ScaryCrit: A Black Horror Podcast

 A digital Red Queen, glimpse of white rabbits, what could be seen as zombified "cards," and an amnesia-afflicted girl named Alice... Who knew Resident Evil (2002) could be seen as the action-horror remix of a beloved fairytale? We discuss this and more in our 70th(!) episode, like what sets Resident Evil apart from other video-game adaptations, the icon that is Michelle Rodriguez, under...

Join us as we journey into The Further to discuss one of the most effective PG-13 horror films in modern memory: Insidious (2010). One-word title mastery, first reactions to the film, the dissonant score, and how scary we still find this movie are just a few things Lauren and Jared get into this week. Timestamps 9:42 - Negronomicon 43:56 - Crit 1:37:32 - Final Curls Find Us Online Website: www.sca...

Jared and Lauren take on the curse of Kayako in 2004's The Grudge.  They discuss what made it so scary, the effectiveness of the non-linear storytelling, PG-13 vs. the unrated version,  the complexity of the story, and how it personally changed what horror could look like for us. Timestamps 3:00 - Audience Question 26:42 - Negronomicon 42:00 - Crit 1:34:44 - Final Curls Find Us Online  Websit...

Listen as Lauren and Jared break into 2008's creepy The Strangers and discuss director's Bryan Bertino's inspirations, the terror of the absence of a motive, the fact that no one is locking their doors again (a cardinal horror sin of Jared's), and what makes the three masked assailants so memorable 14 years later. Timestamps 5:39 - Negronomicon  27:22- Crit 1:12:42 - Final curl...

There's a podcast. After you listen to it, they say you get a call. And the person on the other end says that you're gonna have another episode to listen to in seven days, raaaargh!  ....Okay, so maybe not as ominous as our subject of today's Crit but we tried. Get comfortable as we rewind 2002's unsettling but very vibe-y The Ring (2003), America's gateway to J-horror rem...

It's time for a buzzworthy good time as we get into a movie that changed and really cut into the horror genre: James Wan and Leigh Whannel's Saw (2004)! Character analyses, Jigsaw's motives, Danny Glover being typecast, the legacy of the Saw franchise and how well Saw would've worked if it was a standalone film rather than a series—these are just some of the "rules" d...

Taking it back to 2003, Jared and Melle buckle up for the wild ride that is Final Destination 2 and debate on how well it holds up nearly 20 years later. Everyone is scared, everyone is panicking, and everyone is asking how Officer Burke could afford that apartment… Timestamps 5:35 - Negronomicon 16:40 - Crit 1:12:43 - Final Curls Find Us Online  Website: www.scarycritpodcast.com Twitter: http://t...

Welcome to another season of Scary Crit, folks! We missed y'all and hope the feeling's mutual. For  S7, we've decided to take on the classics, but with a little twist. These are the horror classics that made us. Those films that imprinted on us with scares that will last a lifetime, if only in memory. First up is a 90s baby childhood classic, Thir13en Ghosts (2001). Come along with...

Well, wouldn't you know it? Another season finale! Season six has been quite sickening if we don't say so ourselves but it wouldn't have been such a success without our wonderful guest stars – give it up for AJ and Jonne from D180 Podcast (A Dry Squeeze), Eric Thompson (Downward), Sasha Banks (Buggin') and Brandon Evans (Picky Eater)!!! We had so much fun and can't wait to...

Please note: We've all seen Dr. Strange by now, right? If you haven't, skip ahead (11:09) to avoid spoilers! Get shipwrecked with us as we find ourselves on a verdant, lonely island where the unknown lurks around at night with a hunger for flesh... That's right, y'all! We're bringing back a gem we we briefly mentioned in the past, J.D. Dillard's underrated Sweetheart...

I mean, we did Alien (1979). We couldn't not do a Predator  film next. ...Though Lauren is a bit adamant we chose the wrong one. Join us as we crack open the Negronomicon (2:50) before jumping in the hot and sticky urban jungle that is near-future 1997 LA in the sci-fi action horror romp, Predator 2 (1990) . We gathered some healthy game to dissect (17:40) with this one, like Mike Harrigan an...

Diving right into the Crit this week sans Negronomicon, Lauren and Jared join the crew on the Nostromo to discuss (13:20) the sci-fi horror classic Alien (1979). From Ridley Scott's direction of a veteran and newcomer (hi, Sigourney!) mixed cast, the intersectionality of Parker and Lambert, and Bolaji Badejo's deft use of height, there's a lot here to whet your Xenomorphic appetite....

What's eating you? Brandon Evans joins Lauren and Jared on the podcast as the last Guest Critter of S6! We crack open the Negronomicon to talk Kingdom Hearts x Cochella and Fantastic Beasts before jumping into the crit to look at a film that's haunted our nightmares, Jeepers Creepers (2001).  Timestamps 5:50 - Theme song 12:44 - Negronomicon 34:20 - Crit  1:26:14 - Final Curls Find Us On...

It's weird science. Sasha Banks joins Lauren and Jared on the pod this week to talk about a late 90's gem, Mimic. There was a lot of drama behind the scenes of del Toro's commissioned film. Even though he was Bill Gunn-ed in the end, there is still a lot to look at in Mimic. We discuss classicism, access, and how we determine value in this week's crit. Have you signed up for ou...

Fear changes everything. Lauren and Jared are solo on the crit this week! What happens when the world is ending and a group of people are trapped together? We discuss that and more in our crit of another early aughts classic, The Mist (2007). Timestamps: 3:08 - Negronomicon 35:47 - Crit: The Mist (2007) 1:40:14 - Final curls Find Us Online - Website: www.scarycritpodcast.com - Twitter: http://twit...

Why go to therapy when you can go to North Carolina? Lauren and Jared are joined by Lauren's long time friend LB to crit one of the best horror films from the early aughts, The Descent.    Find Us Online - Website: www.scarycritpodcast.com - Twitter: http://twitter.com/scarycritpodcast - Instagram: http://instagram.com/scarycritpodcast    And Find our Wonderful Guest Critter!  Eric LB Thompso...

My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun! We told y'all our guest list this season was STACKED and we are so honored to have our pals at Destination 180 podcast in the crit this week! Lauren, Jared, Jonne, and AJ put rappers in horror films before calling the Negronomicon off the shelf (16:37) to give spoiler-free first impressions on A24's X and Regina Hall's Maste...

What's up, podcast people! We're back with S6 with a film befitting St. Patricks Day, Leprechaun 6: Back 2 Tha Hood. Lauren and Jared crack open the Negronomicon (04:65) to talk about the films they are looking forward to before  springing (because according to Lauren it is SPRING) into the crit of the Leprechaun's return to tha hood. We talk kill scenes, way too much oregano,  alte...

What a film to wrap up Black History Month!  In the last episode of S5, Lauren and Jared open the Negronomicon (04:19) to talk Stranger Things news and Melle's foray into Horizon Zero Dawn: Forbidden West , before diving into a folk horror classic: the original Candyman ( 1992). Your hosts discuss Helen's rabid curiosity, the difference between Bernadette and Helen's approach to res...

This week is a tough one y'all.  This Black history month, Jared and Lauren decided to crit (25:44) one of the only, if not THE ONLY, Black films with an acclaimed literary reference, Beloved (1998).  Find Us Online - Website: www.scarycritpodcast.com - Twitter: http://twitter.com/scarycritpodcast - Instagram: http://instagram.com/scarycritpodcast Credits - Host and Producer: Lauren La Melle...

We're not going out there with those...thiings! Different movie, we know, but the quote still works! In E50, we plant a flag on the hill we would die on: 80s practical effects over everything! We're back in the cold to dissect John Carpenter's box office flop-turned cult classic, The Thing (15:21). Before the crit, we crack open the Negronomicon (2:10) to dish on the Scream 6 green...

The journey of love is an arduous trek. My love grows for you as you bleed from your neck. In E49, we kick off February with Jared's recommendation! We crack open the Negronomicon (20:48)  before grabbing our bow and arrow (sans quiver) for our crit (31:20) of Valentine (2001). Find Us Online - Website: www.scarycritpodcast.com - Twitter: http://twitter.com/scarycritpodcast - Instagram: http:...

In E48, we kick off the episode with the first ever ScaryCrit Bookclub (trademark pending). We decided to get paranormal and dive into the newest iteration of the franchise that changed found footage forever, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin (15:17). Find Us Online - Website: www.scarycritpodcast.com - Twitter: http://twitter.com/scarycritpodcast - Instagram: http://instagram.com/scarycritpodcast...

These are not your True Blood-Cullen family-run of the mill vampires. In E47, Lauren and Jared take a midnight boat to Barrow, Alaska, to crit one of the most ruthless vampire films out there, 30 Days of Night (20:35).     Find Us Online - Website: www.scarycritpodcast.com - Twitter: http://twitter.com/scarycritpodcast - Instagram: http://instagram.com/scarycritpodcast Credits - Host and Producer:...

You can't wear white after Labor Day! Didn't your mother tell you? In E46, Lauren picked a campy treat for her birthday: Serial Mom (26:13). Kathleen Turner stuck her foot all the way in this one is strap in, wash your recyclables, and don't engage with the crank callers!  Time Stamps 0:00 - For the night is euphoric and full of spoilers 9:53 - Welcome to E46 16:23 -  Negronomicon 1...