This week we're talking Chicken Cottage, Rubber Dingy Rapids, Brave Mufasa and teaching you absolutely everything we know about Islam whilst dancing in the moonlight with Toploader.

It's categorically got to be Chris Morris' Four Lions with James from Hallmark of Greatness.

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Four Lions is a 2010 British political satire black comedy film directed by Chris Morris (in his feature film debut) from a screenplay written by Morris, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong.[3] It stars Riz Ahmed, Kayvan Novak, Nigel Lindsay, Arsher Ali and Adeel Akhtar. In the film, a group of dimwitted homegrown terrorist jihadis attempt to plan an attack in Britain.

Production on Four Lions began in late 2008, with writing partners Armstrong and Bain hired to complete the screenplay. Prior to this, Morris spent multiple years researching for the film, conducting interviews with terrorism and religion experts, law enforcement, and British Muslims. Principal photography took place in May 2009, with filming primarily done on location in Sheffield.

Four Lions first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on 23 January 2010, and was released in the United Kingdom on 7 May, by Optimum Releasing. The film grossed £6 million worldwide and received positive reviews from critics, with praise for the screenplay, direction, themes, humour, and cast performances (particularly Ahmed's).

Plot

Four radicalised British Muslim men living in Sheffield (three of whom are British Pakistani) aspire to become suicide bombers: Omar, who is deeply critical of Western society and interventionism; his dim-witted and anxious cousin Waj; Barry, a bad-tempered and rash English convert; and the naive Faisal. When Omar and Waj travel to an al-Qaeda-affiliated training camp in Pakistan, Barry recruits a fifth member, Hassan, after witnessing him pretending to commit a suicide bombing at a conference. The training in Pakistan ends in disaster when Omar accidentally destroys part of the camp attempting to shoot down a suspected drone; the pair are forced to flee. Omar later uses the experience to assert authority on the group on his return to Britain.

The group disagrees about what the target should be. Barry wants to bomb a local mosque as a false flag operation to "radicalise the moderates" and Faisal suggests blowing up a Boots because it sells contraceptives and tampons. Ahmed, Omar's conservative, pacifist brother, tries to talk him out of doing anything violent; however, Omar and his wife mock Ahmed for keeping his wife in a small room. After the group begins production of the explosives, Hassan is left to watch the safehouse as Barry, Waj and Faisal test detonate a small amount of TATP contained in a microwave, using a nearby fireworks show to cover the sound.

When they return, they find Hassan dancing with an oblivious neighbour. The group suspects they have been compromised and transport the explosives to a new location in grocery bags. Faisal trips up while crossing a field and is killed in the explosion. This angers Omar, who berates the others and leaves. Faisal's head is found, tipping off the authorities, and Omar tells the others and they reconcile. Omar decides to target the upcoming London Marathon due to having access to mascot costumes, which they use to conceal the bombs. Meanwhile, armed police raid Omar's brother's house.

At the Marathon, Waj expresses doubts about the morality of their plot, but Omar convinces him to go through with it. A police officer approaches the group, which leads Hassan to attempt to alert the officer about their plot, but is killed when Barry remotely detonates his bomb. The remaining three panic and run away as the police search for them. Omar has a change of heart, feeling guilt about manipulating Waj into dying for a cause he does not understand and attempts to prevent the attack. Two police snipers receive Omar's description, a man dressed as the Honey Monster, but one of them mistakenly kills a bystander in a Wookiee costume.

Waj is cornered by police in a kebab shop and takes the staff hostage. Omar calls Waj and convinces him to let all but one of the hostages go. Barry finds Omar, snatches his phone, and swallows the SIM card. However, as Barry begins to choke, a well-meaning passer-by attempts to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre, forcing Omar to flee before Barry's bombs are inadvertently detonated.

Omar hurries to a nearby phone store to buy a new SIM card to contact Waj but leaves empty-handed. He spots a colleague and borrows his phone. Omar attempts to talk Waj down, but his call is interrupted when the police charge in and kill the remaining hostage, whom they mistake for Waj. Waj's bomb is then detonated, killing everyone in the kebab shop. Distraught, Omar walks into a nearby pharmacy and detonates his own bomb.

In an epilogue, it is revealed the police later arrested Omar's innocent brother as a terrorist and abducted him to a black site; that they deflect responsibility for shooting the hostage and the bystander; and that Omar unknowingly killed Osama bin Laden when misfiring the rocket in Pakistan.

Cast

Riz Ahmed as Omar, a security guard with a slight temper who is the leader and the most rational of the terrorist cell

Kayvan Novak as Waj, Omar's dim-witted and anxious cousin; although dim-witted, he has enough sense to consult Omar or Barry before making decisions

Nigel Lindsay as Barry / Azzam Al-Britani, a rash convert with an explosive temper and the founder of the "Islamic State of Tinsley" who often comes to blows with Omar over who leads

Adeel Akhtar as Faisal, a naive member who always trusts Barry. He has a father who sees "creatures" that are not there.

Arsher Ali as Hassan Malik, a rapper who joins the cell after Barry witnesses him pretending to blow himself up in protest at a conference

Craig Parkinson as Matt, a security guard and Omar's coworker

Preeya Kalidas as Sofia, Omar's wife and a nurse in a local hospital

Julia Davis as Alice

Benedict Cumberbatch as Ed, a Special Branch Negotiator

Alex Macqueen as Malcolm Storge MP, a member of the Counter Terrorism Strategy Unit

Kevin Eldon as Sniper

Darren Boyd as Sniper

Mohammad Aqil as Mahmood, Omar's young son

Wazim Takir as Ahmed, Omar's devoutly conservative but pacifist brother

William El-Gardi as Khalid

This week its our final episode of our Mini Christmas season.

We're talking Ruining a day's trading in The World Trade Centre, Giant Clothes Pegs, Cream Cheese and The USA's most famous seamstress.

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Trading Places is a 1983 American comedy film directed by John Landis and written by Timothy Harris and Herschel Weingrod. Starring Dan Aykroyd, Eddie Murphy, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Denholm Elliott, and Jamie Lee Curtis, the film tells the story of an upper-class commodities broker (Aykroyd) and a poor street hustler (Murphy) whose lives cross when they are unwittingly made the subjects of an elaborate bet to test how each man will perform when their life circumstances are swapped.

Harris conceived the outline for Trading Places in the early 1980s after meeting two wealthy brothers who were engaged in an ongoing rivalry with each other. He and his writing partner Weingrod developed the idea as a project to star Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. When they were unable to participate, Landis cast Aykroyd—with whom he had worked previously—and a young but increasingly popular Murphy in his second feature-film role. Landis also cast Curtis against the intent of the studio, Paramount Pictures; she was famous mainly for her roles in horror films, which were looked down upon at the time. Principal photography took place from December 1982 to March 1983, entirely on location in Philadelphia and New York City. Elmer Bernstein scored the film, using Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera buffa The Marriage of Figaro as an underlying theme.

Trading Places was considered a box-office success on its release, earning over $90.4 million to become the fourth-highest-grossing film of 1983 in the United States and Canada, and $120.6 million worldwide. It also received generally positive reviews, with critics praising both the central cast and the film's revival of the screwball comedy genre prevalent in the 1930s and 1940s while criticizing Trading Places for lacking the same moral message of the genre while promoting the accumulation of wealth. It received multiple award nominations including an Academy Award for Bernstein's score and won two BAFTA awards for Elliott and Curtis. The film also launched or revitalized the careers of its main cast, who each appeared in several other films throughout the 1980s. In particular, Murphy became one of the highest-paid and most sought after comedians in Hollywood.

In the years since its release, the film has been praised as one of the greatest comedy films and Christmas films ever made despite some criticism of its use of racial jokes and language. In 2010, the film was referenced in Congressional testimony concerning the reform of the commodities trading market designed to prevent the insider trading demonstrated in Trading Places. In 1988, Bellamy and Ameche reprised their characters for Murphy's comedy film Coming to America.

This week we're starting our mini Christmas season with the absolutely, categorically a Christmas film, Lethal Weapon.

We learns abut what happens when you don't wear a bike helmet, talk US Suicide rates, The Queen of Christmas Darlene Love and how we should have all seen the signs that Mel Gibson was a bad un even in 1987.

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Lethal Weapon is a 1987 American action film directed by Richard Donner and written by Shane Black. It stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover alongside Gary Busey, Tom Atkins, Darlene Love, and Mitchell Ryan. In Lethal Weapon, a pair of mismatched LAPD detectives—Martin Riggs (Gibson), a former Green Beret who has become suicidal following the death of his wife, and veteran officer and family man Roger Murtaugh (Glover)—work together as partners.

The film was released on March 6, 1987. Upon its release, Lethal Weapon grossed over $120 million (against a production budget of $15 million) and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound. It spawned a franchise that includes three sequels and a television series, with a fourth sequel in development.

This week we're back with another Patron's choice. This time Mrs Planty and she's picked Teenage Vampire Flick The Lost Boys.

Join us as we talk the REAL Murder capital of the world, the top five illegal jobs, Nanuk of the North and DC Comic books.

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The Lost Boys is a 1987 American comedy horror film directed by Joel Schumacher, produced by Harvey Bernhard with a screenplay written by Jeffrey Boam, Janice Fischer and James Jeremias, from a story by Fischer and Jeremias. The film's ensemble cast includes Corey Feldman, Jami Gertz, Corey Haim, Edward Herrmann, Barnard Hughes, Jason Patric, Kiefer Sutherland, Jamison Newlander and Dianne Wiest.

The film follows two teenage brothers who move with their divorced mother to the fictional town of Santa Carla, California, only to discover that the town is a haven for vampires. The title is a reference to the Lost Boys in J. M. Barrie's stories about Peter Pan and Neverland, who, like vampires, never grow up. Most of the film was shot in Santa Cruz, California.

This week we're talking Peter Pan Syndrome, Hulk Hands, John C Reilly Muppets, Sleepwalking, boats and Hoes

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If you want the chance to pick an episode give us a quid a month and we'll shout you out too!

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Step Brothers is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Adam McKay, produced by Jimmy Miller and Judd Apatow, and written by Will Ferrell and McKay from a story by Ferrell, McKay, and John C. Reilly. It follows Brennan (Ferrell) and Dale (Reilly), two grown men who are forced to live together as brothers after their single parents, with whom they still live, marry each other. Richard Jenkins, Mary Steenburgen, Adam Scott, and Kathryn Hahn also star. Ferrell notably sings "Por Ti Volaré" during the film's climatic scene while Reilly plays drums. [2]

The film was released by Sony Pictures Releasing on July 25, 2008, two years after Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Both films feature the same main actors, as well as the same producing and writing team. It grossed $128.1 million and received mixed reviews.

Plot

39-year-old Brennan Huff and 40-year-old Dale Doback are immature adults still living at home. Brennan lives with his divorced mother, Nancy, and Dale lives with his widowed father, Robert. Robert and Nancy meet, fall in love, and marry, forcing Brennan and Dale to live together as step brothers. Brennan and Dale initially despise each other, and after Brennan defies Dale's order not to touch his drum set, a fight erupts between them. They are grounded with no television for a week and are ordered to find jobs within a month or be evicted.

When Brennan's arrogant classist younger brother Derek, a successful helicopter leasing agent, visits with his family, he openly ridicules Dale and Brennan, and Dale punches him in the face. Brennan is awed that Dale stood up to Derek, while Derek's discontented wife Alice finds Dale's courage attractive, and begins a sexual affair with him, unbeknownst to Derek. Brennan and Dale bond over their shared tastes and interests, particularly music. Brennan had given up singing after Derek and his friends jeered his performance in a school musical. Robert, meanwhile, schedules several job interviews for them, but they perform poorly and then are attacked on their way home by school children. Robert and Nancy reveal that with Derek's help they plan to sell the house, retire and travel the world on Robert's sailboat. They also sign Brennan and Dale up for therapy and set up bank accounts for them to live off of until they find work. Brennan falls in love at first sight with his therapist, Denise, but the attraction is not mutual.

At Derek's birthday party, Dale and Brennan present a pitch video for their entertainment company, "Prestige Worldwide", that includes a music video, "Boats 'N Hoes", which they filmed on Robert's boat without his knowledge. The presentation backfires when the video shows the boat crashing, shattering Robert and Nancy's sailing dreams and straining their marriage. On Christmas, Robert and Nancy announce they are getting divorced, upsetting Brennan and Dale, who blame each other. Brennan and Dale go their separate ways, live independently and gradually become functioning adults.

Brennan gets a job at Derek's helicopter leasing firm and volunteers to oversee a prestigious event, the Catalina Wine Mixer. He hires the catering company that employs Dale and invites Robert and Nancy to attend. The party goes well until the lead singer of the hired Billy Joel cover band loses his temper with a heckler and is hustled away. Derek blames Brennan for the fiasco and fires him. Robert encourages Brennan and Dale to be their eccentric child-at-heart selves again and perform to save the party. The pair take the stage and Brennan sings "Por Ti Volaré" while Dale accompanies him on drums. Brennan's moving performance brings the extended family back together and entrances Denise. Dale, meanwhile, breaks off his relationship with Alice.

Six months later, Robert and Nancy are back together living in their old house, while Brennan and Dale have turned "Prestige Worldwide" into a successful entertainment company that owns six karaoke bars and two karaoke restaurants. As a Christmas surprise, Robert has turned his boat into a tree house for Brennan and Dale to play in, complete with hats and masks. Denise, who has come to the dinner with Brennan, admires the way he looks in a pirate hat. During the ending credits, Dale and Brennan exact their revenge on the schoolyard bullies.

Cast

Will Ferrell as Brennan Huff

Bryce Hurless as young Brennan Huff

John C. Reilly as Dale Doback

Mary Steenburgen as Nancy Huff

Richard Jenkins as Dr. Robert Doback

Adam Scott as Derek Huff

Dmitri Schuyler-Linch as young Derek Huff

Kathryn Hahn as Alice Huff

Andrea Savage as Denise

Lurie Poston as Tommy Huff

Elizabeth Yozamp as Tiffany Huff

Logan Manus as Chris Gardocki

Travis T. Flory as Redheaded Kid

Shira Piven as Nurse

Seth Morris as Doctor

Wayne Federman as Blind Man

Maria Quiban as TV Anchor

Danielle Schneider as Receptionist

Gillian Vigman as Pam Gringe

Brian Huskey as Interviewer

Seth Rogen as a Sporting Goods Manager

Chris Henchy as First Homebuyer

Mary Catherine Hamelin as First Homebuyer

Ian Roberts as Male Therapist

Phil LaMarr as Second Homebuyer

Erica Vittina Phillips as Second Homebuyer

Rob Riggle as Randy

Ken Jeong as Employment Agent

Horatio Sanz as Lead Singer

Jake Szymanski as Caterer

Matt Walsh as Drunk Corporate Guy

Brent White as Therapy Patient

This week Planty is in his Element as both Derby County and Leeds get beat and Michael Sheen does a really good Brian Clough in The Damned United. John is less impressed.

Join us as we visit Saltergate, Elland Road, Old Wembley and The Baseball Ground.

We find out what happened to Derby Baseball Club, Batman Vs Don Revie and why films lie to us about cars and songs.

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The Damned United is a 2009 sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling 2006 novel The Damned Utd – a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Clough's ill-fated tenure as football manager of Leeds United in 1974.

Originally proposed by Stephen Frears, he pulled out of the project in November 2007, and Hooper took over. Filming took place from May to July 2008. Marking the fifth collaboration between screenwriter Peter Morgan and actor Michael Sheen, who plays Clough, the film was released in the United Kingdom on 27 March 2009 and in North America on 25 September.

Despite controversy due to the film's numerous historical inaccuracies and its poor performance at the box office, The Damned United received critical acclaim upon release, with particular praise given for Sheen's performance. It received numerous award nominations including the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor, the ALFS Award for British Supporting Actor of the Year, the Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama and Best Actor in a Supporting Role and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain Award for Best Feature Film Screenplay.

Don Revie, the highly successful manager of Leeds United, is appointed manager of England in 1974. Revie's replacement at Leeds is Brian Clough, the former manager of Derby County and a fierce critic of Leeds because of their violent and physical style of play under Revie. Clough's long-time assistant, Peter Taylor, has not joined him at Leeds.

The roots of Clough's conflict with Leeds originate in a 1968 FA Cup match between Leeds, the leaders of the First Division and Derby, who were struggling near the bottom of the Second Division. Excited, Clough had made many preparations to welcome Revie, but Revie failed to even acknowledge Clough upon entering the Baseball Ground. Derby lost 2–0.

Although Clough initially blames the brutality of the Leeds players, he and Taylor recognise that their side are not good on a technical level. They sign veteran Dave Mackay, along with several young players. Derby chairman Sam Longson is extremely anxious about the investment. In 1969 Derby are promoted to the First Division, but in their first league game against Leeds they lose 5–0. The club win their first ever League championship in 1972, earning them a European Cup campaign the following year. They go through to the semi-finals against Juventus. Against Longson's advice, Clough uses his best squad in the last match before the semi-final against Leeds, purely out of pride and determination to beat Revie. Several Derby players suffer injuries, and Juventus subsequently defeat them 3-1, and Clough publicly lambasts Longson.

Taylor suffers a heart attack, and Clough tries to secure his position by offering his and Taylor's resignations to protest Longson's unwillingness to fund further signings. He is outraged when the directors accept their resignations. Support by Derby fans and players raise Clough's hopes of being reinstated, but Mackay is appointed manager instead. He and Taylor are then offered jobs at Brighton & Hove Albion. They agree to take the jobs after taking an all-expenses-paid holiday in Majorca. There, Clough agrees to take control of Leeds after being approached by their representative. Taylor, however, argues the case for staying at Brighton, and after a bitter quarrel, the two go their separate ways.

Preparing for the 1974 season, Clough alienates his Leeds players in their first training session, first by accusing them of winning all of their awards by cheating, and then making them start with a 7-a-side game as if they were schoolchildren. When team captain Billy Bremner protests that Revie never made them do this, Clough reminds them that he is not Revie and threatens a severe punishment for any player who mentions the former manager's name or methods again.

The season starts with a widely anticipated Charity Shield match against Liverpool at Wembley. The event is marred when Bremner gets into a fight with Kevin Keegan. Both are sent off, and in turn throw their shirts off and walk off the pitch bare-chested in defiance. Leeds lose the match and Bremner is given a two-month suspension, forcing Leeds to start the season without their influential captain. As a result, Leeds suffer a horrendous start to the season and are in danger of relegation only one season after winning the title.

After Bremner and the players air their grievances to the board, the club terminates Clough's contract after just 44 days; he forces them to pay an enormous severance package. Afterwards, Clough agrees to do a final interview with Yorkshire Television, but finds Revie there to confront him. After a war of words, Clough brings up the incident at the 1968 FA Cup, and Revie claims to have not known who the rookie manager was at the time. After the interview, Clough drives down to Brighton and reconciles with Taylor.

The film's epilogue reveals that Revie failed as England manager and spent the rest of his career working in the Middle East, where he was accused of financial mismanagement. Clough and Taylor, meanwhile, reunited at Nottingham Forest, where they repeated their achievements with Derby by helping them win promotion to the First Division and then winning the title, and also two European Cups in succession, in 1979 and 1980. The film ends with the caption: "Brian Clough remains the greatest manager the England team never had."

This week we're Kooky and Spooky with what is possibly the best of the Boomer TV to film remakes of the 1990's.

Join us as we talk cancelled Hollywood producers, Orion's money worries and some of the finest casting of 1991.

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The Addams Family is a 1991 American supernatural black comedy film based on the characters from the cartoon created by cartoonist Charles Addams and the 1964 television series produced by David Levy.[4] Directed by former cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld in his feature directorial debut, the film stars Anjelica Huston, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance as Morticia Addams, Raul Julia as Gomez Addams, and Christopher Lloyd as Fester Addams. The film focuses on a bizarre, macabre, aristocratic family who reconnect with someone whom they believe to be a long-lost relative, Gomez's brother Fester Addams.

The film was noted for its turbulent production. Originally developed at Orion, the film went $5 million over budget due to constant rewrites throughout shooting; health problems of people involved in the filming; and an overall stressful filming for Sonnenfeld himself, which caused multiple delays. The rise in production costs from the film's $25 million budget to $30 million led Orion, financially struggling and fearful of another big-budget flop, to sell the film to Paramount, who completed the film and handled the film's domestic distribution. Orion distributed the film internationally through Columbia Pictures. The film was commercially successful, making back almost seven times its production costs, and was followed by a sequel, Addams Family Values.

This week we're off to Ireland's Premier Theme Park where we learn about Banshees, Pan-Am and the demise of The Big Bopper.

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High Spirits is a 1988 fantasy comedy film written and directed by Neil Jordan and starring Steve Guttenberg, Daryl Hannah, Beverly D'Angelo, Liam Neeson and Peter O'Toole. It is an Irish, British and American co-production.

Set in a remote Irish castle called Dromore Castle, County Limerick, High Spirits is a topsy-turvy comedy with thematic leanings towards Ireland's rich folklore regarding ghosts and spirits, where the castle starts to come to life with the help of such denizens.

Note: Looks like the Gramlins got in the podcast Machine and ruined the last ten mins (I mean of this podcast, that can't be hard!) but this is a reuploaded and fixed version for you all.

Sorry about that, we've sent John out back to murder Gizmo.

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This week we welcome Aaron from the Zed1 Podcast ( @zed1podcast ) As a Patron he has the opportunity to pick a film for his episode and boy did he pick a belter in Young Frankenstein.

Join us as we talk The Black Forest, Frau Blucher *neigh*, Ovaltine and The Village People.

Zed1 Podcast is The UK's premier Audio Drama about a couple stuck in the Zombie apocalypse.

Think Shaun of The Dead meets The Archers.

https://zed1podcast.weebly.com/

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Young Frankenstein is a 1974 American comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks. The screenplay was co-written by Brooks and Gene Wilder. Wilder also starred in the lead role as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. Peter Boyle portrayed the monster.[4] The film co-stars Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard Haydn, and Gene Hackman.

The film is a parody of the classic horror film genre, in particular the various film adaptations of Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus produced by Universal Pictures in the 1930s.[5] Much of the lab equipment used as props was created by Kenneth Strickfaden for the 1931 film Frankenstein.[6] To help evoke the atmosphere of the earlier films, Brooks shot the picture entirely in black and white, a rarity in the 1970s, and employed 1930s-style opening credits and scene transitions such as iris outs, wipes, and fades to black. The film also features a period score by Brooks' longtime composer John Morris.

A critical and commercial success, Young Frankenstein ranks No. 28 on Total Film magazine's readers' "List of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films of All Time",[7] No. 56 on Bravo's list of the "100 Funniest Movies",[8] and No. 13 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 funniest American movies.[9] In 2003, it was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the United States National Film Preservation Board, and selected for preservation in the Library of Congress National Film Registry.[10][11] It was later adapted by Brooks and Thomas Meehan as a stage musical. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay (for Wilder and Brooks) and Best Sound.

In 2014, the year of its 40th anniversary, Brooks considered it by far his finest (although not his funniest) film as a writer-director.[12]

This week we're doing Werewolves, Cujos, Gremlins and Avengers as we talk about 1981's The Howling.

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The Howling is a 1981 American horror film directed and edited by Joe Dante. Written by John Sayles and Terence H. Winkless, based on the novel of the same name by Gary Brandner, the film follows a news anchor who, following a traumatic encounter with a serial killer, visits a resort secretly inhabited by werewolves. The cast includes Dee Wallace, Patrick Macnee, Dennis Dugan, Christopher Stone, Belinda Balaski, Kevin McCarthy, John Carradine, Slim Pickens, and Elisabeth Brooks.

The Howling was released in the United States on March 13, 1981, and became a moderate success, grossing $17.9 million at the box office. It received generally positive reviews, with praise for the makeup special effects by Rob Bottin. The film won the 1980 Saturn Award for Best Horror Film and was one of the three high-profile werewolf-themed horror films released in 1981, alongside An American Werewolf in London and Wolfen.

Its financial success aided Dante's career, and prompted Warner Bros. to hire Dante and Michael Finnell as director and producer, respectively, for Gremlins (1984). A series consisting of seven sequels arose from the film's success.