Dark Discussions Podcast

NOSFERATU, the silent film from 1922, is considered one of the most important films of all time. It’s German Expressionism along with the vampire lore of the story has made it a classic. Remade in 1979 by Werner Herzog, and then now in 2024, by Robert Eggers, the new version has gotten quite the acclaim.

From IMDB: A gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman and the terrifying vampire infatuated with her, causing untold horror in its wake.

NOSFERATU was also written by director Robert Eggers. The cast includes Bill Skarsgard, Nicholas Hoult, Lily-Rose Depp, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, and Willem Dafoe. The movie has received fine reviews from both critics and audiences alike. Your co-hosts take a look at the film and give their thoughts.

The latest German film, THE CALENDAR KILLER (2025), is a new addition to the serial killer film. Taking place in Berlin, the movie follows an unknown serial killer that pits a wife and husband to make a choice to kill one or the other.

From IMDB: Klara is going to die today unless she kills her husband instead. The Calendar Killer has given her that impossible choice. When Jules starts his night shift at a safety helpline for lonely women on their way home Klara’s call reaches him.

The film is directed by Adolfo J. Kolmerer from a script by co-written by Sebastian Fitzek and Susanne Schneider. The performers include Luise Heyer, Sabin Tambrea, Friedrich Mucke, and Rainer Bock. Your co-hosts take a look at this early 2025 film and give their thoughts.

Long ago, the Universal Horror film, THE WOLF MAN (1941), was groundbreaking. Turning Long Chaney Jr. into a star, it was gothic, and filled with fortunetellers and the occult, and took place in the atmospheric country of Wales. Now, Leigh Whannell (UPGRAGE (2018)) has directed the reboot for Universal Pictures.

From IMDB: A family at a remote farmhouse is attacked by an unseen animal, but as the night stretches on, the father begins to transform into something unrecognizable.

The movie stars Christopher Abbott, Julia Garner, and Matilda Firth. The screenplay is cowritten by Leigh Whannell and Corbett Tuck. The film was released on January 17, 2025 by Universal and Blumhouse. Your cohosts take a look at this new lycanthrope film and give their thoughts.

They say the stunt man gets no respect. Out of all the things that are in movies, they are unrecognized at the Oscars. Many times folks have tried to push for an award and category for the stunt men and women and yet each year it never happens. THE FALL GUY, a film from 2024, actually turns the stuntman into one of the main characters.

From Rotten Tomatoes: “He’s a stuntman, and like everyone in the stunt community, he gets blown up, shot, crashed, thrown through windows and dropped from the highest of heights, all for our entertainment. And now, fresh off an almost career-ending accident, this working-class hero has to track down a missing movie star, solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. What could possibly go right?”

THE FALL GUY is directed by former stuntman David Leitch, who is best known for directing JOHN WICK (2014), ATOMIC BLONDE (2017), DEADPOOL 2 (2018), BULLET TRAIN (2022), among others. Written by Drew Pearce and starring Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling, the movie received fantastic reviews from critics and audiences alike. Though it wasn’t the phenomenal box office success the producers had hoped, the movie has gotten a second life on streaming. Your co-hosts take a look at the film and give their thoughts.

We are already at the end of January in 2025, yet 2024 is now in the rearview mirror.  It’s time to take a look at the prior year and go through all the many films that came out that were considered horror and genre films.   Dark Discussions and its co-hosts put together their year in review of all that was good and bad in 2024.  Was it one of the better years in genre cinema or did it have too many missteps to be one to remember?

Each of your co-hosts put together a list of movies they thought were good enough to recommend. Two lists were procured.  This included a list of horror films and a list of other speculative fiction films. Afterwards we then combined those lists and came up with the Dark Discussions definitive lists, in both categories, as best of the year. Some obvious films like HERETIC and NOSFERATU appear but also little known films like EXHUMA and THE KING’S TIDE were too.

But don’t forget, we also have more lists:  Our top and worst scenes, scream queens, breakout star, and anything else you can think of. Dark Discussions wraps up last year in a nice tight bow and gives their listeners a good many films to go out and search for.

The nation of Norway has made a number of disaster movies including THE WAVE (2015) and QUAKE (2018). Both titles are pretty basic but spot on what the disaster is. The latest in what is considered a trilogy from the same producing team is the 2022 film THE BURNING SEA (2022). This one takes place on an oil rig but expands the remote location to include the entire North Sea.

From IMDB: "An oil platform dramatically goes down on the Norwegian coast, and researchers try to find out what happened when they realize this is just the start of something even more serious."

Norway, one of the largest oil producers in the world, is a perfect country to make a film about oil rigs. However, is the movie a message film, or popcorn fun? Critically receiving acceptable reviews while audiences were not as keen, the film was originally released earlier in 2021 but made its American debut in February 2022. Your co-hosts take a look at this latest in the trilogy and give their thoughts.

Australia continues to produce horror films, and like many movies, they can be hit or miss. The horror-thriller from early 2024 entitled YOU'LL NEVER FIND ME (2024) is the latest. After playing the festival circuits, including Tribeca, it had its United States release on Shudder on March 22nd, 2024.

From IMDB: "Patrick, a strange and lonely resident, lives in a mobile home at the back of an isolated trailer park. During a violent storm, a mysterious young woman appears at his door seeking shelter from the elements."

The film was jointly directed by Josiah Allen and Indianna Bell from a script by Indianna Bell. The film stars Brendan Rock, Jordan Cowan, and Elena Carapetis. Though receiving fairly good reviews from critics, audiences were a bit cooler on it. Your co-hosts take a look at the film and see if it lives up to the critics' thought.

With January 2025 underway, it is time to visit what is coming this year to cinemas, video-on-demand platforms, as well as those genre films that are going straight to disc. Also, what's new in video games, television, and genre novels? Last year, 2024 was a heck of a good year and there were a lot of great flicks. This year once again there seems to be a lot of great ones coming. Plus also more superhero flicks. Reboots and remakes and sequels are also arriving too.

Halloween Boutique Psychotronic Reviews once again is back with their look forward to the new year and what seems to interest them most. Some of the more high profile items spoken of include TRON ARES, BALLERINA, ANDOR Season 2, THE MONKEY, and THE HOUSEMAID.

But it doesn't end there. Other items talked about include DAREDEVIL, THE CONJURING LAST RIGHTS, THE BRIDE, and ALIEN EARTH. And then at the very end we list off other films and talk about some of the latest news about movies and genre cinema.

Vampires are one of the most popular movies, but their "cousin", the werewolf, always takes a backseat when it comes to movie monsters. There have been a few great werewolf films over the years, with the occasional hidden gem in-between. Now, late 2024, the film simply titled WEREWOLVES (2024) appeared at theaters.

From IMDB: "Two scientists try to stop a mutation that turns people into werewolves after being touched by a super-moon the year before."

WEREWOLVES was directed by Steven C. Miller, and written for the screen by Matthew Kennedy. The movie stars Frank Grillo, Lou Diamond Phillips, Katrina Law, among others. It was released by Briarcliff Entertainment on December 6, 2024. Receiving mixed reviews, the film was evenly split. We take a look at the movie and give our thoughts.

It's our 650th episode. Over 13 years of podcasting. But even so, we usually don't hit the classics. Yet when we do hit each 50th episode, we do decide to do one. As usual, we put up a poll on our Facebook page, Dark Discussions Podcast, and let you, the listeners and contributors to the Facebook group make the decision. The winner of our poll was 28 DAYS LATER from 2002.

From IMDB: "Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the United Kingdom, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary." The film was directed by Danny Boyle, written by Alex Garland, and starred Cillian Murphy.

Listen to us discuss this classic for one of our most important episodes, the 650th one.