Horror Business

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys because we’re talking 2003’s High Tension and 2008’s Martyrs with NJHC stalwart Tim Shaw of Ensign and Fuck It…I Quit!

First off thank you to the fine folks over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screen-printing company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a t-shirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Thank you also to Essex Coffee Roasters, our newest sponsor. Head to www.essexcoffeeroasters.com to check out their fine assortment of coffee and enter CINEPUNX in the promo code for ten percent off your order! And as always thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally thankful. If you would like to become a Patron, head to patreon.com/cinepunx. Thanks in advance!

We start by talking about some of the stuff involving horror recently. Tim talks about seeing Halloween Kills and finishing Midnight Mass as well as the New Zealand film Coming Home In The Dark. We briefly tear into Halloween Kills. Liam talks about watching The Censor, Antlers, and VHS 94. Justin talks about seeing Titane and Lamb and rewatching Tobe Hooper’s Salem’s Lot.

We start with High Tension. We talk about our initial experiences with the film. Tim talks about his relationship with the film and how it’s changed over the years, and how initially he looked past the inconsistencies but later began to dwell on them--but then after watching the film with commentary by the director began to enjoy it again. He talks about how the film is a solid slasher regardless of the twist.

Justin talks about how this was his first viewing of the film and enjoyed it despite the twist and the fact that the existence of the truck in the film somewhat nullifies it. We talk about the common criticism of the film as a ripoff of Dean Koontz’s Intensity. Justin talks about the film as a tragedy in that one of the characters is so in love with someone else that they justify horrible things in the name of that love. Liam talks about how when the film was released the twist was spoiled for him, so he avoided it for years, but how upon first seeing it he accepted the inconsistencies of the film as part of the main characters delusion.

He makes a comparison to Sleepaway Camp is that both films' twists are somewhat homophobic, and that is the problem with the film, not its narrative flaws. He also argues that, despite the twist and the ending, it’s still an incredible slasher and would be one of the better films of the decade if not for the ending and twist. Tim talks about how the film could benefit from some more character development that would make the twist more effective.

Up next is Martyrs. Tim opens the discussion by confessing how much this movie kicks his ass emotionally, and how it’s an oppressive and uncomfortable but still wholly enjoyable film. Justin talks about how much he enjoyed the film but was still horrified and saddened by it. He also talks about the concept of enlightenment through extreme suffering, and how haunting it is.

He talks about the book By The Sword by F. Paul Wilson, and how it revolves around a sect of monks that seeks enlightenment through detachment from the physical senses. He ties this in with how creepy the idea of using suffering as a conduit to a higher realm is. The film’s use of trauma as a source of horror is discussed, as is the fact that the film could very easily just have used intense imagery to evoke a sense of horror and dread in the viewer but instead draws upon so much more emotionally to evoke those feelings.

The bleakness of the ending is touched upon. Justin talks about how the fact that the character of the Madam dying by suicide once her beliefs are confirmed lends the film a terrifying sense of realism, and the last shot of a character flayed and in agony is touched upon. Liam discusses the exhaustive nature of the film and how it effectively puts the viewer through the ringer.

We talk about the somewhat excessive nature of some of the torture scenes in which a character is very graphically beaten. The possible evocation of France’s racist and colonialist/imperialist past is discussed, as is the film's dissection of the wholesome nuclear family image as a front for something unspeakable and transgressive. We again touch upon how the scenes in which a character is “merely” beaten as opposed to flayed alive are more upsetting because the latter has a touch of fantasy to it, whereas the former feels like a very real event.

First and foremost, thank you Tim for coming on and chatting with us. You can find his current band here and Ensign on Spotify.  As always, thank you for listening and to everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening and donating. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller, Jacob Roberts, Paul Sharkey, and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), Essex Coffee Roasters (www.essexcoffeeroasters.com) and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz66, check out our Spotify account at Cinepunx, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on ITunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers!  Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys because we’re talking 1985’s RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and 1988’s RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD II.

First off thank you to the fine folks over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screen-printing company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a t-shirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Thank you also to Essex Coffee Roasters, our newest sponsor. Head to www.essexcoffeeroasters.com to check out their fine assortment of coffee and enter CINEPUNX in the promo code for ten percent off your order! And as always thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally thankful. If you would like to become a Patron, head to patreon.com/cinepunx. Thanks in advance!

We start by talking about some of the stuff involving horror recently. Liam talks about watching the ‘80s classic The Gate for a CINE-WEEN piece, we talk about the newest Mike Flanagan series Midnight Mass and go on a brief tangent about the phenomenon of modern Christianity commodifying pop culture horror elements to try and teach scripture.(Hey friends, Liam here, during my discussion of the Vox article I didn't enjoy I misgendered the author by mistake! I am very sorry for that, I should have paid more attention to who the author was and I skipped over that entirely. I know that with the vitriol and hate Trans folks are facing everywhere Cis folks like myself need to be that much more attentive to folks gender, and I honestly didn't even bother to read who the author was. It was not malicious but it was insensitive and sloppy, and I apologize to them and to any trans and non-binary listeners who my ignorance may have hurt.) Liam talks about seeing the newest entry in the V/H/S series V/H/S/94. Justin talks about seeing Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

We start with Return Of The Living Dead. We briefly talk about the history of the production of the film, including the genesis of the differences between Romero’s …Of The Dead films and John Russo’s …Of The Living Dead films.

We then talk about how despite George Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead being what is popularly seen as the archetypical zombie film it is the ROTLD style zombies chanting ‘brains!’ that has seeped deepest into the zeitgeist. Liam postulates that this is possibly because of The Simpsons using brain eating zombies in one of their Treehouse Of Horror episodes early on.

We discuss the self-awareness the film has which put it above typical ‘80s horror fare, and how it has a few rather “heavy” moments, including the motivation for the zombies to consume brains and how that’s what Liam calls the “Dan O’Bannon factor”. We talk about how the film, despite having a somewhat stereotypical of punk culture, dives somewhat deep into actual punk music to create an iconic soundtrack.  We discuss some of the more upsetting moments, including Linea Quigley’s initial transformation into a zombie and the actual design of her as a zombie, James Karen’s characters death, and the way the zombies are clearly aware of what they’re doing by consuming people.

Liam talks about how the film asks us both to have fun with it while letting us know it will make us uncomfortable, and Justin talks about certain scenes that have always upset him. We talk about the character of Tarman, and how despite it becoming something of a loveable mascot for the series later on their initial introduction in the first film it is extremely upsetting.

We examine the idea of how the film because it relies upon zombies that are re-animated chemically, cannot be killed by the traditional Romero way of destroying the brain and a headless body will simply keep attacking.

Up next is Return Of The Living Dead II. We begin by giving a summary of the film, with Justin giving a short list of the things he likes about it. Liam postulates that the film has two main ideas: better looking zombies than the first film and involving kids, but only actually succeeds in the first film.

We talk about how the movie really really tries to be funny but largely fails. Liam brings up the concept of a sequel just recreating the first film fails every time except for Evil Dead II.

We talk about how this is Liam’s first viewing of the film and how due to a lack of nostalgia for the film it feels very clunky and hard to watch.

Justin brings up that in a very basic sense this film doesn’t take the idea of the first film seriously at all and thus misinterprets the first film.

We talk about how the film has almost zero likeable characters that are relatable and how this film does what many people fear remakes do to the legacies of the original films.

First and foremost, thank you as always to you for listening and to everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening and donating. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller, Jacob Roberts, Paul Sharkey, and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), Essex Coffee Roasters (www.essexcoffeeroasters.com) and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz66, check out our Spotify account at Cinepunx, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on ITunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers!  Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys because we’re talking 1973’s Torso and 1982’s Pieces.

First off thank you to the fine folks over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screen-printing company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a t-shirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Thank you also to Essex Coffee Roasters, our newest sponsor. Head to www.essexcoffeeroasters.com to check out their fine assortment of coffee and enter CINEPUNX in the promo code for ten percent off your order! And as always thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally thankful. If you would like to become a Patron, head to patreon.com/cinepunx. Thanks in advance!

We start by talking about some of the stuff involving horror recently. We talk about James Wan’s Malignant at length, and Liam talks about the recent episode of Marvel’s What If? that was based on the Marvel Zombies storyline, and we discuss Nia DiCosta’s Candyman.

We start with Torso. Justin talks about how this film really nails down everything good about giallo films, in that it embodies much of what has come to be associated with the genre.

We give a brief background on the director Sergio Martino and the giallo genre, and how Italian cinema tended undergo different trends and cycles. We talk about despite being tame by today’s standards, some of the violence in the film must’ve been quite upsetting at the time of its release.

Justin talks about how the films use of voyeuristic camerawork forces the audience to empathize with the “final girl” of the film. Liam talks about how the film is one of the few that successfully employs the technique of a red herring. We discuss how much of the violence in the film occurs offscreen, and how that’s surprisingly effective.

Up next is Pieces. Justin begins by talking about how close the film came to being great if it weren’t for the film’s insistence on trying to emulate The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and how the ending just felt haphazard and pointless.

We discuss how we understand why people love this movie because it’s undeniably a fun film but it’s still an absolute mess. Liam talks about how the film doesn’t take itself overly seriously and has arguably the worst red herring of all time.

We discuss the films depiction of women and sexuality, and Justin circles back to his frustration with the film trying to emulate other horror films instead of simply being its own thing.

Thank you as always to you for listening and to everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening and donating. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller, Jacob Roberts, Paul Sharkey, and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), Essex Coffee Roasters (www.essexcoffeeroasters.com) and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz66, check out our Spotify account at Cinepunx, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on iTunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers!  Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys because we’re talking 2000’s Ginger Snaps and 2004’s Cursed and we’re joined by Sean Conway of the film Dead Til Death.

First off thank you to the fine folks over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screen-printing company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a t-shirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Thank you also to Essex Coffee Roasters, our newest sponsor. Head to www.essexcoffeeroasters.com to check out their fine assortment of coffee and enter CINEPUNX in the promo code for ten percent off your order! And as always thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally thankful. If you would like to become a Patron, head to patreon.com/cinepunx. Thanks in advance!

We start by talking about some of the stuff involving horror recently. Sean talks about his recent film Dead Til Death, the inspiration behind it, the making of it, and some of his future projects. We briefly talk about Nia DaCosta’s new Candyman film, and Sean talks about catching the newest entry in the Saw franchise Spiral: From The Book Of Saw.

We start with Ginger Snaps. We begin by giving a summary of the film and Justin talks about how when the film first came out he resisted seeing it because he thought it looked dumb but was proven wrong. We briefly talk about Liam’s belief that there are very few actually good werewolf movies and how this is one of them, and how it also functions as a body horror film. We talk about how the film unfortunately gets written off merely as a dated period piece from the early aughts.

Sean talks about how the film’s werewolf element functions more as an engine to tackle a deeper theme than a simple monster movie. Justin talks about how the film is a compelling story about universal ideas when it comes to growing up that, as Sean earlier stated, functions without a werewolf element.

Liam then successfully attempts to argue that the film isn’t as horny as Justin accused it of being. Liam and Justin talk about the challenges of the teenage years of their daughter and niece respectively, and how the film also touches upon the fear parents have of their children becoming someone they don’t know, or the fear of watching your children become strangers.

We briefly talk about how the film sidesteps the concept of constructing a mythos for the werewolf and avoids the shortcoming a lot of werewolf projects fall prey to. Justin recommends the comic book series Ferals and the book Ravenous by Ray Garton that treats lycanthropy as something akin to STIs.

Up next is Cursed. We give a summary of the film, and then talk about the troubled history of the production the film had, including the scrapping of the original practical effects by makeup SFX legend Rick Baker. Justin talks about the uneven nature of the film, in that much of the film is somewhat hackey but there are a few truly frightening scenes.

We talk about how the cast is, for the time, somewhat “star studded”. Liam argues that the film is mostly fun despite his early misgivings based on it being a “late era” Wes Craven film and having an extremely stupid scene involving a werewolf dog. We discuss the idea of when a movie has potential but falls short, we tend to be particularly harsh on it, and similarly when a film is largely bad but has a few decent parts it can be fun.

Liam brings up how the film has a slightly comedic tone that is at odds with much of Craven’s catalog. We talk again about how the film took years longer than intended due to reshoots at the request of the studio and how the original plot was vastly different than the finished product. We touch upon how this is an example of a film in which the unreleased original cut might be an improvement upon the theatrical release.

First and foremost, thank you Sean for coming on and talking with us. You can find Dead Til Death on Amazon as well as Apple TV and you should absolutely check it out. Thank you as always to you for listening and to everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening and donating. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller, Jacob Roberts, Paul Sharkey, and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), Essex Coffee Roasters (www.essexcoffeeroasters.com) and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz66, check out our Spotify account at Cinepunx, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on ITunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers!  Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys because we’re talking 1979’s Thirst and 1990’s Pale Blood.

We start by talking about some of the stuff involving horror recently. Liam talks about some of the films he saw for Fantasia Fest, including When I Consume You, and he and Justin talk about The Night House.

We start with Thirst. Justin talks about some of the superficial similarities between this film and Blade 3 and Daybreakers and how the film explores the concept of upper-class individuals consuming, in some way, middle and lower class individuals and how that relates to late stage capitalism. Liam talks about the “haunting” concept of those being consumed willingly going to their fates.

Justin talks about the idea of an audience surrogate and how the film successfully pulled that off. The ambiguity of whether these people are actual vampires is touched upon, as none of them have any “powers” so to speak that traditional vampires have.

The parallels between the vampires in the film and historical colonists is touched upon, and Liam argues that the film, despite being low budget and “cheap”, is nonetheless a smart film. We talk about how the film is a parallel to factory farms vs. small, family-owned farms.

Up next is Pale Blood. We talk about how the film feels very “90’s” in production and effects. We talk about the band Agent Orange being in the film. We talk about the film’s resemblance to Hong Kong action movies due to it being shot in Hong Kong.

We talk about how the movie resembles something produced for Cinemax in the early to mid-90s.We discuss how despite lacking the trappings of most early ‘90s horror action movies (gore and nudity) it’s still a fun movie.

The movie telegraphing its “twist” is touched upon. The melodramatic nature of the lead actor is touched upon.

First and foremost thank you everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening and donating. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller, Jacob Roberts, Paul Sharkey, and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), Essex Coffee Roasters (www.essexcoffeeroasters.com) and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz66, check out our Spotify account at Cinepunx, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on ITunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers!  Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys because we’re talking 2009’s Thirst and 2019’s Thirst and even better we’re joined by Josh Jurk of New Jersey’s School Drugs. First off thank you to the fine folks over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screen-printing company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a t-shirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Thank you also to Essex Coffee Roasters, our newest sponsor. Head to www.essexcoffeeroasters.com to check out their fine assortment of coffee, and enter CINEPUNX in the promo code for ten percent off your order! And as always thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally thankful. If you would like to become a Patron, head to patreon.com/cinepunx. Thanks in advance!

We start by talking about some of the stuff involving horror recently. Josh talks about starring in the 2020 film Uncle Peckerhead, and briefly discusses Cruella and emotionally effective children’s films with Liam. Liam also discusses reading the newest Grady Hendrix book. Justin talks about seeing The Green Knight and a few screenings of various movies at the Mahoning Drive-In as well as the film The Boy Behind The Door.

We start with Thirst. We start by discussing the films roots in religion in how it depicts the Catholic view on suicide and damnation, as well as the way the film depicts lust and wanting in a realm in which such concepts are strictly forbidden.

The concept of losing one’s faith and martyrdom is examined. We talk about the film’s color palette and how it helps enhance a feeling of sensuality, and how the film is essentially two films in one: a traditional vampire movie and a “whodunnit” style murder mystery.

The film making a connection between the symbolic drinking of blood in communion and the literal drinking of blood in vampirism. The film’s interesting use of opposing concepts is touched upon (science vs religion, the divine vs the sacred, lust vs abstinence, a feminine story vs a masculine story).

The film’s usage of guilt manifested visually is discussed, as is the idea of how people would react if all restraint of morality was replaced, and we briefly discuss the origins of personal morality.

Up next is Thirst. We give a brief synopsis of the film, and Josh compares it to a theme park in which you were expected to have fun and absolutely did not.

We talk about how the movie just doesn’t really work, and Justin talks about how the fact the protagonist of the film being gay ultimately came off as homophobic due to the film’s obsession with phallic imagery and making the protagonist obsessed with eating penises, and how this is made worse by the film’s villains being evangelical Christians—so clearly, they understand the evil of such religion.

The film’s sloppy attempt at being a zombie movie is also discussed. We talk about some of the things that almost make the film good (i.e. the loneliness of the protagonist) but how the film was too caught up in being zany and outrageous to really explore such concepts.

We briefly talk about the history of films that examine human characters dealing with the emotional fall out of dealing with vampires in a way that is above and beyond merely horrific and how this movie just doesn’t even bother trying to do that. We then clearly grow weary of discussing such a drab boring film and instead go on a tangent talking about the Marvel symbiotic universe in the comics.

First and foremost thank you Josh for joining us. You can find School Drugs on Spotify and at https://schooldrugs.bandcamp.com/and they are worth checking out. Thank you everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening and donating. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller, Jacob Roberts, Paul Sharkey, and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), Essex Coffee Roasters (www.essexcoffeeroasters.com) and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz66, check out our Spotify account at Cinepunx, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on ITunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers!  Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys because we’re talking 2003’s The Wicksboro Incident and 2020’s Host, and even better we’re joined by Anna and Marissa from the But What Do We Know? podcast.

First off thank you to the fine folks over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screen-printing company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a t-shirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Thank you also to Essex Coffee Roasters, our newest sponsor. Head to www.essexcoffeeroasters.com to check out their fine assortment of coffee, and enter CINEPUNX in the promo code for ten percent off your order! And as always thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally thankful. If you would like to become a Patron, head to patreon.com/cinepunx. Thanks in advance!

We start by talking about some of the stuff involving horror recently. Anna and Marissa talk about the series Evil Lives Here and various horrific stories such as the phenomenon of haunted Appalachia and spooky caves. Liam talks about the Netflix trilogy of Fear Street films and the new Grady Hendrix book The Final Girl Support Group. We talk about the Mahoning Drive-In’s recent brush with closure and how they came back from the brink. Justin talks about the book They Come With The Rain, the films False Positive, The Forever Purge, Violation, and Pig.

We start with The Wicksboro Incident. Marissa rather eloquently compares the film to bad sex in that you expect something to happen, but nothing does, and Anna talks about the film’s resemblance to the spat of mermaid “documentaries” from a few years back.

Justin talks about his background with the movie and how he came to discover it. We talk about how the film has quite an effective opening but devolves quickly into cliched nonsense about halfway through. We briefly discuss the “rules” of found footage and how this film breaks many of them and not in a good way.

Anna talks about how impractical and unbelievable the film was, and Marissa talks about how the acting was subpar and the attempts at adding a “human” element fail miserably.

Up next is Host. Anna talks about how the film is the most recent entry in a relatively new trend in horror filmmaking and how it’s super effective in its minimalism, and Liam talks about how the film is successful in its use of effective jump scares. Marissa talks about how the film seemed to hint at more character development that was in the film, and this leads to discussion about how this was a good move on the films part in that it fleshes out the characters.

We explore the idea that maybe the character of Hayley who organized the séance may have known more than she let on in that she may have been experiencing spooky activity in her apartment. We discuss the production value of the film and the way the credit sequence is framed as more people joining the Zoom session. The idea of the film as an exercise in format is touched upon. Justin talks about the primordial fear of seeing into someone’s house and seeing something happening that they’re unaware of.

First and foremost thanks to  Anna and Marissa for blessing us with their presence. You can find them on Apple and Spotify and follow them on IG at @butwhatdoweknowpodcast. Thank you everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening and donating. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller, Jacob Roberts, Paul Sharkey, and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), Essex Coffee Roasters (www.essexcoffeeroasters.com) and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz66, check out our Spotify account at Cinepunx, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on ITunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers!  Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys because we’re talking 1977’s Demon Seed and 1986’s Deadly Friend. First off thank you to the fine folks over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screen-printing company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a t-shirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Thank you also to Essex Coffee Roasters, our newest sponsor. Head to www.essexcoffeeroasters.com to check out their fine assortment of coffee, and enter CINEPUNX in the promo code for ten percent off your order! And as always thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally thankful. If you would like to become a Patron, head to patreon.com/cinepunx. Thanks in advance!

We start by talking about some of the stuff involving horror recently. Liam talks about a few of the films he caught at the recent Chattanooga Film Festival, including the documentary Woodlands Dark And Days Bewitched, and the film An Ideal Host, as well as Cruella. Justin talks about seeing the films Dimland, Son, Kandisha, He’s Dead And So Am I, Everyone Is Going To The World’s Fair, Night Drive and Bloodshot Heart, as well as the found footage gem Savageland.  

           We start with Demon Seed. We give a brief background on how we discovered the film, including how Justin would see the poster at video stores and then finding out it was based on a Dean Koontz novel. We talk about the film’s distinctly British feel, in that it feels more like a BBC drama more than anything else.

We give a brief outline of the film’s plot, and Liam talks about how despite enjoying the look and feel of the film, he found the underlying misogyny unbearable.

We talk about the film’s inconsistency in portraying a supercomputer that is so smart it’s aware it’s “trapped in a box” all the while acting in ways that are utterly human (displaying jealousy and possessiveness and a generally toxically masculine attitude) and Liam argues that the film’s thesis is “if a computer becomes smart enough it will want to abuse women” because of course that’s how the attitude of men towards women was in the ‘70s.

We briefly talk about how even though Skynet commits atrocities far worse than Proteus in this film, Skynet’s actions are at least logically consistent with how a machine would act, instead of acting like a petty child. Justin talks about how the film (unintentionally) makes a solid argument that Proteus can be considered an actual person based on its’ weirdly irrational and un-computer like tendencies.

Up next is Deadly Friend. We give a brief outline of the film. Justin talks about how the film deviates slightly from the formula of “dead person brought back to life” movie in that much of the horror is derived from the question of whether Paul, the main character, had any right to bring his late friend Sam back to life.

We talk about the mixed motives of the character, be they scientific arrogance or horniness on Paul’s part, and less a sense of personal responsibility.

We talk about the weird mixed tone of the movie, in that at times it has almost Spielbergian vibes to it until it becomes a horror movie. We discuss how the film tries to use parental abuse as a source of horror and instead falls back entirely on gore to convey that sense of horror.

We conclude with talking about the absurdity of the ending in which Sam becomes a full-blown robot somehow.

First and foremost, thank you everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening and donating. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller, Jacob Roberts, Paul Sharkey, and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), Essex Coffee Roasters (www.essexcoffeeroasters.com) and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz66, check out our Spotify account at Cinepunx, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on ITunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers!  Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys because we’re joined by fellow Cinepunk Rob Skvarla. We’re talking about the most recent entry in The Conjuring franchise, The Devil Made Me Do It and the impact of the Warrens on the realm of horror. It’s a little different than our usual episode format, but it was a lot of fun doing this and we’re excited for you guys to hear it. First off thank you to the fine folks over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screen-printing company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a t-shirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Thank you also to Essex Coffee Roasters, our newest sponsor. Head to www.essexcoffeeroasters.com to check out their fine assortment of coffee, and enter CINEPUNX in the promo code for ten percent off your order! And as always thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally thankful. If you would like to become a Patron, head to patreon.com/cinepunx. Thanks in advance!

We start by talking about some of the stuff involving horror recently and go off on something of a tangent on the recent Disney film Cruella, and the phenomenon of giving villains origin stories to cash in on nostalgia.

We talk about the Warrens, who they were, and their background in culture. Rob lays out a thesis that the success of the Warrens’ grift is tied in with the larger far right religious culture as a whole, and talks about watching the film Things on Shudder. We also briefly talk about the recent New York Times report on UFOs, and Liam talks about starting (but not finishing) the film Séance, and watching the trailers for the films Son, Blood Red Sky, and Witch Hunt. Justin talks about some of the recent screenings at the Mahoning Drive- In he attended, seeing A Quiet Place Part II, Horror In The High Desert, Caveat, and starting F. Paul Wilson’s ICE Trilogy.

We start by giving a background on our personal feelings of the Warrens, their history of grifts and how they’ve been portrayed in these films. We talk about the impact that the Warrens’ “work” has had on the culture of America as a whole, and how it makes it easier for predatory Televangelists to further exploit fearful people for their own gain.

We also talk about how the current Qanon phenomenon and the larger disregard for critical thinking and embracing of conspiracy theories is somewhat emboldened by this film (the implications of a Satanic conspiracy) and emboldened by the way the Warrens portrayed their work. We touch upon the harm that they did by hindering open and honest discussion about mental health by chalking up issues with mental health to demonic possession. We briefly discuss the concept of how even though we disagree with the message of these films they’re still free to create art based on the Warrens, even if it’s a wholly inaccurate portrayal of their lives.

We talk about the connections of the Warrens to the phenomenon of “Satanic panic” in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s. We dive into the actual plot of the film, the discrepancies between the film and reality, and the larger historical discrepancies. We conclude by talking about the sugarcoating of the Warrens in these films as people, in that they were far from the wholesome characters they’re portrayed as.

First and foremost, thank you to Rob for joining us to dissect this phenomenon. Thank you everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening and donating. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller, Paul Sharkey, Jacob Roberts, and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), Essex Coffee Roasters (www.essexcoffeeroasters.com) and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz66, check out our Spotify account at Cinepunx, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on ITunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers!  Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have a BANGER of an episode in store for you guys: it's our 100th episode and we’re joined by Al White and Josh Alvarez to help usher it in!  We’re talking about four of our favorite (and not so favorite) remakes: Cat People, Night Of The Living Dead, Dawn Of The Dead, and Evil Dead.

First off, thank you to the fine folks over at Lehigh Valley Apparel Creations, the premiere screen-printing company of the Lehigh Valley. Chris Reject and his merry band of miscreants are ready to work with you to bring to life your vision of a t-shirt for your business, band, project, or whatever else it is you need represented by a shirt, sweater, pin, or coozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Thank you also to Essex Coffee Roasters, our newest sponsor. Head to www.essexcoffeeroasters.com to check out their fine assortment of coffee, and enter CINEPUNX in the promo code for ten percent off your order! And as always thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally thankful. If you would like to become a Patron, head to patreon.com/cinepunx. Thanks in advance!

Up first is Cat People. We discuss the history of the production of the film and how Paul Schreider wishes he had made the film as an original story instead of a loose remake. We talk about the symbolism present in the film of devotion and worship of something dangerous. We discuss some of the shortcomings of the film, including the underwhelming use of actor Annette O’Toole and the lackluster somewhat misogynistic ending. Al brings up how the film opens up a lot of neat ideas and narrative threads but doesn’t follow up on a lot of them. The rules of the werecat and how confusing they are is brough up. The film as an archetypical ‘80s horror film is discussed, and Justin talks about how the film strikes him as similar to The Wolfen.

Up next is Night Of The Living Dead. We talk about our backgrounds with the film, and how it successfully updates the effects of the original as well as some of the character. Al eviscerates the film and discusses how he loves the original, and how he feels that this film falls short in realizing the vision of the original. The idea of a remake walking a fine line between a faithful adaption and a creative re-imagining is discussed. We talk about Tom Towles’ over the top cartoonish performance as well as Tom Savini’s troubled history with the film.

Up next is the Dawn Of The Dead. We talk about our histories with the film. Justin talks about how the film embodies some of the things he dislikes about Zack Snyder’s directing style. The film’s opening sequence is discussed, as is the films tone and lack of cruelty. The pointlessness of the zombie baby scene is talked about. Al talks about this film successfully reinterprets the vision of the original but how it suffers from the recent cultural zombie overkill in that every zombie movie/show takes something from it. Liam discusses what he doesn’t like about the film, including the bland “ugliness” of the film palate.

Lastly we have Evil Dead. Al talks about how the film is everything he loves about modern horror, in that it doesn’t wink and nod at the audience, it has genuine emotion to it, and it has some truly “mean” moments in it. The effects of the film are touched upon. We talk about how the film doesn’t hold back in its treatment of its characters, in that no one is too precious to be spared absolute horror. We talk about how many people find the film genuinely frightening and briefly touch upon the creative decision to not continue the film’s storyline in a sequel. Justin talks about his pet peeve of having simple classic Judeo-Christian spookies in the film instead of weird pagan demons like the first one. We talk about Fede Alvarez’s scenes involving unwelcome and forced penetration in his films.

Thank you so much to Al and Josh for being amazing homies and joining us to celebrate 100 episodes of nonsense. Thank you everyone and anyone who donated on Patreon, checked this episode out, or shared a tweet/shared a post on FB/gave us love by recommending us to someone. We love you forever for listening and donating. Any questions, comments, suggestions for movies and guests, or if you yourself want to join us for a movie viewing or even an episode, can be sent to [email protected]. We would love to hear from you! Thanks always to Justin Miller, Jacob Roberts, and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out at here), and also thanks to Josh Alvarez for the theme song, Chris, Brad, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), Essex Coffee Roasters (www.essexcoffeeroasters.com) and a HUGE thank you to anyone who retweeted us or shared something on Facebook that we posted. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thehorrorbiz666, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/thehorrorbiz666, check out our Spotify account at Cinepunx, and remember to rate, review, and subscribe to us on iTunes. In fact, if you write us a review, email us with your mailing address and we’ll send you some free pins and stickers!  Check out www.cinepunx.com for more info on some of our other podcasts, some ultra-stylish Cinepunx related merchandise, and how you can donate to our Patreon! Until next time…thanks!