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.
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.
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 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.