Podcasts
Worshipping at the Altar of Julia Cotton in ‘Hellbound: Hellraiser II’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
We’re here about a mattress…
After wrapping up 2023 with look at New French Extremity in Inside (listen), horror musicals in Anna and the Apocalypse (listen) and the Best Horror Films of 2023 (listen), we’re kicking off our first official episode of 2024 with a lengthy discussion of Tony Randel‘s better-than-it-has-any-right-to-be sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), which just celebrated its 35th anniversary!
Hellbound: Hellraiser II picks up hours after the first film ended, seeing Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence) confined to a mental hospital after she tells the authorities that her father was betrayed by his evil, adulterous wife, Julia (Clare Higgins), and is now being tormented in hell by sadomasochistic demons called Cenobites. Few believe Kirsty, except the thrill-seeking Dr. Channard (Kenneth Cranham), who is so intrigued by her frightening stories that he teams up with a newly resurrected Julia. When they open the gates to Hell and unleash the Cenobites, Kirsty and fellow patient Tiffany (Imogen Boorman) try to stop them.
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Episode 263: Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
Put on your best white suit because we’ve got a date with a bloody mattress in Tony Randel’s Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988). Tagging in for the discussion is our forever-Hellraiser guest: Bryan Christopher!
Join us as we heap all the deserve praise on Clare Higgins’ Julia Cotton, who finally gets her due in this spectacular sequel. Hellbound astounds with a bigger budget and more world building, but sometimes suffers from an unfocused kitchen sink approach that the first film wisely avoided.
Plus: humanizing the Cenobites, discussing what a “sex movie” is, Trace’s unlikely remake proposition, Ashley Laurence’s excellent “WTF” face and Julia’s America’s Next Top Model vortex challenge.
Cross out Hellbound: Hellraiser II!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re going to be discussing carnivorous contraceptives in Martin Walz’s 1996 horror comedy Killer Condom!
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It’s always a cruel summer, but 2026 is about to get crueler.
To blow off steam, the Losers hit the road to visit all the towns in Stephen King’s Dominion. Derry, Castle Rock, Ludlow, Boulder, the list goes on. They’ve got miles to drive and so many (scary) sights to see. At the end of the day, though, they have to ask themselves: Which one’s the best? And, more importantly, what does “best” mean in this context?
Stream the episode below. PayDays and Nozz-a-La, optional. For further adventures, join the Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. You can also unlock hundreds of hours of content in The Barrens (Patreon).