Sep 11 2019
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Episodes, Uncategorized

Episode 76. Girls Trip: House (1977)

Andrea and Alex kick off a new semester with a discussion of Nobuhiko Obayashi’s House, a truly bizarre but exciting entry into the horror canon. Covering everything from witch-y house cats, to nuclear bombs to inter-generational tensions, this episode may never capture the unbridled energy of the film but it might unlock some doors…

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REQUIRED READING

House (aka Hausu). Dir Nobuhiko Obayashi. 1977.

EXTRA CREDIT

History Extra Podcast: The story of modern Japan. Author Christopher Harding deconstructs modern Japan and the world events that brought them there.
 
Video interview with Obayashi. The filmmaker talks about seeing the positive in the negative, the light in the darkness.
 
Sigmund Freud, The Uncanny. Full PDF of Freud’s theory of the uncanny and its ability to instill fear in us.

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Jul 31 2019
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Blog, Uncategorized

Episode 75. Crime Spree: Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986) and Zodiac (2007)

This month, Andrea and Alex pull back the veil on narrative cinema and the true-crime phenomena. From John McNaughton’s nightmarish debut to David Fincher’s gumshoe epic, the answers to our response and responsibility to real-life events is almost always more complex than they appear on the surface.

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REQUIRED READING

Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer. Dir. John McNaughton, 1986.

Zodiac. Dir. David Fincher, 2007.

EXTRA CREDIT

Violence Incorporated: John McNaughton’s “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” and the Uses of Gratuitous Violence in Popular Narrative. Steffen Hantke’s in-depth examination of violence in the film.

Regarding the Pain of Others. Susan Sontag’s follow up to On Photography.
 
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark. Michelle McNamara’s search for the Golden State Killer.
 
The Ethical Dilemma of Highbrow True Crime. Alice Bolin discusses how true crime went from guilty pleasure to pop culture phenomenon.

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Jun 29 2019
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Episodes, Uncategorized

Episode 74. Party of Five: The Mist (2007)

Is it the apocalypse or just the start of a new era? Can it be both? Andrea and Alex delve into everything from the military to existentialism, brought to life by Frank Darabont’s controversial adaptation of Stephen King’s novella. 

Class of 2019 T-shirts are available now at Twisted Ts! 

Salem Horror Fest – Tickets to our live show on October 5th are on sale now!

The Fack Dispatch – Subscribe to our BRAND NEW monthly newsletter!

REQUIRED READING

The Mist. Dir. Frank Darabont, 2007. .

EXTRA CREDIT

A Brief History of the End of the World M.R. Carey’s analysis of the apocalypse genre in literature. 

The Philosophy of “Optimistic Nihilism,” Or How to Find Purpose in a Meaningless Universe Open Culture’s helpful video describing how contextualize the end of the world in a healthy, productive way. 

Making Sense of “The Weird and the Eerie” A primer on academic Mark Fisher and his works.

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May 30 2019
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Blog, Episodes

Episode 73. Freddy Inc: A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street:The Dream Child (1989), Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), New Nightmare (1994), Freddy vs Jason (2013)

Andrea and Alex hit the hay one last time to discuss how Freddy became a marketing legend, a cultural sensation and an arbiter of taste. Transitioning from installments in the late ’80s to the ’90s to the early aughts, Freddy illustrates how slashers have evolved (or devolved) to become cultural icons.

Class of 2019 T-shirts are available now at Twisted Ts!

 Salem Horror Fest – Tickets to our live show on October 5th are on sale now!

REQUIRED READING

A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Master. Dir. Renny Harlin, 1988.
A Nightmare on Elm Street:The Dream Child. Dir. Stephen Hopkins, 1989.
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare. Dir. Rachel Talalay, 1991.
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. Dir. Wes Craven, 1994.
Freddy vs Jason. Dir. Ronny Yu, 2013.

EXTRA CREDIT

Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy. The four hour documentary that delves into the nooks and crannies of the Elm Street franchise.

How MTV changed the world with its industry of cool. A look at MTV from it’s birth to the height of its popularity.

Welcome to His ‘Nightmare’: How Freddy Krueger Became a Pop Icon. Rolling Stone examines how Freddy went from child murderer to teen sensation.

Slash of the Titans: The Road to Freddy vs Jason. Dustin McNeill’s exhaustive look at the production history and scripts that led to Freddy vs Jason.

Hockey Masks, Machetes and Razor Fingers: The Writers Behind ‘Freddy Vs. Jason’ Tell All! Trace Thurman’s interview with Freddy vs Jason screenwriters Mark Swift and Damian Shannon.

Bloody Disgusting. Larry Zerner explains the messy Friday the 13th lawsuit.

MTV’s Freddy Krueger Hour clips. All the MTV segments featuring Freddy Krueger promoting NoES 4.

Metacinema: A Modern Necessity. A guide and explanation of “metacinema” from its beginnings.

The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Lyotard’s critique of cultural metanarratives.

The Bogeyman of Your Nightmares: Freddy Krueger’s Folkloric Roots. A cultural history of figures like Freddy, and how the original and remake compare.

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Apr 30 2019
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Episodes

Episode 72. Sleeper Hit: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, and A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)

Freddy Krueger may be the man of our dreams but what about his creator, the studio that sustained him, his victims and the 1980s? Andrea and Alex dive into their nightmares and beyond to explore the lasting effects of one of horror’s most beloved franchises.

Class of 2019 T-shirts are available now at Twisted Ts!

 Salem Horror Fest – Tickets to our live show on October 5th are on sale now!

REQUIRED READING

A Nightmare on Elm Street. Dir. Wes Craven, 1984.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. Dir. Jack Sholder, 1985.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Dir. Chuck Russell, 1987.

EXTRA CREDIT

Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy. The four hour documentary that delves into the nooks and crannies of the Elm Street franchise.

The Faculty of Horror: Filmmaker Spotlight. Dreamweaver: Wes Craven (1939-2015). Our mini-episode on Wes Craven.

“Fairy Tales for the Apocalypse”: Wes Craven on the Horror Film. A 1985 interview with Craven on the state of horror films in America.

Wes Craven: Thinking Through Horror. A retrospective piece on Craven’s career after his passing.

The Monstrous Years: Teens, Slasher Films, and the Family. Pat Gill’s article on how the slasher film can be read as a reflection of the broken home.

How Did A Bunch Of Mythical Monsters Become Queer Icons? A look at the importance of reclaiming monsters.

The Singular Joy of the Dumb, Fun Slasher Movie Threequel. Wired’s look at the 1980s Horror Threequel cycle.

Uncover: The Village. CBC Podcast’s in-depth series on the Bruce McArthur case.

Robin Wood on the Horror Film: Collected Essays and Reviews. The collected horror-based writings of film critic Robin Wood. 

The Legal Industry for Kidnapping Teens. Vice’s look at the Troubled Teen Industry.

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Mar 30 2019
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Episodes, Uncategorized

Episode 71. Violent Visage: Eyes Without a Face (1960)

Andrea and Alex unmask Georges Franju’s 1960 masterpiece Eyes Without a Face and peer into the damaged landscape of a post-World War II France, body modification and why sometimes, father doesn’t know best.

REQUIRED READING

Eyes Without a Face. Dir. Georges Franju, 1960.

EXTRA CREDIT

Blood of the Beasts (1949) Franju’s short documentary about the slaughterhouses on the outskirts of Paris. EXTREME CONTENT WARNING for this one: animal cruelty.

 

Fast Cars, Clean Bodies. Kristen Ross’ seminal book about the French desire to rid themselves of their past.

Mystery and Melodrama: A Conversation with Georges Franju. An interview with Franju about his career at the 1980 London Festival.

Behind the Mask of the Horror Actor by Doug Bradley.

Terrible Buildings The world of GEORGES FRANJU. Robin Wood’s article about Franju and the notion of institutions within his films.

Flesh Wounds: The Culture of Cosmetic Surgery by Virginia L. Blum.

Class of 2019 T-shirts are available now at Twisted Ts!

 Salem Horror Fest – Tickets to our live show on October 5th are on sale now!

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