Cinema Yūgen

He answers the phone and immediately calms a fan who calls him a hero — and from that small, human moment this episode unfurls into a lively, unguarded portrait of Joe R. Lansdale. Listen as a nervous admirer becomes a collaborator in a conversation that moves from Roadkill chapbooks to martial arts, audio books, and the strange, funny lines that make Lansdale’s characters leap off the page.

Through quick anecdotes and sharp, comic riffs, Lansdale traces how influence is blended into voice, how discipline (and some old-fashioned whimsy) make stories sing, and why his East Texas roots keep pulling him back. You’ll hear behind-the-scenes notes on adaptations, the documentary All Hail the Popcorn King, and the oddball images — seals, Martian apes, Kmart boots — that reveal how he writes toward truth with a wry grin.

Short, intimate and warm, this episode reads like sitting on a porch with a legendary storyteller: equal parts craft talk, character study and contagious enthusiasm. Tune in to feel the magic of a writer at work and come away with lines you’ll repeat and a hunger to read everything he’s ever written.

CHECK IT OUT:

https://www.joerlansdale.com/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12860922/

When Todd (LeJon) happens across a high-tech fortune‑teller booth, he thinks he's just here for an interview. But Athena (Dawna Lee Heising), the AI within, begins to pry at the corners of his life, unspooling a past he has tried to bury. What starts as a routine application becomes a delicate reckoning between human frailty and machine insight. This is The Job.

Director Craig Railsback weaves suspense, tenderness, and a wry optimism into a compact sci‑fi parable — a story that asks whether technology will mirror our worst instincts or help us find our better selves. Follow Todd's choices, Athena's surprising compassion, and the moments that force both to change.

CHECK IT OUT:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37543408/

https://youtu.be/p4i_Q2NS_PQ

https://www.youtube.com/eyeonentertainment

When a once‑lost B‑movie resurfaces, it doesn’t just cough up footage — it tells a life story. In this episode Kent Hill sits down with director Mark Terry to trace the strange, gritty odyssey of Samurai Priest Vampire Hunter: a 2009 release that vanished into the HD transition, only to be resurrected years later through obsessive restoration, new scenes, and the magnetic presence of Tim Thomerson.

Listen as Mark recounts scraped budgets, Russian‑arm camera miracles, stunt‑filled car chases, near‑casts that might have changed everything, and the oddball moments that made this film a cult treasure. It’s a behind‑the‑scenes road movie about making movies — full of humor, nostalgia, and the thrill of bringing a legend back to life.

CHECK IT OUT:

https://samuraipriest.com/

https://vinegarsyndrome.com/products/samurai-priest-vampire-hunter

https://youtu.be/yzzs3NI06ns

https://hill33kjw.podbean.com/e/kent-s-classics-tim-thomerson/

Step into a fever dream of 90s action-movie nostalgia where earnest heroes, mismatched villains with eye-patches, and frozen raccoon minions collide in a Christmas of chaos. This episode follows filmmaker Travis Irvine as he traces the wild, booze-soaked origins of Killer Raccoons! 2!: Dark Christmas in the Dark! and how a college prank evolved into a full-blown homage to the gloriously bad sequels of the 90s.

Through laugh-out-loud anecdotes—dead raccoons repurposed as props, late-night script-writing sessions playing Under Siege 2 on repeat, and an unexpected appearance by a controversial cult figure—the conversation becomes a love letter to low-budget ingenuity. Whether you’re in it for the nostalgia, the audacity, or the pure, unfiltered joy of cinematic mischief, this episode treats the film as a living, breathing artifact of cult film-making.

CHECK IT OUT:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8042004/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk

https://filmthreat.com/reviews/killer-raccoons-2-dark-christmas-in-the-dark-comedy-review/

https://www.indicanpictures.com/upcoming/p/killer-raccoons-2

https://www.amazon.com/Killer-Raccoons-Travis-Irvine/dp/B08GFYF1NX

https://youtu.be/--5CxZqwu-U

Step into a night where cameras never stop and the line between performance and terror blurs. Host Kent Hill guides you through Raymond Wallace’s dizzying found-footage chiller, Paranormal Investigations, then sits down with star Jamie Bernadette to unravel the movie’s meticulous craft, the pulse‑quickening scares, and the real-life brushes with the uncanny that shaped the film.

Between backstage confessions, haunted childhood stories, and the claustrophobic choreography of multi-camera shoots, this episode reads like a slow burn horror tale—one where every shadow, every static readout, and every whispered cue tightens the tension until the final gasp. Tune in and let the storytelling pull you into a film that is clever, grisly, and impossible to turn away from.

CHECK IT OUT:

https://youtu.be/VRVtWZDLi8k

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34791027/?ref_=nm_knf_t_4

https://www.rayolightproductions.com/hennesyhousemurders

It’s October — the spooky season — and we take you straight into Paranormal Investigations where a reality TV crew doesn't know they’re shooting their final episode. What starts as slick promos, backstage banter, and the familiar theatrics of ghost hunting show slowly peels back into something far darker: a night of blood, shocking revelations, and razor‑sharp satire that wants you to question what’s real and what’s produced for the camera.

Join host Kent Hill and writer‑director Raymond Wallace as they unpack a film that plays like a show within a show — multi‑cam precision, character moments that make you care, and a slow‑burn dread that explodes when it must. This episode threads behind‑the‑scenes secrets, inventive scares, and the eerie charm of a movie that refuses to be just found footage. Check the links in the description and settle in — this is one haunted ride you’ll feel in your bones.

CHECK IT OUT:

https://youtu.be/VRVtWZDLi8k

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34791027/?ref_=nm_knf_t_4

https://www.rayolightproductions.com/hennesyhousemurders

From a torrentially wet first day to a 2 a.m. pool fall, this episode tears the curtain back on The Handyman — a scrappy, action-packed film that evolves from cheeky home-invasion slapstick into full-throttle, wrench-and-hammer mayhem. Hear the writer, director and the film’s grunting, boxer-short-clad hero recount broken props, improvised cameos, midnight shoots and the brutal crowbar-and-hammer kills that had test audiences gasping.

They’ll take you through the comedy-rooted rework of the script, the practical and AI-assisted effects that turned miniatures and stock footage into a Rambo-style finale, and the small-budget hustle that pushed the team to steal shots after being kicked out of an Airbnb. Tune in if you love raw behind-the-scenes stories where chaos, creativity and a stubborn hero make a movie that keeps punching — literally — until the credits roll.

CHECK IT OUT:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37922826/

https://www.amazon.com/Handyman-Alex-T-Hwang/dp/B0CV4P233K

https://youtu.be/Qt1dm_kL2Js

When Kent Hill sits down with Mike Caravella, the conversation becomes a road trip through late-night video stores, desert skies and a low-budget dream that refused to die. From a cancer scare to COVID isolation, Mike's journey into the Mojave gave birth to Astral Plane Drifter — a ragged, hilarious and hallucinatory mashup of westerns, kung fu, and space-horror.

Listen as Mike traces the films strange inspirations, guerrilla shoots under freezing stars, midnight screenings, and the festival run that turned a homemade short into a cult-fever feature. This episode is a celebration of the messy, joyous alchemy that turns obsession, community and a little bit of weed into a midnight-movie legend.

CHECK IT OUT:

https://astralplanedrifter.com/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21328706/

https://youtu.be/pCxuxCVssV8

When a fearless young writer pitched a daring idea — “Mad Max on water” — no one expected the epic that followed. In this episode Kent Hill sits down with Peter Rader, the screenwriter whose audacious debut became Waterworld: the practical-stunt spectacle that weathered critic storms, inspired theme-park spectacles, and now gleams in a definitive 4K restoration.

Rader walks us through the mythic drafts, the strange beats that stuck (yes, even the infamous opening), and the scrapped fantasy flourishes that could have made the world even stranger — from Poseidon-like villains to mutated henchmen. Alongside Daniel Griffith’s documentary, the conversation finally peels back the tabloid myths and reveals the creative heart of a production that was as ambitious as it was turbulent.

This is a Hollywood Cinderella story told from the inside: naiveté, audacity, and the stubborn persistence of storytelling that transformed a polarizing flop into a beloved, enduring cult classic.

CHECK IT OUT:

https://themovieisle.com/2023/07/10/4k-uhd-review-arrow-videos-waterworld-limited-edition/

https://www.peterrader.com/

https://youtu.be/oEp382HIisE

https://youtu.be/e0fXanrJOnk

https://youtu.be/-GQZMdNtHNU

In this episode we ride alongside a rediscovered film and the people who refused to let it die: Riverbend, a daring 1989 drama about three Black Vietnam veterans who confront a racist sheriff and reclaim their town. From the thrill of finding untouched 35mm prints in a forgotten vault to the intimate memories of cast and crew, the conversation unfolds like a detective story and a love letter to overlooked Black cinema.

Listen as actors recall the camaraderie, the losses, and the bold vision behind a movie that vanished for 35 years only to return with renewed urgency in today’s climate. Between restoration notes, festival anecdotes, and the promise of a Juneteenth Blu-ray release, this episode invites you to witness a cultural resurrection and a film that resonates now more than ever.

CHECK IT OUT:

https://www.americancinematheque.com/now-showing/riverbend-10-14-25/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNWkO5leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFQSGtNZzlEV2plZFhvOG9IAR4eITHcW5BtR6Qkcfa-Sz4J1qHNdjxnkOcEtB9323lKwgEKksxzLU_rcqBVyQ_aem_K_09LH9g2TpV7gAbuIHwcg

https://shop.reelblack.com/products/riverbend-blu-ray-pre-order-limited-edition

https://youtu.be/ejcnpEDSvpE

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOpKqWiDvKn/