When writing the watchlist for this year's 31 Days of Halloween, I put on Coralie Fargeat's REVENGE because I adore THE SUBSTANCE and wanted to see more of her work. I listed BYSTANDERS because I'd been following director Mary Beth McAndrews, then editor of Dread Central, for years and wanted to see what her debut would have to offer.

But it wasn't until I began to research BYSTANDERS that I realized what serendipity had casually placed in front of me: REVENGE was not only a massive influence on McAndrews for her movie but also her entire Master's thesis on women-helmed rape-revenge cinema. It's one of her all-time favorite movies, a film she has represented under her skin with a - fucking stellar - tattoo.

And while I find both movies to approach the rape-revenge subgenre in wildly different manners (I liken REVENGE to a sledgehammer whereas BYSTANDERS comes across like the slightly rusted aluminum bat lying in the corner of the room that you don't even register until it's swung upside your temple), both films register as entries in a new school of the subgenre, one informed and represented by the female gaze. Less exploitation, more examination.

So today's installment deviates from the beaten path to talk to McAndrews about the impact REVENGE has had on her life and rape-revenge cinema, including its influence on BYSTANDERS. We talk patriarchy. We talk about ugly frat sweaters. We talk about the intricacies of killing peopl- I mean, boys, on film. It's a wild fuckin' ride and Mary Beth is a total mensch.

Both BYSTANDERS and REVENGE are currently available to stream on Tubi.

Follow Mary Beth McAndrews on Instagram and her website

---

Please rate & review THE MOVIES wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow THE MOVIES on Instagram, Bluesky & Letterboxd

---

Please rate and review THE MOVIES wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow THE MOVIES on Instagram, Bluesky & Letterboxd

REVENGE is the feature directorial debut of Coralie Fargeat, Oscar-nominated for directing last year's total fucking banger THE SUBSTANCE.

THE SUBSTANCE had a budget of $17 million. REVENGE had $3 million. And in comparing both movies, it gives me great joy to see that Fargeat's penchant for the surreal and gnarly diminishes not with a lowered budget. Her ideas remain just as ferocious and maximalist, like a sledgehammer to the face.

REVENGE refers to the second part of the "rape-revenge" couplet as a woman named Jen (Matilda Lutz) exacts hers against three married men: one who raped her and the two friends who did nothing to stop nor punish it.

These men (one of whom is her now ex-boyfriend) are armed with rifles, riding on ATVs and Range Rovers. Jen has on a T-shirt and shorts. She had heels at one point but sacrificed them to the desert. So, yeah. The odds aren't great.

But spite is a hell of a drug. Some would say it's even better than peyote. Fire and brimstone ensues in a whirlwind of viscera and chipped nail polish.

REVENGE is now available to stream on Tubi.

---

Please rate, review and follow THE MOVIES wherever you listen to podcasts!

Follow THE MOVIES on Instagram, Bluesky and Letterboxd