Dark Discussions Podcast

New Year’s resolutions are a big thing for folks. Some want to lose weight, find a spouse, get a new job, work towards completing something; others have goals that they strive for. Co-host Mike said that there are a lot of genre films he hasn’t seen that he wants to get to, so as a New Year’s resolution, why not ask all the co-hosts to see some film they always wanted to see and then discuss. Another year doing so, each co-host chose a genre movie that they had never seen and decided to watch it and give their opinions.

Films we discuss are THE INNOCENTS (1961), TARANTULA (1955), BLOW OUT (1981), and RABID (1977).  A wide variety of films they are but also some important ones too that one of your co-hosts finally got to see.

With all that, Dark Discussions would like to say happy 2022 to all our listeners and patreon supporters, both new and old, and hope to hear some of the films you folks have never seen and plan to in this new year. Email us and let us know.

Welcome to A Discovery of Witches, Demons, and Vampires Podcast – A weekly discussion of the Sky One, Now TV, Shudder, and Sundance television series A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES based on the ALL SOULS trilogy of novels by Deborah Harkness.  Starring Teresa Palmer and Matthew Goode.

Series synopsis:

Diana Bishop, historian and witch, accesses the old tome Ashmole 782 and knows she must solve its mysteries. She is offered help by the enigmatic Matthew Clairmont, but he’s a vampire and witches should never trust vampires.

Urban legends are numerous.  Many include deaths of people but others include monsters and creatures from the unknown.  The Canadian film, THE TOLL (2021), distributed by Lionsgate, is another in the line of movies that use a “real” or script-created legend that will haunt the characters involved in the film.

When Cami (Jordan Hayes) flies from the American west coast to the Midwest to visit her father, she gets picked up by Spencer (Max Topplin), a driver for a transportation service, for the long ride to her dad’s home.  When the two of them get lost on a remote road in the middle of a forest, they suddenly find themselves in danger by a mythical monster called the Tollman that seems to be attracted to death.  

After a 2020 festival run, Lionsgate released the movie in Q1 of 2021 both on VOD and physical media.  The movie was written and directed by relative unknown Michael Nader and has received positive reviews on such websites as Rottentomatoes.  On the suggestion of co-host Eric, the crew take a look at this Canadian movie and give their thoughts.

On volume 032 of Halloween Boutique Psychotronic Reviews, the podcast reviewed the film EYE WITHOUT A FACE (2021).  All of your co-hosts felt the film was a hidden gem after watching it.  After releasing the episode, folks linked to the film retweeted the episode on social media including Tara Violet Niami, the cinematographer for the movie. 

Directly from her website:  “Tara Violet Niami is an award-winning photographer and cinematographer from LA. She is a dual citizen in the US & UK. Tara has an MFA from American Film Institute Conservatory in Cinematography and a BFA in photography at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York.” 

The interesting thing about EYE WITHOUT A FACE, it is a film that has various different types of camera shots including those that are static.  Shots that are very unlike most movies.  The “EYE” is the camera on a computer.  After contacting her, Tara Violet has joined the podcast to discuss further about EYE WITHOUT A FACE including behind-the-scenes topics but also plot details. 

David Bruckner is one of today’s modern breakout genre directors.  His participation in such films as V/H/S (2012), SOUTHBOUND (2015), the spin off film SIREN (2016), and finally THE RITUAL (2017).  He’s now the filmmaker for the latest HELLRAISER (2022) film, but now in 2021, he’s released a new film entitled THE NIGHT HOUSE.

School teacher Beth (Rebecca Hall) is a widow left alone at a beautiful lake front house that her architecture husband left her.  Mourning the loss of her spouse, she begins to breakdown from loneliness, loss, and sadness.  Soon she begins to believe the property is haunted as strange phenomena happen around her.  As summer break begins, she begins to discover dark secrets about her husband.  But even worse, her own dark history begins to encompass her.

After directing the now classic horror film THE RITUAL, David Bruckner’s latest film some say may be as good as that film.  THE NIGHT HOUSE has a very strong performance by English actress Rebecca Hall.  Dark Discussions takes a look at this new film and gives their thoughts on whether or not it deserves the praise that it is getting.

Like a lot of films, FATMAN (2020) was another one that got treated badly because of the COVID pandemic.  Originally made to be a full theatrical film to be seen everywhere and anywhere, it got relegated to a limited release and then a November 2020 “straight-to-VOD” to release afterwards.  Though written and directed by lesser known brothers Eshom and Ian Nelms, the film has two strong leads in Mel Gibson and Walton Goggins.

When Billy Wenan (Chance Hurstfield) receives coal from Santa (Mel Gibson), he becomes tilted and searches out “fixer” and hitman, Jonathan Miller (Walton Goggins), to get vengeance on Santa.  Miller has had his own troubles with Santa and agrees immediately on the work.  As this occurs, Santa has his own troubles.  More than 50% of children are now receiving coal, and he’s running out of money to continue his work.  Seeing this opportunity, the U.S. government and its military branch propose a solution.

In a fantastic performance, Mel Gibson brings to the screen a pessimistic version of Santa struggling with the world he sees today.  However, in a screen stealing performance, Walton Goggins plays the unhinged and yet miserable hit man chasing his own childhood demons.  Dark Discussions takes a look at this future cult classic and gives their thoughts.

In 2018 director David Gordon Green re-invented Michael Myers and the Halloween film franchise with his direct sequel to the John Carpenter 1978 film entitled also HALLOWEEN (2018).  After its success, the film turned into a first in a new three film series.  This year 2021, the sequel, HALLOWEEN KILLS (2021), appeared in October after a year pushback because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

When Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), her daughter (Judy Greer), and granddaughter (Andi Matichak) survive Michael Myers (Nick Castle) rampage, Laurie lands up in the hospital with Deputy Frank Hawkins (Will Patton) who also survived the gruesome attack.  The now adult Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall) decides to lead a group of town folk in ending Michael Myers deadly assault of Haddonfield.

The latest film brings back characters that haven’t been seen since the original film in the series.  Besides Jamie Lee Curtis, the film stars Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Will Patton, Anthony Michael Hall, and brings back Kyle Richards to reprise her role as Lindsey Wallace.  Dark Discussions Podcast takes a look at this latest film in the franchise and gives their thoughts.

When the television series BLACK SUMMER (2019) hit Netflix, the zombie apocalypse theme got a great refresh.  Zombies had begun to feel stale but BLACK SUMMER was an intense show that felt like you were right in the action with its interesting camera dynamics. 

With COVID-19 hitting, a production for a second season seemed in flux.  Co-host Mike even felt a second season may not even be needed and worried it would not hold up to Season One.  But not surprising, in 2021, BLACK SUMMER Season Two appeared.  Dark Discussions had some prior knowledge as we interviewed showrunner John Hyams in 2020 for his movie ALONE (2020) where he told us Season Two was back in production (his interview with us was on location actually).

Dark Discussions Podcast once again were able to interview John Hyams about this amazing Season Two of BLACK SUMMER.  He gives us an insight of the characters, the techniques used to film, the motivations of the lead protagonists/antagonists, and so much more.  Co-host Philip was even able to ask if Taylor Swift could get a cameo in Season Three (she’s good friends with lead actress Jaime King and also godmother to her son.)   Get ready for an awesome interview with one of today’s best talents.

When Fox was bought out by Disney, there were a good many films that landed up in limbo.  Some of them were pretty big named movies like THE CALL OF THE WILD (2020) starring Harrison Ford which would go on to have some critical success.  But others like the horror film, THE EMPTY MAN (2020), had no major stars nor was it a conventional supernatural thriller.  It was an odd ball of a film with arthouse undertones as well as little that gave it mainstream curiosity. 

A former police officer, James Lasombra (James Badge Dale), grieves the death of his wife and son who died in a car accident.  When his friend’s daughter goes missing, he agrees to “take on the case” and try to find out what happened.  His discoveries lead to an urban legend called the Empty Man – a supernatural being that will seek out any who calls its name.  As he digs deeper into the mystery, he finds out that a local institute may actually be a cover for a mysterious cult.

The film was released in October 2020, which seems fine for a horror film and Halloween, but in the middle of COVID, it drew little audiences.  The marketing for the movie also focused on the urban legend of the Empty Man which left many viewers confused after watching it.  Dark Discussions takes a look at this much maligned film that’s slowly being re-evaluated as a possible masterpiece.

Christopher Smith is one of the best genre directors out there.  And yet not many folks know of him or who he is.  His list of films consist of some genre’s top work including  CREEP (2004), SEVERANCE (2006), BLACK DEATH (2010), DETOUR (2016), and his masterpiece TRIANGLE (2009).  Now in 2021, he has a new film entitled THE BANISHING (2021) found on Shudder.

When an Anglican priest, his wife Marianne (Jessica Brown Findlay), and her child move into a new home to service a community, a dark secret begins to present itself to Marianne as she begins to explore the large manor.   Soon a strange man (Sean Harris) appears warning of corruption and dangers that sound more insane than possible.  Eventually Marianne discovers that things aren’t what they seem and a dark past may come back to endanger them all.

THE BANISHING stars DOWNTOWN ABBEY star Jessica Brown Findlay in a showcase role.  Also in the cast includes John Heffernan, Sean Harris, and Jon Lynch.  Receiving mixed reviews, the movie has been promoted strongly by Shudder.  Your co-hosts take a look at the latest genre film by the underappreciated Christopher Smith.