Podcasts
A Baffling Hodgepodge of Genres in Mike Nichols’ ‘Wolf’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
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.
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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.
After winding down June with discussions of our vey first William Castle film Homicidal (listen) and queer director Roland Emmerich’s summer tentpole Independence Day (listen), we’re heading back to 1981 to check out Joe Dante‘s seminal werewolf film The Howling.
The Howling sees television journalist Karen White (Dee Wallace) attend a psychiatric retreat with her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) after being attacked and traumatized by local serial killer Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo). It isn’t long before Karen realizes that the retreat is actually a secret cult of werewolves, and they’ve already got their sights set on Bill.
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 394: The Howling (1981)
Make note of that smiley face sticker and snag that conveniently-placed jar of acid because we’re talking Joe Dante’s stealth werewolf classic The Howling (1981)!
Join us as we discuss the film’s deviations from its source material before doing a deep dive into this very tongue-in-cheek, self-aware horror film. It honestly feels like a precursor to Scream, in many ways!
Plus: Roger Corman (again!) those incredible special effects, differentiating “color movies” from “movies in color,” and why queer icon Elisabeth Brooks has us going “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!”
Cross out The Howling!
Coming Up Next: We’re tackling our very first Ken Russell film with a look at his controversial 1984 erotic thriller Crimes of Passion!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 508 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Forbidden Fruits, Saccharine, Evil Dead Burn, an audio commentary on Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (aka Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch), and the conclusion of our coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat on the Requel Tier.