Really Awful Movies: Ep 270 – Pet Sematary original and remake

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In this installment of the Really Awful Movies Podcast, the hosts do a side-by-side comparison of these two indelible horror genre films, the 1989 vs the 2019 Pet Sematary. So, what’s the fuss all about?

The original, while not a runaway hit, has its backers as well as detractors. While the remake has a whole slew of detractors. Perhaps it’ll take a while for people to warm to it, but that’s unlikely.

The story is familiar to most: a cat is run over on a New England highway. And the father, along with a neighbor accomplice, buries the thing only to have it return.

The characters are terrific, as well they should be. After all, Stephen King wrote the source novel (and King even wrote the screenplay to the 1989 original).

While many of us are sick to death of cat scares, we will make an exception here with Pet Sematary (both films). Church the cat (derived from Sir Winston Churchill) is a bona fide animal star. Even if the movie built around him, is more of an asteroid than a sun.

Still, as is the ethos of our podcast, we celebrate as much as we criticize. We hope we were being fair to Pet Sematary, both versions.

If you haven’t seen either, do so. And definitely rock out to the stand-out Ramones song of the same name. You’ll be glad you did, and you’ll be glad to listen (we hope) to the Really Awful Movies Podcast.

Really Awful Movies: Ep 269 – Q The Winged Serpent

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A monster movie set in New York City? That’s enough to hook us in that’s for sure. With the passing of noted horror/genre director Larry Cohen, we decided to take a look at one of his lesser-known efforts with Q The Winged Serpent.

Produced and directed by Larry Cohen and starring the awesome Michael Moriarty, Candy Clark, and the incredible David Carradine, and Richard Roundtree, this one is an exercise in guerrilla film-making. There doesn’t seem to be a permit to be found for some of these location shoots.

A bunch of Big Apple dwellers end up dead, their heads torn off. And NYPD detectives Carradine and Roundtree (Shaft!) are tasked to get to the bottom of it.

And Michael Moriarty is a sad-sack bank robber who’s the getaway driver for a bunch of jewel thieves. He’s the one who first gets wind of the crazy attacks and doesn’t know what to do.

Ultimately, Q is a monster movie, a throwback to those 50s creature features we’ve come to know and love. It’s got incredible location shots including Canal Street, and of course the iconic Chrysler Building. And Moriarty gets to show off some piano chops. David Carradine brings a certain charming indifference to the cop role, but hey, it’s still super fun. You’ll have fun watching this one.

Really Awful Movies: Ep 268 – April Fool’s Day

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It’s coming up on April Fool’s Day folks. And to celebrate the auspicious occasion, we delve into this 1986 slasher that is an under-the-radar near-classic.

The plot couldn’t be more deceptively simple: a group of college coeds getting together to blow off some steam. That’s the premise of about 1000 horrors during the slasher boom. But April Fool’s Day gives us plenty of detours along the way.

The disparate group of friends gathers on a dock. They’re about to be shepherded over to a remote island, the family home of the wonderfully (and WASP-y) named Muffy St. John. And the group is treated to a bunch of April Fool’s pranks along the way – you know the ones, your trick doorknobs and dribble cups.

Suddenly, one of them vanishes. And this sets the ball rolling.

Too smart by half, April Fool’s Day easily stands apart from its date-themed horrors (apart from the grand daddy and acknowledged supreme effort that is John Carpenter’s Halloween, but that’s a given).

It’s a wonderfully inviting and subtle work, directed by Fred Walton, the man who gave us When a Stranger Calls. The characters are well-written, well-rounded, and well-developed. The scene-setting (gorgeous BC) works in its favor.

Horror fans will love seeing the ever-competent Amy Steel (Friday the 13th Part 2 and Part III).

Join us on the Really Awful Movies Podcast. We do deep-dives into genre flicks of all stripes, predominantly horror.