Cinema Shock

It's time for a new longform series here on Cinema Shock! Want to know what it is? Well, you'll have to listen to this week's bonus episode for the announcement! Hint: It's a follow-up to one of our previous series. Hmmm...

Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

For this installment of Cinema Shock Roulette, we’re taking a dive into what might be Shane Black’s most overlooked gem: THE NICE GUYS.

Released in 2016, this hilarious and hardboiled detective flick pairs Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as mismatched investigators stumbling through a tangled conspiracy involving porn, pollution, and the auto industry — all set against the grimy backdrop of 1970s Los Angeles.

While this episode stands alone, it also serves as a spiritual epilogue to our Shane Black: Black Christmas series. If KISS KISS BANG BANG was the film that reignited Black’s career, THE NICE GUYS is the one that distilled his voice to its purest form: razor-sharp dialogue, bruised masculinity, and a real affection for Hollywood’s forgotten underbelly.

We’ll trace the film’s long road to production, the near-miss casting choices, its critical reception, and its cult status as one of the best buddy comedies of the 21st century.

Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Todd's back! After a 3-episode absence, Mr. Todd A. Davis makes his return to Cinema Shock. In this bonus episode, we catch up with Todd, who recounts his adventures Trekking in Los Angeles. And since we're in-between series, you know what that means! It's time to announce another randomly-picked film for the next Cinema Shock Roulette episode! What'll it be? You'll just have to listen to find out!

After a nearly decade-long break from filmmaking following THE HOLY MOUNTAIN, Alejandro Jodorowsky returned in 1989 with what many consider his most emotionally resonant film: SANTA SANGRE.

Produced by Claudio Argento (brother of Italian horror legend Dario Argento), SANTA SANGRE fuses the surrealism and religious symbolism of Jodorowsky’s earlier work with the lurid style of Italian giallo and psychological horror. The result is a blood-soaked Oedipal nightmare told through a carnival lens — part art film, part exploitation, and all Jodorowsky.

In this episode, we explore how SANTA SANGRE came to be, the real-life trauma and spiritual beliefs that inspired it, and how it marked a turning point in Jodorowsky’s creative life. We’ll also trace its critical reception, its cult legacy, and its surprising emotional depth — even as it delivers some of the most grotesque imagery in his entire filmography.

Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

After the underground success of EL TOPO, Alejandro Jodorowsky was given total creative freedom — and a sizable budget courtesy of John Lennon and Yoko Ono — to create a follow-up film.

The result was THE HOLY MOUNTAIN, a psychedelic, symbolic, and boundary-smashing spiritual epic. From the opening frames, where Jodorowsky himself plays a mystical Alchemist shaving the heads of two nude women, it’s clear this is no ordinary film. THE HOLY MOUNTAIN is a journey through war, capitalism, religion, power, illusion — and ultimately, transcendence.

In this episode, we explore the making of THE HOLY MOUNTAIN, including how Jodorowsky cast the film using Tarot cards, the intense spiritual training he put his actors through, and how he crafted some of the most unforgettable imagery ever put to film. We also trace the movie’s rocky distribution history, its critical reevaluation, and the cult legacy that’s made it a rite of passage for adventurous cinephiles.

Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the annals of cult cinema, few films are as infamous — or as influential — as Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1970 masterpiece EL TOPO.

A violent, hallucinatory blend of spaghetti westerns, Zen Buddhism, surrealist theater, and esoteric philosophy, EL TOPOfollows a black-clad gunslinger on a spiritual journey of transformation and destruction. It shocked audiences, confused critics, and helped define the midnight movie craze after its unorthodox release strategy — including an underground New York run championed by none other than John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

In this episode, we explore how EL TOPO came to be, the countercultural movement that embraced it, and the unlikely influence it had on everyone from Dennis Hopper to David Lynch. We’ll also dig into Jodorowsky’s uncompromising vision, the controversy surrounding its imagery, and its lasting legacy in the world of transgressive cinema.

Show Notes:  

📰Read: Is 'El Topo' A Con? by Vincent Candy (The New York Times, 1971): https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/23/archives/is-el-topo-a-con-is-el-topo-a-con.html

Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Before he became the godfather of midnight movies and a psychedelic prophet of cinema, Alejandro Jodorowsky made his directorial debut with a black-and-white surrealist nightmare called FANDO Y LIS.

Based on a play by Fernando Arrabal and made on a shoestring budget in Mexico, FANDO Y LIS caused riots when it premiered and was banned in its home country. But it also marked the beginning of a bold and uncompromising artistic vision—one that would go on to shape cult cinema for decades.

In this episode, we trace Jodorowsky’s journey from avant-garde theater provocateur to first-time filmmaker, explore the chaotic production and reception of FANDO Y LIS, and discuss how this taboo-breaking debut laid the groundwork for the films that would follow.

Show Notes: 

📺Watch scenes from Sacramental Melodrama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-jIkgB76LY

Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this Roundtable discussion, we're going to announce the subject of our next 4-episode series! Hint: It's gonna be one of the strangest filmmakers we've ever discussed on Cinema Shock! We're excited for it and hope you will be too, but you'll have to listen to this bonus episode to know who it's gonna be!

In this episode of Cinema Shock Roulette, we dive into the totally bonkers, synth-fueled, ninja-packed world of MIAMI CONNECTION, a forgotten 1987 indie action film that rose from obscurity to become a full-blown cult phenomenon decades later.

Filmed in Orlando, funded by a Taekwondo grandmaster, and featuring a rock band called Dragon Sound who fight crime in their spare time, MIAMI CONNECTION is a singular vision of friendship, martial arts, and cocaine-smuggling ninjas on motorcycles.

We’ll explore how the film was made on a shoestring budget by martial artist/philosopher Y.K. Kim, how it was panned and lost for decades, and how it was rediscovered and resurrected by Alamo Drafthouse to become a midnight movie sensation.

Theme Song: "There's Still a Little Bit of Time, If We Hurry and I Mean Hurry" by Slasher Film Festival Strategy.

This episode was written, produced and edited by Gary Horne, Justin Bishop, and Todd A. Davis.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Well, we just wrapped up our 7 episode series on the career of Sam Raimi, and you know what that means: It's time for another Cinema Shock Roulette episode!

Roulette episodes are randomly selected from an ongoing list (which you can find over on Justin's Letterboxd) and are designed to function as standalone episodes, not part of a larger series. It allows us to explore the history behind cult films that may not fit into a larger theme or filmmaker's filmography.

What's our next Roulette episode gonna be? We don't know! We'll choose it during the course of this episode, so you'll have to listen to this week's Roundtable to find out what it is!