--And Now The Podcast Starts!

Stella, Kirsty and Ian have all seen lots of True Blood, HBO's steamy vampire romance, and love it to bits.  On the other hand, Dan has only seen a bit of it, but he loved that.  Listen to them wax lyrical and philosophical about why it's so good (except for, as Ian points out, when it isn't) and how it compares to the Charlaine Harris books it was adapted from.  And if you've never seen it, the g...

It's time to return to our series of Halloween franchise reviews, recorded back in 2018.  Dan and Howard are joined by returning guests Luke Richards (actor and writer-star of the upcoming Halloween fan film, One Night in Haddonfield) and Spider-Dan (host of the podcast Spider-Dan and the Secret Bores) for a spoiler-filled discussion of Rob Zombie's 2007 reboot of the franchise. In more recently r...

Kirsty, Stella, Dan and Ian have been raving about Host, last year's 'Zoom seance' movie from Shudder, almost since before it was released, and now they are blessed to be joined for a freewheeling chat by one of its writers, Gemma Hurley.  Gemma talks about the experience of writing that film, her rollercoaster 2020, the challenges of pitching genre material for TV in the UK, and why she loves fol...

Ian and Stella are both big fans of 1973's The Exorcist (it's Ian's favourite film), but neither have ever seen the occasionally-feted-in-cult-film-circles standalone sequel written and directed by original Exorcist author and producer William Peter Blatty, 1990's The Exorcist III.  Dan has seen it before, and read Blatty's novel Legion, from which it was adapted, and was left with mixed feelings....

Kirsty, Stella, Ian and Dan return to their survey of Hollywood's procession of Gothic horrors from the 1990s with the one non-Columbia/TriStar/Zoetrope film on the list - but a film we couldn't possibly leave out - Neil Jordan's sumptuous adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire.  But how does it look to modern eyes?  And is the apparently ageless Tom Cruise actually a vampire in real...

After yet another delay (look, our rhythms haven't adjusted to the craziness of 2021 yet, okay), we're finally going in-depth on 1980's The Changeling.  Ian, Stella and Dan talk about how the discovered this oft-overlooked gem of haunted house cinema, and what's great about it.   Visit our website, www.andnowpodcast.com

We're returning to the Halloween franchise this episode, and one of the least-loved films in the franchise, the Busta Rhymes-starring final instalment of the 'original Laurie Strode timeline'.  Dan and Howard are joined by longtime Halloween pundits Spider-Dan and Luke Richards.   Relevant Links and Availability Halloween Resurrection is available on DVD and Blu-Ray and for rental streaming via Am...

Happy New Year!  We begin the (tentatively hopeful) 2021 by starting a new strand: Nineties Gothic, examining each film in the flow of big-budget, 'respectable' spins on the classic horror texts and archetypes, mostly produced by Columbia TriStar and/or American Zoetrope. The first of these was Bram Stoker's Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola and released globally during 1992-93.  Kirsty, S...

In lieu of a proper episode, here's our (delayed) Christmas knees-up and horror trivia quiz episode, presided over by Ian, with Kirsty, Stella, Dan and special guests Kelly, Sven and Elliott. To send in an answer to our listener questions, and stand a chance of winning one of our excellent prizes, email Dan at ambisolsltd@gmail.com. Ghost Stories (2018) and Mark Gatiss' The Tractate Midddoth, The...

Ian and Dan are joined by a special guest returning from our Horror Express episode, writer and podcaster Tim Shaw, to discuss another favourite from Tim's childhood, and a supernatural spine-chiller that Ian's never seen before, 1973's The Legend of Hell House.  Four psychic investigators - played by powerhouse actors Pamela Franklyn, Roddy McDowall, Clive Revill and Gayle Hunnicutt - have one we...

Circumstances have prompted that this week's recorded episode - a discussion of Bram Stoker's Dracula - has been postponed by a few days.  In its place, Dan bids a sad farewell to a much-mentioned friend of the show, and introduces a collection of 'The Bag of Death', a segment from The Lee/Cushing Podcast from 2016-17, featuring Howard and Dan. Quatermass 2 (1957) is currently free to stream for s...

Does the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House (2018) count as a Missed Classic just because it's two years old and Dan hasn't seen it before?  Short answer: yes.  Longer answer: yes, especially in the light of its instant acclaim and the general derision granted to its 2020 follow-up, The Haunting of Bly Manor (which Kirsty, Stella and Ian can't resist talking about even though this episode i...

Stella, Ian and Dan all agree that their scariest horror moments involve ghosts, but they aren't sure what it exactly is that makes a spectral visitor from beyond the grave so frightening.  Listen to them ponder out loud.  Be warned, the conversation gets surprisingly unsettling in places!   Related Links and Availability The Possession of Hannah Grace and His House are currently available to stre...

Today's panel of hosts have all seen controversial science-fiction horror and follow-up to 1979's Alien and 1986's Aliens, Alien3, before.  Ian saw it at the cinema in 1992 and was disgusted.  Kirsty caught it on video as a young adult and didn't think much of it, but went on to become a huge fan of its director, David Fincher.  And Dan is a full-on Alien fan who's seen it multiple times in both r...

You may not have heard of During Barty's Party, an episode from the 1976 anthology TV series, Beasts, written by Quatermass creator Nigel Kneale.  Ian and Stella hadn't, when Dan suggested this episode to them.  But Dan insists it's an absolutely terrifying Missed Classic.  Will Stella and Ian agree?  And after listening to this episode, will you be tempted to seek it out?  And whatever you do, do...

Hope you all had a good Halloween, folks.  This episode, Kirsty and Stella introduce Dan to their beloved The Cabin in the Woods (2012).  But how will Dan react to this postmodern piece of pop culture?   0.00.41 Introduction and news 00.09.21 The Cabin in the Woods spoiler-free discussion 00.35.35 The Cabin in the Woods - full spoilers 01.13.50 Recommendations   Relevant links and availability The...

Happy Halloween everybody!  It's the latest episode of our Halloween retrospective, as Howard and Dan turn their attention to the FIRST return (well, third if you count Halloween II as a return... although actually it never happened according to Halloween 2018 - never mind) of Laurie Strode, from 1998.  For the first time, their usual Halloween review sidekick Spider-Dan couldn't make this one, bu...

Dan and Ian are both devoted fans of Robin Hardy's 1973 film The Wicker Man.  In this episode they have the pleasure of a lengthy chat with British-Canadian storyteller Anthony DP Mann, whose company Bleak December Inc is releasing a lovingly-produced audio adaptation of the folk horror classic.  Anthony wrote and directed the audio version and also stars in it alongside the legendary Brian Blesse...

In our final discussion of 2020's Grimmfest, which wrapped up last weekend, Stella, Ian and Dan talk about the films They Reach, Fried Barry, The Unhealer and Death Ranch.  Plus we have a surprise guest pop up for this week's recommendations!   00.13.01They Reach 00.33.03 Fried Barry 00.47.56 The Unhealer 01.02.46 Death Ranch   Relevant links and availability All of the films are currently on the...

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As Grimmfest 2020 makes its way through its penultimate day, we can bring you reviews of some of the films already shown.  Apologies for the one-day-delay! Kirsty and Ian discuss The Deep Ones and The Oak Room, Dan and Ian discuss Unearth and 12 Hour Shift, and finally Stella joins in to talk The Horror Crowd with Ian.  (In other words, Ian is he star of the show!) 03.40 The Deep Ones 19.45 The Ho...

This week (Wednesday 7th - Sunday 11th October) it's the online edition of the 12th annual Grimmfest, and here's the second of our three special preview episodes (the third will be released in time for the start of this fantastic film festival on Wednesday). Regular host Dan is joined by guest host Ian Winterton for preview discussions of three of the festival's film highlights.  Ian interviews so...

The day this episode drops is the first day of the online Grimmfest, and here is our final selection of interviews with some of the creators behind its 2020 line-up. Dan and Ian discuss the unique teen revenge thriller with a Native American spin, The Unhealer, talking to screen legend Lance Henriksen, director Martin Guigui, co-stars Adam Beach, Elijah Nelson, Kayla Carlson and Branscombe Richmon...

(With apologies to the Empire podcast, because we stole their format wholesale for this episode) The brilliant Shudder original 'Zoom seance' movie Host has been out for a couple of months now (you can check out our initial spoiler-free review and preview interview with its director Rob Savage earlier on this podcast feed).  Now you get to hear the second half of our interview with Rob, in which h...

It's time for another in our series of Halloween film reviews, freed at last from the 2018 vault which houses all of the recordings that Howard and Dan made in the run-up to the release of Halloween (2018). For this episode, focusing on perhaps the most peculiar instalment of the franchise (which reportedly gave Christopher Lee his second opportunity to turn the series down), they're joined by Hal...