Wake Up Heavy

Well the Patreon subscription is officially a bust. If in time it seems warranted I will restart it. But for now here are the first two of four episodes previously only available to the one WUH Patron.

--IMAGES (1972)
This was a new discovery for me last year, and I immediately fell in love with it. Robert Altman's entry into the "hysterical woman" sub-genre stars Susannah York as Cathryn who is haunted by a dead ex-lover and her own doppleganger. [Starts at 00:01]

--The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film
The PEF is one of the most influential compendiums of weirdo films to ever be put to print. I read it religiously and made a LONG list of films I hoped to track down. Out of approximately 230 films from that list I have since seen a mere 42 of them, most within the last six years or so. This is me talking about those films! [Starts at 23:07]

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Back when I first tried my hand at a Patreon subscription the goal was to offer "exclusive content." It lasted for four episodes. Then I closed the account (which I eventually brought back in a different form). Here are the first two of those episodes.

--Images (1972)
This was a new discovery for me last year, and I immediately fell in love with it. Robert Altman's entry into the "hysterical woman" sub-genre stars Susannah York as Cathryn who is haunted by a dead ex-lover and her own doppleganger.

--The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film
The PEF is one of the most influential compendiums of weirdo films to ever be put to print. I read it religiously and made a LONG list of films I hoped to track down. Out of approximately 230 films from that list I have since seen a mere 42 of them, most within the last six years or so. This is me talking about those films!

Almost three months after the end of Season One Wake Up Heavy is back with our Season Two opener on Martin Scorsese's gritty-seventies-existential-nihilistic masterpiece Taxi Driver. WUH welcomes back Mike White from The Projection Booth podcast for another stimulating discussion. http://www.projectionboothpodcast.com/

Powerful in its cinematic style and controversial in its depiction of violence, Paul Schrader's script and Scorsese's frenetic direction imbue the film with a mounting tension that ultimately explodes in a "kill crazy rampage." By the end happenstance turns Travis Bickle, our Avenging Angel, into the "Hero Cabbie."

Robert DeNiro, in a role that has followed him through his career, leads a stellar cast including Cybil Shepherd, Albert Brooks, Peter Boyle, and, in one of five movies from 1976, 12 year-old Jodie Foster. Her role as a young prostitute was one of the more controversial aspects of the film, and would in turn inspire John Hinckley, Jr. to try and assassinate President Ronald Reagan.

What's in the cellar, Rynn? Where is your father? What does Frank Hallett want? What's the big deal about those jelly jars? Have a listen and get answers to (some of) these questions!

Another quick episode to lead into the season two premiere on Taxi Driver, TLGWLDTL was one of five movies starring Jodie Foster that was made or released in 1976. I caught this one on TV as a young'n and it struck a chord and stuck with me for years. Martin Sheen's never been creepier and Foster once again plays a precocious teen knowledgeable beyond her years.

Why didn't I rent this? Apparently I'm a dingus. "It's The Evil Dead for kids!"--Mark Begley. 'Nuff said.

Taking a break from horror to talk about this little movie from 1984 that I'd never heard of until a few months ago. I wanted to discuss this film as a lead-up to the season two premiere on Taxi Driver since both feature protagonists that seek vengeance to regain power under wholly different circumstances.

Karen Young plays Kathleen Sullivan, a teacher from Boston working at a high school in Texas. She meets Larry, a charming lawyer, man's-man, and gun nut, who aggressively pursues her affections. When the system fails her she seeks her own brand of justice.

Thanks to the guys at '80s All Over for talking about it on their January 1984 episode, and for letting me play a clip from said show.

Please be warned that the film portrays the rape of its protagonist, which is discussed within the episode, along with some offensive language.

Philip Ridley's "prairie gothic" The Reflecting Skin was released in 1990 to much acclaim and derision, and then quietly disappeared.

Young Seth Dove traverses the nightmare of childhood among the wheat fields of 1950s Idaho, mostly left to his own devices by his chronically sad father and hysterical mother. He and his friends terrorize a widow they are convinced is a vampire, run afoul of delinquents that cruise the dirt roads in a big black Cadillac, and discover the wonders and horrors of the adult world.

After a stay in a mental institution, Jessica, along with her husband and their friend, moves from Manhattan to Connecticut in hopes that her fragile mental state will improve. They encounter a mysterious stranger squatting in their new home, strange, hostile men covered in bandages, and a mute girl, all of whom may be the victims of a century old vampire. Will Jessica escape alive and with her sanity in tact?
p.s. There's outtakes at the end of this one! :P

Women in Horror Month 2019 concludes at WUH with an episode on Jocelin Donahue and Alex Essoe and their starring roles in two of my favorite modern horror movies: The House of the Devil (2009) and Starry Eyes (2014).

Mia Farrow, though not necessarily labeled a genre actress, has been in some of my favorite horror films. In Episode Three of the #WomenInHorrorMonth series I discuss four (well five) of Ms. Farrow's horror films: Rosemary's Baby (1968), Secret Ceremony (1968), See No Evil (1971), The Haunting of Julia (1977), and (ever so briefly) The Omen (2006).

Please check out The Projection Booth's episode on The Haunting of Julia.