Caliber 9 From Outer Space

Sakana drops in this week to discuss a couple of early films directed by American exploitation legend, Jack Hill. First up: Pit Stop (1969), a film marketed as a demolition derby thrill ride which nevertheless contains surprising character depth and drama. Then we follow it up with cult favourite, Spider Baby (1967) which, despite its weirdo horror comedy approach, has some emotional depth of its...

Why do we love movies set on trains so much? Is it morally OK to love sleazy exploitation films? Both of these essential philosophical conundrums come together in a clash of tearing metal and ripping undergarments in this week's double feature. Sammy from the GGTMC joins us to discuss Night Train Murders (1975), directed by Aldo Lado and Terror Express (1980), directed by Ferdinando Baldi. It's no...

This week, we're all about seminal indie horror movies - that grindhouse crackle and pop - ah, there's nothing like it. Justin Kerswell is in the house to check out a couple of lo-fi horror gems. We start off with the recently rediscovered indie experimental mind-melter Effects (1979), directed by Dusty Nelson, a film which features a whole bunch of George A. Romero's Pittsburgh indie-horror colle...

When Mr Tech is in town, it's time to dust off some computer game adaptations. Unfortunately, we are fast running out of game adaptations that we're all collectively willing to watch, so this week we're instead exploring a couple of films in which characters are transported into a game. We start off with the film that pioneered this sort of cinema concept, Tron (1982), directed by Steve Lisberger,...

Nothing compares to the horror of a lycanthropic female family member. The 80's knew that and so do this week's guests, Ted Bennett and Heather Drain, who are both back to talk about some more of that decade's pop film culture detritus. Under-appreciated gems or trash best forgotten? We've never been more polarised! First up, rather odd teen comedy, My Mom's a Werewolf (1989), directed by Michael...

It's a high speed episode this week, whether that's horses and stagecoaches sprinting across Apache territory or Fiats and vans driving dangerously around the narrow streets of Milan. Actor and film maker Greg Furman joins us to discuss a couple of classics from two different worlds of cinema. We start off with the seminal Hollywood western blockbuster, Stagecoach (1939), directed by John Ford and...

Trains of DOOM! Horror artist extraordinaire, Graham Humphreys, is in the house to talk about a couple of railbound cult horror classics. First up: Eugenio Martin's classic Hammer-adjacent gem, Horror Express (1972) - an absolute delight of the sci-fi-horror subgenre. Our B movie is famed act of cinematic weirdness, Night Train to Terror (1985), ostensibly directed by Jay Schlossberg-Cohen but inc...

Violence and dread on the mean streets of New York and Milan. Mike White stops by to discuss a hard-boiled double feature from two very different crime cinema traditions. First up: Across 110th Street (1972), directed by Barry Shear, followed by Gambling City (1975), directed by Sergio Martino. We will be announcing a Spoiler Territory section for both films, so if you haven't seen them before you...

Stories about lovers on the run have been captivating audiences since the classic years of Hollywood - although it feels like a long time since we've seen many notable examples. Graham Williamson of the Pop Screen podcast pops in to talk about the history of the sub-genre and also to discuss a couple of contrasting examples. First up, seminal New Hollywood classic, Bonnie and Clyde (1967), directe...

We're checking out a couple of weird riffs on the vampire from Eastern Europe this week. Jonathan Owen joins us to discuss the beautiful and bizarre Czech New Wave classic, Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970), directed by Jaromil Jireš and then a curious blend of vampire and car racing, Juraj Herz's Ferat Vampire (1982). Both films explore weird psychoerotic territory both grotesque and beautif...

In the future, it's 2100. But it used to be 2027. But then, 70 years later, some people time travelled back to 1980. And after 20 years passed, our story begins. Don't worry, it doesn't matter what year it is. Just know that a very muscly lady needs to run around in the African desert while Chad Stahelski struggles not to die of heat exhaustion in a very top-heavy robot suit. In this bonus episode...

Friday night's a good night for slashing, so here comes Part 4 of our meandering trip through the Friday the 13th franchise. Al is in the house again as we check out Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988), directed by John Carl Buechler, and then we delve into the inevitable Platinum Dunes remake effort, Friday the 13th (2009), directed by Marcus Nispel. Is it a misunderstood gem? And how...

Stephen Frears is not an habitual purveyor of the sort of cult cinema we usually cover on this show. But we do love our noir, and Frears does have two outstanding neo-noirs in his filmography, so why not knock them both off the list in one episode? Bryce joins us to discuss The Grifters (1990), along with Frears' earlier effort, The Hit (1984). This is noir with an emphasis on existential. And his...

We're all about grimy 1970's New York crime movies this week, as Nick Langdon drops in to discuss The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (2011), directed by Joseph Sargent and The Night of the Juggler (1980), directed by Robert Butler. No two films more perfectly encapsulate the unique cinematic vibe of the crumbling, chaotic metropolis in this era like these do. We will be announcing a Spoiler Territ...

Primordial legends from the mists of time and fever dreams of imminent apocalypse. Our good friend Dallas Norvell drops by Casa Calibro to discuss Excalibur (1981), directed by John Boorman and Holocaust 2000 (1977), directed by Alberto de Martino (this film is sometimes also known as The Chosen or Rain of Fire ). Boorman's passion project based on Mallory's La Morte d'Artur is a heady mix of magi...

Loyal listener and true gent, Bryan joins us this week armed with a couple of underseen gems. We start off with gritty British crime thriller The Squeeze (1977), directed by Michael Apted and follow that up with some choice Philippine exploitation: Cirio H. Santiago's pirate / blaxploitation / women-in-prison mash-up The Muthers (1969). Stacy Keach as a drunk private eye having a really bad week i...

Bird season is OVER, butthorns!!! This week, we have lined up two films which tried to establish Gary Busey as the action movie hero du jour. Unfortunately, they kinda flopped, but we think they're more fun than leaping onto Danny Trejo from the top of a building. First up: Eye of the Tiger (1986), directed by Richard C. Sarafian, and then the wonder of Bulletproof (1988), directed by Steve Carver...

And the final Chuck Norris Fact is: Death has now been sentenced to life with Chuck Norris . In this bonus episode, Rob and Joe pay tribute to one of action hero cinema’s true icons, Carlos Ray “Chuck” Norris. Along with a brief discussion of his life and career, they also dive deep into one of his less celebrated films (even by Chuck Norris fans), the late-cycle Cannon Group production, The Hitma...

Have ya paid your dues, Jack? Yessir, the check is in the mail. It must be Conflict-in-Asian-Enclave Week this week, as Andy joins us in checking out a couple of well paired and much loved cult classics: Big Trouble in Little China (1986), directed by the great John Carpenter, and Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991), directed by Mark L. Lester. More bromance than romance but more than enough ass-kicki...

Swords. Magic. Monsters. Muscles. Boobs. Prepare to go full nerd this week (if you haven't already) as we dive headlong into a couple of sword-and-sandal epics - or is that club-and-ugg-boot? Ted Bennett drops in to check out 80's cable TV mainstay, The Beastmaster (1982), directed by Don Coscarelli. Following that, the pecs get even bigger in Ironmaster (1983), directed by Umberto Lenzi. We reall...

Another bumper episode, another double feature of lesser-loved James Bond movies. This week we check out a Connery and a Brosnan: Diamonds Are Forever (1971), directed by Guy Hamilton, and The World is Not Enough (1999), directed by Michael Apted. Sean Connery was getting a little tired of Bond at this point (to say the least), and Pierce Brosnan's Bond films seemed tired almost before they got st...

We love original horror poster art here at Caliber 9 From Outer Space, and this week we are honoured to host one of the true great artists of that idiom. Graham Humphreys is our guest this week, and we delve into a couple of 1960's horror gems. First up, under-seen Hammer horror-adventure-fantasy The Lost Continent (1968), directed by Michael Carreras and then we go full Lovecraft with Die, Monste...

Forgive us for posting a slightly ramshackle bonus episode, but we thought some of you might like to hear how this year's Joefest was going! Joefest is a private film festival we run every year in the depths of the British wintertime, when there's nothing better to do than sit inside and watch weird movies from the wilder side of cinema. In this episode, Al and Ali join us to quickly run over the...

As we bemoan the state of the world today and endure the anxiety of this cryptofascist, post-truth reality, we risk losing sight of the real danger to us all: savage fish men! Today we go right back where it all started, Universal's seminal entry in this monster subgenre, Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), directed by Jack Arnold. We then skip lightly over its first sequel and focus on its und...

In the future... it pays to be more than human. And it also pays quite well to be more than machine. What can I tell you, the future is highly discriminatory. In this bonus episode, Ted joins Rob and Joe to make a bit of a mess of explaining the plot of Nemesis (1992), directed by Albert Pyun. Cyborgs, bullets, bottoms, and dusters with shades - it's the quintessence of dystopian trashy sci-fi act...