Caliber 9 From Outer Space

Half ape. Half reptile. Half we don't know what. Dr Ethan Lyon is not a horror from the murkey deeps but he is a huge fan of the films of Matt Farley and the folks from Motern Media, and he joins us this week to discuss two microbudget gems: Don't Let the Riverbeast Get You! (2012) and Magic Spot (2022), both directed by Charles Roxburgh. We don't think we spoil either of these films in the dissus...

By gar, it's a good old fashioned Letterboxd Collab! Dr Ethan Lyon and Sakana join forces to help us deliver a little shot of bonus episode classic western joy, as we share our thoughts on Anthony Mann's Winchester '73 (1950). Jimmy Stewart in dark and vengeful mode, Shelley Winters as comely young blonde, Stephen McNally being dastardly, Dan Duryea sliming up the screen (bless his cotton socks) a...

This one hurt. This week we lost one of Hollywood's great mercurial talents, Val Kilmer. In this bonus episode, Rob and Joe talk about the man, the enigma, sometimes the spanner in the works that was Val Kilmer. Then they deep dive into one of his lesser celebrated later films, David Mamet's Spartan (2004). We do have a Spoiler Territory section for Spartan , so you can skip ahead to the 55:10 mar...

We're still fixated on HEISTS, people!!! Nick Langdon pops in to discuss Charley Varrick (1973), directed by Don Siegel, and then Hudson Hawk (1991), directed by Michael Lehmann. Walter Matthau gets dark and grisly under Siegel's immaculate directorial hand (even if he didn't get the movie at all, apparently) and Joel Silver lets Bruce Willis' ego off the leash completely (with the result that ver...

Marek Turner stops by to tell tales of Gigi the Loser, as we pair another classic Italian giallo with one of the great classics of film noir. We check out Rififi (1955), directed by Jules Dassin, and The Cat O' Nine Tails (1971), directed by Dario Argento. We will be announcing a Spoiler Territory section for both films, so if you haven't seen them before you listen, you can nevertheless avoid spo...

Jonathan Owen joins us this week as we venture into Eastern Europe to lift the lid on the greatest cinema you've probably never heard of. Together we Czech out (see what I did there? And sorry about that) Marketa Lazarova (1967), directed by František Vláčil, and I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen (1970), directed by Oldřich Lipský. Sublime dark-age psychedelic freak-out paired with ridiculous comedy of...

Samm Deighan is back to chat with us about one of our favourite niche subgenres: the Two-Mortal-Enemies-From-The-Past-Get-Frozen-In-Ice-And-Reanimated-In-The-Future-So-They-Can-Chase-Each-Other-Around-And-Smash-Stuff-to-Bits movie. We check out Demolition Man (1993), directed by Marco Brambilla, and The Iceman Cometh (1989), directed by Clarence Fok. We won't be announcing a Spoiler Territory sect...

It's 8 o'clock in the F#%KING MORNING and we are joined by full grown sandgroper, Adam Trainer to dig up a couple of unsung antipodean gems. We discuss Fortress (1985), directed by Arch Nicholson, and then Fortress (1992 - no relation), directed by Stuart Gordon. Deep kindertrauma in the bush and dystopian prisonbreak glory - this week's episode is a psychedelic trip down some very obscure Austral...

Sammy joins us this week to check out a couple of films which (a) feature Michael Caine in less-than-flattering roles and (b) may have been regretted by their directors in later years. We discuss Blame It On Rio (1984), directed by Stanley Donen, and then On Deadly Ground (1994), directed by Steven Seagal. This week's episode is brought to you by the letter P - for Problematic . Yikes!!! It's not...

The Walking Dead's Charlie Adlard joins us this week to talk comic books, kaiju and the iconic art of Saul Bass. Together we check out Bass' sole feature as a director, Phase IV (1974), followed by Destroy All Monsters (1968), directed by Ishiro Honda. It's not really possible to spoil Destroy All Monsters but we will call out Spoiler Territory for Phase IV . If you want to skip ahead from that po...

This week we are celebrating the diva that was Elizabeth Taylor! Sakana joins us once again to celebrate the work of this prodigious star - with a close look at two of her most bizarre and off-kilter projects: the Italian psychosexual thriller, Identikit (1974), directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi, and Tennessee Williams' Boom! (1968), directed by Joseph Losey. Macrobiotic orgasms, bomb attacks on...

There's mad, and then there's MAD. John Horgan joins us this week to check out Madhouse (1981), directed by Ovidio Assonitis, and then Watch Out, We're Mad (1974), directed by Marcello Fondato. Sheer slasher insanity from the deep south, followed by chases and fights a-plenty with Bud Spencer and Terence Hill. It's not really possible to spoil Watch Out, We're Mad as the plot doesn't matter (it's...

Mike White from The Projection Booth podcast stops by to venture across the boundaries of normality, into the weird, the disturbing, the monstrous and the sometimes hilarious. We check out Border (2018), directed by Ali Abbasi, and The Rift (1990), directed by Juan Piquer Simon. A portrait of personal loneliness and dispossession both sensitive and shocking, followed by a ramshackle underwater adv...

Jerry joins us once again to discuss Bad Lieutenant (1992) directed by Abel Ferrara and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009), directed by Werner Herzog. Two very different takes on utter corruption and the possibility (or not) of redemption, from two very different, but both visionary film-makers. A double feature for the ages with two towering central performances triggers one of our...

Which one of you two looks most like a football movie? This week, we welcome Ali back to the show to discuss a couple of sports-related flicks: The Last Boy Scout (1991) directed by Tony Scott and The Last Match (1990), directed by Fabrizio de Angelis. Get ready for some pop psychoanalysis of Shane Black, a close examination of the early 90's Bruce Willis screen persona, and just how weird it got...

The Middle Ages were a terrible time to be alive. Dr Ethan Lyon joins us in the torture chamber as we dress up in couch upholstery and torment some sinners while discussing The Conspiracy of Torture (1969), directed by Lucio Fulci, and then Torture Dungeon (1970), directed by Andy Milligan. Yep, time to get medieval on your ass!!! It's not really possible to spoil Torture Dungeon as it barely has...

From the sublime to the ridiculous, noir comes in many forms. Nick Langdon joins us this week to discuss Back to the Wall (1958), directed by Édouard Molinaro and In the Cold of the Night (1990), directed by Nico Mastorakis. We will be announcing a Spoiler Territory section for both films, so if you haven't seen them before you listen, you can nevertheless avoid spoilers for Back to the Wall by sk...

Happy New Year, folks! The party's heating up at our place: Lucio Fulci has been hitting the rum punch, Eric Roberts is singing and dancing, and Klaus Kinski is tripping balls (at least we think that's what's happening - it's getting a little scary, tbh). So we figured we'd duck out of the festivities long enough to count down our Top 5 first-time watches of 2024 for you. Just a quick episode befo...

Tales of greed in a near-dystopian world. Sounds kinda familiar? This week, we welcome Max back to the show to discuss a couple of low-key gems: New Rose Hotel (1998) directed by Abel Ferrara and The Hidden (1987), directed by Jack Sholder. We will be announcing a Spoiler Territory section for both films, so if you haven't seen them before you listen, you can nevertheless avoid spoilers for New Ro...

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, Carroll Baker was drinking, Tim Thomerson was singeing, and Jesse Ventura was sitting up in bed being creepy. It's a heck of a Christmas, people, it really is. Seasons greetings, folks! Join us for this special Christmas episode, along with very special guests, Sammy from the Gentlemen's Guide to Midnite Cinema, and habitual Caliber 9'er...

Sakana drops in this week to discuss The Visitor (1979) directed by Giulio Paradisi and Ship of Monsters (1960) directed by Rogelio A. Gonzalez. These are very different styles of psychotronic cult sci-fi movie - one a fever dream of Italian excess in an imagined America stuffed with big stars and psychedelic weirdness; the other a slightly risque but heartwarming love story involving singing cowb...

It's our 50th episode! To celebrate, we have lined up a TRIPLE TREAT with Doctor Ethan Lyon along for the ride. We shoot up the streets with Isaac Hayes in Truck Turner (1974) directed by Jonathan Kaplan. Then we indulge in some Indonesian black magic insanity with Special Silencers (1982), directed by Arizal. And finally, we go for maximum bamboozlement with famed egosploitation miracle worker Ne...

From the outskirts of Tokyo to the slums of early 80's Madrid, there is no existential horror like just being TEEN. Bob McCully drops in to discuss Typhoon Club (1985) directed by Shinji Sōmai and Navajeros (1980) directed by Eloy de la Iglesia. From an arthouse take on messed-up coming-of age narratives, to the gritty world of Spanish quinque films, get ready for crime, sex, drugs, suicide, murde...

Dust off your leather armour and polish your glaives, it's time for high fantasy this week. Plus, erm, dinosaurs. Film-maker James T Williams returns to discuss a couple of childhood faves. We check out Krull (1983), directed by Peter Yates, and Planet of Dinosaurs (1977), directed by James K. Shea. Wizards, alien slugs, giant spiders, baby-faced Liam Neesons, stop-motion dinosaurs, possibly stop-...

Enter... if you dare. It's squealing martial arts and ninja death mayhem as Ali joins us to discuss Enter the Dragon (1973), directed by Robert Clouse and Enter the Ninja (1981), directed by Menahem Golan. Each of these films were seminal in their own way, the first as a tragically premature end-point for Bruce Lee's career, and the second as a statement of intent for the then-new Cannon Films Gro...