PODCAST: "CRUISING" WITH HORROR QUEERS

Prof. Scahill joined the producers of the Horror Queers podcast for their centennial episode as they examined their most-requested film, William Friedkin's Cruising (1980). This psychological thriller stars Al Pacino as Steve Burns, a “straight” cop who goes undercover in New York’s leather and S&M queer community to catch a killer preying on gay men. But as the bodies pile up and the pressure mounts to put away anyone for the crime, Burns begins to lose himself, straying from girlfriend Nancy (Karen Allen) and bonding with flirty neighbor Ted (Don Scardino).

Is this the most homophobic film of the 1980s or a deft deconstruction of heterosexual male paranoia? Check out the 100th episode of Horror Queers here.