Podcasts
‘Full Dark, No Stars’: Stephen King’s ‘Big Driver’ Hits the Gas With a Complex Revenge Story [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
“How many unsuspected selves could a person have, hidden deep inside? She was beginning to think the number might be infinite.”
As the temperatures continue to drop and the autumn leaves begin to fall, there’s nothing more pleasant than a long, leisurely drive down a picturesque country road. Unless, the driver is Stephen King. Any road trip navigated by the Master of Horror is bound to twist and turn through the darkest recesses of the human heart. After traveling back to the year 1922, The Losers’ Club continues their coverage of King’s disturbing collection Full Dark, No Stars by shining a light on the rape-revenge tale Big Driver.
Tess Thorne loves to drive. After delivering a lunchtime lecture in Chicopee, Massachusetts, the cozy mystery writer avoids the turnpike in favor of a rural detour and uncovers a hellish trap worse than anything within the pages of her Knitting Society novels. Armed with a GPS she affectionately calls Tom, Tess embarks on a harrowing journey of revenge that will cause her to embrace the dark versions of herself she never knew existed.
Like King’s novella, this episode is not for the faint of heart. Join Jenn Adams, Randall Colburn, and Justin Gerber as they dive into the world of rape-revenge storytelling, including the subject’s controversial nature and classic examples of the subgenre both old and new. Together, they discuss King’s treatment of female characters, the healing power of community, and the story’s beautifully upsetting prose that helps normalize an all-too-familiar experience. Sometimes, the worst monsters are the ones we encounter on the sunniest of days.
Stream the episode below and return next week as the Losers dive head-first into October. Continue cruising through the club’s extensive catalogs via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. You can also unlock hundreds of hours of content in The Barrens (Patreon) — including their latest book episode on Holly.
Game Loop.
Trace and I inadvertently bookended our April discussions of John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London (listen) and Ciarán Foy’s Eli (listen) with Jude Law films. At the start of the month, we tackled Matt Damon’s Italian grifter in The Talented Mr. Ripley (listen) and now we’re closing out April with David Cronenberg‘s eXistenZ (1999).
The unofficial sequel to Videodrome (listen) and precursor to Crimes of the Future, eXistenZ takes place in the world of virtual reality and simulation. Game goddess Allegra Gellar (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is forced to go on the run with PR nerd Ted Pikul (Jude Law) through the Canadian backwoods when ‘Realist’ terrorists declare open season on her life.
Featuring no shortage of strange encounters and oddball characters, including Willem Dafoe‘s queer-coded Gas and Canadian film royalty like Don McKellar and Sarah Polley, Allegra and Ted must travel between the real world and the game world, all the while keeping track of who is friendly…and who is foe.
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Episode 279: eXistenZ (1999) feat Vannah Taylor
Lube up your industry standard bio-port because we’re playing David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ (1999) with someone friendly: Vannah Taylor!
David Cronenberg’s meditation on the dangers of gaming and simulation is the middle entry of an unofficial trilogy. It’s also a film that gets real confusing, real fast, so good luck figuring out if we’re still in the game!
Plus: criticisms of a “bland” game world, praise for Jennifer Jason Leigh, Canadian royalty, comparisons to Serenity, disgusting gristle guns, and Pikul getting his back blown out (several times!)
Cross out eXistenZ!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re continuing our celebration of 1999 films with a look at Stephen Sommers’ bisexual awakening, action adventure film, The Mummy (1999).
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 306 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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