Xenomania

This week on Xenomania, we’re heading back to summer camp for one of the nastier entries in the 1980s slasher boom: The Burning. Before Jason owned the woods, Cropsy was stalking campers with garden shears, Tom Savini was delivering some of the gnarliest practical effects of the decade, and the summer camp slasher formula was still being carved into horror history. We dig into the film’s legacy, i...

This week on Xenomania we revisit Jaws, the film that didn't just create a blockbuster franchise, but changed Hollywood forever. When a great white shark begins attacking swimmers off the coast of Amity Island, Police Chief Martin Brody finds himself caught between public safety and the town's dependence on summer tourism. What follows is one of the greatest suspense films ever made as Brody, ocea...

This week on Xenomania we dive into Hokum, one of the strangest horror films we've covered in a long time. What begins as a seemingly straightforward backwoods horror story quickly spirals into something far more bizarre. Packed with eccentric characters, dark humor, unexpected twists, and a healthy dose of Southern Gothic weirdness, Hokum constantly keeps viewers guessing about where it's heading...

This week on Xenomania we step into the mirror and revisit Candyman, one of the most intelligent, unsettling, and enduring horror films ever made. Based on a story by Clive Barker, Candyman follows graduate student Helen Lyle as she investigates an urban legend tied to Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing projects. What begins as academic curiosity quickly becomes a descent into obsession, folklore, an...

This week on Xenomania we dive into Dangerous Animals, a survival horror thriller that proves the scariest thing in the ocean is not always the shark. The film follows a free-spirited surfer who finds herself trapped by a sadistic killer obsessed with sharks and the terror they inspire. What begins as a shark movie quickly transforms into something much darker as predator and prey become tangled i...

This week on Xenomania we dive into George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, the zombie classic that helped define modern horror. Set almost entirely inside a shopping mall during the collapse of society, the film blends brutal zombie horror with sharp social commentary, dark humor, and some of the most iconic practical effects ever put on screen. Decades later, it still feels grimy, chaotic, and stra...

This week on Xenomania we get into Oddity, a horror film that builds dread in a way most modern horror movies do not even try anymore. The story follows a blind medium connected to a brutal murder and the strange wooden figure she brings into an isolated house afterward. From there, the movie leans hard into atmosphere, tension, and the feeling that something is deeply wrong long before anything a...

This week on Xenomania we dive into Basket Case, one of the strangest and most unforgettable cult horror movies of the 1980s.   The film follows Duane and the mysterious creature hidden inside the basket he carries everywhere he goes through New York City. What starts as a grimy revenge story quickly turns into something much stranger as the movie mixes body horror, dark comedy, sleaze, and pure e...

This week on Xenomania we get into Death of a Unicorn, a horror-comedy that takes one of fantasy’s most magical creatures and turns it into something violent, strange, and unexpectedly brutal. What starts as an awkward family trip quickly spirals into chaos after a unicorn is accidentally killed, unleashing consequences that become bloodier and more surreal the deeper the movie goes. The film mixe...

This week on Xenomania we get into Good Boy, a horror movie that flips perspective in a way you do not see very often. The story is told largely through the eyes of a dog, which turns even the smallest moments into something tense. You are not just watching the horror unfold. You are experiencing it from a completely different point of view, one that feels more instinctive and unpredictable. That...

This week on Xenomania we get into The Stuff, a horror movie that starts with a simple idea and takes it somewhere completely unhinged. A mysterious white substance is discovered bubbling out of the ground, and before long it becomes the hottest new dessert on the market. People cannot get enough of it. The problem is, the more you eat, the less control you have. What starts as a bizarre premise q...

This week on Xenomania we get into Critters 4, the sequel that takes the franchise in a completely different direction by launching it straight into space. After the chaos of the earlier films, the series trades small towns and apartment buildings for a sci-fi setting, changing the tone in a way that feels both ambitious and a little strange. The Critters are still dangerous, but everything around...

This week on Xenomania we get into Critters 3, the sequel that takes the franchise out of small towns and traps it inside a rundown apartment building. Set almost entirely in a tenement, the movie shifts into a more contained, claustrophobic kind of chaos as the Critters start multiplying and closing in on everyone inside. It is a very different vibe from the first two films, and not always in the...

This week on Xenomania we dive into Sinners, a horror film that has quickly turned into something bigger than just another genre release. What starts as a story rooted in guilt and belief becomes something much heavier as the film leans into cultural themes, identity, and the weight of personal history. It is not just trying to scare you. It is trying to stay with you. Sinners has already started...

This week on Xenomania we dive into Ready or Not, a horror-comedy that turns a wedding night into a brutal game of survival. When Grace marries into a wealthy family, she quickly learns that their traditions are not just strange. They are deadly. What starts as a twisted game of hide and seek spirals into a night of violence, panic, and a family that will do anything to survive their own rules. We...

This week on Xenomania, we dive into the chaotic cult sequel Critters 2: The Main Course — a movie where the tiny alien monsters come back bigger, nastier, and multiplying faster than anyone can stop them. What starts as a small-town Easter celebration quickly turns into full-blown creature chaos when the Critter eggs begin to hatch. From rolling balls of teeth to exploding alien carnage, Critters...

Critters (1986) might be the best weird 80s horror-comedy. In this episode of Xenomania, we go back to the original Critters, the cult creature feature that introduced one of the strangest alien infestations in horror. When a group of small, extremely hungry alien prisoners crash land in rural Kansas, a quiet farming town suddenly finds itself dealing with rolling balls of teeth that eat absolutel...

This week on Xenomania, we dig into the Irish horror-comedy The Boys from County Hell — a vampire movie that starts with a simple road construction job and ends with an ancient bloodsucker waking up under rural Ireland. When a crew of local workers accidentally disturb an old grave tied to Irish folklore, they unleash something that definitely should have stayed buried. What follows is a mix of br...

Xenomania Episode 62— Scream VI New city. Same rules. Worse consequences. This week we head to New York for Scream VI, the franchise’s loudest, meanest entry yet. No small-town nostalgia. No safe houses. Just subways, alleyways, and a Ghostface who feels less interested in games and more interested in making a point. We talk about the shift in setting and how the city changes the tension. Crowds d...

Legacy is a dangerous thing. This week we revisit Woodsboro for Scream (2022) — the sequel that pretends to be a reboot while quietly sharpening the knife. New cast. Old trauma. Same mask. We talk about how the film balances nostalgia with new blood, and whether it actually earns that balance. Does bringing back Sidney, Gale, and Dewey feel necessary… or safe? And more importantly, do the new char...

This week we finally tackle Baskin. It starts like a grimy cop movie. Guys in a patrol car. Dumb jokes. A late-night call that feels routine. Then they get sent to an abandoned building, and from there the movie just keeps going down. Literally. The shift is what makes it work. You’re grounded for just long enough to feel stable, and then that stability disappears. The film stops explaining itself...

RomCom tropes to die for.” In this episode, Jon, Ryan, and Kearns spiral into the sticky, savage chaos of Heart Eyes — a film where the apocalypse isn’t just viral, it’s romantic. We break down why the monsters don’t attack Luna, how this world turns affection into infection, and whether the line between symbiosis and codependence has ever been blurrier. There’s something unsettlingly sweet about...

"You opened the door. They walked in." In this episode, Jon, Ryan, and Kearns return to the woods. Not the ones where magic lives, but where people do terrible things for no reason at all. The Strangers: Chapter 1 is not a reboot. It is a quiet escalation. A slower blade. And yes, it is still knocking. We dive into the bleak domesticity of it all. A cabin. A couple. A car that will not start. And...

The rage never left. In this episode, Jon, Ryan, and Kearns trek through the ash-crusted mythos of 28 Years Later: Bone Temple, where blood memory and broken faith collide in the ruins of civilization. This isn’t just another infection movie, it’s a story about what survives when survival stops being enough. We follow Jimmy, a demented cult leader with running out of fingers, and Ian, the doctor w...

“Mommy, am I still me?” In this episode, Jon, Ryan, and Kearns descend through the ash-fog of Konami’s most cursed export to talk religious fanaticism, trauma cults, and how Silent Hill (2006) is somehow both aggressively incoherent and artistically iconic. We discuss why the town feels like a Lovecraftian divorce court, how Radha Mitchell sold genuinely unhinged mom energy, and why pyramid-headed...