Heavy Metal Horror Cast

Episode 50 is here! Sooz celebrates the big 5-0 with a look back at some of the horrors we’ve paid homage to throughout the show. Along the way we’ll kick back with the coolest coven from the 90’s, battle baddies with Buffy, look at lupines and Lost Boys, and turn on the juice to see what shakes loose with the Ghost with the Most himself!

We’ll also be checking out the latest single Hidden Garden, from Japanese doom duo Blacklab.

So come, as we close the coffin door on Heavy Metal Horror Cast for the final time. But bare in mind that, like all true horrors, the end is merely the beginning…

Do you like basghetti?

Sinking fangs into vampiric myth with a wry smile, 2014’s What We Do In The Shadows proved that when it came to supernatural swagger, bloodsuckers still had teeth. Sharp, satirical and uproariously silly, it subverted preconceived conventions whilst honouring legend and tradition.

Sooz chats the dead but delicious quintet at the centre of the tale, bemoaning the chore wheel, dancing with demons and championing stylistic storytelling and visual panache.

We'll also be checking out Lovecraftian track At the Mountains of Madness from the awesome Crimson Day.

So, get ready for the biggest night of the supernatural calendar, but beware The Beast *ominous music*, as we don our best duds to do things vampire style.

And mind your manners. We're werewolves NOT swearwolves!*

*At no point does Sooz EVER mention Rhys Darby by name, even though he's one of the movies highlights. I know, it's a moral outrage! But don't worry, for she has been forever banished - to the CIRCLE OF SHAME!!!

They’re heeere…..

Emotive, grandiose and thoroughly haunting, Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper's phenomenal paranormal picture transcends this mortal plane in terms of strategic storytelling and iconic imagery. Despite controversies regarding creative control and purportedly carrying a curse, the film has gone on to become a cult classic, inspiring generations of cinemagoers while setting the benchmark for haunted house thrillers.

Sooz looks at the spooky suburban shocker, chatting angelic ankle biters, pint-sized psychics and, dare I even say it, clowns. *Shudder*

We’ll also be checking out the fantastic track God Sent Rain (You Sent Blood & Piss) from Sludge metal duo St Fenton The Tainted.

So open your mind, beware The Beast and stay away from the light.

Clear your mind, it knows what scares you and it knows too much already...

Slapstick, surreal and truly superb, Sam Raimi's Evil Dead 2 is a welcome revisit to the cabin that started it all. Through mastery and mayhem, it has gone on to become one of the most well loved and revered sequels of all time, establishing an icon in both Bruce Campbell and his character Ash.

Sooz heads back to Professor Knowbys pad, chatting comedy capers, sweaty siblings and an ingenious plot which helped to ensure the films release.

We'll also be checking out the fantastic track Test Subject 11, from the synth-tastic Videogram.

So grab yourself a chainsaw, climb into the Oldsmobile and get ready to ask: "who’s laughing now", as we talk Kandarian daggers, say farewell to arms, and rant about previous rentals.   

Groovy.

Do you like scary movies?

An abundance of rules*, Drew Barrymore in a bad wig and the Fonz. What do these three things have in common? Why, it's Scream of course, Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson’s trope busting, self aware slasher from 1996. Springing from their twisted minds like a masked assailant from the bushes, the film helped to revitalize the genre, affectionately mocking and subverting standardized horror tropes, with a glint of irony and a wicked grin of malice slapped across it’s hilariously homicidal premise.

We’ll also be checking out an awesome track, Ballad of the Dead Rabbit, from Metal Guard Pacifica.

So, grab a beer, hold your honey close, and ask: ‘Who’s there’...No wait, don’t do any of those things, as we head to Woodsborough, and find out that movies don't create psychos. Movies make psychos more creative!

*Well okay, not an ABUNDANCE, that’s a wee bit of an exaggeration. Just four. But they are really, really REALLY important. If you wanna survive…

Madcap, macabre and bloodily brilliant, 2013’s You’re Next is a loving rejuvenation of some of our favourite, if a little well worn, horror tropes. With a killer heroine at the helm, Simon Barrett and Adam Winguards tale of family feuds, ferocious females and the price we put on our loved ones, is as inspirational as it is innovative, laced with jet black humour that subverts the norms with sardonic glee. Sooz chat’s the viciously visceral cult thriller, releasing the beast on the application of household items under siege and nightmare meet-ups with the inlaws, when a fox is a dinner guest in your henhouse.     

We’ll also be checking out the latest single Retch from progressive rockers Conjurer.

So get ready to meet the family who may be more than they initially seem, as we celebrate Women in Horror Month, with this slick and stylish indie cult slasher.

Eerie, atmospheric and awesome to some, but a super slow pile of tosh to others, Paranormal Activity is a haunting portrayal of domesticity and demons. Sooz looks at Oren Peli’s 2007 record breaking low budget thriller, exploring the psychology of stillness, the notion of less is more and the truth behind the saying: you never really know someone until you live with them, in a film which made Steven Spielberg wet his knickers (probably). Oh yeah, there’s also a lot of chat about bodily functions. Don’t ask, it became a thing…

Along the way we’ll talk cats, coincidence and the canny investment of frugal filmmaking.

So lock the doors, set the alarms and have a priest on standby, as we chat found footage, felines and fiends.

I feel it. I feel it breathing on me.... 

Sweet dreams are made of this? Iconic, influential and widely revered, A Nightmare on Elm Street elevated director Wes Craven and his demonic dream demon Freddy Kruger to iconic status. Blurring the lines between fantasy and fiction, the films high concept premise rejuvenated the slasher genre for a new generation. Sooz chats the savage sleepstalker, who’s ominous beginnings are grounded in reality, Eastern religion and Gary Wright's synth-tastic ‘Dream Weaver’ (I know)!

We’ll also be checking out a track from Manchester based rockers I-DEF-I.

So keep telling yourself it’s just a dream, as we play in Krugers court, where anything is possible.

Why are you screaming? I haven't even caught you yet...

Brash, bizarre and brilliant, Gremlins is one of the least traditional and best loved Christmas movies of all time. Sooz chats the festive classic, looking with rose-tinted favour at a film which gets both children and adults sentimental around the holidays. From Christopher Columbus’ unique and unconventional script, to Joe Dante's idiosyncratic aptitude for big screen translation, every element perfectly captures an anarchic 1980’s zeitgeist.  

We’ll also be checking out the latest single, The Mire, from extreme progressive metallers Conjurer.

So grab a mince pie and some mulled wine, turn on all the lights, check all the closets and cupboards, look under all the beds, 'cause you never can tell there just might be a Gremlin in your house.

Gremlins, just like Mr. Futterman said...

Bleak, brutal and bloody, David Slade’s big screen adaptation of the acclaimed graphic novel, revamped and revived the legacy of fanged fiends, re-establishing them as heartless undead killers and reigniting the notion that they’re to be feared, rather than fancied. Sooz chat’s the survivalist horror, comparing source with adaptation, and rejoicing in the carnage that creatures of the night were once again allowed to revel in.  

We’ll also be checking out the latest single, The Aura, from progressive metal legends Sikth.

So board the windows, try to hide. They're coming. Get ready to behead the undead with this cold climate classic.

Brr....You can feel it. That cold ain't the weather. That's death approaching....