Podcasts
‘Cat’s Eye’ at 40: Exploring Lewis Teague’s Other Stephen King Creature Feature [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
Two things were hot in 1980s horror: formulaic slashers and Stephen King. The mega success of Brian De Palma’s Carrie in 1976 followed by Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 masterpiece The Shining, turned the unpolished Maine writer into a household name and left studios clamoring to secure rights to his next terrifying tale. By 1985, the trend was in full swing with multiple adaptations filling theaters and more rushing their way into production. After the success of his 1983 adaptation of Cujo, director Lewis Teague took inspiration from another household pet with the 1985 film Cat’s Eye. This anthology film sees King adapt two of his own stories from the 1978 collection Night Shift while penning an original story to tie them together. Starring the Firestarter herself, Drew Barrymore, the film is an 80s curio filled with maniacal mobsters, mythical creatures, and an intrepid cat determined to save the day.
In the latest episode of Bloody FM’s The Losers’ Club podcast, co-hosts Jenn Adams, Rachel Reeves, and Dan Pfleegor revisit this charming anthology film and its place near the peak of the 80s King trend. From rocky financing and narrative changes to mixed reactions from critics and fans, they’ll follow the General on a long walk through this delightful oddity in King’s cinematic cannon. Which of the film’s three chapters are their favorites and do any feel slightly out of place? Did Alan Silvestri use this score to work out motifs later heard in Back to the Future? How did Teague capture such strong performances from his feline actors and do we need Barrymore to appear in every vignette? From paranoid ex-smokers and reckless gamblers to a tiny monster trying to steal a child’s breath, the Losers explore this delightful anthology and perhaps the best easter egg sequence ever committed to film.
Stream the episode below and stay tuned for more King chaos in the weeks to come – including a much-needed news episode. For further adventures, join the Club over long days and pleasant nights via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, RadioPublic, Acast, Google Podcasts, and RSS. You can also unlock hundreds of hours of content in The Barrens (Patreon).
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.