Podcasts
The Depressing Relevance of ‘The Stepford Wives’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
aka Bobbie is the best.
After delving into the world of sex work with a discussion of Cam (listen) and getting paranoid with the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (listen), we are concluding our themed Doppelgängers and Deception month with Bryan Forbes‘ controversial and oh-so-timely adaptation of Ira Levin‘s The Stepford Wives.
In the film, Joanna Eberhart (Katharine Ross) moves to the quiet town of Stepford with her husband (Peter Masterson) and children. Shortly after moving, Joanna starts to realize that there’s something not quite right with the suburb’s women: they’re vapid, unfathomably devoted to housework and completely subservient to their husbands. After teaming up with Bobbie (Paula Prentiss) another recent Stepford transplant, Joanna begins to investigate the mystery of Stepford’s wives and makes a horrific discovery.
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Episode 327: The Stepford Wives (1975)
We’ll just die if we don’t get this recipe, which means we’re discussing Bryan Forbes‘ divisive 1975 chiller The Stepford Wives, itself an adaptation of Ira Levin‘s 1972 novel(la) of the same name!
Join us as we go all in on the male-directed and male-written film that satirizes, well, men. From the Playboy Bunny origins of the Stepford wives to conflicting thoughts on Walter, there’s a lot to discuss!
Plus: praise for Bobbie (Paula Prentiss), a lesson in female fashion and Raymond Chandler for Trace, thinking about Stepford dogs, and wondering if Easy-On Spray Starch really does save you half an hour a day (at least!).
Cross out The Stepford Wives!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re heading back into the world of David Fincher with one of his more mainstream efforts (albeit one starring two queer queens): Panic Room.
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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.)
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.