Force Five

Before Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich appeared together in Scream, they were already sharing the screen in The Craft, Andrew Fleming's 1996 supernatural horror movie about four teenage outsiders who discover that witchcraft can solve some problems while creating much bigger ones.

Starring Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk, Neve Campbell and Rachel True, The Craft combines high-school drama, supernatural horror and an unmistakably mid-90s alternative aesthetic.

In this episode of Force Five, Jason gives you five reasons you might want to watch The Craft:

5. It takes witchcraft surprisingly seriously, thanks in part to a practicing Wiccan consultant.

4. It's essentially a high-school mean-girls drama with supernatural consequences.

3. The combination of practical and digital effects makes for some memorable horror sequences.

2. The soundtrack, fashion and overall aesthetic perfectly capture mid-90s alternative culture.

1. Fairuza Balk delivers an unforgettable performance as Nancy Downs.

Jason also digs into Andrew Fleming's approach to witchcraft, the real animals used during the finale, the soundtrack's connection to Charmed and the true story of Fairuza Balk purchasing an occult shop while researching her role.

Fun Fact: Fairuza Balk owned the Hollywood occult shop Panpipes before selling it in 2001.

Watch the video: https://youtu.be/plDs9Jqqkcs

More movie recommendations: https://www.forcefivepodcast.com

Life is short. Spend it with the people, and the movies, that you love.

The V/H/S franchise is back with its ninth installment, and this time music and sound are doing most of the damage.

V/H/S/Mixtape features four main horror segments directed by Renee Zhan, David Moreau, Ernest Dickerson and RZA, along with music-video interludes from Flying Lotus and Ghost’s Tobias Forge. GWAR also shows up to host the whole thing like an MTV broadcast from Hell.

In this episode of Force Five, Jason gives you five reasons you might want to watch V/H/S/Mixtape:

5. The V/H/S anthology formula is still perfect for big horror swings
4. Dance, Dance, Dance, Dance unleashes homicidal puppets created with Jim Henson’s Creature Shop
3. Heartbeat turns the absence of sound into its own nightmare
2. The franchise remains wonderfully committed to disgusting gore
1. It is an almost perfect movie to throw on around Halloween

Jason also talks about Renee Zhan’s twisted children's television segment, David Moreau’s use of an anechoic chamber, RZA turning murder into Foley work and why horror anthologies are often more fun when everyone watching has a different favorite story.

Top 5 Radar: Demented Kids Shows and Movies That Weaponize Sound.

Watch the video version on the Force Five YouTube channel and find more movie recommendations at ForceFivePodcast.com.

Life is short. Spend it with the people, and the movies, that you love.

Robert De Niro, Ed Harris and Kathy Baker star in Jacknife, a 1989 drama that deserves another look.

This week on Force Five, I'm giving you five reasons you might want to watch this overlooked movie, including De Niro's surprisingly lovable performance, the small-scale storytelling, an awkward grown-up romance and an unforgettable emotional meltdown from Ed Harris.

I also talk about two potential Top 5 lists: Movie Freakouts and Post-Vietnam American Films.

Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/K6GpyjI-sEk

More movie recommendations: https://www.forcefivepodcast.com

Life is short. Spend it with the people, and the movies, that you love.

Matchbox: The Movie takes a toy line with virtually no characters or mythology and turns it into a full-blown action adventure starring John Cena, Jessica Biel, Sam Richardson, Teyonah Parris and Arturo Castro.

In this episode of Force Five, Jason breaks down five reasons you might want to give the movie a shot.

5. It finds a clever way to make a movie out of Matchbox cars
4. The cast understands exactly what kind of movie they’re making
3. Sam Hargrave brings real weight to the hand-to-hand action
2. The practical car chases deliver
1. It’s a big, ridiculous action movie families with older kids can enjoy together

Jason also looks at how the filmmakers approached the practical stunt work, why John Cena continues to work so well in action comedies and where Matchbox: The Movie fits among movies based on toy lines.

Top 5 Radar: Movies Based on Toys and Family-Friendly Car Chases.

What’s your favorite movie or TV show based on a toy line?

Watch the video version of this episode on the Force Five YouTube channel and find more movie recommendations at ForceFivePodcast.com.

Kat brought cupcakes.

This week on Force Five, Jason gives five reasons you might want to watch Penny Lane Is Dead, Mia’Kate Russell’s vicious Australian horror film about a beach-house celebration that turns into a blood-soaked fight for survival.

Topics include:

• The movie’s Ozploitation roots
• Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn’s chaotic performance as Kat
• Why the beach-house setting works as a horror pressure cooker
• Tahlee Fereday’s Toni as a vulnerable final girl
• Mia’Kate Russell’s decades working in special-effects makeup
• Some seriously nasty practical gore
• Two future Force Five Top 5 lists

Watch the video and read the full recommendation:
https://www.forcefivepodcast.com/episodes/penny-lane-is-dead-review-2026

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/-CxGwQ5Fzhs

Force Five offers concise, AI-free movie recommendations covering new releases, cult favorites, overlooked films and deep cuts.

Website:
https://www.forcefivepodcast.com

MC Kung Fu has entered the building.

This week on Force Five, Jason gives five reasons you might want to experience City Dragon, the wonderfully strange 1995 combination of martial arts, hip-hop, sex comedy and relationship drama.

Topics include MC Kung Fu speaking almost entirely in rhyme, the movie's surprisingly good music, its untouched mid-'90s personality, an accidental detour into work and responsibility, and the incredible do-it-yourself filmmaking of Stan Derain and “Philthy” Phil Phillips.

Watch/read the full recommendation:
https://www.forcefivepodcast.com/episodes/city-dragon-review-1995

Watch on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/JeYBs1yD_u8

Primetime turns To Catch a Predator into something much stranger than a straightforward true-crime dramatization.

Robert Pattinson stars as Chris Hansen in Lance Oppenheim's nightmarish 2026 film about the rise of one of the most controversial television phenomena of the 2000s and the increasingly blurry line between exposing wrongdoing and turning public humiliation into entertainment.

In this episode of Force Five, I give you five reasons you might want to watch Primetime.

Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall has an awkward title but it’s one of the most faithful DC animated adaptations in years.

In this Force Five video, I give you five reasons you might want to watch Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall

Buy Batman: Knightfall Part 1: Knightfall to support me: https://amzn.to/3UXBqoN

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The Whisper Man feels like Netflix pulled a mid-budget serial-killer thriller straight out of the ’90s (and I mean that as a compliment). Based on Alex North’s bestselling novel, The Whisper Man stars Adam Scott as Tom Kennedy, a widowed crime writer who moves back to the town where he grew up with his eight-year-old son Jake. Unfortunately, the town has a horrifying history involving a child murderer known as the Whisper Man, but he's behind bars...so why are children disappearing again?

In this Force Five episode, I give you five reasons you might want to watch The Whisper Man.

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Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/forcefive/

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Lemonade Blessing is Chris Merola’s feature directorial debut, a painfully funny coming-of-age comedy about Catholic guilt, teenage romance, divorced parents, religious expectations and the horrifying experience of being fifteen years old. John is a teenager sent to a private Catholic high school by his extremely devout mother. Then he meets Lilith, an atheist classmate who begins testing exactly how far he’s willing to push his faith, morals and comfort zone in the name of their relationship.

In this episode of Force Five, I give you five reasons you might want to watch Lemonade Blessing.

More info on Lemonade Blessing: https://www.antennareleasing.com/films/lemonadeblessing

Buy a shirt: https://www.teepublic.com/user/forcefive

Other helpful links:

Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/forcefive/

Website: www.forcefivepodcast.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/forcefivepodcast

Email: [email protected]