Certified Forgotten

We're doing something a little different this week for Certified Forgotten! It's South by Southwest time for the Matts, as they check out the slate of cinematic offerings at Austin's biggest film festival. In honor of SXSW, Donato and Monagle have picked some of their favorite festival titles, old and upcoming. It's easy for festival films to fall through the distribution cracks—hopefully our picks don't suffer that same fate.

If you're a longtime Certified Forgotten listener, you know how co-hosts Matt Donato and Matthew Monagle feel about Oz Perkins. They've debated The Blackcoat's Daughter, reviewed Longlegs, and have made their stances known. So where does The Monkey fit into their discussion? It's the least "Oz Perkins" of any Oz Perkins movie, much to Donato's pleasure. The question is, will this ultra-gory, weirdly humorous, more "Midnighter" Stephen King adaptation also work for Monagle?

It's a privilege and a shame that we can cover a Kiyoshi Kurosawa title on the podcast. How is Lionsgate burying a Kurosawa movie that gets 0 Rotten Tomatoes reviews upon release and only 2 more over the last decade and a half? That's the conversation O.G. horror podcaster and filmmaker Elric Kane starts on this week's podcast. We talk about Kane's new haunting release The Dead Thing (now on Shudder), and how Kurosawa's Retribution is a strange cousin (as well as Kurosawa's legacy). Dating apps, ghosts, and bones y'all!

No, we're not talking about Mary Poppins. This week's episode highlights an underseen Shudder original that delves into the surreal, sinister, and psychosexual. Mercedes Bryce Morgan's Spoonful of Sugar is a fairy tale that gets nasty in multiple ways, about a babysitter and family who are never what they seem. We welcome horror journalist Vannah Taylor (Fangoria, Moviejawn) as our esteemed guest, who thinks you're due for a dose of Morgan's filmic medication. Journey down the rabbit hole as we chat about hallucinations, erotic thrillers, and so much more.

In this very special episode of the Certified Forgotten podcast, Matt Monagle and Matt Donato are joined by actor and filmmaker Kate Siegel (Midnight Mass, Hush) who goes behind-the-scenes on the making of her V/H/S/Beyond segment "Stowaway" and then kicks off a fun discussion about Lesley Manning's Ghostwatch. What starts with references to The Human Centipede ends with a call to get active in your community, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

When is a spoiler not a spoiler? In Drew Hancock's Companion, one of the most important parts of the story is introduced in most of the marketing material, which begs the question as to whether you can talk about the movie without talking about... well, you know. In this episode of Certified Forgotten's Uncertified series, Matt Monagle and Matt Donato tackle this and other pressing questions tied to Companion. Here's a non-spoiler alert: one of the Matts absolutely loved it, but you'll have to listen to find out which one.

Who's ready to talk about a movie about body horror and beauty that made headlines this week? No, the other one! In this episode of the Uncertified podcast series, Matthew Monagle and Matt Donato talk about Sasha Rainbow's Grafted, a New Zealand horror film that, like many upcoming body horror releases, will get comparisons to The Substance but actually deserves them, too.

Who better to discuss a film like Rawhead Rex than the current king of low-budget horror? In this episode of the Certified Forgotten podcast, we're joined by Jordan Downey - co-writer and director of The Head Hunter, ThanksKilling, and the opening segment in the Critics' Choice Awards-nominated V/H/S/Beyond - to talk about his favorite Clive Barker adaptation - or at least, his favorite Clive Barker adaptation where an ancient Irish demon gives a deacon a golden shower. 

A slow-burn period piece with atonal music and undertones of guilt? You heard right, it's time for the first Monagle Movie of 2025! In this episode of Uncertified, Matts Donato and Monagle discuss Thordur Palsson's The Damned, a horror film set in the Arctic circle in the 1800s. Listen now to learn why it's a perfect companion piece for films like The Wind or AMC's The Terror.

New year, new ambitions, same Certified Forgotten. We're ringing in 2025 with an absolute dream of a guest: David Dastmalchian. We're double-dipping on this episode because podcast fans would be correct to remember we covered 2012's Entrance with Jackson Stewart. We don't see that as an issue — it's pretty rad that multiple guests would want to champion such a "small" film. Plus, we have plenty to chat with David about, considering he's up for a Saturn award, releasing comic books, and appearing on goblin-led podcasts atop his fantastic acting career.