The New World Pictures Podcast

We've wanted to talk with Writer, Director, and Producer Patrick Read Johnson for some time now and it was worth the wait.  Patrick shares some amazing stories about getting his start in the film business and how he swapped sci-fi stories with George Lucas on the set of BATMAN RETURNS.   He also talks about working on wearing multiple hats while working on DEAD HEAT.  It isn't often that you are a...

We kick off #Deathcember, our celebration of New World movies with the word "death" in them, with ANGEL OF DEATH, from both director Jess Franco and Andrea Bianchi! We frequently say on the NEW WORLD PICTURES PODCAST that you don't need to see the movie to enjoy the episode.  While ANGEL OF DEATH is no different, it's practically impossible to accurately describe this movie.  Is it about a Jewish...

We kick off our new Monday release schedule with an interview with Writer, Director, and Actor, Charles Dennis.  As many of you #NWPPVIPs know, we love 1983's COVERGIRL and were thrilled to have a chance to talk with Charles about the movie. Did you know the director shot a separate film within the film?  We sure didn't. Charles shares with us how he got his start in radio and the theater as a chi...

Jason from the Force Five Podcast joins us as #Newoirvember continues with 1987's SISTER, SISTER, the debut of director Bill Condon (GODS AND MONSTERS, CHICAGO). But is it noir? Southern noir? Or Southern Giallo? We debate that as we discuss how to be a good hotel guest (welcome new sponsor, Hilton!), the horniness of the  bayou, and what it's like to grow up while constantly living in a shadow. F...

 #Newoirvember continues with Part 2 of our 3-part conversation with producer and director Donald P. Borchers, who produced both ANGEL and CHILDREN OF THE CORN for New World Pictures and helped get the post-Corman era off to a good start. In this episode, we discuss Ken Russell's CRIMES OF PASSION, which Borchers produced and discuss how the film almost had a monkey wearing a diaper in it, the bar...

For our first episode of Newoirvember, Galen Howard (Book of Boba Fett, Brooklyn 99) joins us to discuss director Curtis Hanson's most esteemed work, SWEET KILL. Or did he eventually direct something better? We'll offer our opinions on Hanson's filmography as we discuss Tab Hunter and his series of Bleak Workout video tapes, Nightly Night Milks, and Venice policing! Plus, we get a visit from the C...

The end of #Corntober arrives with an epic interview with producer, director and writer Donald P. Borchers, who was a Senior Vice President of Production at New World Pictures after Roger Corman sold the company. His career took off fast producing ANGEL and CHILDREN OF THE CORN and that's where this part of our conversation is focused, though we also dig in to his career pre-New World, which inclu...

Considering we're already halfway through #Corntober, it's fitting that we return to the franchise that inspired it all AND RANK EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!  Dirk Marshall of the VHUS podcast joins us  as we raw cob all the CORNS and discuss all the different places that the franchise goes (mostly Nebraska).  Which film did He Who Walks Behind the Rows tell us to rank 1st? Listen to find out! Follow...

#Corntober continues as we turn our attention to the curious world of viticulture with 1989's THE VINEYARD.  As it turns out, making the best wine in the world is hard.  It takes more than a great crop.  You need to have incredibly loyal staff, an associate's degree in magic, and the blood of aspiring twenty-something actors.  Who knew?  We sure didn't.   James Hong (BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, K...

 David Simkins is well known as a writer for both the big and small screen, writing ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING and working on shows like Adventures of Brisco County Jr. and Lois & Clark, but it was a surprise to us that he started his career working as a development executive at New World Pictures. In fact, Simkins was critical to the studio making 1984's CHILDREN OF THE CORN, so we had to inte...

 #Corntober is here! And what better way to kick things off than 1977's DEADLY HARVEST, a Canadian eco-thriller about famine, human desperation, and our universal hatred of eggplants!  Clint Walker and Kim Cattrall lead this film about a society with a dwindling food supply due to climate change, yet plenty of gasoline and eggplants! (But does anyone eat eggplants?)  Only computers have the answer...

It's another installment in our burgeoning Bonus Episode series, "Nearly New World".  This time, we're talking about 1988's THE BLOB. This movie checks a lot of boxes.  It has faceless eurocrats (Ryan's favorite).  It's a creature feature (Erica's favorite).  It highlights the challenges of a low tax basis on a small town's infrastructure (Marc's favorite).  We introduce some new segments includin...

Dan Gorman from the Notes From the Back Row Podcast ( www.back-row.com ) joins us as we dig deep into the New World Pictures catalog to uncover 1984's RENO AND THE DOC, a Canadian action(?) film about telepathy, middle-aged friendships, and skiing! The directorial debut from Charles Dennis (COVERGIRL) was an HBO staple and was nominated for 4 Genie Awards, and we marvel at it's ability to confuse...

Way back in our HEATHERS episode, Marc mentioned his disdain for 1992's BATMAN RETURNS, only for it come back to haunt him when we interviewed screenwriter Daniel Waters. We felt the next step was to try to convince Marc to give BATMAN RETURNS another chance, first by interviewing Marc's 1992 self and then catching up with him in the present day after a re-watch of Tim Burton's second and final Ba...

As we are want to do here at the NWPP, we start at the end of the franchise and work our way back, which is why we are dipping our toes into the ANGEL franchise first with ANGEL III: THE FINAL CHAPTER! For part III, writer/director Tom DeSimone (REFORM SCHOOL GIRLS) steps in to guide Molly/Angel in her next adventure which goes all the way to New York City and straight back to Hollywood so Angel (...

We are talking with Actor, Director, Producer Dimitri Logothetis about his directorial debut, PRETTY SMART. Dimitri shares with us the origin of getting the film made including Tony Randal's ulterior motive for getting New World Pictures involved.  More importantly, we learn that playing with an Ouiji board in a Greek hotel while high can drive you to make some pretty rash decisions.  We also lear...

We continue Comedy Month with 1987's PRETTY SMART, the debut of director Dimitri Logothetis (SLAUGHTERHOUSE ROCK, JIU JITSU) and actor Patricia Arquette (NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3: DREAM WARRIORS, BOYHOOD)!  But is this a comedy, or is it a drama?  Or was it intended to be a musical? Is the penis a friend or foe? Which VCR speed is best when secretly recording the students of a prestigious girl's...

We talk with screenwriter Daniel Waters about his debut film HEATHERS, one of the last films released in theaters by New World Pictures! Our hilarious and wide-ranging discussion goes from Daniel's beginnings working on the South Bend sketch comedy show Beyond Our Control, to his move to Hollywood, where he watched many New World movies (especially his favorite, JAKE SPEED) and worked in a video s...

Tarik Davis of The Amber Ruffin Show (Fridays on Peacock) and Brothers From Another Planet Podcast returns to discuss 1988's The Wrong Guys! We get into the fizziness of it all, from learning about the five comedian leads from cable, to how outdoors-y we all are, to pinpointing the exact moment when Ernie Hudson fired his agent, and how this film compares to AVENGERS ENDGAME!  Also, Ryan makes a c...

Erica likes to point out, "all roads lead to THE THING" and WAVELENGTH is one of those roads.  But WAVELENGTH is so much more. It's a little bit of E.T. seasoned with a dash of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS sitting on a bed of Tracy Chapman. It also features some of the finest performances of faceless government bureaucrats ever filmed. 

Our celebration of FORBIDDEN WORLD continues with a conversation with makeup effects artist Mark Shostrom (EVIL DEAD II, PHANTASM II & III, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 1-3) who got his start at New World Pictures, working at the Lumberyard for Allan Holzman's FORBIDDEN WORLD and Aaron Lipstadt's ANDROID! But Mark's work at New World didn't stop there! We'll talk about his work on RAW COURAGE, THE...

If you're going to celebrate Forbidden World July, what better movie to discuss than the one that inspired it all! That's right, it's time to discuss Allan Holzman's sci-fi classic, including topics like, how hot is Jesse Vint? Are those masks or cups? How important is a good steam? And who exactly was hooking up with who on this horny scientific space station?  Plus, Marc reaffirms his love of a...

Forbidden World month starts off with a blaster beam bang as we talk to the film composer, Susan Justin, who also worked on music for several other New World Pictures films like FIRECRACKER, GRUNT! THE WRESTLING MOVIE and STRYKER! We discuss her musical beginnings and her collaborations with Craig Huxley that led to the unique sound that is the FORBIDDEN WORLD score and their subsequent collaborat...

When a movie title combines two words together like "death" and "stalker" it's imperative to determine the proper pronunciation.  Is it "Deaths Talker"?  Or, is it "Death Stalker?".  Also, how does one acquire the name "Deathstalker"?   We dare to ask these tough questions while talking about boners more here than in any other NWPP episode.  Ryan does a deep, deep dive into the history of Conan th...

For our 100th episode, we explore an area of New World Pictures history that we've never discussed: when other companies had to release their movies because they were broke! Such is the case with 1989's WARLOCK, despite the presence of director Steve Miner, who had made some of New World's biggest hits, and Executive producer Arnold Kopelson, who had just won an Academy Award! Joining us in the di...