Collective Nightmares

Collective Nightmares
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Sociologists Talk Horror

  1. 3 days ago

    It’s What’s Inside (Jardin 2024)

    It’s What’s Inside (Jardin 2024) Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2024 film It’s What’s Inside, written and directed by G. Jardin. This film is closer to the edge of horror than we usually venture, but the premise of the film was interesting enough that we gave it a chance. We hoped the film would explore the component of the sociological imagination that stresses the significance of fomenting strong empathy for others. It did so, but not in ways we found overall constructive. We felt the film kept the exploration of experiencing the perspective of another person at a very superficial level and it presents hegemonic beauty as the ultimate prize especially for women. We also struggled just to keep track of everyone and who was who throughout the film. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE It’s What’s Inside (Jardin 2024) TOPIC INDEX – It’s What’s Inside (Jardin 2024) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 4:00 – Film discussion begins without spoilers 4:00 – name and character confusion 6:00 – a fun watch, not really a horror film 7:15 – SPOILERS section begins 7:30 – why this film? 16:00 – provoking insecurity 20:00 – Nikki, hegemonic beauty, as prize 24:30 – men characters 25:00 – spending several minutes trying to figure out who TF is who 32:00 – Beatrice character arc 40:15 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility 44:00 – end matter 45:00 – phantasms: altering consciousness, body swapping, Related Episodes Crimes of the Future (Cronenberg 2022) Freaky (Landon 2020) forthcoming Talk to Me (Philipou and Philipou 2022) forthcoming Credits Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome. https://www.audacityteam.org/ We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts. • www.collectivenightmares.com • IG: @collectivenightmares • podcast@collectivenightmares.com Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage. We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms. “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 144 Keywords sociology, horror, revenge, empathy, siblings, body swap, bodies, hegemonic beauty, comedy, woman as prize, science fiction, The post It’s What’s Inside (Jardin 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

    57 min

  2. 29 Jun

    The Brood (Cronenberg 1979)

    The Brood (Cronenberg 1979) Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the classic 1979 David Cronenberg film The Brood. While this is a Canadian film, we wanted to include this in our mini-series on pregnancy and women’s bodies because it came out in 1979. Reagan would be elected in 1980 after having married the racist Southern Strategy of Atwater with the opportunistic politicization of abortion by the evangelical christians. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE The Brood (Cronenberg 1979) MINOR SPOILERS (thematic elements and/or tone) Pet Sematary (Lambert 1989) L’interier (Inside) (Maury and Bustillo 2007) Excision (Bates Jr. 2012) TOPIC INDEX – The Brood (Cronenberg 1979) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 4:00 – Film discussion begins without spoilers 4:00 – thoughts on Cronenberg generally and The Brood specifically 10:00 – why we chose the film 10:30 – SPOILERS section begins 11:30 – monstrous feminine 16:00 – Freudian bad parenting psychology 22:00 – it’s monstrous feminine all the way down 30:00 – gender of characters 34:00 – women’s anger 37:00 – sociology moment – Carroll’s paradigm scenarios 40:30 – Audition effect – villainizing disempowered folks 43:00 – historical comparison 45:00 – generational 48:00 – anti-abortion contested read? 51:00 – nuclear family and heterosexual imaginary 54:20 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility 1:00:00 – end matter 1:14:30 SPOILERS for The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (Hanson 1992) 1:15:30 – more on ethics 1:25:00 – Sony buys Alamo Drafthouse 1:33:00 – next film choices including mention of In A Violent Nature and Companion Related Episodes Crimes of the Future (Cronenberg 2022) Immaculate (Mohan 2024) The First Omen (Stevenson 2024) Birth/Rebirth (Moss 2023) Related Films Excision (Bates Jr. 2012) The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (Hanson 1992) Credits Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome. https://www.audacityteam.org/ We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts. • www.collectivenightmares.com • IG: @collectivenightmares • podcast@collectivenightmares.com Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage. We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms. “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 143 The Brood poster artwork by Sam Wolfe Connelly The post The Brood (Cronenberg 1979) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

    1hr 7min

  3. 2 Jun

    Birth/Rebirth (Moss 2023)

    Birth/Rebirth (Moss 2023) Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2023 film Birth/Rebirth. This is a vaguely Frankensteinian film, that addresses control of women’s bodies from a unique perspective.  We very much appreciate a novel take especially given the current political climate. Laura was really impressed with the dominant read of the film as well as the representation of pregnancy, IVF, and prospective motherhood. Marshall had concerns of a possible contested reading of the film as critical of fetal science and respecting the choices of pregnant women. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Birth/Rebirth (Moss 2023) Pet Sematary (Lambert 1989) L’interier (Inside) (Maury and Bustillo 2007) Excision (Bates Jr. 2012) TOPIC INDEX – Birth/Rebirth (Moss 2023) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 3:00 – Film discussion begins without spoilers 3:00 – overall thoughts 10:30 – SPOILERS section begins 12:00 – a new take on pregnancy body horror 14:00 – as much as Marshall was emotionally disengaged, Laura was engaged 18:00 – import of variety of stories and voices 20:00 – other pregnancy horror films 22:30 – all women 25:00 – neurodiverse representation 27: 00 – villainy and ethics 33:00 – demonizing stem cell research 36:00 – anti-choice? 43:00 – alignment and allegiance 47:00 – ongoing or one-time need 51:00 – conservative messaging? 54:00 – film ending 1:09:20 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility 1:10:00 – Laura’s bodily experience of pregnancy 1:14:30 SPOILERS for The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (Hanson 1992) 1:15:30 – more on ethics 1:25:00 – Sony buys Alamo Drafthouse 1:33:00 – next film choices including mention of In A Violent Nature and Companion Related Episodes Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (McNaughton 1986) Proxy (Parker 2013) Martin (Romero 1978) Related Films Excision (Bates Jr. 2012) The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (Hanson 1992) Credits Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome. https://www.audacityteam.org/ We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts. • www.collectivenightmares.com • IG: @collectivenightmares • podcast@collectivenightmares.com Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage. We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms. “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 142 Keywords The post Birth/Rebirth (Moss 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

    1hr 57min

  4. 25 May

    Immaculate (Mohan 2024)

    Sociologists discuss the horror film Immaculate especially as it compares to The First Omen.

    1hr 13min

  5. 20 Apr

    Red Rooms (Plante 2023)

    Red Rooms (Plante 2023) Marshall Smith, PhD, and Laura Patterson, PhD, offer a sociological discussion of the 2023 film Red Rooms. Ostensibly this is a film about the dark web phenomemon of the titular red rooms. Oddly, the film did not actually offer any insight into red rooms. This film is different, and we definitely appreciate that. We just wish it offered something, anything!, interesting in terms of perspective or thoughts on the phenomenon it purports to address. We enjoyed it, learned nothing from it, but still enjoyed it. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Red Rooms, this film It Comes at Night (Shults 2017) TOPIC INDEX – Red Rooms (Plante 2023) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 5:15 – Film discussion begins 5:30 – overall thoughts on the film 7:15 – SPOILERS section begins 10:30 – spoilers for Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer 12:30 – opening sequence 13:30 – alignment 19:15 – physical arrangement of criminal justice 20:00 – Kelly-Anne and Clementine character arcs 50:00 – no red rooms in Red Rooms 1:06:30 – Untraceable (premise spoilers) 1:07:30 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility Related Episodes The First Omen (Stevenson 2024) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (McNaughton 1986) Cam (Goldhaber 2018) Knives and Skin (Reeder 2023) Related Films Untraceable (Hoblit 2008) Credits Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome. https://www.audacityteam.org/ We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts. • www.collectivenightmares.com • IG: @collectivenightmares • podcast@collectivenightmares.com Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage. We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms. “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 140 The post Red Rooms (Plante 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

    1hr 16min

  6. 7 Apr

    Nosferatu (Eggers 2024)

    Nosferatu (Eggers 2024) The film is gorgeous. It is well acted. Unfortunately, Eggers seems to be moving toward the strain of modern horror directors who are style without substance. And or sytle without ethical substance. Eggers appears to be willing to stray from Stoker’s book as well as from the 1922 classic version by Murnau. However, the changes he makes are at best socially stagnant. He arguably relegates women to foils for men characters, or arguably regressive, stripping away the queer coding of Murnau’s version. So while his attention to appearance, acting, and in this case language is impressive, it makes the lack of consideration of the messaging of the film even more disappointing. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Nosferatu (Eggers 2024) TOPIC INDEX – Nosferatu (Eggers 2024) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 2:45 – Film discussion begins 3:30 – overall thoughts on the film 9:00 – SPOILERS section begins 12:30 – opening scene 27:00 – an alternative film that isn’t regressive 29:00 – gendered nudity and sexuality 34:00 – sociology moment – Clover on gendered portrayal of possession 38:00 – queer uncoded 45:15 – 47:30 – SPOILERS for The Witch 49:00 – trend of anti-women, anti-science within the genre? 1:00:30 – comparison to X 1:05:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility 1:11:00 – SPOILER for Werewolves (Miller 2024) Related Films The Witch (Eggers 2016) Credits Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome. https://www.audacityteam.org/ We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts. • www.collectivenightmares.com • IG: @collectivenightmares • podcast@collectivenightmares.com Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage. We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms. “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 139 The post Nosferatu (Eggers 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

    1hr 16min

  7. 24 Mar

    Cruising (Friedkin 1980)

    Cruising (Friedkin 1980) This episode is dedicated in loving memory of our dear friend Matt Brown, PhD. You lived unabashedly out and gay. You loved cruising and the scene. And you always had a unique perspective. We would have loved to hear your thoughts on this film especially. We miss you! Cruising was made during the brief few years post Stonewall and before significant awareness of AIDS that would decimate gay men especially throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In many ways we found this film to be more progressive, and offer better representation, of gay men than more recent films. We reviewed the film on it’s own merits, as we encountered it as a text. After our discussion we became aware of there being significant controversy about the film especially at the time of its release. Our review does not address that. Cruising is intriguing, well constructed, and a fascinating allegory. And, it features a riveting performance by Al Pacino before he shifted into just acting as himself. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (McNaughton 1986) The Silence of the Lambs (Demme 1991) American Horror Story Season 11 TOPIC INDEX – Cruising (Friedkin 1980) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 2:45 – Film discussion begins 4:00 – SPOILERS section begins 4:00 – William Friedkin 12:00 – character motivation 14:00 – atypical serial killer tropes 16:00 – opening scene 23:30 – American Horror Story season 11 25:20 – SPOILERS for American Horror Story season 11 – spoilers end at 27:30 29:30 – serial killers and hegemonic masculinity 32:00 – queer-coded scenes? 37:00 – sex and killing 41:00 – final scene 46:00 – representation 51:00 – precinct night 53:00 – sociology moment – “black brute” character as foil 1:00:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility Related Episodes Man Bites Dog (Belvaux, Bonzel, Poelvoorde 1992) Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (McNaughton 1986) Martin (Romero 1977) Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (Sholder 1982) Credits Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome. https://www.audacityteam.org/ We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts. • www.collectivenightmares.com • IG: @collectivenightmares • podcast@collectivenightmares.com Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage. We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms. “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 138 The post Cruising (Friedkin 1980) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

    1hr 3min

  8. 16 Mar

    Heretic (Beck and Woods 2024)

    Heretic (Beck and Woods 2024) Heretic – Does the film present an intellectual and philosophical discussion of belief, faith, and religion in order to encourage that amongst viewers? Or does it present all that as distraction because ultimately regardless of your thoughts and feelings, Mormon Jesus is going to save you if you believe and pray thereby making the film basically one long propaganda piece for the Mormon church (cult)? Laura and I disagree but we do hope you enjoy our consideration of this fundamental question about the film. I Saw the TV Glow (Schoenbrun 2024) I Saw the TV Glow – Heralded as a unique and powerful entry into the horror genre in 2024, this film is undoubtedly gorgeous and experfly crafted. Is it so expertly crafted that the alienation Marshall experienced viewing the film as a cis man meant to give him a taste of the experience of the alienation from self of being closeted in terms of gender identity or sexuality? Thus offer an opportunity for experiential empathy for those who are cis or are situated bodies that match their sense of self. If so what an accomplishment! The film has undoubtedly been hugely impactful and meaningful for LGBTQ+ viewers and that is what matters much more than our opinions. We totally appreciate the film but unfortunately we ultimately just didn’t really get it. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Jakob’s Wife (Stevens 2021) TOPIC INDEX – Heretic (Beck and Woods 2024) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 2:45 – Film discussion begins 2:45 – an atypical episode 3:30 – Heretic discussion begins 4:00 – SPOILERS section begins 13:00 – Is Heretic just Mormon propaganda? 27:00 – Laura’s counterpoints to 46:00 – Why Mormonism? 50:00 – the filmmakers 53:00 – other positives about the film 1:00:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility TOPIC INDEX – I Saw the TV Glow (Schoenbrun 2024) (times are approximate)  1:04:00 – SPOILERS section begins 1:04:30 – why Marshall didn’t want to podcast on these films 1:08:00 – Laura’s thoughts and genre placement 1:19:00 – alienation 1:23:30 – Vivarium (Finegan 2019) Related Episodes Jakob’s Wife (Stevens 2021) The Conjuring (Wan 2013) Related Films Vivarium (Finegan 2019) Credits Edited and processed with Audacity. Free, cross-platform, open source, and awesome. https://www.audacityteam.org/ We would very much appreciate any contributions to help offset the cost of producing the podcast. Thanks! paypal.me/collectivenightmares Thanks for listening. Please let us know your thoughts. • www.collectivenightmares.com • IG: @collectivenightmares • podcast@collectivenightmares.com Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage. We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into, referenced, or otherwise used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms. “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 137 The post Heretic (Beck and Woods 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

    1hr 28min
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Sociologists Talk Horror

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  • Creator
    Collective Nightmares
  • Years Active
    2017 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Marshall Smith - Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike license.
  • Show Website
    Collective Nightmares