Asking Questions.
With Spooky Season firmly in the rear view mirror, Trace and I are now mid-way through our month on Toxic Masculinity. And while we probably could have counted Apt Pupil (and maybe even Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2), we officially kicked things off with Michael Haneke’s Funny Games.
Things get considerably darker with our second entry: Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel‘s Deadgirl. The extreme film follows two high school teenage boys – Rickie (Shiloh Fernandez) and JT (Noah Segan) – who discover a zombie girl (Jenny Spain) in an abandoned hospital and make the horrific decision to use her as a sex object rather than alert the authorities.
As Rickie struggles with his guilty conscience, JT recruits other “friends” like Wheeler (Eric Podnar) to assault the girl. Things get out of hand, however, when a pair of jocks, including Johnny (Andrew DiPalma) – the boyfriend of Rickie’s crush, Joann (Candice Accola) – get involved. Will Rickie do the right thing or will he succumb to peer pressure and remain passive?
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Episode 255: Deadgirl (2008) feat. Dax Ebaben and Mary Beth McAndrews
Week 2 of Toxic Masculinity month brings probably our most divisive film ever with 2008’s Deadgirl. Extreme C/W: rape (and the dog dies!)
Thankfully we’re joined by two extreme horror fans, Dax Ebaben and Mary Beth McAndrews, who help us ask the important questions.
Questions like: Who is this film for? What was the intent? And, most importantly, is it successful?
It’s an unconventional episode with no easy answers, but it’s a great conversation.
Cross out Deadgirl!
Coming up on Wednesday: Our third week of Toxic Masculinity is a little easier to contend with as we revisit Sandra Bullock’s Leopold and Loeb-influenced 2002 thriller, Murder by Numbers.
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