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.

📸 thehorrordoublebill
📧 thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com

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.

📸 thehorrordoublebill
📧 thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com

artwork by Justin Parker
📸 jpkr_illustration

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