Podcasts
‘Wild Things’ Finds Strength In Sexuality [The Lady Killers Podcast]
“That’s what I am to you, isn’t it? Swamp trash, just like my mom.”
We’ve all heard stories about Florida Man. Maybe he lost a wrestling match with an alligator, dropped his keys into a pit of snakes, or fell into a flaming dumpster as it floated off to sea. Whatever the case, this southern miscreant has a reputation for spectacularly trashy and ill-advised behavior. And it seems we can’t get enough. But decades before the world regaled the misadventures of Florida Man, John McNaughton gave us Wild Things, a sleazy, sun-baked noir about a troublesome Florida polycule. This salacious film not only features steamy performances from Matt Dillon and Kevin Bacon – each playing their own delightful versions of a proto-Florida Man – but two sexy lady killers who set the screen on fire with their seductive scheming and in-your-face sexuality.
Sam Lombardo (Dillon) is a dreamy guidance counselor and playboy in Blue Bay, Florida who catches the eye of cheerleader Kelly Van Ryan (Denise Richards). After a Car Wash Day gone terribly wrong, Kelly Ann accuses Mr. Lombardo of rape. Soon after, Suzie Toller (Neve Campbell), an orphan from the wrong side of the tracks, joins the case with an accusation of her own. The two teens band together to take Mr. Lombardo down, bolstered by Detectives Ray Duquette (Bacon) and Gloria Perez (Daphne Rubin-Vega). But people are not always what they seem and Ray begins to suspect treachery. What really happened on that sudsy day will cause us to question our ideas about predator and prey.
The Lady Killers continue Hot Girl Summer by diving into the pool with two iconic female killers. Co-hosts Jenn Adams, Sammie Kuykendall, Rocco Thompson, and Mae Shults take their mom’s Rover and cruise through the glades in search of motives, mischief, mayhem, and more. Why does Kelly fall for Mr. Lombardo? Does he have real feelings for her? What’s up with that curious raccoon and who gave Neve Campbell that atrocious wig? Pop the champagne bottles, pull out your teeth and get wild with the Lady Killers for a hot, hot, hot episode on this iconic 90s hit.
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Aaliyah Innocent.
May was a busy subgenre-switching month. After kicking things off with disaster “slasher” The Poseidon Adventure (listen), we watched American Giallo The Fan (listen), then wrapped things up with Vincent Price’s horror comedy Theater of Blood (listen).
Now, in honor of Pride Month and the return of AMC’s Interview with the Vampire (renamed The Vampire Lestat for S03), Trace and I had to check out the straight-washed second attempt to bring Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles to life.
Back in 2002, director Michael Rymer pitched Hollywood on his vision for Rice’s second Chronicle book, The Vampire Lestat. Instead, the suits opted to adapt the third book, Queen of the Damned (likely due to the ancillary opportunities of the soundtrack, written entirely by Korn frontman Jonathan Davis).
In the film, Lestat (Stuart Townsend) awakens from slumber to reinvent himself as a leather-pant-wearing rocker. Lestat’s very public vampire persona attracts the attention of Talamasca novice Jesse (Marguerite Moreau), as well as the vampire’s maker Marius (Vincent Perez). But the nu-metal has the greatest impact on Akasha (Aaliyah), who awakens and promises to take over the world if her old foe Maharet (Lena Olin) doesn’t stop her.
Whose side will Lestat join? Will Marius help his fledgling or abandon him to public sacrifice? And does anyone actually care about Jesse? (Please note: that last question is rhetorical.)
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Episode 389: Queen of the Damned (2002)
Practice your Egyptian accent and bare that midriff because we are talking the troubled “adaptation” of Anne Rice’s Queen of the Damned (2002).
Directed by Australian Michael Rymer, this one was doomed by the suits before it was even greenlit (which happened AFTER all of the songs were written by Korn frontman Jonathan Davis). It’s a bit of a clusterfuck.
Plus: praising everything Aaliyah (RIP); critiquing everything Stuart Townsend (aside from his abs and leather pants); a soft queer reading of Marius; and bemoaning boring protagonist/audience surrogate JESSE.
Cross out Queen of the Damned!
Coming Up Next: We’re tackling Ben Stiller’s horror-adjacent dark comedy The Cable Guy (1996), in anticipation of its 30th anniversary!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 495 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal Season 3 Episodes 5 & 6, Backrooms, Passenger, Leviticus, an audio commentary on the original Scary Movie (2000), and the return of our Requel Tier as we begin our episode coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat.