Eros + Massacre is a cinema podcast hosted by Samm Deighan, focusing on everything from cult and psychotronic to weird arthouse, East Asian movies, and the less frequently explored avenues of film history.
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For the second part of my ongoing series about Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Clara from Angura Research Center was kind enough to return to the show. You might remember her from the episode we did together on Shuji Terayama, but she’s also a huge Kurosawa fan. We had a lot to say about the horror films and thrillers he made at the beginning of the 2000s: Séance (2000), Pulse (2001), Bright Future (2002), Doppelganger (2003), and the short film Matasaburo the Wind Imp (2003). I think you can tell from the episode that we could truly have just kept talking about Kurosawa forever and are both dazzled by him.
This April was the great Roger Corman’s centennial, so what better time to finally discuss his work on Eros + Massacre. Writer, artist, programmer, and friend of the show Klon Waldrip joined me for an epic conversation about Corman’s 8-film series loosely based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe. In this episode we discuss: House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Premature Burial (1962), Tales of Terror (1962), The Raven (1963), Lovecraft adaptation The Haunted Palace (1963), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), and The Tomb of Ligeia (1964), and a handful of related films. W
The greatest of all time, Meiko Kaji, recently came to NYC for a retrospective of her work at Japan Society, so naturally I had to celebrate with a podcast episode in her honor. This is a solo outing, where I discuss the Stray Cat Rock series, which Kaji made for Nikkatsu. It launched her to countercultural stardom and was her last major project for the studio before departing for Toei in 1972 where she went on to greater heights with a series of crime and revenge films. I discuss the five film series: Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss (1970), Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo (1970), Stray Cat Ro
I haven’t yet had a chance to talk about New German Cinema on Eros + Massacre, though episodes on Rainer Werner Fassbinder and key figures from his group of collaborators have been high on my list. I could never pick a single favorite director, but Fassbinder is at least in the top five. And Kurt Raab—the actor, set designer, art director, screenwriter, and producer who was among Fassbinder’s most loyal, brilliant, and beleaguered collaborators—is among my favorite Germans to ever exist, so it seemed like a good idea to start with him. Film programmer and projectionist Adrianna Gober is the on
I missed this podcast so much, but finishing a book while keeping on top of my commentary deadlines has been brutal. The episode title — as some of you have probably guessed — is a bit deceptive. This is all about my favorite new-to-me films of 2025 and it skews heavily towards East Asian cinema and towards crime thrillers. There are actually more contemporary films on here than I would have guessed, as well as some real wild cards (especially in the runners up section), but they are ALL BANGERS. Fair warning that a number of them are heavy on the violence, sexual violence, and/or gore. Some s
Squeezing in one last special episode for the Halloween season, this is another subject I’ve been dying to talk about since I started Eros + Massacre. Erica Shultz was kind enough to join me to discuss about a series of ’70s and ’80s thrillers and horror movies featuring the phone as a source of terror. You probably know Erica from her podcast, Unsung Horrors, and her book, The Sweetest Taboo: An Unapologetic Guide to Child Kills in Film. She has an upcoming Miskatonic lecture on November 18th all about that very subject, so get your tickets here. We start off mentioning the early classics, li
It took me YEARS to make this episode happen, but I am finally triumphant, thanks to my generous and tolerant co-host, Keith Allison. You might remember him as my guest for our episode last year on beach party movies, or know him from his many years writing about cinema, including his book Cocktails and Capers: Cult Cinema, Cocktails, Crime, & Cool. Keith joined me to talk about one of my favorite things in the entire world, the Hammer Dracula series: Dracula (1958), The Brides of Dracula (1960), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (1968), Taste the Blood of Dr
It’s officially the beginning of Halloween season and the end of the Japanese celebration of the dead, Obon. Obon is celebrated at different times in different parts of the country, though it is traditionally mid-August. I’m being a little flexible with the dates here, because I want to start doing an annual Obon-themed episode that focuses on Japanese folklore, horror, and the supernatural. This episode is also an experiment — it’s my first solo episode of Eros + Massacre, which is something I’ve been planning to do for a while. For this one I’m discussing the horror genre’s lord and savior,
This is an extra special episode near and dear to my heart, since Kenji Misumi has become one of my favorite directors, largely because of the Sword trilogy. Though his name may be unfamiliar to many of you, you have likely seen a few of his films: he directed most of the Lone Wolf and Cub series and many Zatoichi films. Longtime Criterion producer Curtis Tsui — who worked on both of those sets — joined me to discuss some of Misumi’s less frequently seen or discussed masterpieces. We briefly discuss the great Satan’s Sword (1960) trilogy, but focus mostly on his loosely connected Sword trilogy
Chicago film programmer John Dickson, from the Oscarbate podcast and film collective, joined me for another wild discussion of Jess Franco’s spy/detective films. This time we’re talking about most of the movies in his Red Lips series, focusing on two female friends (and later, lovers), who are imaginative young strippers and/or cabaret performers who moonlight as private detectives, spies, vigilantes, Interpol informants, and so on. This episode covers Tio Jess’s debut film, We Are 18 Years Old (1959), which is the origin of the character types even if it isn’t officially in the series, plus R
Since we’re on the verge of summer, it seemed like the perfect time for my…
Clara from Angura Research Center was kind enough to join me for this episode on…
Ditch class, rev your engines, sharpen your switchblades, and roll up some reefer! Extremely patient…
It’s officially spring, which seems like a fitting time to release the first — but…
It’s spring equinox and Eros + Massacre is emerging from hibernation! This first episode of…
We are still in the no man’s land between Christmas and New Year’s Day, so…
My sweet Yuletide angels, here is the other two-part episode I’m shoehorning into this December.…
Here is part two of this journey through Teruo Ishii’s Joys of Torture with Chris…
After a much needed break, I’m back! I have been DYING to do a few…
For the latest Eros + Massacre episode, designer, writer, musician, and jack of all trades…
Andrew Nette, my co-editor on Revolution in 35mm, joined me for this rather intense episode…
Starting this September, the Criterion Channel is running a series on giallo films. It includes…
It broke my heart that the absolutely wonderful Donald Sutherland died this summer, even though…
Over the years I’ve talked a lot about how Fulci’s City of the Living Dead (1980)…
I have been wanting to do an episode on American International Pictures’ beach party series…
