Franchise Fiends

Todd and Brogan compare their rankings of the Scream franchise and discuss their favorite moments from the series, albeit in different formats because Brogan forgot they had agreed to change it. Franchise Fiends will return next season with Hellraiser! And there will be plenty of fun seasonal treats in the meantime. Thanks for listening. Follow Todd on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/juggernaut323 Foll...

This is the way the franchise ends; not with a bang but with a fart. Todd and Brogan somberly Scream 7, which is both the last and the worst Scream title for reasons that are too multitudinous to fit in a podcast description. We also discuss the weird politics that take a bunch of the blame for Scream 7 being so bad and Scream VI just being mostly okay. This movie apparently made a bunch of money...

Scream VI is the first Scream film where every killer is motivated by the power of love! In recognition of this, Todd and Brogan bring in actual real life married couple Rachel and Steph to talk about if love and grief could possibly drive someone to think people wouldn't see this twist coming from a mile away. Follow Todd on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/juggernaut323 Follow Brogan on Letterboxd: le...

Look who's back! It's Scream. Same town. Same stars. Same... title? None of us understand or enjoy the "reuse the same title for the sequel" trend that was in vogue during this period of cinema. Horror films are not Weezer albums or Shaft. But hosts Todd and Brogan and returning guests John Conn and Brian did generally enjoy this attempt to revitalize the franchise after a decade away. Follow Todd...

Not generally a "look at our cool technical prowess" sort of podcast description but there were serious technical issues with this recording (thanks, Zoom!) and it took a whole bunch of work to get this audio to our normal accepted standard of "basically shitty." Thanks for noticing! Oh, yeah, today we're talking about Scre4m and it's a big improvement over the one that they didn't even have the d...

It's time for Scream 3! A.K.A. The Weak Point of the Trilogy. A.K.A. Come On, Y'all, Scr3am Was Right There. Todd and Brogan are joined by returning guest Matthew B. Demented and new guest Jordan to discuss the non-Kevin Williamson entry in the original series and wonder where it all went wrong. Follow Todd on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/juggernaut323 Follow Brogan on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/rob...

Certified chaos goblins Amelia and Bobby are back. Will Scream 2's more traditional narrative make it easier for the group to stay on task? Only barely. They at least manage to make it mostly to the end, at which point things get so sidetracked they actually forget to wrap up the episode. The raw recording of this was 4.5 hours long. Anyway, this movie is pretty good! Follow Todd on Letterboxd: le...

Check your phone. It's a new season calling. What's that? You don't answer phone calls anymore? The only people who still make phone calls are murderers and telemarketers? Check your phone for a text message from a new season. Longtime guests Max and Amanda return to help Todd and Brogan break down a film so good it paved the way for an entire new generation of slasher films, and also made some of...

Todd and Brogan compare their ranking of the Twilight franchise, breaking down their favorite moments from the series and discussing the franchise as a whole. We'll be back in October with Scream! Follow Todd on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/juggernaut323 Follow Brogan on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/roboteatsdino Season art by Ryan Bouwhuis.

The sage concludes in one of the wildest, craziest, deviate-from-the-source-material-ist final episodes of any series we've discussed up until this point. Along the way a librarian tells us how the books are resonating with readers today and Todd's son addresses what it's like having a dad who has seen Breaking Dawn — Part 2 more than 100 times. Follow Todd on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/juggernaut...

It's the end! Well... it's the beginning of the end. Karrie and Lindsay join Todd and Brogan to break down the penultimate entry in the Twilight Saga. We discuss the weird and controversial bits, as well as the weird bits that probably would have been controversial if anyone had not been too distracted by the other stuff to notice. Did you know they covered a real baby in jelly for this? A human b...

Franchised Fiends breaks down The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and in the process eclipse our record for longest episode for the fifth time in a row. We just really like talking about movies, okay??? Today we're joined by returning guest Rachel and new guest Peyton — an honest-to-god novelist whose love of Twilight directly influenced her choice in career — to discuss questions like "Why is this one so...

In the true spirit of the 4th of July, we're talking about a movie that is mostly talking but throws in a few neat explosions at the end. Returning guest Max and first-time guest Suzee join Todd and Brogan to talk about the highs and lows of Twilight's second entry, which is extra exciting for Max who has never seen a Twilight film before. Follow Todd on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/juggernaut323 Fo...

It's Independence Day weekend! You celebrating? Yeah, no, we get it. Neither are we. Would a secret season take the edge off? As previously announced, our regularly scheduled programming will return in October where we'll be exploring the Scream franchise. But we've also been hard at work secretly preparing a full season exploring the Twilight franchise, which Todd has famously managed to watch mo...

It's April Fool's Day, which means we're talking about Fred Walton's April Fool's Day. Is this the Paddington 2 of comedy slashers? A testament to the psychopathy of the upper class? Both? Sabrina and Matt join Todd and Brogan to try and get to the bottom of what at the very least is the coolest poster for a slasher film themed after a lesser holiday. Follow Todd on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/jugg...

Today we're joined by Steve Rudzinski and Aleen Isley, the creative duo behind Silver Spotlight Films. They're best known for the CarousHELL trilogy, but they've also produced several Christmas films including A Meowy Christmas, Curtains for Christmas, and the award-winning Amityville Christmas Vacation. One of their favorite Christmas classics is Michael Cooney's 1997 cult classic Jack Frost, whi...

How do you talk about a film that eschews traditional narrative analysis and in fact seems to exist in open defiance of both film criticism and God? If you're Todd and Brogan (and special guests Amelia and Bobby) it involves a number of lengthy tangents, including multiple meandering discussions about 9/11 that — in a Franchise Fiends first — were so bizarre and off-topic that Brogan trimmed most...

Todd and Brogan rank the Saw films and traps. Brogan decides that one of his favorite traps is a Saw IV trap he initially made fun of but came to appreciate after seeing the same concept done much worse in Saw 3D, yet forgets to explain this when actually talking about the trap. A third season is announced. We'll be talking about Scream next October but there will be plenty of specials and surpris...

What better way to celebrate wrapping up the season than discussing the most acclaimed film in the series with two people who don't like the genre? John and Rachel join Todd and Brogan to provide a wholly new perspective as discuss the final film in the series (for now). Follow Todd on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/juggernaut323 Follow Brogan on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/roboteatsdino Follow John on...

Today we're joined by Max, the secret third member of the Franchise Fiends family. Max does all of our artwork so getting him on the pod is arguably cooler than Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson showing up in a Saw movie. Also... holy shit, Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson showed up in a Saw movie? Let's talk about that. Follow Todd on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/juggernaut323 Follow Brogan on Lette...

Have you ever wished the Saw franchise felt a bit more like a CSI episode? Great news! Today we're joined by Rachel to talk about how Saw took advantage of the seven year hiatus between films to inject itself with some serious direct-to-video/TV movie vibes. Follow Todd on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/juggernaut323 Follow Brogan on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/roboteatsdino Follow Rachel on Letterboxd...

Saw 3D didn't look very good in 3D which is why it was released as Saw: The Final Chapter on home video. It didn't end up being the final chapter, either, but Todd still thinks it was neat and Brogan appreciates Cary Elwes getting a few more seconds of screentime even if he doesn't think much of anything else worked. Also, when was the last time you thanked a podcast editor? Thanks to some ongoing...

In which Brogan admits that Todd was right (in regards to Saw VI being great and nothing else). Anchor and Brian stop by Franchise Fiends to talk about the major upgrade the franchise received after the underwhelming Saw V. Follow Todd on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/juggernaut323 Follow Brogan on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/roboteatsdino Follow Anchor on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/anchor_rancor Foll...

Maybe the real Saw V was the much better movies we watched along the way? Todd and Brogan are joined by Mel and Liz to talk about the first major drop in quality for the Saw franchise, much of which involves reflecting on the better films that came before it. "Well at least there's less arguing about John Kramer's political affiliation." Thanks for noticing! It's because we got most of the debate...

Does Saw IV make any sense? If you're Parker, who has only seen the original short, the answer is (accurately) no. He and Reid join Todd and Brogan to break down the most MCU-esque entry in the Saw franchise and try and figure out just how much of this film only works because it's referencing the three films that came before it. Follow Todd on Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/juggernaut323 Follow Brogan...