Not Quite Dead

TW: This episode contains discussion of suicide and self-harm. If you need help or are having thoughts of harming yourself, please call or text 988. M. Night Shyamalan, you dog, you did it again. A thrilling popcorn flick with twists aplenty, the 2023 mystery/horror movie Knock at the Cabin brings the frights. Are these four strangers really preventing the end times, or are they delusional cultist...

Director Mike Flanagan, now better known for the Flanaverse of horror shows on Netflix, helmed Oculus as one of his first feature-length films. Siblings Kaylie and Tim post up in their childhood home, where they attempt to capture definitive proof that a cursed mirror caused their family’s tragedy, not their father. Jump scares galore in this one!  Discussion points include: how to outsmart ghosts...

The two greatest Nicks, together at last! Nicholas Hoult and Nicolas Cage join up for a fun, albeit critically bombed, turn in the horror comedy Renfield (2023). Hoult plays the much maligned assistant to Cage's Dracula, with variably funny turns from Awkwafina and Ben Schwartz in supporting roles. Discussion points include: top comedy and horror moments, vampire traits, other notable Louisian...

Did you know that the 80s were 40 years ago? We did, and so did the film industry! This special episode covers John Carpenter’s The Thing and its 40th Anniversary Fathom event (err….one year later).  What we consider today a masterpiece look at the horror of a perfectly-replicating alien invasion, the folks of the 80s found disgusting, depressing, and a little dull. Boo for them, yay for us! Discu...

A hauntingly tragic story of immigration, ghosts both real and imagined, His House is a universally acclaimed horror film. The 2020 directorial debut from Remi Weekes about a South Sudanese refugee couple in the UK touches on culture, racism, xenophobia, and war trauma. Heavy but necessary topics that truly show that horror is embedded in all aspects of society. Discussion points include: UK immig...

The requel has become a franchise! Scream 6 returns with the same cast from Scream 5 - Jenna Ortega and Melissa Barrera as the leads - with a few extras from the Scream days of old. Appearances from Gail Weathers and Kirby keep the franchise foundation in what we find to be a very strong entry to the series. Discussion points include: how meta is too meta, ranking the Scream films, and fakeout kil...

A family psychodrama wrapped up in a ghost story - the stuff of nightmares! Nicole Kidman's turn as a 1940s mommy dearest in The Others is a stellar performance, a welcome retreat from some of the campier ghost movies this season. Discussion points include: WWII, creepy children, the place of religion in an ambiguous afterlife.  Read all about Nicole Kidman's  behind the scenes trivia .  A...

This isn’t the 100 Acre Woods you remember! Much to the mouse house’s chagrin, Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey was fast tracked for release once the IP came into the public domain. What else is there to do but make a gruesome, terrible horror movie out of a beloved childhood character? Discussion points include: copyright law, the uselessness of adult Christopher Robin, B-movie horror tropes.  Le...

Special guest Jason from the podcast Hemispheric Views joins us for 13 Ghosts (also known as THIR13EN GHOSTS). A family inherits a mansion stuffed to the brim with arcane and creepy artifacts - throw in a character that can see ghosts and an occultist uncle and you've got a good time brewing! Discussion points include: the illustrious Matthew Lillard, what it would be like living in a glass ho...

She's cute, she plays games, and she can kill the annoying people in your life - it's Megan! Wait, not, it's not our podcast host Megan, it's M3GAN! Evil doll and new best friend M3GAN took the internet by storm in 2022. Discussion points include: other evil doll comparisons, who needs parents when you have consumerism, and how movies go viral on TikTok now.  Buy  your own classic...

Amazingly, The Frighteners (1996) once held the title of most cutting-edge special effects. Primarily a slapstick comedy set to a Danny Elfman soundtrack, watching it today leaves a lot to be desired. Discussion points include: the most WTF moments of the movie, Michael J Fox's career, Peter Jackson's special effects company Weta FX history.

What makes a Barbarian? Director Zach Cregger's 2022 movie gives the Not Quite Dead gals much to ponder on the topic. A refreshingly smart, scary, and at times hilarious movie, Barbarian is a fun new entry into the modern horror canon. Discussion points include: AirBnBs, Justin Long scary movie supremacy, the horror movie three-act. Read about The Gift of Fear, the book that director Zach Cregger...

The very well-received yet little-known film We Are Still Here brings 70s ghostly delights to our screen. Couple Anne and Paul uproot their lives after family tragedy strikes, only to find themselves in a haunted new house with even creepier neighbors. Discussion points include: avoiding your weird new neighbors, what decade are we even in?, ghostly revenge. Episode edited by Megan Prior-Pfeifer....

The 2022 new release The Menu stars favorites Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult. The film, written by Will Tracy and Seth Reiss, is about a young couple visiting an exclusive, high-end restaurant on a remote island. What's on the menu? Death! Discussion points include: social commentary, how terrible foodies are, the food we'd want to try off the tasting menu. Episode edited by Ted...

7 days.... Not Quite Dead is kicking off the new year with the 2002 classic The Ring, a remake of Hideo Nakata's 1998 Ringu. Director Gore Verbinski helms this atmospheric, genuinely scary flick. Discussion points include: symbolism of the movie within the movie, the excellent special effects, and alternative pay-it-forward schemes. Episode edited by Megan Prior-Pfeifer. Music by Zach Pfeifer .

The girls wanted to wish their listeners a very Merry Christmas with this special episode that explores the horrors of the holiday season. There will be merriment, shared fears, and of course, spoilers.  Check out the movies we cover in this episode: Dec 1 - Love Actually Dec 2 - Gremlins Dec 3 - Friday After Next Dec 4 - The Santa Clause Dec 5 - A Charlie Brown Christmas Dec 6 - Bad Santa De...

Thank you for joining us for Season 9: Kids Horror! In this finale, we keep it short and sweet for all you busy parents - we rank the movies in age-appropriateness, and share a finger painting craft!

They're creepy and they're kooky / Mysterious and spooky / They're all together ooky - that's right, we're covering The Addams Family! Featuring everyone's favorite macabre characters, the 1991 movie introduced a new audience to the bizarre aristocratic family. Episode Extras Watch the trailer Read about the history of the movie Learn more about the troubled production of the movie Episode edited...

Ostensibly a real movie and not just a vehicle for Universal Studios to sell merchandise, The Monster Squad is a late 80s kids' classic horror movie. Featuring iconic characters like Dracula and the Wolfman, the plot of the movie is loosely draped around a group of kids trying to prevent the monsters from taking over the world. This episode is a classic debate of nostalgia versus quality - tell us...

Not Quite Dead covers the 2015 movie Goosebumps, a film jam packed with references to the classic kids horror book series. The film takes a meta approach to author R.L. Stine and his creations, for better and worse! Controversially, Megan believes this to be the worst movie we have ever covered on the podcast. Come unpack that with us in this episode! Episode Extras Check out the huge list of Goos...

The final installment of the Fear Street trilogy takes us all the way back to 1666 - and then forward to 1994 - then back again - then back again. Sheesh! Should this series have been four movies instead of three? Were all of the plot lines resolved in the final chapter? Tune in and find out!

If you were an 80s or 90s baby, you may be entitled to financial compensation for emotional trauma from the illustrations featured in the Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series. This movie pastiches some of the more famous stories from the children's books into a plot involving a historic local woman accused of witchcraft, the haunted house she lived in, and the high school kids compelled to sto...

Fear Street 1978 pays homage to the campground slashers of the era, with all the blood, sex, and pot you'd expect. "Wait!" you're thinking, "Isn't this a kids' movie?" Well, listen to this minisode and hear what the NQD gals have to say about that.

The Roald Dahl classic children's book gets the movie treatment in the 1990 flick The Witches! This movie is notably creepy with its Jim Henson puppetry and intense witch makeup on Anjelica Huston. The Not Quite Dead gals debate the film's ending - markedly different from the book - and discuss the legacy of Roald Dahl's books. Episode edited by Megan Prior-Pfeifer. Music by Zach Pfeifer .

Netflix's three-part Fear Street series is getting the Not Quite Dead minisode treatment this season! Come listen to discussion on the surprisingly (to some) mature content and debate with us when you can introduce kids to their first slasher movie. Episode edited by Cate Smith. Music by Zach Pfeifer .