Bravo for the B-side Podcast

It has been a while since we’ve covered Lowell Dean’s work, and Die Alone was worth the wait. With a high budget for an Indie film, Die Alone does not waste it anywhere. The story and writing are solid, acting is top notch, and like any good movie we found ourselves talking about it after the credits rolled. It is a very different take on the zombie genre. It has been tricky as of late to make a s...

Support the Podcast Send us an email Visit our website There was so much anticipation for Graveyard Shark, but instead of delivering the expected fun it ended up being the third film we just could not finish. Maybe this movie will appeal to some. There are still some good lessons to be taken away from this movie, but the bad far outweighs the good. Low-budget Indies are often wrought with limits o...

Primal Games was a long journey to get to screen. Written and directed by David Ryan Keith, this film marks his first full action film. We follow Ben and Sarah on their honeymoon camping trip that quickly turns dark. They become prey to a sadistic hunter, and from there it spirals into a wild version of The Most Dangerous Game. A lot of talking points here for lessons, not the least of which is ho...

Welcome to Willits gives us aliens, meth, fun-seeking youngsters, and Dolph Lundgren. That’s a lot to take in, and going into the movie none of it is terribly clear until it unfolds as you watch. A fairly high-budget indie film, Welcome to Willits gives some good examples on how to have fun with horror. Funny dialogue, unhinged characters, and solid production value provide lessons on where to foc...

Watching Come As You Are is a fairly chill, fun road trip film. The trailer for the film did not over-deliver, which is refreshing. The writing is quick, funny, and intimate. On a technical level the film hits the marks straight across the board. The acting is fantastic, with each actor bringing various levels of intensity and humor throughout. One of the standout lessons for screenwriting is the...

Biosphere, not to be confused with Bio-Dome, kind of took us by surprise. Mostly because we didn’t remember the trailer, so it was like going in blind. That made it all the more fun. With Sterling K Brown and Mark Duplass on screen the entire movie, there is no lack of presence. A post-apocalyptic bit about two men surviving in a small biosphere, Biosphere makes you feel right at home with the cha...

Without Name takes us into an ancient Irish forest where surveyor Eric finds himself combatting not just his frail home life, an affair, odd locals, a company with ambiguous intentions, but also the ancient spirit of the forest itself. A slow burn psychological horror, Without Name is visually stunning but only middling on the acting. Some great use of camera techniques and sound use are at the fr...

STOP! Before you do anything else, watch this movie! Seriously. In this episode we go on about Give Me Liberty as if we were singing a love song. Jim considers this the most beautiful movie he has ever seen. Give Me Liberty is a masterpiece of writing, acting, cinematography, directing, and chaos. There is so much about this film that is inspiring on all of the technical levels it is a must see fo...

We could not resist this one. Death Riders was the answer to Jim’s desire to find a true labor and grit Indie film, since it’s been a while. A mid-90s biker culture movie, Death Riders takes us on some kind of journey with the protagonist through the weird web of a biker gang, a lone biker Yoda, and a bunch of random characters. It was a lot of fun to talk about, delivered just what you’d expect f...

Monolith is a single location, one actor film that nails it pretty much across the board. We thoroughly enjoyed this movie and there is nothing but excellent lessons throughout. A high-concept film, we have dubbed it a horror-thriller, Monolith is one of the most engaging single-person movies we have come across. A unique concept, fantastic technical prowess, and an amazing actor all converge to c...

Sometimes there are movies that bomb out from the start, but miraculously find a fanbase years later.  Troll 2 is one such film. A bad movie by all accounts, this poorly written, poorly acted, lifelessly directed debacle is hard to watch. Yet, over the years it has found cult classic status, with regular group showings and gatherings. We put off covering Troll 2 for a very long time because w...

Pontypool is another sleeper.  When Jim saw it back in 2008 he wasn’t sure what to make of it.  After watching it a few more times he decided he liked it.  A lot.  Pontypool is a magnificent example of budget-conscious planning.  We talk about the use of just one location, inside, coupled with a great script, makes you feel you are in the middle of the apocalypse without e...

Stitches is an Irish horror film production, with a fair amount of comedy strewn in. It has been on our list a long time, and we thoroughly enjoyed the rewatch. The story is simple, Stitches the clown gets killed at a kids party, and sometime later rises from the dead to finish the job. With a decent budget the technical aspects like sound, lighting, coloring, and everything else are great. The pr...

Digging for Fire was something of a sleeper for us. We explain what that means in the episode. What we can say is that this is a solid movie. There are a number of lessons in this one, all good. Except for the trailer. Very misleading, and coupled with the very brief logline it may turn people away. Which is a shame because if you skip past this film  you’re missing out on some very good ente...

As we end this year, we pay tribute to Oscar Micheaux, an amazing black film producer/director/writer and independent studio owner. Starting in silent films, and going to ‘talkies’ when they arrived on the scene, Oscar Micheaux challenged racism, classism, stereotypes, and other social injustices long before current writers and directors. His movies and message were direct, and called out the poor...

The kudos for Hereditary were many, but we had trouble figuring out where they came from.  We were very excited to watch Hereditary but once again that excitement was left unfulfilled. With stars like Toni Collette and Gabriel Byrne, and a very high budget as an indie film, this should have been a home run. Instead it serves to show that even with millions in budget and A-list talent to bolster an...

Back in August of 2021 we have the pleasure of having David Howard Thornton, also known as Art the Clown from the Terrifier franchise, join us for a good long conversation. David is such a wonderfully nice and amazing person we were thrilled to get to spend time with him. With the fame of Terrifier 3, we wanted to bring this way-back-when interview to share with everyone who may have missed it. We...

Buddymoon proves to be one of the best buddy films put to screen. We were thoroughly entertained as jilted at the alter David is guided on a heart-healing honeymoon by his best friend Flula. This film has plenty to offer in both lessons and aspirations. Excellent cinematography, sound, direction, pacing, and performances. After a few let-downs, Buddymoon was a welcome and fun ride. We have a lot o...

The trailer for Broadcast Signal Intrusion had us hooked. However, the film as a whole failed to deliver. The movie serves as a reminder that the foundations of storytelling are more important than the idea for a film. Broadcast Signal Intrusion is a convoluted, slow-moving, and at times annoying slog through a concept based on an actual event that took place in the late 80’s. There were some good...

Hypochondriac was a mixed bag, mostly in favor of the good. This dive into the nightmare that those with mental illness deal with in trying to get recognized and treated does an excellent job in hitting at the societal stigmas and judgements that keep sufferers from revealing their troubles. We go long in talking about the importance of bringing the struggles of mental illness higher into the cons...

Birdemic:  Shock and Terror is supposed to be a message of environmentalism, but like the shock and terror in the title it misses out on all three.  James Nguyen lost his message in an almost violently slow film that tests the limits of boredom.  While there are kudos for making the film he wanted, the only lessons here are what not to do.  More importantly, we stick hard on th...

The indie film All We Had gives us the directorial debut of Katie Holmes. A story about a woman fighting poverty while raising her teenage daughter, in the hope of giving her daughter a better life. Solid cinema work, great directorial debut for Katie Holmes, this adaptation suffers from the original author, and adaptation writers, not having actually lived this kind of life. The beats are there,...

We dive into the David Ryan Keith film I Am Rage.  David’s first action-horror delivers as we follow Erin, a woman with a terrible past, as she gets caught up in a centuries’ old family business that is definitely hazardous to her health.  I Am Rage is a departure from David’s previous films, i.e Redwood Massacre, Attack of the Herbals, Ghosts of Darkness, and for a first run it is brill...

We are back!  And we are diving into Love Song of William H Shaw.  The third film in the FrenZee series, following Finding FrenZee and Revenge of Zoe, we rejoin our favorite characters John, Pete, and Billy.  This time around John and Pete are at odds, and Billy Shaw needs to figure out how to mend the rift.  Pure Indie film is what you will find here.  We have a lot of go...

We do love a thriller, but it has to thrill. Unfortunately The Invitation does not provide any thrills. Good direction by Karyn Kusama, good cinematography, decent performances, but things fall apart with the writing. We do pick out some good lessons from this one, but once again one of those lessons is a Do Not Do. Poor writing had the film basically figured out in the first ten minutes. Also, su...