Category: Horror films

Really Awful Movies: Ep 247 – Dead Ringers

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On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast we tackle a Canadian classic, David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers.

Twin gynecologists, the Mantle brothers (based on the true-life demise of monozygote physicians, the Marcus brothers) share 100% of their genetic material. They also share scientific discoveries, and women.

In a tour de force performance by the incredible Jeremy Irons, we get a look inside the psyche of genius, and a concomitant look at their madness (as is often the case). The docs Elliot and Beverly are, of course, identical. However, Elliot is a bit taller, more outgoing, more comfortable in his own skin. And Beverly lives inside his own head. They comprise a drammaturgical dyad (thanks, Simpsons).

The Mantle bros’ practice is booming, they’re highly regarded in their field, and seem to have everything together. Of course, that’s just on the surface. Pull back the curtain and there’s tumult.

This is another instance of inside-out David Cronenberg body-horror. Dead Ringers is a difficult film to like, but is nonetheless fascinating. And it’s aged incredibly well. It’s a remarkable technical achievement, in addition to being a terrific showcase for Irons’ subtlety and mannerisms.

On the podcast, we examine the following:

  • The 80s horror scene
  • How we discovered the work of David Cronenberg while being ensconced in franchise horror flicks like Friday the 13th and Halloween
  • Canadian content regulations and the tax shelter era
  • Invasive medical procedures the hosts have experienced
  • Twin depictions in popular culture
  • Bloodletting in horror, and the use of restraint (or is that restraints?)
  • Medical horror

and much, much more.

This is our third discussion of a David Cronenberg film on the Really Awful Movies Podcast. Interested listeners can check out Videodrome and Rabid. Thanks for listening! And be sure to write reviews if you like what you’re hearing. And to support the show, pick up a copy of Death by Umbrella! The 100 Weirdest Horror Movie Weapons (foreword by our pal, Lloyd Kaufman of Troma).

Really Awful Movies: Ep 245 – Spookies

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On this episode of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, Spookies. Spookies is a 1986 American indie horror flick that has a lot of fans, despite its total ineptness.

The film was directed by Brendan Faulkner and Thomas Doran (and probably several others). The plot, such as it is, follows a lost kid and a group of folks looking to party.

They find an abandoned, sprawling mansion and decide to explore. Inside, there’s an aging, decrepit warlock who needs souls to keep his young bride alive.

A teen boy, Billy, is running away from home ’cause his folks forgot his birthday. This a pretty pointless plot device, but anyway…

He encounters a drifter, who is violently killed after the two make awkward banter.

Billy stumbles on an old mansion where a room is decorated for birthday celebrations. Thinking it is a surprise by his parents, he opens a present to discover…(no spoilers here!!). He’s attacked by a werecat with a hook for a hand, and that’s that.

At the same time, a group of teenagers and some older adults come across the mansion intending to have a party, believing the mansion to be abandoned. They discovered a Ouija board and start to play.

However, the warlock is pissed. And that’s when shit started going down.

BadMovies.org said, “The center of the movie chronicles people stumbling through a very dark house. Every so often a creature or ghost menaces the disarrayed cast, but the audience’s chief enemy is the lack of lighting.”

Join us!

Really Awful Movies: Ep 244 – Halloween 2018

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He’s back…Michael Myers is hunting Laurie Strode again in this new Halloween film.

Forty years have passed. “The Shape” has been confined to a mental hospital. Not only have forty years passed, Dr. Loomis has has well. In his stead, Dr. Sartain (a name, as forgettable as many elements of his film). The doc allows two Brit investigative journalist/podcasters to see if they can connect with Michael, who has been conspicuously mute for seemingly forever. They are allowed into the facility for the criminally insane. Michael Myers is not having any of it, and remains uncommunicative. One of the podcasters starts brandishing a replica mask, goading him.

Here we are folks. It’s Halloween, a film with big boots to fill. The original is a stone-cold classic, one of the best horror films of all time.

How does this one stack up? Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a grandmother now, still haunted by fears of Michael. She is a survivalist, estranged from the family, holed up in an armed compound with provisions, tons of arms, etc. Seems like she has a right to be worried. You see, in that time honored cliche tradition, there’s a prison transfer. Michael is being sent to another facility. You know what happens, right?

If you don’t, it’s disclosed in the trailer.

So now it’s up to Laurie Strode to put an end to the Bogeyman forever. Will she? Tune in!