Hellbent for Horror

Horror comedies have been around since the early days of cinema, and they've always been a mixed bag. Almost always, horror takes a backseat in boring parodies. But a new breed of imaginative movies is changing how horror and humor mix in one film.

Gorier, wilder, and unafraid to be absurd, these movies are a new subgenre that is turning heads!

Thanks for listening!

Covered in This Episode:

Reggie Bannister (1945-2026)

Screaming Mad George (1956-2026)

Christopher Dyer's Newsletter: http://www.Dyersdungeon.com

Freaks and Psychos: The Disability in Horror Podcast: https://freaksandpsychospodcast.com/

American Graffiti (1973)

Happy Days (1974-1984)

Airplane! (1980)

Un Chien Andalou (1929)

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)

The Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters (1954)

Student Bodies (1981)

Pandemonium (1982)

National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982)

Saturday the 14th (1981)

Wacko (1982)

Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

Hausu (1976)

Young Frankenstein (1974)

It's Alive (1976)

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Evil Dead II (1987)

Bad Taste (1987)

Dead-Alive (1993)

Reanimator (1985)

Return Of the Living Dead (1984)

The Office (UK) (2001-2003)

Snakes on a Plane (2006)

Cocaine Bear (2023)

USING SALT ON SWEETS: HUMOR MAKES THE HORROR HIT HARDER

Barbarian (2022)

Cuckoo (2024)

Weapons (2025)

USING HORROR AND HUMOR AS SOCIAL SATIRE

The Substance (2024)

Sorry To Bother You (2018)

Ugly Stepsister (2025)

KILLING THE JOKE: SHOWING A JOKE SCENARIO AND TAKING IT SERIOUSLY

The Coffee Table (2022)

Obsession (2026)

SPLATTERSTICK: USING GORE AS MONTY PYTHON DID

The Monkey (2025)

Heart Eyes (2025)

CREATING A HYBRID GENRE

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (2025)

Dust Bunny (2025)

Hello everyone! Hellbent for Horror is back from the dead, with fresh grave soil still underneath the fingernails.

This episode is a reconnection to you all, hopefully a resurrection, after a "lost year."

I'll give some explanations, and some good news, too!

As always, thanks for listening!

Izzy Lee is a take-no-prisoners indie filmmaker whose 20-plus genre short films garnered praise from Fangoria, Dread Central, the A.V. Club, and EW.com.

And then came the pandemic.

However Izzy Lee rose from the ashes and came back tougher than ever, with her first published novella (I Can See Your Lies) and her feature-length film directorial debut, HOUSE OF ASHES.

Join me as Izzy talks about creative influences, the art of the short film, making friends while making art, and the mission statement for genre films during uncertain times, where fact is scarier than fiction.

I hope you enjoy the show!

Moves Discussed:

House of Usher (1960)

The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

Blood and Black Lace (1964)

Suspiria (1977)

House of Ashes (2024)

Rites of Vengeance (short) (2017)

Meat Friend (short) (2022)

Although 2024 has passed, so many horror films were released that I am still playing catch-up to see them all!

You might have loved some and hated others, but there's no denying that the horror genre flourished in 2024 and continues to be one of our most diverse storytelling styles.

From traditional Gothic stories to deconstructed slashers to experimental monster movies to international versions of demons, there was something for every type of horror fan!

Join me as I examine twenty-five horror films to give my view of the "state of the horror union" for 2024. I'll discuss some of my favorites and the trends I noticed, and I'll also cover the movies that, for better or worse, influenced the constant evolution of the world's greatest genre!

I hope you enjoy the show!

Movies discussed:

Late Night With the Devil

Immaculate

The First Omen

Heretic

Strange Darling

Cuckoo

The Shout (1978)

A Quiet Place Day One

Nosferatu

Maxxine

Vice Squad (1982)

Angel (1983)

Terrifier 3

Oddity

Daddy's Head

Starve Acre

The Haunting of Julia (1977)

Exhuma

Stopmotion

MadS

I Saw the TV Glow

The Coffee Table

In a Violent Nature

Caddo Lake

Things Will Be Different

Sleep

Longlegs

Azrael

The Substance

It's time for more Horror for the Holidays, and this year, we have double the chills and thrills to celebrate!

First, the tradition of telling ghost stories for Christmas gets a new annual series from Severin Films called The Haunted Season, and the first episode streams on Shudder through December, with a new film every Christmas season!

My guests are acclaimed author, producer, and filmmaker Kier-La Janisse (Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, House of Psychotic Women), the show's creator and executive producer, and director Sean Hogan (The Devil's Business, England's Screaming), who wrote and directed this year's offering, To Fire You Come at Last.

And if that isn't enough, Kier-La and Severin recently released the much-anticipated box set, ALL THE HAUNTS BE OURS: A COMPENDIUM OF FOLK HORROR VOLUME TWO, containing 24 films representing 18 countries!

Join Kier-La, Sean, and me as we talk about the intersection of folk horror, folklore, ghost stories, diverse traditions and myths worldwide, the movies they inspire, and at least a dozen horror obsessions!

I hope you enjoy the show!

Movies/shows/books discussed:

KING KONG (1933)

HORROR EXPRESS (1972)

…AND THEN IT HAPPENED (1972)

APACHES (1977)

ABC MOVIES OF THE WEEK (1969-1975)

BLOOD ON SATAN'S CLAW (1971)

BOWERY BOYS, DEAD-END KIDS (1946-1958)

DEAD OF NIGHT: THE EXORCISM (1972)

EDGE OF THE KNIFE (2019)

A GHOST STORY FOR CHRISTMAS (BBC) INITIAL RUN: 1971-1978

HARDY BOYS, NANCY DREW MYSTERIES (1977-1979)

TO FIRE YOU COME AT LAST (2023)

WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED: A HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR (2021)

PAPER MAN (1971)

PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1987)

QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (1967)

RITES OF MAY (1976)

LEGEND OF HILLBILLY JOHN (1972)

STALLS OF BARCHESTER (1971)

WHISTLE AND I'LL COME TO YOU (1968)

THE SIGNALMAN (1976)

STIGMA (1977)

THE TRACTATE MIDDOTH (2013)

THE BODY SNATCHER (1945)

THE HALLOW (2015)

SCOOBY DOO

WORKS OF STEPHEN KING

WORKS OF V.C. ANDREWS

FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND

FANGORIA

FANTASTIC FEST-ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE

NIGEL KNEALE

Welcome to PART TWO of our dive into Hong Kong CAT III films, the classification of the most outrageous, transgressive, explicit, and violent films. These films, made by a group of wild and unpredictable filmmakers, thrived from 1988 until the British Handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997.

Hong Kong audiences loved these extremely unhinged movies, and their reputation spread across the globe!

Join my guest Ryan Smith of legendary Dreamhaven Books in Minneapolis, Minnesota, one of the premiere experts on CAT III films, for this look at some of the heavy hitters of CAT III!

I hope you enjoy the show!

Movies Discussed:

BROTHER OF DARKNESS (1994)

UNDERGROUND BANKER (1994)

NAKED KILLER (1992)

SEX AND ZEN (1991)

THE ETERNAL EVIL OF ASIA (1995)

The UK created the Video Nasties list.

The MPAA created NC-17.

And Hong Kong had CATEGORY III films.

It is probably the least widely known classification of outrageous, transgressive, explicit, and violent films. From 1988 to the British Handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the government tried to tame a group of wild and unpredictable filmmakers.

Instead of killing business, the new rating created a thriving industry for extremely popular and extremely unhinged movies!

Join my guest Ryan Smith of legendary Dreamhaven Books in Minneapolis, Minnesota, one of the premiere experts on CAT III films, for this two-part dive into the heavy hitters of CAT III!

I hope you enjoy the show!

Movies Discussed:

Men Behind the Sun (1988)

The Untold Story (1993)

Taxi Hunter (1993)

Ebola Syndrome (1996)

Dr. Lamb (1992)

Run and Kill (1993)

Red to Kill (1994)

Happy Halloween!

Hellbent for Horror returns from the dead (and grateful to be here) to start more conversations. I've missed you all!

The best-kept secret of long-term horror fans may be that we don't necessarily watch merely to be scared. What captivates us is the element of surprise. If you can't scare us, surprise us.

How do you surprise horror fans who have seen it all?

Join me as I give my opinion on how filmmakers and studios can meet horror fans' expectations and make movies they will love!

Enter the" three doors of death" if you dare!

I hope you enjoy the show!

Movies and stories covered:

Snakes on a Plane (2006)

Talk To Me (2022)

The Séance- Short story by Ronal Kayser (1936)

I Walked With a Zombie (1943)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

28 Days Later (2002)

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

Near Dark (1987)

The Lost Boys (1987)

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

And Then There Were None-novel by Agatha Christie (1939)

Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971)

Black Sunday (1960)

Blood and Black Lace (1964)

Halloween (1978)

Friday the 13th (1980)

Going To Pieces: The Rise And Fall of The Slasher Film (2006)

Graduation Day (1981)

Un Chien Andalou (1929)

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Scream (1995)

The Last Broadcast (1998)

Cannibal Holocaust (1980)

David Holzman's Diary (1967)

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Skinamarink (2022)

The Yellow Wallpaper short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)

Like it or not, failure is a part of creation, invention, and art. Sometimes, failure forces improvisation that creates something amazing; other times, not so much.

So, I wanted to look at failure in horror: how some filmmakers overcame major setbacks and Acts of God, but also look at the movies centered around human error, where one mistake creates a chain reaction that leads to death, dismemberment, and even doomsday!

I hope you enjoy the show!

Movies discussed:

Return of the Living Dead (1985)

The Fly (1986)

Open Water (2003)

28 Days Later (2003)

Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

Gerald's Game (2017)

The Descent (2006)

The Coffee Table (2022)

Join me as I talk with Del Howison, the co-owner of Dark Delicacies, the world-renowned book and collectibles store in Burbank dedicated to horror and fantasy that celebrates 30 years as America's home of horror (and is the oldest horror bookstore in Los Angeles.)

Del discusses his career as an author, actor, and bookseller and how a horror superfan grew up to create an oasis for fellow horror fans and bookworms alike, a place that's become an institution that draws authors and filmmakers as well.

Over a thousand authors and filmmakers have given readings and signed books over the past thirty years, and we discuss some of the highlights and what the future holds for Dark Delicacies.

I hope you enjoy the show!

Movies, books, people discussed:

Curse of the Faceless Man (1958)

The Seven Faces of Dr. Lau (1964)

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)

Forrest Ackerman

Ray Harryhausen

Salem's Lot (book) (1975)

Carrie (book) (1974)

The Omen (1976)

The Omen II (1978)

The Omen (2006)

Joe Lansdale

Sarah Karloff

David Schow

Don Coscarelli