HAPPY GODZILLA DAY!!!

FILM RANKINGS UPDATED AFTER EVERY EPISODE!!!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Gojira A.K.A. Godzilla(1954) isn’t just the birth of the kaiju genre. It’s a haunting requiem for a nation scarred by nuclear devastation. Far from the campy spectacle its imitators would inspire, this original masterpiece is somber, mournful, and deeply human. Every roar, every collapsed building, feels like a cry of grief and guilt echoing through postwar Japan. It’s not just a monster movie. It’s a cinematic elegy, and one of the most profoundly moving films ever made.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/sunni.a.darkish.cinema.podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our Film Rankings:

164 - Film Rankings After Gojira A.K.A. Godzilla (1954)

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NOTE: In case we failed to mention the end date for the secret word discount at the store when recording this episode, it is November 9, 2025.

Episode Segments:

1. Welcome
2. Outside The Podcast Discussion
3. Film Studies Lesson Of The Day
4. Breaking News
5. What Is This Film About? - Synopsis, Genres, Themes, Insights, And Facts (Curated by Sunni)
6. Vital Statistics
7. Things That Happen In The Film
8. Analysis - Social Commentary, Inspirations, And Cultural Placement (Curated by James)
9. Trivia
10. Critical Reception (Including our rankings)
11. Final Thoughts

Music:

Exit The Premises, Loping Stings, Danger Storm

By Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Intro Remix 2 by Timbre Milton.

-- https://freesound.org/s/86862/ --

License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0

Breaking News Intro

By: Luis Humanoide (Via pixabay)

FILM RANKINGS UPDATED AFTER EVERY EPISODE!!!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

House of Dark Shadows (1970) is what happens when a gothic soap opera decides it’s tired of subtlety and goes full fangs-out chaos. Everyone’s pale, dramatic, and vaguely doomed, and somehow that’s exactly what makes it glorious. It’s melodrama soaked in blood, complete with capes, candlelight, and at least three too many love triangles. Basically, it’s like Days of Our Lives if everyone was a vampire and no one believed in boundaries.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/james.a.darkish.cinema.podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/sunni.a.darkish.cinema.podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our Film Rankings:

163 - Film Rankings After House Of Dark Shadows (1970)⁠⁠

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NOTE: In case we failed to mention the end date for the secret word discount at the store when recording this episode, it is November 2, 2025.

Episode Segments:

1. Welcome
2. Outside The Podcast Discussion
3. Film Studies Lesson Of The Day
4. Breaking News
5. What Is This Film About? - Synopsis, Genres, Themes, Insights, And Facts (Curated by Sunni)
6. Vital Statistics
7. Things That Happen In The Film
8. Analysis - Social Commentary, Inspirations, And Cultural Placement (Curated by James)
9. Trivia
10. Critical Reception (Including our rankings)
11. Final Thoughts

Music:

Exit The Premises, Loping Stings, Surf Shimmy

By Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Intro Remix 2 by Timbre Milton.

-- https://freesound.org/s/86862/ --

License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0

Breaking News Intro

By: Luis Humanoide (Via pixabay)

Before tentacles and madness became shorthand for Lovecraftian terror, the roots of cosmic horror lay in the grotesque, the distorted, and the uncanny reflections of human fragility. This episode traces the evolution from Gothic decay and psychological distortion to the vast, indifferent universe of Lovecraft’s mythos. Across decades, horror cinema absorbed these ideas, transforming philosophical dread into a horrifying visual language. Ultimately, Grotesquerie and Cosmic Horror reveal that the most frightening truth is not what lurks beyond comprehension, but that comprehension itself may be the ultimate terror.

FILMS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

The Avenging Conscience (1914), The Fall of the House of Usher (1928), Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), The Island of Lost Souls (1932), The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), Cat People (1942), The Thing from Another World (1951), The Quatermass Xperiment (1955), House of Usher (1960), The Haunted Palace (1963), Die, Monster, Die! (1965), Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968), The Dunwich Horror (1970), Alien (1979), City of the Living Dead (1980), The Evil Dead (1981), The Beyond (1981), The House by the Cemetery (1981), The Thing (1982), Re-Animator (1985), Aliens (1986), From Beyond (1986), The Curse (1987), Evil Dead II (1987), Prince of Darkness (1987), The Resurrected (1991), Alien 3 (1992), Army of Darkness (1992), Necronomicon (1993), In the Mouth of Madness (1994), The Lurking Fear (1994), Castle Freak (1995), The Call of Cthulhu (2005), The Mist (2007), Prometheus (2012), Under the Skin (2013), The Endless (2017), Annihilation (2018), Color Out of Space (2019), The Lighthouse (2019)

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Music:

Twisting, Half Mystery, Exit The Premises

By Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

FILM RANKINGS UPDATE⁠⁠

Today we are going back to take another look at one of our all-time favorites. Night of the Living Dead (1968) isn’t just about zombies; it’s about fear, survival, and how the living can turn on one another faster than the dead. Romero served up biting social commentary with a side of entrails, and honestly, it still hits pretty hard today. This is one classic that refuses to stay dead.

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⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/james.a.darkish.cinema.podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/sunni.a.darkish.cinema.podcast/⁠⁠⁠

Our Film Rankings:

⁠⁠RV 3.02 - Film Rankings After Revisiting Frankenstein (1931)⁠

Email us:

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NOTE: In case we failed to mention the end date for the secret word discount at the store when recording this episode, it is November 2, 2025.

Music:

Rocket, Exit The Premises, Loping Stings, Blue Ska

By Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Intro Remix 2 by Timbre Milton.

-- https://freesound.org/s/86862/ --

License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0

Mumblegore represents the convergence of independent realism and horror, merging the introspective naturalism of Mumblecore with the psychological unease of genre cinema. Its horror arises from domestic disquiet, moral ambiguity, and the gradual collapse of trust, transforming everyday interactions into sources of dread. Mumblegore redefines realism as a site of horror, exposing the fragility of human connection within the intimacy of contemporary life.

FILMS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

Funny Ha Ha (2002), Mutual Appreciation (2005), The Puffy Chair (2005), Hannah Takes the Stairs (2007), Home Sick (2007), Pop Skull (2007), Baghead (2008), Nights and Weekends (2008), The House of the Devil (2009), Hysterical Psycho (2009), A Horrible Way To Die (2010), Kill List (2011), The Innkeepers (2011), V/H/S (2012), Creep (2014), Be My Cat: A Film for Anne (2015), The Ritual (2017), I Trapped the Devil (2019), The Night House (2020)

Instagram:

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/james.a.darkish.cinema.podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/sunni.a.darkish.cinema.podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Email us:

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Find our store on Facebook and Instagram:

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Music:

Twisting, Half Mystery, Exit The Premises

By Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

FILM RANKINGS UPDATED AFTER EVERY EPISODE!!!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Imagine The Office if Michael Scott got replaced by a loudspeaker demanding you murder your coworkers before lunch. The Belko Experiment is corporate team-building by way of Battle Royale. It's a blood-soaked memo from HR that says “kill or be downsized.” It’s absurd, chaotic, and weirdly motivational in a “maybe I should update my résumé” kind of way. With explosive headgear, stapler-based combat, and more office carnage than a Black Friday sale at Staples, it’s the most fun you’ll ever have questioning late-stage capitalism.

Instagram:

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⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/james.a.darkish.cinema.podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/sunni.a.darkish.cinema.podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our Film Rankings:

⁠⁠162 - Film Rankings After The Belko Experiment (2016)⁠

Email us:

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NOTE: In case we failed to mention the end date for the secret word discount at the store when recording this episode, it is November 2, 2025.

Episode Segments:

1. Welcome
2. Outside The Podcast Discussion
3. Film Studies Lesson Of The Day
4. Breaking News
5. What Is This Film About? - Synopsis, Genres, Themes, Insights, And Facts (Curated by Sunni)
6. Vital Statistics
7. Things That Happen In The Film
8. Analysis - Social Commentary, Inspirations, And Cultural Placement (Curated by James)
9. Trivia
10. Critical Reception (Including our rankings)
11. Final Thoughts

Music:

Exit The Premises, Loping Stings, Sock Hop

By Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Intro Remix 2 by Timbre Milton.

-- https://freesound.org/s/86862/ --

License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0

Breaking News Intro

By: Luis Humanoide (Via pixabay)

FILM RANKINGS UPDATED AFTER EVERY EPISODE!!!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Ah yes, Pumpkinhead, the movie that taught us two timeless lessons: never mess with rural witchcraft, and always read the user agreement when summoning a demon. Equal parts gothic tragedy and monster mayhem, it’s a backwoods fever dream where Lance Henriksen’s grief powers a vengeance creature with the world’s angriest skincare routine. Between the fog, the folklore, and the sheer majesty of Stan Winston’s creature design, this one’s not just a cult classic. It’s a mud-slinging, soul-swapping, pumpkin-headed masterpiece of Southern Gothic absurdity.

Instagram:

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⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/james.a.darkish.cinema.podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/sunni.a.darkish.cinema.podcast/⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our Film Rankings:

⁠⁠161 - Film Rankings After Pumpkinhead (1988)⁠

Email us:

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NOTE: In case we failed to mention the end date for the secret word discount at the store when recording this episode, it is October 26, 2025.

Episode Segments:

1. Welcome
2. Outside The Podcast Discussion
3. Film Studies Lesson Of The Day
4. Breaking News
5. What Is This Film About? - Synopsis, Genres, Themes, Insights, And Facts (Curated by Sunni)
6. Vital Statistics
7. Things That Happen In The Film
8. Analysis - Social Commentary, Inspirations, And Cultural Placement (Curated by James)
9. Trivia
10. Critical Reception (Including our rankings)
11. Final Thoughts

Music:

Exit The Premises, Loping Stings, Arroz Con Pollo

By Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Intro Remix 2 by Timbre Milton.

-- https://freesound.org/s/86862/ --

License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0

Breaking News Intro

By: Luis Humanoide (Via pixabay)

Emerging from the literary rebellion of the 1980s, Splatterpunk transformed horror into a weapon of defiance, eschewing restraint in favor of transgressive extremity, graphic corporeality, and moral confrontation. Blending punk’s anarchic ethos with horror’s appetite for taboo, it rejects comfort and civility to expose the grotesque undercurrents of culture, violence, and identity. Across literature and film alike, the subgenre’s signature lies not simply in gore, but in the meaning of excess: blood and viscera become acts of protest, satire, and surreal art. Whether through Troma’s chaotic humor, Cronenberg’s psychological dissection of the body, or Japan’s hallucinatory gore operas, Splatterpunk stands as horror’s most unapologetically confrontational form—an evolving testament to the power of shock as critique and the body as a canvas for rebellion.

FILMS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

Shivers (1975), Rabid (1977), The Brood (1979), Scanners (1981), The Toxic Avenger (1984), Class of Nuke ’Em High (1986), Redneck Zombies (1987), Sgt. Kabukiman NYPD (1991), Tromeo and Juliet (1996), Dead Alive (1992),  House of 1,000 Corpses (2003), The Lost (2006), 100 Tears (2007), Come Back to Me (2014), Terrifier (2016), The Machine Girl (2008), Tokyo Gore Police (2008), RoboGeisha (2009), Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl (2009), Helldriver (2010), Mutant Girls Squad (2010), Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead (2011)

BOOKS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE

The Hellbound Heart (1986), The Light at the End (1986)

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Music:

Twisting, Half Mystery, Exit The Premises

By Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

OFF SCHEDULE SPECIAL!!!

Here are 5 films that we watched outside of our regular podcast schedule. ENJOY!!!

Curse of Crom: The Legend of Halloween (2022)

A sleepy town, an ancient curse, and a group of teens who should’ve stayed home. It’s part folklore, part fright night, and all pumpkin-spiced chaos.

WNUF Halloween Special (2013)

A faux TV broadcast from 1987 that feels too real. Local news, haunted houses, and analog eeriness collide in this perfectly warped slice of retro Halloween nostalgia.

Out There Halloween Mega Tape (2022)

The long-lost sequel you didn’t know you needed, complete with static, VHS ghosts, and late-night weirdness galore. It’s like flipping through cursed public access television at 3 a.m.

Hocus Pocus (1993)

Three witchy sisters, a talking cat, and enough Halloween charm to fill a cauldron. Campy, quotable, and utterly immortal.

Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

The Sanderson Sisters rise again, older, bolder, and still up to no good. It’s nostalgic magic brewed with a wink and a broomstick selfie.

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Music:

Broken Reality, Exit The Premises

By Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Intro Remix 2 by Timbre Milton.

-- https://freesound.org/s/86862/ --

License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0

This Subgenre Spotlight examines Hicksploitation, a unique branch of horror and exploitation cinema rooted in the tension between urban modernity and rural isolation. Defined by grotesque families, backwoods violence, and class-based anxiety, the subgenre transforms the countryside into a site of both moral transgression and cultural reflection. Across its evolution from early moral scandals to grindhouse terror, camp satire, and contemporary homages Hicksploitation has remained a mirror for fears about class, geography, and civilization’s thin veneer. It dramatizes the collision between outsiders and the “other” America, turning stereotypes of poverty, ignorance, and inbreeding into both spectacle and critique. Through its mixture of violence, dark humor, and social commentary, Hicksploitation continues to explore how isolation erodes civility and how horror thrives in the margins of society.

FILMS DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:

Child Bride (1938), Two Thousand Maniacs! (1964), Mudhoney (1965), Spider Baby or the Maddest Story Ever Told (1967), Daddy’s Deadly Darling (1972), Deliverance (1972), Deranged (1974), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Eaten Alive (1976), The Hills Have Eyes (1977), Rabid (1977), Motel Hell (1980), Redneck Zombies (1987), Ozone! Attack of the Redneck Mutants (1986), Mad Jake (1990), Nothing But Trouble (1991), Cabin Fever (2002), High Tension (2003), House of 1000 Corpses (2003), Wrong Turn (2003), The Devil’s Rejects (2005), Hatchet (2006), Tucker and Dale vs. Evil (2010)

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Music:

Twisting, Half Mystery, Exit The Premises

By Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/