Horror Movie Talk

Tigers Are Not Afraid is a harrowing tale of young children trying to survive among cartels, ghosts, and dream logic. Listen to our full review this week on Horror Movie Talk. Synopsis Tigers Are Not Afraid is a horror/fantasy/drama that takes place in a border Mexican town devastated by drug cartel crime. Estrella is a young girl who is given three wishes by a teacher and after she discovers her mother has been killed, she joins a gang of other child orphans. While they are on the run from a cartel, Estrella tries to use her wishes, but they don’t come true how she wants them to, and she is haunted by the ghosts of cartel victims. Review of Tigers Are Not Afraid This is a beautiful and ugly movie. Very quickly you realize that the real horror in the movie is the reality in which these kids live and not from the supernatural elements. It is reminiscent of early Guillermo del Toro movies and reminded me of the Brazilian City of God. However this film is unique in its composition and blend of genres. The majority of the plot and suspense comes from the dramatic real life elements of the story. You are drawn in by these children who are too young, too helpless, and too poor. They are pathetic in the truest sense of the word, since the strongest emotions elicited by the film are pity and sadness. The supernatural and horror elements of the film are ever present, but take a backseat for the most part. The audience is give. room to interpret whether they are “real” or only in the mind of estrella. For me, it’s an undeniably effective film. I was brought to tears several times throughout the movie, especially at the end. It’s a beautiful evocative film. Moments of beauty are created in the ugly apocalyptic surroundings. Moments of wonder and hope are present but rare, giving contrast to the horrors surrounding them. It’s a great film, and has stuck with me for the past three days since watching it. I’d put it up against any of my favorites in the genre. Score 10/10 Support Guest Alicia Berbenick @bene_and_the_gesserits https://www.beneandthegesserits.com https://www.etsy.com/shop/beneandthegesserits

5/14/25 • 91:02

Synopsis This film follows Kakihara, a sadomasochistic yakuza whose boss goes missing. He sets out on a path of kidnapping and torture to find the man who did this, only to find out that the culprit, Ichi, is a complete sadistic psychopath. Chaos and gore ensue. Review This movie is a lot better than I remember, and I remember loving it. The opening sequence hooks you immediately, with sped up camera movements and manga like color grading at times. This reveals to the viewer that what you’re about to watch isn’t a typical action/horror film. This movie does have its problems, as it has laughably bad CGI at times, but if you can get past those three or four shots you can enjoy this movie. My other issue with the film is the treatment of the women on screen. It’s absolutely devastating, depraved, and nausea inducing. To be fair, mostly everyone dies in this movie and whether you’re a woman or not in this world, you’re gonna get tortured. So I guess it’s kinda fair in the end. At first glance it’s very much torture porn, but there’s a real story there that provokes humanity’s most suppressed subconscious emotions. Ichi the Killer exemplifies the unpredictability of human perseverance and the utmost underbelly of society. This movie does not beg you to sympathize or revel in its grotesqueness. It wants you to be uncomfortable, it does not want you to like these characters at all. I love cinema that makes me squirm. I would be remiss not to mention that the costumes are divine, especially our main man Kakihara's fly suits. The iridescent one he wears in his final scene is stunning.  I really do love this movie, it can be extremely tough to watch at some particularly gory times, but it’s great if you can stomach it. Just don’t try to eat dinner while you watch it.  Score 8/10

5/7/25 • 88:11

Synopsis Peter Neal played by Anthony Franciosa is a famous author of crime/mystery novels. After the release of his new hit book Tenebrae, Peter travels to Rome to promote his story through interviews and morning talk shows. However, Peter is quickly caught up in a real-life mystery involving brutal deaths linked to his book. The police (big fans of his work by the way) keep Peter in the loop as they work together to crack the case, but things quickly get out of hand as the murders stack up. But forget about the violent crimes, the real question everyone is dying to know the answer to is, “Are Peter’s books sexist?” Review of Tenebrae Tenebrae is a 1982 Italian Giallo film written and directed by Dario Argento, who you may recognize from the hit classic Suspiria. For some reason, I really struggled to get into this movie for the first thirty minutes, but as the themes of the movie started to reveal themselves I became far more interested in seeing the rest of the film play out. I expected this movie to be just as easy to predict as most mystery horror -who-done-it movies tend to be these days, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I guessed the killer incorrectly not once, not twice, but like six times. The movie does a great job at misdirecting your focus and creates a web of motives for everyone involved until you are sure the killer is definitely this person! Only for that person to die in the very next scene. This happens all the way up to the end of the movie, and the audience is left in the dark about a lot until the last 10 minutes. I enjoyed this more than I expected to.  Score 8/10

5/3/25 • 61:58

Synopsis Until Dawn follows Clover and her group of friends as they travel the country following her missing sister Melanie’s trail. After meeting a kind old man at a gas station who points them in the right direction, the crew finds themselves waiting out a rainstorm in a spooky abandoned motel. Clover is desperate to find her sister, and clues within the building lead her to think that Melanie was here. All seems to be going according to plan until disaster strikes and our young hip protagonists are plunged into a life-or-death fight with a masked maniac Michael Myers wanna be. Review of Until Dawn I did not know that this was a movie adapting a video game until the movie started with the PlayStation Logo. Having not seen the trailer and bringing zero experience playing Until Dawn into my viewing experience, I think I was set up perfectly. The premise of the movie, which I'm going to spoil now so if you don't want to know skip this part but I assume it gives this away in the trailer and game, is that people who enter the motel are stuck in some sort of hellish time warp, causing them to relive their deaths over and over. The movie did a great job of setting up the characters in the beginning and I was starting to feel very invested in their relationships when suddenly every character except for Clover was killed within 5 minutes. I was baffled and about ready to give this movie a very low score for undermining its own character development, when suddenly I was introduced to the time warp aspect and it all finally made sense. Its a really fun idea, and it has the built-in advantage of being able to pack in lots of fun and gory death scenes without losing its main cast or requiring a ridiculous amount of characters. I felt that the acting was pretty good, the story was far more filled out than most video game movies are, and the themes that emerged towards the end were satisfying. The movie suffers from some of the same things other video game movies like Silent Hill suffer from, such as needing to introduce all of the iconic bad guys without having the time to tell the audience who or what they are. Who is this masked killer? Don't worry about it. He's just evil. Who is this witch? Don't think too hard. She's just one of the bad guys. I enjoyed this movie quite a lot more than I expected to, but it is still far from a perfect film. Score 8/10

4/30/25 • 85:51

This week we review Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. Is this movie cursed, or is Horror Movie Talk cursed? Stay tuned to find out. Synopsis Sinners stars Michael B Jordan and Michael C Jordan as twin brothers Smoke and Stack returning from Chicago with ill gotten gains to their hometown in rural prohibition era Mississippi. They immediately work on establishing their own juke joint to entertain and profit off the locals. They go around town recruiting old friends and relatives to help and successfully have a grand opening. When the music pierces the time and space as it is prone to do, it captures the attention of nearby evil… things. Wacky hijinx ensue. Review of Sinners Ryan Coogler writes and directs his first horror film coming off of his success with blockbusters like Black Panther and Creed. Here he obviously draws inspiration from Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn, where it feels like one genre and then suddenly shifts into a horror film. However, we are given fair warning from the opening scene that shit is about to go down. There is a lot going on in this film. It explores a lot of ideas about good and evil, guilt, exploitation, racism, the transcendence of music, and pro tips on how to eat pussy. Not all of these themes are fully explored or necessarily land, but I have to respect the ambition and swing for the fences attitude of Coogler with this film. The film does have a great cast, with fully fleshed out characters and relationships. It spend a lot of time with the setup so that when the killing starts to happen there are real stakes (no pun intended). It feels like a Stephen King novel in the best way. A large element of the film is the music, with several musical sequences featuring blues, folk music, and weird afro-blues-rock-hiphop-pop fusion. The musical director on the film is swedish composer Ludwig Göransson, which is probably the most promising new film composer in recent years having scored The Mandelorian, Oppenheimer, Black Panther, and more. In my opinion, he is out of place here, and a lot of the musical score seems out of place and distracting. For a film about delta blues and juke joints, they seem almost embarrassed to include a lot of it. Overall, the film was very good. It held my attention, features a setting and characters that are interesting, and delivers some great monster moments. Score 9/10

4/23/25 • 90:10

Synopsis Eight college friends reunite the evening before one of their weddings to catch up, hang out, and unexpectedly play a game that will change all of their lives forever. Review I like this movie a lot. It’s so much fun. It’s fast paced, the lighting and editing keeps you highly engaged, and the plot is simple but effective. I love the interpersonal drama that carries most of the movie, and without giving too much away, how it all plays out is very interesting. The first time I watched this I definitely didn’t anticipate the final twist, which was really exciting. Although this isn’t traditionally scary, the thought of it happening to you sends a shiver down your spine. It’s a very fun, lively movie and I had a blast watching it again for the pod. Before we get into any spoilers whatsoever, I believe this is a movie watched best going in blind, so pause the show here and come back when you’ve seen this. Score 8/10

4/16/25 • 70:22

Synopsis The Woman in the Yard is a blumhouse produced movie about a family living on a farm trying to make ends meet after a disastrous car accident which left the father dead, and mother crippled. As this broken home traverses the everyday trials of a grieving family, a mysterious woman appears on a chair in their front yard. Attempting to speak to the woman reveals very little about her motivations, so the family barricades themselves in the house hoping to wait her out. Without electricity, a working vehicle or cell phones, the mother and her two children are completely isolated. Review of The Woman in the Yard The cinematography is strikingly beautiful for such a low effort film. While the acting ranges from really good at times to borderline over-acting, the script does not do our actors any favors. This leaves the film lacking in character development and meaningful relationships. The movie is very barebones as far as plot, and hardly anything of interest happens most of the movie. It starts with a good idea, but completely undercuts it by having the woman in the yard be normal looking and unthreatening. The ending is ambiguous, which may be a good thing for some viewers, but for me it contains too many loose ends and "what if"s. Score 3/10

4/9/25 • 67:08

This week we review Death of a Unicorn! Stay tuned to find out whether the laughs are real or mythological. Synopsis Paul Rudd plays the hapless single father Elliot to Jenna Ortega’s, art history student Ridley. They both go on a work trip to a remote estate of Elliot’s boss in a former wilderness preserve. While on driving there, they accidentally collide with a horse beast with a horn protruding out of it’s head. Just a single horn. Like a uni-horn. When they try to hide the evidence from the CEO and his family, wacky low jinks ensue. Review of Death of a Unicorn While this film has an interesting premise and a good cast, the words that kept playing through my mind while watching this is “half baked”. Not like the wacky movie staring Jim Bruer and Dave Chappell, but more like a mouthful of hot brownie batter. It sounds good, but is actually disappointing. While there were a few situations in which I did laugh, they were few and far between, because what this horror comedy lacked most was jokes and bits.  The characters were all 2 dimensional, which in a comedy can be counteracted with broad caricature, but the writing here attempts to be subtle and low key with poor results. In fact, Paul Rudd’s character, ostensibly the second protagonist ends up being so wishy washy, that I was confused if he was supposed to be one of the villains. Jenna Ortega isn’t as stone faced as usual, but she doesn’t have much to work with here. In fact most of her dialogue felt like it must have read [fill in later]. Probably the most successfully subtle character is Anthony Carrigan’s Griff the butler. There were some good gory death moments. The expected impalements are here. There are some good headsplosions. But it’s not enough. I usually think it’s a cop out to say a movie’s CGI is bad, but for a movie dependent on monster design, they should have spent a little more time and money dialing in the unicorns. Score 4/10

4/2/25 • 91:11

Synopsis Hush follows Maddy (Kate Siegel), a deaf writer living in the middle of nowhere. She settles in for a quiet night of working when her friend turns up screaming and bloody at her door, but Maddy does not notice. The assailant figures out Maddy is deaf and a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues. Review The first time I watched this movie I really enjoyed it, but upon second watch it wasn’t as effective for me. I think it’s because if you know how it ends, it’s not going to be as exciting the second time around. I still liked it and Mike Flanagan is an incredible director, I very much enjoy most of the stuff he puts out. It’s a typical home invasion movie and the twist of having a deaf protagonist is inventive and works well. Kate Siegel is always great to watch, and the antagonist is pretty good as well. It’s a simple movie, and it works best to watch it without knowing what happens. It’s not the best, but it’s a quick 80 minutes and satisfies the horror itch. Score 6/10 http://patreon.com/horrormovietalk

3/26/25 • 68:41

Synopsis Eraserhead is a movie about an awkward man named Henry who reconnects with his lost lover Mary over a lovely dinner of small chickens. They're the same as the big chickens except for small. After finding out the shocking news that Mary has given birth to Henry's child, the two get hitched and strap in for the slow steady life of a settled family. The baby soon causes turmoil in the young couple's life and Henry must learn what fatherhood truly means in the depths of the sleepless nights and constant screaming. There's some other stuff that happens but honestly I don't know what any of it means. Review of Eraserhead Eraserhead is one of those movies that I want to like more than I do. The whole time I'm watching it I'm sitting there thinking to myself “Yes! This is so unique and thought-provoking. I'm so glad art like this exists! …how much longer is left of this movie? I found myself checking the runtime at several points hoping it was almost over only to realize only 15 minutes had passed by. However, to this movie’s credit, it truly is a spectacle. Many have likened this movie to what experiencing a nightmare or a strange dream feels like. Time moves awkwardly slow, a low hum and sharp static hang over most of the scenes, and even the mere movements of the characters feel so off. If you are going into this movie expecting to understand it or get the message, you may be disappointed to find that there may not even be one. Though despite Lynches ethereal style of movie making I still feel like I caught themes of the stress of marriage and fatherhood, dealing with overbearing prudish in-laws, and the horror that is whatever newborns simply are. As a father of a small baby myself, I felt an attachment to the small creature that they attempted to pass off as a premature child, and the sheer fragility of an infant felt close to home for me. This movie pulled off the exact feat it was going for. It made me feel something. Even if that something was an eerie, stilted, boring, nervous feeling, at least its something. I said a lot of negative things but in reality I actually do find value and even enjoyment in this movie in a weird kind of way. Score 7/10

3/19/25 • 94:29

Due to recent controversy with the recent Scary Movie episode featuring Horror Movie Talk (HMT) owner David Day, We are releasing the following announcement to the press.

3/14/25 • 09:39

This week we’re reviewing SCARY MOVIE, a spoof of 90s slashers and more. Here to defend 90s humor with me is David Day, stay tuned. Synopsis A masked killer stalks a group of dumb teenagers a year after they accidentally kill a man. Borrowing from the major plot lines and scenes of Scream and I know what you did last summer, this slapstick raunchy comedy properly spoofs the major teen horror movies of the late nineties. Review of Scary Movie It’s been a long time since I originally saw Scary Movie in the theater, and to me it was a breath of fresh air. You can debate the consistency of the quality of humor, but what you can’t debate is the pace of the humor. The jokes per minute is strong in this movie, and even if one bit doesn’t land, there will be another one that will in about a minute. What is really crazy is how timely some of the jokes are in a movie 25 years old. You’ve got mentions of diddy parties, trans in competitive sports, and teacher sex scandals.  Score 10/10

3/12/25 • 67:58

Synopsis This film follows the teenage Jessie, played by Elle Fanning, who moves to LA with dreams of becoming a model. She meets some veterans in the industry, Rubi, Gigi, and Sarah and forms a friendship turned rivalry with them as they all try to make it to the top. Jessie soon learns the ways of the cutthroat world of modeling, and how everyone around her would do heinous things for her youthful beauty. Review I absolutely love this film. This is my third watch, and I swear it has gotten better every time I’ve seen it. The cinematography, coming from the iconic Nicolas Winding Refn, is something to be revered. The way he uses color and light and blocking to symbolize changes in character’s personalities and ways of life is astounding. This film is gorgeous, and the message it conveys is something that women can all understand and relate to, regardless if you’re a model or not. It’s a deep dive on beauty standards and the predatory nature of society towards women, and little girl's beauty in general. This isn’t scary at all visually, but there are some horrific scenes and imagery that might make you look away from the screen. All in all, it’s a fantastic film, and criminally underrated. Score 10/10

3/5/25 • 85:48

Are you scared of toy monkeys? Should you be? Listen/watch our review of The Monkey (2025) to find out. Synopsis When twin brothers Bill and Hal discover a treasure trove of souvenirs in their absentee father’s closet, they find a toy drumming monkey. Soon they discover that whenever they turn it’s key, a horrific death occurs in their vicinity. After inadvertently killing a loved one, they decide to hide the monkey down a well to protect others. Two decades later Hal discovers that the monkey is killing again, and he must track down the Monkey and stop it with his teen son. Review This film is Osgood Perkins followup to Longlegs and is an adaptation of a Stephen King short story. I didn’t know what to think going into it. The trailer had a a strong sense of dark humor, but since Perkins’ other films didn’t rely on humor as much, I wasn’t sure if he could deliver. But deliver he did. This fast paced death fest is fueled by a great script full of dry dialogue as a counterpoint to the absurdity of the plot. It’s like a cross between Final Destination movies and Dragnet. Theo James does the heavy lifting as the hapless Hal being tortured by not only The Monkey, but also by almost everyone he meets. His resigned everyman is the perfect straight man for the insanity happening around him. The insanity takes the form of crazy, over the top deaths that are served in a steady drip line throughout the movie. It’s got decapitations, explosions, trampling, and more. Score 9/10

2/26/25 • 90:43

Bullying works! I finally made the guys watch a David Lynch Film! Synopsis Fire Walk With Me serves as a prequel to the hit 90s tv show Twin Peaks, following the seemingly inexplicable murder of a high school girl named Teresa Banks, investigated by FBI Agent Chet Desmond (Chris Isaak) and Agent Sam Stanley (Kiefer Sutherland). Flash forward to a year later and we get to go back to Twin Peaks to see the last few days of the tragic Laura Palmer’s (Sheryl Lee) life, and the events that led to her untimely demise. Review I originally watched Twin Peaks in high school due to seeing so much about it on Tumblr and it ended up being my intro to Lynch’s work. I love the show so I checked out the movie afterwards and it blew my mind. This is either the third or fourth time I’ve seen it, and it’s just as effective as the first. It’s eccentric and unsettling enough to keep you on your toes as you watch, but it also keeps so many secrets to the truth about Twin Peaks, about Bob, about Laura that it leaves you wanting more (and then you can watch The Return to satisfy that itch). It’s an incredibly dreadful movie, starting with the jarring beginning played like a buddy cop movie, with a dead girl who isn’t Laura, within a town not as welcoming and heartwarming as Twin Peaks is. Cut to Laura’s final days, and as a fan you are excited to feel some sense of stability, of normalcy, but that is all soon ripped away from you as you experience the horrors alongside Laura. It’s a harrowing film, a divisive film, a horrifying and dreadful viewing experience with little catharsis but a whole lot of secrets that without watching it you would feel lie you missed out on something special. This is truly one of my favorite films of all time, and definitely my favorite David Lynch movie. It is such a special thing to peer into Laura’s world, albeit very stressful and depressing. Score 10/10

2/19/25 • 82:38

Synopsis Heart Eyes is about Ally, a boss girl who isn't interested in romance. When she meets a new boy at the coffee shop that could be the one, disaster strikes as a masked killer comes to her town with the goal of brutally murdering couples on Valentine's Day. Will Ally find love? Will she finally let her guard down enough to let someone into her life? Will she clean her disgusting apartment? I have no idea.  Review of Heart Eyes  Look, I'm not so prideful that I can't admit when I am wrong. I said very openly that this movie was going to suck, but honestly, it didn't. It's surprisingly self-aware in its dialogue and genuinely pretty funny throughout the film. The opening scene starts the movie off so strong and I was already having fun 5 minutes into the movie. However, this movie suffers from the same problems all slasher movies do, it's a slasher movie and slashers are dumb. The reveal at the end feels lazy and copy paste. It's a blatant rip-off of another slasher movie, but I won't spoil it here, so just trust me when I say that it's not very original. I had fun watching this movie, but it wasn't anything to rush to the theater to see.  Score 6/10

2/12/25 • 108:43

If you could rent the perfect girlfriend, would you...? Synopsis Iris is the perfect girlfriend for Josh. She dotes on him, is nice to his friends, is honest, doesn’t argue, and has sex whenever he wants. It’s like she was made for him. When Josh and his Iris are visiting his friends in a remote lakeside getaway owned by a Russian billionaire, a sudden death throws the weekend into chaos. Iris finds out that not everything is as it seems in her and Josh’s relationship, and has to fight for her life to get away. Review of Companion I wish the second trailers didn’t spoil the premise of the movie, because I think the film would be even more impactful if you don’t know one of the main plot points. I thought the first trailer with the candle under her arm and the arm burning was enough to entice me to the theater. Companion isn’t entirely unique, there are other movies and recent HBO series that deal with similar concepts. The difference in Companion is the tone and perspective of the film. It’s told from Iris’s perspective, and as the revelations are made it adds layers of complexity for the other characters. The tone is fun, but not campy. It strikes a nice balance that definitely explores some of the darker implications and aspects of the plot without getting weighed down.  The writer/director Drew Hancock comes from mostly TV sitcoms which explains the light and breezy dialogue. I really liked the production design and music choices. They really hearken back to 50s americana. Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid are both great in this. Sophie brings an innocence and earnestness to her character that is believable and not over the top. Jack Quaid’s character has the most interesting arc from loving boyfriend to mega creep incel which is fun to watch and discover through Iris’s eyes. There’s not many laugh out loud moments, but there are a lot of subtle moments that got me chuckling. My only real complaint is that it was relatively predictable, but it had enough going on to maintain my interest. I liked it, but overall I think it’s only above average. Score 7/10

2/5/25 • 81:04

Synopsis When a family of four moves into a new house, the teenage daughter Chloe (played by Callina Liang) suspects they are not alone, and with the recent passing of her best friend looming in her mind, she thinks the presence in the house is the ghost of her late friend. Her mother, Rebecca (played by Lucy Liu) and brother, Tyler (played by Eddy Maday) choose to not believe Chloe because of her state of grief, while her dad, Chris (played by Chris Sullivan) tries to help his daughter. When the whole family witnesses Tyler’s bedroom become destroyed with no logical explanation, they all start to believe Chloe’s grief filled fantasies might have more basis in fact than fiction. Review I had not heard one single thing about this film, I hadn’t even seen a trailer for it, but when Bryce said, “we gotta review the new Soderbergh horror movie that comes out this week,” I was very intrigued, and I was not disappointed. This movie hit home for me in ways that I did not expect, and I usually don’t get too emotional over horror since we watch at least one horror movie a week, but this one hit hard for many different personal reasons. The way that it is shot is very inventive, I’ve seen it done before in passing parts of films but never the whole runtime, and I really enjoyed it. I think it would be great to go into this movie blind like I did, that’s how the viewer will probably get the most out of it. The twists were unexpected, I never guessed what would happen next the whole way through, and the few red herrings worked themselves expertly into the plot. This is more of a psychological thriller/family drama than pure horror, and I really liked it. Not very scary on the surface, but emotionally it is raw, and sad, and horrifying. Score 8/10 patreon.com/horrormovietalk http://horrormovietalk.com

1/29/25 • 80:17

Synopsis Wolf Man is a movie about Blake, a family man struggling to make his marriage work and to be a better man than his father was. When Blake gets a letter in the mail informing him that his father who went missing years earlier has finally been officially declared dead by the state, he and his family leave their busy city life to pack up his father's old farmhouse and spend some time in the mountains. The wooded area surrounding the house is ominous and filled with local legends of men with the face of the wolf, but surely it's a good idea to bring your wife and young daughter to live there for a summer. If I were to spend anymore time talking about the synopsis of this movie I would end up giving everything away as there isn't much more to this film. Review of Wolf Man (2025)  When I saw the trailer for Wolfman I was disappointed. Except for An American Werewolf in London, I've never seen a werewolf movie that wasn't extremely middle of the road, and from the marketing, this movie looked to be no different. But I was wrong. It was actually somehow a little worse than middle of the road. I was excited to see Julia Garner cast as the female lead because I've really enjoyed her performances in other things such as Ozark, Inventing Anna, and The Assistant. But I was surprised to find that her character was bland and uninteresting. At first, I figured she kind of butchered the role, but it soon became apparent that the real problem was the writing. The dialog felt cold and emotionless. Even during scenes that were supposed to be touching, suspenseful, or exciting, all of the characters seemed to deliver the most boring inhuman lines. The worst case of this was the daughter played by Matilda Firth. It was as if the writers had never met a child in real life and were just guessing at what a child might speak like. The result is a family that I couldn't care less about. The reveal towards the end of the movie is very easy to see coming and I was able to call it about 10 minutes into the movie. The monster design is uninteresting, the movie drags on, and it gives no meaningful contribution to the werewolf subgenre. Score 4/10

1/22/25 • 69:50

Synopsis In this spooky tale, two love birds living in a large yet ugly home head into town to pick up some supplies for their miniature models like glue and paint and whatever you nerds use to make little models, and in a shocking turn of events drive their car off a bridge and into a river. After making their way home they start to notice something disturbing. They died. Yet their love knows no bounds, so they start this new chapter of their undead lives with optimism. However, the underworld seems to be some sort of eternal DMV which kind of puts a damper on their staycation. How could things get any worse?! Uh oh! A new family moves into their home and they are really annoying. Hookwinks ensue, and disaster strikes upon meeting a ghoulish fellow named Beetlejuice. Will they survive this nightmare? No! Cause they are already dead. Review of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a fantastic movie. And Michael Keaton who plays Beetlejuice is the best part. He's funny and inappropriate and pretty much exactly what you would expect some asshole to become if he had a few hundred years to stew in his undead filth. As all Tim Burton films are, the aesthetic is very weird, goth, and colorful. It's Rated PG somehow even though it has two F-bombs, but honestly I kind of stand by that rating cause I watched this movie when I was like 8 and I never felt like any scenes or lines were out of place. It's a good romp for the whole family. The strange teleportation desert scenes feel pretty dated, but they are still charming. I dont really have anything bad to say about this movie.  Score 10/10

1/15/25 • 74:17

In this the first annual Golden Talks, the hosts review the year 2024 in horror movies, discussing their best and worst films, as well as aggregate scores from their reviews. The conversation is filled with humor and banter as they reflect on their experiences with various horror films, highlighting both the enjoyable and the dreadful aspects of the genre. They also delve into the rankings of new releases and share their thoughts on the impact of these films on the horror landscape. In this conversation, the hosts delve into their thoughts on various horror films, including a critique of the Beetlejuice sequel, a ranking of their top five new releases, and a discussion on the quality of recent horror movies. They explore unique themes in horror, engage in a light-hearted debate about mattress sizes, and reflect on their aggregate scores for movies reviewed throughout the year. The conversation culminates in a discussion about the best and worst patron picks, revealing the challenges of audience selections in film. In this episode, the hosts reflect on their movie selections, discuss score discrepancies, and analyze their aggregate scores for the year. They delve into download statistics to gauge audience engagement and conclude with a light-hearted discussion about host dynamics and awards, including who might be the 'worst host'.

1/8/25 • 68:00

Synopsis Tell me, does evil come from within us, or beyond? This film follows Ellen (played by Lily-Rose Depp), and her husband, Thomas (played by Nicholas Hoult) as Thomas takes a new job that requires him to go to a strange land to broker a real estate deal with the mysterious Count Orlok. While Ellen begs him not to go, he does anyways, and she starts having nightmares and fits of madness while he’s away. Thomas quickly realizes he’s in for a lot more than a house sale once he arrives at the Count’s castle, and Ellen, Thomas, and a gang of professors and doctors have to work together to defeat the darkness. Review Excellent is not a good enough word to describe this movie. It is exceptional, phenomenal, show-stopping, incredible, stupendous. This is truly a spectacle to see in the theater. The costuming is gorgeous and intricate. Every single actor brought their A-game. The atmosphere and set dressing completely immerse you into the world of 1838 Germany and the mysteries of the vampire. The physical acting from Lily-Rose Depp was completely unexpected yet welcomed and hopefully revered by all, you truly are watching a master work her craft. Nicholas Hoult was incredibly convincing as Thomas and incredibly hot, per usual. Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson occasionally add a solid comic relief while also driving the plot forward. Also, it is so entertaining and the pacing is perfect so the 132 minute run time passes you by like a soft summer breeze.  I don't even know how to review this film to accurately describe how awe-struck I was while watching it. I wanted to stand up in the theater like I was watching the Superbowl. This was my Superbowl. My one complaint is that I wish they hadn’t told us who played Count Orlok because Bill Skarsgård is completely unrecognizable as the illustrious vampire. This is Count Orlok like we’ve never seen, as in the original it was a silent film so it was impossible to hear his voice, and in the Herzog version he is portrayed as more of a melancholy creature battling with isolation and immortality. In this film, he is terrifying, he is demanding, he is alluring and intoxicating, he is sexy and fearsome and seemingly rules the world. The viewer falls under his spell just like his on screen victims. This movie is a masterpiece; it is true gothic horror, it is incredibly sexy, it is gripping, it is haunting, I want to go see it again right now. Also, I want to emphasize that while I wrote this, I kept getting frustrated by the fact that no positive adjective will be 100% accurate at describing how incredible this film is. Score 10/10

1/1/25 • 90:27

Synopsis Caveat is about a man named Isaac who suffers from amnesia after a tragic accident. Isaac is hired by a man who claims to be his good friend before the accident Moe Barrett, to go to a secluded house and watch after his niece Olga who suffers from schizophrenia. Upon arriving at the dilapidated house Isaac is told the frightening catch of his new job. Since Olga is terrified of someone attacking her in her sleep, Isaac must wear a chain that keeps him anchored to certain portions of the house. Not a good deal if you ask me, but after some convincing Isaac accepts the job. Olga's mother is also missing, and her father is recently dead. Wacky hijinks ensue.  Review of Caveat Caveat definitely has its issues. I think my biggest problem with this movie is just the look of it. Most shudder-exclusive movies that I've seen tend to lean very heavily into the spooky house syndrome, and this movie is no exception. The house in this movie is almost comically decrepit. My other issue with this movie is that I have a difficult time believing that anyone would accept this job of being chained to a house for multiple days at a time. I mean talk about a fire hazard. But with that being said, I think this movie is very creepy and does a great job at building suspense. Its visuals can border on nightmare fuel and the screaming foxes in the background sent chills down my spine. There's enough to this movie to keep me entertained the whole way through.  Score 6/10

12/25/24 • 82:50

This week we review Stuart Gordon’s 1985 schlock classic: Re-animator. Does it go too far for modern audiences? Listen to find out. Synopsis Loosely based off of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “Herbert West - Reanimator” this film stars Jeffery Combs as Herbert West, a weird genius science student that just arrived at the Miskatonic University. He immediately clashes with his professor in asserting superior knowledge over theories surrounding brain death, and makes him an enemy. Also in his class is Dan Cain, who rents a room to Herbert. Dan is dating the dean’s daughter and is mainly in this movie to be choked. As Herbert West experiments with a new serum, he discovers he has unlocked the secret to reanimating the dead. After confirming it’s efficacy with small animals, he seeks to experiment on dead humans. Review of Re-Animator Re-animator pure B-movie schlock done right. It pulls no punches with intense gore, nudity, and dark humor. It’s the spiritual sci-fi counterpart to Evil Dead, which came out four years earlier. Dennis Paoli, the writer, came from the world of experimental theater in Chicago, and he brought a solid foundation with a surprisingly tight script.  Both him and the director Stuart Gordon wanted to create an homage to Frankenstein, and succeeded with Re-Animator. It really does recapture some of the straight faced humor of the original 1930s Frankenstein, but turns up everything to 11. The special effects are sometimes laughably bad, but still endearing. Particularly the reanimated psycho cat is like something off of a cheap SNL sketch, but still ends up being very entertaining. They didn’t even try to get a rating, since it would most likely get an X. Somehow they still toe the line for decency, editing some shots just right before they get too exploitative to ruin the fun. Mainly that’s what this movie is: A lot of fun. This film should be studied for how to pull off low-budget campy horror. Score 10/10

12/18/24 • 77:31

Synopsis Red Christmas follows a blended family headed by matriarch Diane (Dee Wallace) as they prepare to celebrate Christmas together. When an unexpected cloaked figure pops up on their doorstep and insists on reading a letter he wrote for his mother to the family, long time secrets Diane has been keeping are revealed, along with a suspicious murderous spree.  Review There is a fine line between a campy movie and a really bad movie, and this film toes that line swimmingly. The movie is insane, it makes no sense at times, it’s funny, it’s wacky, it has really good kills, and it’s a Christmas movie. What better way to get into the Christmas spirit than to watch someone get axed hotdog style. I like this movie for its campiness, it’s very entertaining and while a lot of the plot is not logical, it is a fun slasher movie that you can enjoy with a cup of hot cocoa and some figgy pudding. It’s not the best movie of all time but it’s not trying to be. It’s trying to be a campy slasher romp, and that’s exactly what it is. If you can ignore the screwed up ‘message’ of the movie and just focus on how lovely Dee Wallace is, then you can enjoy this film. Score 7/10

12/11/24 • 112:01

Do you want to feel like you are watching someone play a video game when you watch a movie? Well Silent Hill is the right movie for you. Synopsis Rose Da Silva brings her adopted daughter, Sharon, to the eerie ghost town of Silent Hill, hoping to find a cure for Sharon’s mysterious condition and learn why she is having nightmares about the town. Following a police chase and a brutal car accident, Sharon vanishes. Rose finds herself in a spooky ookie alternate dimension that occasionally turns into an even spookier OOKIER dimension filled with unimaginable horrors. As she frantically searches for her missing daughter she meets the townsfolk and finds out the towns LORE. Review of Silent Hill Having not played the video game this film is based on, I can already tell you that’s its a faithful adaptation. Because watching the first half of this film is like watching someone play a video game. And unfortunately they are not very good at it. I was left craving more cut scenes or maybe more scenes cut. Some of the iconic imagery from the game of Pyramid head and the nurses are wedged in as non-sequiturs. I assumed that the film would make some kind of effort to explain them, but nope. I still have no idea what their significance is to the story.   The thing that the movie really has going for it is production design, and vibes. The film is very moody and feels oppressive. Unfortunately, the writing and acting is distractingly bad at times. Honestly, it felt like they spent all the budget on the production design, and then midway realized they never bothered with a script. The last half of the movie redeems itself in some ways. The action and horror ramps up, the exposition finally gives us something to hold on to, and it actually ends up telling a story. Overall, I felt like the film was too slow and uneven. There was some great body horror and memorable scenes, but unfortunately they are wrapped in a pretty forgettable movie. Score  4/10

12/4/24 • 94:34

Synopsis Stir of Echoes is about a lovely couple named Tom and Maggie. Tom, played by Kevin Bacon in maybe his greatest role ever is put in a hypnotic trance by Maggie's sister at a dinner party. After having him put a needle through his hand which is super not cool, Tom is awoken from his mystic slumber. But something is off. He can see... ggggggg-Ghosts! Through his newfound second sight, Tom is about to do some miraculous things and fight crime. Just kidding he doesn't fight crime but he does do some pretty incredible things. Meanwhile, their son Jake is also a psychic and stirs up some trouble in the neighborhood when he claims to have visions of a young girl who went missing six months prior. Review of Stir of Echoes I went into Stir of Echoes cautiously. It did not look good; I had never heard of it, and the first act was beginning to confirm my doubt. It feels a little convoluted and messy, and you dont really know where the movie is headed. Certain scenes initially felt random and confusing, but as the movie progressed, I began getting more and more invested. While Stir of Echoes is not a very scary movie, the mystery did reel me in and by act 2 I was pretty invested in uncovering the truth. Kevin Bacon does a really good job of portraying a decent into madness and for half of the movie basically acts like a homeless schizophrenia person. It's a joy to watch. Without giving anything away about the ending I will say that by the time the movie was over everything felt like it was wrapped up well and I no longer felt that the movie was convoluted.  Score 7/10

11/27/24 • 97:08

Synopsis 30 Days of Night is a movie about Eben and Stella, a married couple in Alaska going through separation and a possible future divorce. Eben, the sheriff, is preparing his small town for the 30 days of night, where the sun doesn't rise for a full month. Explain that flat-earthers. When trying to leave Alaska before the impending darkness Stella misses her flight, trapping her in the town. Although the 30 days of darkness is typically a challenge, Eben is wholly unprepared to deal with the invasion of deadly monsters that lie in wait. As darkness descends the creators wreak havoc (some might even say ravish) the town, and in the end, everyone gets more dark than they bargained for.  Review of 30 Days of Night This movie reminds me of Midnight Mass with its secluded small town and monsters to terrorize it. And I LOVE Midnight Mass. But 30 Days of Night is a much more straight-ahead story. There is no bigger picture or message being told, it's just vampires, blood, and guts. I appreciated the family and character dynamics introduced in the first act, but honestly by act two when people start dying I didn't really care who they were or how they were important to the story. It's vampire time baby! The tension between Eben and his estranged wife Stella doesn't really translate well, and they seem to have no tension between them at all once the danger presents itself. I respect the vampire lore in this movie a lot more than I do of movies that turn vampires into this sexy, mystical creature which at least for me takes the fear out of the design. Here the vampires are fast, strong, and animalistic with sharklike razor teeth. Much more interesting if you ask me.  Score 6/10

11/20/24 • 60:17

Watch as Bryce and Max jump at the opportunity to talk about their missions as Sydney and Jordyn look on with glazed eyes. Synopsis Two naive Mormon missionaries, sister Barnes and sisterPaxton knock on the door of Mr. Reed, a lead that expressed interest in learning about the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. Mr. Reed, played by High Grant, is charming and warm to the ladies, but begins directly challenging their beliefs. As the Sisters get more and more uncomfortable they discover that they have been trapped inside the house and are given the monty hall choice of exiting through the door marked belief or the one marked disbelief. Review of Heretic I can recognize this as not a fantastic movie, however, I was thoroughly entertained for my own reasons. Having served a mission for the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints, I was pumped to see a Hollywood movie premise around the experience, which is very unique. Most of my enjoyment was from picking apart what they got wrong and what they got right, so your mileage will vary. That being said, it’s a unique premise, and the themes of religion, belief, and doubt are rarely given this much thought and analysis in a horror movie.  I thought the performances were great. I love Hugh Grant as a character actor more than as a romantic lead. He is properly menacing as a spider entrapping these women in his web. The female leads both did very well, especially Sophie Thatcher portraying the awkward earnest humor of a Mormon Missionary. The writing and pacing is very inconsistent. Some stretches of exposition dumps come off as heavy handed and preachy. There were some character inconsistencies, and I’m sure there are plenty of plot holes to fill. The first act is definitely the best, and most of it you see in the trailer. The dread and terror as the Sisters slowly realize that they are in real danger and try to navigate politely out of the situation is really spot on. Score 6/10

11/13/24 • 122:06

Synopsis Possum is about a disgraced puppeteer named Philip who is fired from his job after an unknown workplace incident and returns to his childhood home to destroy his puppet and face his past. While Philip wanders around his old town trying to make sense of his traumatic past, a local schoolboy goes missing. Philips's uncle Maurice lives a lifestyle of squaller and filth as a squatter in Philips's old home, and the two have a lovely and passionate reunion. Uh just kidding Philip hates Maurice, and the two have many strained and uncomfortable conversations over the course of the movie. Philip attempts multiple times to rid himself of his creepy puppet who he calls possum, and learns more about his past along the way. Review of Possum Possum is a very slow burn with minimal dialogue and odd acting styles. The actor playing the main character, Philip, looks like he has no idea how to stand like a normal human being, and I love that. The movie is low-budget, and it definitely shows. The whole thing was basically just filming a man running around with a puppet. Not much happens for the majority of the movie, and sometimes it feels like you are watching pretty much nothing. But, there are layers to this film. It is all about running from your trauma, and how you can't escape it unless you face it. The puppet is creepy, the house is disgusting, Maurice is disgusting-er, and I was left with a rotten and hollow feeling after watching this movie. Score 7/10

11/6/24 • 112:16