Decades of Horror | Horror News Radio

Director Andy Mushietti and star Bill Skarsgard have done the impossible - they've have delivered a kick-ass, box-office juggernaut with their remake of Stephen King's It bringing Pennywise back to the forefront of horror fans' collective nightmares. The Grue-Crew are joined by award-winning director Christopher G. Moore and welcome back The Black Saint to discuss the film. Christopher and Doc also share their experiences at the recent GenreBlast Film Festival. Dave launches into the Horror News of the Week a pair of trailers for Insidious: The Last Key and Gerald's Game. Closing out the show Thomas has a few announcements about Stump the Saint.

As always, the HNR Grue-Crew would love to hear from you, the listeners, the fans. You can always reach out via email at feedback(AT)horrornewsradio(DOT)com or find us on Twitter: Doc Rotten | Dave Dreher | The Black Saint | Thomas Mariani. Also, like us on Facebook and join the Horror News Radio Facebook Group.

Horror News Radio Episode 232 – It ( 2017) Subscribe – iTunes – Facebook – Stitcher

SHOW NOTES INTRO [00:00:40] HORROR NEWS OF THE WEEK [00:04:51]

1. "IT" has the highest grossing opening weekend ever for a genre film
2. Trailer and Key art reveal for Insidious - The Last Key
3. Kinky turns deadly in trailer debut for Gerald's Game

FEATURE REVIEW [00:24:17]

• It (2017)
• director: Andy Muschietti w/ Chase Palmer & Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman
• cast: Jaeden Lieberher (Bill), Jeremy Ray Taylor (Ben), Sophia Lillis (Beverly), Finn Wolfhard (Richie), Chosen Jacobs ( Mike), Jack Dylan Grazer (Eddie), Wyatt Oleff (Stanley), Nicolas Hamilton (Henry Bowers), and ... Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise

ANNOUNCEMENTS [01:28:53]

• Convention and Film Festival Appearances
  • Wreak Havoc (Greensboro, NC, Sept 22-23)
  • Monsterama (Atlanta, GA, Sept 29-Oct 1)
  • Nightmares Horror Film Festival (Columbus, OH, October 19-22)
  • Santos will once again be involved with the New York City Horror Film Festival (NYC October, 26-29)

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING [01:29:32]

• GenreBlast Film Festival
• Feature Films: Camino, Dead Bullet, Future, Family Possessions, Guardians, Happy Hunting, Hot, Indiana, Lilith's Awakening, and She's Allergic to Cats

STUMP THE SAINT [01:35:02] FEEDBACK [01:35:44]

• Thanks to Tear Out the Heart and Victory Records for use of the song Undead Anthem for the intro and outro of the HNR podcast

SUPPORT HNR [01:35:55]

• Patreon
• HNR & Gruesome Magazine T-Shirts
• Gruesome Magazine 2016 Yearbook
• Gruesome Magazine Spring 2017

NEXT WEEK

• Mother!

The Russian supernatural horror film The Bride (Nevesta, 2017) had its North American premiere at Popcorn Frights Film Festival in Miami, Florida on August 17, and Gruesome Magazine's Joseph Perry has one of the first English language reviews for the movie. Victoria Agalakova stars as Nastya, a young woman who rushes into marriage, only to find that her in-laws harbor a country house filled with dark, deadly secrets. Joseph gives his thoughts on what this foreign horror offers in the way of originality, as well as what it borrows from fright fare from other countries.

The Bride 3 stars out of 5

d. Syvatoslav Podgavesvskiv

cast:Victoria Agalakova, Vyascheslav Chepurchenko, Aleksandra Rebenok, Igor Khripunov

Synopsis: After a grieving husband photographs his dead wife in mid-1800s rural Russia, he sets into motion a supernatural terror that will link a modern-day university student with her new husband's abysmal family history.

"Whatever got her wasn't human." That is not what you want to hear while locked overnight in a haunted house. Join the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era crew – Erin Miskell, Chad Hunt, Joseph Perry, and Jeff Mohr – as we brave an overnight in the House on Haunted Hill (1959). William Castle, Robb White, and Vincent Price? What's not to like.

Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 17 – House on Haunted Hill (1959)

Directed by legendary gimmick-meister William Castle, House on Haunted Hill is a standard story about folks challenged to stay the night in a haunted house, but with a few twists provided by writer Robb White. Millionaire Frederick Loren (Vincent Price) carefully chooses five guests for his invitation only event -- Lance Schroeder (Richard Long), Nora Manning (Carolyn Craig), Dr. David Trent (Alan Marshal), Ruth Bridgers (Julie Mitchum), and Watson Prichard (Elisha Cook Jr.) -- and offers them each $10,000 if they survive the night. Also in attendance are Frederick's wife Annabelle (Carol Ohmart), caretaker Jonas Slydes (Howard Hoffman), and his wife (Leona Anderson).

House on Haunted Hill is great fun and has some legitimate scares, but don't spend too much time thinking about the plot. If you do, you might become obsessed with its holes and miss all the fun. The music by Von Dexter is suitably chill-inducing and is as good at setting the atmosphere as it is at setting the standard for horror films of its period.

Chad Hunt recounts his experience watching this in a theater that tried to duplicate Castle's gimmick for this picture, which he called "Emergo." Erin Miskell's first memories of watching House on Haunted Hill are during a sleepover as a 10-year-old. Imagine the shrieks!

House on Haunted Hill treats its guests to the usual haunted house fare, including floating apparitions, mysteriously slamming doors, a hanging body, an unattached head, secret passages, a seriously scary old woman, an animated skeleton, blood dripping from the ceiling, and a conveniently placed vat of acid in the basement.

We also send out a hearty handclasp to our steadfast listener, saltyessentials for calling Decades of Horror: The Classic Era a podcast "you can't do without." Check out salty's blog, which he calls Dead Man's Brain or, what I watched last night.

We plan to release a new episode every other week. The next episode in our very flexible schedule is The Univited (1944), hosted by Chad Hunt.

Please let us know what you think of Decades of Horror: The Classic Era and what films you'd like to hear us cover! We want to hear from you! After all, without you, we're just four nutjobs talking about the films we love. Send us an email ([email protected], [email protected], [email protected], or [email protected]) or leave us a message, a review, or a comment at GruesomeMagazine.com, iTunes, Stitcher, the Horror News Radio App, or the Horror News Radio Facebook group.

To each of you from each of us, "Thank you for listening!"

"It's finger-lickin' good!" Severen (Bill Paxton) gives an accurate description of how human blood tastes. Or so we assume. After being tossed to the side upon it's initial release, Near Dark is basically a western with a horror sheen. Caleb Cotton (Adrian Pasdar) is a modern hombre who gets mixed up with a group of marauders with a thirst for blood. The Grue Crew talk about all this gem live from DragonCon with a very special guest: C. Robert Cargill, writer of Sinister, Doctor Strange and the recently released book Sea of Rust! Now *that* sounds finger lickin' good to us!

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 116 – Near Dark (1987)

Near Dark is notable on a lot of levels. The directorial debut of future Academy Award winning director Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, The Hurt Locker) was a curious debut. Near Dark has it all. Paxton chewing up scenery. Vampires wandering around in a mobile home. Some kick ass fire stunts. This western aesthetic creates a vast endless desert for our heroes to wander around, looking for blood to feed on as they avoid exploding in the wake of the sun. The moment your hear those spurs coming closer, it's not a gun you have to worry about. It's the fangs that'll tear out your throat.

To talk Near Dark, Thomas and Christopher are not only reunited with Doc Rotten and frequent Grue Crew co-host Bill Mulligan. No, for this live episode recorded at DragonCon, our boys are joined by C. Robert Cargill. You may have known him as film critic "Massawyrm" from Ain't It Cool News, screenwriter of films like Sinister & Doctor Strange or for his books like the recently released Sea of Rust. These five talk this gem of a vampire film in front of a live audience, asking the big questions. Is this peak Paxton? How much of this genre fare crept into Kathryn Bigelow's Oscar material? Did this need a sax scene to compete with Lost Boys that same year? All these questions and more are answered in this episode!

Contact Us

We want to hear from you – the coolest, most gruesome fans: leave us a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at [email protected] or [email protected].

Special thanks to Neon Devils for their awesome song Bone Chillin!

Next Episode

Child's Play (1988)

Vanessa Thompson joins the Grue-Crew to review the Aaron Mirtes film Clowntergeist from High Octane Pictures. In the film, a demonic clown terrorizes a pair of far-from-helpless teens and mayhem ensues. Thom Seidman, Burt Culver, and Brittany Belland star. Check out Vanessa's review below and let us know what you think.

Clowntergeist 1 out of 5 starts

Poltergeist meets IT in Clowntergeist, premiering on VOD September 12 from High Octane Pictures!

Emma, a college student with a crippling fear of clowns, must come face to face with her worst fear when an evil spirit in the body of a clown is summoned terrorizing the town she calls home. One by one Emma and her friends receive a balloon with the exact time and date of when it will appear to kill them written on it. After receiving her balloon, Emma realizes that she has two days left to live, and must fight against the clock to find a way to survive.

Director: Aaron Mirtes Writers: Aaron Mirtes and Brad Belemjian Cast: Brittany Belland, Aaron Mirtes, Eric Corbin

The Grue Crew - or what's left of them - is pretty out of it after another exhaustive weekend at DragonCon in Atlanta. Yes, the massive convention was enough to wipe out Doc Rotten, but Thomas Mariani steps in just in time along with fellow DragonCon Horror Track contributors Christopher G. Moore and Bill Mulligan! The three discuss all the panels they attended, as well as the gorgeous cosplays and drunken antics. Tales of crowded parade routes, meeting heroes and flirting with Grand Duchesses? All this and more is discussed here on Horror News Radio! Be sure to stick around to hear Thomas gab about the recent Twin Peaks finale and a truncated Horror News of the Week about another big shake up for Star Wars! It's an unusual episode of Horror News Radio, but it'll be one for the books!

As always, the HNR Grue-Crew would love to hear from you, the listeners, the fans. You can always reach out via email at feedback(AT)horrornewsradio(DOT)com or find us on Twitter: Doc Rotten | Dave Dreher | The Black Saint | Thomas Mariani. Also, like us on Facebook and join the Horror News Radio Facebook Group.

Horror News Radio Episode 231 – DragonCon 2017 – Twin Peaks: The Return Finale (2017) Subscribe – iTunes – Facebook – Stitcher

SHOW NOTES INTRO [00:00:38] HORROR NEWS OF THE WEEK [00:03:41]

1. Colin Trevorrow Exits Star Wars Episode IX

DRAGON CON 2017 CONVENTION REPORT [00:22:33]

• PANELS:
  • FRIDAY 09/01
    • 11: 30 AM – A Conversation with Felix Silla – Bill Mulligan
    • 4:00 PM – 1987: The Year in Horror – Bill, Christopher G. Moore, Thomas Mariani, Mari Mancusi, David Maynor
    • 10:00 PM – Decades of Horror: Near Dark (LIVE EPISODE!) – Bill, Doc, Thomas (M), Christopher and special guest C. Robert Cargill
    • 11:30 PM – George Romero & Tobe Hooper Tribute - Doc, Christopher, Thomas, Bill Mulligan, Derek Tatum
  • SATURDAY 09/02
    • 11:30 AM - Hammer: The Frankenstein Legacy – Doc, Bill, Blake Smith
    • 1:00 PM – Bates Motel – Christopher, Doc, Abbey White, Valerie Hampton
    • 2:30 PM – The Friday the 13th Legacy – Chris, Phantom Troublemaker, Mari Mancusi, Clay Gilbert
    • 4:00 PM – Godzilla: An American Odyssey – Bill (M), Doc, Thomas, Clay Gilbert and special guest Matt Frank!
    • 5:30 PM – Suspiria – Bill, Thomas, Blake Smith, Shannon Strucci
    • 7:00 PM – The Exorcist (TV) – Doc, Fr. Bryan Small, Melissa F. Olson, Erika Annabelle Pratte
    • 10:00 PM - Lifeforce: Behind the FX - Christopher - Moderator, FX guy Nick Maley
  • SUNDAY 09/03
    • 2:30 PM – Ash vs. Evil Dead – Bill, Thomas, Christopher, Catherine Scully, David Maynor
    • 4:00 PM – Nightmare on Elm Street 3 – Doc, Thomas, Christopher, John Ichabod Anderson, & Phantom Troublemaker
    • 8:30 PM – Coming to America: American Gods panel - Thomas, Carol Malcolm, Damian Allen, Erika Pratte, Wendy Hembrock, John G. Hartness, Fr. Bryan Small
  • MONDAY 09/04
    • 1:00 PM – American Horror Story – Doc, Derek Tatum, Mari Mancusi

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN WATCHING [01:33:49]

• Twin Peaks: The Return (2017)
• Directed by David Lynch, Written by David Lynch and Mark Frost
• cast: Kyle MacLachlan, Sheryl Lee, Laura Dern, David Lynch, Naomi Watts, Robert Forster, Dana Ashbrook, Jim Belushi, Miguel Ferrer

NEXT WEEK

• Stephen King's It

"Oh yes... they float, Georgie. They float. And when you're down here with me... YOU'LL FLOAT TOO!" Pennywise (Tim Curry) - also known as It - sums up his MO as he kills young Georgie. This interdimensional being is out to prey on the local children of Derry, Maine. So naturally, the only people to stop It are a group of children. Who are all connected by... fate? And defeat this being through... belief? But not until It comes back 23 years later when they're all less interesting characters. There's a lot to talk about here. Literally over 3 hours worth. Luckily, Decades of Horror 1990s will only take an hour to float on through your eardrums!

Decades of Horror 1990s Episode 23 – Stephen King's It (1990)

Following 1979's Salem's Lot, It was the mini-series that kicked off a major trend for the era. In the fall out of this two part story, we got Tommyknockers and The Langoliers. There was nothing hotter to do back in the day then trying to cram thousands of pages into a few hours worth of time. The results are... mixed to say the least. The children being terrorized are pretty compelling, including young turns from Ginger Snaps' Emily Perkins and Robot Chicken's Seth Green. Then their adult versions come about - played by familiar TV actors - who... aren't as compelling. To say the least. You may be dreading any of the moments where a kid or Pennywise aren't on the screen.

To dissect all three hours of It, Thomas brings aboard Christopher G. Moore, Dave Dreher and Adam Thomas. The four praise Tim Curry's iconic performance as Pennywise and are desperate to find something else that would be considered worth watching. There's plenty to dig at, from the Stephen King cliches to the infamous ending. Of course, the optimism comes in where the upcoming It film can diverge from this adaptation. Hopefully, there'll be less questions of whether Prince Albert is in a can and if he can be let out. WAH HA! WAH HA! WAH HA!

Contact Us

We want to hear from you – the coolest, most gruesome fans: leave us a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1990s podcast hosts at [email protected] or tweet Thomas @NotTheWhosTommy. Also, make sure to give us some love via iTunes reviews and ratings. Helps us get more notice along the way.

The intro and outro is "Suck City" by Black Math. Look for more of their music via Free Music Archive.

Next Episode

The Sixth Sense (1999)

"Suzy, do you know anything about … witches?" Suzy Bannion doesn't know much, but she's about to find out a lot more, ... the hard way! As of the recording of this podcast, it's just 12 days past the 40th anniversary of the U.S. release of Dario Argento's Suspiria, a giallo masterpiece. Doc Rotten is still on hiatus, diligently working on the next issues of the Gruesome Magazine quarterly print and electronic editions. (Issue #2 is now available. Don't miss out!) In the interim, your regular hosts, The Black Saint and Jeff Mohr, are joined by the capable and knowledgeable Bill Mulligan, film director, and Chad Hunt, comic book artist/writer and co-host of Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast. Join them as they are completely entranced by the magic of Argento's audio and visual feast.

Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 58 – Suspiria (1977)

Suspiria is the story of an elite dance school in Germany that is a front for some supernatural shenanigans. The school is run by Madame Blanc (Joan Bennett), and its head instructor is the disciplinary Miss Tanner (Alida Valli). Suzy (Jessica Harper) is a young American who has recently arrived at the school. Life at the school is a dreamlike, nightmarish experience. Suzy's life there is soon rocked by the brutal murders of two fellow students, Pat (Eva Axén) and Sara (Stefania Casini), and the school's blind piano player, Daniel (Flavio Bucci).

Co-written (with Daria Nicolodi) and directed by Dario Argento, the film's plot is a train wreck. Luciano Tovoli's cinematography and the Goblin's score, however, are so masterful, no one seems to care that exactly what happens or why it happens is never made clear.

The Black Saint and Bill Mulligan extol the effect the trailer had on them when they first saw it. Think involuntary bodily evacuation. The crew all think Suspiria is Jessica Harper's film more than any other member of the cast. When they learn she got the part after Argento saw her performance in Brian de Palma's Phantom of the Paradise, they throw some smack toward award-winning director and fellow Decades of Horror co-host, Christopher G. Moore (See Decades of Horror 1970s - Episode 40 - Phantom of the Paradise (1974)). Suspiria is filled with effective and memorable scenes that our fearless Grue Crew discuss in detail, especially the sequences that detailing the first murder, the razor wire girl, and the return of razor wire girl (more bodily evacuation). They also remark on the film's omnipresent vivid and often inappropriate-to-life colors.

Find out that what Disney film The Black Saint has never seen. (What?!) Or hear The Black Saint's story about meeting Dario Argento. Or find out why much of the time, the dancers' behaviors seem juvenile.

We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave us a message or leave a comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at [email protected] or [email protected].

Foreign correspondent Kieran Fisher steps in to review the Jane Goldman adaptation of "Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem" in Juan Carlos Medina's horror thriller The Limehouse Golem. The film spares no crimson bloodshed when it comes to displaying the horror of a killer striking London, England. Bill Nighy stars as Inspector Kildare with Olivia Cooke as a troubled witness to the murder. Check out Kieran's review below.

The Limehouse Golem (2017) 3.5 out of 5 stars

THE LIMEHOUSE GOLEM - RLJ Entertainment

IN THEATERS AND AVAILABLE ON VOD AND DIGITAL HD: September 8, 2017

DIRECTED BY: Juan Carlos Medina

WRITTEN BY: Jane Goldman, based on the novel "Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem" by Peter Ackroyd

CAST: Bill Nighy, Olivia Cooke, Douglas Booth, Daniel Mays, and Eddie Marsan

SYNOPSIS: The city of London is gripped with fear as a serial killer – dubbed The Limehouse Golem – is on the loose and leaving cryptic messages written in his victim's blood. With few leads and increasing public pressure, Scotland Yard assigns the case to Inspector Kildare (Bill Nighy) – a seasoned detective with a troubled past and a sneaking suspicion he's being set up to fail. Faced with a long list of suspects, including music hall star Dan Leno (Douglas Booth), Kildare must get help from a witness who has legal troubles of her own (Olivia Cooke), so he can stop the murders and bring the killer to justice.

GENRE: Thriller

DISTRIBUTOR: RLJ Entertainment

JJ Fitt returns to review the haunted house fright fest The Domicile from writer/director Jared Cohn. The film starts off strong with a spooky apparition creating some terrifying havoc but the film quickly loses focus sliding into familiar territory. The film looks good with impressive makeup and design for the "ghosts" but ultimately fails to deliver. Check out JJ's review below.

The Domicile (2017) 1.25 stars out of 5

Director Jared Cohn (Devil's Domain) and Producer Gabriel Campisi (The Horde) invite you to The Domicile this August. Russel Brody, a one-time successful playwright, works diligently on a follow-up play that could land him back in the spotlight he so dearly craves. With a baby on the way, however, and a strained marriage, stress, and frustration take center stage. When his wife accidentally stumbles down the stairs and dies from her injuries, Brody's mental state goes from bad to one of utter despair. In a bid to help his friend regain his sanity, Brody's co-writer David Stanley suggests he revisits Lucy, his former mistress. The ghost of Brody's dead wife awakens to the sordid details of his unfaithfulness, enraging her supernatural spirit to haunt him in every horrifying way imaginable. At first, Brody thinks he's hallucinating and hearing things in his head, the result of his state of mind and alcohol. But as things intensify, his grip on sanity quickly slips away, and he starts to go mad. Appearing in every shadow, and provoking him relentlessly, the ghost cranks up her onslaught, making his life a living hell. Brody reaches his breaking point when the ghost possesses his former mistress, and he's forced to confront the scorned entity -- resulting in a climax of both psychological and physical terror. Starring Steve Richard Harris (Evil Nanny), Demetrius Stear (Death Pool), Katherine Flannery (Zombie Pizza) and Sara Malakul Lane (King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table), The Domicile from MTI Home Video, hitting DVD and VOD August 22.