Horror Business

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys, and we’re talking about 2003’s Shaun Of The Dead and 2010’s Juan Of The Dead.

First and foremost, we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors 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

We start by talking about what we’ve done involving horror recently. Liam talks the films The Evil, Jumbo, and the miniseries Salem’s Lot. Justin talks about the series Supernatural wrapping up and how that has impacted him. We briefly talk about the films The Wolf Of Snow Hollow and His House.

Up first is Shaun Of The Dead. Justin opens up the conversation by claiming that this film is one of two “horror comedies” that is a perfect balance of horror, comedy, and “heart”, and that the film stands on its own not just as a parody of Romero films, but as an actual entry into the wider field of the subgenre of zombie films in horror. We briefly go off on a tangent about the work of Edgar Wright and how the Cornetto Trilogy is his crowning achievement.

We discuss how the film understands that more than likely in the event of a real zombie apocalypse it wouldn’t be random humans you’d be facing as zombies, it would very likely be your friends and neighbors. The film’s quick establishment of the Romero-esque social commentary is touched upon, and how the film is so much more than jokes and gore but rather like its namesake it’s actually saying something. Some of the film’s themes of rejecting adulthood, abrasive masculinity, and immaturity are touched upon.

We talk about how Pete, the quasi-villain of the first act isn’t really a bad guy at all unless viewed through the lens of someone like Shaun who doesn’t have their act together. The melancholy theme of outgrowing your friends is touched upon. The loveable character of Ed actually being one of the worst characters is touched upon. Justin talks about how some of the emotionally heavy scenes in the movie affected him, and how some of them are smartly used to humorously break down some classic zombie film tropes. We conclude by talking about how this film was ahead of the curve when it came to the zombie culture boom of the ‘10s.

Up next is Juan Of The Dead. We begin by talking about how the film feels like a ninety-minute set up to justify a pun in the title. Liam points out that while it’s not the worst zombie movie he’s seen, it definitely doesn’t live up to its namesake.

Liam talks about how he finds the film rather funny in how it relates to the culture of Cuba and how it smartly zings Spanish and American imperialism.

We talk about how Cuba is largely removed from zombie culture; in that it’s distanced from the very idea of a zombie. Justin talks about how the films initial reaction to zombies is heavily influenced by the films deeply entrenched Catholic culture by jumping to people who are possessed or vampires, and then how the government is blaming capitalist dissidents.

Cuban film culture is briefly touched upon, in that it’s almost non-existent. Finally, we dig deep into the problematic “gay panic” attitude of the film, and how even though it’s reflective of an aspect of Latinx culture it’s still very off-putting.

First and foremost, thank you 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, and Doug Tilley for their technical contributions and fliers, Mike Smaczylo for the shirts and fliers (you can check more of his work out 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. We’re joined by the homey Josh Alvarez of CINEPUNX and we’re talking about Empire Of Passion, Poltergeist, and The Others. Once again, we had some audio issues so please bear with us.

First and foremost, we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors 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 grateful for that support. Thanks!

We start by talking about what we’ve done involving horror recently. Josh talks about watching The Mortuary Collection and Books Of Blood. Liam and Justin talk about the entirely online Nightstream Fest, Liam talks about the films Save Yourself and The Wolf Of Snow Hollow as well as the new Netflix series The Haunting Of Bly Manor. Justin talks about some of the films he saw at Nightstream, including It Cuts Deep, Come True, Rose Plays Julie, and My Heart Can’t Beat Unless You Tell It To, as well as the film Hunter’s Moon and the Mahoning Drive In event that was a double screening of Poltergeist and The Exorcist as well as a screening of Fire In The Sky with Travis Walton in attendance.

Up first is Empire Of Passion. We begin by talking about our opinions on ghost stories, with the general consensus being that ghost stories are pretty cool. We talk about the history of ghosts in Japanese cinema. Josh gives a brief synopsis of the film and explains why he chose it.

Justin talks about how the film was more melancholy than spooky and some of the things about the film that particularly upset him, including the strange violence present in all the sex scenes. We discuss some of the sources of horror the film presents even before the supernatural becomes involved.

Some of the more visceral elements of the film are discussed, notably the scene in which a character gets their eye poked out.

Up next is Poltergeist. We discuss the prickly history of Steven Spielberg’s involvement with the film and give the caveat that while Spielberg likely had a hand in some stylistic elements of the film, Hooper ultimately had the final say in the direction of the film.

We give a brief history of Spielberg’s involvement in the world of horror and how he came to write Poltergeist. We talk about how the movie definitely has some classic elements of a Tobe Hooper film.

Some of the unorthodox sources of horror are discussed, including the concept of losing a child while having the child trapped somewhere in the same house as you.

Justin talks about the films ability to tap into a very child-like place inside of us. We briefly talk about how the film affects us differently as adults and parents.

Finally, we have The Others. Liam gives a brief history of his involvement with the film and how he came to appreciate it. Josh talks about why he likes this movie so much, and Justin talks about while he didn’t think it was bad, but it felt almost too cruel. We briefly touch upon some of the theological and sociological underpinnings of the film. We talk about the elements of toxic parenting in the film, and how the ending is somewhat unearned in that regard. Some of the sadder elements of the film are touched upon, and we talk about how the movie is a very classic Gothic film.

First and foremost, thank you 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, 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. In this episode we’re talking about 1931’s Dracula and 1954’s Creature From The Black Lagoon. Off the top we apologize for the audio issue/sound quality.

First and foremost, we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors 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. Also, thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally grateful for that support. Thanks!

We start by talking about what we’ve done involving horror recently. We talk about Random Acts Of Violence, Liam talks about watching the original The Amityville Horror for the first time recently as well as watching Children Of The Night and The Borrower. Justin talks about watching Night Of The Living Dead at the Mahoning Drive In.

Up first is Dracula. We briefly talk about Tod Browning’s body of work including the famous lost film London After Midnight. We talk about the phenomenon of a large amount of people having read the book due to schools assigning it to students while not having seen the film, and how the film is based more on the stage production of the book than the book itself.

We talk about strange unorthodox structure of the source material, the concept of sexuality and shame in the film, and Bela Lugosi’s status as a somewhat washed up sex symbol. We go off on a brief tangent on how the film differs from Coppola’s version, in that Coppola’s version dives way deep into Dracula’s backstory.

We talk more about Lugosi’s stardom and his semi-feud with Boris Karloff. Justin rambles about being more frightened of Dwight Frye as Renfield than he is of Lugosi. Harker’s non-presence is touched upon. The film’s status as something of a keystone of Universal’s legacy when it comes to horror is touched upon.

We briefly touch upon some of the things about the production of the film that we don’t about, including some of the things that are clearly holdovers from when the film was a stage production.

Up next is The Creature From The Black Lagoon. Justin talks about how when he first saw Monster Squad as a child, the Gill Man was the monster that grabbed his attention the most and how for him the Gill Man is the only monster whose really withstood the test of time.

We talk about some of the underlying themes of the film, such as the unusually positive stance on science for a ‘50s B film, the vague touches of racism (monstrous other menacing white woman). Liam talks about his first exposure to the film.

We talk about how ‘50s sci fi monster movies are usually not our cup of tea. The gorgeous cinematography of the film is touched upon, as is the pacing and creature design. We talk about how the film deftly avoids the “wise indigenous person” trope but also has a touch of the previously mentioned “woman in peril from Other” trope.

We talk more about the ‘50s cinema tendency to portray scientists as effeminate and useless, and how this film portrays scientists not only as not effeminate but as somewhat brawny and overly traditionally masculine.

First and foremost, thank you 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, 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), 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. In this episode we’re joined by friend of the podcast Dean Kapsalis, director of the upcoming film The Swerve and we’re talking about 1972’s Sisters and 1976’s The Tenant.

First and foremost, we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors 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. Also, thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally grateful for that support. Thanks!

We start by talking about what we’ve done involving horror recently. Dean talks about picking up a Bentley Little novel on the strength of Justin’s recommendation, seeing the films Sea Fever and Burning, as well as revisiting An American Werewolf In London. We briefly talk about the recent episodes of Lovecraft Country. Liam talks about the film She Dies Tomorrow and the documentary In Search Of Darkness on Shudder. Justin talks about the South Korean film #Alive. We briefly talk about the HBO series Raised By Wolves.

Up first is Sisters. We begin by talking with Dean about why he chose this film, and he talks about how the opening hooked him. The film is a mystery set in Staten Island and it sets up initially as a mystery with the protagonist being a young Black man.

We talk about our backgrounds with Brian de Palma, and Dean talks about how he’s a huge fan of de Palma’s visual style. Justin talks about how the “pop psychology” aspect of the film is what bothered him the most.

We talk about how Jennifer Salt’s performance absolutely anchors the film, despite much of the focus of the film being on Margot Kidder. Liam briefly talks about how the film feels like it influences John Byrne’s run on Alpha Flight.

Up next is The Tenant. We begin by talking about our background with Polanski and by addressing Polanski’s horrible shit personal life and how he’s an actual monster. Dean talks about how when he was younger and he first saw the movie he was obsessed with it, and how the film visually appealed to him.

We discuss the concept of separating the art from the artist, and how usually it’s an easy thing to do. With Polanski’s, however, it’s difficult because even though he’s a disgusting piece of shit, his films are almost always amazing. We talk about the surreal sense of paranoia and anxiety that the film excels at immersing the viewer in.

Justin talks about how the film made him feel extremely claustrophobic through its cinematography and how it made familiar places feel alien and threatening. The films disregard for a continual sense of what is real and what is not is touched upon, and we discuss the influence of this film on Dean’s own work as well as the film 1BR that also played at Brooklyn Horror Fest.

We talk about some of the more unorthodox imagery in the film (the tooth in the wall, people idly standing in a bathroom), and some of the poor choices the protagonist makes that lead them to their fate. Justin talks about how Polanski’s character makes him feel simultaneously revolted and sympathetic. The film’s commentary on the cyclical nature of existence/the eternal return is touched upon.

Thanks so much to Dean for coming on and talking with us. His debut full length, The Swerve, will be available on iTunes and VOD on September 22nd. We cannot recommend it enough. Also, thank you for listening. Thank you 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, 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), 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. In this episode we’re doing a Patreon request with two films from 1965: Die, Monster, Die and Planet Of The Vampires.

First and foremost, we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors 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. Also, thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally grateful for that support. Thanks!

We start by talking about what we’ve done involving horror recently. We talk about the new HBO series Lovecraft Country, Liam talks about I’ll Be Gone In The Dark and Demon Knight, and Justin talks about watching the films The Hunt, The Pale Door, and Uncle Peckerhead.

Up first is Die, Monster, Die. We begin by comparing it to the recent adaption of the source material with Nicholas Cage’s The Color Out Of Space. We give a brief summary of the film.

We talk about how the film is essentially a classic haunted house/gothic story bookended with plot points from Lovecraft’s source material.

We touch upon how the film kind of steers away from plot elements of COOS and instead weave in other classic elements common in Lovecraft’s work. Lovecraft’s opinion on science is briefly touched upon.

Up next is Planet Of The Vampires. We briefly talk about the films influence on Alien and give a brief summary of the film. Liam talks about how he normally doesn’t enjoy films in this style. We briefly talk about the legacy of Mario Bava and how he could make a little go a long way.

We talk about how there moments in the film that are surprisingly frightening for a film of this era. We talk about the charm of the film and how it won us over despite looking somewhat cheesy. Justin talks about how the film reminds him of the novel Monster by Christopher Pike and how he enjoys non-traditional approaches to vampires.

Bava’s choice of color and lighting in the film is discussed, and how it contrasts with some of the cheesier effects. We conclude by talking about some of the political implications of the film.

First and foremost, thank you for listening. Thank you 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, 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), 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. In this episode we’re talking about 1972’s The Legend Of Boggy Creek and 2004’s Incident At Loch Ness.

First and foremost, we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors 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. Also, thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally grateful for that support. Thanks!

We start by talking about what we’ve done involving horror recently. We talk about the new HBO series Lovecraft Country, and Justin talks about She Dies Tomorrow, We Summon The Darkness, Random Acts Of Violence, and Sputnik.

Up first is The Legend Of Boggy Creek. We both agree that the poster is somewhat iconic and arguably the best thing about the film. We largely disliked the film, and Liam talks about how it resembles a Disney nature film we used to watch in elementary school back in the ‘80s.

Justin gives a little bit of a background on the phenomenon of the Fouke Monster, the creature alleged to exist in the film.

Liam talks about how dreary the film is and how it looks like it takes place in a far different time period that it’s supposed to. Justin talks about how it’s painfully obvious the whole thing revolves around a hoax.

The entire film feels performative and boring, and even the Sasquatch attacks feel flat and uninteresting. The ADR and dubbing are horrible, and the film presents an uneven tone. We talk about the films presence in the DNA of modern found footage films, as well as kicking off the trend of Bigfoot themed horror films.

Up next is Incident At Loch Ness. The film feels a little too “winking and nodding” at the camera over the presence of Werner Herzog; Liam describes it as “loving the smell of its own shit”. We talk about Herzog’s self-awareness and how he is willing to lampoon himself.

We touch upon the film would make a great episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, and how the filmmakers seem obsessed with showing off how much they know about Herzog’s myth. Justin yells about how the cryptozoologist in the film uses horrible logic and how such logic is a trademark of QAnon bullshit.

Despite the films flaws it’s still entertaining. Liam brings up that the film couldn’t decide how “in on the joke” it wanted to be.

Thank you for listening. Thank you 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, 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), 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!

Greetings, and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys. In this episode we’re talking about 2010’s Black Swan and 2014’s The Babadook.

First and foremost, we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors 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. Also, thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally grateful for that support. Thanks!

We start by talking about what we’ve done involving horror recently. We talk about the recent Shudder original film Host, and Liam talks about the film All The Colors Of The Dark.

Up first is Black Swan. We give a brief summary of the film, and we talk about how the film wasn’t initially referred to as a horror film because of Aronofsky’s reputation. We briefly talk about the nature of Darren Aronofsky’s work, and Liam posits that he essentially makes well crafted exploitation films.

We talk about some of the more visually arresting and horrifying scenes of the film. We touch upon Aronofsky’s tendency of cruelty towards his female characters, and how the film is largely a more stylish body horror film. We return to Aronofsky’s lack of interest in fleshed out characters and how he’s more interested in caricatures of people.

The horror one’s own self is discussed, and we talk about how whether or not what we’re witnessing is “real” is completely meaningless in regard to enjoying this film. We briefly discuss the concept of “camp” and the idea of “the Showgirls paradox”. The idea of Vincent Cassel’s character as an effigy for Aranofsky as a director is touched upon.

We talk about the horror of questioning your own sanity and being unable to trust your own perception of things. We briefly discuss the concept of “perfection” and how it relates to cultural conditioning and tradition.

Up next is The Babadook. We talk about how the film might hit harder for people who have special needs people in their lives. Liam points out how the film goes through three phases: spooky kid, psychotic woman, and then monster movie.

Liam talks about how his experience of the film has changed since becoming a parent in that he feels more empathy for the child. Justin talks about how the police station scene is the most upsetting scene in the film for him.

We talk about the very sweet concept of Sam, the child in the film, still feeling an unyielding love for his mother even though she repeatedly declares that she hates him, and how that is both tender and a source of horror. Justin discusses how he relates personally to the end of the film and how it’s a very effective metaphor for dealing with trauma and mental illness.

We talk about how the films ending is far more effective than most classic horror films in that it shows that pain and suffering continues on and there is no simple fix for a complex issue.

We talk about the intensity and effectiveness of the main performances in the film. We conclude by talking about how Essie Davis is “miserably horny” in this film and how that relates to depression destroying the libido.

First and foremost, thank you for listening. Special thanks to our good friend Dana for recommending these movies. Thank you 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, 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), 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. In this episode we’re talking about 1987’s Dark Age and 2007’s Rogue.

First and foremost, we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors 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. Also, thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally grateful for that support. Thanks!

We start by talking about what we’ve done involving horror recently. We talk about the trailers for the films Random Acts Of Violence and She Dies Tomorrow and attending the Mahoning Drive-In’s annual Zombiefest. Liam talks about seeing the documentary You Don’t Nomi and Justin talks about seeing Relic.

Up first is Dark Age. We begin by talking about the concept of Ozploitation filmmaking, and how oftentimes such films are just as much about Australia as they “what they’re about”. We talk about how the film centers upon the idea of “colonial guilt and anxiety”.

We discuss the “magical indigenous person” trope and our unfamiliarity with Aboriginal Australian culture. We briefly talk about the nature of atrocities against Aboriginal Australians and the concept of ‘50s westerns fetishizing Indigenous Americans.

The concept of Oodoban as an unreliable narrator, which diverges from the “indigenous Aboriginal” trope, is touched upon. We talk about the uneven nature of the crocodile prop and how sometimes it looks great and other times it looks silly.

We spend a bit talking about how in the film Wake And Fright an actual violent kangaroo hunt was film, and how in Dark Age a similar phenomenon may have occurred with the scenes of crocodile hunts.

Up next is Rogue. We begin by talking about Greg McLean’s tendency to make excessively cruel films revolving around a savage and untamed Australia. We discuss the cheapness of killing the dog and how the film is excessively stuffed with undeveloped human drama that has too many threads that go nowhere with too much backstory.

The flat nature of many of the characters is touched upon. We talk about how when the crocodile isn’t present the film is actually quite effective at being suspenseful, but the reveal of the crocodile is just kind of silly because of how bad it looks.

The clunky use of CGI in this film is discussed and how its not good enough to be seen for as extensively as it is. The irrational behavior of many of the characters is discussed and how it takes away from the suspense of the film.

We talk about the contradicting statements from characters who are supposed to be ‘croc experts’ on the nature of the crocodile. We talk about John Jarrett’s performance in this film and Justin talks about how even though he enjoyed Dark Age more he actually enjoyed Jarrett’s performance in this movie more. The bullshit “based on a true story” marketing ploy is touched upon.

First and foremost, thank you for listening. Thank you 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, 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, Alexis, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), 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! Also head to here to check out the preorder info for the newest Cinepunx shirt!Until next time…thanks!

Greetings and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys. In this episode we’re talking about 1981’s Deadly Blessing and 1982’s The Slayer

First and foremost, we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors 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. Also, thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally grateful for that support. Thanks!

We start by briefly discussing what we’ve done lately involving horror. We talk about Wes Craven’s career for a bit.  Liam talks about watching the documentary Scream, Queen! and Justin talks about the Netflix series Bataal and Ghoul.

Up first is Deadly Blessing. We give a brief summary of the film, which sticks with being a slasher film up until the very end. We discuss the lack of tension and “fear of stalking” in the film.

We talk about how the film is largely not exciting until the very end when it kind of switches genres to exploitation shootout, as well as the inexplicable and almost nonsensical reveal about the gender of one of the characters.

We talk about how the film is a reflection of Craven’s fear of religion and his upbringing and how they might actually be right when it comes to morality.

We discuss how the film touches upon the secular fear that maybe religion is right, a theme similar to folk/pastoral horror themes. We talk about the lack of creative kills and creepiness.

Up next is The Slayer. We give a brief summary of the film, and how the film doesn’t really push the sparseness that it hints at.

We talk about how the unfocused the film is, and how it kind of spreads it bets by trying to incorporate elements of different horror subgenre films.

We discuss how the film does a lot of work suggesting that the main character is losing her mind but then just devolves into a boring slasher film.

The nonsensical ending is touched upon as is the fact that the ending was obviously written as a way out beforehand.

We conclude by talking about the how the entire movie is worth it for the skeleton monster at the end, but how the actual ending of it all being a dream is bullshit.

Thank you for listening. Thank you 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, 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, Alexis, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), 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!

Greetings and welcome back to Horror Business. We have one awesome episode in store for you guys. In this episode we’re talking about 1992’s Candyman and 1995’s Candyman: Farewell To The Flesh.

First and foremost, we want to give a shoutout to our sponsors 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 koozy. Head on over to www.xlvacx.com to check them out. Also, thank you to our Patreon subscribers. Your support means the world to us and we are eternally grateful for that support. Thanks!

We start by somehow talking about Gambit from X-Men for way too long. We then briefly discuss what we’ve done lately involving horror. Liam talks about watching Death Line and Shirley, and Justin talks about watching the Netflix original Our House.

Up first is Candyman. We begin by talking the background of the film, including the director’s filmography and the film being based on a Clive Barker short story. We briefly discuss how the short story is typical Clive Barker fare while the film is decidedly very un-Clive Barkery. We dive deep into what takes up most of our discussion, which is that we both unabashedly love this film despite it being a rather tone deaf and at times problematic film.

We talk about how our personal histories with the Candyman franchise. Liam marvels at how good the film is, given it’s a movie that takes place in “the hood” based on a short story written by a lily-white British man and has some corny overtones. Justin talks about how the film leans heavily into simple imagery to conjure up dread and fear and succeeds wildly, and how despite film being well made and gorgeous it is a mess thematically. We talk about the performance of Tony Todd and how that performance is so remarkable people tend to forget he’s actually playing a villain.

Liam talks about the concept of Candyman being parasitic in nature, and how the film’s setting being moved from London to Chicago’s Cabrini-Green is both a good and bad idea, in that it’s a more visually appealing setting but the film largely fails to really utilize some of the deeper racial themes that could be explored. We discuss the films unfortunate use of the wise Native American/mystical Negro/white savior tropes and some of the more racist tropes in classic literature. We dive deep into some of the more problematic themes in the film, including the idea of a black man who is undeniably “other” lusting after and seducing a white woman, the “jungle-ization” of urban Chicago, the way that the film subtly let’s white racists off the hook for Candyman’s origin i.e. a lynch mob murdering a black man for loving a white woman.

We briefly talk about how Nia DeCosta’s upcoming Candyman might correct some of the problematic elements of the film. We talk about some of the other performances and some of the scarier parts of the film.

Up next is Candyman: Farewell To The Flesh. We begin by talking about the film falls victim to the “McGuffinization” of horror films and becomes something of an adventure horror film. Liam talks about how connecting Candyman’s origin to the protagonist’s family is a wise decision and goes a way to correcting the problems in the first family.

We have a violent and prolonged argument about the meaning of the protagonist’s family hiding her history from her. Liam discusses how the fact that Candyman is related to the protagonist is a move away from traditional horror in that the horror is within the character as opposed to an external threat.

We talk about how despite the film attempting to unravel and lay out some complicated racial themes it still comes off as clumsy and misguided. We discuss some of the things we like about the film, and Liam talks about the theme of the film how white America doesn’t really know itself.

We talk again about the magical Negro/mystical Native American trope that this film also utilizes and how the film differs from traditional folk horror in that the films location (Chicago and New Orleans) the film takes on colonialist aspects because it’s essentially a film about white people discovering horrible truths in a hostile unfamiliar land.

Thank you for listening. Thank you 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, 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, Alexis, and LVAC for the support and buttons (check them out at www.xlvacx.com and on Twitter), 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!