Certified Forgotten

After several weeks of moving hell, Matthew Monagle is back on the podcast! In this bite-sized episode of Certified Forgotten, Monagle and Matt Donato catch up quickly on a month's worth of horror, including the highs (and mostly lows) of public domain slashers and the soon-to-be horror blockbuster that is Zach Cregger's Weapons. Special thank you to B.J. Colangelo and Meagan Navarro, who pinch-hi...

In this week's episode, we're headed back to Southport for a discussion about the new I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025). Certified Forgotten's Matt Donato is joined by another guest host, the perfect person to chat about sharp hooks and silly slasher vibes. B.J. Colangelo (This Ends At Prom) brings her love of I Know What You Did Last Summer to the table, counterbalancing Donato's less enthus...

It's that time of year again! We've hit the mid-year point, and everyone wants to know what the best horror movies of the year are so far. Certified Forgotten's Matt Donato is in charge of this special episode, and has enlisted the help of Bloody Digsuting's Meagan Navarro because, when you can, why not bring in the best? Listen in to their 30-minute discussion, and maybe you'll leave with a few t...

In the words of, I unno, the youths? Danny Boyle, Alex Garland, and the 28 [Insert Unit Of Time Measurement] franchise are so back. 28 Years Later marks the return of multiple 28 Days Later talents behind the camera, as Boyle embraces risks like there's no tomorrow. The Matts have a lot to talk about, from infecteds hanging dong and tracksuit mafias; 28 Years Later feels like multiple movies cramm...

Was it Billy Joel who once said that working too hard could give you a shark attack-ack-ack-ack-ack? Probably not! But in this episode of Certified Forgotten, you will hear Matt Monagle and Matt Donato wax poetic about their love of Sean Byrne's new film, Dangerous Animals. Byrne, the director of modern classics The Loved One and The Devil's Candy, directs Nick Lepard's shark-slash-serial killer m...

When your first feature is a J-horror-inspired found footage film, audiences might expect a movie like Noroi: The Curse to be a prime influence. But here's the fun truth: one-half of our guests had not even seen Koji Shiraishi's horror masterpiece until a day before this podcast recording. In this episode, writer-director duo Paul Gandersman and Peter Hall join Certified Forgotten to discuss Noroi...

Before 2023's masterfully wicked When Evil Lurks, Argentine filmmaker Demián Rugna terrified horror audiences with ... well, Terrified. We're joined on the podcast by composer, DJ, and longtime horror advocate Dorina — known to her followers as "DJ Bruja" — to discuss the film that came before Rugna's When Evil Lurks. Dorina channels her Mexican roots to talk about American horror versus Spanish-l...

You couldn't find two different breeds of horror fans than Certified Forgotten hosts Matt Donato and Matt Monagle. So, how did they end up giving Final Destination Bloodlines the same score? In this week's Uncertified episode, the Matts talk about their vastly different experiences with the Final Destination franchise and how that informed their Bloodlines reactions. People are saying it's one of...

Welcome to the 3-timers club, B.J. Colangelo! The intrepid co-host of This Ends At Prom and /Film staple returns with a 2000s horror comedy that is, for better and worse, a cultural time capsule: Monster Man. Misogyny runs rampant in this wannabe direct-to-video American Pie sequel, but to a comically exaggerated degree that shines a light on social norms of the period. Then the Joy Ride and Texas...

Think you've seen every possible version of the Cinderella story? Think again. In this episode of the Uncertified podcast series, Matt Donato and Matthew Monagle discuss Emilie Blichfeldt's The Ugly Stepsister, a mashup of regency tropes and body horror that has earned comparisons to The Substance. But whereas Coralie Fargeat's film leans into the grotesque, you may just find that The Ugly Stepsis...

Direct-to-video. Erotic thriller. Nineties vampires. Wings Hauser. These are just a few phrases we could use to describe Pale Blood, V. V. Dachin Hsu and Michael W. Leighton's underground vampire movie. Some of these descriptions — or maybe even all of them — would be enough to get the average horror fan to add Pale Blood to their watchlist. But is there more to the movie than nineties nostalgia?...

It's Sinners time, baby. Ryan Coogler's 1930s vampire flick is one of the year's buzziest horror movies for a reason, but does it live up to the hype? The answer is yes, to varying degrees. Monagle loves it. Donato likes it. This episode discusses what the film does so tremendously right (musical themes) and where it might drag for some (Donato has pacing issues). Listen to this episode to hear th...

Is there anything more tantalizing than time loop horror? In this episode of Certified Forgotten, our hosts are joined by Megan Norman, Events Coordinator and host with Crypticon Seattle, to discuss the fun of being a later-in-life horror fan, the importance of regional conventions, and the heady horror-comedy of Madellaine Paxson's Blood Punch. 

This week's Uncertified episode tackles Flying Lotus' new sci-fi horror freakout, Ash. In theaters now, and coming to Shudder soon enough, the multi-hyphenate creator tells a cosmic horror tale heavily influenced by genre video games. Donato's a harder sell on space-set scariness, while Monagle couldn't be more of an Alien slash Event Horizon fanboy. Where will they land on Flying Lotus' "smaller...

You may think you've seen every flavor of zombie movie, but you'd be wrong. Aimee Kuge joins Certified Forgotten to talk about the flesh-eating fun of her new film, Cannibal Mukbang, and the bleak undead nightmare that is Scooter McCrae's Shatter Dead.

Who rules? James Ashcroft's The Rule of Jenny Pen rules. In this episode of our Uncertified podcast series, Matt Monagle and Matt Donato discuss Shudder's latest release, where pits Geoffrey Rush against John Lithgow for retirement home supremacy. At times uncomfortable, at times unforgettable, The Rule of Jenny Pen is a fascinating mash-up of elder horror themes and concepts.

When you're an independent film made for less than $10,000, it doesn't matter if horror fans consider you one of the great zombie movies of the 21st Century: you're still well below the radar of the average moviegoer. In this episode of Certified Forgotten, journalist Michelle Swope discusses her lifelong love of horror and her particular appreciation for Jeremy Gardner's The Battery.

In this week's episode, we're swapping an "M" for an "M" to keep the formula correct. Certified Forgotten's Matt Donato covered South by Southwest 2025 from start to finish, but Matthew Monagle did not. So, Donato called in backup to help with an entire episode dedicated to the horror films of SXSW. Please welcome back Bloody Disgusting's Meagan Navarro, one of the tippy-top horror journalists wor...

We're doing something a little different this week for Certified Forgotten! It's South by Southwest time for the Matts, as they check out the slate of cinematic offerings at Austin's biggest film festival. In honor of SXSW, Donato and Monagle have picked some of their favorite festival titles, old and upcoming. It's easy for festival films to fall through the distribution cracks—hopefully our pick...

If you're a longtime Certified Forgotten listener, you know how co-hosts Matt Donato and Matthew Monagle feel about Oz Perkins. They've debated The Blackcoat's Daughter, reviewed Longlegs, and have made their stances known. So where does The Monkey fit into their discussion? It's the least "Oz Perkins" of any Oz Perkins movie, much to Donato's pleasure. The question is, will this ultra-gory, weird...

It's a privilege and a shame that we can cover a Kiyoshi Kurosawa title on the podcast. How is Lionsgate burying a Kurosawa movie that gets 0 Rotten Tomatoes reviews upon release and only 2 more over the last decade and a half? That's the conversation O.G. horror podcaster and filmmaker Elric Kane starts on this week's podcast. We talk about Kane's new haunting release The Dead Thing (now on Shudd...

No, we're not talking about Mary Poppins. This week's episode highlights an underseen Shudder original that delves into the surreal, sinister, and psychosexual. Mercedes Bryce Morgan's Spoonful of Sugar is a fairy tale that gets nasty in multiple ways, about a babysitter and family who are never what they seem. We welcome horror journalist Vannah Taylor (Fangoria, Moviejawn) as our esteemed guest,...

In this very special episode of the Certified Forgotten podcast, Matt Monagle and Matt Donato are joined by actor and filmmaker Kate Siegel (Midnight Mass, Hush) who goes behind-the-scenes on the making of her V/H/S/Beyond segment "Stowaway" and then kicks off a fun discussion about Lesley Manning's Ghostwatch. What starts with references to The Human Centipede ends with a call to get active in yo...

When is a spoiler not a spoiler? In Drew Hancock's Companion, one of the most important parts of the story is introduced in most of the marketing material, which begs the question as to whether you can talk about the movie without talking about... well, you know. In this episode of Certified Forgotten's Uncertified series, Matt Monagle and Matt Donato tackle this and other pressing questions tied...

Who's ready to talk about a movie about body horror and beauty that made headlines this week? No, the other one! In this episode of the Uncertified podcast series, Matthew Monagle and Matt Donato talk about Sasha Rainbow's Grafted, a New Zealand horror film that, like many upcoming body horror releases, will get comparisons to The Substance but actually deserves them, too.