Podcasts
The Queer-Coded Villain in Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Strangers on a Train’ [Horror Queers Podcast]
Carousel
After spending time with Neil Jordan’s not-campy-enough stalker film Greta (listen) and Olivier Assayas’ Kristen Stewart starring 2016 thriller Personal Shopper (listen), it’s time to revisit Alfred Hitchcock with a look at his 1951 film, Strangers on a Train.
In the film, eccentric and unbalanced Bruno Anthony (Robert Walker) approaches successful tennis player Guy Haines (Rope‘s Farley Granger) on a train with a proposal: they should commit a murder for the other.
While Guy laughs it off, Bruno strangles Guy’s ex-wife Miriam (Kasey Rogers), then stalks the tennis player in an effort to force him to fulfill his end of the bargain.
As Guy struggles under the weight of the police’s scrutiny, he confides in his new girlfriend Anne (Ruth Roman) and her younger sister Babs (Pat Hitchcock) for help. Can Guy avoid arrest? Will Bruno ruin his political aspirations? And how does one of the most memorable carousel sequences in film history figure into the climax?
Listen to find out!
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, Google Podcasts, and RSS.
Episode 273: Strangers on a Train (1951)
We’re back in Hitchcock territory talking about queer villains again with 1951’s Strangers on a Train.
In addition to queer author Patricia Highsmith’s source material, we’ve got lead actor Farley Granger (Rope), obsessive stalking, “I like you” and shirt buttoning, plus climactic fucking on the carousel.
Plus: a tense tennis match, a reflective murder, slutty Miriam, frequent subversions, surprising comedy, and MVP Pat Hitchcock as Babs!
Cross out Strangers on a Train!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re fulfilling a two year promise to revisit the live-action Scooby Doo films in anticipation of the sequel, Scooby Doo: Monsters Unleashed (2004) hitting its 20th anniversary!
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for nearly 293.5 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Hannibal S01, Episode 03, Imaginary, Immaculate, Love Lies Bleeding and our audio commentary for the month will be on Renny Harlin’s dumb-but-fun murder mystery Mindhunters.
“I killed Liz. I killed the teen dream. “Deal with it.”
Every high school has them: the beautiful ones. Glamorous, popular, happy, and thriving, these teenage dream girls rise to the top of any social environment and effortlessly achieve anything they put their minds to. Serving as both role models and fashion plates, they’re worshiped and revered by the rest of the school who grasp for scraps of their exorbitant power. While there have always been mean girls who also happen to be popular, this cinematic archetype arguably dates back to the weaponized girlie pop perfection of Darren Stein‘s Jawbreaker . Closing out the 20th century, this high camp film originated the now iconic hot girl walk while exploring the hell of teenage girlhood.
The social scene of Reagan High School bows to a foursome of gorgeous queen bees. While Courtney (Rose McGowan) rules the school with a patented brand of kink-tinged high-fashion cruelty, Liz Purr (Charlotte Ayanna) prefers to treat others with kindness and respect. When a prank for ella’s 17th birthday goes disastrously wrong, Courtney and her lackey Marcie (Julie Benz) decide to cover up their part of ella in ella’s death by staging a sexual assault. The sensitive Julie (Rebecca Gayheart) is reluctant to go along with this egregious lie, but she finds herself overruled by the malicious Courtney. When Wallflower Fern (Judy Greer) overhears the girls frankly plotting, Courtney dissuades her from going to the police by promising a makeover and entrance into the popular crowd. But the newly dubbed Violette allows the intoxicating power to spin out of control and Courtney realizes she’s created a monster.
The Lady Killers continue Back to School Horror month by traveling back to 1999. Co-hosts Jenn Adams, Sammie Kuykendall, Rocco Thompson, and Mae Shults will crack open the hard candy to expose feminine toxicity at the heart of this hot pink film. Is Liz Purr truly the cat’s meow? Do they admire Courtney just a little bit? Would they follow Fern’s path to popularity and can they abide Rebecca Gayheart’s straight hair? They’ll answer these questions and more while dying for the iconic adults and glamorous mean girls in Stein’s influential and undeniably feminist film.
Stream below and subscribe now via Apple Podcasts and Spotify for future episodes that drop every Thursday.
Official Poster for ‘Nosferatu’ from Director Robert Eggers Gives Us a New Look at Count Orlok
Danny Boyle Filmed ’28 Years Later’ With an iPhone 15 Pro Max
‘Daddy’s Head’ Trailer – A Grotesque Creature Haunts This Shudder Original Horror Movie
10 New Horror Movies Released This Week Including ‘The Substance’
