The Horror Double Bill – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Episode One: La Cabina (1974) and El Bar (2017) - claustrophobia and paranoia in Madrid

Welcome to the debut episode of The Horror Double Bill, a podcast that celebrates horror in all its unsettling, uncanny, and occasionally absurd forms. Inspired by the BBC2 double bills of the 1970s and early ’80s, each week we pair two films that share themes, tones, or a peculiar sense of dread that lingers long after the credits roll. 

This week, we descend into the claustrophobic madness of Spanish horror with Antonio Mercero’s eerie TV classic La Cabina and Álex de la Iglesia’s explosive ensemble thriller El Bar. We talk BBC horror double bills, the Spanish civil war, Franco-era censorship, the golden age of spanish horror, urban paranoia,  and why no respectable Spanish man would eve  let himself become a werewolf. 

New episodes every Sunday.

you can watch La Cabina here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H1_p6B4Ugo 

main sources used for this episode 

The Spanish Fantastic: Contemporary Filmmaking in Horror, Fantasy and Sci-fi by Shelagh Rowan Legg 
The Spanish Horror Film By Antonio Lazaro-Reboll 
Sex, Sadism, Spain and Cinema by Nicholas G Schlegel 

Spanish Civil War resources:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLH4to6F_MKfJGJf_4mSL_Xh6fVhHe86tB&si=Z-MPyHj13KBqbdVr
https://youtu.be/hjr3LrgqnuQ?si=t_SXOl99acunLple

La Cabina resources:
La Cabina Creating Horror from the absurd by Amyus: https://the-artifice.com/la-cabina/

El Bar resources: 
https://anthemmagazine.com/living-legends-alex-de-la-iglesia/
https://cineuropa.org/en/interview/322757/
https://variety.com/2014/film/festivals/alex-de-la-iglesia-preps-my-big-night-and-the-bar-for-2015-1201374693/
https://youtu.be/EHNCNth6jxw?si=oJGPvoDd7zjNRh-7
https://youtu.be/EzwlBGDsffw?si=eusjzlk-VyfE2EYg

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artwork by Justin Parker 
📸 jpkr_illustration

The Horror Double Bill Episode Three: Frightmare (1974) & Possum (2018) British suburban gothic, moral outrage, and the horror of family values.

This week on The Horror Double Bill, we’re digging into the unsettling world of British horror with a pairing that’s as psychologically disturbing as it is politically charged: Frightmare (1974), directed by Pete Walker, and Possum (2018), the bleakly brilliant debut from Matthew Holness.

Join us as we chew over themes of madness, repression, and inherited trauma, exploring how these two films capture a peculiarly British horror – one rooted in decaying institutions, Victorian legacies, and a deep distrust of the family unit. We also cast a critical eye on 1970s Britain, from Mary Whitehouse and the Festival of Light to the eerie legacy of public information films and the uncanny weirdness of kids’ TV.

Subscribe for more deep-dive horror analysis each week.

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artwork by Justin Parker 
📸 jpkr_illustration

A Gun for George by Matthew Holness: https://youtu.be/Fq0xt_gbVH0?si=EV_TxxWEVeUf-GB2

Sources used for this episode:

Frightmare:

• Making Mischief: The Cult Films of Pete Walker by Steve Chibnall
• English Gothic: Classic Horror Cinema 1897–2015 by Jonathan Rigby
• Nightmare Movies by Kim Newman
https://youtu.be/nrJNpitX-Fc?si=5PNxx36KdpSNFpGQ
https://youtu.be/1Rn3t0CsIiU?si=dUCwoXYBdwo7LRRX
https://youtu.be/L2nGhSZRXRE?si=-ppxESgGEmOsi87g
https://youtu.be/O2piqstEaTI?si=H-XOt-pnyZ-KwL2j
https://youtu.be/oswUssXzFlY?si=xR4owVtVEO5TyUTL

Possum:

• Film4 (2018) Interview with Matthew Holness
• Essay: “Waking up, is it?”: Childhood Trauma, Repression, and Freud’s Uncanny in POSSUM (Father, Son, and Holy Gore, by C. H. Newell) : fathersonholygore.com/2019/04/10/essay-waking-up-is-it-childhood-trauma-repression-and-freuds-uncanny-in-possum/#:~:text=He%20uses%20the%20Uncanny%20to,if%20that's%20at%20all%20possible.
https://youtu.be/c8Hkh1yYX7g?si=J4aSRI2hC-64FUtM
https://youtu.be/_BskDyQra1o?si=RzXkltifcbv8x7Ad

#cultcinema #britishhorror #1970shorror #petewalker #possum #frightmare #exploitationmovies  #horror #podcast

The Horror Double Bill Episode 2: The Leopard Man (1943) & Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971) Guilt, madness and the Italian Giallo

Welcome to The Horror Double Bill, where horror is a feeling, not just a genre.

In this episode, we delve into The Leopard Man (1943), a moody psychological thriller from producer Val Lewton. Then we leap into the stylised paranoia of Dario Argento’s Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)

We explore the legacy of Val Lewton’s “suggestive horror,” the evolution of giallo cinema, and how both films capture dread through style, sound, and suggestion.

Subscribe for more horror pairings, cult film deep dives, and a bit of film history

Sources used for this episode:

The Leopard Man:

Dreams of Darkness by J.P. Telotte
Val Lewton: The Reality of Terror by Joel E. Siegel
Icons of Grief: Val Lewton’s Home Front Pictures by Alexander Nemerov. 
Fear: The Autobiography of Dario Argento

Four Flies on Grey Velvet

Four Flies on Grey Velvet by Luigi Cozzi
Broken Mirrors, Broken Minds by Maitland McDonagh
Dario Argento: The Man, the Myths & the Magic by Alan Jones.

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artwork by Justin Parker 
📸 jpkr_illustration

#HorrorPodcast #TheLeopardMan #FourFliesOnGreyVelvet #Giallo #DarioArgento #ValLewton #ClassicHorror #PsychologicalThriller #HorrorDoubleBill #FilmAnalysis #CultCinema

Episode Six: Night of the Eagle (1962) & The Devil Rides Out (1968). Must be the season of the witch......

Welcome to The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where we combine two films, and fall down several rabbit holes, to create something greater than the sum of its parts.

First up is Night of the Eagle, from 1962, released in the US as Burn Witch Burn, in which professional rivalries on a college campus spill over into something far more primal and far more ancient. We follow that with my favourite hammer movie, The Devil Rides Out from 1968, which was released in the US as The Devil’s Bride, in which Christopher Lee, rather unusually representing the forces of good, battles for the soul of a young friend against the power of darkness. 

Along the way we will be discussing the rise of interest in the occult in the 1960s, changing attitudes in British censorship, the career and work of Richard Matheson, the life of notorious occultist and the ‘wickedest man in the world’ Alistair Crowley, and more.

Sources:

Background:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/25/richard-matheson
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/richard-matheson-dead/2013/06/24/7c1bc0f6-dd38-11e2-9844-8979d66cdd71_story.html
https://variety.com/2013/film/news/richard-matheson-dies-at-87-1200505071/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Matheson
https://www.mopop.org/science-fiction-fantasy-hall-of-fame/inductees/richard-matheson/
English gothic classic horror cinema 1897 to 2015 by Jonathan Rigby

Night of the Eagle:

Audio commentary and special features on the special edition Blu-ray release of Night of the Eagle from Imprint films 
https://www.bostonmovienews.com/burn-witch-burn-revival
https://www.blackgate.com/2014/02/15/lust-women-and-the-devil-seven-decades-of-conjure-wife
PeterWyngard.uk

The Devil Rides Out:

Various features from the Criterion Blu Ray release of The Devil Rides Out, including cast commentaries and the documentary “Black Magic The Making of the Devil Rides Out’ Devil is a Gentleman: The Life and Times of Dennis Wheatley by Phil Baker
Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company by Howard Maxford
The Hammer Story: The Authorised History of Hammer Films by Marcus Hearn and Alan Barnes
Hammer And Beyond: The British Horror Film by Peter HutchingsA History of Magic – Richard Cavendish
Aleister Crowley: The Biography – Tobias Churton
“The Neverendingly Occulted Aleister Crowley” – Marco Pasi, Numen
https://www.bl.uk/people/aleister-crowley
https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/aleister-crowley/zvjvscw

Episode 5: The House with Laughing Windows (1976) and Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) : Rural Giallo, Postwar Italy, and the Haunted Landscape

In this episode of The Horror Double Bill, we journey deep into the unsettling beauty of the Italian countryside to explore The House with Laughing Windows (1976) and Don’t Torture a Duckling (1972). These two standout examples of rural gialli capture a nation in flux—reflecting the tension, suspicion, and isolation brought about by post-war migration from the south to the north of Italy.

We unpack the social, cultural, and historical upheaval that followed World War II, as Italy’s rural communities were transformed by internal migration, superstition, and deepening class divides. 

Expect thematic analysis, behind-the-scenes details, historical research, and a deep dive into how horror can expose the fractures in national identity.

References & Sources used for this episode:

Books

So Deadly, So Perverse by Troy Howarth
La Dolce Morte : Vernacular Cinema and the Italian Giallo by Mikel J Koven
Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1970–1979 by Roberto Curti
Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci by Stephen Thrower
Milking the Moon by Eugene Walter
The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Gothic edited by Clive Bloom

articles

https://brightlightsfilm.com/brutal-nobility-painting-death-house-laughing-windows-pupi-avati-1976/

Blu Rays

Don't Torture a Duckling Arrow video special edition blu ray - interviews and commentary
The House with Laughing Windows Shamless Entertainment special edition DVD - interview with Pupi Avati

 #cultcinema #giallo #horrorpodcast #1970shorror #cinephile #classichorror #darioargento #eurohorror #luciofulci #pupiavati #eurohorror #europeanhorror #1970shorror

🔗 Subscribe for new episodes every Sunday, and follow us on social media for more horror history, film theory, and obscure recommendations.

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Episode 4 – The Horror Double Bill: And Soon the Darkness (1970) & The Hitcher (1986)

In this episode of The Horror Double Bill, we explore two chilling roadbound nightmares that turn travel into terror. First, we examine And Soon the Darkness (1970), a sun-drenched British thriller where isolation in the French countryside gives way to dread. Then, we dive into The Hitcher (1986), a haunting, nihilistic American horror-thriller in which a lone driver picks up far more than he bargained for on the open road.

Both films use beautiful yet empty landscapes to generate feelings of isolation, and in this episode  we discuss the use of space, cinematography, casting, and production stories, as well as the original critical reception and later re-evaluation of both films.

sources used for this episode:

And Soon the Darkness 

StudioCanal Blu-ray (2021 edition): 
https://www.studiocanal.com/ 

British Film Institute (BFI): 
https://www.bfi.org.uk/features/and-soon-darkness-daylight-thriller

Little White Lies retrospective: 
https://lwlies.com/articles/and-soon-the-darkness-1970-retrospective/

Film Stories article: 
https://filmstories.co.uk/features/and-soon-the-darkness-1970-british-thriller/

Hammer and Beyond blog: 
https://hammerandbeyond.blogspot.com/2012/06/and-soon-darkness-1970.html

Newspaper archives: The Guardian, The Times, The New York Times, 

The Hitcher 

The Hitcher (1986) – Second Sight Films 4K UHD Blu-ray Special Features (2024) : Interviews with Robert Harmon, Eric Red, C. Thomas Howell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mark Isham, and John Seale:

https://secondsightfilms.co.uk/

"The Hitcher - How do these films get made" - feature included in the Momentum special edition DVD release. 

Chris Broughton, “How we made chiller classic The Hitcher,” The Guardian, Oct 7, 2024:
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/oct/07/rutger-hauer-chiller-classic-the-hitcher-thomas-howell

Roger Ebert, “The Hitcher,” Chicago Sun-Times review, 1986
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-hitcher-1986#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThe%20Hitcher%E2%80%9D%20grants%20the%20Hauer,movie%20is%20diseased%20and%20corrupt.

Newsweek review by Jack Kroll (quoted in Los Angeles Times, 1986)
Daily Variety & The Hollywood Reporter reviews (1986), quoted in Los Angeles Times

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-02-23-ca-10847-story.html

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Welcome to episode 12 of the horror double bill the podcast where each week we combine 2 films to create something far greater than the sum of their parts.

This week we are exploring the horrors of the old dark house, and the enduring influence of its many tropes on horror cinema.  

First up is The Cat and the Canary from 1939 — a horror comedy starring Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, George Zucco, and Gail Sondergaard. Then we head back to Spain for The Corruption of Chris Miller  a twisted psychological thriller from 1973 starring Jean Seberg, Marisol, and Barry Stokes.

Both films explore the familiar tropes of the quintessential Old Dark House movie — isolated settings, threatened heroines, power outages, and deranged killers. But while the first takes a lighter, meta commentary and comedic approach, the second leans into something far darker and psychosexual. Along the way we’ll be discussing the origins of the subgenre, the career of Juan Antonio Bardem, and also taking a closer look at the lives and careers of, Gale Sondergaard, Paulette Goddard, Marisol, and Jean Seberg, four actresses whose lives were shaped in very different ways by state surveillance, government oppression, and the systemic abuse of power. 

Socials

IG: @thehorrordoublebill

email: thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com

Artwork by Justin Parker:

instagram: @jpkr_illustration

Sources: Introduction & The Cat and the Canary

Silentfilm.org, 

American Gothic six decades of classic horror cinema by Jonathon Rigby

charliechaplin.com

ladailymirror.com

starsandletterblogspot.com 

https://broadcast41.uoregon.edu/biography/sondergaard-gale#:~:text=In%201951%2C%20she%20was%20subpoenaed,%2C%20un%2DAmerican%20woman.%E2%80%9D&text=1Gale%20Sondergaard%2C%20%E2%80%9CWe%20Speak,August%201951%2C%207%2D8.

https://youtu.be/JXwHouiznKA?si=cArp5DMmtoETW2wT

Sources: The Corruption of Chris Miller

Interview with Juan Antonio Bardem on the Vinegar Syndrome Blu ray release of the film

Euro Gothic Classics of Continental Cinema by Jonathan Rigby

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/09/05/the-jean-seberg-story/11049a35-bbdb-4aef-ab67-22d06a9e98e5/

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2002/apr/22/mondaymediasection.filmnews

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/12/9004756/jane-seberg-movie-true-story-black-panthers-fbi#:~:text=In%20Seberg%2C%20Jean%E2%80%99s%20involvement%20with,profile%20celebrities%20for%20their%20support

https://www.pikaramagazine.com/2018/11/pepa-flores-marisol/#:~:text=,no%20una%20familia%2C%20sino%20cuatro

https://www.eldiario.es/cultura/cine/misterio-marisol-mujer-rebelo-pepa-flores-no-fantasia-infantil-franquismo_1_10976274.html#:~:text=Fue%20el%20comienzo%20de%20un,de%20donar%20al%20partido%20el

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/nov/02/guardianobituaries.filmnews#:~:text=But%20in%20the%201950s%2C%20a,folkloric%20costume%20films%20it%20sanctioned.

Episode Eleven: The Ghoul (2016) & Triangle (2009) : Time loops, mobius strips and the nature of reality

Welcome to episode 11 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we combine two films to create something far greater than the sum of their parts.

This week are exploring two movies that play with our perceptions of reality, with the Ghoul from 2016, a low budget British psychological thriller that has its roots in the stand up comedy scene of the early 2000s, and Triangle from 2009, a surreal and nightmarish horror from British director Christopher Smith.

Socials 

Instagram: thehorrordoublebill

email: thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com

Artwork

instagram: jpkr_illustration

Little Shoppe of Horrors Magazine

https://www.littleshoppeofhorrors.com/

Sources and References

The Ghoul

In The Loop - making of The Ghoul from the Arrow Films DVD release 2018

https://www.screendaily.com/actor-turned-director-gareth-tunley-talks-debut-the-ghoul/5090710.article#:~:text=constraints

https://www.screendaily.com/actor-turned-director-gareth-tunley-talks-debut-the-ghoul/5090710.article#:~:text=Shot%20at%20the%20beginning%20of,to%20solve%20a%20murder%20case

https://www.bfi.org.uk/interviews/ghoul-gareth-tunley-influences#:~:text=I%20acted%20in%20Ben%20Wheatley%E2%80%99s%C2%A0Down,so%20we%20swiftly%20scrapped%20that%C2%A0idea

https://theartsdesk.com/film/it-was-appealing-make-thriller-about-mental-illness-gareth-tunley-and-alice-lowe-ghoul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RSvhf6tB0w

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd3QcqacLMg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7v_7OZ9O-U

Triangle

Triangle Special Edition blu ray release from Umbrella Entertainment - Director Commentary and making of documentary

https://www.scifinow.co.uk/news/interview-christopher-smith/#:~:text=I%20had%20the%20idea%20back,ship%20and%20that%20person%20you

https://www.comingsoon.net/horror/news/717070-interview-triangles-chris-smith#:~:text=Image

https://www.indielondon.co.uk/Film-Review/triangle-christopher-smith-interview/#:~:text=Q,those%20kind%20of%20horror%20stories

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7HatPZaacc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjmNvYSZc2g&t=13s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRE-IoEOC0g&t=17s

Welcome to episode 10 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we combine two films to create something far greater than the sum of their parts.

This week we are exploring the horrors of cannibalism –  a subject that was once regarded as one of the ultimate cinematic taboos but which has now become  a strangely prevalent sub-genre , and one that is used as a metaphor for anything from class and social division to sexual awakening.

 First up we have our inaugural Mexican film of the series, with Jorge Michel Grau’s We Are What We Are from 2010. Set in an impoverished barrio of Mexico City, the film follows a family of cannibals adapting to a new way of life after the death of their patriarch

And after that we head over to France for Raw from 2016, the feature debut from multi award winning director Julia Ducornau, which follows the cannibalistic awakenings of a young girl in her first week at University

Both of this weeks films have much to say about the nature of humanity, family relationships, sexuality, transgression and metamorphosis, and along the journey we will also be falling down a few rabbit holes and discussing cannibalism in history,  literature and cinema, so you may not want to be eating as you listen to this one.

Socials

IG: thehorrordoublebill

email: thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com

Artwork by Justin Parker:

IG: jpkr_illustration

Katie of the Night YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@KatieoftheNight

References

This was a very heavily researched episode and I ran out of room to list them all in the podcast description, so for a full list of references used please refer to the video notes on the YouTube video, which can be found here: 

https://youtu.be/TTTRxdf_ILE

Episode Nine: The Look Like People (2015) & The Invitation (2015). Urban paranoia, independent cinema and the horrors of friendship

Welcome to episode 9 of the Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we put two films together to create something far greater than the sum of its parts. 

This week  we are unwrapping the horrors of friendship, with two films from 2015 that ask the questions, what do you do when people you once thought you knew are no longer the people you remember, and how long should you stick around to find out exactly who they have become?

First up is They Look Like People, the debut from director Perry Blackshear, a film which explores the bonds of male friendship and  the impacts of male insecurity as two friends reunite in New York for the first time since college.  

Then we head over to the west coast for another reunion, this time in LA, with The Invitation from director by Karyn Kusama, a study of paranoia and the impact of grief, depicting a group of old friends meeting for a dinner party where everything rapidly falls apart. 

Both of this week’s films are shining examples of American Independent Cinema, and draw, to a greater or lesser degree, from the notion of replacement horror – the idea that someone close to you has been substituted by someone or something else, creating a heightened sense of paranoia and raising questions as to whether perceptions are reality or indeed reliable.  

Instagram: thehorrordoublebill

email: thehorrodoublebill@gmail.com

Sources used for this weeks episode:

Replacement Horror:

Invasion of the Body Snatchers: A Tribute edited by Kevin McCarthy and Ed Gorman

Don Siegel Director by Stuart M Kaminsky 

They Look Like People:

interviews with the cast and crew on the 2022 Yellow Veil Pictures Blu Ray release as well as the director and cast commentaries

https://www.scifinow.co.uk/interviews/they-look-like-people-is-a-horror-that-spans-genres/

https://screenanarchy.com/2015/01/slamdance-2015-review-they-look-like-people-the-nightmare-of-self.html#:~:text=The%20other%20marvel%20to%20take,which%20also%20intelligently%20explore%20the

https://screenanarchy.com/2022/04/perry-blackshears-psychological-horror-debut-they-look-like-people-gets-a-blu-ray-release-from-yello.html#:~:text=,Audience%20Award%2C%20Nashville%20Film%20Festival

The Invitation:

interviews and commentaries with the writers, cast and crew on the blu ray release from Second Sight films

Karyn Kusama at the Directors Guild of America:

https://youtu.be/_n-a7f1UBNc?si=s8h8wweCBmiC-5Vl

Karyn Kusama at Frightday:

https://youtu.be/7TDAUxznVhM?si=ba5PpGqGBk-jce_9 

An interview with Logan Marshall Green:

https://dailydead.com/exclusive-interview-with-the-invitations-logan-marshall-green/#:~:text=Logan%20Marshall,view%20the%20audience%20sits%20in

Filmmaker Magazine

https://filmmakermagazine.com/97782-framing-is-its-own-dark-art-karyn-kusama-on-the-invitation/#:~:text=Kusama%3A%20Phil%20Hay%20and%20Matt,horrifying%20element%20of%20the%20story

Go Into The Story:

https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/go-into-the-story-interview-matt-manfredi-and-phil-hay-f5925c5923a

https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/interview-written-karyn-kusama-and-phil-hay-the-invitation-c2690e24e97a

The Guardian:https://support.theguardian.com/uk/guardian-ad-lite?returnAddress=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffilm%2F2016%2Fapr%2F05%2Fthe-invitation-film-review-karyn-kusama-suspense