Skip to Content
Podcasts

Podcast: Heather O. Petrocelli on ‘Death Spa’

Heather O. Petrocelli, author of Queer for Fear: Horror Film and the Queer Spectator, joins Certified Forgotten to talk 'Death Spa.'

Death Spa

MPI Media Group

When Certified Forgotten is firing on all cylinders, it sometimes feels it's because we're having very smart conversations about very stupid movies. That is certainly the case in this week's episode, where Heather O. Petrocelli, author of Queer for Fear: Horror Film and the Queer Spectator, joins us for an episode on Death Spa. Academic conversations about audience identities followed by a raucous conversation about one of the silliest and goopiest horror films of the 1980s? That's Certified Forgotten in a nutshell, baby.

After the tragic death of his wife, gym owner Michael Evans (William Bumiller) wants nothing more than to disappear into his, ah, relationships at work. Unfortunately, Michael cannot operate the facility -- a fully automated marvel of modern technology -- by David (Merritt Butrick), his former brother-in-law. So when his customers start falling victim to a series of glitches in the machine, Michael suspects that David may be on a path for revenge. Written by James Bartruff and Mitch Paradise, and directed by Michael Fischa, Death Spa is a prime example of "gym-sploitation" run amok.

In this short excerpt from the episode, Heather explains why there are still some parts of Death Spa that deserve to be taken seriously:

"It's got this weird, dated discourse around disability, but at the same time, as someone now who's been like disabled by COVID, it also has this very delicious response of vengeance from a disabled person [...] I was like, oh, this is actually a great like disability revenge story where Catherine will get all you motherfuckers."

The Bruiser episode of the Certified Forgotten podcast is now available to stream on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or the podcast platform of your choice.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Certified Forgotten

‘Jack & Diane’ and the Hunger of First Love

Film critic Molly Henery explores the lycanthropic first love of Bradley Rust Gray's 'Jack & Diane' for her Uterus Horror column.

June 25, 2025

Podcast: ‘Dangerous Animals’ Gets Uncertified

Matt Donato and Matthew Monagle discuss 'Dangerous Animals,' a new shark movie from beloved horror filmmaker Sean Byrne.

June 15, 2025

Short Cuts: ‘Room Service’ Brings Horror Comics to Life

James Tynion IV and PK Colinet join forces to write and direct 'Room Service,' a short film with a comic prequel.

June 4, 2025

Podcast: DJ Bruja on ‘Terrified’

Dorina, aka DJ Bruja, joins Certified Forgotten to discuss Demian Rugna's 'Terrified' and the importance of music in horror.

June 2, 2025

‘Triangle’ Is a Modern Greek Tragedy With a Time-Bending Twist

Andrew Cothern explains how Christopher Smith's 'Triangle' uses time travel to create the Greek tragedy of slashers.

May 26, 2025
See all posts