Genre Grinder

DON'T WALK, RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! GIANT MONSTERS ARE ALL-OUT ATTACKING!

Look out! It's the first (of eventually many?) Genre Grinder episode about kaiju movies – those wonderful, sometimes frightening, sometimes hilarious, usually strange, often Japanese-based monster movies that we all know and love. Gabe welcomes special guest Luana Saitta from the Monster Island Commentaries podcast to stomp around major cities, step on cars, and push over buildings with him.

Together, Luana and Gabe cover three movies from different eras in the kaiju film life cycle with not a single Godzilla or King Kong in sight (we can't jump into the famous stuff right off the bat, right?). Their discussion includes Kimiyoshi Yasuda's Daimajin (1966), Toshihiro Iijima's Daigoro vs. Goliath (1972), and Brad Peyton's Rampage (2018). They talk about some other movies, too, of course, including various Godzilla-verse classics, World of Warcraft, and, towards the end we do a bit of a catchall for more recent, CG-driven kaiju movies, too, because, well...there's only so much to say about Rampage. It's great, but, c'mon. Oh, and beware of Gabe flagrantly tossing out Attack on Titan spoilers, though. He's the worst.

00:00 – Intro

11:25 – Daimajin

34:09 – Daigoro vs Goliath

58:43 – Rampage 1:16:28 – General discussion 1:24:28 – Attack on Titan discussion in which GABE SPOILS SEASON THREE LIKE A CHUMP

1:30:19 – Farewells and everything else

Here's a Letterboxd list I made of every single non-Godzillaverse, no gorilla, no super sentai I could possibly think of, in the event that you're curious enough to delve further into the wild world of kaiju movies: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/non-godzillaverse-non-gorilla-kaiju-movies/

Looking for more kaiju content? Listen to Luana and Monster Island Commentaries co-host Travis Kirkland's Rampage commentary here: http://monstercommentaries.libsyn.com/26-rampage-2018-commentary-track

Or their Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) commentary: http://monstercommentaries.libsyn.com/27-pacific-rim-uprising-2018-commentary-track

Or maybe listen to them chat about Gabe's personal favorite Godzilla movie, Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971): http://monstercommentaries.libsyn.com/5-godzilla-vs-hedorahgodzilla-vs-the-smog-monster-1971

THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM THE FINAL CHAPTER...

Gabe and special guest Patrick Ripoll from Tracks of the Damned are back and finishing what they started: an interminable look back at the slasher movies of 1981. The complete list includes 42 films that friends, colleagues, and random people on the internet consider to be slashers. The last episode is the shortest, including discussion of 13 movies – Hell Night (directed by Tom DeSimone), Don't Go in the Woods (directed by James Bryan), Lady Stay Dead (directed by Terry Bourke), Absurd (aka: Rosso sangue, Monster Hunter, and Horrible, directed by Joe D'Amato), Just Before Dawn (directed by Jeff Lieberman), Strange Behavior (directed by Michael Laughlin), Hospital Massacre (directed by Boaz Davidson), Nightmares (directed by Romano Scavolini), Dark Night of the Scarecrow (directed by Frank De Felitta), Halloween II (directed by Rick Rosenthal), Saturday the 14th (directed by Howard R. Cohen), Madman (directed by Joe Giannone), and The Prowler (directed by Joseph Zito).

Do note that after recording for 5 hours, the timing of our tracks and communications got a little off. The problem is mitigated to the best of Gabe's editing ability, but there are still a few odd moments where reactions are off time.

Listen to Part One here: https://www.genregrinder.com/podcast/episode/a8509064/episode-5-the-slasher-movies-of-1981-feat-patrick-ripoll-of-tracks-of-the-damned

Listen to Part Two here: https://www.genregrinder.com/podcast/episode/e24daa65/episode-5-part-2-the-slasher-movies-of-1981-feat-patrick-ripoll-of-tracks-of-the-damned

Listen to Patrick and Bill Ackerman talk about Gloria Katz and Willard Huyck's Messiah of the Evil as part of the Tracks of the Damned podcast: http://www.nowplayingnetwork.net/tracksofthedamned/s1e6

Follow along with the complete list here: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/1981-slasher-movies/

CHECK YOUR SANITY METER! STOW YOUR SEAFOOD! Prepare your most macabre adjectives! And join us on a journey through the various film adaptations of Howard Phillips Lovecraft's indescribably mortifying stories. Gabe knows his Lovecraft movies, but he knows Jack Yomagn'tho about Lovecraft the person and writer, so Elder Hierophant Betsy fills him in on the history and hysteria of the man as they delve into three movies in particular – Roger Corman's The Haunted Palace (1963, based on The Case of Charles Dexter Ward), Peter Svatek's Bleeders, aka: Hemoglobin (1997, based on The Lurking Fear), and Huan Vu's The Colour Out of Space, German: Die Farbe (2010, based on the story of the same name).

In addition, these looney Lu-Kthuian fiends break down the difference between "fan film" and "independent film," discuss the most popular Lovecraft adaptations on film, Lovecraft-themed tabletop and video games, and Lovecraft's, shall we say, cultural foibles. And, just in case that wasn't enough, Betsy explains parts of the American copyright system, because we all know that few things are spookier than INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY!

00:00 – Intro 04:00 – The Haunted Palace 39:26 – Bleeders 66:29 – The Colour Out of Space

89:39 – Everything else

For more H.P. Lovecraft movie adaptations, check out this letterboxd list: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/hp-lovecraft-adaptations/

And tune in to this Lovecraft-heavy episode of Betsy's podcast, Your Favorite Monsters: http://yourfavoritemonsters.libsyn.com/your-favorite-monsters-episode-12-the-shrieking-madness

THE BODY COUNT CONTINUES...

Gabe and special guest Patrick Ripoll from Tracks of the Damned are back and continuing their interminable look back at the slasher movies of 1981. The complete list includes 42 films that friends, colleagues, and random people on the internet consider slashers and this time we covered 14 – The Phantom Killer (Directed by Stanley Fung), Bloody Birthday (Directed by Ed Hunt), Friday the 13th Part 2 (Directed by Steve Miner), Graduation Day (Directed by Herb Freed), The Burning (Directed by Tony Maylam), Happy Birthday to Me (Directed by J. Lee Thompson), The Fan (Directed by Ed Bianchi), Final Exam (Directed by Jimmy Huston), Roadgames (Directed by Richard Franklin), Blow Out (Directed by Brian De Palma), Student Bodies (Directed by Mickey Rose), Deadly Blessing (Directed by Wes Craven), The House By the Cemetery (Italian Quella villa accanto al cimitero, Directed by Lucio Fulci), and Evilspeak (Directed by Eric Weston).

Follow along and check out what's coming up using this chronological Letterboxd list: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/1981-slasher-movies/

Listen to Patrick's extended thoughts on the Wes Craven's Scream by listening to this episode of Tracks of the Damned: http://www.nowplayingnetwork.net/tracksofthedamned/s1e14

Episode three should be live in about a month. Stay tuned for our H.P. Lovecraft themed episode with Betsy from Your Favorite Monsters at the beginning of September.

Strap in, because we've got a lot of ground to cover this month. Gabe and special guest Patrick Ripoll from Tracks of the Damned are looking into the peak year in slasher movie history: 1981. Originally assuming that this would shrink the number of movies to about 20, they learned that there were, in fact, 42 movies that people on the internet consider slashers released in the year 1981 – and they were foolish enough to think that was still a small enough number to discuss every single one of them in under two hours. "Perhaps this will be a two-parter," Gabe wonders aloud at the top of the podcast. No. Absolutely not. This is now a three-parter. So, enjoy the first of three sweaty, panicked trips through slasher country, including (ahem): Scream (directed by Byron Quisenberry; aka: Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker and The Outing), Ghostkeeper (directed by Jim Makichuk) Corpse Mania (directed by Kuei Chih-Hung), Home Sweet Home (directed by Nettie Peña; aka: Bloodparty and Slasher in the House), A Day of Judgement (directed by Christopher Reynolds), Srigala (directed by Sisworo Gautama Putra; aka: Wolf), Night School (directed by Ken Hughes; aka: Terror Eyes), The House Where Death Lives (directed by Alan Beattie; aka: Delusion), My Bloody Valentine (directed by George Mihalka), Eyes of a Stranger (directed by Ken Wiederhorn), Murder Obsession (directed by Ricardo Freda; aka: Murder Syndrome), Madhouse (directed by Ovidio G. Assonitis; aka: There Was a Little Girl), The Funhouse (directed by Tobe Hooper), Love Massacre (directed by Patrick Tam Kar-Ming), and Bloody Moon (directed by Jess Franco).

Follow along and check out what's coming up using this chronological Letterboxd list: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/1981-slasher-movies/

Listen to Patrick's extended thoughts on The Funhouse by listening to this episode of Tracks of the Damned: https://www.nowplayingnetwork.net/tracksofthedamned/s2e2 Episode two should be live in about two weeks, followed by an H.P. Lovecraft themed episode with Betsy from Your Favorite Monsters at the beginning of September and episode three two weeks after that (also in September).

Gabe and Now Playing Network head honcho Jim Laczkowski – who you may remember from Director's Club Podcast and Voices & Visions, among others – take a deep dive into the soul-crushing world of Nuclear Panic Movies. Again, this subject is too broad for a single podcast, so we've broken the discussion down to a series of movies released at the height of '80s Cold War paranoia between 1983 and 1988.

Jim sets the stage by filling Gabe in on a couple '60s entries – Fredric Gadette's This is Not a Test (1962) and Ray Milland Panic in Year Zero! (1962) – then they dig in, like atomic radiation tearing its way through flesh, bone, and marrow. Subject matter includes Nicholas Meyer's The Day After (1983), Mick Jackson's Threads (1984), Lynne Littman's Testament (1983, #52FilmsByWomen), Edward Zwick's Special Bulletin(1983), Fred Barzyk's Countdown to Looking Glass (1984), Mori Masaki's Barefoot Gen (1983; Gabe also quickly discusses the legacy of Hiroshima/Nagasaki-themed movies), Jimmy T. Murakami's When the Wind Blows (1986), Steve De Jarnatt's Miracle Mile (1988), and John Duigan's One Night Stand (1984). Gabe closes things out with a quick mention of Konstantin Lopushansky's Dead Man's Letters (1986), which is otherwise dense enough to fill an entire podcast on its own.

Follow along with this handy Letterboxd list (ranked by release date): https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/nuclear-panic-movies-of-the-80s/ Tune in next month when Gabe and Tracks of the Damned's Patrick Ripoll cram every single slasher movie released in the year 1981. Do our homework along with us by watching all of the films on this Letterboxd list: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/1981-slasher-movies/

Gabe describes the European phenomenon of comic and pulp-based super criminals/villains to his most special guest, Kristine Fisher, who happens to be his significant other (she also knows a lot about silent comedies, but that's not particularly helpful for her here). The planned guest didn't plan out, so she's doing her best to keep him on topic and help him pronounce all the scary foreign names. Hopefully she (and you) learn a little something along the way.

Super criminals and villains are a surprisingly broad subject, even when we stick to European iterations, so this podcast is mostly limited to serials from the silent era and mid-1960s. Specifically, we cover Louis Feuillade's Fantômas (1913) and Les Vampires (1915), Fritz Lang's Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922), André Hunebelle's Fantômas (1964), and Italian fumetti neri adaptations, including Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik (1968), Umberto Lenzi's Kriminal (1966), and Piero Vivarelli's Mister X (aka: Avenger X, 1967) and Satanik (1968).

For a more complete list of Euro-villain movies, see this letterboxd.com compilation list: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/european-comic-book-pulp-villains-live-action/ For a preview of next month's podcast with Now Playing Network mastermind Jim Laczkowski, check out this list: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/nuclear-scare-fiction/ Musical clips this episode include: "Dr. Mabuse" by Propaganda "Dr. Mabuse" by Blue Systems/Systems in Blue"Deep Deep Down" by Ennio Morricone & Christy "Dr. Mabuse" remix by Blue Talking Please let me know if any of the clips are too loud – I've been trying to make sure volume levels are consistent across various listening devices, despite the compression inherent in the MP3 format – and visit us at genregrinder.com.

Gabe and special guest Betsy Jorgenson of the Your Favorite Monsters Podcast kick off month two with Genre Grinder's first (of probably many) witch-themed episode. Witch movies are a broad concept, so this time, we're covering witches as a historical concept, the intricacies of Satanic cults and covens, and witches as the victims of inquisitions. Marvel at Gabe's utter inability to pronounce Slavic and Italian names as we focus on three specific films: Konstantin Yershov & Georgi Kropachyov's Russian folk horror comedy, Viy (1967), Michele Soavi's surrealistic, Gothic freak-out The Church (1989), and Stuart Gordon's Inquisition-themed adaptation of Poe's The Pit and the Pendulum (1991). We also chat a bit about newer witch movies, including Ari Aster Hereditary (2018), Robert Eggers' The VVitch (2015), André Øvredal's The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2017), Gareth Evans' The Apostle (2018), and Hiroshi Katagiri's Gehenna: Where Death Lives (2016).

After you've listened, be sure to share your feedback on genregrinder.com or @GenreGrinder, then mosey on over to YourFavoriteMonsters.com hear more from Betsy and her podcasting partner Blake. Listen to their latest episode here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-favorite-monsters-episode-39-wrath-of-the-krampus/id1294117203?i=1000436867686 Check out Gabe's exhaustive witch and cult/coven Letterboxd lists here: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/witch-movies-part-one-trials-hunters-curses/ And here: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/witches-movies-part-three-satanic-cults-witch/

Enjoy a prototype podcast about a prototypical film genre as Gabe and special guest Patrick Ripoll talk about proto-slashers. Please excuse our dust as we run through several dozen stalk 'n stab movies extending back to the very beginning of cinema. You can follow along with our list here: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/proto-slashers/ The greatest emphasis is placed on three classics – John Brahm's Hangover Square (1945), Robert Siodmak's The Spiral Staircase (1946), and Charles B. Pierce's The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) – as well as three...erm...less than classics – Kent Bateman's Headless Eyes (1971), Marc B. Ray's Scream Bloody Murder (1973), and Curtis Hanson's Sweetkill (aka: The Arousers, 1972).

There were a few recording errors made, so be aware of temporary (but reoccuring) audio distortion after the one-hour mark. I'm doing everything I can to gauge what listeners will want from future episodes, so please take a moment to leave feedback either on the official website, the official Facebook (www.facebook.com/genregrinder), the official Twitter (@GenreGrinder), or my Twitter (@GabeMPowers).