The Stacks

Kicking off year three of The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:48:14) we return to the Black Emanuelle series with a piece of strange apocrypha, discussing Christian Anders' 1981 film Divine Emanuelle (as well as its alternate director's cut Fanataco... When the Goddess Calls) in addition to beginning coverage of Star Trek (The Original Series) with its first episode, "The Man Trap." In part two (1:48:...

This week, Shana and j. celebrate completing three full years of the podcast with our annual Stacks Awards! In part one (0:00-1:30:47) we break programming a bit to finish off our coverage of the 1966 Ultra Q TV series with its final three episodes. In part two (1:30:48-3:10:09) we go in-depth on Lana Wachowski's fascinating 2021 legasequel The Matrix Resurrections, in addition to talking about Wo...

On The Stacks this week, part one continues our coverage of the Yakuza Papers / Battles Without Honor and Humanity collection from Arrow with Kinji Fukasaku's 1973 film Proxy War (running to 1:10:09). In part two (1:10:10-2:22:34), we have a roundup of a broad swath of additional features - the Canadian International Pictures collection Animation Night in Canada Vol. 1, the deranged 1966 Sadao Fun...

Regrettably, Shana was ill and unable to record this week but we will be back next week. With love from The Stacks <3

On The Stacks this week, in part one (0:00-1:26:03) Shana and j. go in-depth on Jean Rollin's 1973 feature Shiver of the Vampires, as well as episode 25 - "The Devil Child" - of the Ultra Q TV series. Part two (1:26:04-3:14:36) we go extra long, featuring discussion of 2003's anthology film The Animatrix, the 2014 Jonathan Liebesman reboot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Luigi Cozzi's magical and...

On this week's episode, Shana and j. begin with discussion of the first Bruce Lee kung fu picture, The Big Boss (1971, directed by Lo Wei), in addition to episode 24 of Ultra Q, "The Statue of Goga" in part one (running to 1:13:38). In part two, we go in depth on the extended version of the devastatingly good musical biopic satire Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007, directed by Jake Kasdan), in...

On The Stacks this week, Shana and j. continue coverage of the films of Sergio Leone with his angry and funky final western, Fistful of Dynamite (1971, aka Duck You Sucker) in addition to the 23rd episode of Ultra Q, "Fury of the South Seas" in part one (running to 1:26:54). Part two (1:26:55-2:30:42) features five additional films, mostly action-packed, including the regional Akron, Ohio martial...

On The Stacks this week, Shana is introduced to the work of Guy Maddin with his 2016 tribute to lost and unfinished films in collaboration with the NFB, The Forbidden Room,  paired with episode 22 of Ultra Q, "Metamorphosis" in part one (running to 1:36:54), while in part two (1:36:55-2:48:03) we talk about four additional films: the iconic 1968 sci-fi Planet of the Apes (directed by Franklin J. S...

Apologies for some initial audio issues (these clear up around 15-20 minutes in, was not aware of the problem during the recording). This week, Shana and j. discuss the classic queer counter-culture film If.... (1968, directed by Lindsay Anderson) in addition to Ultra Q episode 21 ("Space Directive M774") in part one (running to 1:30:06). Then in part two (continuing to 2:43:22), we discuss five a...

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. finally return to the OG Godzilla franchise with the second entry, 1955's Godzilla Raids Again, directed by Motoyoshi Oda, in addition to the next two episodes in our coverage of Ultra Q (episodes 19 and 20, "Challenge From the Year 2020" and "The Primordial Amphibian Ragon"). Regrettably, there was an issue with the separate audio tracks so the levels are a b...

This week on The Stacks, in part 1 (0:00-1:30:23) we discuss the landmark 1962 revisionist western Ride the High Country, directed by Sam Peckinpah, in addition to the 18th episode of Ultra Q, "The Rainbow's Egg." In part 2 (1:30-24:2:33:00), after some brief general talk on Millennium Actress, we discuss Satoshi Kon's next film, 2003's Christmas-themed anime adventure Tokyo Godfathers, as well as...

This week in The Stacks, Shana and j. are talking about six movies - in part one (0:00-1:14:13) we talk about the second entry in Jose Mojica Marins' legendary Coffin Joe series, 1967's This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse, in addition to the 17th episode of Ultra Q, "The 1/8th Project" (directed by Hajime Tsuburaya). In part two (1:14:14-2:52:48), we have five additional films - The Wachowksis' se...

On The Stacks this week, Shana and j. return to the Sartana series in part one (0:00-1:19:27) with the excellent third entry in the series, Sartana Is Here, Trade Your Pistol for a Coffin (1970), directed by Giuliano Carnimeo, as well as the 16th episode of Ultra Q, "Garamon Strikes Back!" directed by Samaji Nonagase. Next, in part two (1:19:28-2:27:07), we have four additional features - an impen...

On The Stacks this week, part one (0:00-1:17:14) features the next entry in the original Gamera series, Noriaki Yuasa's 1970 film Gamera vs Jiger, while in Ultra Q episode 15, "Kanegon's Cocoon" we encounter a yokai rather than a kaiju. In an extended part two (1:17:15-2:52:56), we discuss four additional features, going deep on Steve Barron's 1990 kids' movie classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,...

This week on The Stacks, in part one (0:00-1:21:52) we conclude the original Michael Caine Harry Palmer trilogy with Ken Russell's 1967 spy parody Billion Dollar Brain, in addition to the 14th episode of Ultra Q, "Tokyo Ice Age." In part two (1:21:53-2:32:57), we have four additional films - Bruno Mattei's 1983 Claudio Fragasso-penned entry in the Emanuelle series, Women's Prison Massacre (aka Bla...

This week on The Stacks, after an unplanned week off due to illness, Shana and j. are back with a full-bore exploitation week, continuing coverage of the Stray Cat Rock series in part one (0:00-1:34:33) with both Toshiya Fujita's Wild Jumbo and Yasuharu Hasebe's Sex Hunter (both released in 1970) in addition to the 13th episode of Ultra Q, "Garadama" directed by series creator Hajime Tsuburaya. In...

Breaking slightly with tradition for the titling this week, due to us covering six films this week (plus one TV episode). In part 1 (0:00-1:39:33), we discuss the next two entries in the All the Haunts Be Ours folk horror box set - the 1958 Norwegian film Lake of the Dead, directed by Kåre Bergstrøm, and the 1987 Icelandic TV movie Tilbury, directed by Viðar Víkingsson - as well as "I Saw a Bird,"...

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. discuss Michael J. Murphy's 1995 direct-to-video folk horror The Rite of Spring and episode 11 of Ultra Q, "Balloonga" in part one (0:00-1:33:48), while part two (1:33:49-2:50:05) features three 70s film picks - Pedro Olea's 1973 Spanish exploitation drama It's Not Good for a Man to Be Alone, a 1978 entry in the long-running Black Emanuelle series, Joe D'Amato...

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. return to the films of Al Adamson, with part one (0:00-1:15:56) discussing his 1960 directorial and acting debut, Half Way to Hell, as well as his 1969 psychotronic western Five Bloody Graves. In part two (1:15:57-2:42:47) we talk about three additional features - the 2000 Coen Brothers megahit O Brother Where Art Thou?, Enzo G. Castellari's brisk 1974 polizio...

This week on The Stacks, Shana and j. return to the films of Werner Herzog in part 1 (0:00-1:30:45) with 1977's Klaus Kinski character study Woyzeck, in addition to our ongoing coverage of Ultra Q with the tenth episode, "The Underground Super Express Goes West." In part 2 (1:30:46-3:08:03), we talk about three additional features - John McTiernan's classic 1990 cold war action-drama The Hunt for...

On The Stacks this week, Shana and j. bookend our February gore month with another Herschell Gordon Lewis feature, 1970's surrealist horror The Wizard of Gore, in addition to episode 9 of Ultra Q, "Baron Spider" to conclude part one (0:00-1:24:23). In part two (1:24:24-3:10:23), we cover three additional films - John McTiernan's peak action blockbuster Die Hard (1988), Pericles Lewnes' wild SOV Tr...

On The Stacks this week, Shana and j. conclude our bloody February with four films and one television episode. In part 1 (0:00-1:36:49), we cover Jess Franco's notorious lo-fi 1981 video nasty Oasis of the Zombies as well as "Terror of the Sweet Honey" - the 8th episode of Ultra Q. In part 2 (1:36:50-2:49:59), we discuss three additional films - Paul Morrissey's classic Marxist vampire satire Bloo...

This week in The Stacks, our impromptu February gore month continues! In part one (0:00-1:09:42), we discuss David Cronenberg's 1983 body horror / media satire Videodrome, while part three (1:09:43-2:25:36) features three additional bloody films: Douglas Grossman's late-80s teen slasher Hell High, the Indonesian black magic / comedy sequel Santet 2 (as with the first, directed by Sisworo Guatama P...

Our bloody February continues this week - in part 1 (0:00-1:22:47) we discuss the sixth(ish) entry in the Black Emanuelle series, Joe D'Amato's 1977 sexploitation gore feature Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, as well as the 7th episode in the Ultra Q series, "S.O.S. Mount Fuji." In part 2 (1:22:48-2:59:59) we have three additional features: Pasquale Squitieri's 1977 historical drama / poliziottes...

This week, we begin a bloody February in The Stacks, beginning with Herschell Gordon Lewis' 1963 landmark gore feature Blood Feast, joined in part 1 (0:00-1:24:35) with the weird, off-model sixth episode of Ultra Q, "Grow Up! Little Turtle!" In part 2 (1:24:36-2:32:53), we have two additional gory features - the first in José Mojica Marins' classic Coffin Joe series, 1964's At Midnight I'll Take Y...