Claire and Gavia review The Substance, Coralie Fargeat's divisive new horror movie starring Demi Moore as a celebrity who takes a black market anti-aging drug with alarming Jekyll-and-Hyde results. Among other topics, we discuss the film's flawed feminist messaging, overlong runtime, and puzzlingly incoherent depiction of sexism in Hollywood.
Read MoreClaire and Gavia review Zoe Kravitz's disappointingly flawed directorial debut, Blink Twice. Naomi Ackie stars as a waitress who gets invited on vacation by a controversial billionaire (Channing Tatum), joining a group of guests on his private island. Drawing comparisons to Promising Young Woman, this psychological thriller belongs to a recent trend of post-MeToo films tackling abusive power structures and sexual assault.
Read MoreSteffan and Gavia review the much-hyped horror movie Longlegs, starring Maika Monroe as an FBI agent investigating a serial killer (Nicolas Cage) who targets suburban families. Among other topics, this episode explores the film's unsettling atmosphere, its connection to Silence of the Lambs, its overlap with the Satanic Panic, and its use of potentially transphobic serial killer tropes.
Read MoreGavia and Steffan delve into the iconic 1973 horror movie The Exorcist, discussing its chaotic creative process with director William Friedkin, its lasting impact on the horror genre, and its fantastic craftsmanship as an example of gritty New Hollywood cinema.
Read MoreGavia is joined by guest-host Claire Biddles to discuss Luca Guadagnino’s beautiful romantic horror movie Bones and All (2022), about a pair of young cannibal drifters played by Taylor Russell and Timothee Chalamet.
Among other topics, we covered the film's brilliant casting choices, its well-observed depiction of rural 1980s America, and Guadagnino's use of quasi-vampiric cannibalism as an allegory for outsider identity.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan finally get to talk about Jordan Peele's third film, the UFO spectacular Nope. The film stars Daniel Kaluuya and Kiki Palmer as siblings who own a horse ranch... and discover there's a strange object lurking above their valley. Topics include Peele's increasingly ambitious career, this film's complex themes, dazzling performances from Palmer and Kaluuya, and more.
Read MoreGavia and Morgan return after a brief break with an episode on French horror classic Diabolique, directed by H.G. Clouzot and starring Véra Clouzot and Simone Signoret as women who collaborate to murder their abuser. Topics discussed include the film's pioneering use of horror and thriller tropes and techniques, how its classical style compares to the French New Wave, the relationship between the two central female characters, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan tackle a horror classic: Rosemary's Baby, which stars Mia Farrow as a dutiful wife unwittingly carrying the devil's child and John Cassavetes as her self-absorbed husband. Topics discussed in this episode include the film's long influence, its depiction of gaslighting by husbands and doctors, how to talk about a feminist classic directed by a sexual abuser, and more.
Read MoreIn this week's episode, Gavia and Morgan pronounce Fresh, the new cannibalism romance starring Sebastian Stan and Daisy Edgar-Jones, dead on arrival. Topics discussed include the director's lack of familiarity with the horror genre, the film's clueless approach to feminism, an incredibly racist Black best friend character, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan celebrate the centennial of F.W. Murnau's masterful adaptation of Dracula, the 1922 film Nosferatu. They discuss the collaborative nature of he project, its influence on later vampire films, its transgressive treatment of sex, and more. They also discuss the 2000 film Shadow of the Vampire, a pulpy reinterpretation of history that stars John Malkovich and Willem Dafoe as the director and star of Nosferatu.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan delve into Jaws (1975), Steven Spielberg's breakthrough film and arguably the first American blockbuster. Topics include the film's enduring political resonance; its clever deployment of suspense (and that shark animatronic); performances by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw; and much more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss Ganja & Hess, Bill Gunn's classic experimental horror film, starring Duane Jones and Marlene Clark. Topics include the film's beleaguered initial release, its engagement with blaxploitation and vampire tropes, its unconventional narrative and visual style, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss newly crowned Palme d'Or winner Julia Ducournau's previous feature, Raw (2016), a deliciously gruesome horror film about a young veterinary student who discovers the allure of cannibalism. Topics include the film's genuinely shocking moments of violence, its treatment of teenage female sexuality, excellent performances by stars Garance Marillier and Ella Rumpf, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss The Empty Man, an under-seen horror gem from 2020 rapidly approaching cult status. Directed by David Prior and starring James Badge Dale and Marin Ireland, this film follows an ex-cop whose investigation into a missing teenager leads him deeper and deeper into a mysterious cult. Topics include the film's tortured production history and delayed release, its provocative mixture of conventional horror aesthetics and more deeply disturbing ideas, a spoilery discussion of the twist ending, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss Rose Glass' critically acclaimed debut feature, the indie horror flick Saint Maud, starring Morfydd Clark as an intensely religious hospice nurse and Jennifer Ehle as her terminally ill patient. Topics include the film's sensational technical accomplishments, superb performances from Clark and Ehle, the film's engagement (or lack thereof) with Catholic iconography, and much more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss the trippy world of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead's 2017 microbudget horror flick The Endless. They praise the film's innovative use of visual effects technology and tight storytelling technique, compare it to other indie horror films, and more.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss the mostly hotly anticipated horror movie of the year, IT Chapter Two. They compare it to the superior It (2017), lament its long run time, and try to figure out where it all went wrong.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan discuss Jennifer Kent's cult horror film The Babadook (2014). They consider the merits of watching horror at the cinema and at home, compare this film's family drama structure to "Hereditary," and explain the origin of one of the internet's most inexplicable memes.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan debate the merits of Ari Aster's follow-up to Hereditary, folk-horror feature Midsommar. They discuss its effectiveness as a horror film, the importance of a good script versus good production values, and the film's allusions to white supremacist iconography.
Read MoreThis week, Gavia and Morgan convene their first book club of the year to discuss Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, first published in 1818. Topics include Shelley's storied personal history, the novel's themes of parenthood and colonialism, and its long legacy of dramatic and cinematic adaptations.
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