Podcasts
Going on a Brutal Trip in the Hellscapes of ‘Cruelty Squad’ [Safe Room Podcast]
Style over substance is often a worry of mine when it comes to oddball indie games.
While a game’s main draw might be a unique aesthetic or art style, I’m always cautious of whether the same amount of attention has been applied to the game’s mechanics themselves. And as we all know, there’s nothing more deflating than leaping into a game that barely makes a splash after a few hours.
And to be honest, I was initially skeptical about picking up Cruelty Squad from Consumer Softproducts. Sure, the game’s acidic Windows 95 screensaver graphics are arresting, but is there more to it than the specticality of it all?
Fortunately, I’m able to answer that with a resounding, “HELL YES!” Cruelty Squad shocks and continually surprises with its depth, being a wild and weird hellscape of an immersive sim that would make JC Denton smile (or lose his mind).
And helping Neil and I unpack this one-of-a-kind experience is Rue Morgue Magazine’s video game editor and friend of the show Evan Millar (@evanjmillar)!
Safe Room is a weekly horror video game discussion podcast, premiering on all major platforms every Monday. Feel free to browse our LinkTree for a complete list of services here.
Feel free to follow the show and hosts on Twitter:
Safe Room – @SafeRoomPod
Neil – @Nezzko
Jay – @NotFunnyJ
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.
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 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.