Podcasts
Annie Wilkes Is a Patron Saint of Feminine Rage in Stephen King’s ‘Misery’ [The Lady Killers Podcast]
“And you better hope nothing happens to me. Because if I die… you die.”
Of all the female killers in the annals of film, few are as iconic or celebrated as Annie Wilkes. Brought to life by the incredible Kathy Bates, this fearsome nurse is the central antagonist of Rob Reiner’s 1990 film Misery. Stephen King’s source material introduces the character as a monstrous idol, but Reiner takes his time unravelling Annie’s sadistic cruelty. Trapped in her guest room, writer Paul Sheldon (James Caan) is a little put off by the somewhat corny woman who claims to love his series of romance novels, but it’s not until his latest release kills off Annie’s favorite character that the true nature of her psychopathy comes to light.
In the latest episode of The Lady Killers Podcast, co-hosts Jenn Adams, Sammie Kuykendall, Rocco Thompson, and Mae Shults kick off the year with a snowy exploration of a patron saint of feminine rage. What does Annie truly want from Paul? How do we respond to her calculated cruelty? Why is Rocco so afraid of James Caan and can any couple compete with Virginia (Frances Sternhagen) and Buster (Richard Farnsworth)? They’ll tackle these questions and more while discussing toxic fandom, broken feet, and the cutest darn pig in horror history.
Stream below and subscribe now via Apple Podcasts and Spotify for future episodes that drop every Thursday.
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.)
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, and RSS.
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.