The Horror Double Bill
Welcome to The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair classic and modern horror films to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Inspired by the legendary BBC2 horror double bills of the 1970s and 1980s, each week we discuss two films that share twisted themes, unsettling atmospheres, or strange connections
From the shadowy corridors of black and white classics to the paranoia-fueled chaos of the 21st-century, we take a deep dive into what makes these films memorable and the social context in which they were made. Expect discussions on film history, censorship, director profiles, folklore, and cultural anxieties.
Subscribe for unexpected pairings, and a celebration of horror as a feeling not just a genre.
New episodes every Sunday.
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The Horror Double Bill
Episode 15: Sleep Tight (2011) & Them (2006)
Episode 15: Sleep Tight (2011) & Them (2006): There's no place like home.....
Welcome to episode 15 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two films to create something greater than the sum of their parts.
This week we are exploring the horrors that lurk in the home, with two movies that depict our safest spaces as places of threat, terror and murder. First up with have Jaume Ballaguero’s Spanish psychological thriller Sleep Tight from 2011, a highly disturbing character study of a malignant building custodian and the lengths to which he will go to achieve true happiness. Then we head over to Romania for Them from directing duo David Moureau and Xavier Palud, a French co-production from 2006 that pre-dates The Strangers in its depiction of a young couple terrorised by a home invasion.
Both films are nightmarish slices of Euro horror that crank up the tension and dismantle the notion of home being a sanctuary, exploiting the helplessness of their central characters. And despite being made 15 to 20 years ago, both also feed into modern anxieties about isolation, class, power imbalance and the fragility of what we call society. They also quite literally present very different perspectives – one through the lens of the perpetrator and the other through the eyes of the victims.
Along the way we’ll be discussing the origins of home invasion horror, silent movie director Lois Weber, the career of director Jaume Ballageuro, new French extremity cinema and much much more.
References:
Sleep Tight
Spanish Horror Film by Antonio Lazzaro Reboll
The Spanish Fantastic by Shelagh Rowan Legg.
https://diariodevenusville.com/festival-de-sitges-2011-mientras-duermes-rueda-jaume-balaguero-luis-tosar/
https://diariodevenusville.com/festival-de-sitges-2011-mientras-duermes-entrevista-jaume-balaguero/
https://diariodevenusville.com/festival-de-sitges-2011-mientras-duermes-entrevista-luis-tosar/
https://diariodevenusville.com/festival-de-sitges-2011-mientras-duermes-entrevista-marta-etura/
https://www.moviemuser.co.uk/2013/02/28/luis-tosar-interview-chatting-with-the-star-of-sleep-tight/
https://www.milanacine.es/alberto-marini-10-anos-mientras-duermes/
https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/1184755/0/jaume-balaguero/mientras-duermes/sitges-2011/
Them
Behind the Scenes of Them: available on the blu ray special edition form Umbrella Entertainment.
Films of the New French Extremity by Alexandra West
https://www.ecranlarge.com/films/interview/901002-david-moreau-xavier-palud-ils
https://www.ecranlarge.com/films/interview/901003-olivia-bonamy-michael-cohen-ils
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980s%E2%80%931990s_Romanian_orphans_phenomenon?utm_source=chatgpt.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_Underground?utm_source=chatgpt.com
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