Podcasts
A Girl Gang Rules in Jack Hill’s ‘Switchblade Sisters’ [The Lady Killers Podcast]
“You can beat us, chain us, lock us up. But we’re gonna be back, understand? And when we do, cop, you better keep your ass off our turf, or we’ll BLOW IT OFF! Ya dig? We’re Jezebels, cop – remember that name. We’ll be back!”
There are few things more beloved over at Lady Killers HQ than a movie where gangs of stylishly dressed girls rally together to fight against systems that would rather tear them down. Drenched in the trappings of glorious 70s exploitation cinema, it is this energy that has made director Jack Hill’s Switchblade Sisters (1975) an instant pod favorite. Even with the campy dialogue forced through often-gritted teeth, the movie offers a thrilling tale of rebellion, loyalty, and survival that is both scrappy and surprisingly empowering.
Don’t let the exploitation of it all fool you; Switchblade Sisters is a fierce portrait of young women carving out space for themselves in a world that wants to control them.
At the center of the film is Maggie (Joanne Nail), a tough new girl who finds herself mixed up with the Dagger Debs, an all-female gang with its own rules and hierarchy. When rumors of betrayal begin to swirl, Dagger Debs’ leader, Lace (Robbie Lee), makes some rash decisions with dire consequences that ripple throughout the gang. With their very lives hanging in the balance, Maggie steps in as leader, rebrands the gang as the Jezebels, and shows the remaining girls what true sisterhood means.
In the latest episode of Bloody FM’s The Lady Killers podcast, co-hosts Sammie Roffman, Rachel Reeves, and Shelby Novak dig into Hill’s cult classic and all of its wild, messy energy. Why does Switchblade Sisters remain such a favorite among fans of grindhouse and exploitation cinema? What makes Maggie such an unforgettable heroine? And how does the film balance its raw edge with a surprising emotional core? The Lady Killers answer these questions and more while shooting off another round for Action Horror Month.
Stream below and subscribe now on Apple Podcasts and Spotify for future episodes dropping every Thursday.
After kicking off July with discussions of Joe Dante’s seminal werewolf film The Howling (listen) and Ken Russell’s controversial erotic thriller Crimes of Passion (listen), we’re heading to Maine to dissect one of Stephen King‘s most misguided adaptations in Lawrence Kasdan‘s 2003 misfire Dreamcatcher!
Dreamcatcher sees friends Henry (Thomas Jane), Jonesy (Damian Lewis), Pete (Timothy Olyphant) and Beaver (Jason Lee) reunite for their annual hunting trip in Maine. Their reunion is cut short when they find themselves caught in the middle of a war between a hostile race of farty-farty aliens and an elite US military unit led by Colonel Abraham Curtis (Morgan Freeman), who has been driven mad after spending decades tracking the extraterrestrials. When Jonesy is possessed by one of the aliens, the remaining friends seek out their disabled childhood friend Duddits (Donnie Wahlberg), who they believe has powers that can save Jonesy…and the world.
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Episode 396: Dreamcatcher (2003)
Watch out for “ister gay” (oof), take some Gas-X and bite our bags because we’re talking Lawrence Kasdan’s baffling 2003 adaptation of Stephen King’s equally baffling novel Dreamcatcher.
Join us as we go all in on the farty-farty aliens populating this hilarious misfire that often feels like a bad Kevin Smith script. It’s a film filled with characters who get a single defining trait (if they’re lucky), played by respectable actors who are here for the paycheck (looking at you, Morgan Freeman).
Plus: blown-out assholes, using guns as telephones, pitying poor Donnie Wahlberg, and wondering why the hell this movie is called Dreamcatcher.
Cross out Dreamcatcher!
Coming Up Next: We’re going to be lounging around a posh Greenwich Village apartment as we check in on Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954).
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