The Film Comment Podcast: Halloween Hangover 2023

It’s once again that time of year when ghosts, ghouls, and goblins are on the prowl. That’s right: it’s Halloween. And as much as we are scared to admit it, that means it’s also time for another Halloween Hangover episode of the Film Comment Podcast, where co-editors Devika Girish and Clinton Krute confront one of their greatest fears—horror movies—with the help of some masters of the macabre.

For this year’s festivities, they invited two horror experts to inflict some fear—FC contributor Nicholas Russell, and Clyde Folley, curator of the ’90s Horror series currently haunting the Criterion Channel. The two selected a pair of freaky favorites: Abel Ferrara’s Body Snatchers, an early-’90s remake of the classic sci-fi chiller, and Michael Powell’s 1960 serial killer masterpiece, Peeping Tom. Where Powell’s film lived up to its reputation as an endlessly fascinating text, rich with commentary on the inherent violence of visual culture, Ferrara’s streamlined variation on an oft-told tale opened up surprising questions about identity, family, and conformity. Listen to the end for some bonus, bone-chilling picks!