Podcasts
‘Stephen King’s World of Horror’ Captures the Analog Era for Horror Fans [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
If you recall from last week’s episode, we’re spending the next two months catching up on all the Stephen King adaptations and anniversaries we missed over the past year. So, to stay on theme, we’re unlocking a very topical episode of The Stephen King Archives, our Patreon exclusive imprint in which your Losers search the vault of King material – dusting off unpublished short stories, long-forgotten interviews, coffee-stained manuscripts, and alternate versions of your favorite tales. This particular entry was recorded in June 2022 and finds the Losers dusting off their copy of Stephen King’s World of Horror.
Having aired in 1986 and released on VHS in 1988, the 45-minute doc covers the works of King and his influence on pop culture. Peppered between segments with King are a number of clips from essential horror titles alongside interviews with John Carpenter, Clive Barker, Tom Savini, etc. Together, Michael Roffman, Randall Colburn, and Jenn Adams revisit the analog era of being a horror fan, digress on King’s myriad quotes throughout the 45 minute special, and chew on the evolution of pop culture icons. As we’re wont to do, we detour into a number of unexpected tangents, the likes of which lead us to places both wonderful and strange.
Stream the episode below and don’t forget your remote. Then return next week when the Losers return to Dallas to cover Hulu’s 11.22.63 miniseries starring James Franco and Sarah Gadon. For further adventures, join the Losers’ Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS.
You can also unlock hundreds upon hundreds of hours of exclusive content in The Barrens (Patreon) — from deep dives into uncollected King works to Dark Tower detours to feature-length King commentaries to exclusive interviews to spinoff podcasts centered around Stranger Things, Michael Crichton, and spooky real-life stuff.
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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