Blood and Black Rum Podcast - A Cult Film / Horror Podcast

Celebrate July 4th and America's 250th anniversary with one of the most jingoistic films depicting the American Revolutionary War, The Patriot ! In this episode, we talk about putting the fiction in historical fiction, ponder whether Mel Gibson was right for the job, and feel perplexed about the racial discussion or lack thereof in the film. We're also drinking a patriotic Big Sipz, the &#...

We've got two firsts on this episode: a Brian De Palma film, and a Robert De Niro starring role. We're talking about 1970's Hi, Mom! , a unique experience from De Palma that ranges from topics like home video, voyeurism, the Vietnam War, the Black power movement, and a lot more. We break down the elements in this surprisingly complex movie, and ultimately talk about how truly funny it...

Happy Pride Month! We're celebrating with a movie that may just have Robin Williams' most handsome appearance - The Birdcage ! In this very gay episode, we discuss everything from Nathan Lane's expertly flamboyant performance, to the themes of acceptance and more importantly, actually being yourself, to Hank Azaria's buttcheeks. We're also drinking Tree House Brewing's Double Rainbow double IPA fo...

We saved the best (or worst) for last. Battlefield Earth has a reputation for being one of the most god-awful movies ever made, and we have to admit, it's definitely a possibility. We talk about the things that others have probably talked about before, including the ridiculous Psychlo designs, the terrible plot, multitude of Dutch angles, and we also dive into Scientology a little bit (and how...

Tom Green takes a proverbial dump on culture with Freddy Got Fingered , an almost meta-textual take on giving an idiot a lot of money to fuel his creative desires. In this film you'll find Green donning a dead deer, playing music with sausages, and caning a disabled woman's legs; you'll also see some intentionally dumb-smart humor on display. Here we disagree with the Razzy nomination and the misu...

Everyone knows the legacy of The Exorcist , and conversely everyone knows the infamy of Exorcist II: The Heretic , a deeply hated follow-up to the original that jettisoned most of what made it work. Here we talk about the convoluted direction and ideas, the poor soundstage work, the Linda Blair fetishism (creepy!) and a whole lot more. We're also drinking Sixpoint Brewing Company's Resin DIPA! App...

Continuing our series on the purported "bad movies" in cinematic history, we're covering Razzie nominee Showgirls ! We've been fans of Paul Verhoeven around here for a while, so to see his name lambasted for a movie that is not nearly as bad as everyone would have you believe is something we will not stand for! We reevaluate this film and give it the respect it's due, while also documenting some o...

It's Difficult Films month, and this time we're going in a different direction! Instead of films that are tough to stomach, we're tackling the worst of the worst - films that are so bad, they're difficult to get through. First up is Ed Wood's classic so bad Hollywood alien weird-fest Plan 9 from Outer Space ! We talk the terrible sets, poor Bela Lugosi, the strange plot progression, and a whole lo...

Happy Alien Day! For 4/26 we wanted to make sure we celebrated the origins of the Alien franchise, so we're covering Ridley Scott's classic from 1979. In this episode, we basically just gush over how much we love the atmosphere, practical effects, and slow pacing - as well as drawing attention to some very notable 2001: A Space Odyssey comparisons. We're also drinking Founders Brewing...

We don't often venture into anime territory, but on this episode we talk about Lupin the Third and specifically, the very odd 1974 live-action film Lupin the Third: Strange Psychokinetic Strategy ! We discuss the silly slapstick antics, the plot (or lack thereof), and how it all rolls into the franchise/Monkey Punch's original manga. We're also drinking Dogfish Head's Grateful Dead...

REWIND is our way of highlighting previous older episodes; these include improved audio quality and new introductions. While the overall content hasn't changed, we want to draw attention to some of those films we've covered in previous years. First up is Critters 2: The Main Course , perfect for the Easter holiday. In this episode, we find faults with the overall enjoyability of this inane...

While we generally don't do Easter-themed episodes, we have a tangentially related one for you this time: a killer animal film about vicious, man-eating... bunnies!? Yes, Night of the Lepus ' overall concept is questionably zany, and it doesn't really do a whole lot to expand on the goofy premise. However, we're talking about giant creatures, scientific experimentation, and Star Tr...

It's yet another Friday the 13th, which means we should continue our coverage of the franchise! We're talking Jason Lives today, in which Jason comes back from the dead thanks to Frankenstein's revivification scheme and terrorizes another group of hapless teens and adults. We talk about the unseriousness of this movie and how enjoyable that actually makes it! We're also talking Fid...

Sidney is back, along with a number of other familiar faces from the series' past. We're talking Scream 7 here - our likes and dislikes, how Kevin Williamson deals with script rewrites since Paramount dislikes human rights, and a whole lot more! Enjoy this jumbo-sized episode, and also check out our previous entries in the Scream franchise, linked below. Approximate timeline 0:00-15:00 Intro/Gripe...

We're celebrating Black History Month with another blaxploitation film, this time one of the most well-known black horror films - Blacula ! While we contend the film is actually not the best example of blaxploitation, we discuss the unique approach to criticism, its portrayal of the Dracula vampire mythos, and ponder the slow pacing of the movie. We're also drinking Sam Adams' Blackber...

Unfortunately, we recently lost the bright and shining Catherine O'Hara. On this episode, we reflect on her career and hone in on a movie that showcases a variety of her skills: comedy, emotion, and even musicality. We talk about A Mighty Wind , the mockumentary by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy about a trio of folk groups reuniting after years away from each other. We're also drinking Beer Tre...

To celebrate Sam Raimi's return to cinemas, we hit the theater to check out Send Help , the new survival/horror film that Martin best describes as Misery meets Castaway . We talk about the hits and misses, including the intimate two-character study, the focus on survival techniques, and the twisty ending that reveals some structural issues with script. We're also drinking Genesee Brewing C...

For this week's episode, we thought it was only appropriate to cover the icy cold spaghetti western The Great Silence just released by Vinegar Syndrome's partner label Film Movement Classics. We cover this Sergio Corbucci-directed film about the titular character Silence and his quest to delete all the bounty killers from the Utah frontier. We talk about how this relates to other spag west...

Welcome to 2026 with Blood and Black Rum Podcast! This year we're starting out with what would be considered a precursor to the giallo genre, with the overlooked A Hyena in the Safe . This Italian production melds Agatha Christie with some tropes of Italian murder mysteries to create a unique blend with... Bond influences? We talk about this and more, thanks to Celluloid Dreams' new US Blu...

While it's true we could have done Rocky for any holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year) we decided that the perfect time for this classic pugilist film was for a New Year's Day special due to the epic fight with Apollo Creed. We talk about the character study, the romance with Adrian, and of course the finale's 15-round bout. We're also drinking Samuel Smith's Taddy Porter...

The Ref is something of a Christmas outlier; its title does not suggest a holiday-themed topic, the poster artwork fails to spread any holiday cheer, and overall it's a strange culmination of ideas. However, it was also a Martin holiday tradition,so it made sense to finally tackle this Denis Leary-starring vehicle for our final film in 2025's Festivus Series. We're also drinking Modelo...

What conjures memories of the festive season more than neon lights and a killer robot santa? Christmas Bloody Christmas is effectively Silent Night, Deadly Night crossed with The Terminator and a grindhouse aesthetic, but it never really reaches any of those heights. We talk about the grating dialogue, the film's extended finale, the lack of creativity in the kills, and a lot more in this yule...

We've done a lot of killer Santa films, but we've never done the extremely French Deadly Games: Dial Code Santa Claus , the precursor to Home Alone 's "kid on Christmas setting traps for bad guys" idea. Here we talk about the MINITEL, if the idea for Home Alone was stolen, and how closely this film hews to Christmas Evil (another movie we've done previously). We're al...

As Buffalo Bills fans, we couldn't resist checking out Hallmark's new holiday movie based around the Bills mafia. And of course, with our track record of covering Christmas Hallmark films, it only made sense to "tackle" this nauseatingly naive movie of yuletide cheer. Tune in to see what we say, and hear Martin reminisce about Bills teams of old. We're also drinking DuClaw&#3...

While we technically missed Thanksgiving, it's okay, because we planned it all along - this episode drops on Black Friday and we're celebrating that hellish consumer holiday with the 2021 film Black Friday ! This Devon Sawa/Bruce Campbell vehicle was actually a pleasant surprise considering the lack of fanfare and poor reviews - it's a fun, zombie- and Thing -adjacent holiday horror that brings bo...