Episode 141. Blood Relations: The Hills Have Eyes (1977 & 2006)

Pack your car and mind the detours because we’re kicking off summer with an episode on The Hills Have Eyes. From familial tensions to political warfare in the original and the remake, there’s a whole host of darkness to be found under the summer sun. 

 

REQUIRED READING

The Hills Have Eyes. Dir. Wes Craven, 1977.
The Hills Have Eyes. Dir. Alexandre Aja, 2006. 
 

EXTRA CREDIT

Sawney Bean – Scotland’s Most Famous Cannibal. An overview of the Scottish legend.
 
Fairy Tales for the Apocalypse. Christopher Sharrett’s interview with Wes Craven.
 
 

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Episode 140. Pump It Up: The Substance (2024) Live from Salem Horror Fest

Join Andrea and Alex live from Salem Horror Fest for feats of strength (!) and a discussion of the horrors of beauty standards, the weight of celebrity culture, and the algorithms that are out to get us. 

 

REQUIRED READING

The Substance. Dir. Coralie Fargeat, 2024. 
 

EXTRA CREDIT

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism. Sarah Wynn-Williams account of her time at Facebook. 
 
On Women. Susan Sontag’s essays on women and their physical relationships to the world.
 
Fran Lebowitz on Race and Racism. From the 1997 edition of Vanity Fair where Lebowitz discusses nepo babies.
 
 

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Episode 139. Labour Pains: The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992)

Spring has sprung so it’s time to get into the greenhouse! In this episode, Alex and Andrea investigate the differences between mother and caretaker, the privilege of home upkeep, and why yuppies love windchimes. 

 

REQUIRED READING

The Hand that Rocks the Cradle. Dir. Curtis Hanson, 1992. 
 

EXTRA CREDIT

The Unnatural History of the Nanny. The NYT’s 1973 exploration of the importance of the role in modern culture. 
 
The Lifesaving, Horrifying History of Wet Nurses. A look at another key and intimate household role. 
 
Querying ‘Karen’: The rise of the angry white woman. Before she was a haircut meme, she was a person.
 
Review: Third Wave Feminisms. Is “capitalist feminism” a thing?
 
Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers. Jude Doyle’s non-fiction treatise that examines the othering of female power. 
 

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Episode 138. School of Thought: Detention (2019)

Log on to this episode where we go deep with the film adaptation of the cult video game Detention. From totalitarianism in Taiwan and beyond, the ghosts of our past often have dire warnings about our present and future that we should heed. 

 
 

REQUIRED READING

Detention. Dir. John Hsu, 2019. 
 

EXTRA CREDIT

Does Historical Accuracy in Games Really Matter? The pros and cons of infusing entertainment with fact. 
 
Piecing together the past: The Notion of Recovery in Fiction and Film from Taiwan by Steven L. Riep. Observations on recovery narratives and how the white terror has been commemorated but remains poorly understood.
 

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