Collective Nightmares

Abigail (Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett 2024) Directed by Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett, who have made very solid Scream requels and the really excellent Ready or Not, we had high hopes for Abigail. With lots of promise and overall good audience reactions we were unfortunately very disappointed. Abigail is bad. Real bad. No character development, no movitations, no sense of geography, and any even remote potential for fear or suspense was undermined by the marketing. Any hope that it would challenge or disrupt tropes and stereotypes, given that the vampire is a girl, are compromised completely by the film’s ending. It is reasonably watchable as a second-screen film, or something to have on in the background, which is not meant to be a compliment. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Pitch Black (Twohy 2000) Tower Heist (Ratner 2011) Last Stop in Yuma County (Galluppi 2024) TOPIC INDEX – Abigail (Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett 2024) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 5:30 – Film discussion begins 11:30 – the trailer for Abigail 13:30 – SPOILERS section begins 13:30 – spoilers and wasted potential 32:00 – geography 38:00 – comparatively bad parenting 43:30 – everybody sucks 48:00 – sociology moment – Final Girl 55:00 – ending scenes 1:07:30 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility Related Episodes Scream 5 (Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett 2022) Scream 6 (Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett 2023) (forthcoming) Becky (Milott and Murnion 2020) (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 or otherwise be used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms. “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 130 Keywords sociology, horror, vampire, gender, enshittification, geography, bad mothers, final girl, parents, gore, blood, girl, The post Abigail (Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Late Night with the Devil (Cairnes and Cairnes 2023) Late Night with the Devil became somewhat of an immediate indie cult classic. According to Wikipedia “The film grossed $16 million and was met with widespread critical acclaim.” While Laura found the film to be quite an entertaining watch, Marshall was not a fan. And then when we delved into the messaging and subtext of the film things really went sour. The film not only perpetuates sexist horror tropes but it does significant work to validate the caustic Satanic Panic of the late 1970s and early 1980s that is still toxically present in aspects of QAnon insanity. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Untraceable (Hoblit 2008) The Conjuring (beginning only) Carrie (De Palma 1976) TOPIC INDEX – Late Night with the Devil (Cairnes and Cairnes 2023) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 3:45 – Film discussion begins 4:30 – Marshall’s overall thoughts 9:30 – Laura’s overall thoughts 13:00 – SPOILERS section begins 13:30 – opening montage 16:00 – From Satanic Panic to Qanon 18:00 – The Conjuring opening spoilers 19:45 – Sociology Moment – Clover’s conversion plot 23:00 – additional gender dynamics 31:00 – subjective perspectives and wasted potential 37:00 – implications of the ending 1:15:30 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility Related Episodes Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (Berlinger 2019) The Conjuring (Wan 2013) Related Films Talk to Me (Philippou and Philippou 2022) 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 or otherwise be used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms. “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 129 Keywords sociology, horror, Satanic Panic, conspiracy theories, gender, Carol Clover, conversion plot, possession, real time, cults, subjective perspective, religion, secret society, psychic, cultic abuse, abuse, forgiveness, exploitation, sexuality, chastity, Puritan values, tropes, Qanon, The post Late Night with the Devil appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Poor Things (Lanthimos 2023) Poor Things cause quite a stir on the film scene when it was released. While not exactly horror it is definitely bizarre and has some macabre and fantastic elements, so here we are to discuss it. We had mixed feelings about this film but if nothing else, we appreciate the big swings it took in terms of stylization, acting, and narrative. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Poor Things (Lanthimos 2023) Forrest Gump (Zemeckis 1994) It Follows (Mitchell 2014) very minor spoilers TOPIC INDEX – Poor Things  (Lanthimos 2023) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 4:00 – Film discussion begins 4:30 – genre 5:30 – SPOILERS section begins 5:30 – recap of events 19:00 – born sexy yesterday trope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Born_Sexy_Yesterday 21:00 – continuum of relationships 51:00 – indulgent hedonism vs detached practicality 1:01:45 – God Godwin and daddy issues 1:03:30 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility Related Episodes Weiner-Dog (Solondz 2016) Related Films Frankenstein (Rose 2015) 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 Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage. We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into or otherwise be used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms. “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 128 Keywords sociology, horror, suicide, born sexy yesterday, frankenstein, sexuality, macabre, grotesque, sex work, jealousy, possessiveness, pleasure, cruelty, misery, life course, fetus, infant, tabula rasa, Freud, disillusionment, sex positive The post Poor Things (Lanthimos 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Better Watch Out (Peckover 2016) Following up on our discussion of The Babysitter is a film that is sort of similar in terms of vibe, and very different in terms of execution. At least this is true for the first segment of the film. Luckily for all of us, this film is not The Babysitter. While it has some originality and there is evidence of effort to break out of problematic messaging, it ultimately only has mixed success. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Bottoms (Seligman 2023) Becky (Milott and Murnion 2020) The Babysitter (McG 2017) TOPIC INDEX – Better Watch Out  (Peckover 2016) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 1:00 – how we found the film and initial impressions 3:00 – Film discussion begins 5:30 – male gaze and scopophilia 8:00 – twin films 12:00 – acting 14:00 – SPOILERS section begins 14:00 – acting, writing, direction 22:00 – villain who is outside hegemonic masculinity 31:00 – monstrous feminine vs villainous fathers 57:00 – Martyrs mention 58:00 – SPOILERS FOR BOTTOMS 1:05:30 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility 1:11:00 – additional chat 1:13:00 – Laura’s award-winning short film The Silent Generation (Solorzano 2024) Related Episodes Relic (James 2020) Summer of ’84 (Simard, Whissell, and Whissell 2018) Related Films The Visit (Shyamalan 2015) Old (Shyamalan 2021) Them (Ils) (Moreau aned Palud 2006) The Stepfather (Ruben 1987) 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 Copyleft, creative commons with attribution, no commercial usage. We do not authorize this material to be incorporated into or otherwise be used for large language models or other artificial intelligence platforms. “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 127 Keywords teenagers, adolescents, Christmas, babysitter, children, villains, values, socialization, Reagan, familial imaginary, nuclear family, child care, patriarchy, Martyrs, elderly, aging, The post Better Watch Out (Peckover 2016) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

The Babysitter (McG 2017) While entertaining and with solid acting performances especially from Samara Weaving, McG’s Babysitter is a bizarrely lecherous film where the camera is wielded like the fantasies of a man’s imagination of a pre-adolescent boy. A film that, in our opinion has aged like milk, yet spawned a sequel after apparently a slow burn cult following established on streaming. If you have any doubt of just how inappropriate thiis is to watch, imagine the gender’s reversed. It also pushes that age old tripe of hegemonic masculinity being an aspiration. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Opening scene Scream VI (Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett 2023) TOPIC INDEX – The Babysitter  (McG 2017) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 3:00 – Film discussion begins 3:30 – male gaze and scopophilia 6:00 – discomfort 17:00 – Charlie’s Angels (McG 2000) 22:00 – Film intent and Samara Weaving is actually talented 28:00 – hegemonic masculinity character arc 38:10 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility 52:00 – outro Related Episodes Summer of ’84 (Simard, Whissell, *& Whissell) Related Films Violent Night (Wirkola 2022) 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 “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 126 Keywords teenagers, scopophilia, male gaze, sexualization, adolescence, divorce, hegemonic masculinity, nuclear family, family imaginary, babysitter, The post The Babysitter (McG 2017) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Evil Dead Rise (Cronin 2023) Evil Dead Rise is well constructed and entertaining. It features a few minor pro to some of the tired tropes of possession films, ultimately the film is sloppy both ideologically and in terms of plot. Overall it still reinforces the tired arguments that women are only worthwhile if serving as mothers. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE The Evil Dead (Raimi 1981) Evil Dead (Alvarez 2013) Inside (Maury and Bustillo 2007) TOPIC INDEX – Evil Dead Rise  (Cronin 2023) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 3:50 – Film discussion begins 4:00 – overall thoughts without spoilers 11:00 – FULL SPOILERS DISCUSSION BEGINS 11:00 – plot review 13:00 – continuity and narrative logic griping 22:00 – ideological positives 16:00 – ideological negatives 32:00 – Clover’s monstrous feminine 34:00 – 36:00 – spoilers for Inside 37:00 – abjection and Kuso 42:00 – hegemonic femininity 56:30 – Danny introduction screenshot 59:00 – source of evil 1:05:00 – decontextualized everything and adjoining lack of perspective 1:08:30 – missed opportunities 1:11:00 – urban setting of franchise sequels, reboots, and requels 1:14:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility Related Episodes The Evil Dead It Comes at Night Kuso The Lodge Related Films Inside (2007) 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 125 Keywords pregnancy, teenagers, earthquake, records, music, demon, possession, nuclear family, father, low income, urban, gender roles, women, men not saviors, women not damsels, non-hegemonic, pregnancy, pregnancy test, motherhood, monstrous feminine, parking garage, liquify, hyper blood, reconstituted bodies, bodies, abortion, avoiding abortion, anti-intellectualism, conservatism, fascism, basement, penthouse, The post Evil Dead Rise (Cronin 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Evil Dead (Alvarez 2013) With this reboot of Evil Dead, Alvarez and Sayagues became the ones to watch of a new generation of horror film creators. Raimi’s The Evil Dead (1981) is one of the first modern era cabin in the woods horror films. It is a feat of scrappy engineering and a landmark of independent horror cinema. Amongst a swamp of mediocre, unnecessary, and opportunistic reboots, Alvarez’s film is one that is excellent, competent, and updates the original in interesting ways. While there is still problematic content, especially with regard to gender, Evil Dead (2013) is a refreshing remake of a beloved classic. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE The Evil Dead (Raimi 1981) Evil Dead (Alvarez 2013) MINOR SPOILERS The Conjuring (Wan 2013) Smile (Finn 2022) Carrie (de Palma 1976) TOPIC INDEX – Evil Dead  (Alvarez 2013) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 3:30 – Film discussion begins 4:30 – original Evil Dead 10:30 – new Evil Dead 13:30 – requels 14:00 – Spoilers begin 15:30 – gender andx possession 22:30 – monstrous homosexual 24:30 – not a nuclear family 28:30 – alternate endings 32:30 – drug use 35:30 – imagery 37:30 – geography 40:30 – privilege 41:30 – student comments 48:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility 52:00 – outro Related Episodes The Possession (Bornedal 2012) Black Christmas (Takal 2019) Related Films Carrie (de Palma 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 124 Keywords The post Evil Dead (Alvarez 2013) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

The only thing interesting about this film is the concept. If you must watch any of it, watch the animated intro. The rest is a waste of your time, energy, and life force. A super cynical effort to leverage Winnie IP entering the public domain. This film was so bad it forced us to reconsider our scale for evaluating films. Also, our shortest episode thus far because the film was not even bad in interesting ways. Trite sewage. I’m not even going to link to the film on IMDb or Wikipedia because that would encourage giving the film attention. 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 123 The post Winnie the Pooh Blood and Honey (Frake Waterfield 2023) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

The First Omen (Stevenson 2024) The First Omen is a long slow burn. It is beautifully constructed, well acted, and intellectually terrifying. If you can see this in a theater, please do! There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Proxy (Parker 2013) Inside (Bustillo & Maury 2007) TOPIC INDEX – The First Omen  (Stevenson 2024) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 5:00 – Film discussion begins 6:00 – Laura has submitted a short horror film to festivals! 11:00 – Spoilers begin 12:00 – opening scene as mise en abyme 14:00 – plot overview and discussion topics 20:00 – mothers and babies 25:00 – unethical aesthetics 28:30 – critique of the Catholic Church? 31:00 – 1960s social movements in Rome 38:00 – emotional experience and antichrist baby 41:00 – representation of difficult decisions 56:30 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility 1:04:00 – outro 1:05:00 – Laura submitting to film festivals!!! and winning awards!!!   Related Episodes Mandy (Cosmatos 2018) Related Films It is Fine! Everything is Fine (Brothers & Glover 2007) In Fabric (Strickland 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 122 Keywords horror, podcast, sociology, gender, bodies, male gaze, menstruation, period, mise en abyme, abortion, devil, children, pregnancy, incest, rape, sexual assault, cult, Church, Christianity, nunnery, convent, orphanage, misogyny, gaslighting, infanticide, prequel, motherhood, mothering, women, antichrist, infanticide The post The First Omen (Stevenson 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Piggy (Perada 2022) What a wonderfully different horror film! We love a film that is in dialogue with hegemonic gender norms, beauty standards, and audience expectations. Piggy evokes Haneke and Funny Games in tasking viewers with considering their own presumptions and responsibilities in watching a horror film. Fascinating! And with a exquisite performance by the lead actress Laura Galan, this film by Carlota Pereda is worth seeking out. We look forward to seeing what these talented folks do next. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Piggy (Perada 2022) TOPIC INDEX – Piggy  (Perada 2022) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 5:00 – Film discussion begins 5:00 – marketing and expectations 9:00 – Spoilers begin 9:00 – fat representation 16:00 – sociology moment – Goffman and civil inattention 21:00 – aligning the audience with Piggy 25:00 – rape revenge films 30:00 – the killer 47:00 – anit-revenge? 53:00 – meat 1:02:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility 1:09:00 – outro Related Episodes Funny Games (Haneke 1997) Related Films It is Fine! Everything is Fine (Brothers & Glover 2007) In Fabric (Strickland 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 121 Keywords horror, podcast, sociology, gender, bodies, fat, obesity, representation, foreign film, Spain, scopophilia, male gaze, meat, butcher, bull, bullying, complicity, food, menstruation, period, complicit, culpable The post Piggy (Perada 2022) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

X (West 2022) I got so invested in putting out our episodes for Pearl and MaXXXine I realized I hadn’t finished or release the one for X! My apologies! X is the film that starts the entire Pearl/Maxine trilogy. An outstanding horror film by itself, and even better now that we’ve seen the rest of the story come to fruition. Laura is definitely the star of this episode! You can hear why she is such a phenomenal professor. Marshall said some totally unnecessary things early on that smacked of mansplaining and I apologize for it! Despite my embarrassment I’ve left it in to keep me humble and so everyone can see that we all have bad brain days. This film sparked a conversation about the state of the slasher sub-genre, cross gender identification in a post-gender world, and the elderly representation in horror. Without further ado, our longest episode yet: X. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Scream (Craven 1996) X (West 2022) TOPIC INDEX – X  (West 2022) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 3:00 – Men, Women, and Chainsaw by Carol Clover 4:00 – Film discussion begins 6:00 – spoilers discussion begins 8:00 – Exemplary review of Clover by Laura 13:00 – Clover’s components of the slasher genre 23:00 – Marshall gets caught up on some pedantic quibble (I’m sorry!) 29:00 – applying Clover to X 33:00 – sexualized killer and victims 40:00 – film sequence at 41:00 in X 50:00 – meta 55:00 – review of main themes 107:00 – film sequence at 42:51 in X 1:26:00 – X back to Clover 1:28:00 – televangelist 1:38:00 – gender killing 1:48:00 – phallicization 1:51:00 – killer women 1:57:00 – older Final Girls 2:02:00 – hegemonic masculinity 2:09:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility 2:27:00 – women’s sexuality Related Episodes Pearl (West 2022) MaXXXine (West 2022) 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 120 The post X (West 2022) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

MaXXXine (West 2024) Creating a successful horror trilogy that isn’t full of toxic messaging (looking at you James Wan) has proven to be a historical rarity. The original Scream trilogy is Marshall’s gold standard for a progressive, innovative, cohesive, beautifully executed trilogy. While leaving the possibility of a sequel open has been standard practice since horror films started really making money in the 1970s, prior to Craven’s Scream few films were conceived of with the intention of creating a cohesive work. The Human Centipede is probably the most infamous and least successful. It started as a shock film, the second film went meta and while scatological actually had glimmers of potential. Rather than complete the sequence in any sort of interesting way, the third film devolved into boorish slobbish rubbish. With Creep 2, the Creep trilogy has potential as well, but we may never see the third film to be able to decide. Long story long, West has managed to create an excellent and trilogy of films that are entertaining, well constructed, and intellectually compelling. Altogehter we’ve spent almost as long discussing these films as the films themselves, and there is still lots more worth discussion. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE MaXXXine (West 2024) Pearl (West 2022) X (West 2022) Carrie (Demme 1974) Jakob’s Wife (Stevens 2021) TOPIC INDEX – MaXXXine  (West 2024) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 2:00 – Film discussion begins 2:00 – overall impressions without spoilers 6:00 – thriller vs horror genres 6:00 – spoilers discussion begins 6:00 – serial killers 8:00 – empathy vs villainy 9:00 – gender, agency, alliance 12:00 – structure vs agency 25:00 – sex work 35:00 – hegemonic beauty 42:38 – Horror Noire (Burgin 2019) 50:30 – pastor 58:00 – the ending 1:10:00 – her agent, Teddy 1:21:30 – correction: Scarface rather than Goodfellas (but probably both) 1:23:30 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility 1:24:30 – trilogies 1:26:30 – The Night Stalkerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Ramirez Related Episodes Fantasy Island (Wadlow 2019) The Lodge (Fiala and Franz 2019) Jakob’s Wife (Stevens 2021) Pearl (West 2022) 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 119 Keywords The post MaXXXine (West 2024) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Pearl (West 2022) Ti West apparently shot this on the sly at the same time he was making X (2022). It is a prequel to X, and the second film in the MaXXXine trilogy, just to be confusing. As with X this film is expertly crafted and Mia Goth’s performance is absolutely stellar. Ultimately we decided that the ideologies of the trilogy will greatly depend on how the story arcs are carried into the third film and resolved. Have a listen as we lay out the options based on what we’ve seen in the two first films. And our MaXXXine episode is up next! There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Pearl (West 2022) X (West 2022) Carrie (Demme 1974) Jakob’s Wife (Stevens 2021) TOPIC INDEX – Pearl  (West 2022) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 4:00 – Film discussion begins 4:00 – overall impressions 10:30 – spoilers discussion begins 10:30 – Pearl, her family, and men 17:00 – deaths 25:00 – family dinner 28:00 – spoilers for Carrie and Jakob’s Wife 50:00 – X 58:00 – trilogy 1:00:00 – meta-commentary 1:08:00 – sexual explicit media vs not 1:10:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility 1:10:00 – pet ownership Related Episodes The Lodge (Fiala and Franz 2019) Jakob’s Wife (Stevens 2021) X (West 2022) 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 118 The post Pearl (West 2022) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

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 The post Barbarian (Cregger 2022) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Crimes of the Future (Cronenberg 2022) 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. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Crimes of the Future (Cronenberg 2022) The Fly (Cronenberg 1986) TOPIC INDEX – Crimes of the Future  (Cronenberg 2022) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 2:30 – episode begins 2:30 – Film discussion begins 5:30 – sci-fi horror 11:00 – abstraction 20:00 – penetration in horror 27:00 – pain 35:00 – plastic 45:00 – ecological modernization 49:00 – art 51:30 – illness 56:00 – self critique? 1:07:00 – aesthetics 2:05:00 – grading the film using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility Related Episodes Mandy (Cosmatos 2018) In Fabric (Strickland 2018) Related Films Pretty much any of Cronenberg’s previous films but especially Crash (1996), Videodrome (1983), and Existenz (1999) 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 116 Keywords horror, podcast, sociology, gender, sci-fi, science fiction, bodies, pain, abstraction, cyborgs, sex, art, environment, microplastic, Cronenberg, autonomy, plastic, scars, natural, Baudrillard, pollution, The post Crimes of the Future (Cronenberg 2022) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

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, The post Scream 5 5cream (Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett 2022) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

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 post Slumber Party Massacre (Esterhazy 2021) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

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, The post The Slumber Party Massacre (Jones 1982) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

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 The post Titane (Docournau 2021) appeared first on Collective Nightmares.

Squid Game – Season 1 (Dong-hyuk 2021) Join us for the full discussion. Our first foray into television. This was recorded when Squid Game was at peak popularity. The show is brilliant in execution and rife with sociological content. The series especially excels at drawing connections the show makes between structural circumstances and individual agency, which is the foundation of the sociological imagination. These connections are sometimes taught as the relationships between a buffet (structure) and what people choose to put on their plate (agency). People can only really make choices from the options that are presented to them. In an individualistic culture like the U.S. we focus intently on what people have on their plate, while often completely ignoring the options that were presented in the buffet. Squid Game consistently and clearly makes these connections clear and we are here for it! This is a long episode and we still definitely didn’t cover all the sociology in it, but we did what we could. There is lots more of our podcast! Please listen, review, subscribe, and tell your friends. SPOILERS IN THIS EPISODE Squid Game (Dong-hyuk 2021) TOPIC INDEX – Squid Game  (Dong-hyuk 2021) (times are approximate)  0:30 – Introductions 6:00 – Discussion begins 6:00 – thoughts on the ending 10:30 – laying out our topics 16:00 – structure and agency 18:00 – linking game to society 30:00 – Zimbardo’s prison experiment 32:00 – Mills’ sociological imagination 34:30 – anomie 35:00 – is the Squid Game better? 38:00 – sociological imagination 40:00 – structure vs agency 46:00 – heroes and villains 49:00 – social contract 56:00 – dyads and tryads 57:00 – the ending plot recap 1:13:30 – marble game 1:19:30 – is it horror? 1:23:00 – white collar crime 1:26:00 – structural vs individual violence 1:31:00 – ethnicity and nationality 1:32:00 – Korea, communism, capitalism 1:46:30 – sexuality 14:20 – SPOILERS begin 1:02:00 – filmmaking and plot movement 1:23:10 – grading the series using the Collective Nightmares Evolving Rubric of Social Responsibility Related Episodes Wiener Dog (Solondz 2016) Dark Waters (Haynes 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 • Marshall@collectivenightmares.com • Laura@collectivenightmares.com “Horror films are our collective nightmares.” Episode 110 Keywords horror, podcast, sociology, social contract, tv show, trust, capitalism, structure, agency, inequity, myth of meritocracy, meritocracy, equality of opportunity, guilt, complicit, existential, pessimism, optimism, communism, capitalism, Korea, sociological imagination, dyads, tryads, gender, family, children The post Squid Game (Dong-hyuk 2021) – Season 1 appeared first on Collective Nightmares.