Are you a lover of antiquated tedious methods of art making AND stories that are sold as being ghost filled but aren’t? Boom, check out ‘The Mezzotint” by M.R. James, an author renowned for his ghost stories that don’t actually feature ghosts. How do you get to be 'the ghost story guy’ without writing about ghosts you ask? LISTEN AND FIND OUT.
Episode 323 - "Where the Summer Ends" by Karl Edward Wagner
Are you ready for our hottest and sweatiest episode yet with plenty of banging? You better be, because we are covering Karl Edward Wagner’s “Where the Summer Ends”, and also the place next to JR’s is under construction or something and there’s a bit of hammering in the background for parts of the show. Listen along for the tale of THE VINE THAT ATE THE SOUTH.
Episode 322 - When Evil Lurks (2023)
A lot of people come to me and ask, “Where evil lurks?” or, “Why evil lurks?” or even, “How evil lurks?” Sometimes I even get a, “Who evil lurks?” Obviously the only correct question is, “When evil lurks?”, to which the answer is the 2023 Argentine film ‘Cuando Acecha la Maldad’. As for “What evil lurks?”, well, you’ll have to listen to find out.
Episode 321 - Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell (a.k.a. The Japanese Evil Dead) (1995)
Are you an Evil Dead fan but think its biggest downside is not being Japanese enough? Good thing ‘Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell', a.k.a. 'The Japanese Evil Dead' exists. And you can watch it right now! And then listen to the boys talk about it! And then listen as they go off about ‘Late Night with the Devil’ for half the episode!
Episode 320 - Night Shift & Skeleton Crew
You may not realize it in 2024, but there was once a time when people hadn’t heard of Stephen King, and I’m not talking about the billions of years just prior to his birth. When he was an up-and-coming author he used to be hungry and wrote with an edge, something easily forgotten in the intervening 40+ years of writing. The boys discuss Night Shift and Skeleton Crew to examine the writings of this curious young man before he became America’s spooky uncle.
Episode 319 - Horror Roundup, May 2024
New year, new roundup. Fall of the House of Usher, Suitable Flesh, Godzilla Minus One, Godzilla x Kong, Monarch, Destroy All Neighbors, Late Night With The Devil, Immaculate, Vivarium, The Menu, Alan Wake, Control, Alan Wake 2. SIX MONTHS OF THINGS REVIEWED.
Episode 318 - The Boogeyman (2023)
After a long hiatus the boys are back, and have on their their their their their boogie shoes for the 2023 loosely-based-on-a-Stephen-King-story ‘The Boogeyman’. Is Mike Flanagan’s ‘Absentia’ too extreme for you? Here’s the training wheels version of that to show your impressionable, Stranger Things loving teens. At least they changed the monster from the story to no longer moonlight as a therapist, because really, how is this thing going to be able to pull off a degree plus the hours of supervised post-master's work in the mental health counseling field? WE’RE CALLING YOU OUT STEPHEN KING.
Episode 317 - Moreauvember: The Island of Doctor Moreau, Part 4
The gang bids the island life behind as they finish up ‘The Island of Doctor Moreau’ and reflect back on their long strange journey. Is it even possible to live a normal life after living with beast folk so long? Maybe, if you’re not a milquetoast Prendick that is. That’s the moral of the book BTW.
Episode 316 - Moreauvember: The Island of Doctor Moreau, Part 3
Was Dean Koontz inspired to write 1989’s ‘Midnight’ based on ‘The Island of Doctor Moreau’? Does getting a goat testicle transplant increase vitality? Does Doctor Moreau deliver as good a dialogue on pleasure and pain as Pinhead? Does an Ox wave its tail when happy? Does Derek know any Green Day songs? All these questions, and more, in our coverage of the middle part of The Island of Doctor Moreau. No answers though.
Episode 315 - Moreauvember: The Island of Doctor Moreau, Part 2
Moreauvember continues with the gang’s review of the first third of H.G. Wells’ ‘The Island of Doctor Moreau’. Everyone focuses on the plight of the Beast Folk, but nobody dives into the sad life of Montgomery, who just wants to tell the sad story about how he got roped into this whole animal transformation business and nobody wants to hear it. Don’t worry though, we do.
Episode 314 - Moreauvember: The Island of Doctor Moreau, Part 1
Fun fact: In the space of four years H.G. Wells wrote ‘The Time Machine’, ‘The Invisible Man’, ‘The Island of Doctor Moreau’, and ‘The War of the Worlds’. Is there a greater four year grand slam than that? Tune in, Moreauvember begins now. Don’t forget your beast folk.
Episode 313 - Perfect Blue (1997)
Have we ever covered an animated film before? I honestly can’t even remember after all these episodes. Anyhow, the gang watches 1997’s ‘Perfect Blue’, a.k.a., the movie you’ve probably seen shots copied from in most Darren Aronofsky films, the most comprehensive version of a Giallo, or, the anime you could use as a measure of the quality of the art to show your grandmother if her only conservative view was that she did not like anime and absolutely nothing else about sex or violence.
Episode 312 - The Last Broadcast (1998)
While certainly not an Armageddon/Deep Impact situation, 1998’s ‘The Last Broadcast’ is often lumped in, unfairly, as the mirror to The Blair Witch Project. This is much to its loss as it is certainly no Blair Witch, but also because it has a completely different flavor of “found footage” in its inclusion of cable access shows, MIRC logs, and true crime talking heads. That’s right folks, MIRC logs, we’re heading back to the mid-90’s!
Episode 311 - Body at Brighton Rock (2019)
On the one hand we have JR missing the twist of 2019’s ‘Body at Brighton Rock’ so hard that it would be like not realizing Bruce Willis was dead after watching The 6th Sense, and on the other we have Derek confusing the production story of Predator (the script for which was originally titled ‘Hunter’) with the 2003 film ‘The Hunted’. We both lose. Not to be outdone, you also lose. We don’t even warn you about the Natural Park Zone of Death, major failure.
Episode 310 - Unwelcome (2022)
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…