Dark Discussions Podcast

The nation of Norway has made a number of disaster movies including THE WAVE (2015) and QUAKE (2018). Both titles are pretty basic but spot on what the disaster is. The latest in what is considered a trilogy from the same producing team is the 2022 film THE BURNING SEA (2022). This one takes place on an oil rig but expands the remote location to include the entire North Sea. From IMDB: "An oil pla...

Australia continues to produce horror films, and like many movies, they can be hit or miss. The horror-thriller from early 2024 entitled YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME (2024) is the latest. After playing the festival circuits, including Tribeca, it had its United States release on Shudder on March 22nd, 2024. From IMDB: "Patrick, a strange and lonely resident, lives in a mobile home at the back of an isolat...

With January 2025 underway, it is time to visit what is coming this year to cinemas, video-on-demand platforms, as well as those genre films that are going straight to disc. Also, what's new in video games, television, and genre novels? Last year, 2024 was a heck of a good year and there were a lot of great flicks. This year once again there seems to be a lot of great ones coming. Plus also more s...

Vampires are one of the most popular movies, but their "cousin", the werewolf, always takes a backseat when it comes to movie monsters. There have been a few great werewolf films over the years, with the occasional hidden gem in-between. Now, late 2024, the film simply titled WEREWOLVES (2024) appeared at theaters. From IMDB: "Two scientists try to stop a mutation that turns people into werewolves...

It's our 650th episode. Over 13 years of podcasting. But even so, we usually don't hit the classics. Yet when we do hit each 50th episode, we do decide to do one. As usual, we put up a poll on our Facebook page, Dark Discussions Podcast, and let you, the listeners and contributors to the Facebook group make the decision. The winner of our poll was 28 DAYS LATER from 2002. From IMDB: "Four weeks af...

New Year’s resolutions are a big thing for folks. Some want to lose weight, find a spouse, get a new job, work towards completing something; others have goals that they strive for. Co-host Mike said that there are a lot of genre films he hasn’t seen that he wants to get to, so as a New Year’s resolution, why not ask all the co-hosts to see some film they always wanted to see and then discuss. Anot...

We take a different approach to the podcast today with some genre news. Instead of reviewing a film or book, we instead go through some of the news of the past year and discuss in detail some of the most interesting things we've heard. We talk about some upcoming adaptations of Red Sonja, Tomb Raider, Swan Song, among others. News about Lord of the Rings and the James Gunn DC Universe. Listed also...

Religious horror has been around forever.  Obviously much of it has been related to demons, exorcisms, the devil, and vampires.  Much of it has focused upon faith versus nihilism.  Well, the new film HERETIC (2024) takes an interesting twist with this subgenre of horror.  What if filmmakers decided to pursue more a philosophical approach.  Two Mormon missionaries, young wo...

The new Indian film, SHAITAAN (2024), the Hindi word for demon, follows the home invasion film, but with a twist. The movie is a remake of a 2023 film entitled VASH, oddly starring the same actress Janki Bodiwala. Netflix picked this new version up and released it in March. When a family of four head to their rural vacation home, they stop at a rest area to grab some food. When the counter clerk c...

So the Halloween Boutique Psychotronic Reviews podcast decided to do an episode on the 2009 movie WATCHMEN but our discussion went a bit long as we discussed the background to the movie, and its source material. So we decided to break it into two episodes. The second is all about the movie itself. Directed by Zack Snyder, written by David Hayter and Alex Tse, and starring Malin Akerman, Billy Crud...

Art the clown shocked audiences with the first film in the franchise, TERRIFIER (2018). With its sequel, adding a true “final girl”, and giving Art a back story, the sequel TERRIFIER 2 (2022) became an instant money grosser. Now 2024, TERRIFIER 3, following our hero and villain from the second film, was released in October for the Halloween season. Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera) has been released fro...

In this day and age, not all that surprising, there are sequels to multiple films. One of them that was just released is SMILE 2, the sequel to the 2022 original. SMILE was a bigger success than the studio had expected and so they signed director/writer Parker Finn to a film deal and the first to be produced is SMILE 2. Pop singer Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is about to go on tour. Its a new beginnin...

1975 was the release of Stephen King’s second novel, ‘SALEM’S LOT. It was a huge success. Shortly after the novel was turned into a classic television mini-series (1979), and a sequel (1987), plus a further remake (2004). But Hollywood wasn’t finished yet. The television prequel series CHAPELWAITE (2021) was released. Now finally a third remake has been released straight to VOD on HBO Max. Ben Mea...

When Moses parted the Red Sea, it was considered to be an obviously miracle. The ocean and the tides have always been part of sea faring life and have had legends and myths follow them throughout history. A king’s tide is those tides that occur at points throughout the year where they are their highest as the moon, sun, and gravity play a part. The new Canadian film THE KING TIDE popped up on VOD...

The 2016 South Korean film, THE WAILING, showed a number of things about Korea. It included the nation’s feelings of the stamp Japan had left from its occupation of Korea during and prior to World War II. It also showed the superstition of some Koreans and how it still remains years later. The new film, EXHUMA (2024), though much different than THE WAILING has both these aspects within its plot as...

Just 20 years ago, Demi Moore was a star. Not only a star, but a superstar. Her latest film, THE SUBSTANCE (2024), is a perfect example of aging and stardom and what can happen to folks as a younger generation appears on the scene. And the old, to remain relevant, try to hang on to their glory days. Actress Elizabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) has transitioned from award winning actress to becoming a hu...

It's the new thing. And it's called the multiverse. It's the running joke of the televisions series RICK AND MORTY. Where at any point in time, your existence diverts into millions of "you" depending on what you do next. The new movie HOSTILE DIMENSIONS (2024) opens up a door (literally) into existences beyond ours. When graffiti artist, Emily (Josie Rogers), finds a standalone door in the middle...

A new film from the land of the Irish has arrived to streaming after a short run at the theaters. The new movie is called ODDITY (2024). Does it live up to that name? Well, it isn't as odd as the title says, but it sure is a well received supernatural movie. Dani Timmis (Carolyn Bracken) is home alone at night as her psychiatrist husband, Ted (Gwilym Lee), is at work. When an ex-patient arrives at...

Detective Comics, better known as DC, has delivered some of the most iconic superhero characters of all time such as Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Harley Quinn. In 1986, the first issue of Watchmen appeared which was something altogether different. A violent, transgressive, political, and sexual take on superheroes, the series (now a graphic novel), was troubling to some but loved by others....

The ALIEN franchise is one of the most successful horror franchises of all time. ALIEN (1979) and the sequel ALIENS (1986) are two of the best films of all time. Others in the franchise have received fine reviews and have interesting premises. Now, the new movie in the franchise, ALIEN: ROMULUS, has arrived. Rain (Cailee Spaeny) and her synthetic brother Andy (David Jonsson) work for the company W...

The co-German and American film CUCKOO arrived to theaters in August of 2024. Neon, the film company that has been releasing some fairly interesting films, got it a general release. Small as it is, the film received a bit of buzz from genre fans. But what is the film about? Is it a monster film? A film about cryptozoology? Demons? Aliens? Whatever it is, many reviewers wondered as much as the audi...

M. Night Shyamalan as of 2024 is now hit or miss with his movies.  There hasn’t been any further “classics” in his filmography over the last two decades, but he’s had some fairly enjoyable productions.  His latest is called TRAP (2024) and has received a large theatrical release from Warner Brothers Pictures. Riley (Ariel Donoghue) and her dad Cooper (Josh Hartnett) are attending a Lady...

Sometimes a horror film is called a “comedy.”  But usually they are actually dark comedies, or simply dark drama.  Well, the 2022 film THE MENU most certainly has some dark humor in it, but it is definitely a horror film through and through.  With its exaggerated caricatures of those in certain social statuses, people are going to get a chuckle.  But all in all, the frights do...

Serial killer movies are some of the most frightening films one can see. Whether it is a thriller or a horror film, the unhinged aspect of someone that just doesn’t follow empathy and care for their fellow human being can be pretty horrifying. The new film, LONGLEGS (2024), is another “police” procedural where the FBI has an unknown killer out in the world that endangers everyone. FBI ag...

Continuous darkness, outer beings, apocalypse.  What about dreams and not seeing the reality of things?  Recently Argentina has produced some fairly good horror films.  A new movie entitled INTO THE ABYSS has appeared with a pretty interesting trailer and a very cool poster.  Though releases in its home country in 2022, it finally has made its debut in North America. In a city...