That Cold Day in the Park & Let's Scare Jessica to Death (with Olivia Willke)

Rotten Rewind

It's Rotten history on the podcast today as we go all the way back to 1969 and 1971 for the two oldest films ever covered on the podcast. Generally it's hard to find many Rotten films made before 1980, so we're lucky we were able to find the perfect pair of gaslighting thrillers from the New Hollywood era.

First up, it's Robert Altman's sophomore feature "That Cold Day in the Park" starring Sandy Dennis as a lonely spinster who develops an unhealthy fixation with a mute teenage boy. After that it's the early 70's cult favorite "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" starring Zohra Lampert as the titular Jessica. Critic and writer Olivia Willke returns to the podcast to unpack the enduring horror of "Let's Scare Jessica to Death" and the prolific, versatile career of Robert Altman.

We also explore the origins of Rotten Tomatoes, the pornification of "spinsters," hippie communes, what 30-something men looked like in the 70's, and the counter culture's transitionary period in the late 60's.

You can find Olivia @littlebirdliv and read her latest piece on the beauty of Michael Bay and action films at https://observer.com/2023/02/action-movies-have-become-sterile-bores-and-need-more-human-vision/

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