Daughters of Darkness: Episode 7

The latest episode of the podcast I co-host, Daughters of Darkness, is now up over at Diabolique.

From the site (which is also where you can download it):

In the seventh episode of Daughters of Darkness, Kat and Samm conclude their four-part exploration of the career of director Andrzej Zuławski, beginning with a discussion of La note bleue (1991). This unconventional biographical drama explores the fading relationship between Chopin and French writer George Sand, which is complicated by the intrusion of her teenage daughter, Solange (played by Zuławski’s then partner and longtime muse Sophie Marceau), who is also in love with Chopin.

Next they look at Zuławski’s first Polish-made film in nearly two decades, the strange and sublime Szamanka (1996), about an uncontrollable young woman whose sexual relationship with an anthropologist begins to consume his life. Finally, they explore La fidélité (2000), his final film with Marceau, which follows a headstrong artist and her difficult, but passionate marriage to a book publisher that is thrown into chaos when an attractive young photographer enters her life. They wrap up the episode with a discussion of Zuławski’s recent, final film, Cosmos (2015), an absolutely beautiful adaptation of Witold Gombrowicz’s absurdist novel of the same name, about two young men who discover an existential mystery at a boarding house in the countryside.

Daughters of Darkness: Episode 6

The fifth episode of the podcast I'm co-hosting is now up!

From the Diabolique site:

In the sixth episode of Daughters of Darkness, Kat and Samm continue on to the third part of their four-episode discussion of the work of director Andrzej Zuławski. They start out looking at Zuławski’s two loose Dostoyevsky adaptations, La femme publique (1984) and L’amour braque (1985). La femme publique, inspired by Dostoyevsky’s novel Demons, follows a young, inexperienced actress who is cast in a film adaptation of Demons and begins a relationship with the controlling director, while political violence and conspiracy erupts around them. L’amour braque, Zuławski’s first film with his long-time partner Sophie Marceau, is an adaptation of The Idiot and focuses on a strange young man named Léon, who gets caught up with a criminal gang and falls in love with the leader’s girlfriend. 

Finally, they explore two of Zuławski’s most neglected films, Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours (1989) and Boris Godounov (1989). Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours again stars Sophie Marceau as a troubled young performer in a traveling psychic act. She begins a complicated relationship with a computer programmer suffering from a disease that affects the language center of his brain. Boris Godounov is a unique musical production in Zuławski’s catalogue and is a particularly frenzied adaptation of Mussorgsky’s classic Russian opera about the disastrous reign of a man believed to have murdered the child of the former tsar. 

Daughters of Darkness: Episode 5

The fifth episode of the podcast I'm co-hosting is now up!

From the Diabolique site:

In the fifth episode of Daughters of Darkness, Kat and Samm continue on to the second part of their four-episode discussion of director Andrzej Zuławski. This time they discuss his work in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, when he was forced to leave Poland over the controversy surrounding his film The Devil (1972), which was banned by the communist government. His first French film, L’important c’est d’aimer (1975), which really launched his career in Europe, featured an international cast including Romy Schneider, Fabio Testi, and Klaus Kinski. Set in the worlds of soft and hardcore pornography, as well as avant garde theatre, it explores the tragic love triangle between a struggling actress and a photographer. 

This is followed by a lengthy discussion of On the Silver Globe (1988) — a surreal sci-fi epic based on a novel written by his own uncle — a film he returned to Poland to make after the success of L’important c’est d’aimer. But after a costly and intensive shoot that was nearly complete, the Polish government canceled this production and Zuławski wasn’t able to complete it for another decade. It remains unfinished, though it was recently restored. The episode concludes with a look at Zuławski’s most famous film, Possession (1981), an unsettling work about the dissolution of a marriage in divided Berlin starring Sam Neill and Isabelle Adjani.

Daughters of Darkness: Episode 4

The fourth episode of the podcast I'm co-hosting is now up!

From the Diabolique site:

In the fourth episode of Daughters of Darkness, Kat and Samm begin a four-part discussion of the career of Polish director Andrzej Zuławski. Meant to be a celebration of his life and incredible work, the episode begins with a brief discussion of his early years, particularly his training as an assistant director under Andrzej Wajda. This is followed by a discussion of his two short films for Polish television, The Story of Triumphant Love (1969) and Pavoncello (1969), two lesser seen and perhaps more conventional works, where he established a number of the themes he would use throughout his career: love triangles, troubled romance, hysterical women, literary source material, and dizzying staircase sequences.

This is followed by a lengthy exploration of his first feature-length film, The Third Part of the Night (1971), which was co-written by Zuławski’s father, Mirosław, and is loosely based on the elder Zuławski’s experiences working in a typhus lab during the Nazi occupation. The episode wraps up with a look at The Devil (1972), Zuławski’s unhinged second feature, a film that was promptly banned by the communist government and resulted in Zuławski’s departure from Poland and relocation to France. Set during the period of German occupation in Poland in the late eighteenth century, the film follows the homeward odyssey of a troubled young man who is released from prison by a mysterious stranger.

Daughters of Darkness: Episode 3

The third episode of the podcast I'm co-hosting is now up!

From the Diabolique site:

In the third episode of Daughters of Darkness, Kat and Samm wrap up their three-part discussion of lesbian vampire films, this time with a focus on low budget American and Spanish films from the 1970s. They begin their discussion with the unusual film The Velvet Vampire (1971), the only entry in the series to be directed by a woman. The film’s star, Celeste Yarnall, is currently in ill health, so please contribute to her Go Fund Me campaign.

Then they explore Spanish-language films like The Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman (1971), where Paul Naschy’s werewolf faces off against a vampire queen, and the eerie, poetic The Blood-Spattered Bride (1972). They also take a look at Joe Sarno’s inane sexploitation film, The Devil’s Plaything (1973), about a castle full of lesbian vampires attempting to reincarnate their perverse leader with the help of a buxom, virginal sacrificial victim. Luigi Batzella’s absolutely insane The Devil’s Wedding Night (1973) gets a special mention, before moving onto cult classics like José Ramón Larraz Vampyres (1974) and Juan Lopez Moctezuma’s Alucarda (1977), as well as his Mary, Mary Bloody Mary (1975). Two obscure films about innocent young girls who are pursued by aggressive female vampires are also explored: Czech film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) and low budget American film Lemora, a Child’s Tale of the Supernatural (1975).

The episode concludes with a somber discussion of two more mainstream, relatively recent lesbian vampire films. First off is The Hunger (1983), Tony Scott’s melancholy meditation on aging and death starring David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. Finally, Nadja (1994) is a David Lynch-produced film that reimagines one of the first movies discussed in episode one, Dracula’s Daughter, with a ‘90s independent cinema feel.

Supporting Characters Podcast: Episode 2

Bill Ackerman was kind enough to have me as a guest on Supporting Characters, a new podcast devoted to film culture, where Bill interviews, in his words, "various writers, podcasters, fanzine publishers, programmers, preservationists and more about creative endeavors and film culture."

I'm not really used to talking about myself in a public forum, but we touch upon most aspects of my film writing career, including everything from Suncoast video and Philly cult film culture to my zines and old websites, Satanic Pandemonium, the new podcast that I'm co-hosting, Daughters of Darkness, and Come and See, the book on WWII and cult cinema that I'm almost finished writing. There's lots of intentional and unintentional humor, as well as an account of my René Cardona Jr-inspired death wish.

Download or listen here!

Daughters of Darkness: Episode 1

Check out the first episode of a podcast on cult cinema that I'm co-hosting!

From the Diabolique site:

"In the inaugural episode of Daughters of Darkness, Kat and Samm explore the history of lesbian vampire films. This first episode of three begins by examining the lesbian vampire from her origins in eighteenth century Gothic literature, particularly Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s unfinished poem “Christabel” (1797) and Irish writer Sheridan Le Fanu’s story “Carmilla” (1871), both of which explore themes of monstrosity, repressed sexuality, and female identity. “Carmilla” — the source material for the majority of lesbian vampire films — follows a lonely young woman named Laura, who makes a strange, seductive new friend, Carmilla, whose designs on Laura are decidedly sanguinary. Carl Theodor Dreyer’s surreal horror film Vampyr (1932) was the first to adapt “Carmilla,” however loosely, but was followed soon after by the more straightforward Universal horror film, Dracula’s Daughter (1936). The latter — with its depiction of an elegant, sympathetic female vampire reluctantly driven to act out her bloodlust out on female as well as male victims — was among the first to portray vampirism as a blend of madness, female hysteria, sexual dysfunction, and addiction. Dracula’s Daughter would influence subsequent adaptations of “Carmilla,” like Roger Vadim’s lush arthouse effort Blood and Roses (1960) and obscure Italian Gothic horror film Crypt of the Vampire (1964). The film co-starred Hammer star Christopher Lee, who spends much of the running time in an outrageous smoking jacket.

Speaking of Hammer studios, the episode wraps up with a discussion of their Karnstein trilogy, a watershed moment for lesbian vampire cinema. Films like The Vampire Lovers (1970), Lust for a Vampire (1971), and Twins of Evil (1971) — as well as some of the studio’s outlier efforts like The Brides of Dracula (1960) or Countess Dracula (1971) — left a bloody mark on vampire films. With minimal violence and plenty of nudity from buxom starlets like Ingrid Pitt, these films generally depict aristocratic vampires preying on innocent young ladies in pastoral settings. A film like The Vampire Lovers was famous for its use of lesbianism and casual nudity, but is quite restrained compared to the films discussed in episode two by European directors like Jess Franco and Jean Rollin."

Find it here.

Cinepunx Podcast: Episode 35

This past week I crossed another milestone with my blog: I was finally on a podcast! The fun, friendly gents of Cinepunx had me on their show to talk about British horror, particularly Quatermass and the Pit (1967), Death Line aka Raw Meat (1972), and Horror Express (1972), three films I'll review in the upcoming months as part of my extensive British horror series.

Of course we also talked about plenty more: other aspects of British horror; my take on contemporary horror, referencing the article I just wrote about it earlier this week; and the recent book Satanic Panic: Pop Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s, which I just contributed an essay to and which I'll talk all about at the upcoming Philadelphia book launch at PhilaMOCA on October 4th... but more about that soon.

You can listen to and/or download the episode here.