PhDemons

Join Leslie and Ben on a journey into the demon realm as they watch Fear No Evil (1981) and Def By Temptation (1990). 

This week Ben and Leslie tackle the gendered horror of domesticity with The Stepfather 3 (1992) and Season of the Witch (1973). Tune in to hear all about the thrilling conclusion of the Stepfather franchise, the threat of non-normative masculinity, and how to survive as a housewife in America (hint: it's killing your husband). 

This week Ben and Leslie are back to animal horror (who knew it was such a rich subgenre?) with Fangs (1974) and Alligator (1980). There are well-written characters, fun moments, and great practical effects. And then there's also Fangs, a movie whose Shudder summary may actually land someone in jail for false advertising. Herpetophobes beware, you're in for a scare. 

Join Leslie and Ben as they try to figure out what makes a horror tagline tick and question the existence of this odd feature of movie marketing. When there's no more room in hell . . . the tags will walk the line.

This week, Ben and Leslie take a trip to Elm Street with A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and A Nightmare on Elm Street II: Freddy's Revenge (1985). We talk slasher classics, dream boys who gaslight you and kill your friends, fetish outfits and the coaches who love them, and the unrelenting gayness of it all. Tune in!

Was rushing to get this episode onto shelves for last-minute gift shoppers, so I can't think of much to write here. Please enjoy with a giant bowl of figgy pudding.

This week Ben and Leslie take a break from their busy lives in the city to head out to rural New England and find love! Wait, what? That's right, it's a Christmas departure from the horror genre to talk about two holiday tv-movie romances, Spirit of Christmas (2015) and Deck the Heart (2021). There are still sloppy character tropes, ridiculous plot points, unlikeable protagonists, and even ghosts!...

Log on and jack in to the matrix: Leslie and Ben cruise down the Information superhighway and launch into cyberspace with The Lawnmower Man (1992) and Brainscan (1994). These movies will introduce you to a little something called the "personal computer" which is about to revolutionize the way we live and work. They may not be the scariest movies ever, but they will prepare us for a brave new world...

Leslie and Ben wish they didn't have to finish the Wishmaster series, but here we are. Tune in to hear all about how "superb" Amazon viewers thought the filmmaking was, how bad the Wishmaster is at granting wishes, how horribly these movies deal with disability, and how weird it is that they filmed Wishmaster 3 and 4 literally one weekend apart. 

This week Ben and Leslie wish they were watching anything other than Wishmaster (1997) and Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999). They talk Wes Craven's weird porn career, discuss the differences between desires and wishes, read some truly shocking Amazon reviews, and unpack just how fast and loose this djinn is playing with the concept of a wish. Tune in! 

All right, fellow teens, you know the drill. Join Leslie and Ben for a cozy night of gossip, pillow fights and murder as they watch Slumber Party Massacre (1982) and Slumber Party Massacre II (1987).

It's Remake Time! Nobody needed these movies, nobody wanted 'em, but they're here to break your heart on January 16th (you'll get it when you listen to the episode). The remakes in question are Hellraiser (2022) and My Bloody Valentine (2009). These are the newest movies Leslie and Ben have covered on the show . . . so that's one thing you can say about them. 

Ben and Leslie celebrate two holiday-themed movies this week: Trick or Treats (1982) and April Fool's Day (1986). They talk bad magic, worse pranks, films that are just self-aware enough to emphasize how disappointing they are, and girls named Muffy. Tune in!

This week Ben and Leslie cut up with two surgery-obsessed movies from the seventies - Scalpel (1977) and Mansion of the Doomed (1976). They talk unintentional horror, daddy daughter love, and the actual limits of eye surgery. Tune in!

This week Leslie and Ben are your one-stop shop for scaring and caring as they watch two movies that were hand-crafted with love but are still highly consumable horror commodities. We're gonna party like it's 1989 or '99: in other words, we're going to hang out at the mall. Chopping Mall (1986) and Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (1989) are the movies, and they are quite the deal when it comes...

This week Leslie and Ben take us to church with two Catholic-horror films from the 90s: Stigmata (1999) and Prophecy (1995). Say your prayers, because you're about to be spooked by the holy ghost. It's a star-studded episode in which Patricia Arquette lies about her age, Christopher Walken perches on things, Virginia Madsen dresses inappropriately to teach children and Viggo Mortensen is the nerdy...

This week Ben and Leslie howl about two werewolf movies, Silver Bullet (1985) and Hard Rock Nightmare (1988). These movies have it all: real werewolves, fake werewolves, hot young priests, over-acting, murdering your own grandfather, and both Gary Busy and Terry O'Quinn again ! Tune in! 

This week Ben and Leslie monkey around with Shakma (1990) and Monkey Shines (1988), two primate-focused flicks that take animal horror to some weird places. There are LARPing med students, psychosexual monkey-human relationships, someone's TV Tropes trauma, and the underlying question of the episode: could you fight a monkey?

This week, Ben and Leslie bang their heads against Hard Rock Zombies (1985) and Black Roses (1988). Leslie breaks the kayfabe of the show to clarify just how bad Hard Rock Zombies is, and then the duo treats themselves for having survived it by talking about the far superior Black Roses . It's a real battle of the bands, except one of those bands sucks so hard. Tune in!* *Hi everyone, this is Ben,...

This week, Leslie and Ben watch Beyond Dream's Door (1989) and Final Exam (1981). They talk college, killings, and, most of all, pranks! Faking a mass shooting and a suicide attempt are pranks, right? Tune in to find out!

This week Ben and Leslie rush to watch two sorority-themed flicks - The House on Sorority Row (1982) and Sorority House Massacre (1986). With the surprisingly refreshing choice to center their stories around women and female friendships, these movies ask tough questions like what is a prank? is my trauma a burden to others? and could women actually be people? 

Leslie and Ben tackle two films that (maybe, kind of) critique the violence of American institutions: Maniac Cop (1988) and Uncle Sam (1996). Officer Matt Cordell (Robert Z'Dar) and Master Sergeant Sam Harper (David Fralick) enforce the prerogatives of masculine power granted to them by their membership in the the NYPD and The US Army, respectively, by turning into mostly-silent slashers of the Ja...

This episode is about the first two Hellraiser movies. Ben and Leslie discuss the films' exploration of desire, sexuality, pleasure and pain as well as lots of goopy practical effects.

This episode covers the films Stepfather (1987) and Hider in the House (1989). Leslie and Ben explore Masculine identities constructed and broken apart as Jerry Blake (Terry O'Quinn) and Tom Sykes (Gary Busey) try to insinuate themselves into families that look like the American suburban middle-class ideal but are full of tensions underneath. Tom Sykes tries to build a new family and Jerry Blake t...