Don't Open This Podcast

Mike & Tim return with an episode so epic, they enlisted a very special guest to tackle the task!  Kristen Plouffe (resident DOTP Fact Hunter) joins forces as the trio of hosts go on a cinematic journey overflowing with everything from gleaming Killer Orbs, Ornery Trolls, and Chinese Ghosts to Carnivorous Pale Men, Creepy Puppets, and Darkness himself.    So grab your Six Demon...

Tim and Mike rise from their graves to share what's on their brains this week, Zombies! We return to our essentials series with ESSENTIAL ZOMBIE CINEMA PT 1 as we cover your full range of zombies, from resurrected slashers to the waterlogged undead to the most rock and roll zombies you will ever see.  So settle in and get ready to take a bite out of Don't Open This Podcast! 

The one thing that fans from all genres agree on is their mutual disdain for remakes, but Mike and Tim are here to tell you that remake doesn't need to be a dirty word! From alien invaders and sci-fi classics to slasher remixes and maniacal museums, there is no shortage of films that give a fresh take to the original concepts or bring loving homage to yesteryear. So take a walk over the hill and s...

Join Mike and Tim as they kick things off with a chat on The Menu and the release of The Last Of Us series on HBO Max, before they settle in to tackling tiny terrors in Bad Seeds: Kids Who Kill! Volume 1   These 6 films cover everything short & deadly, from psychic children to pint-size slashers!  So, QUESTION US NOT and strap on those shin guards for the many diminutive dangers lurk...

Thank you again to everyone for an amazing first season! Now Mike & Tim kick off 2023  with a brand-new selection of 6 under appreciated fright flicks!   Ancient Albino Serpents! Nocturnal Slashers! Malevolent Goat Demons! Undead Mexican Executioners! Supernatural Cicadas! Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers!  Yes, you read that right and it's all here and more packed in...

Join Mike and Tim as they down several large coffees & dive deep, serving up a massive helping of horror for all the loyal listeners! The “Don’t Open This Podcast YEAR in FEAR 2022” has arrived & it’s a glorious 3 hour feast of popular frights, unsung gems, & genre bending oddities!  From sequels to reboots, breakout hits to overhyped letdowns…. This episode covers all the twists,...

Tis the Season…. For tinsel , hot chocolate, and blood soaked snow! Join Mike and Tim as they serve up a Yeti-sized feast of frigid terror flicks with the 1st annual YULETIDE FRIGHT GUIDE! A seasonal companion to their FALL FRIGHT GUIDE, the guys have now curated 20 films set in the winter months that span all the way from favorites like The Thing and Misery to some lesser known gems such as To Al...

Mike & Tim are elated to take curious genre fans on a tour through the new Netflix anthology series helmed by horror heavyweight Guillermo del Toro!  In this episode the boys crack The Cabinet of Curiosities series wide open! Offering up their thoughts, insights, and rankings of all 8 episodes! A cornucopia of cantankerous beasties lurk in every corner this week, so many in fact… that you...

We're all out of tricks here at Don't Open This Podcast, so Mike and Tim have a treat for you this Halloween. After delving through the rest of the Halloween franchise, you may have noticed a recent installment missing. Rather than keep you waiting for our next episode, we're ending Halloween with a discussion on Halloween Ends to round out the series.  So, settle in, check your candy, and ha...

Fall is the perfect season for the first installment of our Anatomy of a Franchise series!   Why might that be?    Well, Mike and Tim have mapped out a tour through Myers country, Haddonfield to be exact!    Join them as they attempt to makes sense of the various timelines, sequels, one offs, reboots, remakes and retcons comprising the cinematic madness that is: The Hallow...

We know everyone pulls out all their old favorites for ritual rewatches during the Halloween season, but Mike and Tim are here to take a look into 3 recent releases for a triple shot of terror!  Book a stay with Don't Open This Podcast as we descend into the depths of Barbarian, or head out to the farm for Ti West's technicolor terror that is Pearl before we take on Hulu's puzzling new Hellra...

Mike and Tim look to kick October off right with The (First Annual?) Fall Fright Guide!  From nostalgic news broadcasts to technological terror, we present 20 movies and shows to fill your nights throughout the Halloween season whether you need a movie for that upcoming Halloween party or want to settle in alone at home. Also keep an ear out for Fright Facts throughout the episode for the low...

Join Mike & Tim as they shine spotlights on 6 more of their favorite overlooked gems of fear!  Diving headfirst UNDERWATER only to surface in the middle of THE RUINS. The boys then make an ill-fated pit stop in a possessed CHURCH, uncover something HIDDEN, then have a brush with death at the hands of a murderous ORPHAN… all while attempting to sidestep the blackened abyss that is…the VOID...

Sometimes we have things we really want to discuss that don't fit neatly into one of our themed episodes, so here is our Spotlight On Fright where we may discuss more recent films and shows because we're inpatient hosts. This time we discuss Prey (now on Hulu!) and where it lands in the Predator series as well as why we've been enjoying it. We ain't got time to bleed, but there is more than enough...

Mike and Tim finally return to your regularly scheduled wolfy program as they get back into Essential Werewolf Cinema Pt 2! They continue discussing the films throughout the 80's that shaped the werewolf subgenre and the overall battle of the transformations throughout the decade. Settle in for a howling good time on Don't Open This Podcast!

It all ends here! Our Stranger Things Summer mini-series, that is. Join Mike and Tim as they finish discussing the movies that make up the DNA of Season 4 as well as the real-life events that the season touches on like the Satanic Panic.   A very big thank you also to our dear listeners who joined us to provide your own thoughts and memories of the series so far while we picked your brain on...

In the penultimate episode of Don't Open This Podcast's Stranger Things mini-series, Mike and Tim discuss the eclectic films that make up our favorite Hawkins lifeguard, Billy, as well as the descent into the more sinister side of the Mindflayer's takeover.  This one is covering a lot of territory so settle in for Don't Open This Podcast!

Mike and Tim return to the Upside Down in part 2 to their Stranger Things mini-series as they delve into Season 2 where gates will be closed, children will be possessed, and hair tips will be given! 

This month at Don't Open This Podcast, things are getting a bit stranger. For the next 4 weeks, Mike and Tim are delving one season at a time into the films that are ingrained in the DNA of Stranger Things.  In this first part of the ongoing special, they discuss that overall Amblin nostalgia, the various lab escapee films/books that birthed Eleven, the beginning evolution of Hopper, and the...

June is Pride Month and Don’t Open This Podcast returns with a very special episode: The Importance Of Queer Horror! Mike and Tim are joined by their friend and guest horror aficionado, Spencer, as they take a thoroughly entertaining trip down the rainbow road of queer voices in the Horror Genre. From Dracula’s Daughter and The Haunting, to Ed Wood, Child’s Play and beyond!  Listeners will be...

Things get hairy this week as Mike and Tim delve into the first of their Essentials Series: Werewolves! Join them as they cover the high points and important films contributing to werewolves in cinema and then tune in next time for Essential Werewolves Part 2 to carry you from 1981 and beyond! As an added bonus, Mike and Tim discuss Ti West's X before diving into this week's topic!

In the words of Stu Macher, "These days, you gotta have a sequel", so Mike and Tim are back from the dead this week to bring you part 2 in horror sequels that don't suck! There is a little something for everyone this week, from avenging vampires to killer animals to the walking dead, so recite the sacred words and prepare for Don't Open This Podcast!

This week on Don't Open This Podcast, Mike and Tim take a break from the Reel Slashers series to delve into the horror sequels that are well-loved as well as the ones that may not get the attention they deserve within the series. So, oil up your chainsaw and prepare for horror sequels that don't suck on DON'T OPEN THIS PODCAST!

Like every good slasher franchise, Mike and Tim are back with a Part 2 to the Reel Slasher series! They continue making their way through some of the major contributions to the development of the slasher genre as the 70's continue building up to the 80's boom.  Get ready to hear some of your old favorites and maybe some new watchlist additions on Don't Open This Podcast!

Everything has to begin somewhere (even us; remember way back to our pilot episode?) and horror is no exception. Join Mike and Tim as they take a look back at a time when masked killers were just entering the social consciousness, and the slasher genre was only beginning to take form. Enjoy this tour through the 60's and 70's to get a better idea of what loose rules create a slasher, and what was...