Andrea and Alex talk about sisters doing it for themselves as women run communities, islands and families with sinister intentions. Are they better, worse or the same as communities run by men? Have they developed an immunity to bee stings and Bloody Mary?
REQUIRED READING
The Wicker Man. Dir Robin Hardy. 1973
The Wicker Man. Dir Neil LaBute. 2006
Paranormal Activity 3. Dir Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman. 2011
EXTRA CREDIT
The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory. The first chapter from Cynthia Eller’s book which discusses the second wave feminism fascination with a matriarchal order.
The Eeriness of the English Countryside. From film to literature, a look at why the British countryside creeps us out.
LISTEN
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Just wanted to say I loved this episode. I am a huge fan of the original Wicker Man and I think your analysis was dead on. What I was really happy about though was your PA 3 coverage. I have seen the first 4 in the franchise and this was the only one I truly liked. That isn’t to knock the first one, it was effective at being scary but left me kind of hollow. Anyway I just saw It Follows yesterday and I truly can’t wait for the episode on that in the future.
I really enjoyed this episode. I knew I’d enjoy the analysis on Wicker Man, but I actually most appreciated the review of the Paranormal Activity Series. Like you guys, it was a series that started out for me, really scary and I really appreciated how terrified I was like for a few weeks afterwards–because that’s so rare these days–but like you guys, I found each new addition to the series was a little less scary, and in the end they really eroded my appreciation of the series and now it’s almost like “what did I even see there?”–so it was really cool to see it revisited, and I think I have a better appreciation of the themes.
Also I’d echo the sentiments above, I definitely look forward to an It Follows episode. I was really surprised by that movie. There’s some images from it that I doubt I’ll ever forget.
Thanks for making your great podcast! I hadn’t watched “the Wicker Man” since I was a kid, and what I saw was so edited down for American television I just remember being bored and disappointed. After listening to your segment, I streamed it on Amazon and was amazed at what a great movie it is. In the 24 hours that I had access to it, I watched it twice in one sitting, and then made my friend watch it with me a third time. There are so many great images in this movie and I thank you again for making me aware of it.
I found Christopher Lee’s performance as the Man-Woman Sinister Teaser to be amazing. I cannot imagine any contemporary actor or even American movie that would present such a character without a wink-and-a-nod of humor to the audience that the actor is “truly” heterosexual and is only playing at being an inter-sexed person. I say again: Lee’s performance during the May Day Procession is just amazing.
Side note: I’m an avid tumblr and am excited to find that there is a “Lord Summerisle” tag!
Puh-lease do It Follows. Also, a survival horror film focusing on women would be great — how about Black Rock and Hush? As an ex-grad student and horror fan, your podcast is manna!