Optimism Vaccine

THIS WEEK: Wishmaster (1997), Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999), Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell (2001) and Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfilled In the horror desert of the late 90s, a group of practical effects legends and genre has-beens came together to crown Andrew Divoff as heir to the horror icons of yesteryear. We all wish that this had heralded in a new golden age of Karo syrup,...

THIS WEEK: Death Race 2000 (1975), Rollerball (1975), The Running Man (1987) Recently, President Joe Biden tried to salvage his legacy after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump by going on national television and reassuring the American people he was fit to be the commander-in-chief. Unfortunately, he committed the ultimate gaff and revealed that in America, things aren't settled...

THIS WEEK: Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) The biggest surprise of 2024 might be that there's one person John Landis can't kill despite his best efforts: Axel Foley. Join us as we dig into the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, crown Eddie Murphy the king of on-screen improv, unpack what makes part three so bad, and fi...

THIS WEEK: If Footmen Tire You What Will Horses Do? (1971), The Burning Hell (1974), The Believer's Heaven (1977) Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Ron Ormond and his family made a name for themselves peddling trashy drive-in flicks across the country. After a near-fatal plane crash, the Ormonds gave up their wicked ways and dedicated their lives to God. So how does an exploitation filmmaker convert f...

THIS WEEK: Captain America (1979) and Captain America II: Death Too Soon (1979) Can you believe we were blessed with not one but TWO made for tv Captain America movies in 1979? Nothing says FREEDOM on the 4th of July like watching Reb Brown in red, white and blue spandex popping a sick wheelie on his lil motorcycle. Celebrate America’s birthday like a true PATRIOT and salute the only Marvel movies...

THIS WEEK: Dreamaniac (1986), Batas Impian Ranjang Setan AKA Satan's Bed (1986), Night Killer (1990), and Mahakaal AKA The Monster (1994) Knockoff month has been a dream, but sometimes you eat a supreme pizza just before bed -- and the dream curdles into nightmare. A nightmare not unlike what transpires when Wes Craven's masterpiece is entrusted to schlock-peddlers around the globe -- and David De...

THIS WEEK: Slash (1984), The Intruder AKA Pembalasan Rambu (1985), Strike Commando (1987) Knockoff month marches on with a visit to Indonesia and the Philippines where we trade in Stallone’s Rambo for a Rambu, a Ransom, and a guy named Slash with a DIY rocket launcher. One of these movies was filmed in the exact same location as Apocalypse Now, but is it as good? Tune in to find out. Donate to Pal...

THIS WEEK: Creature (1985), Creepozoids (1987), Shocking Dark AKA Terminator II (1987) Knockoff Month has jumped from fake Terminators to a scene-for-scene ripoff of Aliens (1986) inexplicably marketed as a Terminator sequel in Italy. Speaking of beloved knockoff auteurs, David DeCoteau once again makes his mark on the pod with the only Alien ripoff where Linnea Quigley takes a lengthy shower duri...

THIS WEEK: Assassin (1986), Lady Terminator (1989), Solo (1996) WELCOME TO KNOCKOFF MONTH Whether it's a TV movie of the week, a bizarre transmission from the shores of Indonesia, or just a pile of Mario Van Peebles trash, you can't go wrong with a classic Terminator knockoff. Or maybe these are Robocop knockoffs? Or Universal Soldier knockoffs? Well, regardless, they've got robots with guns and n...

THIS WEEK: Straight-Jacket (1964), Berserk (1967), Trog (1970) After a career resurgence with the hagsploitation classic, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Joan Crawford spent the final decade of her career in kitschy William Castle films, a Circus whodunit, and a murderous monkey man pseudo-horror flick. Sure, it ain't Mildred Pierce, but how do Mommie Dearest's final films stack up to the exploit...

THIS WEEK: The Intruder, aka I Hate Your Guts (1962), X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes (1963), Frankenstein Unbound (1990) The god of independent filmmaking. The mentor who helped jumpstart the careers of Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, and Francis Ford Coppola. The cheap asshole who claims he never lost a dime making movies. Roger Corman was a titan who left an indeli...

THIS WEEK: Mother's Day (1980), Mommie Dearest (1981), Grand Jeté (2022) Some cowards only celebrate moms once a year. Here, we're dedicated to eschewing that silly Hallmark holiday and respecting mothers a week later when no one is expecting it. We're absolutely not late on this one I promise. So why not celebrate moms the best way we know how: With three of the finest and most upstanding mothers...

THIS WEEK: Lake Michigan Monster (2018) and Hundreds of Beavers (2022) From the Milwaukee shoreline to the snowbanks of the Wisconsin north woods, Mike Cheslik and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews have risen to 'Sconnie cinema royalty status alongside other greats like Bill Rebane and Mark Borchardt. Join us as we dig into their unique brand of indie filmmaking and catch the beaver fever, baby! Donate to...

THIS WEEK: The Aftermath (1982) and Empire of the Dark (1990) In the late 1970s a man named Steve Barkett with nothing but a mustache and a dream set out to make a post-apocalyptic sci-fi action epic without a budget, studio, or feature filmmaking experience. The result was not just one, but TWO films and the lifelong respect and friendship of B-movie royalty like Fred Olen Ray and Jim Wynorski. S...

THIS WEEK: Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe (1990), No Exit (1995), The Viking Sagas (1995) Hunk Month, AKA the quest to explore every muscleman-turned-actor in Arnold Schwarzenegger's orbit, continues with a look at some of the major roles played by bodybuilder/powerlifter/natural villain/danish dynamo, Sven-Ole Thorsen. That also means you get TWO Damnia Lee films, a Eurovision star, and all th...

THIS WEEK: Beretta's Island (1991), Danger in Paradise A.K.A. Taken Alive (1994), Doublecross on Costa's Island (1997), Ancient Warriors (2003) Oh, you thought Arnold Schwarzenegger was the only big Hollywood star to come out of Pumping Iron? Maybe you've forgotten all about the illustrious career of Arnie's best friend: Former bodybuilder turned writer/director/producer/action star, Franco Columb...

THIS WEEK: Pumping Iron (1977), Pumping Iron II: The Women (1985) We don't agree on much at Optimism Vaccine, but one universal truth around here is our mutual admiration for hunky beefcakes. And when it comes to beefcakes, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bev Francis stand head and shoulders above the competition. Join us as we take a magnifying glass to two of George Butler and Charles Gaines' most inf...

THIS WEEK: Road House (1989), Road House 2: Last Call (2006), Road House (2024), Road House (1948) How do you follow up the Rowdy Herrington helmed, Patrick Swayze starring, down-and-dirty shit-kicker fest that is the original Road House? You don't. You just don't touch it. And if you do touch it, don't cast Jake Busey like you're making an extended episode of Shasta McNasty. While you're at it, d...

THIS WEEK: Santo vs. Infernal Men (1961), Santo vs. the Evil Brain (1961), Santo and Blue Demon vs. the Monsters (1970), Santo vs. Doctor Death (1973) With a lucha libre wrestling career spanning 50 years and 50+ films under his belt, El Santo achieved god-like status in Mexico without ever taking his mask off in public. Join us as we survey his storied career and see if his star power can elevate...

THIS WEEK: Cobweb (2023) and the other Cobweb (2023) Last year we were blessed with not one but TWO underappreciated films named COBWEB. One is a wild Halloween-set horror flick buried at your local multiplex in the midst of Barbenheimer fever and the directorial debut of Samuel Bodin. The other is a classic film-about-a-film farce helmed by acclaimed Korean auteur Kim Jee-woon and ignored by the...

THIS WEEK: The Prophecy (1995), The Prophecy II (1998), The Prophecy III (2000) Angels walk among us and it turns out they're just white guys with beautiful hair who wear school shooter trenchcoats. Wild! Join us as we explore the world of pre-9/11 heavenly deities and the films that made them famous* *Syndicated on the SyFy channel and collecting dust on your local video store's shelves. That Vin...

THIS WEEK: Scoundrels (1982), All American Girls (1982), Irresistible (1982), Night Hunger (1983), Nothing to Hide (1981) It's that time of year again! The big award show! The hottest night in Hollywood! Step out on the red carpet with us and celebrate the stars of the silver screen! Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon

THIS WEEK: House of Wax (2005), Pledge This! (2006), The Hottie & The Nottie (2008), Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) Paris Hilton is a global cultural icon whose titles include, entrepreneur, reality tv show star, DJ, recording artist, model, designer, sex tape haver and New York Times bestselling author. But what about ACTRESS? Yes, that too. Optimism Vaccine investigates. Donate to Palestinia...

THIS WEEK: Visitor Q (2001), A Lonely Cow Weeps At Dawn (2003), The Cow Who Sang a Song Into The Future (2022) People often accuse us of not "listening" to our "audience" so we're finally rolling out the long-awaited fetish content meets arthouse cinema episode you've been begging for. That's right! You can get your Takashi Miike shot-on-video fix while also appreciating an underrated indie film A...

THIS WEEK: Urban Legend (1998), Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000), and Urban Legends: Bloody Mary (2005) Nothing gets the 90s nostalgia juices flowing like watching Jared Leto with a terrible haircut pal around with Joshua Jackson and Tara Reid. Join us as we reflect on the only film franchise that dared to ask "What if Scream was dumb? No, like, REALLY dumb" before branching out into the realm of s...