Podcasts
The High Strangeness of ‘The Mothman Prophecies’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
Mothman’s Got Cakes.
After spending our month-long theme on toxic masculinity with difficult watches like Funny Games (listen), Deadgirl (listen) and Hard Candy (listen), we’re taking a break from the theme and wrapping up November with a look at Mark Pellington‘s 2002 high strangeness chiller The Mothman Prophecies.
The Mothman Prophecies sees journalist John Klein’s (Richard Gere) wife Mary (Debra Messing) experience a strange moth-like vision immediately before she dies from a brain tumor. Two years later, John suddenly finds himself hundreds of miles out of his way in the remote town of Point Pleasant, where there has been a proliferation of “mothman” sightings. While investigating with the local sheriff (Laura Linney), he concludes that the visions are omens of an impending disaster.
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Episode 258: The Mothman Prophecies (2002)
Hide your ChapStick and get off the damn bridge because we’re heading into the world of high strangeness with a look at Mark Pellington’s 2002 chiller The Mothman Prophecies (2002). Tagging in for the conversation is returning guest (and Trace’s better half) Ari Drew!
Join us as we offer a brief primer on cryptids and why us queers often feel a special connection to them, before going all in on this stealth Christmas horror film. It’s a more philosophical episode than usual, but that makes for some fascinating conversations.
Plus: diving into the true story the film is based on, Mothman’s cakes (the butt kind), Richard Gere’s magical 2002, creepy phone calls from Indrid Cold and one great hidden scare.
Cross out The Mothman Prophecies!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re kicking off December with a return to the land of giallo in Sergio Martino’s Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972).
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for nearly 275 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on A Creature Was Stirring, When Evil Lurks, Leave the World Behind and It’s a Wonderful Knife, plus an audio commentary celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Exorcist (1973).
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.
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 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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