Episode 59: Fascination (1979) & Strange Darling (2023)

you're gonna be in trouble Welcome to episode 59 of the Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something greater than the sum of their parts.

I'm Craig Johnson, and this week we are exploring the surreal and erotic world of French director Jean Rollin and a time-jumping, twisted narrative from director J.T. Molnar.

First up, we have Fascination from 1979, directed by Jean Rollin and starring Brigitte Lehigh, Fanny Magier, Frank Amai and Jean-Marie Lemaire.

Then we follow this with Strange Darling, released in 2024 and directed by J.T. Molnar.

This stars Willa Fitzgerald, Carl Gallner, Ed Begley Jr. and Barbara Hershey.

Along the way, we'll be discussing the life and careers of Jean Rollin, J.T. Molnar, Willa Fitzgerald, Carl Gallner, and much, much more.

But before we do any of that, though, I'd just like to mention the main sources that I've used in preparing this week's episode, and all sources used will, as always, be listed or linked in the show notes.

So when discussing fascination, I have referenced the books Fascination, The Celluloid Dreams of Jean Rollin by David Hines, and Eurogothic, Classics of Continental Horror Cinema by Jonathan Rigby.

I've also referred to a documentary called Orchestrator of Storms, The Fantastique World of Jean Rollin, directed by Kat Ellinger and Dima Balin, as well as interviews and articles on the websites mondodigital.com, diaboliquefilms.com, cultcollectibles.com, slantmagazine.com and kinowai.org. And finally, I've also referred to interviews, features and commentaries on the Blu-ray release of the film from Indicator Films.

And when discussing Strange Darling, I have referred to interviews, articles and reviews on the websites comicbookmovie.com, yahooentertainment, forbes.com, thereader.com, neonreviewjournal.com, the New York Times and dreadcentral.com. I've also referred to festival Q&As and interviews with the cast and crew that can be found on YouTube, and I'll link to these in the show notes, along with all of the other references.