Podcasts
‘The Long Walk’ Is One of the Best Stephen King Adaptations of This Century [The Losers’ Club Podcast]
The Long Walk is going to get a lot of comparisons to The Hunger Games, especially since it’s directed by Francis Lawrence, the fella behind most of the films in that franchise. But Stephen King started writing The Long Walk as a college freshman in 1966, and first published it under his pseudonym, Richard Bachman, in 1979. The comparison is understandable, though, as both stories unfold in dystopian societies where young adults are compelled by their governments to participate in televised spectacles of brutality.
Plenty of talented directors have attempted to adapt The Long Walk over the last four decades, including George A. Romero, Frank Darabont, and Andre Ovredal. Now, with a fantastic script by J.T. Mollner (Strange Darling), Lawrence’s white-knuckle adaptation trudges into theaters with Cooper Hoffman and David Jonsson starring as two of the 50 walkers angling to outlast the rest. Whoever wins is awarded untold riches. Whoever doesn’t… well, it ain’t good.
In the latest episode of The Losers’ Club, co-hosts Randall Colburn, Jenn Adams, Dan Pfleegor, and Justin Gerber lace up their Nikes to discuss what’s easily one of the best King adaptations of this century. After a chat about the book’s long road to the screen, they dig into the killer ensemble of young bucks, its subversion of the jump scare, and how Lawrence and Mollner update the ideas baked into its high-concept premise for the modern era. Bonus: Shortly after, they also speak to Mollner himself!
Stream the episode below and stay tuned next week for another trip to The Stacks, which sees your Losers revisiting the magnum opus all summer long. 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).
Podcasts
Shakespearean Education in the Vincent Price-Starring ‘Theater of Blood’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
Butch knows best…
After concluding May with discussions of the disaster “slasher” The Poseidon Adventure (listen) and Michael Biehn’s demon twink in the messy-but-watchable The Fan (listen), we’re heading back to the ’70s to discuss our very first Vincent Price film in Douglas Hickox‘s horror comedy Theater of Blood (1973).
In Theater of Blood, Vincent Price stars as Edward Lionheart, a disgraced Shakespearean actor who begins targeting the critics who shamed him. The gimmick? He’s taking inspiration from the death scenes in William Shakespeare’s plays! Aiding him is his daughter Edwina (Diana Rigg), who acts as the honeypot for her father’s macabre scheme.
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Episode 388: Theater of Blood (1973)
Brush up on your Shakespeare and protect those poodles because we’re covering our very first Vincent Price film in Douglas Hickox’s horror comedy Theater of Blood (1973), a personal favorite of both Price and Diana Rigg.
Join us as we go all in on this somewhat episodic (but also educational!) proto-slasher, wondering if we’re supposed to know that’s Diana Rigg in hippie drag, and cackling at some of these murder set pieces.
Plus, “Handsy Dickman,” narcissistic gravestones, antisemitic stage makeup, and the ultimate debate: is it theatER or theatRE?
C/W: Attempted suicide, off-screen dog murder.
Cross out Theater of Blood!
Coming Up Next: We’re celebrating the premiere of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat with a look at the much-maligned 2002 adaptation Queen of the Damned!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 492 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.