Podcasts
‘Alien: Romulus’ Works Best When It’s Not Being Nostalgic [Halloweenies Podcast]
Alien: Romulus is out and conquering the box office. For months now, the Halloweenies have been anticipating this moment, covering every entry in the Alien franchise — from Ridley Scott’s 1979 original to his 2017 sequel Alien: Covenant. As promised, the gang has seen Fede Álvarez’s new film, and they’ve returned with their review.
Spanning nearly four hours, the much-anticipated episode discusses the road to Romulus, Álvarez’s beautiful and practical direction, the new crew, and all those great graphics. They also discuss the navel gazing nostalgia, the callbacks, and the resurrection of a very familiar face. Warning: This episode is a nest of spoilers, so proceed with caution.
Stream the episode below and stay tuned for our franchise rankings next month. You can also subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. Want more? Catch up by revisiting their essential episodes on past franchises Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Scream, The Evil Dead, and Chucky.
You can also become a member of their Patreon, The Rewind, for even more hilariously irreverent commentaries (e.g. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Darkman) and one-off deep dives on your favorite rentals (e.g. Poltergeist, Manhunter, Phantasm). Each month promises something new and unexpected from the wildest corners of the genre.
After winding down June with discussions of our vey first William Castle film Homicidal (listen) and queer director Roland Emmerich’s summer tentpole Independence Day (listen), we’re heading back to 1981 to check out Joe Dante‘s seminal werewolf film The Howling.
The Howling sees television journalist Karen White (Dee Wallace) attend a psychiatric retreat with her husband Bill (Christopher Stone) after being attacked and traumatized by local serial killer Eddie Quist (Robert Picardo). It isn’t long before Karen realizes that the retreat is actually a secret cult of werewolves, and they’ve already got their sights set on Bill.
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Episode 394: The Howling (1981)
Make note of that smiley face sticker and snag that conveniently-placed jar of acid because we’re talking Joe Dante’s stealth werewolf classic The Howling (1981)!
Join us as we discuss the film’s deviations from its source material before doing a deep dive into this very tongue-in-cheek, self-aware horror film. It honestly feels like a precursor to Scream, in many ways!
Plus: Roger Corman (again!) those incredible special effects, differentiating “color movies” from “movies in color,” and why queer icon Elisabeth Brooks has us going “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!”
Cross out The Howling!
Coming Up Next: We’re tackling our very first Ken Russell film with a look at his controversial 1984 erotic thriller Crimes of Passion!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 508 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Forbidden Fruits, Saccharine, Evil Dead Burn, an audio commentary on Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (aka Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch), and the conclusion of our coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat on the Requel Tier.