For a series that uses so many forward slashes in its titles that it tanks its SEO, 2024’s “V/H/S/Beyond” is somewhat of an outlier for the 7th film in a franchise. Sure, it still has multiple shorts involving bros dropping the f-bomb constantly, but it does seem to be trying to get BEYOND that. Does it succeed? Better give this a listen because no way are you going to put all the forward slashes in the right place to find it to watch. A third one “/” between the “S” and the “B”??? GTFO.
Episode 331 - OctJOEber 3: Embodiment of Evil (2008)
In this time of political strife candidates in their 70’s are one thing, but septuagenarian sexual monster bad boy serial killers are quite another. In 2008’s ‘Embodiment of Evil’, Coffin Joe gets released from jail 40 years after the last film to find that the world might not be quite the place for an old man with gross monster finger nails. Has Joe still got the rizz, or is rizz not compatible with the continuation of blood? You’ll find out, if you dare…
Episode 330 - OctJOEber 2: This Night I'll Possess Your Corpse (1967)
OctJOEber continues with Joe up to his ol’ hijinks in 1967’s “This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse”, moving him from Universal Monster territory to Hammer Horror territory. If you wondered what José Mojica Marins would do with a bigger budget and longer running time, wonder no longer. Torture dungeons, secret laboratories, hunchbacked assistants, scantily clad ladies, even more tarantulas, this ain’t your daddies Coffin Joe!
Episode 329 - OctJOEber 1: At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964)
OctJOEber begins with our introduction to that rapscallion Coffin Joe in 1964's 'At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul'. It's like a forgotten Universal Monster film, but with more beatings and Nietzschian philosophy. Start growing out your fingernails and get ready to continue your bloodline.
Episode 328 - Horror Roundup, September 2024
Take off yer 10-gallons and fill them with a bunch of paper scraps with horror movies written on them, ‘cause the boys done did a live roundup! Not RECORDED live mind you, but they did sit in the same room and watch 2024’s ‘Abigail’, 1987’s ‘StageFright’, and 2022’s ‘Influencer’, so that’s kind of the same thing, right? Right? Also, NYC got Derek sick, so please take pity on him in this one.
Episode 327 - Necronomicon '24
If listening about an event that you did not attend is your bag, ho boy, do we have an episode for you! The gang discuss their experiences at Necronomicon 2024, plus talk a little Cuckoo and Alien: Romulus. New listeners, maybe start on another episode as this has more noodling around than your Nona making pasta.
Episode 326 - Loop Track (2023)
You might think that 2023’s ‘Loop Track’ is time travel related with a name like that. You stupid fool, you’ve just given away that you’re some kind of sci-fi nerd and are not correctly associating the titular term with hiking. How embarrassing for you. I recommend you listed to this episode immediately and learn how wrong you are, and also about the perils of hiking in New Zealand, something you have obviously never done. Shame. Shame. SHAME.
Episode 325 - Stopmotion (2023)
Get outta here Harryhausen, there’s a new stop motioneer here, namely director Robert Morgan with his 2023 film ‘Stopmotion’. Forget about the California Raisins, Wallace & Gromit, and Yukon Cornelius, those are for last millennium’s children. Kids these days like their stop motion like their chicken nuggets, gross and meaty, and this has meat for days. But is just having meaty puppets enough to make a film good, or does it also need things like believable characters and non-played out tropes?
Episode 324 - "The Mezzotint" by M.R. James
Are you a lover of antiquated tedious methods of art making AND stories that are sold as being ghost filled but aren’t? Boom, check out ‘The Mezzotint” by M.R. James, an author renowned for his ghost stories that don’t actually feature ghosts. How do you get to be 'the ghost story guy’ without writing about ghosts you ask? LISTEN AND FIND OUT.
Episode 323 - "Where the Summer Ends" by Karl Edward Wagner
Are you ready for our hottest and sweatiest episode yet with plenty of banging? You better be, because we are covering Karl Edward Wagner’s “Where the Summer Ends”, and also the place next to JR’s is under construction or something and there’s a bit of hammering in the background for parts of the show. Listen along for the tale of THE VINE THAT ATE THE SOUTH.
Episode 322 - When Evil Lurks (2023)
A lot of people come to me and ask, “Where evil lurks?” or, “Why evil lurks?” or even, “How evil lurks?” Sometimes I even get a, “Who evil lurks?” Obviously the only correct question is, “When evil lurks?”, to which the answer is the 2023 Argentine film ‘Cuando Acecha la Maldad’. As for “What evil lurks?”, well, you’ll have to listen to find out.
Episode 321 - Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell (a.k.a. The Japanese Evil Dead) (1995)
Are you an Evil Dead fan but think its biggest downside is not being Japanese enough? Good thing ‘Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell', a.k.a. 'The Japanese Evil Dead' exists. And you can watch it right now! And then listen to the boys talk about it! And then listen as they go off about ‘Late Night with the Devil’ for half the episode!
Episode 320 - Night Shift & Skeleton Crew
You may not realize it in 2024, but there was once a time when people hadn’t heard of Stephen King, and I’m not talking about the billions of years just prior to his birth. When he was an up-and-coming author he used to be hungry and wrote with an edge, something easily forgotten in the intervening 40+ years of writing. The boys discuss Night Shift and Skeleton Crew to examine the writings of this curious young man before he became America’s spooky uncle.
Episode 319 - Horror Roundup, May 2024
New year, new roundup. Fall of the House of Usher, Suitable Flesh, Godzilla Minus One, Godzilla x Kong, Monarch, Destroy All Neighbors, Late Night With The Devil, Immaculate, Vivarium, The Menu, Alan Wake, Control, Alan Wake 2. SIX MONTHS OF THINGS REVIEWED.
Episode 318 - The Boogeyman (2023)
After a long hiatus the boys are back, and have on their their their their their boogie shoes for the 2023 loosely-based-on-a-Stephen-King-story ‘The Boogeyman’. Is Mike Flanagan’s ‘Absentia’ too extreme for you? Here’s the training wheels version of that to show your impressionable, Stranger Things loving teens. At least they changed the monster from the story to no longer moonlight as a therapist, because really, how is this thing going to be able to pull off a degree plus the hours of supervised post-master's work in the mental health counseling field? WE’RE CALLING YOU OUT STEPHEN KING.
Episode 317 - Moreauvember: The Island of Doctor Moreau, Part 4
The gang bids the island life behind as they finish up ‘The Island of Doctor Moreau’ and reflect back on their long strange journey. Is it even possible to live a normal life after living with beast folk so long? Maybe, if you’re not a milquetoast Prendick that is. That’s the moral of the book BTW.
Episode 316 - Moreauvember: The Island of Doctor Moreau, Part 3
Was Dean Koontz inspired to write 1989’s ‘Midnight’ based on ‘The Island of Doctor Moreau’? Does getting a goat testicle transplant increase vitality? Does Doctor Moreau deliver as good a dialogue on pleasure and pain as Pinhead? Does an Ox wave its tail when happy? Does Derek know any Green Day songs? All these questions, and more, in our coverage of the middle part of The Island of Doctor Moreau. No answers though.
Episode 315 - Moreauvember: The Island of Doctor Moreau, Part 2
Moreauvember continues with the gang’s review of the first third of H.G. Wells’ ‘The Island of Doctor Moreau’. Everyone focuses on the plight of the Beast Folk, but nobody dives into the sad life of Montgomery, who just wants to tell the sad story about how he got roped into this whole animal transformation business and nobody wants to hear it. Don’t worry though, we do.
Episode 314 - Moreauvember: The Island of Doctor Moreau, Part 1
Fun fact: In the space of four years H.G. Wells wrote ‘The Time Machine’, ‘The Invisible Man’, ‘The Island of Doctor Moreau’, and ‘The War of the Worlds’. Is there a greater four year grand slam than that? Tune in, Moreauvember begins now. Don’t forget your beast folk.
Episode 313 - Perfect Blue (1997)
Have we ever covered an animated film before? I honestly can’t even remember after all these episodes. Anyhow, the gang watches 1997’s ‘Perfect Blue’, a.k.a., the movie you’ve probably seen shots copied from in most Darren Aronofsky films, the most comprehensive version of a Giallo, or, the anime you could use as a measure of the quality of the art to show your grandmother if her only conservative view was that she did not like anime and absolutely nothing else about sex or violence.