The Horror Pod Class Episode 124: Saint Maud With Nadia Bulkin
Tyler: live from the Dr. Roman Armitage Memorial High School AV Room Welcome to episode 122 of The Horror Pod Class. My name is Tyler and I am the editor in chief of Signal Horizon a magazine dedicated to exploring genre fiction in and out of the classroom.
Orrin: And I’m Orrin Grey, Monster Ambassador at Signal Horizon and co-host of this here podcast!
Tyler: Tonight we are joined by Nadia Bulkin. Nadia is an award winning author of short stories that discuss, the macabre, the weird, and the sublime. Her short story collection She said Destroy was nominated for a Shirley Jackson award. She is an alumni of the National Speech and Debate association so you know she is a good one! Welcome back to the show Nadia!
Nadia: Very glad to be here again! This is where I come to talk about all my favorite movies. Last time I think we discussed A Dark Song.
Tyler: Absolutely adored A Dark Song. Tonight on the Horror Pod Class we are going to spend some time talking about what we have been watching and reading, we will help you find some free genre content on the internet and finally we will spend the remainder of this episode exploring the painful truth behind our faith by examining the latest movie from A24 Saint Maud.
What are we watching
Tyler: Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones, Army of the Dead, Invasive by Chuck Windig
Orrin: Still a lot of nothing, but I have been catching a few episodes of the new season of Creepshow, when I can.
Nadia: Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon, The Boys from County Hell (new), Silent House (not as new), The Battersea Poltergeist
Question for everyone: Really interesting BD article about the nature of politics and horror. Specifically the political nature of the SAW movies. Thoughts on politics and horror. Hopefully we will use some of that discussion later when we get to Saint Maud
Joe George wrote the article. Latest saw is about police brutality. I also found a managed healthcare critique in the early versions as well.
Dark Corners of the Web
Essential Question: What can Saint Maud tell us about faith and the sublime.
Summary: Saint Maud Follows a pious nurse who becomes dangerously obsessed with saving the soul of her dying patient.
Director: Rose Glass
Cast
https://www.vulture.com/2021/01/saint-maud-ending-director-rose-glass-explains-it-all.html
6 Movies (We each pick two that remind us of this movie)
Nadia: Martyrs, The Lodge
Orrin: Hollywood Boulevard, Dream no Evil
Tyler: A Dark Song, The Last Temptation of Christ
Anonymous Letterboxd User Leaves 1 Star review
Maud is not religious! Let’s just get this out of the way – she’s a poser, a loner, a loser who is looking for acceptance one of those recent converts who thinks she knows the religion better than those who have practiced it their entire lives and those who preach it. In her desperate attempt to make contact with “God,” she allows her mental illness to take over. Yes, Maud is schizophrenic brought on by the death of her previous patient when she worked at a hospital. All the clues are there but it seems many reviewers take delight in seeing a mentally unstable woman commit acts of self harm and murder be use yay it’s directed by a woman starring a woman and features hardly any men. Lol
Um… Imagine writing this, then having someone direct it… After that watching it and thinking “This, this is good.” Just by releasing this A24 lost some credibility.
This will do it for this season of The Horror Pod Class. We will start up again Thursday August 7th. As we all get back to school.
Tyler has been the editor in chief of Signal Horizon since its conception. He is also the Director of Monsters 101 at Truman State University a class that pairs horror movie criticism with survival skills to help middle and high school students learn critical thinking. When he is not watching, teaching or thinking about horror he is the Director of Debate and Forensics at a high school in Kansas City, Missouri.