Third Channel Podcast

But the saw... the saw is family. This week PJ and Derek are joined by special guest Charlie as they descend into the unapologetically unhinged sequel that traded raw realism for outrageous satire in Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986). In this episode they unpack the radical tonal shift from the grim original to a black comedy, dissect the film's unforgettable set pieces, cele...

My family's always been in meat. Join PJ and Derek as they take a road trip through the grimy, nerve-shredding masterpiece that changed horror forever, Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). In this episode the guys explore how the film’s raw, documentary-like style, unsettling sound design, and shocking violence created one of the most influential horror movies ever made. Along t...

Where we’re going, we won’t need eyes to see. Join PJ and Derek as they engage the gravity drive and journey beyond the edge of known reality in Paul W.S. Anderson’s Event Horizon (1997). In this episode the guys discuss the film’s nightmarish vision of cosmic terror, its striking production design, unforgettable imagery, through themes of grief, guilt, religious horror, and humanity’s fear of the...

Accept the pain you have wrought. Greater delights await. Join PJ and Derek as they again open the puzzle box and descend into the dark, seductive reimagining of Clive Barker’s horror classic in David Bruckner’s Hellraiser (2022). In this episode the guys explore how the film expands the lore of the Cenobites and Lament Configuration for a modern audience, from its stunning visual design and grues...

Like a bad horror movie, isn't it? This week PJ and Derek are joined by Producer Ty as they log into the darkest corner of the internet where they are invited to a lavish mansion party in Rick Bota’s Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005). In this episode they unpack the film's unusual blend of slasher tropes, internet-age paranoia, and Cenobite mythology along with its surprising cast members, tw...

Don’t think for a moment you are not in danger. Join PJ and Derek as they follow an investigative journalist searching for a death-defying cult in another direct-to-video sequel, Rick Bota’s Hellraiser: Deader (2005). In this episode the guys explore the film's troubled production history, its origins as an unrelated screenplay, and the surreal themes of death, resurrection, and obsession thr...

Welcome to the worst nightmare of all. Reality. Join PJ and Derek as they try to get to the bottom of the bizarre hallucinations and psychological fever dreams in Rick Bota’s Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002). In this episode the guys welcome Kirsty Cotton’s return to the franchise for another confrontation with Pinhead, in a sequel that blurs the line between nightmare and reality as memory loss, gui...

Hunt for the Engineer and the Engineer will hunt you. Join PJ and Derek as they attempt to solve the grimy, guilt-ridden puzzle at the heart of a noir-influenced nightmare in Scott Derrickson’s Hellraiser: Inferno (2000). In this episode the guys follow corrupt detective Joseph Thorne through a hellish maze of murder, addiction, and self-destruction, while digging into the film’s surreal atmospher...

Welcome to Oblivion! Amen. Join PJ and Derek as they dismantle the ambitious, but fractured sequel that took the Cenobites from 18th century France to the far reaches of deep space in Kevin Yagher’s Hellraiser: Bloodline (1996). In this episode the guys dig into the troubled production history that gave us the “Alan Smithee” cut, unpack the mythology of the Lament Configuration, celebrate the film...

Oh, you wouldn’t believe what I can dream of now. Join PJ and Derek as they dive headfirst into the chaotic nightmare that turned Pinhead into a horror icon in Anthony Hickox’s Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992). In this episode the guys explore how the film transformed the series from intimate body horror into supernatural splatter spectacle, the MTV-era aesthetic that gives the movie its disti...

And to think… I hesitated. Join PJ and Derek as they descend into the labyrinth of Hell itself in Tony Randel’s grotesque and operatic sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988). In this episode the guys explore the wild expansion of Clive Barker’s nightmarish mythology, through the bleak asylum setting, the transformation of the sinister Dr. Channard, the full unveiling of Leviathan’s twisted domain,...

We have such sights to show you! Join PJ and Derek as they open the puzzle box and step into a world where desire and suffering are hopelessly intertwined in Clive Barker’s directorial debut Hellraiser (1987). In this episode the guys explore the film’s striking practical effects, its unapologetically dark themes, and the unforgettable presence of Pinhead as both villain and philosopher, which red...

Get inside and lock your doors… There's something in the fog. Join PJ and Derek as they visit the windswept shores of Antonio Bay for the slow-burn ghost story that is John Carpenter’s The Fog (1980). In this episode the guys discuss how the film trades jump scares and blood for dread-soaked atmosphere, mystery, and deliberate pacing to reveal that beneath the glowing fog bank lies a darker s...

With no gold these 25 years, I've lost me knack. Join PJ and Derek as they return to the woods where it all began in Steven Kostanski’s Leprechaun Returns (2018). In this episode the guys are pleasantly surprised by this blood-soaked revival that ignores most of the series’ tangled continuity, balances over-the-top practical effects with self-aware humor, and decide whether this legacy sequel...

All out of clovers, lad? Oh, that’s too bad. Join PJ and Derek as they head back to the streets of Los Angeles in Steven Ayromlooi’s Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood (2003). In this episode the guys continue to debate this franchises bizarre tonal shifts, from its urban setting, fantasy lore, and early-2000s aesthetic to its blend of horror, comedy, and straight-up weirdness. Plus what may be Warwick D...

Lep in the hood, come to do no good. Join PJ and Derek as they take a wild detour into one of horror’s most baffling franchise pivots with Rob Spera’s Leprechaun In the Hood (2000). In this episode the guys try to make sense of the film’s place in the larger Leprechaun series, its cult following, from Warwick Davis’s ever-committed performance as the rhyming trickster to Ice-T’s scene-stealing rol...

Look upon them and know that you are forever doomed. Join PJ and Derek as they blast off into one of the strangest corners of the cosmos in Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Leprechaun 4: In Space (1996). In this episode the guys unpack how this installment takes a hard left turn from supernatural slasher to full-on sci-fi absurdity, from space marines and alien princesses, to body horror and bizarre comedi...

This isn’t going to stop unless I stop it. Join PJ and Derek as they return to the meta-slasher franchise that re-invented the genre, along with Kevin Williamson the writer who crafted the original, for Scream 7 (2026). In this episode the guys unpack the troubled development and controversial marketing of this film, break down what this means for the franchise as a whole, bringing back legacy cha...

Look out Vegas! I’m taking over! Join PJ and Derek as they head to Sin City hoping to win big with Brian Trenchard-Smith’s chaotic, campy, and surprisingly mean-spirited Leprechaun 3 (1995). In this episode the guys unpack how the movie leans hard into dark comedy, from deadly wishes and cursed gold coins to one of the strangest body-horror sequences ever, and how this straight-to-video ’90s horro...

What's that ya say? Leprechauns don't exist? Join PJ and Derek as they dive headfirst into the crock of chaos that is Rodman Flender’s outrageous sequel Leprechaun 2 (1994). In this episode the guys explore how this film leans harder into slapstick gags, rhyming one-liners, and bizarre dating rituals as the leprechaun searches for his bride. Plus Warwick Davis once again steals the show...

It’s not nice to steal gold coins from a leprechaun. Join PJ and Derek as they find the end of the rainbow in Mark Jones’ low-budget oddity, Leprechaun (1993). In this episode the guys unpack Warwick Davis’ unforgettable performance beneath layers of prosthetics, bringing menace, mischief, and manic glee to one of horror’s strangest villains. Plus, how the film blends grim fairy-tale folklore with...

Well, after all, the first Valentine’s Day dance in 20 years has to be something special. Join PJ and Derek as they dig into the shadowy tunnels at the heart of George Mihalka’s My Bloody Valentine (1981). In this episode the guys explore the grim legend of Harry Warden, the miner who turned a holiday of romance into a ritual of revenge, and examine how the movie balances small-town drama, tragic...

When it’s all done, they’ll tell his story, and Candyman will live… forever. This week PJ and Derek are joined by Producer Ty as they step back up to the mirror to summon Nia DaCosta’s Candyman (2021). In this episode they explore how the film expands the mythology beyond a single monster into a chorus of voices shaped by racial trauma and artistic obsession. Reimagining the urban legend for a new...

You won't know true ecstasy until you have tasted death. Join PJ and Derek as they reach this franchises strangest crossroads in Turi Meyer’s straight-to-video finale, Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999). In this episode the guys debate the film trading gothic urban horror for sunlit Los Angeles streets and Día de los Muertos imagery, reworking the legend into a generational curse, the franchise...

I am the writing on the wall, the whisper in the classroom. Join PJ and Derek in The Big Easy as they inspect Bill Condon’s sorrow-soaked sequel to the urban legend that never dies in Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995). In this episode the guys unpack how shifting the setting to New Orleans trades the cold brutality of Chicago for Southern Gothic excess, family curses, and a myth rooted in gen...