Podcasts
The Voyeuristic Pleasures of Proto-Slasher ‘Peeping Tom’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
![The Voyeuristic Pleasures of Proto-Slasher 'Peeping Tom' [Horror Queers Podcast]](https://bloody-disgusting.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/peeping-tom.jpg)
Not Your Grindr’s Voyeurism
We spent the better part of 2.5 months exploring an “underseen or underrated?” theme, including Gaspar Noé’s Climax and Kurtis David Harder‘s Spiral before wrapping up with Michael J. Ahern, Brandon Perras and Christopher Dalpe‘s independent film Death Drop Gorgeous last week. Now that we’re free of the 2010s, Trace and I are jumping back to 1960 to discuss Michael Powell’s proto-slasher, Peeping Tom.
In the film, Carl Boehm plays Mark Lewis, an introverted wannabe film director who works on movie sets by day, and shoots dirty photos in his spare. He also murders vulnerable women using a speared tripod leg as he films them, including his poor dancing co-worker Viv (Moira Shearer).
As Mark rushes to complete his snuff film, he initiates a tentative romance with his downstairs neighbour Helen (Anna Massey), which does not endear him to Helen’s blind and drunk mother, Mrs. Stephens (Maxine Audley). Will Helen fall victim to Mark’s passion project or will Mark learn to control his homicidal voyeuristic tendencies?
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Episode 170 – Peeping Tom (1960)
We’re jetting back to 1960 to check out Michael Powell’s classic Peeping Tom.
First: forget Psycho (ok, we can’t help but make comparisons!). But really, this film deserves more attention and recognition, and not just because it’s a trivia question in Scream 4!
Joe is adamant that the film is about more than gendered violence, while Trace has all of the medical deets about scopophilic fetishism aka voyeurism.
Plus: a Scorcese save, penis tripods, films within films (Singin’ in the Rain!), the film’s interest in disability, and our love of these female characters, especially Moira Shearer’s Vivian.
Cross out Peeping Tom!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re celebrating Spring Break a little late with Alexandre Aja’s 2010 remake, Piranha 3D!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for more than 165 hours of additional content! This month, we’re discussing horror movies where the villain wins, as well as Hulu originals No Exit and Fresh, Ti West’s X and a 20th anniversary audio commentary on Blade II!
Aaliyah Innocent.
May was a busy subgenre-switching month. After kicking things off with disaster “slasher” The Poseidon Adventure (listen), we watched American Giallo The Fan (listen), then wrapped things up with Vincent Price’s horror comedy Theater of Blood (listen).
Now, in honor of Pride Month and the return of AMC’s Interview with the Vampire (renamed The Vampire Lestat for S03), Trace and I had to check out the straight-washed second attempt to bring Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles to life.
Back in 2002, director Michael Rymer pitched Hollywood on his vision for Rice’s second Chronicle book, The Vampire Lestat. Instead, the suits opted to adapt the third book, Queen of the Damned (likely due to the ancillary opportunities of the soundtrack, written entirely by Korn frontman Jonathan Davis).
In the film, Lestat (Stuart Townsend) awakens from slumber to reinvent himself as a leather-pant-wearing rocker. Lestat’s very public vampire persona attracts the attention of Talamasca novice Jesse (Marguerite Moreau), as well as the vampire’s maker Marius (Vincent Perez). But the nu-metal has the greatest impact on Akasha (Aaliyah), who awakens and promises to take over the world if her old foe Maharet (Lena Olin) doesn’t stop her.
Whose side will Lestat join? Will Marius help his fledgling or abandon him to public sacrifice? And does anyone actually care about Jesse? (Please note: that last question is rhetorical.)
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 389: Queen of the Damned (2002)
Practice your Egyptian accent and bare that midriff because we are talking the troubled “adaptation” of Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned (2002).
Directed by Australian Michael Rymer, this one was doomed by the suits before it was even greenlit (which happened AFTER all of the songs were written by Korn frontman Jonathan Davis). It’s a bit of a clusterfuck.
Plus: praising everything Aaliyah (RIP); critiquing everything Stuart Townsend (aside from his abs and leather pants); a soft queer reading of Marius; and bemoaning boring protagonist/audience surrogate JESSE.
Cross out Queen of the Damned!
Coming Up Next: We’re tackling Ben Stiller’s horror-adjacent dark comedy The Cable Guy (1996), in anticipation of its 30th anniversary!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 495 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal Season 3 Episodes 5 & 6, Backrooms, Passenger, Leviticus, an audio commentary on the original Scary Movie (2000), and the return of our Requel Tier as we begin our episode coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat.