In this week’s podcast, social media in horror through a discussion of two low-budget films, Panic Button, a British feature and iMurders, both of which feature social media. The latter features a chatroom killer and the former, a social media-heavy reality show whose contestants are being messed with mid-air.
Billy Dee Williams and William Forsythe are two of the notables in iMurders!
We discuss the above movies, as well as Catfish, Videodrome and the influence of Marshall McLuhan.
In the infamous Manos: the Hands of Fate, a family (and their little dog too) gets lost in the back roads of rural Texas and stumbles upon a hidden, sinister, devil-worshiping cult led by the fearsome Master and his hunched over man-servant Torgo.
Guess roadside assistance was hard to come by. General rule: avoid abandoned homes in the middle of nowhere, tended to by weirdo midget manservants.
There is a very odd subplot involving a vice squad busting teens making out in convertibles, with booze stashed in glove compartment.
The film’s plot (threadbare that it is) revolves around a vacationing family who lose their way on a road trip. After a long drive in the Texas desert, the family finds themselves trapped at a lodge maintained by a polygamous pagan cult (don’t you hate it when that happens?) Then, they attempt to escape as the cult’s members decide what to do with them.
Manos is infamous for its technical deficiencies, especially its considerable editing and continuity flaws; its soundtrack and visuals not being synchronized; dull-as-dirt pacing; truly terrible acting; and several scenes that are seemingly inexplicable or disconnected from the overall plot, such as a couple making out in a car or The Master’s wives brawling with one another.
The movie, very unfairly described as one of the worst of all time is out on Blu-Ray. It makes a perfect stocking stuffer.
Another 1970s animal attack feature, Day of the Animals is full of corniness and surprises.
“If there’s a god left to believe in…you’ve made a jackass out of me for years!”, exclaims an enraged Leslie Nielsen in one of the film’s most outrageous moments.
The Naked Gun star plays an ad man who, along with a bunch of other tourists, is trekking through the California woods with some tour guides. Unfortunately for them, but fortunately for us, there’s a problem with the ozone layer and animals are being affected.
There are lots of foreboding shots of predatory animals. We love nature run amok and this one is pretty good. There’s a few inventive kills, a couple of true surprises, and good (well, maybe not so good, they are inexplicably attacking, after all) -natured silliness all around.