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A Baffling Hodgepodge of Genres in Mike Nichols’ ‘Wolf’ [Horror Queers Podcast]

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Horror Queers Wolf

A meek misogynist?

Weird Sex Month is coming to an end, but here’s a quick recap of our coverage: we started things off with David Cronenberg’s Videodrome before moving into some divorce troubles in Andrzej Żuławski’s Possession. We then headed up to the Great White North to discuss Kevin Smith’s polarizing Tusk. Closing us out is Mike Nichols‘ baffling 1994 romantic horror drama: Wolf!

In the film, aging book editor Will Randall (Jack Nicholson) is bitten by a wolf in rural Vermont and finds himself full of youthful vigor. Will then discovers that he’s been replaced at his job by Stewart Swinton (James Spader), a vicious young executive. As Will struggles to regain his position, he becomes enthralled with Laura Alden (Michelle Pfeiffer), his boss’s daughter. As increasingly animal-like urges begin to overwhelm him, Will worries that he may be a werewolf.

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 218: Wolf (1994)

We’re gonna get you, Stewart, because we’re closing out Weird Sex Month with a look at Mike Nichols’ sometimes boring, sometimes hilarious, sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes slow motion and always baffling 1994 film Wolf.

Join us as we try to figure out how this thing got made, as it’s a complete tonal and genre mishmash that doesn’t always work, but it’s never anything less than fascinating to watch. Don’t worry, we go all in on the film’s many production troubles.

Plus: watersports, penis POV, a miscast Jack Nicholson, Magical Indigenous Character, doggy style sexual assault (yes, really), publishing house drama and some very twitchy ears. This movie is…something.

Cross out Wolf!

Coming up on Wednesday: We’re kicking off March with a look at one of horror cinema’s most iconic queer entries: Robert Wise’s 1963 classic The Haunting!

P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for more than 228 hours of additional content! This month, we’ve got episodes on on The Outwaters, HBO’s adaptation of The Last of Us, 65 and, of course, Scream VI, along with an audio commentary on The Strangers: Prey at Night.

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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

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Podcasts

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

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1 day ago

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April 15, 2024

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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).

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