The Final Girls: A Horror Film Podcast (Anna Bogutskaya)

A new mini-series dedicated to the influential book by Kier-la Janisse, House of Psychotic Women. Filmmaker Alice Lowe joins Anna to go into her take on Heavenly Creatures, the female imagination, and her own ambitions as a filmmaker. 

→ Watch all the films featured in the book HERE.

→ Buy the expanded edition of House of Psychotic Women HERE.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

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Music: "Prince of Darkness" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

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The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

On the back of Saint Maud's BAFTA nominations and Morfydd's nomination for the EE BAFTA Rising Star Award, we bring you a special bonus interview with the lead actor from Saint Maud, Morfydd Clark, who delivers one the most astounding performances of the year.

You can vote for the BAFTA Rising Star Award HERE.

Listen to our deep dive episode on Saint Maud HERE.

Watch Anna's video essay on Saint Maud, "God's Lonely Woman", HERE.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

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The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon. Subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly dose of curated horror treats.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

We're joined by Watershed's Cinema Producer and film critic Tara Judah for a discussion on David Cronenberg's body horror classic The Brood (1979). We talk about taboos around motherhood, birth, divorce, how the film was perceived on release and how it's aged, Oliver Reed, and so much more. 

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The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

The illustration of the cover is by Yas Aybar.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

We wrap up our series dedicated to hag horror with a deep dive into Ma (2019) and discuss what could be next for hagsploitation. With a special contribution from critic and podcaster Mary Wild and producer Jen Handorf. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

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Music: "Bloodlust" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio and @lofigeek

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The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Listen to our weekly horror film podcast.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content. 

Joining us is special guest and vampire expert Dr. Sorcha Ní Fhlainn to discuss Neil Jordan's second vampire film Byzantium and Jim Jarmusch's arthouse take on vampiric ennui Only Lovers Left Alive (2013).

Byzantium (2012) from 00:04:27
Only Lovers Left Alive (2013) from 00:32:08

If you want to explore the vampire more, we recommend Ní Fhlainn's books Postmodern Vampires and the short story collection Visions of the Vampire: Two Centuries of Immortal Tales.

This season is made possible with the support of Arrow Video. This week's pick is the excellent follow-up to Hitchcock's classic, Psycho II. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon. Subscribe to our newsletter for new, original writing on horror.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

A bonus episode interview with the writer/director of the comedy-thriller-horror 12 Hour Shift, Brea Grant.

In 12 Hour Shift, Mandy (Angela Bettis) finds herself one night beholden to a gang of organ-traffickers and when a kidney goes missing she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure these men get what they came for. 

12 Hour Shift is out now on VOD in the UK.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Writer and presenter Louise Blain returns to touch upon an unfairly looked-down-upon teen horror, once a spec script for The X-Files that turned into a film that is both profound and profoundly schlocky. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

A bonus episode interview with the writer/director of the queer horror audio series Sour Hall, Laura Kirwan-Ashman.

In Sour Hall, George (Lucy Fallon) inherits her family farm it's supposed to be a new start for her and her partner Ash (Pearl Mackie), an escape from the chaotic pace of Manchester life and the traumatic incident that's casting a shadow over their relationship. ... A presence haunts the farm, one that feeds on fear itself, and it's hungry

We discuss the differences of writing for screen vs for audio, the importance of sound design in horror, recording Sour Hall with binauraul technology, empathy in storytelling and the key themes of the story. 

This interview is totally SPOILER-FREE. 

Sour Hall is available now on Audible.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Writer and actor Isaura Barbé-Brown returns to take one of the most acclaimed horrors of the recent times, which brought a new energy to the teen horror genre. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

A bonus episode interview with the author of The Last House on Needless Street, Catriona Ward. 

Praised by Stephen King, her latest novel has been called the Gothic Masterpiece of 2021. 

This is the story of a murderer. A stolen child. Revenge. This is the story of Ted, who lives with his daughter Lauren and his cat Olivia in an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.

We discuss Catriona's love of horror, the process of writing horror, serial killers and their pets, Stephen King's endorsement of her book, the gothic novel and what it takes to write from the POV of a cat. 

There will be spoilers for the book in the second part of the interview but these are clearly signalled. 

The House on Needless Street is out now in the UK.

A bonus episode about the acclaimed sci-fi horror film Possessor, written and directed by Brandon Cronenberg.

In Possessor, Tasya Vos, an elite, corporate assassin, takes control of other people's bodies using brain-implant technology to execute high-profile targets.

Possessor is out now on VOD in the UK. Listen to our spoiler-free interview with Brandon Cronenberg. 

In this episode we're joined by critic and podcaster Becky Darke for a deep dive into the film. The first part of the episode is spoiler free. 

From 0:030:46 we will go into a spoilerific discussion.

We touch on the body horror, extreme violence, burnout, self-mutilation, female assassins, and a lot more. 

You can read Becky's essay on the film, "Penetrating Possessor" here. 

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The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

The illustration of the cover is by Yas Aybar.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

A bonus exclusive interview with Alex Garland, writer/director of Men, out in UK cinemas now.

SPOILER WARNING: We talk broadly about the film's visuals and ending. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Horror fan Ally Penelope joins the podcast for the first time to tackle the perfect anti-Christmas viewing, the most meme-able 90s slasher double-bill. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

A bonus exclusive interview with Halina Reijn, director of Bodies Bodies Bodies, out in UK cinemas now. 

SPOILER WARNING: We talk about the ending from 0:22:09

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

An exclusive SPOILER-FREE interview with Fear Street director Leigh Janiak. 
 
Listen to our Fear Street 1994 deep dive HERE.

Listen to our Fear Street 1978 deep dive HERE.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Writer and actor Isaura Barbé-Brown joins Anna to go deep and long on Jordan Peele's third feature, Nope (2022), which has just hit UK cinemas.

The first part of the conversation is SPOILER-FREE, and then from we got FULL SPOILERIFIC.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Part of our new series devoted to exploring the vampire in horror cinema, in this episode we dive deep into one of the most influential vampire films ever shot, F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror (1922) as well as the Werner Herzog-helmed reimagining Nosferatu, the Vampyre (1979).

Joining us is film critic and silent film specialist Pamela Hutchinson.

Nosferatu (1922) from 00:03:55
Nosferatu, the Vampyre (1979) from 00:23:00

This season is made possible with the support of Arrow Video. Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon. Subscribe to our newsletter for new, original writing on horror.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

New episode every Friday with a special guest to discuss a vampire film (or two). 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

This season is made possible with the support of Arrow Video. 

David Cronenberg has returned to the horror space with Crimes of the Future. We chatted to Alexandra Anger and Monica Pavez, the team behind the strange and beautiful prosthetics, as well as Cronenberg's longtime producer, Robert Lantos.

Both interviews are SPOILER-FREE. 

You can listen to a deep dive review of the film on our Patreon. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

In the first episode of our new season all about monsters, we talk the female-fronted sequels to the most iconic monster movies, Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Dracula’s Daughter (1936). 

I’m joined in this episode by writer Dr. Sabina Stent to discuss what makes The Bride so iconic, how Countess Valeska pioneered the 'troubled vampire' and more. 

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The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

The illustration of the cover is by Yas Aybar.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

A deep dive into how all tech horror roads lead back to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) and its most famous cinematic adaptation, James Whale's Frankenstein (1931) with film critic Clarisse Loughrey. 

New episode every Friday.

Follow us on Letterboxd to see what films we're covering.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

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Music: "Neon Alley" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

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The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring horror film history through a feminine lens.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Read Feeding the Monster

An exclusive (and spoiler-free!) interview with Longlegs writer-director Osgood Perkins.

Longlegs is out in UK cinemas from the 12th July. 

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Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus.

Music by "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content. 

Two very different groups of teens, two very different types of monsters in this horror-adjacent teen dream double-bill.

Joining us this week is The Independent Chief Film Critic Clarisse Loughrey to talk about what these two outliers have in common, the true horror of being a teenager, and the how these films have aged.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

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Grab tickets for our next event in London - a preview of TITANE - on 15 December. 

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Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

We're joined by presenter and writer Louise Blain to dive deep into all things mermaid, with the Polish horror musical The Lure (2015) and the atmospheric gothic horror The Siren (2019).

NOTE: Spoilers for The Lure begin from 0:17:06

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

The illustration of the cover is by Yas Aybar.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

To coincide with World Book Day, a bonus episode interview with the author of Plain Bad Heroines, Emily M. Danforth (The Miseducation of Cameron Post), out today in the UK!

Flo and Clara, two impressionable students, are obsessed with each other and with a daring young writer named Mary MacLane, the author of a scandalous bestselling memoir. To show their devotion to Mary, the girls establish their own private club and call it the Plain Bad Heroine Society. Described by its author as "Picnic at Hanging Rock + The Blair Witch Project x lesbians". 

We discuss Emily's love of horror, the films that inspired this book, Mary MacLane, unrealiable narrators, the burden of likeability and so much more. 

This interview is totally SPOILER-FREE. 

Plain Bad Heroines is out now in the UK.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Film critic Leila Latif returns to discuss the reimagining/requel of Evil Dead (2013) and M. Night Shyamalan's return to form with Split (2016). 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

A bonus exclusive interview with Romola Garai, writer/director of Amulet, out in UK cinemas now.

We talk about female anger, casting the film, fairytale and horror influences.

The first part of the interview is spoiler-free but there are spoilers from 00:12:33

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

In this episode, Bloody Women Editor Leila Latif joins us for a discussion on the original Friday the 13th - the one with Kevin Bacon, the one without Jason, the mommy of one of the biggest horror franchises.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

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Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Bloody Book Club, our monthly series of interviews with horror authors, welcomes Samantha Allen, author of the creature novel Patricia Wants to Cuddle.

We talk about the sasquatch figure, The Bachelor and the villains of reality TV, Samantha's move from journalism into fiction and much more. 

Patricia Wants to Cuddle is available in all bookshops. 

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Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus

Music: "Time to Leave" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Bloody Book Club, our monthly series of interviews with horror authors, welcomes Elle Nash, author of Deliver Me, Animals Eat Each Other, Gag Reflex and the short story collection Nudes.

We talk about the process of writing Deliver Me, getting inspiration from headlines, the Ozarks, writing about pregnancy and motherhood and so much more.

Deliver Me is out now. 

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Bloody Book Club, our monthly series of interviews with horror authors, welcomes Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb. 

The Lamb is the buzziest horror debut novel about a cannibal mother and daughter. Margot and Mama live by the forest, away from everyone else. When Margot isn’t at school, they spend quiet days together in their cottage, waiting for strangers to knock on their door. Mama feeds them, bathes them, and then – eats them. Lucy is an amazing new talent, writing short stories, making films and now, writing novels too. 

The Lamb is out on January 30th. 

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus

Music: "Time to Leave" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

A new mini-series dedicated to the influential book by Kier-la Janisse, House of Psychotic Women. Filmmakers Kane Senes and Hannah Barlow, co-directors of Sissy,  join Anna to discuss the lasting impact of Carrie, its influence Sissy and how they discovered their film was featured in the book.

→ Watch all the films featured in the book HERE.

→ Buy the expanded edition of House of Psychotic Women HERE.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Prince of Darkness" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

Part of our new series devoted to exploring the vampire in horror cinema, in this episode we jump ahead into the 1990s to celebrate the 25th anniversary of one of the most interesting, moodiest films about vampires ever made: Abel Ferrara's The Addiction (1995), starring Lili Taylor, Christopher Walken and Annabella Sciorra. 

Joining us in this episode is writer and curator Tara Judah.

This season is made possible with the support of Arrow Video. This week's pick from their vast catalogue is The Addiction, re-released just this year in a stunning 4K restoration.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon. Subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly dose of curated horror treats.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

The Witches (1990), Nicholas Roeg's adaptation of Roald Dahl's book, is traumatising af. A young boy and his grandmother as stumble onto a witch's convention. The witches are wicked and sadistic, and beneath their appearance as regular women are hideous, bald, toe-less creatures who hate children more than anything else. Their leader, the Grand High Witch (portrayed with maximum camp by Anjelica Huston) is the worst witch of them all.

I’m joined by the wicked smart Tara Judah, Cinema Producer at the Watershed in Bristol and frequent collaborator of The Final Girls, to dig into some of the reasons why this film, and Angelica Huston’s performance, really gets under your skin. 

We talk about Anjelica Huston's sexy, slinky and campy take on the Grand High Witch, the grotesque physicality of the witches, how this fits into Nicholas Roeg's other work and why it remains terrifying for both children AND adults. 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

First-time guest Meaghan Allen joins us to dive into a double bill of Internet horror: Unfriended (2014) and #Horror (2015).  

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Inspired by Prano Bailey-Bond's horror film Censor, The Final Girls present a mini-series dedicated to unpicking some of the many layers of this film and why it stuck with us.

In this third episode, Evolution of Horror host Mike Muncer and host Anna Bogutskaya discuss the context of the video nasties in 1980s Britain. Throughout the episode you'll hear from lead actress Niamh Algar, make-up and hair designer Ruth Pease and BBFC's Sarah Peacock.

The discussion is spoiler-free.

Censor This is produced by The Final Girls with the support of Vertigo Releasing. Edited by Olivia Graham. Music by Emilie Levienaise-Farrouch used with permission.

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The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Listen to our weekly horror film podcast.

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for new, original writing on horror.

When you think of slumber parties, you think of murder... right?

Joining us this week is podcaster Mary Wild to go deep on the feminist intentions of The Slumberparty Massacre, the similarities of the driller killer to BOB from Twin Peaks and its dark, dark humour. With a much less deep discussion on the musical psycho horror show that is The Slumberparty Massacre II and its leather daddy killer. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Bloody Book Club, our monthly series of interviews with horror authors, is back with special guest Alexandra West, talking about her new non-fiction book Gore-Geous: Personal Essays on Beauty and Horror, out now.

We talk about the process of choosing films to write about and the process of writing about yourself without giving too much away. 

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

A bonus exclusive interview with Mimi Cave, director of the dating horror film Fresh, out now on Disney+

We talk about the horrors of dating, pushing Sebastian Stan into the extreme, WTF moments in the script and bougie cannibals.

SPOILER WARNING: The first part of the interview is spoiler-free but there are spoilers from 00:XX:00

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

A bonus (and spoiler-ific) discussion about Longlegs, the most hyped about horror movie of the year, with podcaster Steph McKenna.

Longlegs is out in UK cinemas from the 12th July.

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus.

Music by "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content. 

The Faculty of Horror's Alexandra West joins Anna to discuss the brilliance of Creep (2014) and her own Peachfuzz-adjacent experience.

Join our Patreon for extra horror content including bonus reviews and a monthly horror book club.

Discover what films we're covering next on our Letterboxd.

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus.

Music by "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

In the penultimate episode of the series, we get into how hagsploitation turned to body horror, and ruined its characters in the process. We cover The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014), The Visit (2015), The Grandmother (2021), The Elderly (2022), Old People (2022), X (2022) and Barbarian (2022). With a special contribution from culture writer Billie Walker, who penned a great essay on the new hagsploitation that you can read here. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

***

Music: "Bloodlust" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio and @lofigeek

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Listen to our weekly horror film podcast.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content. 

A deep dive review of Mike Flanagan and Leah Fong's new Netflix horror series, The Midnight Club, with writer, broadcaster and our Flanaverse reporter Louise Blain.

Spoilers from 0:36:02

The Midnight Club is available to watch on Netflix now.

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Aughts horror scholar, writer and podcaster Jordan Crucchiola joins us for an impassioned defense of the lost grindhouse slasher All the Boys Love Mandy Lane (2006), which languished in distribution hell for years, followed by a gross-out discussion of Australian extreme prom nightmare The Loved Ones (2009), with features a rare instance of a 'final boy'!

TW: this episode contains graphic description of extreme violence and some discussion of incest.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Freudian cinephile and podcaster Mary Wild joins Anna to go from gross weird girl horror Excision (2012) to surprisingly wholesome zombie romcom Warm Bodies (2013).

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Film producer Jen Handorf makes her return to the podcast to discuss our most unhinged comedy-horror double-bill yet. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

A bonus episode interview with the author of Death of a Bookseller, Alice Slater. 

We discuss Alice's love of horror films, true crime fandom, unlikeable protagonists and the process of writing the book. 

There will be spoilers for the book in the last section of the book that are clearly signalled (spoilers from 00:33:51)

Death of a Bookseller is out now in the UK.

In this episode, we’re going to tackle a genuinely terrifying, creepy little film: The Autopsy of Jane Doe. Starring Emile Hirsch and Brian Cox as father-and-son coroners who experience supernatural phenomena while examining the body of an unidentified woman (hence the name Jane Doe) (played by Olwen Kelly). The more they uncover about Jane Doe, the spookier things get.

I’m joined in this episode by producer, presenter and podcaster Louise Blain, host of the Killt Podcast. We talk about the power of rituals, the compact nature of the film, the unmoving but uber-powerful protagonist, how it makes use of sound design and our own morbid curiosity and we pitch about twenty potential sequels and spin-offs to the film.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Film critic and friend of the pod Leila Latif makes a return to talk about two serial killing mothers: John Waters' Serial Mom (1994) and Alice Lowe's Prevenge (2016).

Join our Patreon for extra horror content including bonus reviews and a monthly horror book club.

Discover what films we're covering next on our Letterboxd.

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus.

Music by "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

In this episode, we’re looking at one of the most underseen films by the iconic director George A. Romero. We’ll be chatting about Season of the Witch (aka Jack’s Wife, aka Hungry Wives), Romero’s 1973 drama about an anxiety-ridden housewife (Jan White) who starts dabbling in the occult after meeting a real-life witch at a cocktail party.

It’s a strange, eerie film, really clearly influenced by the third wave feminist movement and also the witch-craze of the late 60s and 70s. There’s suburban ennui, occult rituals, sex magick - and, for the eagle-eyed viewer, a ton of elements that we’ve seen in later films, like The Craft.

Our guest this episode is broadcaster Rowena Alice (@Rowenaaaaa), who joins Anna to discuss the themes, feminist intentions, occult leanings and complicated relationship between the lead characters. 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Writer and actor Isaura Barbé-Brown returns to the pod to usher us into the new millennium, with the teen bloodfest that would spawn international controversy and countless imitations. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Actor and writer Isaura Barbé-Brown pops by to dissect one of the most iconic grifter/serial killers of page and screen: Tom Ripley.

Join our Patreon for extra horror content.

Discover what films we're covering next on our Letterboxd.

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus.

Music by "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Inspired by Emerald Fennell's revenge thriller Promising Young Woman, out in the UK on Sky Cinema, we present a mini-podcast dedicated to diving deep into the myriad of layers and themes of the film, written and directed by Emerald Fennell.

***

Writer/podcaster Jordan Crucchiola, writer, podcaster and filmmaker BJ Colangelo and The Final Girls co-founder Anna Bogutskaya discuss the divisive reaction to Promising Young Woman. Be warned: this episode is SPOILERIFIC from the very start.

Everyone has an opinion about this film. It's created huge cultural conversation. We discuss Cassie's rage, the choice to never show Nina, how the film is NOT a rape-revenge movie and how it tackles internalised misogyny and rape culture. 

TW: there is discussion of sexual assault and rape.

Jordan's thread collating all takes on Promising Young Woman can be found HERE

Read BJ's piece on the film's controversial ending HERE.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon. Subscribe to our newsletter for new, original writing on horror.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

In this episode, we discuss the lesser-known Hammer horror film The Witches (aka The Devil's Own), starring Joan Fontaine as an uptight English teacher who comes into the small town of Heddaby to teach at a private children's school run by local siblings Stephanie Bax (Kay Walsh), a well-known journalist, and Alan (Alec McCowen), a wannabe vicar. Very soon, Gwen starts getting inklings that things are not as they seem in the seemingly idyllic village.

The film is surprisingly conservative, and Anna is joined by Professor Marion Gibson to discuss its themes and legacy. It's a fascinating precursor to The Wicker Man, its elements of folk horror, witchcraft as intellectual ambition, trauma, elitism, stereotypes of older single women and dance horror. 

***
 
The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

We will be focusing this first series of our podcast on exploring all things witchcraft on film. Each episode, we will dive deep into films and TV shows that we can’t necessarily screen. Each episode, we’ll be joined with special guests to dissect and discuss a film or show, its legacy and the way witches are represented.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Our special guest this episode is Professor Marion Gibson, follow her on @witchesetc 

Anna and The Final Girls' contributors pick their favourite horror films of the year, presented in no particular order: 

00:01:33 Sorcha Ní Fhlainn on The Black Phone
00:06:40 Becky Darke on Bodies Bodies Bodies
00:09:33 Steph McKenna on Bones and All
00:12:56 Louise Blain on Deadstream
00:16:58 Leila Latif on Nope
00:23:54 Clarisse Loughrey on Crimes of the Future
00:29:53 Jordan Crucciola on X
00:36:40 Isaura Barbé-Brown on Barbarian
00:41:07 Mary Wild on Speak No Evil
00:43:41 Anna Bogutskaya on Huesera

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Film analyst and podcaster Mary Wild joins me to discuss one of the all-time great serial killer movies: Mary Harron's American Psycho (2000). We cover the film's journey and influence, from the adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' controversial novel to the memes and influencers inspired by it.

Join our Patreon for extra horror content including bonus reviews and a monthly horror book club. 

Discover what films we're covering next on our Letterboxd.

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus.

Music by "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

In this episode, we’re diving into Luca Guadagnino's remake of a witchy horror classic, Suspiria. 

The basic premise of the 2018 Suspiria is the same: young, naive dancer Suzy (here played by Dakota Johnson, a Guadagnino regular) arrives in late 70s Berlin to audition for the renowned Helena Markos Dance Company. She quickly nabs the lead dancer role in an upcoming performance, impressing the head of the school, Madame Blanc (Tilda Swinton) but her arrival coincides with the disappearance of another dancer. Meanwhile, an inquisitive psychotherapist and a member of the troupe uncover dark and sinister secrets of the dance company. 

Our guest this episode is film critic, writer, programmer and Suspiria-ologist Alexandra Heller-Nicholas (@suspirialex) to discuss the relationship between Fassbinder and Suspiria, dance horror, collectives of women, and the power dynamics between witches. 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

I’m joined in this episode by writer and Bloody Women columnist Isaura Barbé-Brown to dive deep into the heist-action-comedy-vampire flick From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) and we move into millenial horror with the underrated 30 Days of Night (2007).

From Dusk Till Dawn  from 00:08:23
30 Days of Night from 00:54:55

This season is made possible with the support of Arrow Video. Our pick this week is Audition, one of the most celebrated and controversial J-horrors ever made! You can also read Isaura's piece on it HERE.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon. Subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly dose of curated horror treats.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Writer and podcaster Jordan Crucchiola comes back to the podcast to deep dive into the female friendship between two serial killer teen girls in Tragedy Girls (2017). 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Vulture's TV critic and writer Roxana Hadadi joins Anna to discuss True Detective: Night Country in its entirety (spoilers from 00:41:00). 

Read Roxana's review of the show and her interview with showrunner Issa López.   

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

 A SPOILERIFIC deep dive into the first part of the Netflix horror trilogy, Fear Street 1994 with Isaura Barbé-Brown going over the nineties slasher inspirations, R.L. Stine's brand of teen horror, the gore, the multiple killers, the music and nostalgic aesthetics and our predictions for Fear Street 1978.  

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Actor and writer Isaura Barbé-Brown joins us again to discuss two films she's obsessed with, for very different reasons: Splice (2009) and Under the Skin (2013).

Digressions include: how to define a penis-poop monster.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon. 

We're joined by horror film writer and filmmaker Zena from Real Queen of Horror to discuss a double-bill of 1980s weirdness: Paul Schrader's erotic horror Cat People (1982) and the horror comedy Vamp (1986), with a knock out performance by Grace Jones.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

The illustration of the cover is by Yas Aybar.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

We're joined by writer and podcaster Louise Blain for a deep dive into the most anticipated horror series of the year: The Haunting of Bly Manor.The first part of the episode is spoiler free, and from 0:016:30 we will go into a spoilerific discussion.

Bright-eyed American au pair Dani Clayton is hired by a man to look after his niece and nephew at the family country house after they fall into his care. Arriving at the Bly estate, she begins to see apparitions that proceed to haunt the premises.

The Haunting of Bly Manor is streaming now on Netflix.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

The illustration of the cover is by Yas Aybar.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Happy Halloween!

To mark this spooky weekend, we bring  you the live podcast recording of our crossover Scream event with our pals Mike Muncer (Evolution of Horror) and Becky Darke (Don't Point That Horror at Me).

Don't miss our live-tweet of Censor at MUBI on Halloween 7PM GMT. You can get 30 days free of MUBI here: https://mubi.com/promos/thefinalgirls 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

Video-essayist Izzy Custodio joins the podcast to go deep on Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (1960) and friend of the pod and podcaster Becky Darke comes by to discuss the other serial killer movie of 1960, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960).

Discover what films we're covering on our Letterboxd.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

***

Music: "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Listen to our weekly horror film podcast.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content. 

An exclusive (and spoiler-free!) interview with The First Omen director Arkasha Stevenson.  The First Omen is out in UK cinemas now.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content. 

Our first episode of 2022 is a take on two... questionable bangers. 

Film critic Leila Latif joins us to take on Urban Legend (1998) and horror stoner comedy Idle Hands (1999) to figure out if they're as bad as we remember them being. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

In this episode, we go deep on two witch horror classics: Suspiria (1977) and Inferno (1980), both directed by Dario Argento.

Suspiria was the film that shot Argento to international fame, after it became an unexpected box office hit. It follows an an American ballet student, Susie (played by Jessica Harper) who transfers to a prestigious dance academy in Germany but realizes, after a series of brutal murders, realises that the academy is actually a cover-up for a coven of witches, all bowing down to the Mother Suspiriorum, aka the founder of the academy, Helena Markos. After the runaway success of Suspiria, Argento was tasked to deliver a follow-up. Inferno, released three years after Suspiria, provides a lot of backstory to the The Three Mothers, exploring how the three witches set up shop in Freiburg, Rome and New York City, where Inferno is set. Our protagonists are many, but mostly siblings Rose Elliot, a poet living in New York, and Mark, a student in Rome. When Rose disappears, Mark goes to the States to try to find out what happened to his sister, and encounters the Mother of Darkness, the most terrifying of the Three Mothers.

This episode our guest is The Independent's chief film critic, Clarisse Loughrey, and we discuss the sensorial appeal of Argento's work, his unique take on violence and fear, *that cat scene* in Inferno, the relationship between The Three Mothers and where their power comes from. 

***

To coincide with our season of films and events, Here Be Witches, we will be focusing this first series on exploring all things witchcraft on film. Each episode, we will dive deep into films and TV shows that we can’t necessarily screen. Each episode, we’ll be joined with special guests to dissect and discuss a film or show, its legacy and the way witches are represented.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Our special guest this episode is Clarisse Loughrey, find her on @clarisselou

In this episode, we’re going to tackle the third series of Ryan Murphy’s anthology horror series, American Horror Story: Coven. Starring screen legends Jessica Lange, Sarah Paulson, Kathy Bates, Angela Bassett and Murphy’s repertoire of actors, including Emma Roberts and Evan Peters, Coven is all about witches. Namely, a coven in New Orleans close to being eradicated and battling internal politics to do with its reigning supreme.There is also a resurrected serial killer, Madame LaLaurie (Kathy Bates), and the first screen incarnation of New Orleans legend, the voodoo queen Marie Laveu (Angela Bassett). 

I’m joined in this episode by film producer Jen Handorf to discuss the witchiness, narrative arcs, grotesque violence, male objectification, how it attempts to deal with difficult subjects, New Orleans as a character, issues of consent, the real-life inspirations behind some of the characters (including a lot of chat on Marie Laveau) and the one tender moment in the series. 

There's a lot. 

***

To coincide with our season of films and events, Here Be Witches, we will be focusing this first series on exploring all things witchcraft on film. Each episode, we will dive deep into films and TV shows that we can’t necessarily screen. Each episode, we’ll be joined with special guests to dissect and discuss a film or show, its legacy and the way witches are represented.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Our special guest this episode is Jen Handorf, find her on @JHandorf

A new mini-series dedicated to the influential book by Kier-la Janisse, House of Psychotic Women. In this first episode, a conversation between writer Sophie Monks Kaufman and lecturer and podcaster Mary Wild about discovering the book, the cinephile memoir, and what makes it, even ten years on, such a peerless piece of work.

→ Watch all the films featured in the book HERE.

→ Buy the expanded edition of House of Psychotic Women HERE. 

→ Attend the Matchbox Cine UK-wide tour HERE.

→ Read Sophie Monks Kaufman's interview with Kier-la HERE.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Prince of Darkness" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

Please indulge me in 5mins of self promotion because my new book is out today! Feeding the Monster: Why Horror Has a Hold on Us is out in bookshops and everywhere today.

Feeding the Monster is about horror films and feelings, a love letter to horror culture and an exploration of why horror has become the defining film genre of the last decade. If you like this podcast, you might like it.

Listeners get a 30% discount on Feeding the Monster on the Faber.co.uk website using promo code PODCAST30

Join our Patreon for extra horror content including bonus reviews and a monthly horror book club.

Discover what films we're covering next on our Letterboxd.

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus.

Music by "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

A bonus episode all about the most hyped about horror film of 2020, Saint Maud, written and directed by Rose Glass.

Maud is a reclusive young nurse whose impressionable demeanour causes her to pursue a pious path of Christian devotion after an obscure trauma. Now charged with the hospice care of Amanda, a retired dancer ravaged by cancer, Maud's fervent faith quickly inspires an obsessive conviction that she must save her ward's soul from eternal damnation, whatever the cost.

We're joined by film critic Kelli Weston for a deep dive into the film. The first part of the episode is spoiler free, and from 0:016:20 we will go into a spoilerific discussion. We touch on the themes of repression, the use of religious iconography, self-harm, voyeurism, loneliness and the voice of God. 

Following the discussion, from 1:14:00 you can hear my interview with writer-director Rose Glass and lead actor Morfydd Clark.

Digressions include: The Prince of Egypt inspires a spin-off podcast.  

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

The illustration of the cover is by Yas Aybar.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

A bonus episode discussing the new comedy-thriller-horror 12 Hour Shift, written and directed by Brea Grant.

Writer and presenter Louise Blain joins us for a SPOILER-FREE discussion of 12 Hour Shift. For the full, spoilerific discussion, you can head over to our Patreon.

In 12 Hour Shift, Mandy (Angela Bettis) finds herself one night beholden to a gang of organ-traffickers and when a kidney goes missing she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure these men get what they came for. 

12 Hour Shift is out now on VOD in the UK.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Part of our new series devoted to exploring the vampire in horror cinema, in this episode we dive into a double-bill of low budget vampires from two exploitation masters: Hershell Gordon Lewis' A Taste of Blood (1967) and Stephanie Rothman's The Velvet Vampire (1971).

Joining us in this episode is writer and podcaster Heather Drain to pay tribute to these inventive, dreamy and on occasion very funny takes on the vampire myth, vampire brandy, the backdrop of counterculture and the incredible fashion of The Velvet Vampire.

This season is made possible with the support of Arrow Video. This week's pick from their vast catalogues is H.G. Lewis' spatterfest Blood Feast.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon. Subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly dose of curated horror treats.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

The franchise is lead by a leather-clad Kate Beckinsale as the vampyre warrior Selene, who is part of the centuries-old feud between vampires and werewolves. This war might be coming to a head with the appearance of a man who might be able to unite the two monster clans by becoming a … vampire/werewolf/human hybrid. 

We're joined in this episode by the brilliant writer, presenter and podcaster Louise Blain, who gives her hilarious take onthe first three films in the franchise.  

 
This season is made possible with the support of Arrow Video. This week's pick is a campy, pun-filled horror comedy Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon for bonus episodes.

Subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly dose of curated horror treats.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Every single contributor to this series sends in their recommendation for a serial killer movie/TV show we have not covered on this series. Plus, Anna adds her own cheeky almost rans.

Join our Patreon for extra horror content including bonus reviews and a monthly horror book club.

Discover what films we're covering next on our Letterboxd.

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus.

Music by "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Part of our new series devoted to exploring the vampire in horror cinema, in this episode we dive deep into two 1970s entries into the very prolific subgenre of lesbian vampire films. The utterly unique Daughters of Darkness (1971) and the Spanish take on Carmilla The Blood Spattered Bride (1972)

Joining us in this episode is editor-in-chief of Diabolique Magazine, author and film critic Kat Ellinger, who has written a whole book on Daughters of Darkness.

 Daughters of Darkness (1971) from 00:04:51 (spoilers from 00:24:38)
The Blood Spattered Bride (1972) from 00:56:16

This season is made possible with the support of Arrow Video. This week's pick from their vast catalogue is Richard Kelly's Southland Tales.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon. Subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly dose of curated horror treats.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

In this episode, we’re going to be discussing Sam Raimi’s comedy horror Drag Me To Hell in depth. Our protagonist is the young loan officer Christine (played by Alison Lohman), who, in order to prove to her boss that she can make the "hard decisions", chooses not to extend an elderly woman's mortgage. In retaliation, the woman, who turns to be a witch by the name of Mrs. Ganush, places a curse on Christine that, after three days of escalating torment, will plunge her into the depths of Hell to burn for eternity. The film follows Christine’s frantic attempts to rid herself of the curse, and her constant, increasingly violent persecution by otherworldly creatures

Anna is joined this episode by Mary Wild, the creator of the Projections lecture series, applying psychoanalysis to film interpretation, and the co co-host of the Projections Podcast with Sarah Cleaver. We go deep on different readings of Drag Me To Hell, from its gross-out effects, the body horror, how it portrays female ambition, trauma and insecurity, pathologies, body image, whether Mrs. Ganush is a witch (spoiler alert: yes), and PornHub as curated by Barbara Creed. 

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To coincide with our season of films and events, Here Be Witches, we will be focusing this first series on exploring all things witchcraft on film. Each episode, we will dive deep into films and TV shows that we can’t necessarily screen. Each episode, we’ll be joined with special guests to dissect and discuss a film or show, its legacy and the way witches are represented.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Our special guest this episode is Mary Wild, find her on @psycstar

Anna Biller's film centers on Elaine (Samantha Robinson), a beautiful young witch, is determined to find a man to love her. In her Gothic Victorian apartment she makes spells and potions, and then picks up men and seduces them. However, her spells work too well, leaving her with a string of hapless victims. When she finally meets the man of her dreams, her desperation to be loved will drive her to the brink of insanity and murder. 

I’m joined in this episode by Inkoo Kang, TV critic at The Hollywood Reporter. We talk about Elaine  as a protagonist who doesn't know she's the villain of her own story, the questionable coven, witchdom, gender politics, and where this film falls in the genre spectrum.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Part of our new series devoted to exploring the vampire in horror cinema, we go deep on two cinematic adaptations of Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles. 

First up, Neil Jordan's 1994 adaptation of Interview with the Vampire is a gothic masterpiece that has influenced counteless vampire films since. We also discuss its unfortunate sequel, Queen of the Damned, which came in 2007 starring Stuart Townsend as the vampire Lestat and Aaliyah as Akasha, the titular Queen of the Damned. 

Joining us in this episode is film critic Kelli Weston. We discuss the themes of Interview with the Vampire, the softboi energy of Louis, the monstrosity of Claudia the child vampire and the queer reading of the film.

Be warned: the section on Queen of the Damned includes dramatic readings of Lestat's band's lyrics.
 
Interview with the Vampire from 00:08:07
Queen of the Damned from 1:11:21

This season is made possible with the support of Arrow Video. This week's pick from their vast catalogue an underrated contemporary gothic horror Crimson Peak. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon for bonus episodes. Subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly dose of curated horror treats.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

We're joined by podcaster and writer Becky Darke to discuss in detail the brand new horror film, and the first-ever Zoom horror, Host (2020).

Six friends get together during lockdown for their weekly zoom call. It's Haley’s turn to organise an activity and instead of a quiz, she’s arranged for a Medium to conduct a séance

Host is streaming now on Shudder.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

The illustration of the cover is by Yas Aybar.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Actor and writer Isaura Barbé-Brown goes deep on two quietly distressing films: 10 Rillington Place (1971), which dramatises the real-life murderer John Christie, and the much-acclaimed Spoorloos (1988), a Dutch horror film that was dubbed by Stanley Kubrick to be the "most terrifying film" he'd ever seen. PLUS a little spoilery rant about the American remake The Vanishing (1993).

Discover what films we're covering next on our Letterboxd.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

***

Artwork: Ewa Ferdynus.

Music: "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Listen to our weekly horror film podcast.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content. 

Noted found footage defends MaryBeth McAndrews joins me to discuss the serial killer mockumentary double bill: Belgian extreme horror Man Bites Dog (1992) and love letter to slasher films Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006).

Join our Patreon for extra horror content including bonus reviews and a monthly horror book club.

Discover what films we're covering next on our Letterboxd.

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus.

Music by "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

In this episode, we're doing something different, and tackling a real-life horror: the Slender Man, the Internet's first boogeyman, the real-life attempted murder it inspired, perpetrated by two girls and the media storm that followed. Writer and broadcaster Louis Blain joins us to discuss the real life case, the ill-advised horror film Slenderman (2018) and the true crime documentary Beware the Slenderman (2016) that followed.

Read Kathleen Hale's article on the case in Hazzlitt.

CW: we discuss the Slenderman stabbings in graphic detail 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

We're joined by writer and podcaster Becky Darke to dive into the 2007 horror-comedy Teeth, in which teenage chastity advocate Dawn discovers she has a toothed vagina (the real-life incarnation of the 'vagina dentata' myth) when she becomes the object of male violence. 

Digressions include: WAP, Whitby and severed penises. 

100% NSFW 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

The illustration of the cover is by Yas Aybar.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Podcaster Steph McKenna joins Anna to go deep on The Cabin in the Woods, meta-horror, horror puzzles and mermen. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

The monstrous spirit of a slain child murderer Freddy Krueger seeks revenge by invading the dreams of teenagers whose parents were responsible for his untimely death.

Joining us this week is film critic, author and scholar Dr. Sorcha Ní Fhlainn to go into the gore, dream logic of Wes Craven's masterpiece, how Nancy stands out from other final girls and what exactly makes Freddy Krueger so terrifying.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

→ Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated horror treats and original writing on horror.

The one where we cover the release and fallout of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) and the making of Hush...Hush...Sweet Charlotte (1964).

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

***

Music: "Bloodlust" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio and @lofigeek

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Listen to our weekly horror film podcast.

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content. 

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Our first episode dives into the themes, teen goth aesthetic and legacy of The Craft (1996), starring Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell, Rachel True and Robin Tunney. Anna is joined by Ione Gamble, editor-in-chief of Polyester Magazine, to talk about the group dynamics of the coven, the problematics of Manon, fuckboy #1 Chris Hooker, and why Nancy Downs remains a bastion of weirdness for teenage girls everywhere.

***

To coincide with our season of films and events, Here Be Witches, we will be focusing this first series on exploring all things witchcraft on film. Each episode, we will dive deep into films and TV shows that we can’t necessarily screen. Each episode, we’ll be joined with special guests to dissect and discuss a film or show, its legacy and the way witches are represented.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Explore the Here Be Witches programme here

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Our special guest this episode is Ione Gamble, follow her work on @ionegamble and @polyesterzine

Our main vampire season might be over, but we've got a couple of bonus episodes yet to come.

Actor and writer Isaura Barbé-Brown joins us for a celebration of the trashy, bloody and extremely horny vampire show True Blood. In first parter we cover, roughly, True Blood seasons 1-4. 

Digressions include: an attempted defence of Vampire Bill's accent, Eric's hair drama, the Skarsgaard Stare and Alcide and Jason fanfic. 

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon. Subscribe to our newsletter for new, original writing on horror.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

This episode discusses two gorgeous, Gothic Hammer Horror classics: The Gorgon (1964) and The Reptile (1966).

Writer Kat Ellinger joins us to dive deep into where these films sit in the Hammer canon, the special effects, Gothic settings, why female monsters always need to be tortured, and what is it about snake-women. 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

The illustration of the cover is by Yas Aybar.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Today, we take a little detour from our series dedicated to exploring witches onscreen to bring you a bonus episode about the new film by writer-director Leigh Whannell (Saw, Insidious, Upgrade). 

The first part of the episode features podcaster Becky Darke (@bunnydarke) on how The Invisible Man updates a classic monster, we gush about Elisabeth Moss, and how tension is built from the first moment. The first part of the conversation will be spoiler-free and we'll make it clear when the spoiler-chat begins! 

In the second part of the episode you’ll hear my interview with writer-director Leigh Whannell. You can skip to that at 0:46:50 

The Invisible Man is released in UK cinemas on Friday 28 February.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

An exclusive and spoilerific interview with Longlegs, Urban Legend and Twin Peaks actor Alicia Witt.

Longlegs is is now available on DVD, blu-ray and digital.

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus.

Music by "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content. 

An exclusive (and spoiler-free!) interview with The Watched director Ishana Night Shyamalan.  The Watched is out in UK cinemas from 7th June.

***

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

Artwork by Ewa Ferdynus.

Music by "Erebus" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio.

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

→ Support us on Patreon for bonus content. 

We're diving into a childhood favourite and campy classic Hocus Pocus, from 1993. 

The devious Sanderson Sisters (a trio of witches, played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimi) return from the grave to continue their quest for immortality. The Sandersons were burnt at the stake in the 17th century because of their penchant for, ahem, sucking the lifeforce of children to remain forever young, beautiful and powerful. They come back from the grave in the 1990s, where a scrappy gang of kids, including a magical, talking cat, take it upon themselves to stop the coven. There’s also a musical number because, you know, Bette Midler. 

In this episode, I welcome not one but two esteemed guests: film critic and broadcaster Tara Judah, and Thea Berry, Cinema Producer at the Watershed in Bristol and curator of the film season Reclaiming The Witch, which played at the Watershed last year.

We talk about the terrifying make-up of the Sanderson sisters, the campiness versus the creepiness, how witches are  hate children, *that* musical number, and the things that terrified us about witches as children.

***

To coincide with our season of films and events, Here Be Witches, we will be focusing this first series on exploring all things witchcraft on film. Each episode, we will dive deep into films and TV shows that we can’t necessarily screen. Each episode, we’ll be joined with special guests to dissect and discuss a film or show, its legacy and the way witches are represented.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Our special guests this episode are Tara Judah, follow her on @midnightmovies, and Thea Berry, who is on @theaberry4

In this fourth series, we'll be regressing and reliving the bloody, broody and horny moments of our teenage years through horror films. 

New episode every Friday with a special guest to discuss a teen horror (or two).

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

***

Music: "The Shape" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio and "Trouble in Woodsboro" by Marco Beltrami

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism, founded by Anna Bogutskaya and Olivia Howe.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Listen to our weekly horror film podcast.

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

In the first episode of our new season all about monsters, we talk about The Island of lost Souls (1932) and Cat People (1942). These two films make for a wicked double bill of cat-themed horror. 

I’m joined in this episode by Dr. Alison Peirse, author and professor specialised in horror cinema, to discuss Panther Women, cat-themed horror and how these films tackle female sexuality. 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

The illustration of the cover is by Yas Aybar.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Merry Christmas everyone!

It’s Christmas Day, and we’re jumping away for a second from our regular programming to discuss a modern classic, Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), a start-studded batshit masterpiece, one of the most faithful adaptations of Bram Stoker’s novel, a fever dream of a gothic horror that has a timeless love story at its heart. 

I’m joined in this episode by two extraordinary guests: writer and actor Isaura Barbé-Brown and writer and podcaster Becky Darke for a jumbo-sized episode about this batshit masterpiece with off the charts levels of intensity in every single aspect, from the performances to the design.  

This season is made possible with the support of Arrow Video. This week's pick from their vast catalogue is David Cronenberg's Crash, re-released just this year in a lucious 4K restoration.

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya. 

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon. Subscribe to our newsletter for a weekly dose of curated horror treats.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe 

Happy Oscars Weekend to all those who celebrate. As always, horror is nowhere to be seen amongst the nominees. So we've decided to take matters into our own hands... and host our very own HORROR OSCARS, including similar amounts of chaos.

The hilarious and smart friends of the pod Becky Darke and Isaura Barbé-Brown join Anna to nominate and award the best horror films of the year.

00:00:00 State of horror in 2023 and why the Oscars hate genre movies
00:19:07 Best Original Screenplay 
00:33:17 Best Supporting Actress
00:49:27 Best Supporting Actor
01:00:31 Best Sequel/Requel/Remake/Adaptation
01:27:19 Best Actress
01:40:00 Best Actor
01:51:24 The John Kramer Award for Pettiest Villain
02:05:05 Best Director
02:20:14 Best Picture

Produced and presented by Anna Bogutskaya

***

Music: "Slasher" by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio

***

The Final Girls is a weekly podcast exploring the history of horror film.

→ Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

→ Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

→ Support us on Patreon.

We're joined by writer Leila Latif to dig deep into some of the ideas in The Girl with All the Gifts (2016), a British zombie film that came at the tail-end of zombie fatigue.

Digressions include: babies grow nails in the womb, monsters we can emphasise with and who's the real protagonist of Trouble Every Day.

***

The Final Girls are a UK-based film collective exploring the intersections of horror film and feminism.

Find out more about our projects here: thefinalgirls.co.uk

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Support us on Patreon.

The illustration of the cover is by Yas Aybar.

Follow Anna on @annabdemented and Olivia is on @livihowe