The Pod and the Pendulum: A Horror Movie Podcast

We're back this week to wrap up our discussion of Joe Dante's GREMLINS. As we get deeper into the movie we talk how it nails seasonal depression and just how hard the holidays can be for some people. We also talk some of the complicated racial stereotypes that are played for laughs in this movie, how Randall Peltzer embodies the mediocre white dude, and the unbridled chaotic energy of the bar  and...

This movie is so massive we had to break our talk about it into two shows. Mike is joined by longtime friends of the pod Brian Keiper (Movies for Life podcast, Dread Central) and Stephen Foxworthy (Disenfranchised podcast) to talk about the 1984 horror comedy classic that thrilled and scarred children for life. We’re talking Gremlins.   For the first part of our discussion, we talk about how this...

As we take a break in November to relax, retool and come back, we're releasing a bit of our patreon content so you still have new-to-you shows to listen to. In December, we'll be back with GREMLINS/GREMLINS 2   This week, we're releasing Mom & Dad from the vaults. This batshit crazy jam starring Nic Cage and Selma Blair finds parents actually doing what we've all wanted to do with our children...

It's time for our third annual dad and daughter Halloween bonus show. This year Mike's daughter Ada joins him to break down the most appropriate movie of the season, the 2007 anthology and instant classic Trick 'r Treat. Along with talking about the major themes of the movie, how it taps into the holiday and what makes each segment so special, the duo have a lot more on tap. For instance, Ada give...

It's time kids. Gather around the television. It's officially Halloween week which means our horror movie viewing habits are kicking into overdrive. If you're like us, sometimes it's easy to suffer from choice paralysis when there are so many great things to choose from this season. Mike and Lindsay unveil a handful of their go-to picks as the 31st draws closer. PLUS: What do you do when there is...

This week Mike and Lindsay dive into the genre films currently making the festival circuit that are sure to be on your most anticipated horror and genre titles in the coming year. We talk about what makes the festival experience so great for horror fans and dive into over a dozen titles (without getting too spoilery)  and what made them such fantastic watches. Titles covered include but aren't lim...

We're continuing our "let's try some new stuff" this Halloween season, this time with an overview of the games you should be firing up if you're in the mood of scaring the bejesus out of yourself this Halloween season. Lindsay and Mike talk about what makes a great horror-themed game and talk about some of our favorites like Friday the 13th, Until Dawn, Alien: Isolation, Dead By Dawn, Bi...

We’ve gathered a list of some of our most anticipated and favorite horror comics to keep you cozy this Halloween season. It’s Halloween season, my spooky friends, and the best time to curl up with a pumpkin spiced latte, thick socks, and a good book. And the best kind of book for the occasion: a spooky graphic one. To get all your warm toes and spiced tongues in the spooky spirit, here’s a collect...

Beware the moon, listeners! This week, we're taking a break from the format and covering a one-off movie, and it just happens to be Mike's favorite horror movie of all time: John Landis' An American Werewolf in London. Lindsay needed to take the week off for TIFF, so Mike's brought on a pair of fantastic guests to fill her shoes, KiIll By Kill's Gena Radcliffe joins us to discuss how this movie tu...

This week we're joined by Bloody Disgusting's Meag Navarro to talk about he latest entry to the Conjuring universe. We say goodbye to this series (for now at least) as Lindsay and Meg try to convince Mike how this one compares favorable to the first two. Mike has his doubts about that. Tackling the only documented case where "demonic possession" was used as a courtroom defense, this time...

Hey listeners. We hope you enjoy this mini episode that highlights what we're offering our patrons. Right now, we've set a goal of $150 a month. Once we hit that goal, we'll be adding reviews of the most current fare hitting theaters, VOD & streaming services. We're about two-thirds of the way to that goal as we hit publish, and could use your help getting over the hump.  All of our patrons re...

This week we welcome the the cohost of the long running horror podcast Kill By Kill, Patrick Hamilton to the show. We're in the home stretch of our Conjuring covering with a hell of a fun entry into the "teens trapped in a warped haunted house" subgenre of movie. This one tries to tie the spinoffs more directly to the main movies, and it does a pretty swell job of it. Does it feel like t...

This week, Stephen Foxworthy of the Disenfranchised podcast joins us once again. This week we dive into the second character and third movie to spin off the Conjuring, with 2018's The Nun. With its gothic horror trappings, including gorgeous castles shot on location in Romania, this feels like an attempt to do Hammer Horror, minus all that pesky sexual undercurrent stuff percolating underneath. We...

Fucking dolls man.    This week Mike and Lindsay tackle the midpoint of the Conjuring movies, Annabelle Creation. David Sanberg's follow-up to his own hit, Light's Out, gets to step out of the shadows a bit with this haunted house tale that mostly works by putting kids in incredible danger, but at time suffers from bloat and repetition. Hear what else we have to say. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWi...

This week we welcome special guest Mishna Wolff to talk about her new indie horror comedy, IFC's Werewolves Within) along with the second movie in the Conjuring-verse, 2016's THE CONJURING 2. This time Ed and Lorraine Warren hop over the pond to check on a pair of cheeky moppets who claim their house is being terrorized by a belligerent old man ghost. Are their more jump scare and spooky spookies...

We continue our trek through the Conjuring-verse with its first spinoff, and the first in a trilogy around that creepy-ass doll Annabelle. We're joined by Bodies of Horror host Nichole Goble to talk just why dolls are so freaky, what works in this so-so film, and what the scariest toys we ever had in childhood were. The scariest thing about this movie is just how good it is at churning out those b...

This week we kick off a new franchise with the closes thing to the Marvel-verse horror has offered since the Universal films of the 30s and 40s. We're exploring THE CONJURING, James Wan's supernatural chiller based on the "true" case files of Ed and Lorraine Warren. We explore what actually constitutes truth and how much it's okay to bend it to tell a great story. We're joined by DeVaugh...

Hey. We're back with another script reading of an unproduced horror script. This time our largest assembled cast yet tackles Carky Fukunaga's bug nuts second draft for Stephen King's IT. This one has it all, including baby eating. We had a blast recording this one, even if it goes off the rails by page 38. Enjoy.  The players: PENNYWISE Sloane Kay (@pierogiwitch) Bill Denbrough Mike Snoonian (@mik...

We're taking one last trip out to that cabin in the woods. This time we're not here for a getaway, a long weekend or a vacation. This time we've got to purge all the bad stuff out of our system. We've got to get back on the straight and narrow. This time we're here to talk about Fede Alvarez' over-the-top gore fest and extreme take on the deadites with EVIL DEAD. We're joined by Certified Forgotte...

This episode we all hail to the king and sing the praises of Army of Darkness. The conclusion to the Evil Dead saga trilogy trades horror for high adventure and humor, and it does it with incredible flair.  This week we're joined by Stephen Foxworthy, cohost of the Disenfranchised podcast, and Cat Scully, author of the YA illustrated novel Jennifer Strange (available here) to talk one liners, slap...

This week we've packed up and are heading back out to that cabin in the middle of the woods for Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn. We're joined by filmmaker Brad McHargue to tackle whether this is a sequel or remake, how the passage of time and experience allowed this to be a bigger and bolder experience and the role that Stephen King played yet again in helping Sam Raimi's young career. This is the movie...

After a couple months tackling the extreme and often dank and depressing world of French horror, we needed a bit of a reprieve. We need a little bit of rest and relaxation. We need to get away from all the hustle and the bustle and the grind of the everyday world. So we’ve packed up a weekend travel kit, gotten behind the wheel of our old jalopy and are taking the back roads to a little cabin in t...

We wrap up our overview of French horror with a movie so upsetting, Mike made it a point to lock every door and window to his place despite living  on the third floor of a building at the time. This one is A LOT, & our host is joined by Jim Rohner of the Cast of Cthulu pod to discuss what it is that's so upsetting about this home invasion flick that mixes elements of cat & mouse thrillers...

RAW is a coming of age story through the lens of cannibalism and extreme body horror. Julia Ducournau's feature directing debut alternates between strikingly beautiful imagery and blood soaked horror that sickens the stomach. This week we're joined by Reyna Cervantes (co-host Horror in Session) and Sarah Anne Stubbs (co-host Geeks Who Eat) to talk the near Cronenbergian levels of body horror RAW d...

It's  been called The Paris Texas Chainsaw Massacre by smartasses, but Xavier Gens debut feature is a one of the most overtly political movies of French extreme horror. Inspired by the rise of right wing nationalism and violent clashes between protestors and Parisian police in the early 21st century, Frontiers is the grim tale of four Muslims that escape Paris' burning streets after committing a r...