Episode 101. Death Trap: Saw (2004) and Hostel (2005)

Do you want listen to an episode about Torture Porn? Well, you’re in luck! Andrea and Alex dive into the 2000s to look at the phenomenon of Torture Porn; what preceded it, what it meant, and where we can potentially place it in our collective imagination.
 
 
 

REQUIRED READING

Saw. Dir. James Wan, 2004.
Hostel. Dir. Eli Roth, 2005.
 

EXTRA CREDIT

Saw 0.5. James Wan and Leigh Whannell’s short film made as a proof of concept for what would eventually become Saw.
 
Now Playing at Your Local Multiplex: Torture Porn. David Edelstein’s piece in New York Magazine that coined the term Torture Porn.
 
Sympathy for the Sequel, Saw: The Final Chapter. Alex’s series on Rue Morgue TV.
HBO’s Succession podcast. S3E2 episode where host Kara Swisher talks to organizational psychologist Adam Grant.
 
How Masculinity Contests Undermine Organizations, and What to Do About It. From the Harvard Business Review, a look at how toxic masculinity took over corporate culture.
 
Smash hit horror Hostel causes a stir among citizens of sleepy Slovakia. Roth’s interview with European press about his take on Europe and why he made Hostel.
 
Ghost Faces: Hollywood and Post-Millennial Masculinity. David Greven’s book which features the chapter “Torture/Porn: Hostel, Homophobia and Gay Male Internet Porn.”
 
Gaylords of Darkness Episode 124: Lady Police Academy. Stacie and Anthony’s fantastic episode on Roth’s Knock Knock.
 
Capone and Eli Roth discuss horror movies, gore, Stephen King, the phrase “Torture Porn” and much more! An interview on Hostel 2 wherein Roth reveals his insights on feminism among other things…
 
Torture: A Sociology of Violence and Human Rights by Lisa Hajjar. How the morality of torture has shifted since 9/11 and the war on terror.
 
Are horror films immoral? No, they aren’t.
 

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Episode 100. American Nightmare: The Crazies (1973)

Live from Salem Horror Fest, our 100th episode on George A. Romero’s The Crazies sees us tackling small-town life, biology, the Vietnam War, health care and our own podcasting mortality. Plus, a very special Cameo!
 
 
 

REQUIRED READING

The Crazies. Dir. George A. Romero, 1973.
 

EXTRA CREDIT

The Crazies. Dir. Breck Eisner, 2010. 
 
Robin Wood on the Horror Film. A collection of Wood’s seminal essays.
 
Hearts and Minds. The 1974 Oscar-winning documentary about the Vietnam War.
 
New Pandemics, Old Politics: Two Hundred Years of War on Disease and its Alternatives. Alex De Waal’s new book on modernity’s need for narratives and biology’s refusal of them.
 
The Birth of Biopolitics. Foucault’s lectures that introduce his theories of biopower and biopolitics.
 
The American Idea: The Best of the Atlantic Monthly. A large collection of essays that reflected and shaped America.
 
The Washington Post: “If we want people to take the coronavirus vaccine, we need to treat them like consumers” by Jennifer Reich. Has our history with DTCAs made us treat healthcare like businesses?
 

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Episode 99. Be Our Guest: The Invitation (2015)

The table is set, the wine is poured and the time has come to take your seat at the table as we delve into Karyn Kusama’s The Invitation. From a history of dinner parties to the dynamics of grief, we’re serving up a once in a lifetime, four-course meal of analysis.
 
 
Salem Horror Fest 2021 – tickets and info now available!

REQUIRED READING

The Invitation. Dir. Karyn Kusama, 2015.

EXTRA CREDIT

Millennials have dinner parties, they just don’t call them that. Nisha Chittal’s analysis of the history and evolution of dinner parties.
 
The American Dinner Party. A detailed breakdown of what constitutes a dinner party by Amy Nash.
 
Rue Morgue TV: An Expert on Cults Reviews The Lodge.
 
What is it about California and Cults? A history and analysis of the Golden State’s relationship with cults.
 
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism. Amanda Montell’s book about cults and their wide-ranging influence.
 
One More Time with Feeling. The Nick Cave documentary that follows the singer as he completes the album Skeleton Tree after the death of his son.
 
The White Album. Joan Didon’s iconic essay and essay collection about the West coast and the end of the ’60s.
 
 

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Bonus content – Candyman (1992) Commentary

Sweets for the sweet! We’re still on our annual August hiatus but we accidentally said “Candyman” five times and resurrected a commentary we recorded for our Patreon back in 2019. Whoops!

Listen in to whet your appetite for Nia DaCosta’s reimagining this weekend!


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