Podcasts
A Queer Writer and a Stylish Director Join Forces to Give Us ‘Stoker’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
St(r)oker.
We closed out August with a look at the horror elements in the non-horror film Shiva Baby and the trans empowerment of Sleepaway Camp 2: Unhappy Campers. Now, we’re looking at Park Chan-wook‘s English-language debut (which was written by queer screenwriter and actor Wentworth Miller): 2013’s Stoker.
Stoker sees India (Mia Wasikowska) grieving after the death of her father (Dermot Mulroney). She is given no solace, not even from her unstable mother Evelyn (Nicole Kidman), until her Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode), whom she never knew existed, comes to live at their family home. She comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives and becomes increasingly infatuated with him.
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Episode 245: Stoker (2013)
Get ready to play the piano all sexy like because we’re discussing Park Chan-wook’s English-language debut Stoker, which is based on a screenplay from queer screenwriter (and actor) Wentworth Miller(?!?!).
Join us as we discuss the film’s journey from a Black List pick to a botched marketing campaign to an even more botched release. This is a shame, because Stoker is a film that oozes so much style that it elevates its baby Dexter plot, even if it could have used about 100% more Nicole Kidman.
Plus: one incredible hair-to-grass transition, camera weaves for days, the most demented sand angel you’ll ever see and incest: the last universal taboo.
Cross out Stoker!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re kick-starting a month of erotic thrillers with one of the most infamously problematic entries in the sub-genre: Brian De Palma’s Dressed to Kill!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for nearly 260 hours of additional content! This month we’re discussing Shudder’s birth/rebirth, A Haunting in Venice, The Nun 2, and we will also have two audio commentaries: one on Underworld to celebrate its 20th anniversary and one on Saw II to coincide with the release of SAW X. Oh, and we’ll also have an extra special bonus episode on 2021’s The Voyeurs to coincide with this month’s main feed theme of erotic thrillers.
After kicking off July with discussions of Joe Dante’s seminal werewolf film The Howling (listen) and Ken Russell’s controversial erotic thriller Crimes of Passion (listen), we’re heading to Maine to dissect one of Stephen King‘s most misguided adaptations in Lawrence Kasdan‘s 2003 misfire Dreamcatcher!
Dreamcatcher sees friends Henry (Thomas Jane), Jonesy (Damian Lewis), Pete (Timothy Olyphant) and Beaver (Jason Lee) reunite for their annual hunting trip in Maine. Their reunion is cut short when they find themselves caught in the middle of a war between a hostile race of farty-farty aliens and an elite US military unit led by Colonel Abraham Curtis (Morgan Freeman), who has been driven mad after spending decades tracking the extraterrestrials. When Jonesy is possessed by one of the aliens, the remaining friends seek out their disabled childhood friend Duddits (Donnie Wahlberg), who they believe has powers that can save Jonesy…and the world.
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 396: Dreamcatcher (2003)
Watch out for “ister gay” (oof), take some Gas-X and bite our bags because we’re talking Lawrence Kasdan’s baffling 2003 adaptation of Stephen King’s equally baffling novel Dreamcatcher.
Join us as we go all in on the farty-farty aliens populating this hilarious misfire that often feels like a bad Kevin Smith script. It’s a film filled with characters who get a single defining trait (if they’re lucky), played by respectable actors who are here for the paycheck (looking at you, Morgan Freeman).
Plus: blown-out assholes, using guns as telephones, pitying poor Donnie Wahlberg, and wondering why the hell this movie is called Dreamcatcher.
Cross out Dreamcatcher!
Coming Up Next: We’re going to be lounging around a posh Greenwich Village apartment as we check in on Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954).
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 513 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.