Caliber 9 From Outer Space

From the outskirts of Tokyo to the slums of early 80's Madrid, there is no existential horror like just being TEEN. Bob McCully drops in to discuss Typhoon Club (1985) directed by Shinji Sōmai and Navajeros (1980) directed by Eloy de la Iglesia. From an arthouse take on messed-up coming-of age narratives, to the gritty world of Spanish quinque films, get ready for crime, sex, drugs, suicide, murder and a whole classroom full of ennui.

We will be announcing a Spoiler Territory section for both films, so if you haven't seen them before you listen, you can nevertheless avoid spoilers for Typhoon Club by skipping ahead to the 1:10:17 mark, and for Navajeros by skipping ahead to 1:50:21.

Check out Bob's great podcast, Split Your Head

Want to get in touch? You can reach us on [email protected]

Theme music: "The Cold Light of Day" by HKM. Check out HKM on #SoundCloud or Bandcamp

Dust off your leather armour and polish your glaives, it's time for high fantasy this week. Plus, erm, dinosaurs. Film-maker James T Williams returns to discuss a couple of childhood faves. We check out Krull (1983), directed by Peter Yates, and Planet of Dinosaurs (1977), directed by James K. Shea. Wizards, alien slugs, giant spiders, baby-faced Liam Neesons, stop-motion dinosaurs, possibly stop-motion actors... there's no end to the sense of wonder in this week's episode!

We will be announcing a Spoiler Territory section for both films, so if you haven't seen them before you listen, you can nevertheless avoid spoilers for Krull by skipping ahead to the 1:08:50 mark, and for Planet of Dinosaurs by skipping ahead to 1:33:57.

Watch James T Williams' excellent short film, Irrefutable Evidence here. James' other films can be found on YouTube at Joefest and Mr Glass Productions, and his 2007 feature, Waiting for Dawn is freely available here.

Want to get in touch? You can reach us on [email protected]

Theme music: "The Cold Light of Day" by HKM. Check out HKM on #SoundCloud or Bandcamp

Our closing music this week comes courtesy of The Briefest Echo of Lemon and their track "The Briefest Echo of Lemon" (K. Darke, T. Morton, J. Ramsden, A. McKinnon) © 2024

Enter... if you dare. It's squealing martial arts and ninja death mayhem as Ali joins us to discuss Enter the Dragon (1973), directed by Robert Clouse and Enter the Ninja (1981), directed by Menahem Golan.

Each of these films were seminal in their own way, the first as a tragically premature end-point for Bruce Lee's career, and the second as a statement of intent for the then-new Cannon Films Group. But we also address such existential questions as: IS "wait... what?" the new buzz-phrase of the decade? IS there any greater joy than watching a very small man beat up a very tall man? And of course, the age old conundrum: NINJA or NO NINJA?

We will be announcing a Spoiler Territory section for both films, so if you haven't seen them before you listen, you can nevertheless avoid spoilers for Enter the Dragon by skipping ahead to the 1:01:41 mark, and for Enter the Ninja by skipping ahead to 1:45:14.

Want to get in touch? You can reach us on [email protected]

Theme music: "The Cold Light of Day" by HKM. Check out HKM on #SoundCloud or Bandcamp

The perils of leaving civilisation behind. This week, we strike out into the wilderness to explore a couple of backwoods thrillers: the big daddy of them all, Deliverance (1972) directed by John Boorman and one of the many imitators that came in its wake, William Grefe's Whiskey Mountain (1977).

We discuss the world of hillbilly and hickspoloitation film in general, as well as addressing the vital issues of how to deal with drunken psychopaths on set, the unique challenge of acting convincingly dead and the disturbing American trend of camping without tents in movies.

We will be announcing a Spoiler Territory section for both films, so if you haven't seen them before you listen, you can nevertheless avoid spoilers for Deliverance by skipping ahead to the 1:07:38 mark, and for Whiskey Mountain by skipping ahead to 1:44:02.

Want to get in touch? You can reach us on [email protected]

Theme music: "The Cold Light of Day" by HKM. Check out HKM on #SoundCloud or Bandcamp

Sammy from the Gentlemen's Guide to Midnite Cinema is back to sing a love song to the Spaghetti Western with us. Well, not sing, exactly, but we sure do talk a lot about them. It's a bumper-length episode to cover this beloved genre for us, and we focus on a double feature of The Great Silence (1968), directed by Sergio Corbucci and Keoma (1976), directed by Enzo G. Castellari.

We will be announcing a Spoiler Territory section for both films, so if you haven't seen them before you listen, you can nevertheless avoid spoilers for The Great Silence by skipping ahead to the 1:22:41 mark, and for Keoma by skipping ahead to 2:26:05.

Want to get in touch? You can reach us on [email protected]

Theme music: "The Cold Light of Day" by HKM. Check out HKM on #SoundCloud or Bandcamp

Samm Deighan joins us today to talk about the cinema of resistance, as profiled in her fantastic new book, Revolution in 35mm: Political Violence and Resistance in Cinema from the Arthouse to the Grindhouse, 1969-1990. In addition, we discuss a double feature plucked from the pages of this fantastic book: Pierrot le Fou (1965), directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and The Awakening of the Beast (1970), directed by José Mojica Marins.

Samm is one of the finest film historians working today in the cult and exploitation cinema space (and beyond), and we were super excited to have her on the show. Our discussion takes in the diverse and fascinating world of cinematic political violence but we also take the time to marvel at Coffin Joe's plucky provocation, recognise Godard as one of film's most important innovators and bemoan the ridiculously long runtime of modern superhero movies.

It's not really possible to spoil The Awakening of the Beast, but we will call out Spoiler Territory for Pierrot le Fou. If you want to skip ahead from that point, you can rejoin the conversation at the 1:12:20 mark to avoid spoilers.

Buy Revolution in 35mm here.

Join Samm Deighan's Patreon here.

Listen to Samm's great podcast, Eros + Massacre here.

Want to get in touch? You can reach us on [email protected]

Theme music: "The Cold Light of Day" by HKM.

Check out HKM on #SoundCloud or Bandcamp

Happy Halloween! We're dropping this week's episode two days early to chime in on the spooky holiday fun. Dr Ethan Lyon gets all devilish with us as we check out Haxan (1922), directed by Benjamin Christensen, and then Beyond the Door (1974), directed by Ovidio Assonitis. In our usual roundabout way, our discussion of these films leads us to some unexpected questions such as: Is Halloween America's greatest ever export? Is the hyrax nature's sleaziest rodent? Are Beatrix Potter's idyllic stories actually a horrifying animal dystopia in disguise? And last but not least, how advisable is it to play wind instruments through your nose?

It's not really possible to spoil Haxan as it doesn't have a conventional plot, but we will call out Spoiler Territory for Beyond the Door. If you want to skip ahead from that point, you can rejoin the conversation at the 1:51:18 mark to avoid spoilers.

Want to get in touch? You can reach us on [email protected]

Rob's alternate sountrack for Haxan can be found on Spotify here

Theme music: "The Cold Light of Day" by HKM.

Check out HKM on #SoundCloud or Bandcamp

Life is too short not to binge William Friedkin movies so this week we're bringing you a deep Friedkin double feature. Jerry and Bryce Hamilton are in the house to discuss To Live and Die in LA (1985) and Bug (2006). Strap in and prepare to hear the best Chicago accent this side of Glasgow (Chiglasgo?), the Oxford English Dictionary's most proper usage of pornographic terms, and a thorough rundown of the frankly alarming proliferation of police forces operating inside the USA. Paranoia is in the air. The check is in the mail, and we love you, and we promise not to... well, let's leave the blue language for the podcast.

We will be announcing a Spoiler Territory section for both films, so if you haven't seen them before you listen, you can nevertheless avoid spoilers for To Live and Die in LA by skipping ahead to the 1:04:54 mark, and for Bug by skipping ahead to 1:35:38.

Want to get in touch? You can reach us on [email protected]

Theme music: "The Cold Light of Day" by HKM. Check out HKM on #SoundCloud or Bandcamp

The exploitation world of Star Wars rip-offs: you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. This week, we're joined by part-time Dark Lord of the Sith, Walter Kafka, to check out Starcrash (1978), directed by Luigi Cozzi, and The Man Who Saved the World - better known these days as Turkish Star Wars (1982), directed by Çetin İnanç.

In all honesty, we don't think it's possible to spoil these two slices of psychedelic sci-fi wonderment, so there will be no Spoiler Territory this week.

Buckle in for intergalactic David Hasselhoff hair, Caroline Munro in a vinyl bikini, diabolical Joe Spinell in a giant clawship and some absolutely mindbending insanity from the otherworldly desertscape of Cappadocia, Turkey.

Want to get in touch? You can reach us on [email protected]

Theme music: "The Cold Light of Day" by HKM. Check out HKM on #SoundCloud or Bandcamp

Stream / Buy "Eating the Cats" by The Kiffness here: https://onerpm.link/EatingTheCats

Ninjas ruled in the 1980's! James Eldred from the Cinema Oblivia podcast joins us this week to discuss two underground ninjasploitation classics: Miami Connection (1987), directed by YK Kim and Richard Park, and Ninja Terminator (1985), directed by Godfrey Ho. As well as marvelling in the bizarre delights of these insane films, we discuss the place of ninjas in the popular imaginations of Eastern and Western audiences, and also get an impromptu tour through the recesses of James' arcane knowledge of obscure prog rock and Japanese techno. Oh my God!!!

We will be announcing a Spoiler Territory section for both films, so if you haven't seen them before you listen, you can nevertheless avoid spoilers for Miami Connection by skipping ahead to the 1:06:52 mark, and for Ninja Terminator by skipping ahead to 1:50:38.

Want to get in touch? You can reach us on [email protected]

Theme music: "The Cold Light of Day" by HKM. Check out HKM on #SoundCloud or Bandcamp