Episode 1: Dario Argento’s “The Bird With the Crystal Plumage” (1970)
To kick off our podcast, we look at the film that helped make the Giallo sub-genre popular. In this episode we discuss our initial impressions of the film, the scenes that stood out the most to us, and we try to balance a modern perspective with the context of the film having been released in 1970.
Episode 2: Robert Fuest’s “And Soon the Darkness” (1970)
We didn’t think we would have so much to say about Robert Fuest’s 1970 suspense/thriller. In the episode we discuss what does, and doesn’t work, in this unsuitably titled attempt to build suspense and shock in the audience.
Episode 3: Lucio Fulci’s “Lizard in a Woman’s Skin” (1971)
We were excited to tackle our first film with a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. While we don’t wholeheartedly agree with that rating, we did enjoy the twists and turns of the film, and had a fair bit to discuss about it.
Episode 4: Ted V. Mikels’s “The Corpse Grinders” (1971)
You know exactly what you’re getting into when a housecat jumps up and kills someone within the first two minutes of a film. We had a lot of fun with The Corpse Grinders and it’s schlocky script and effects.
Episode 5: Freddie Francis’s “Tales from the Crypt” (1972)
The only foray into Tales from the Crypt for the two of us was some bad movies in the late 90s and a cheesy HBO series. Little did we know that this gem of a movie was out there. It seems hard to believe that it isn’t a larger part of conversations about horror classics.
Episode 6: Alan Gibson’s “Dracula A.D. 1972” (1972)
For this film, we travel back to the tail end of swinging London to witness the on-screen clash between two titans of horror. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee reprise their roles as Van Helsing and Dracula respectively, and we just wish this film had been more about their battle than it was about Van Helsing’s granddaughter and her misdirected friends.
Episode 7: George A. Romero's "The Amusement Park" (1973)
Why is this film 96%? Why did Mike watch it TWICE?! Should this film have been restored? Is Romero really as great as we are told he is? These questions, and others get answered as we take a look at a film that was hidden away from 1973 until 2017.
Episode 8: Bob Kelljan’s “Scream Blacula Scream” (1973)
Without having seen the first Blacula film, we take a look at the sequel and thoroughly enjoy the journey that it takes us on. From jive talk, hot sauce, and bearded vampires, everything in the movie is fun. Perhaps that’s in contrast to our other 1973 film, or it was just a fun film.
Episode 9 & 10: William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” (1973)
Rated at only 78%, The Exorcist didn’t meet our criteria to be selected as one of our scheduled films. Everyone we spoke to about our podcast asked when we would do an episode on the film. We felt it necessary to fulfill our audience’s request. Also, the best film of 1973, The Amusement Park, was frustratingly awful and we felt we need to make up for it.
Episode 11: Jorge Grau’s “Let Sleeping Corpses Lie” (1974)
We rated this one a little low on the scale, but we enjoyed the film, and we loved talking about it. This is the kind of movie you put on with your friends and poke fun at, but also secretly enjoy.
Episode 12: Jim Clark’s “Madhouse” (1974)
An actor past his prime returns to a genre that made him famous, but things go horribly wrong, and disaster is the result. I wish I were describing the plot, and not the actual movie.
Episode 13 & 14": Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (1974)
Mike was traumatized by this film when he first saw it when he was 7. Chad was 14 when he first felt the fear of seeing Leatherface for the first time. Sam, our guest, fell in love with the film and used it as a way to test her boyfriends’ character and personality. Revisiting it years later, the movie is still terrifying.
Episode 15: Theodore Gershuny’s “Silent Night, Bloody Night” (1972)
It’s the holiday season, so what better way to ring in the yule tide than by subjecting ourselves to escaped lunatics, bad dubbing, an overuse of narration, and characters that leave viewer’s confounded!?
Episode 16: Dario Argento’s “Deep Red” (1975)
We delve back into the world of Dario Argento’s twisted mind. From the fetishization of macro shots, to the overuse of horror tropes, Chad and Mike found themselves divided by this entry into the Giallo genre.
Episode 17: Robert Fuest’s “The Devil’s Rain” (1975)
With a plot as awkward and hard to understand as the tagline/title combination on the movie poster, The Devil’s Rain was a test of our limits and patience. How could a cast this stellar come through with a movie this terrible?
Episode 18 & 19: Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” (1975)
For our next guest episode we head into the deep waters of the first official Summer Blockbuster. Join us, and TJ Herd as we discuss what puts “Jaws” near the top of our Watchability Scale.
Episode 20: Richard Donner’s “The Omen” (1976)
Prepare for a chilling ride as we dive into the dread-ridden details of "The Omen" (1976). Is this truly the classic we’ve been led to believe it is? Or, has it not been able to stand the test of time.
Episode 21: Jeff Lieberman’s “Squirm” (1976)
Dive into the wacky world of “Squirm” with us! We're talking electric worms, cheesy effects, and B-movie charm that's too fun to miss.
Episode 22 & 23: Brian De Palma’s “Carrie” (1976)
Back by popular demand, Sam Scheriner returns to dissect the details of Brian De Palma’s adaptation of Stephen King’s debut novel. Does it hold up? Tune in to find out.
Episode 24: George A. Romero’s “Martin” (1977)
We return to the work of George A. Romero in the flawed, but well-intentioned quasi-vampire film, “Martin.”
Ep. 25: Ovidio G. Assonitis’s “Tentacles” (1977)
Producers of “Tentacles” were hoping to latch on to the success of “Jaws” when they greenlit this mis-named bomb.
Ep. 26: John Carpenter’s “Halloween” (1978)
Chad says this is his favorite movie. He watches it every year. He’s bought the 25th anniversary edition. Yet, he refused to give it a 10 on the Watchability Scale.
Ep. 27: Irwin Allen’s “The Swarm” (1978)
Was this the movie that gave Mike his phobia of bees? Probably not. This movie is frighteningly bad, stupefyingly long, and uncomfortably acted. We had a blast dissecting Irwin Allen’s disaster(ous) movie!
Ep. 28: Ridley Scott’s “Alien” (1979)
45 years after its release, the ninth film in the “Alien” franchise is coming out. What better time to look back at the iconic film that started it all?
Ep. 29: Stuart Rosenberg’s “The Amityville Horror” (1979)
Not since “The Amusement Park” have we disagreed so strongly with the Rotten Tomato score of a film. We celebrated this gem as we watched and discussed it.
Ep. 30 & 31: ‘70 - ‘79 A Decade of Horror
Chad & Mike take some time to reflect on the films they watched from the 19tos. Added statistics, new categories, and the best of our episode categories will bring you back through all the fun we’ve had for the past several months.
Ep. 32: Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” (1958)
After a listener made the request for us to discuss Psycho, we decided that we should also visit what is considered to be Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest masterpiece.
Ep. 33: Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” (1960)
Anthony Perkins’s performance in this film blows us away. Tune in to our discussion to find out just how great this juggernaut of suspense really is!
Ep. 34: Ken Russell’s “Altered States” (1980)
We kick off our foray into horror of the 1980s with a discussion about the trippy successes and the frightening failures of “Altered States.”
Episode 35: Emmett Alston’s “New Year’s Evil” (1980)
Talking about how bad this movie is was much more fun that watching it. There are definitely moments that stand out, but is that because they were good, or laughably bad?
Episodes 36 & 37: Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” (1980)
TJ Herd joins us in the studio to walk the haunted hallways of the Overlook hotel. Stephen King hated the adaptation, we loved it!
Episode 38: John Landis’s An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Chad watched this film for the first time in order to discuss it. Mike watched it when he was ten. Part dark comedy, part werewolf horror. Tune in to fund out what we thought of this classic film.
Episode 39: Jimmy Huston’s Final Exam (1981)
Chad and Mike’s patience is tested by this quasi college comedy/slasher film. Some key points are worth watching, but can you make it through all of the faults of “Final Exam”?
Ep. 40: Sam Raimi's "The Evil Dead" (1981)
Sam Raimi’s debut has it all. Campy humor, inventive camera work, gore, demons, gore, comedy, and even more gore.
Ep. 41: Andrzej Zulawski's "Possession" (1981)
For Sam Neill, and Isabelle Adjani, it was a struggle to make this film. For Chad, Mike, and their guest Sam, it was a struggle to watch. This film confounded us, and left us with many questions by the time the end credits began rolling.
Ep. 42: Tobe Hooper’s "Poltergeist" (1982)
Come with us as we explore the things that frightened us, and Steven Spielberg, as children.
Ep. 43: Steve Miner's "Friday the 13th Part 3" (1982)
This film was enjoyable 30 minutes of slasher horror greatness. Unfortunately, you have to sit through an hour of stale character development to get to it.
Ep. 44: David Cronenberg's "The Dead Zone" (1983)
Seeing a film with Christopher Walken before he became “Walken” was enjoyable. A lot goes on in this film, but not a lot of it is developed to an enjoyable level.
Ep. 45: Joe Alves's "Jaws 3D" (1983)
Unpack the underwater chaos of Jaws3D with us! From awkward character choices to outdated 3D effects,
Ep. 46: Joe Alves's "Don’t Look Now" (1973)
This classic thriller, starring Donald Sutherland, entertained us and intrigued us. We struggled with it as a horror but definitely appreciated it as a psychological thriller.
Ep. 47: Tobe Hooper's "Salem’s Lot" (1979)
Some people consider this the best adaptation of Stephen King’s work. We’re on the other side of that fence.
Ep. 48: Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984)
We go back to the film that started it all. The film that saved New Line Cinema. And the movie that scared the bejeezus out of two of our hosts.
Ep. 49: John Cardos's "Mutant" (1984)
This movie has it all. Pus, ooze, slime, teeth!
Ep. 50: Peter Medak's "The Changeling" (1980)
None of us had ever seen this movie before we watched it for the podcast. But, this film is so iconic it was on all of our radars since we were young fans of horrors and thrillers.
Ep. 51: John-Claude Lord's "Visiting Hours" (1982)
Michael Ironsides thrills, and tropes abound in this 1982 slasher!
Ep. 52: Stuart Gordon's "Re-Animator" (1985)
This was probably one of the most loved films by all three of us. Shockingly, none of us had ever seen it before, but we’d all watched it more than once by the time the episode was published.
Ep. 53: Luca Bercovici's "Ghoulies" (1985)
What was once a much loved film from Mike’s child became a practice in tedium.
Ep. 54: David Cronenberg's "The Fly" (1986)
As far as Cronenberg’s signature body horror goes, this one dances on the line of almost going too far. Nearly 40 years later, the themes, story, and effects all stand up.
Ep. 55: Stephen King's "Maximum Overdrive" (1986)
Was 14% on Rotten Tomatoes justified? Or, was it too high of a rating?
Ep. 56: Sydney J. Furie's "The Entity" (1982)
At around a 2 hour run-time, we found this film both upsetting, and a bit too long. The tension and suspense work, but the formula feels tiresome by the 90 minute mark.
Ep. 57: John Carpenter's "The Thing" (1982)
What is it about this film that keeps it feeling fresh and tense more than 40 years after its release?
Ep. 58: David Cronenberg's "Videodrome" (1983)
This film is David Cronenberg at his body-horror best. We were fascinated, intrigued, repulsed, and confounded by this film.
Ep. 59: Tobe Hooper's "Lifeforce" (1985)
We had so many unanswerable questions as we watched Tobe Hooper’s final feature film as a director. One question that was easy to answer: Why did Hooper never direct again?
Ep. 60: Arch Nicholson's "Dark Age" (1987)
We finally did it. We finally found the film that truly made us question whether to Tomatometer was the best way to determine which films we are looking at for the podcast.
Ep. 61: Bill Froehlich's "Return to Horror High" (1987)
Was this movie laughably bad? Or, was it terribly done? While we found moments in the movie that we could enjoy, it became harder and harder to watch as the attempts at spoofing became over-the-top crude and uncomfortable jokes.
Ep. 62: Kevin Tenney's "Witchboard" (1986)
It’s not a good sign when one of the best compliments we can give a film is: “it’s a movie that I watched.” While this film had a couple of good moments, we all agreed there wasn’t much there to enjoy.
Ep. 63: Chuck Russell's "The Blob" (1988)
We found this film to be an enjoyable watch. Between the bookends of the now-cheesy 1950 original, to the b-movie bomb of the sequel comes an enjoyably fun watch!
Ep. 64: John Carpenter's "They Live" (1988)
With plenty of one-liners, a 6-minute long fight scene, and tons of aliens, there was something for everyone. Despite a slow start, we all felt it was an enjoyable watch. Don’t forget your bubblegum!
Ep. 65: Jon Hess's "Watchers" (1988)
Despite some good deaths, realistic blood, and an adorable four-legged friend, we were left with a whole lot of questions and not a single answer to be found. However, there is no question that this film missed the mark for all of us.
Ep. 66: Sam Raimi’s "Evil Dead II" (1987)
Was this film as good as the first? We decided we needed to stop comparing the two and enjoy this one for what it was. We were able to look past the confusing beginning, and in the end gave it three thumbs up.
Ep. 67: Charles E. Sellier Jr.’s "Silent Night, Deadly Night" (1984)
Despite some gruesome, creative deaths and lots of gore, we just couldn’t get over some of the major flaws and unnecessary nudity/sex scenes. Ultimately we came up with 3 separate ratings as to how ho-ho-horrible this film was.
