Podcasts
Sam Raimi’s ‘The Evil Dead’ Delivers the Rare Final Boy [Halloweenies Podcast]
A week ago, the Halloweenies ventured into the woods of Tennessee for a much-needed cabin trip after their year in Woodsboro. On the agenda was what you might expect: a little R&R, some good cooking, maybe even a bonfire. All of that went out the window when they found a reel-to-reel player, four microphones, and an idea.
“Let’s cover The Evil Dead franchise.”
Indeed they are, and they’ve gone back to where it all began: the 1981 original. For those who tuned in, you’ll recall that the gang charted all the backwoods shenanigans that churned out the midnight masterpiece we know and love today. Now, they’re ready to finish it all off, and they’ve come prepared — shovel and axe and sass.
In the second of two episodes dedicated to Sam Raimi‘s splatterhouse classic, the gang ditches the history books to discuss the movie’s sounds, souls, and special effects. Together, they talk at great lengths about the rare final boy Bruce Campbell, praise the ensemble cast (particularly Ellen Sandweiss), and pass the crown to SFX maestro Tom Sullivan.
It’s a groovy kickoff to an even groovier season, one that will march through the entire franchise in anticipation of Lee Cronin‘s forthcoming sequel Evil Dead Rise. Stream both episodes below and stay tuned next month when your Halloweenies lend a hand (or a chainsaw) to one another as they cover 1987’s The Evil Dead 2.
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 Scream. Or you can subscribe to catch forthcoming episodes via iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS.
You can also become a member of their Patreon, The Rewind, for hilariously irreverent commentaries (e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Gremlins, Child’s Play) and one-off deep dives on your favorite rentals (e.g. Saw, 28 Days Later, Manhunter, Near Dark). Each month promises something new and unexpected from the wildest corners of the genre.
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.