Retro Ridoctopus

Dedicated to the only person we know who could beat Xardion, our mom Nancy. This is a Crow's Nest that's not only totally on brand, but functions as a bit of therapy for the hosts. As tribute to the mother of Parasite Steve and 8-Bit Alchemy, the boys endeavor to spotlight all the random video games she loved over the years. Expect NES, SNES, TurboGrafX 16, Genesis, N64 and beyond! We guarantee yo...

With the Green Witch of the Shire (AKA Greenie) on deck, our new host Coopster Gold takes the helm for the first time, setting his spyglass on those swashbuckling, scallywags that once sailed the seven seas. YARRR, of course we be talking pirates! After some basic history on the real deal, we begin building our own personal crews (fantasy football style)... choosing a ship, animal mascot, 2 crew m...

If you don't know what the difference between EXTREME HORROR and SPLATTERPUNK is, author Thomas R. Clark is here with the low down! For about two hour hours, we chat about the craft, what he digs about the extreme stuff and his newest Splatterpunk collection, Immoral Dilemmas! And later on, we dive headfirst into a sprawling discussion about that beloved sci-fi franchise mega-hit from the 70s and...

Sometimes, bad movies are the most fun you'll have in front of a small screen. All you gotta do is grab some like-minded friends and good times can be had by all. And while your personal mileage may vary, is there a science to the phenomenon? A credible explanation as to what separates the Good-Bad from the downright awful? Eh, who cares. In the spirit of liking what you like, we're gonna shout ou...

Down in the eldritch unknown of the BRIG… we have a writer, monster hunter and lover of staring too long into the abyss! Rey Nichols is the author of the Apollo Grant books and is here to talk all about the newly released third in that series GRANT NO QUARTER! And if you stick around to the end, you'll find out how she got to be 2 degrees from Kevin Bacon and what her and Parasite Steve's top Baco...

It's season 6 and the start of a whole new era of Ridoctopus with our new host Justin Cooper (AKA Coopster Gold)! Our man from Shytown wastes no time settling in as we celebrate some mean pinball video games. But there's no need to drive to your nearest amusement hall because these games can be played on such home platforms as the original Nintendo, various Game Boys, the TurboGrafx-16 and even MS...

What can we say? We just didn't want this season to end... After copious amounts of reminiscing over another amazing year, we dive into our annual final topic. Like every year, we asked you for voice mails, giving your quick reviews of a classic movie you watched for the first time this year. Every single year, this block gets longer and longer and season 5 was no exception. Thank you for coming o...

To celebrate the release of Godzilla Minus One and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, we've got an episode so full of kaiju mayhem, we had to split it into two parts! Back for the conclusion of this epic journey is our buddy Aldo, who continues to flex his superfan knowledge along the way. This time, Nintenjoe and Parasite Steve deliver the goods on the Millennium and MonsterVerse eras respectively, bef...

To celebrate the release of Godzilla Minus One and Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, we've got an episode so full of kaiju mayhem, we had to split it into two parts! Along for this epic journey is our pal Aldo, who takes us through the first 15 Godzilla movies (which comprise what is known as the Showa period) starting with the original Gojira in 1954, and ending with 1975's Terror of Mechagodzilla. Th...

For our last BRIG of season 5, Parasite Steve welcomes an old & dear friend who just happens to be another insanely talented writer! Morgan Sylvia is an author from Maine with numerous published works including novels, short stories, poetry collections and everything in between. Whether she's writing long or short form, one thing is clear, the quality of the prose itself is always top of mind....

The bummer is we have to bid farewell to our brother Nintenjoe , as this is his final time hosting the show. But being the totally radical dude that he is, he straps on the blue mask to lead us one final time into the land of nostalgia, as we celebrate the cinematic films of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ! Bringing the pizzas is our very good friend, Justin Cooper (from the Epic Tales From The...

For this episode of THE BRIG, we chat with the incredibly cool Kasey Lansdale! You might have seen her name on numerous anthologies, in the credits for Shudder's Creepshow or on one of her acclaimed country music albums. For this episode, we learn how she built an expansive career by never saying no to anything new! A little later on we'll chat about some retro horror movies, but first, Kasey thro...

Special effects titan Ray Harryhausen is rightfully renowned for pushing the medium of stop motion animation and single-handedly creating some of the most memorable on-screen monsters ever captured on screen. For this epic journey, we welcome back Scott Clevenger (from the Slumgullion podcast) to celebrate the mythic life and career of this legendary artist. After starting with a little history on...

Here it is, horror fans... the second half of our first (maybe only) two part episode! 8-Bit Alchemy and "All Hallows" Steve aren't done screaming out obscure horror games, in fact, this episode covers four more! Some are more obscure than others but all are worth celebrating. We even drop some honorable mentions along the way, so strap back on your chainsaw hands and buckle up, because...

Our first ever two part episode starts with a massive tribute to the Grandfather of all Gaming Gore, SPLATTERHOUSE! We'll take you game by game, room by viscera-painted room, through Rick's red-knuckled journey as he takes up the TERRORMASK to save his beloved Jennifer from the forces of EVIL! After that, we'll each drop one OBSCURE horror game that we think deserves to have more eyeballs on it be...

Starting the spooky season right, we slammed the BRIG door on an awesome dude with some KILLER horror cred! Not only is Bob Mendell the vocalist for the metal bands On Your Deathbed & Drained, he's also an actor, a SFX makeup artist and the actor manager at Fear Town Haunted House! Ever wonder what it takes to run a major haunted attraction? Bob has the receipts! Later on, we'll swing things a...

On another toy-centric episode of the Retro Ridoctopus cephalopodcast, Nintenjoe takes the reins as we present some of our favorite Retro Toy Lines. Here we aren't just spotlighting one or two toys, but the entire lines as a whole. Along for the ride is "Mrs. Alchemy", Steph, AKA "Green Witch Of The North", AKA "GREENIE", in her first appearance on the show! She adds...

In space, no one can hear you scream... ...but this is only a podcast, so you don't have to worry about that. With the help of Xenomorph-superfan and movie-dissecting guru, El Goro (from the Talk Without Rhythm Podcast), we're going to spill the ovomorphs on the entire Alien franchise! Starting with Ridley Scott's horror sci-fi masterpiece ALIEN (1979) and going all the way through ALIEN: COVENANT...

In every medium where superheroes exist, there are characters that spoof the genre. Some, (like the Tick), carry their own parody comics & shows. But others exist within the world of their property (as a show within a show) where these meta heroes are enjoyed by the already fictional characters of that property (like Radioactive Man is to Bart Simpson). So, up and atom, gentle listener, becaus...

If you already feel old, how does it feel to know that the Super Nintendo came out 32 years ago? For many of us, the 90s were defined by the 16-bit generation of video games. The successor to the enormously successful Nintendo Entertainment System was of course the good old SNES. A system that would push the envelopes the look, sound and overall experience of what a home video game could be, and g...

This is a supplemental Crow's Nest to "Ep 107: Gaming the Marvel Way (with Ian Wallace)". In that episode we went through enough Marvel video games to fill a Danger Room, but there were some glaring omissions... Righting the chief of those wrongs, we decided to celebrate the first 6 (all the sprite based ones) Capcom Marvel fighters! We start with the Children of the Atom and end with a...

Stephen Lomer is many things. Aside from being a pal, he's an Amazon Best Selling author, as well as a talented actor, producer and screenwriter! For his first appearance in the BRIG, we decided to do something a little different, by getting 4 cast members of his YouTube show The Parody News Network to appear throughout and kind of gum up the works! Much to Stephen's chagrin, Killarney Traynor, Ch...

Greetings, Mad Marvelites! We've got a whole action packed episode all about video games that feature your favorite fearless super heroes like Spider-Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and of course, those marauding mutants, the Uncanny X-Men! We'll start at the very beginning and bring you through the glory days of the arcades, to 16 bit home consoles like the Super Nintendo and Genesis, a...

We hope you enjoy this supplemental mini-episode! This was taken from the unpublished pre-interview from our recent BRIG with veteran actor Andrew Parks! Not only do you get about 20 minutes of more Andy, you'll be "treated" to some unedited behind the scenes stuff for the podcast itself. Retro Ridoctopus has never published anything like this before and we hope you all dig it! ---------...

We've been huge fans of Andrew Parks, ever since seeing his unforgettable turn as the alien Kro-Bar in Larry Blamire's THE LOST SKELETON OF CADAVRA (2001). It was an incredible privilege to be able to hang out and chat about his extensive career in movies and television! You'll hear stories about Jimmy Stewart, Angela Landsbury, Jim Beaver and frequent collaborator (not to mention two time BRIG in...