Half Price Horror

I'm celebrating another big milestone here at HPH - my 250th episode! - and I figured, what better way to do it than with a movie shot at least in part in my hometown? So join me for the story of a group of teens that go to their last big sci-fi con together... and run into vampires, heartbreak, and a very irresponsible dealer's room in 'My Sucky Teen Romance'!

It's pretty much universally agreed on that 2018's 'The Predator', from action auteur Shane Black, is a hot goddamn mess. But what made it such a hot mess? Is it the uncomfortable ableism? Black's decision to heavily involve his buddy Fred Dekker in the screenwriting? The big revelations about the reasons behind the Predators' visits to Earth that absolutely nobody liked? The reshot and reworked third act? That disastrous MCU-style stinger? There's so much to discuss here... and lucky you, HPH is here to cover all of it!

What's not to love about 'The Tingler'? It's got William Castle and his most famous theater gimmick, Vincent Price at the beginning of his big horror style era, and all the subtext you could ever want about 50s repression! Come on in and spend a little time with HPH on the most fun you can ever have being scared... and if it gets to be too much, just scream for your life!

And so the Star Trekkification of the 'Alien' franchise is complete, with a movie that's named after the ship it's set on and a plot that's straight out of the first season TNG episode "Datalore". But does that make it bad? Can those two tones be merged successfully? Is there a reason why they cast James Franco in this movie? Listen to this episode and find out!

This one was a long time in the making, but a movie this important deserves a lot of conversation. So get ready for a big discussion of the Jim Crow South, organized religion's role in perpetuating its oppression, cultural appropriation and intersectionality, and oh yes FRIGGING VAMPIRES, as we discuss Ryan Coogler's landmark cinematic achievement 'Sinners'!

Ridley Scott had no way of knowing when he selected this title that fans of the short-lived animated comedy "The Critic" would see it and immediately think, "Oh no! Promootheus!" But--

Well, actually he did have a way of knowing, because "The Critic" originally aired between 1994 and 1995 so he could fully have anticipated this reaction. So honestly it's entirely his fault that this whole movie inadvertently references an old episode of "The Critic". He should really have known better. This information isn't brought up much in my episode on the film, but I had to talk about it somewhere so this is the place.

But yes, 'Alien' prequel, return to the franchise for legendary director Ridley Scott, controversial film with a complicated legacy, we'll touch on it all. Just... "Oh no! Promootheus!"

Welcome to Half Price Horror, your destination for haute cuisine. Tonight we have an amuse-bouche of tension, followed by an appetizer of violence with just a touch of social satire, with a main course of mesmerizing acting and for dessert... maybe a cheeseburger? Unconventional, I know, but this is just that kind of establishment, and I can't wait to discuss the entire Menu with you.

Featuring a surprising number of Oscar winners for the fifth installment in the 'Predator' franchise, this latest movie takes us off-world and onto an alien game reserve stocked by the titular Predators for their special hunts. But are the predators the alien hunters... or the people they've come here to hunt? That's the question the movie asks, so let's dig in together and see if it answers it!

The Dark Universe! Just the mention of this storied franchise stirs the soul of every cinephile, bringing back memories of 2017's 'The Mummy' and... um... actually it was just 2017's 'The Mummy', wasn't it? And to find out why, give this episode a spin and discover the history of the cinematic universe that wasn't and all the reasons behind its failure.

If there's a single entry in the 'Alien' and 'Predator' franchises it's acceptable to simply dump on, this would probably be the one. But what are the actual problems with this movie? Why does it fail, and what can we learn from its artistic struggles? There is value in discussing these things... all of which is a very nice way of saying that this movie is nine miles of rough road and we're going to talk about every bump.