Plug It Up: A Horror Movie Podcast

Colleen and Maddie join Caitlin on stage for the first ever Plug It Up Live! This was recorded on Saturday, October 14, 2023 at Nightmare Weekend (hosted by Galaxy Con) in Richmond, VA. Instead of a movie review, we share some of our favorite monstrous femme figures, as well as our favorite final girls. Ah, the duality of woman! We had our first live Q&A as well. Tangents include: swimming, soups,...

Maddie and Colleen join Caitlin to cover Brandon Cronenberg's Infinity Pool. We look at themes of wealth, privilege, hedonism, exploitative tourism, and ethics. But most importantly, we relish the opportunity to do impressions of Mia Goth's deranged baby voice and discuss Skarsgard on a leash. Tangents include: Colleen's delightful fixations, Caitlin's borderline unhealthy obsession with her frien...

Colleen joins Caitlin to cover 2023's Clock. This has been a year of monstrous motherhood in horror, and the movie Clock is no exception. It looks at the idea of women's so-called biological clocks, and it explores themes of heritage, patriarchy, procreation, and general fertility. So many eggs! Tangents include: DnD (always), Halloween costumes, tokophobia, Jon Hamm, stress dreams, Halloween cand...

Joe and Graham from Films at First Sight join Caitlin to cover 1999's Audition. Takashi Miike is a memorable director, and Audition is an unforgettable movie. Some view it as a feminist take on revenge; others view at as misogyny put to screen. Regardless of where you land, we can all agree that Asami is an iconic figure within the monstrous feminine and that Audition is damn scary. We expound on...

Soju from Straight Chilling Podcast joins Caitlin to discuss Baby Ruby, a monstrous-motherhood movie from 2022. It explores the darker side of pregnancy, birth, and new motherhood via a perfectionist influencer who loses touch with reality. It also highlights the fact that we live in a culture that gives a lot of platitudes about revering mothers, but doesn't offer much tangible support. Tangents...

Little bro Zach joins Caitlin to cover 2022's Monstrous, a monstrous-motherhood (insert Leo DiCaprio pointing at TV gif) movie with a double twist, starring Christina Ricci. We look at themes of grief, love, and time, and we talk about the meanest landlady in the history of cinema. This is sort of an oops-all-tangents episode. The back half is much longer than the first, but I promise we make it w...

J joins Caitlin to talk about Bad Things, the new release from Stewart Thorndike. Just as Lyle was dubbed "the lesbian Rosemary's Baby," Bad Things is considered "the queer Shining." We look at gender, sexuality, mommy issues, and some good old fashioned snowy isolation. Tangents include: haunted hotels, AHS, blankets, Tibetan sky burials, and queer horror. Be sure to check out the Appalachian Que...

Mary joins Caitlin to cover Talk To Me, the newest horror release from A24. We dicuss themes of grief, friendship, monstrous motherhood, and drugs. Talk To Me is genuinely scary, boasts great practical effects, and has an excellent script with realistic, authentic characters. It's a banger of a debut from the brothers Philippou. Tangents include: faces, Twilight, signature dishes, DMT, toys, bugs,...

Sofia and Dani join Caitlin to talk about The Bad Seed (1956). The movie approaches the monstrous motherhood trope from two angles: learning your biological mother was a monster, and learning that your child is as well. Transatlantic accents abound! Tangents include: Belle Gunness, Mary Bell, greetings, desserts, chain restaurants, first and current celebrity crushes, and animal identities.

Rachel and Ariel from the Zombie Grrlz Podcast Network join Caitlin to cover Violation (2020). Violation is a different take on the rape revenge subgenre, and it asks the viewer to sit with discomfort, gray areas, and realism. There aren't perfect victims or perfect perpetrators, and betrayal, rage, justice, and gore all read a little different in this one - in a way that really sticks with you. T...

Milissa, Nick, and Mary join Caitlin to cover 2022's Smile. It was a box office success, but it's somewhat controversial one among horror fans. Is it derivative, or is it paying homage? We tease out that question and more, including some monstrous motherhood themes. Tangents include: milkshakes, Dateline, breakup horror, worst fast food experiences, sharks, pubes, and some great would-you-rather a...

Morgan joins Caitlin to cover 1999's Jawbreaker, a campy classic that paved the way for many a movie about treacherous friendships between girls. It's funny, highly stylized, has a stacked cast, and pays homage to icons that came before it, including Queen Carrie White. Tangents include: bridesmaid dresses, exclamations and vocal stims, sneezes, hiccups, dream jobs, and under-boob sweat. Be sure t...

Andy from Straight Chilling Podcast joins Caitlin to cover the originator or the hagsploitation/psychobiddy subgenre: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane. It's a movie with fantastic stunt-casting, incredible lighting, and excellent themes within the monstrous feminine (envy, aging, regression, and resentment). Tangents include: nicknames, film festivals, Ryan Murphy (duh), black t-shirts, Hausu, Loos...

The cast of The Wicked Wild joins Caitlin to cover 2013's Evil Dead - a movie that showed us remakes can be awesome. We talk about the incredible practical effects, themes of addiction and family, and the over-arching aspects of the monstrous-feminine and the wicked-wilderness that make this the perfect movie for a Wicked Wild / Plug It Up crossover. We really love this one, and we have a great ti...

Mathula joins Caitlin to cover Phenomena from 1985. Also known as Creepers, this Argento flick has a monstrous mother, a bug-obsessed Jennifer Connelly, and a razor-wielding chimp. Plus Donald Pleasence. What more could we want? Tangents include: Eggers, Aster, vampires, Giallo movies as a whole, bugs, Lost, Florida, dystropian fiction, sneezing, and bathroom trashcans. Be sure to check out Mathul...

Elizabeth generously joins Caitlin for re-record of The Birds. (I forgot to hit record last time... RIP.) Elizabeth is a Birds expert, and she's my Hitchcock Blonde. We look at themes of disaster linked to female psyche, man vs nature, and some Oedipal monstrous motherhood. We also do a deep dive into the troubling production, most of which would not fly today. Tangents include: Nick at Nite, preg...

Mary, Zach, and Charlie join Caitlin to cover Swimfan. It's a real time capsule of a movie; it'll take you right back to 2002. It has a monstrous femme figure in stalker Madison, and it gives us themes of obsession, deception, and troubled pasts. It also gives us an iconic pool scene. In perhaps the most unhinged second-half of a Plug It Up episode to date, we explore the following tangents: birth...

Birthday boy Bob from Straight Chilling Podcast joins Caitlin to cover 2017's Thoroughbreds, a movie that features a couple of monstrous femme figures. We look at themes of wealth, pedigree, friendship, and murder, and we do our best to tease out the distinctions between sociopathy and psychopathy. Tangents include: physical media, chicken wings, tiki drinks, space vs ocean, snacks, antiques, pupp...

Soju from Straight Chilling Podcast joins Caitlin to talk about Park Chan-wook's Thirst. Thirst is a beautiful vampire romance that incorporates themes of sexuality, pain, guilt, and the monstrous feminine. Soju is my vampire homie, and we give a lot of love to Thirst. We also give a lot of love to Underworld. In fact, take a shot every time we say "Underworld" (just kidding - that's dangerous). ...

Pickens, Joe, and Victor join Caitlin to talk about Return to Oz - a fever dream, a cult classic, and, yes, the official sequel to The Wizard of Oz. For a kids' movie, it's got some serious horror beats, and it has a great monstrous femme figure in Princess Mombi. We chat about our favorite freaky moments and go over some fun movie trivia. Tangents for this episode include: Bugaboo Creek, malls, t...

Colleen and Maddie join Caitlin to cover 2022's Torn Hearts. Torn Hearts is a great look at the complexities in women's friendships, especially the competition therein. We get a wonderful monstrous femme villain (some would say "psychobiddy") in Katy Sagal, but we remember that, ultimately, the real villain is patriarchy. Also, what a unique setting for a horror movie! We don't get a lot of Nashvi...

Christian and Mary join Caitlin to talk about the best intro scenes in horror movies. Opening scenes are important in any movie, but in horror movies, they're essential for setting the tone, establishing the stakes, getting viewer buy-in, and not giving too much away. Movies discussed on our list include: Scream, Final Destination, Jaws, Get Out, Zombieland, The Conjuring, Dawn of the Dead, Saw, H...

Elizabeth joins Caitlin to cover 2005's The Skeleton Key. We've got a great monstrous femme figure in The Skeleton Key, and the movie does a good job of exploring the intersections of race, age, gender, and spirituality. We also speculate at it possibly being an influence for Get Out, another horror movie that explores those issues extremely well. Tangents include: DVD bonus features, pizza, blank...

Zach and Mary join Caitlin to cover Evil Dead Rise. Look at us! Covering a movie while it's still in theaters! This is a great monstrous motherhood movie, and we'd all recommend checking it out in the theater if you can. Evil Dead is such a strong franchise. Whether they're campy or scary (or both), who doesn't love a deadite? Tangents include: Bruce Campbell (of course), animal attacks, color sch...

Matt, Michael, Charlie, and Caitlin got reservations at Dorsia to do some fine dining and chat about American Psycho, often cited as "a movie about a misogynist, directed by a feminist." We talk about yuppie misogyny, consumerism, and nihilism, and we quote the movie in our best Patrick Bateman voices. We also dish out some high school stories, so be prepared to be transported back to 2006-2007. T...