Podcasts
The Transgressive Brilliance of ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
Dairy Queens Choking on Swan Gas.
After heading to 1990s New York to discuss James Bond III’s Troma classic Def By Temptation and unlocking the Patreon vault to release our episode on Josh Boone’s cursed 2020 comic book adaptation The New Mutants, we’re kicking off a month-long celebration of camp by discussing the brilliance of Michael Patrick Jann‘s transgressive (and hilarious) 1999 black comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous. It’s not really horror, but there sure is a lot of murderin’ goin’ on!
In the film, an annual beauty pageant in small-town Minnesota turns ridiculously competitive and ultimately chaotic. Amber Atkins (Kirsten Dunst), the daughter of hard-drinking mom Annette (Ellen Barkin), and Becky Leeman (Denise Richards), who is motivated by her former beauty-queen mother, Gladys (Kirstie Alley), are among the top contenders in the event. As Amber, Becky, and other local girls (including Brittany Murphy and Amy Adams) prepare for the big day, someone decides to start killing contestants one by one until only one remains.
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Episode 184: Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
Oh crap oh crap oh crap! The swan ate our baby and the most smartest tapper needs to go to state! That’s right, we’re discussing Michael Patrick Jann’s seminal dark comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) with IGN’s streaming editor Amelia Emberwing. Think we can do it? Amer-I-CAN!
Join us as we track the film’s journey from a script called Dairy Queens to a box office and commercial failure to a stone-cold cult classic beloved by (and offensive to) many. We’re laughing at eating disorders, mental disability and pedophilia. How did this get made?
Plus: non-stop praise for this outstanding cast, discussing the on-set tensions between the writer and the director, debating the effectiveness (or lack thereof?) of the third act, and an It Takes Two tangent? Ding! Fries are up!
Cross out Drop Dead Gorgeous!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re keeping things modern as we continue our month of Camp with a look at Paz de la Huerta’s “performance” in the 2012 schlock-fest Nurse 3D!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for more than 180 hours of additional content! This month, we’re discussing our favorite horror film-to-TV show flip floppers, as well as looking back at popular alien films Signs and Attack the Block before we close out the month with Jordan Peele’s Nope. Oh, and we’ve got an audio commentary on the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie!
It’s always a cruel summer, but 2026 is about to get crueler.
To blow off steam, the Losers hit the road to visit all the towns in Stephen King’s Dominion. Derry, Castle Rock, Ludlow, Boulder, the list goes on. They’ve got miles to drive and so many (scary) sights to see. At the end of the day, though, they have to ask themselves: Which one’s the best? And, more importantly, what does “best” mean in this context?
Stream the episode below. PayDays and Nozz-a-La, optional. For further adventures, join the Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. You can also unlock hundreds of hours of content in The Barrens (Patreon).