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Barbarian (Esterhazy 2021)

A movie with twists and turns, some of which were awesome, some of which were at best confusing, at worst problematic. The film definitely has tension and moments of suspense and horror. We always appreciate a new, innovative film even if we don’t think it completely hits the mark.

There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends.



SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE

Barbarian  (Cregger 2022)

TOPIC INDEX – Barbarian  (Cregger 2022) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

2:30 – Barbara Creed Monstrous Feminine

3:45 – Film discussion begins

8:00 – spoilers discussion begins

8:30 – Mom actor

10:00 – police

12:00 – Sociology moment – Creed’s monstrous feminine

14:00 – Kristeva’s abject

15:00 – Othering

20:00 – deaths

30:00 – additional criticisms

35:00 – what if…?

48:00 – evil women

54:30 – the best argument for the film

1:02:00 – race

1:08:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility

1:10:00 – pet ownership

Related Episodes

Pet Sematary (Kolsch & Widmyer 2019)

Malignant (Wan 2021)

The Conjuring (Wan 2013)

Related Films

Audition (Miike 1999)

Pet (Torrens 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

• Marshall@collectivenightmares.com

• Laura@collectivenightmares.com

“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 117

Keywords

horror, podcast, sociology, gender, monstrous feminine, Creed, abject, Kristeva, rapist, mother, mansplaining, privilege, flashback, victim, survivor, Final Girl, Reaganism, pets, captivity, motherhood

Laura hated it, Marshall loved it. One of the most divisive films in the history of the podcast. Laura was bored and disconnected. Marshall thought Cronenberg was not only bringing up fascinating topics of technology, bodies, and art, but also layering in a metaphor for an artistic oeuvre. This made for a great discussion.

Scream (Bettinelli-Oplin and Gillett 2022)

This fifth Scream film keeps much of what has made the Scream films so successful, and does well to leave behind or update those parts that needed to be changed. Overall it strikes a good balance between homage and renewal. It’s a fun film that will please Scream lovers and slasher lovers.

There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends.



SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE

Scream (Bettinelli-Oplin and Gillett 2022)

All Scream franchise films

TOPIC INDEX

Scream  (Bettinelli-Oplin and Gillett 2022) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

4:00 – episode begins

9:00 – Film discussion begins

9:00 – The Scream franchise

14:00 – overall takes

24:30 – meta-commentary

25:30 – Scream in the slasher genre

31:00 – One of Valerie Wee’s (2006) articles

32:30 – updating Scream

41:00 – killers and survivors and victims and gender

1:05:30 – diversity

1:09:00 – class/SES

1:30:00 – killer

1:36:00 – critiques

1:37:00 – Cotton

1:38:30 – Wes Craven’s genius

1:46:30 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility

Related Episodes

The People Under the Stairs (Craven 1991)

Nightcrawler (Gilroy 2014)

Get Out (Peele 2016)

Related Films

Scream (Craven 1996)

Scream 2 (Craven 1997)

Scream 3 (Craven 2000)

 

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

• Marshall@collectivenightmares.com

• Laura@collectivenightmares.com

“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 114

Keywords

horror, podcast, sociology, gender, feminist, slasher, diversity, representation, reboot, remake, requel, sisters, twins, women of color, nuclear family, affair, infidelity, sexuality, media glamorization, news, sensationalism, glamorization of criminal, celebrity, class, socioeconomic status, multiple realities, meta, postmodern,

Slumber Party Massacre (Esterhazy 2021)

This film is so fascinating for so many reasons. It is a brilliant satire of slasher films and accomplishes so much of the feminist messaging that the initial Slumber Party Massacre was not able to do … for an hour and five seconds. The last half hour or so the film just falls off a cliff in terms of message, ideology, and representation.

While I don’t think of us as movie snobs, we definitely had lower expectations for a SyFy channel original film. However, this film is surprisingly good! It transcends it’s low production values and clear structuring to be able to insert commercials, again, for an hour and five seconds. Give it a watch and then join us for the full discussion.

So we spend a lot of time here discussing how that last half an hour could have been improved. While we recorded this before The Blackening was released, it strikes us that film is a perfect example of how to successfully end a satirical and critical film.

There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends.



SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE

Slumber Party Massacre (Esterhazy 2021)

TOPIC INDEX – Slumber Party Massacre  (Esterhazy 2021) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

4:00 – Discussion begins

4:00 – Overall impressions without spoilers

9:30 – SPOILERS begin

10:00 – film vs tropes

11:00 – flashback

17:45 – present day

30:00 – entertaining and critical

33:00 – problematic third act

39:00 – how could the film be improved

46:30 – the end

1:02:00 – filmmaking and plot movement

59:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility

1:01:00 – Marshall rants about channels watermarking content with logos

Related Episodes

The Blackening (Story 2023)

 

Related Films

Serial Mom (Waters 1994)

Zombeavers (Rubin 2014)

Halloween (Green 2018)

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

• Marshall@collectivenightmares.com

• Laura@collectivenightmares.com

“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 113

Keywords

horror, podcast, sociology, gender, sisters, feminist, slasher, phallic symbols, queer, satire, parody, male gaze, diversity, representation, reboot, remake, requel, flashback, pizza, eating, sleepover, satire, parody, toxic masculinity, phallic weapons, shower, rural

The Slumber Party Massacre (Jones 1982)

This film is a cult classic. Written by Rita Mae Brown who also penned Rubyfruit Jungle and was an avowed feminist and civil rights advocate it was supposedly written as a feminist response to the first wave slasher films of the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, Amy Holden Jones who directed the film may have been more interested in producing something successfully commercial and possibly deliberately within the exploitation genre. We think we see both of these strains competing in the film. And as you might imagine, that makes for a unique film!

Join us for the full discussion.

There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends.



SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE

The Slumber Party Massacre (Jones 1982)

TOPIC INDEX – The Slumber Party Massacre  (Jones 1982) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

3:15 – Discussion begins

3:15 – Marshall’s history with the film

8:30 – the film’s messaging as relatively progressive (for 1982)

15:00 – satire and filmmaker intent

24:00 – nudity in comparison

25:00 – phallic symbols

29:00 – male gaze

30:00 – kills

40:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility

Related Episodes

I Spit on Your Grave (Zarchi 1978)

Related Films

Carrie (DePalma 1976)

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

• Marshall@collectivenightmares.com

• Laura@collectivenightmares.com

“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 112

Keywords

horror, podcast, sociology, gender, sisters, feminist, slasher, phallic symbols, queer, satire, parody, male gaze, exploitation, nudity, killer,

Titane (Ducournau 2021)

One of the more bizarre films we have ever watched, and that is saying something! Docournau has managed to produce a film that transcends most hegemonic  categories and divisions. This effectively disarms viewers pushing them into experiencing the film emotionally rather than analytically. This is no small feat. The deserved winner of the 2021 Palm d’Or at Cannes. Let this film drive over you and then join us for our full discussion.

There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends.



SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE

Titane (Ducournau 2021)

TOPIC INDEX – Titane  (Ducournau 2021) (times are approximate) 

0:30 – Introductions

6:00 – Discussion begins

6:00 – laying out the gender pieces

7:00 – West and Zimmerman – gender as omnipresent

11:30 – serial killing

21:00 – relationships and fire

27:00 – femininity and masculinity

29:00 correction – “queer” should be “heterosexual”

36:30 – vibes

44:30 – Los Angeles Times interview with Ducournau

48:00 – comparisons to Henry

52:00 – outside hegemoinc systems and outside binaries

55:00 – emotional experience of the film

1:06:00 – hope

1:14:00 – resist

1:29:00 – KUSO (Lotus 2017)

14:20 – SPOILERS begin

1:02:00 – filmmaking and plot movement

1:23:10 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility

Related Episodes

In My Skin (de Van 2002)

Crimes of the Future (Cronenberg 2023)

Monster (Jenkins 2003)

Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer (McNaughton 1986)

Knives and Skin (Reeder 2019)

Kuso (Lotus 2017)

Related Films

Crash (Cronenberg 1996)

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

• Marshall@collectivenightmares.com

• Laura@collectivenightmares.com

“Horror films are our collective nightmares.”

Episode 111

Keywords

horror, podcast, sociology, gender, cars, vehicles, fire, metal, abortion, baby, sexuality, masculinity, femininity, pregnancy, nudity, sociopath, outside the binary, binary, cyborg, bizarre, fetish, family