday: We’re continuing our “Underrated or Underseen?” theme with a look at our first Gaspar Noé film: Climax!

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for more than 160 hours of additional content! This month, we’re discussing Sound Cues that Stick Out, as well as Yellowjackets S01, Death on the Nile, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and an anniversary audio commentary on A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors!

Related Topics:

A journalist for Bloody Disgusting since 2015, Trace writes film reviews and editorials, as well as co-hosts Bloody Disgusting's Horror Queers podcast, which looks at horror films through a queer lens. He has since become dedicated to amplifying queer voices in the horror community, while also injecting his own personal flair into film discourse. Trace lives in Austin, TX with his husband and their two dogs. Find him on Twitter @TracedThurman

Advertisement
Click to comment

Podcasts

The Double ‘Othering’ of David in ‘An American Werewolf in London’ [Horror Queers Podcast]

Published

3 days ago

on

April 15, 2024

By

After concluding March with Raja Gosnell’s Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (listen) and James Whale’s The Invisible Man (listen), we kicked off April with a discussion of  Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley (listen).
Now we’re checking off another classic with John Landis‘ 1981 werewolf film, An American Werewolf in London.
In the film, American best friends David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are horrifically attacked while backpacking through the UK Moors. Jack is killed and David spends a month recuperating in the hospital, where he befriends attractive nurse Alex (Jenny Agutter) and kindly Dr. Hirsch (John Woodvine).
On the cusp of his release, the mangled corpse of Jack visits David, warning that on the full moon he will become a lycanthrope unless he kills himself. But David is unable to accept his fate and a series of terrible murders follow.
As the bodies (and the comedy) pile up, the question becomes: what will David, Alex, and Dr. Hirsch do to stop the deaths?
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, Google Podcasts, and RSS.
Episode 277: An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Try not to wolf out because we’re talking about John Landis’ classic, An American Werewolf in London (1981). Backpacking along with us is Xero Gravity, who went on a werewolf binge and has recommendations!
Up for discussion: Alex’s underdeveloped character, urban set pieces, dirty movie theaters, and British rural horror.
Plus: a queer reading of David and Jack’s relationship, Jewish horror, an unsexy sex scene, and extended tangents about werewolf anatomy.

Cross out An American Werewolf in London!

Coming up on Wednesday: We’re undergoing a risky experimental treatment for a “different” kind of child with Netflix’s 2019 title, Eli.

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 302 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S01E04, Late Night with the Devil, The First Omen, Femme, Abigail and a brand new audio commentary on the original The Omen (1976).

Continue Reading