Genre Grinder

BENEATH THE WAVES ROILS A MURKY STEW OF KILLER ALIENS, MONSTROUS MUTANTS, PSYCHOTIC SOLDIERS, AND EVIL CORPORATIONS!!   Welcome to another of Genre Grinder's patented deep(sea)-dives into a single year in cinema when a specific genre fad peaked. This time, Gabe and Patrick Ripoll are looking at a strange moment in time, the year 1989, when seven different undersea sci-fi/horror/adventures were rel...

TWIN WARRIORS, MUSCLEBOUND BARBARIANS, UNDEAD HORDES, EVIL KINGS, ENSLAVED PEASANTS, MYSTICAL WARFARE, BLOODTHIRSTY GODS & PLAYBOY PLAYMATES…ALL ON A BUDGET!!   In the wake of John Milius' Conan the Barbarian (1982) and the dawn of home video's dominance in genre filmmaking spaces, independent studios kicked off a short-lived, but prolific series of B-to-Z grade sword & sorcery, fantasy, and barba...

WITNESS THE LIVES OF INTERESTING PEOPLE MADE MORE INTERESTING VIA SUBJECTIVE TRUTHS, PLASTIC AVATARS, UNRELIABLE NARRATORS, AND CG MONKEY-FICATION!!   Biopics: bland, formulaic, predictable. You've seen one, you've seen them all, right? Well, not every filmmaker is content to follow the blueprint. Join Gabe and returning guest Tyler Foster as they explore four examples of Unconventional Biopics th...

SPLIT PERSONALITIES! BURIED TRAUMA! DEMANDING CAREERS! SHITTY BOYFRIENDS! COLD-BLOODED MURDER! IT'S HARD OUT HERE FOR A WOMAN!!   We've already talked about the giallo movies released during the genre's peak year of 1971 with Patrick and covered several of the American films found in the pages of Kier-La Janisse's House of Psychotic Women with Bill, so why not join Gabe and first-time guest host S...

HERE'S EVERYTHING YOU MISSED IN THE LAST 25 YEARS!!   The gang is back together and we're talking about our top 5 (sometimes 10) underrated films released between the years 2000 and 2025 (don't give me that whole "2001 is the first year of the 21st century" spiel, alright, let it go). Join Gabe and Patrick Ripoll, along with call ins from previous Genre Grinder guests Jim Laczkowski, Luana Saitta,...

YOU DIDN'T CUT YOUR CARBON EMISSIONS AND NOW WE'RE UP TO OUR EYEBALLS IN SMOG MONSTERS, MUTANT ISOPODS, AND VENGEFUL NATURE SPIRITS!! We've already covered natural disasters and killer animals on Genre Grinder, but what about some specifically man-made environmental horrors? Well, that's where Gabe and returning guest Justin Clark come in. After last month's epic seven-movie podcast, we're dialing...

WRIGGLING WORMS, CRAWLING BUGS, SLITHERING SNAKES, WITCHCRAFT, RITUALS, AND BODILY FLUIDS OF EVERY COLOR IMAGINABLE!! Once upon a time, three brothers named Shaw started a film studio in Hong Kong. That studio grew into a Southeast Asian  powerhouse, building its reputation on wuxia , kung fu, period dramas, comedies, and, in the mid '70s, horror. The special Shaw brand of horror, defined by black...

HERE COMES THE BRIDE, ALL DRESSED IN …BLACK!?! RIDING A BROOM AND CLUTCHING A CAT?!? It's intractable imps, saucy sorceresses, and weird women on this episode of Genre Grinder, all falling in love and putting their spell on unsuspecting men. Join Gabe and returning guest Luana Saitta as they look at three entries in the surprisingly prevalent subgenre of movies where men accidentally marry witches...

ADULTERY, MANIPULATION, AND MURDER, RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES AND SLATHERED ACROSS YOUR TELEVISION SCREEN!!   In the early days of mainstream cable, on the cusp of the Menendez Brothers and O.J. Simpson trials, the big three American networks struck gold with sensationalistic docudramas – several of which were based on the true crimes of notorious women. Join Gabe and returning guest Kristine Fish...

ALRIGHT, YA HOSERS, GRAB YOUR PLAID TRAPPER HAT, YOUR MOOSEHEAD, AND YOUR BIGGEST BOWL OF POUTINE – WE'RE CHECKING OUT SOME CANADIAN HORROR MOVIES!   You can't talk about the greatest horror and exploitation films of the '70s and '80s without including our neighbors to the North. Canadian horror – or canuxploitation – is a broad subject that covers several subgenres, so Gabe and returning guest Ji...

IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS. A WINDSWEPT FIELD. TWO SUN-BEATEN MEN IN WIDE-BRIMMED HATS. ITCHY TRIGGER FINGERS. THE MUSIC CRESCENDOS. THE FINAL SHOWDOWN.    After a short break and some technical difficulties, Gabe and Patrick are back to finish what they started, looking back at 15 spaghetti westerns released in the year 1968. We saved some the greatest movies and the hottest takes for last – Sergi...

WHAT'S BETTER THAN A SCARY STORY? SEVERAL SCARY STORIES COLLATED INTO A SINGLE MOVIE WITH A SPOOKY WRAPAROUND SEGMENT!   Gather 'round the campfire, boils, ghouls, and non-binary creatures of all ages while we take a look at those little groupings of shorts known as Anthology or Portmanteau Horror. Join Gabe and first time special guest Chloe Warayan ( https://chloesnotscared.com/ ) as they take a...

  HOP ALONG, CASSIDY – OR WHATEVER YOUR NAME IS – AND TUCK IN FOR A SECOND HELPING OF PASTA & MEATBALLS WITH A SIDE OF BULLETS & GRIT!   Welcome back for part two of Gabe and Patrick's three-part look back at the Spaghetti Westerns of 1968. This is going to be the longest of the three episodes, because we're rappin' about six films – Ferdinando Baldi's Hate Thy Neighbor (Italian: Odia il prossimo...

PREPARE YOUR SIX-GUNS AND YOUR BOLOGNESE AS WE DIG INTO THE TWO-FISTED ITALIAN COWBOY TALES OF THE BIGGEST YEAR IN SPAGHETTI WESTERN HISTORY! Welcome to another multi-part exploration of a single year in genre filmmaking. Join Gabe and returning guest Patrick Ripoll as they follow up their series on the slasher films of 1981, the gialli of 1971, and the giant monster movies of 1957 with a look at...

COME WITH US AS WE TUMBLE DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE, PASS THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS, ENTER THE WARDROBE, AND RIDE A TORNADO TO OZ!   It's time to cover one of my favorite subgenres: movies where people cross over into another world where they learn a lesson and meet a bunch of walking metaphors. This episode's guest host, Betsy, calls these Portal Fantasies and notes similarities to the popular anime/m...

IT'S SEQUENTIAL DRAWINGS VERSUS FLESH & BLOOD ACTORS IN A SHOWDOWN OF MULTIMEDIA PROPORTIONS!   Since the advent of filmmaking, people have been combining live-action photography with hand-drawn animation and now we're talking about it. But this is a podcast and we don't have time to cover a century of motion pictures, so Gabe and returning guest Tyler Foster are covering a smaller collection of m...

A DEAD WOMAN WITH THE SOUL OF A MAN! A MURDEROUS MAN WHO CAN TRANSFORM INTO A WOMAN! PROBABLY JUST A COINCIDENCE!   Have you ever noticed that Hammer Studios made two horror films that work as trans allegories? Well, technically three, but I forgot about one of them. Anyway, I've been curious for a while as to what an actual trans person might think of Terence Fisher's Frankenstein Created Woman (...

TAKE ONE LAST TRIP INTO THE UNKNOWN FOR THE ULTIMATE GIANT INSECT MOVIE, THE ULTIMATE GIANT MAN IN A DIAPER MOVIE, AND THE ULTIMATE KILLER, UM, ROCK MOVIE… Welcome to the final part of Gabe and Patrick's look back at the biggest year in giant monster movie history. This episode features the most eclectic collection of movies, including a shoestring 'lost world' epic in Virgil W. Vogel's The Land U...

YOU DON'T NEED TO GO TO AMITY ISLAND FOR A SHARK MASSACRE!! IN FACT, YOU DON'T EVEN NEED A SHARK!!   It's easy to recognize a Jaws knock-off when it revolves around a shark eating people, but what about all of those movies without sharks that lift scenes and ideas from Steven Spielberg's film and Peter Benchley's novel? Well, around here we call those movies "Jaws, Minus the Shark" movies and they...

FROM THE FROZEN WASTES OF THE ARCTIC TO THE DEPTHS OF THE AFRICAN JUNGLE, THE ARID DESERTS OF MEXICO, AND THE AMERICAN MIDWEST THEY CAME… Welcome to part two of Gabe and Patrick's look back at the biggest year in giant monster movie history. We've got a lot of big bugs this time, including Nathan H. Juran's The Deadly Mantis, the wasps of Kenneth G. Crane's The Monster from Green Hell, ocean mollu...

FROM THE FURTHEST REACHES OF SPACE AND THE DEEPEST DEPTHS OF THE SEA CAME ALIENS, MUTATED CREATURES, AND OTHER LARGE, SCARY ALLEGORIES! Welcome to another patented Genre Grinder deep dive into a specific year where a specific genre peaked. This time, Patrick and Gabe are looking at 15 of 17 movies about gigantic monsters released in some capacity during the year 1957 (festival, roll-out, wide, et...

THE FIRST PODCAST ABOUT MOVIES THAT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT IT'S A PODCAST ABOUT MOVIES!!   Gabe (looks directly into camera): This is a podcast about making podcasts. The podcasters are also acknowledging you, the listener, directly. Yeah, you, Derek. Oh, and the fabric of the podcast is also haunting us and maybe killing you. And by you, I mean Derek. Anyway, join me and returning guest Jim Laczkowski...

WELCOME TO THE HEADBANGERS' BALL …FROM HELL!!   Can hard rock music really corrupt the youth? Will the lyrics raise the dead and turn innocent children into perverts and murderers? Is that a literal demon on lead guitar? Join Gabe and returning guest Justin Clark as they enter the pit to answer these questions and more. While Gabe spent the month watching several heavy metal and hard rock horror m...

LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS AND RATS AND…DUGONGS?! OH GOD!!   They're cute, they're cuddly, they're out for blood. Join Gabe and returning guest Arianny Pilarte as they traipse into the sunbaked Australian outback, the darkest corners of Italy's subway system, and dank Canadian sewers in search of the scariest and most insane killer animal movies released in a 11 year period between 1978 and 1989....

THE GREATEST HITS OF A DECADE: VIETNAM, WATERGATE, ATTICA, MAN-EATING PIGS, SEEDY HOLLYWOOD, KILLER BRIDES, HOME INVASION, GANGSTERS, AXE MURDERERS, AND DEADLY GAMES…   After Night of the Living Dead (1968) and before the slasher boom of the early '80s, American horror went through one of its most creative and influential eras. But, for every Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Carrie (1976), and Hal...