A podcast dedicated to the most reviled of horror subgenres - the slasher movie from the people behind Hysteria Lives! and The Bodycount Continues. Reviews, retrospectives and more! Includes some brief strong language and spoilers.
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Estranged siblings, Scott and Ashley, look to mend their relationship on a 3-day hiking trip. As tensions rise, Scott gets lost and falls into a 10-foot-deep spike pit, impaling him through his leg and leaving him trapped. He and his friends soon learn that his fall was no accident, but the beginning of a deadly hunt perpetrated by a deranged madman whose use of deadly traps each adds a gory notch to his body count, one by one. A sight-unseen choice from Erik, we give our general thoughts on this backwoods throwback and also discuss the cast, crew, and what's next for director James Kondelik.
An abandoned cargo ship, two brothers in law enforcement, blood-thirsty Dobermans, and a mysterious killer con dos conjuntos diferentes comprise this double-bill featuring a string of gruesome murders in Texas and across the Rio Grande in The Day Of The Jackal (1984), and its sequel, Massacre In Rio Grande (1988). Along with our general thoughts on both films, we take a look at the landscape of Mexican slasher cinema, the similarities to the Golden-Age American counterparts, hideous red sofas, silky mustaches, boozy mothers, body-popping strip clubs, and much, much more!
Someone's killing the beautiful young majorettes at the local high school. Could it be Harry, the voyeuristic janitor? Tommy, the nerdy photographer for the high school yearbook? Mace Jackson, the sleazy local drug pusher? Jeff Holloway, the star quarterback for the high school football team? Or could the identity of the killer be just one of the many incredibly shocking twists you'll discover as you watch The Majorettes? Along with our general thoughts, we dissect this slasher/action mashup (from page to screen) from director Bill Hinzman, looking at its origins dating all the way back to its
14-year-old Lisa (Staci Keanan) and her mother Katherine (Cheryl Ladd) share everything, but Lisa has one secret: she and her best friend engage in brief flirtations with attractive men. The girls are just having a little fun, until Lisa encounters Richard (D.W. Moffett), a handsome charmer who's also the notorious Candlelight Killer, strangling unsuspecting women in the area. Drawn into his deranged world, Lisa's innocent game of phone tag becomes deadly serious, and the stakes are people's lives! Along with our general thoughts, we dissect this psycho-thriller/home invasion/From Hell/slasher
Danielle Breton (Margot Kidder) is a beautiful young model, the kind of girl you meet only in your dreams. But this dream turns into a nightmare when young reporter Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) witnesses a brutal murder in Danielle's apartment. Danielle has a secret: she lives half a life, and the other half is lived by her formerly-conjoined, murderous sister Dominique. One sister is lovely, gentle, and kind - the other is quite mad, and you never know which one you're holding in your arms. We're joined by author, director (1991's Guilty As Charged and 2001's Elvira's Haunted Hills, among ot
We're back for a chilly good time with Cold Prey 2 (2008), the Norwegian slasher sequel that picks up directly where the last one left off, with shades of Halloween 2 (1981) and Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) serving as inspiration points as Jannicke once again faces The Mountain Man in a mad, slashery jaunt through a spooky hospital. Thankfully, nary a sign of Chris Martin to be had, but that doesn't mean we don't have jokes!
Come and knock on our cabin door for the slasher/horror/comedy of farcical error, Tucker And Dale VS Evil (2010), which pits a group of college kids against a duo of backwoods, psychotic rednecks, or pits a couple of well-meaning rednecks against a group of psychotic collegiate yuppies, depending on the degree of misunderstanding at any given moment.
We've covered a lot of movies, but for one episode only, we're covering a thirteen episode slasher miniseries that aired on the loudest network channel of all time, CBS; it's Harper's Island (2009), about a wedding party on a remote island beset by a mystery killer, with at least one death (sometimes more) per episode. Don't change the channel before we reveal Erik is the killer.
Back to the forest expanse of West Virginia (by way of Bulgaria) we go for our peek at the straight-to-DVD second sequel in the backwoods hillbilly Wrong Turn saga: Wrong Turn 3: Left For Dead (2009). We discuss where the film stacks against its predecessors, three-fingered (and toed) mutants, criminal escapees, whether or not Erik is an AI creation, and much, much more!
For the gore hounds, we're sending in the clowns - Art The Clown that is - the demented, painted psycho stalking anyone within eyesight in Damien Leone's 2016 splatter movie phenomenon, Terrifier. We discuss the shocking endurance of Art as a new horror icon, the extreme gore, bits and pieces of the sequels, and much, much more!
Jack's Back in The Ripper (1985)! With his spirit now resurrected by a mafioso crackerjack ring, Jack The Ripper goes on a gory killing spree, setting his sights on students, faculty, and fringe hangers-on of a film school studying true crime in cinema - entrails will spill and mustaches will be twirled! We discuss Tom Savini's infamous "starring" role, whether or not this was shot on video (16mm?), ring this/ring that, and much, much more! Clarification: it was shot on video!
1979: A youthful group of pornographers shooting a "farmer's many daughters" adult film on an isolated farm are besieged by the passing of time in the form of a reclusive, exceptionally-horny septuagenarian who can't get hers unless they get theirs first! We discuss director Ti West's accidental start to a trilogy, the rousing bloodletting, the genial cast of characters, and of course: father time (with blood spatter) - and much, much more! We are joined on this excursion into murderous smut by listener/viewer Lee Taylor of Buzzy Film Productions. Link: / @buzzyfilmproductions
Adrien Brody puts his nose to the grindstone as a detective out to stop a yellow-skinned, mad killer who is abducting females by way of his taxi in Dario Argento's Giallo from 2009, featuring Brody in a dual role and... Not much else according to at least three of us. We discuss the film's lack of signature Argento-isms, whether or not it is a giallo, Adrien Brody's court case against the producers, and much more! Also, the ghost of Skype has infiltrated our new recording digs, making completion of the episode about as difficult as sitting through this movie!
William Castle channels his inner Hitchcock with this sordid tale of selfish relatives (re: inheritance plot) and gender bending minutiae; it's 1961's Homicidal, featuring a lead pulling double duty, bad teeth, and a gimmicky fright break. It's also our 15th birthday, so we've collectively surpassed Erik's mental age by a couple of spins around the sun. We discuss the obvious (though unintentional?) riffs on Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), the labyrinthine murder plot, decapitated mutes, fright break theater experiences, and much, much more!
Robert Hiltzik returns to camp (literally?) with his legacy sequel to the OG Sleepaway Camp (1983) with 2008's (shot in 2003) Return To Sleepaway Camp, featuring a handful of returning characters mixing it up with a new generation of snotty campers in a tale of bullies - and the bullied - getting offed at summer camp by a mysterious (ha) psychopath. We discuss the human manifestation of sewage, Alan (the film's inexplicable lead character), what type of film Hiltzik was trying to make, the film's slew of over the top murders, and of course the film's best kept secret: the identity of the kille
Twas a few days after Christmas, and all through the house, nary a Justin was stirring, that sick little louse. We're again Justinless but are joined by friend of the show and Supporting Characters host Bill Ackerman to discuss alternate (and murderous) holiday realities in It's A Wonderful Knife (2023). We discuss the film's take on an old formula, where it sits in the recent spate of hybrid slashers, the surprising amount of character warmth, and much more!
One of our shortest shows ever, and we're working at 75% capacity and doing a bit of time travel recording for 1978's Big Sleazy slasher, Mardi Gras Massacre, with a killer sacrificing "evil" women to an Aztec God. If you've ever wanted to see a movie where Chinese food sets the wheels of would-be justice in motion, this is your flick. We discuss the film's overlong (and inept structure), its curious cast of characters, its status as a victim of the infamous video nasties, and much, much more!
We discuss familial intricacies and Three Stooges-esque pie fight gags in this episode centered around a mother from hell in a film that feels like it was written in hell, 1989's Murder In Law, a From Hell/Slasher hybrid that sees Joe Estevez get a visit from his long, terminally lost mother, who immediately takes a disliking to his family. We discuss the film's strange - many, many strange - narrative choices, Joe Estevez' mid-film disappearing act, we wait on breaking news from Bluesky as it relates to one cast member while also discussing this character in depth, and much, much more!
Put on your swim trunks, we're taking a dip in The Pool (2001), the post-Scream tale of students at a prestigious Prague high school who decide to get nice and wet for their graduation party, soon finding themselves in the deep end with a machete-toting maniac in a skull mask. We discuss the film's slick death scenes, its Euro sensibilities, the storied (but all too real) sequel that never got a release (do you wanna know a secret? it does exist!), and much, much more!
All shock collars set to high voltage as we zip through a maze of bloodthirsty killers, Japanese gameshow cliches, and perhaps way too much linguistic back and forth with Maurice Devereaux' low-budget 2001 slasher, $LA$HER$. We're joined by listener and friend of the show, Jake Rubenstein, to discuss the film's ambitious nature (despite its budgetary constraints), director Maurice Devereaux' short-lived filmography, and much, much more!
Like a typical reaction to Erik's joke of the week, you have the right to remain silent - forever - with Bill Lustig's 1988 officer of the law action-slasher, Maniac Cop. We're joined by listener, Austin Stenberg, to discuss this offbeat tale of a police officer gone rogue for murder.
Back to the drive-in for some low-fi proto-slasher thrills. We are very excited to be joined by guest Rob Freese. Mind out for that sword! Plus, recently seen, Erik's joke of the week and so much more!
Back to the deep south for some deep wounds in the third dimension in yet another reawakening of the classic slasher series. Plus, recently seen, Erik's joke of the week and so much more!
Time to get down-and-dirty with this slasher adjacent dark comedy from Charles Kaufman, where a trio of female friends battle psycho momma's boys and their backwoods matriach. Plus, recently seen, Erik's joke of the week and so much more!
Back to the woods when more fresh victims take a wrong turn as we take a look at this mutant hillbilly sequel! Plus, recently seen, Erik's joke of the week and so much more!
