Are you looking for a film about little monsters laying siege to an Irish manor with all the “fun” of Straw Dogs but none of the humor of Gremlins? 2022’s ‘Unwelcome’ might just be the film for you! Worst case scenario you get a 6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon crossover between The MCU, Game of Thrones, and Star Trek…
Episode 309 - Soft & Quiet (2022)
2022’s ‘Soft & Quiet’ may have hit theaters in exactly the way that its name implied, but that makes sense when its entire plot is best experienced knowing nothing about it ahead of time. It does introduce cinema’s third most provocative pie (American Pie, #1, The Help, #2) so don’t go in hungry. If you learn nothing from the marketing of ‘A Ghost Story’, you got to play up the pie to get the people in seats.
Episode 308 - Watcher (2022)
Not to be confused with the 2022 TV series, the 2000 James Spader/Keanu Reeves film, nor the 1987 psychic dog vs. monster dog novel by Dean Koontz, no, this is the 2022 film about Maika Monroe being followed by a malicious force, but not the 2014 film about Maika Monroe being followed by a malicious force. Makes sense? Plus, more stories from JR’s childhood that explain why he is like he is!
Episode 307 - Children and Evil Holes 3: The Orphanage (2007)
The boys wrap up children and evil holes month with a film that barely qualifies for having an evil hole, 2007’s ‘The Orphanage’. Not to be confused with ‘The Devil’s Backbone’, this was the other movie about a Spanish orphanage that came out in the mid-2000s and had involvement from Guillermo del Toro in an odd Antz/Bug’s Life, Dante’s Peak/Volcano, Deep Impact/Armageddon symmetry. It also stars the adopted child of Pennywise and the Babadook, if you’re up on that whole thing.
Episode 306 - Children and Evil Holes 2: The Pit (1981)
While mysterious holes are the #1 cause of evil children, #2 is mysterious pits, especially if they’re full of monsters. 1981’s horror-comedy ‘The Pit’ gives you the trifecta of troglodytes, evil teddy bears, and snotty Canadian children who can’t even be mean right. If you’re not sold already, as an added bonus there’s plenty of ‘The Littlest Hobo’ talk as well.
Episode 305 - Children and Evil Holes 1: There's Something Wrong With The Children (2023)
Did you know that mysterious holes are the #1 cause of children turning evil? Doesn’t matter if it was made by changelings, other Fae, aliens, bug monsters, or evil spirits, you have a kid, keep them clear of all mysterious holes. If only the adults in 2022’s ‘There’s Something Wrong With The Children’ had listened to Derek and JR’s parenting advice they might have learned a thing or two…
Episode 304 - Kevin WilliamsON 4: Sick (2022)
The Kevin Williamson series train reaches the end of the line with his newest film, the COVID horror movie ‘Sick’. Global pandemic not scary or personal enough? Throw in a little of that slasher magic to bring in on home for you. And of course a very special shout out to Aarman Touré as uncredited guy with pizza.
Episode 303 - Kevin Williamson 3: Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999)
Another poster of just teenager’s faces without any information about the film? Must be another 90’s Kevin Williamson film! 1999’s ‘Killing Mrs. Tingle’, er, I mean ‘Teaching Mrs. Tingle’, because maybe in the immediate aftermath of Columbine a movie names after killing a teacher was not the way to go and changing it to be more “educational” was “better”. Good thing that was the last school shooting America ever had and now we can refer to it by its original name…
Episode 302 - Kevin Williamson 2: The Faculty (1998)
The boys continue their Kevin Williamson retrospective (and movie posters only highlighting the faces of its actors with no implication as to what the film is about) with 1998’s ‘The Faculty’. Does all that meta horror dialogue work as well when you replace it with meta sci-fi dialogue? Take a bump of caffeine pills and tune in to find out.
Episode 301 - Kevin Williamson 1: I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
The boys dive into the oeuvre of writer Kevin Williamson, well, his non-Scream, non-TV, non-werewolf related oeuvre that is. 1997’s ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’, is exactly what you’d expect from a 90’s teen slasher, and the behind-the-scenes-at-Miramax grossness is also about what you’d expect. I guess the killer dressing in the vein of fishing Ernest P. Worrell was a new twist though…
Episode 300 - Pride Month 3: The Serpent and The Rainbow (1988)
The boys wrap up Pride Month with the film that inspired the Godsmack song ‘Voodoo’, Wes Craven’s 1988 Bill Pullman horror vehicle, ‘The Serpent and The Rainbow’. Where exactly does it fall on the voodoo cultural insensitivity spectrum between ‘Live and Let Die’ and ‘Weekend at Bernie’s 2’? You’ll just have to listen to our 300th episode spectacular to find out.
Episode 299 - Pride Month 2: Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)
If you thought that ‘Mandy’ moved too fast for you, the boys cover another Panos Cosmatos film that might be more your speed. Despite what you may have heard, ‘Beyond the Black Rainbow’ is not a sequel to last week’s ‘Black Rainbow’, and is probably closer in tone to ‘Reading Rainbow’. Indeed, you watch this one under the right circumstances (recommended) and those butterflies will truly be flying twice as high, but don’t take a look at the mad doctor’s book in this…
Episode 298 - Pride Month 1: Black Rainbow (1989)
The boys begin Pride Month with the under seen 1989 Rosanna Arquette film ‘Black Rainbow’. Also, instead of patting yourself on the back and thinking you’re doing good because you acknowledged something rainbowey this month, maybe actually go help some disenfranchised people? To apply this to the film, be a Tom Hulce, not a Jason Robards.
Episode 297 - No Longer Live from New York, April 2023, it's a Roundup! Part 3
A stuffed animal, a Ghostface, a Dracula, Panama! In the final roundup of this NYC visit (which could not be contained to just one physical location) the boys talk 2019's 'Benny Loves You', 'Scream 6' and the franchise as a whole, and Nic Cage's return to not straight to streaming films in 'Renfield'. Opinions vary.
Episode 296 - Live from New York, April 2023, it's a Roundup! Part 2
The boys CLICKBAIT REVIEW more MOVIES. JR goes VIRAL and FUMES about 2021’s “Ultrasound”, leaving listeners speechless. Derek ABSOLUTELY DESTROYS 2021’s “Let the Wrong One In”, but ABSOLUTELY LOVES its script. Lastly, you’ll NEVER BELIEVE the NEWLY UNEARTHED bog men in 2022’s “Moloch”, but they might MAKE YOU BOYCOTT it. 3 HOT TAKES on movies the directors don’t want you to know about!
Episode 295 - Live from New York, April 2023, it's a Roundup! Part 1
The boys are live and reviewing some old, some new, and then some other movie. For something old, not to be confused with Robert Downey Jr.’s star turning vehicle, 1989’s Tetsuo The Iron Man gives those early David Lynch vibes with a dash of metal fetishry. The new is 2023’s From Black, a film that is just daring the creative team behind A Dark Song to sue them for copyright infringement. Lastly the other, 2018’s Incident in a Ghost Land, retells that classic Lovecraft story trope of following a trail of pee to solve a mystery… it’s not worth a critical reexamination.
Episode 294 - BRUCE ON THE LOOSE! Bruce Campbell and Evil Dead Rise
Bruce is on the loose, Bruce is on the loose! Live from NYC, the boys discuss the time Derek got to play a trivia game with his hero, and then the time they went and saw Evil Dead Rise. Hope you saved room to swallow your soul.
Episode 293 - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Part 3
The boys finish up The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and surprise, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are the same person! Hopefully that 137 year old spoiler won’t ruin your reading of the story, because even with that knowledge it is still a very good tale. Just imagine if you were a prude Victorian reading it for the first time though, oh what a surprise you’d be in for…
Episode 292 - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Part 2
The boys dig into the first half of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and while it's not particularly "strange" yet, it's getting there. It does give a new meaning to Antoine Dodson saying, "Hyde yo kids", as it could get you between $70 and $700 thousand. Robert Louis Stevenson didn't know what money was worth.
Episode 291 - The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Part 1
In one of the oldest reviews of the podcast, the boys check out the 1886 Robert Louis Stevenson classic, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, notably in the form of the 2022 Leslie S. Klinger annotated version. Before you even start, we know it should be pronounced “Jee-Kill” and not “Jeck-Ill”, but don’t be the weirdo that says it like that because we’re going to use both. If you’re going to be that pedantic, you might as well go ask S. T. Joshi how to pronounce “Cthulhu” too…