The Devil Made Me Do It – The Silence of the Lambs and Longlegs

This week on Horror Joy, Jeff and Brian wrestle with the dualities of fear in Jonathan Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs and Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs. They dissect the psychological and gender horrors lurking within The Silence of the Lambs, contrasting it with the mythological and satanic elements of Longlegs.

They examine the tangled webs of desire, identity, and rationalization, revealing:

· The transphobia in The Silence of the Lambs and how thoughts on gender have changed

· The rich material world of Jonathan Demme’s film

· The failed mythology of Longlegs and The connection to the satanic panic in its Devil-Made-Me-Do-It tale

· Whether Longlegs lives up to the comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs (it does not)

So, grab your badge and join us as we follow the cryptic trail of evasive mass murderers. I heard there will be a party at the end. Just avoid the fava beans and chianti and put the lotion in the basket.

Glorious Bodies by Colby Gordon

The Matter with Pantheism By Mary-Jane Rubenstein

Longlegs Exemplifies American Horror’s Inability to Speak to the Moment By Jade Bastien

https://www.vox.com/culture/22281548/silence-of-the-lambs-cultural-impact-legacy-feminist-transphobia

Queer Play: The Cultural Work of Crossdressing in Medieval Drama by Claire Sponsler and Robert Clark

Oz Perkins’ Longlegs as Folk Horror by Dawn Keetley

Filleting Gender and Sexuality in The Silence of the Lambs by Christina H. Hodel

07:26 Gender Dynamics and Transphobia in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’

27:18 Psychological Horror and Class Elements

32:12 Transition to ‘Long Legs’

34:45 Critique of ‘Long Legs’

37:31 Analyzing Gender Performance in Longlegs