The Bloody Pit

Author Mark Clark joins me for the first of two episodes focused on director Richard Cunha’s genre films. In 1958 Cunha directed four horror/sci-fi movies that have stood the test of time. This episode focuses on the first two of these little gems, GIANT OF THE UNKNOWN and SHE DEMONS which were originally released as a double feature. We both love these movies and have a good time digging into the...

December brings our annual Holiday Horror episode. This year we discuss the legendary Canadian film BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) and we have much to say. Turns out this is our tenth year of this Holiday tradition which surprised and slightly freaked me out. But Troy Guinn and John Hudson are rightly proud of our decade long series and glad to finally talk about the one that might have started the whole...

Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce return to the show! I am joined by Beth Morris and Troy Guinn to discuss the next in Universal’s long running Sherlock Holmes series featuring the legendary detective in the 1940’s. This entry uses one of Arthur Conan Doyle’s original short stories to provide the basic plot – or does it? We look at the film’s very strong ties to a certain American crime fiction write...

Author David Annandale joins me for the second time to talk about another 1940’s horror film! This time we wade through STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP (1946) which is one of the more interesting examples of the output of the smallest of the Poverty Row studios - PRC (a.k.a. Producer’s Releasing Corporation). This is a fascinating low budget film that manages to make its lack of resources a virtue by leani...

REANIMATOR (1985) was a pivotal moment in horror filmmaking for several reasons. First among them is that it announced the arrival of a major talent behind the camera – director Stuart Gordon. His screen career remains a wonder and with this episode we start a series in which we will examine the entirety of his directorial efforts. We might even take a look at the projects that he was involved wit...

Troy and I return to the quartet of mummy movies that Universal released in the 1940’s! This time we examine one of the best of the lot, THE MUMMY’S GHOST (1944). The film has a number of great elements including an underappreciated heroic dog named Peanuts! As with all of these movies, the limping rhythms are the same but it’s the style and energy of the piece that makes it a standout.   We discu...

My friend Chris Herzog joins me to talk about a serial from 1934 – THE RETURN OF CHANDU! Chris hasn’t been on the show since we discussed the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan films back in episode #15. It was Bela Lugosi’s starring role that enticed him to come back for a conversation about this fantasy adventure in which the legendary horror actor plays the heroic lead! That’s right - Lugosi is the hero...

Author John Kenneth Muir returns to the show to discuss another science fiction television show! BLAKE’S 7 aired in Britain from 1978 to 1981 and was a major hit but was not renewed for a fifth season. That the show remains beloved decades later points to the typical short sighted BBC decision making process in such matters. With the recent announcement of Blu-Ray releases we decided that the time...

Today the pond – tomorrow the world! Author Mark Clark returns to the show to talk about the epic (?) animal attack film FROGS (1972). We discuss that genre as well as the ecological horror sub-genre that this movie falls into comfortably. The goal with this episode was to limit ourselves to a single movie as a way to control the conversation, but that did not happen. Listing other 1970’s eco-horr...

Troy Guinn and I return to Universal Land for the sequel to CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN – JUNGLE WOMAN (1944)! Is this the worst film the studio produced in the 1940’s? We’ll let you decided as we give our opinions and posit ways the film could have been better. Much better!   Attempting to imitate the successful Val Lewton productions at RKO, the producers of this non-jungle epic seemed to feel that simpl...

HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980) is no normal Italian zombie film. Coming hard on the heels of both George Romero’s genre-defining DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) and the now classic ZOMBIE (1979) from director Lucio Fulci this Bruno Mattei/Claudio Fragasso effort ‘borrows’ elements from both. In some cases, the things recycled are surprising, such as the chunks of music composed by Goblin for Romero’s film...

Writer Randy Fox returns to discuss a classic science fiction film from the 1970’s. A BOY AND HIS DOG (1975) was a box office flop initially but became a beloved cult movie pretty quickly. It is one of the very few adaptations of a Harlan Ellison story that got the author’s 95% approval and we dig into the reasons for that in our discussion. Hugely influential, the film stands as a still relevant...

John Hudson and Bobby Hazzard join me for a raucous discussion of this bizarre Australian oddity. Are we able to figure out the story? What do we think of the main character? Do we maintain our sanity before the invisible chimp rears his furry head to fling poop everywhere? Thank goodness for the laughing audience in the room to keep us on track and aware of how silly we can be.   SONS OF STEEL (1...

Mark Maddox and I continue our journey through the first six Star Trek movies and now reach THE FINAL FRONTIER (1989). We have been both dreading and looking forward to revisiting this film. Thirty-five years later is it still as bad we remember? Are there hidden moments of quality buried in this bad idea given cinematic form? Join us as we pull this thing apart and inspect it’s sad remains. We us...

Troy and I poke our heads into a Universal Studio haunted house, spot vaudeville act Olsen & Johnson and run away. Well – not really. But our first viewing of this nearly forgotten comedy horror film is not the fun we might have hoped. Did we enjoy it at all? Give the show a listen and we’ll point out the highs and lows. GHOST CATCHERS (1944) stars a number of very talented actors and singers...

It has been far too long since Troy and I gathered around the male bag….uuuhh…MAIL bag to find out what folks listening to the podcast think! Or, at least if they want to make fun of me. I’ll take any attention, so - cool!   We are months behind checking out the email account so some of these messages date back to 2023. I apologize about this but also think sometimes the wait is worth it. I mean w...

WAR OF THE WORLDS (1953) and INVADERS FROM MARS (1953) are two of the most beloved of the dozens of science fiction movies from that paranoid Cold War decade. Author Mark Clark joins me to compare and contrast them as we look at the massive differences in scale, budget and point of view that give each film its unique feel. Recent Blu-Ray releases allow a fresh evaluation of these movies and we dig...

Mark Maddox returns to the show as we continue our journey through the first six Star Trek films. STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME (1986) is one of the most popular of the series and stood for decades as the most profitable entry. The humor and clever plotting of the story still works nearly forty years later with the original cast shining with few exceptions. Of course, we pick at the minor complain...

I am joined by the bane of my podcasting existence John Hudson and the much nicer Bobby Hazzard to heap praise upon EATING RAOUL (1982).  This is the film I’ve always though of as ground zero for Paul Bartel appreciation and more than forty years later I think it still holds up as the perfect introduction to his comedic sensibilities. If you laugh your way through this film, chances are good that...

I welcome writer Holger Haase to the show to discuss the 1960’s Dr. Mabuse films! Holger has written an essay published for Kindle called ‘The Many Masks of Dr. Mabuse: Mabuse in the 1960s’.  Reading this prompted me to finally talk directly to Holger. The two of us have known each other for decades but it took our mutual love of these German crime films to use the internet to speak in a non-text...

Troy and I return to the Universal Horrors of the 1940’s to check out the fifth and last of the Invisible Man series. THE INVISIBLE MAN’S REVENGE (1944) is sometimes seen as a strong final entry but both of us find far too many loose ends and discordant elements to fully enjoy the film. I must caution you that we spoil this one completely early on and I find myself cursing more than normal as we d...

2024 begins with a 1970’s European horror gem! Bob Sargent joins Troy and I to discuss THE DEVIL’S WEDDING NIGHT (1973). It’s a fun gothic story with Mark Damon and Rosalba Neri (still using the Sara Bay stage name) about vampires, the ring of the Nibelungen and nudity. Lots of nudity! Warning – we completely spoil this one. Sorry but we had to dissect the final scene with its multiple endings.  A...

December brings our annual Holiday Horror episode! John Hudson and Troy Guinn join me to discuss the anthology film A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY (2015) – we like it. We keep the conversation almost completely spoiler free with only a few third act details being alluded to as we go along. We talk about the possibility that Shatner might have ad-libbed some of his dialog as DJ Dangerous Dan and marvel a...

Author Troy Howarth returns to the show to talk about the second feature film of Agatha Christie’s TEN LITTLE INDIANS (1965). We compare it to the superior 1945 version and a couple of later attempts to bring this sturdy tale to the big screen. Both of us try to not spoil the story for those who have yet to experience the fun, but a few of the surprises do slip into the conversation.  We discuss t...

Author Randy Fox returns to the show so that we can continue our series on 1970’s Science Fiction films! This time we look at the fascinating directorial debut of graphic designer Saul Bass, PHASE IV (1974). The film was a financial failure at the time of release but its status as a cult film has grown slowly over the decades.  We look at the many cinematic influences the film’s story draws from i...