In Film We Trust

1971 was a pivotal year for megastar Clint Eastwood. Not only did it mark the first entry into the Dirty Harry franchise, and also the transgressive The Beguiled. It was also the year he would step behind the camera for the first time and direct Play Misty For Me - a story of obsession, frailty, mental illness and the then little explored notion of a 'stalker'.
But where does his directorial film stand in the annals of history? It arguably is the precursor, and template for all erotic thrillers going forth, and not only does Eastwood direct himself, he also plays a character that stands in opposition to the roles he played before. Gone is the assertiveness and decisiveness. Instead we get a more nuanced and mature performance.
And picking this film, is guest, a now third time guest on IFWT, Carmelita Valdez McKoy, who has her own history with Carmel-by-the-sea (the setting of this film), so expect some personal anecdotes, as we discuss, dissect and deepdive Clint Eastwood's directorial debut, Play Misty For Me.

You can support the show at Buymeacoffee.com/ifwtpod
Check out Carmelita's Twitter page @CarmelitaSays
Thanks again to friend of the show Chris Babalis @Chriswitchystuff for providing the artwork for this ep.

Author Eddie mcNamara joins the show this week. Eddie has just released via Feral House, his new non-fiction book on the Zodiac case, Zodiactually: The Real Story of a Fake Serial Killer, that challenges the mainstream narrative of the infamous Zodiac killings that took place in the late 60s-70s.

Which makes him the perfect guest to join me in a discussion of David Fincher's 2007 masterpiece Zodiac, starring Jake Gyllenhaal as San Francisco Chroninicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith, who would go on to write the influential and case-resuscitating book Zoadiac, for which the film is based on.

But what is truth? What is fiction? And what are the blurred lines that give us all cause for speculation? Well, that's where Eddie McNamara comes in. Who is not only as massive fan of Fincher's Zodiac, but has spent years researching the case, and believes what most people know of the case, and its suspects, is not only highly suspicious, but flat out wrong.

So stay tuned as Eddie and I, discuss, dissect and deepdive, not only Fincher's Zodiac, but the case that birthed it.
Artwork for this episode once again produced by friend of the show @chrisbabalis of @acidmammoth, who's graphic work can be found at @Chriswitchystuff.

Special thanks goes out to Wayne Kelso (@waynekelso10 on Instagram), who was not only my former co-host here at IFWT, but also my good friend, who edited nearly half of this episode! Thanks!

Writer Andrew Rihn, In Film We trust's go-to historian on all things boxing is back on the show. And this week he brings the podcast John Huston's 1972 existentialist boxing drama Fat City. Based on Leonard Gardner's novel, Fat City is an exploration of failed dreams, new beginnings, addiction and the cost of a life lived on the edge.

But in the pantheon of Hollywood, Fat City, features new stars - Jeff Bridges, Stacy Keach, and stars-that-should-have-been, such as Susan Tyrrell, a Warhol Superstar. Who's experience on this film sullied her entire Hollywood career,
So make sure to tune in as Andrew, who's on the cusp of releasing his debut novel, About The Old Buoy, and I, discuss dissect and deep dive, John Huston's foray into new Hollywood, Fat City.

There's maybe no more maligned genre in horror - or even cinema itself - than the cannibal film that rose to prominence in 1970s Italy, most popularly exemplified by Ruggero Deodato's infamous Cannibal Holocaust. But right there in the mix, and arguably the genre's founder, was Umberto Lenzi with 1972's The Man From Deep River.
Lenzi would have a contentious relationship with the genre - both hating it, but being brought back into the fold with 1980's Eaten Alive, due to financial incentives. . It's this film that my guest Eugenio Ercolani - film historian and writer/editor of this years definitive dive into genre, Cannibal Worlds - and I, use as the catalyst to discuss not only the titled film of this episode, but the culture that gave birth to this most blackened genre and the state of Italian cinema in the 1970s - a landscape that caused the likes of Lenzi to return to a genre he despised.
So stay tuned, and get your notepad ready, as Eugenio gives In Film We Trust a thorough tour of the genre cinema of mid-late 20th century Italy.
you can find Eugenio on Instagram @Ercolanieugenio
Artwork for this episode by Chris Babalis. You can find his graphic work on Instagram @chriswitchystuff

Film historian and writer Suzanne Boleyn joins the show this week to discuss Belgian director Harry Kumel's 1971 vampire film Daughters of Darkness.
Suzanne is not only a fan of this film that explores sexuality, gender politics and possibly even fascism, she also contributed an essay for Radiance's brilliant set where she dived into the symbolism that exists in this work and what it actually means.
Which is a huge bonus for this episode, as Daughters of Darkness is ripe for analysis and a plethora of interpretations due to its relative opaqueness and symbolism that exists in almost every frame.