HORROR BUSINESS Episode 142: RAVENOUS & RAW
Description
Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys, because we’re talking 1999’s Ravenous and 2016’s Raw.
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We start by talking about what we’ve done involving horror recently. Liam talks about what few horror jawns he’s watched for miscellaneous Cineween events, including Scream For Help and The Haunting Of Hill House. Justin talks about seeing The Man in the White Van, Don’t Look Away, V/H/S/85, The Exorcist: Believer, and Totally Killer.
Up first is Ravenous. We give a summary of the plot and Justin talks about the first time he heard of the film when it first came out and the person telling him about it found the chase scene with Jeremy Davies overlaid with jaunty banjo music to be rather effective and unsettling, as well as the movie tickling his strange obsession with the Sierra Nevadas and the Donner Party.
Liam talks about how the film has been one of his favorites of that era for a long time. We discuss the debate as to whether the film is a horror film, or a western, or a black comedy, or whatever, and how the dread in the film is undeniably something present in a horror film.
We talk about the homoerotic subtext of the film and the complicated legacy of queer coding villains, as well as the very real history of the Donner party being led astray for the sake of profit.
We briefly talk about Robert Carlyle and his mastery in this film. We discuss the problematic history of actor Jeffrey Jones.
Up next is Raw. We recall our first times seeing the film and how impressive it is visually, from the lighting to the cinematography, the editing, everything, and how that’s done without coming off as pretentious.
Liam talks about how the film has a lot in common with Ginger Snaps, in that it combines an anxiety towards one’s body, sisterhood, and blossoming sexuality. We talk about the intense hazing rituals at veterinary schools in France and how that shapes the story.
Some of the more overly grotesque scenes in the film are discussed and we dive into the main character’s slow turn into something other.
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