There is a body lying on a riverbank. She has been there for two days. Somewhere between eight and thirteen teenagers have seen her. Some came back multiple times. Not one of them called the police. Her name was Marcy Renee Conrad. She was fourteen years old. Her boyfriend strangled her and then brought his friends to look. What those teenagers chose to do next — or rather, what they chose not to do — became one of the most disturbing cases ever studied in American adolescent psychology. In this episode of The Fear Archive, Amanda and Mike pair the real 1981 murder of Marcy Conrad in Milpitas, California with Tim Hunter's River's Edge — one of the bleakest, most unsettling portraits of American teenage life ever committed to film. The cast alone is extraordinary: Keanu Reeves before he was Keanu Reeves, Crispin Glover at his most unhinged, Ione Sky, Dennis Hopper. Tim Hunter went on to direct Breaking Bad, Twin Peaks, The Sopranos, and Mad Men. River's Edge is why those shows wanted him. But this episode is not really about the film. It is about the question the film refuses to let go of. What does it look like when an entire generation loses its capacity for moral feeling? And who is responsible when that happens? Amanda and Mike also go deep on the full lineage of nihilistic American teen cinema that River's Edge helped define — Stand By Me as its mirror image, Over the Edge as the invisible foundation, Kids, Gummo, Welcome to the Dollhouse, Mean Creek, Super Dark Times, George Washington, and the Greg Araki Teenage Apocalypse trilogy. This is the episode for anyone who has ever felt that the official version of American adolescence was missing something true. Anthony Jacques Broussard was convicted of first degree murder in 1983 and sentenced to 25 years to life. He was released on parole in 2023. The teenagers who saw Marcy's body and said nothing were never prosecuted — California had no statute requiring bystanders to report a death. It still does not. Marcy's mother Dolores Conrad spent decades fighting to change that. The effort largely failed. Marcy Conrad would have been sixty years old this year. Hosted by Amanda Kagiwada and Michael Ryan Assip. Executive produced by Cassie Jozefov. A Violet Hour Media production. LISTENER WARNING: This episode contains discussion of murder, intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and the moral failures of institutional systems. It is heavy in real ways. Popular Topics Include: River's Edge 1986 film, Marcy Conrad case, Milpitas California murder 1981, bystander effect teenagers, Keanu Reeves early films, Crispin Glover River's Edge, Dennis Hopper River's Edge, Ione Sky, Daniel Roebuck, Josh Peck, Neil Jimenez screenwriter, Tim Hunter director, Breaking Bad director, Twin Peaks director, Stand By Me 1986 film, Stand By Me vs River's Edge, Over the Edge 1979 film, Kids 1995 film Larry Clark, Gummo 1997 Harmony Korine, Welcome to the Dollhouse Todd Solondz, Mean Creek 2004 film, Super Dark Times film, George Washington 2000 David Gordon Green, Greg Araki Teenage Apocalypse trilogy, Totally F****d Up 1993, The Doom Generation 1995, Nowhere 1997, nihilistic teen cinema, Reagan era film, moral collapse American teenagers, bystander law California, Anthony Broussard parole 2023, true crime California, Fear Archive podcast, horror podcast, Amanda Kagiwada, Michael Ryan Assip, Violet Hour Media Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
