Dark Discussions Podcast

Welcome to The Rise of the Cordyceps Infected: A Last of Us Podcast. We discuss weekly each episode of the television series THE LAST OF US seen on HBOMax.

"Based on true events" or "Inspired by true events" is not that uncommon for film, especially the thriller and horror genres. The new film, THE MAN IN THE WHITE VAN, is one of them. Though completely fictional, it is inspired by the real life Florida serial killer Billy Mansfield. From Rottentomatoes: "Inspired by a true story, "The Man in the White Van" delves into the eerie underbelly of a seemi...

Welcome to The Rise of the Cordyceps Infected: A Last of Us Podcast. We discuss weekly each episode of the television series THE LAST OF US seen on HBOMax.

Welcome to The Rise of the Cordyceps Infected: A Last of Us Podcast. We discuss weekly each episode of the television series THE LAST OF US seen on HBOMax.

Welcome to The Rise of the Cordyceps Infected: A Last of Us Podcast. We discuss weekly each episode of the television series THE LAST OF US seen on HBOMax.

Some pretty solid independent horror films are always the surprises each year. A small budget horror film from Connecticut, USA, just arrived entitled CANDLEWOOD, based off local legends. From IMDB: A mixed family moves from the city to a remote village, buying a house unseen. Unwelcoming locals and a real urban legend threaten their new life as they confront the property's dark history. Your podc...

Legends, myths, and folklore are a perfect place to dig for ideas to bring life to a horror film. But what if you combine such a thing with the gangster and revenge thriller subgenres? That's when you get the brand new Japanese film DEMON CITY (2025) based off a manga and anime. From IMDB: Framed for his family's murder and left for dead, an ex-hitman will stop at nothing to exact revenge on the m...

IN THE BEDROOM, the 2001 Oscar nominated motion picture, was given praise by movie critic Roger Ebert as the best film he had seen at Sundance. It is a family drama, but it also is much more than that. Generational, getting old, losing a loved one, and seeing the end of a family line. The movie was ground breaking in many ways and has become a classic. From IMDB: A New England couple’s college-age...

Welcome to The Rise of the Cordyceps Infected: A Last of Us Podcast. We discuss weekly each episode of the television series THE LAST OF US seen on HBOMax.

666, the number of the beast. Dark Discussions podcast has reached the 666th episode, and we decided to choose satanic horror as our special milestone episode. And we chose an obscure and yet fabulous 1960 Christopher Lee film entitled THE CITY OF THE DEAD. From IMDB: A young college student arrives in a sleepy Massachusetts town to research witchcraft; during her stay at an eerie inn, she discove...

Welcome to The Rise of the Cordyceps Infected: A Last of Us Podcast. We discuss weekly each episode of the television series THE LAST OF US seen on HBOMax.

The V/H/S found footage film franchise has been a huge success. Cheap to make, bringing in established and up-and-coming talent, both behind the camera and on the pen, the series has made a ton of money and brought us some solid found footage in an anthology format. The latest in the franchise is V/H/S BEYOND (2024) which links together shorts mostly based upon visitors from another planet. From I...

Robots and artificial intelligence seems to be the wave of the future. There have been a number of interesting films discussing such a thing including SUBSERVIENCE (2024) and THE ARTIFICE GIRL (2023). Now the latest in the horror subgenre is COMPANION. From IMDB: A weekend getaway with friends at a remote cabin turns into chaos after it’s revealed that one of the guests is not what they seem. Dire...

Holiday films are themselves a subgenre of slasher films. For St. Valentine’s Day, we’ve had a few examples including VALENTINE (2001) and MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1989 and 2009). Now in 2025, we have a brand new one entitled HEART EYES. From IMDB: For the past several years, the “Heart Eyes Killer” has wreaked havoc on Valentine’s Day by stalking and murdering romantic couples. This Valentine’s Day,...

Vampires don't die. Literally. They are still one of, if not the most popular monsters in literature. They have been modified and changed through time as their lore has evolved. The new Mexican horror film, VIOLENT DELIGHTS (2025), focuses on the psychopathic and violent nature of these monsters. From IMDB: The already rocky relationship of expecting lovers Lizbeth and Javier is put to the test wh...

Stephen King’s THE SKELETON CREW from 1985 was a highly regarded collection of short stories and one novella that he collected together as a major release. The book has had a few of the stories made into film. One of them, THE MONKEY (2025), was just released to theaters only a week or two ago as this is written. After THE MIST, it is possibly the most famous of the tales in the book as the origin...

Spectacle. That’s what old Hollywood was known for. And the 1972 film THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE was one of those big budget spectaculars with a huge superstar ensemble cast. When disaster movies were “fab” and this one definitely stood out as one of the best. The last voyage of the wonderful cruise ship the Poseidon sets sail between New York City and Athens. After, it will be retired and decommissio...

Post-apocalypse films are usually centered around a zombie apocalypse, a disease epidemic, or the results of a nuclear war. But also a religious apocalypse is as common when it comes the end of the world. The new film AZRAEL (2024) that appeared on Shudder is just that film. From RottenTomatoes: "In a world in which no one speaks, a mysterious, devout community hunts down a young woman named Azrae...

Mental health, cluster B, bipolar, and OCD - there are so many types of behavioral health disabilities. The new movie, RED ROOMS (2025), seems to be a film about a man that has been arrested as a potential serial killer. But is it? The movie actually focuses on a person that in no way is involved in the case or the trial or the crime, until she places herself into it. From RottenTomatoes: "The hig...

Artificial Intelligence is one of the greatest technologies and is changing the world as we know it. Some scientists are trying incorporate it with robots and even first generational androids. Either way, horror movies have run with the “robot gone bad” scenario. The latest film starring Megan Fox doesn’t disappoint. From IMDB: Follows a struggling father who purchases a domestic SIM to help care...

NOSFERATU, the silent film from 1922, is considered one of the most important films of all time. It’s German Expressionism along with the vampire lore of the story has made it a classic. Remade in 1979 by Werner Herzog, and then now in 2024, by Robert Eggers, the new version has gotten quite the acclaim. From IMDB: A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire...

The latest German film, THE CALENDAR KILLER (2025), is a new addition to the serial killer film. Taking place in Berlin, the movie follows an unknown serial killer that pits a wife and husband to make a choice to kill one or the other. From IMDB: Klara is going to die today unless she kills her husband instead. The Calendar Killer has given her that impossible choice. When Jules starts his night s...

Long ago, the Universal Horror film, THE WOLF MAN (1941), was groundbreaking. Turning Long Chaney Jr. into a star, it was gothic, and filled with fortunetellers and the occult, and took place in the atmospheric country of Wales. Now, Leigh Whannell (UPGRAGE (2018)) has directed the reboot for Universal Pictures. From IMDB: A family at a remote farmhouse is attacked by an unseen animal, but as the...

They say the stunt man gets no respect. Out of all the things that are in movies, they are unrecognized at the Oscars. Many times folks have tried to push for an award and category for the stunt men and women and yet each year it never happens. THE FALL GUY, a film from 2024, actually turns the stuntman into one of the main characters. From Rotten Tomatoes: “He’s a stuntman, an...

We are already at the end of January in 2025, yet 2024 is now in the rearview mirror.  It’s time to take a look at the prior year and go through all the many films that came out that were considered horror and genre films.   Dark Discussions and its co-hosts put together their year in review of all that was good and bad in 2024.  Was it one of the better years in genre cinema o...