Podcasts
Analyzing the Queer-Coded Killer in ‘The Hitcher’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
Fairy man.
We spent June discussing a cisgender male demon trapped in a female body, genderfluid dinosaurs and evil weaves, so we’re kicking off July with a film that’s a bit more grounded: Robert Harmon‘s classic cautionary tale The Hitcher!
In The Hitcher, Jim (C. Thomas Howell) picks up a hitchhiker named John Ryder (Rutger Hauer) while transporting a car from Chicago to San Diego. After quickly showing Jim his murderous ways, John is kicked out of the car and begins a relentless pursuit of Jim, murdering anyone who gets in his way and framing Jim for the murders. With no one to help him except a local waitress (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Jim must decide how far he is willing to go to survive.
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Episode 236: The Hitcher (1986)
Our mothers told us never to do this but we just couldn’t resist so we’re having an in-depth discussion of Robert Harmon’s 1986 classicThe Hitcher. Join us as we discuss the gay panic of it all in this queer-coded cautionary tale. From Rutger Hauer’s predatory queer to C. Thomas Howell’s virginal twink, The Hitcher has it all!
Plus: the film’s origins as a 190-page(???) script, lots and lots of saliva play, ferryman/fairy man and getting your car all kinds of wet.
Cross out The Hitcher!
Coming up on Wednesday: In celebration of the next installment of the Insidious franchise, we’re taking a look at the Bride in Black in the supernatural sequel Insidious: Chapter 2.
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for nearly 250 hours of additional content! This month we’re going all in on the Insidious franchise with a episode discussing our thoughts on each entry, as well as delivering a full-length episode on the new film Insidious: The Red Door. We’ll also have episodes on the Netflix sequel Bird Box: Barcelona and the Set Rogen-produced horror film Cobweb. Plus: our audio commentary for the month is on the original Bird Box!
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.