Ghouls in the House

Natalie and Arnold dare to revisit M. Night Shyamalan’s infamous end-of-the-world epic, 2008’s THE HAPPENING …so yeah, that happened. But before anyone gets too scared to listen to this short but sweet installment, things pick up when they move on to the 2013 Spanish apocalyptic thriller,  THE LAST DAYS . So don’t waste time talking to plants (real or plastic), stay inside...

Natalie and Arnold talked about Lucio Fulci’s THE BEYOND (1981) way back in Episode 4 , but now it’s time to close those Gates of Hell once and for all by covering the other two films in Fulci’s semi-apocalyptic trilogy, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980) and THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY (1981)! So don’t look any teleporting demonic priests in-a da eye, check your house for secret...

Natalie and Arnold have waited a long time to visit Woodsboro again, and now that day has come. But will this be a joyous reunion with old friends, or a disappointing reminder that some things are best left  DEAD & BURIED …wait, that was last episode. This time, we’re taking a look at the big horror event of early 2022, the fifth installment in the SCREAM series, titled – what else...

Natalie and Arnold travel to the coast (or is it both coasts) to take in some refreshing sea air and explore the drab, depressing, and demonic doings at two creepy seaside towns, Point Dune (Dume?) and Potter’s Bluff. First up, a young woman visits her father’s disturbing beachfront art studio and enters a Romero-esque, Lynchian world of slow burn intrigue, in MESSIAH OF EVIL (1973)! T...

Natalie and Arnold tell a tale of two Wicker Men in this folksy installment! First up, Sergeant Howie imposes his values on everyone in sight and gets what’s coming to him in the 1973 classic, THE WICKER MAN , while in the 2006 remake, Nicolas Cage provides his usual nuanced performance in a film that certainly generated its share of Internet buzz (sorry). So have some apples and honey, danc...

Natalie and Arnold say goodbye (and good riddance) to 2021, and ring in the new year with a look at one of the most critically acclaimed recent horror films, a Scotland-set musical with zombies – ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE (2017)! Can Anna and her friends survive a holiday of personal crises and reanimated marauders? And who poses the greater threat: The living dead, or…oh come on, it’s a...

When you think about it, Halloween never really ends around here. To maintain just the right festive holiday spirit, Natalie and Arnold are taking a look at the life and times of one of the most truly evil individuals ever to get his own film series. With the 45th anniversary of the first installment of THE OMEN TRILOGY upon us, as well as the 40th anniversary of the third, it’s the perfect...

Halloween! Natalie and Arnold invite you to join them for a tour of three – count them – macabre mansions just teeming with spooky denizens and incredibly busy interior design strategies. First up, it’s one of the most atmospheric examples of the haunted house genre in cinematic history with a trip to Hill House in  THE HAUNTING  (1963)! Next, take a trip across the pond to visit...

Halloween approaches, and this year Natalie and Arnold turn their attention to some classics of horror and suspense cinema  as part of this year’s spooky celebration. This episode, it’s time to take a look at two towering (and consecutive) achievements in terror by the Master himself, Alfred Hitchcock! First up, take a trip to the Bates Motel in the “Mother” of all slasher...

Arnold takes Natalie on a tour of sinister ’70s movies (and one from the ’80s) as part of his 50th birthday celebrations! Starting with the MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 version of the  THE TOUCH OF SATAN  (1971), and rolling along through  THE OMEGA MAN  (1971),  DRACULA AD 1972  (1972),  DARK NIGHT OF THE SCARECROW  (1981),  A BAY OF BLOOD  or TWITCH OF THE DEATH NERVE  (1971), and  C...

Natalie and Arnold crank up the creepiness as we head into Halloween season! This time around, it’s creeps everywhere you look, starting with a 1980s cult classic zombie sci-fi romp with none other than that decade’s beefiest horror hero, Tom Atkins, in  NIGHT OF THE CREEPS  (1986)! Then it’s back to the 1960s to discover a true monster – the slimy, predatory nightmare known as&#...

Natalie and Arnold take a long sea voyage – definitely one of their favorite things, in the sense that neither one of them likes the ocean or boats at all – and bring you two tales of supernatural happenings on the high seas. First up, a loopy lark on the Aeolus traps Melissa George and her friends in a nightmarish  TRIANGLE  (2009), while the world’s most inept salvage team boar...

Natalie and Arnold agree that the mind is a terrible thing to waste, and now it’s time to take yours on a strange journey from Altair-4 to Toronto. Join us as we examine the landmark science fiction epic,  FORBIDDEN PLANET  (1956), contemplate Monsters from the Id, and then explore another example of brain-warping terror with the modern horror classic celebrating its 40th anniversary,  SCANN...

Natalie and Arnold, partly inspired by recent viewings of LOKI , visit a home so big that it may need an Usher. It’s certainly drafty and full of secrets, not to mention tons of clever nods to horror genre history. Follow them on their journey to the clay-filled creepiness of the unfairly overlooked  CRIMSON PEAK  (2015) by Guillermo del Toro! Then, travel to a slightly more modern but no le...

Natalie and Arnold spend some time with a really big personality, a towering pop culture icon, a star with the kind of animal magnetism that…OK, look, it’s King Kong, all right? As Arnold deals with a massive wave of childhood nostalgia thanks to his imminent 50th birthday, and with the recent death of actor Charles Grodin, it’s time to look back at a movie that was a two-night e...

Forty years ago, a slasher film conceived by an actual monster became part of the genre’s big boom at the start of the 1980s. Now, Natalie and Arnold head back to Camp Blackfoot for a look at the legend brought to life through the work of three future film and TV stars, makeup maestro Tom Savini, and progressive rock musician Rick Wakeman of Yes. Prepare yourself for THE BURNING  (1981) – as...

Natalie and Arnold are back from a brief break to heap praise on what is perhaps an unlikely recipient: a horror film about killer pants. You read that right, folks; it’s time to talk about a not-at-all-nice pair of  SLAXX  (2020)! In addition, there’s a bit of a preview of some of the plans for future episodes, and a vital update to the previous discussion of BEGINNING OF THE END (195...

Natalie and Arnold stalk the streets of Victorian-era Whitechapel and swingin’ ’70s San Francisco with a look at two films that present drastically different takes on the lethal legacy of Jack the Ripper. First up, none other than H.G. Wells himself pursues his erstwhile friend and knife-happy killer Dr. John Leslie Stevenson into the future in the time-traveling romantic adventure,  T...

Natalie and Arnold revisit a horror from long time ago, and just in time to talk about it on Valentine’s Day! Get ready to head down the mine for two takes on the slasher legend of Harry Warden in the original 1981 MY BLOODY VALENTINE and its 2009 remake. There’s also a very special bonus this episode, as Scottish-Canadian tenor John McDermott  – the voice behind the original film&#821...

Natalie and Arnold are dialing up, logging in, and surfing the information superhighway to revisit two hacker films close to their hearts: HACKERS (1995) and WARGAMES (1983). Along the way, they explore how vital music is to shaping a cinematic experience, and reminisce about the dawn of the Digital Age. So gather up your old computer magazines, put the phone receiver in the modem cradle – and may...

Who goes there? Why, it’s Natalie, Arnold, and a trio (or duo, really) of creepy creatures confounding characters in the cold. First, an “intellectual carrot” that looks like a distant cousin of Frankenstein’s Monster terrorizes a North Pole research team in the landmark classic, THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (1951). Then it’s a trip to the other side of the world, whe...

It’s the holiday season, and Natalie and Arnold chose to watch two foreign-language Xmas-themed horror movies with creepy Santa Claus villains; to be fair, however, Santa Claus is always creepy. First up, a resourceful boy must defend his home and family from an attack by a demented Kris Kringle in DEADLY GAMES (1989). Next, a resourceful boy must defend his home and family from an attack by...

Natalie and Arnold enter virgin territory with a look at two films that explore that oh-so-sensitive time in the life of a young person, when they face the passage into adulthood while fending off the attacks of a deranged serial killer or the advances of a centuries-old vampire Countess. OK, maybe not everybody goes through quite that dramatic an experience, but Jody (Brittany Murphy) in  CHERRY...

Some say the world will end in fire (like the heat of a 2022 New York soylent line in 1973’s SOYLENT GREEN ), some say in ice (like the cold chambers of frozen Runners maintained by the mad robot Box in 1976’s LOGAN’S RUN ). Either way, things are looking bad for the Earth and the human race, at least as far as these two ’70s dystopic cinema classics are concerned. Natalie...

1980 was a busy year for Jamie Lee Curtis, with three movies in a row (all shot the previous year) cementing her status as a “Scream Queen” after her iconic turn in HALLOWEEN (1978). Having covered that film in an archive episode of our previous podcast, DOCTOR OF THE DEAD , and one of the 1980s films – THE FOG – in episode 3 of this show , Natalie and Arnold now turn their attention t...