Episode 23: Southern Comfort (1981) & The Descent (2005) Artwork

The Horror Double Bill

Welcome to The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts.

Inspired by the legendary BBC2 horror double bills of the 1970s and 1980s, each week we discuss two films that share themes, atmosphere, directors or creators to explore what they say about the time they were made and our fears in the present.

Expect discussions on film and social history, folklore, censorship, cultural anxieties, and a love of horror in all its forms.

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The Horror Double Bill

Episode 23: Southern Comfort (1981) & The Descent (2005)

October 26, 2025 • Craig Johnson • Season 1 • Episode 23

Welcome to episode 23 of the Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we combine two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts

This week we are exploring the great outdoors with two films that fall into the sub genre of backwoods horror, though to be fair the second one is more backwoods adjacent

First up we wade through the swamps of Louisiana with Southern Comfort from 1981 and director Walter Hill, starring Keith Carradine, Powers Booth, Fred Ward, and Peter Coyote. Then we travel to 2005 and the Appalachian Mountains with The Descent from director Neil Marshall, starring Shauna MacDonald, Natalie Mendoza, Akex Reid and Myanna Buring.

Along the way we’ll be discussing the origins of the back woods horror sub-genre, exploring some of the classic and if we’re honest not so classic entries, discussing the career of Walter Hill, debating whether Southern Comfort is an allegory for the Vietnam war and much much more.

Sources & References

Introduction and both movies

The Rural Gothic in American Popular Culture Backwoods Horror and Terror in The Wilderness by Bernice M Murphy

The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Gothic Volume 1 edited by Clive Bloom

Southern Comfort

interviews, commentaries and documentaries that can be found on the Vinegar Syndrome special edition blu-ray release of the film

Men, Women and Chainsaws by Carol J Clover

https://thequietus.com/culture/film/film-southern-comfort-walter-hill-40-anniversary/

https://brightlightsfilm.com/human-frailty-swallowed-whole-on-walter-hills-southern-comfort-1981/

https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56697

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Hill

https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56697