Imported Horror

It's your last week as chief of police and a gnarly body floats down the river in a canoe. Better head into the hinterlands with your ex-girlfriend and her ex-boyfriend and check it out - there might be cosmic body horror afoot. This week, we trek into the Great White North with The Breach (Canada, 2022), the best horror film to ever be scored and produced by Slash. Also, Melissa dives into international short films on the Alter Horror channel on YouTube and Tubi and we discuss Mongolia's first horror flick.

Welcome to Cthuluween! We're celebrating the most wonderful time of the year with a month-long series of cosmic tentacles. First up is Dagon (Spain, 2001), a fun low-budger romp with fish people and a horny water god. You'll never guess what HP Lovecraft story it's based on. We also review Blood Glacier (Austria, 2013), a Thing adaptation that peaks with the Asylum-y line, "Stop eating that banana while you're crying!" before nose-diving with a super uncomfortable pet death scene and odd choices. Also, British werewolves, Thai monsters and a slasher wearing a lamb costume are all dropping this week, plus the triumphant return of the Funk Bot.

Horror doesn't just happen. It takes devoted special effects artists and a quirky sense of humor. This week, we head south of the border to answer the question, "What if Portlandia, but horror?" with Los Espookys (Mexico & The United States, 2018-2022), an offbeat NBC-ish horror comedy about making spooky happen. We also review Folklore, a pan-Asian anthology series, get distracted by The Perfect Host and No One Will Save You, and look forward to dream and classic gateway horrors dropping this week.

Do you hate your job? Would a zombie apocalypse feel like a vacation? Do you giant love sharks and sexy flight attendants? If so - Zom 100 (Japan, 2023) is going to make your week. We break down differences between the original manga, the anime series that's releasing week-to-week on several platforms and the live action Netflix movie. If you've got time for it, the anime was our favorite. Also - Melissa defends her favorite sing songy penguin body horror short film, Grady gets disturbed by the "Funk Bot," Marcus shares a weird dream and everybody gets excited for Islamic and Jewish folk horror dropping this week on Shudder.

Telekenetic ghosts, heroic kaiju, bleak folk horror and ... a movie about a man dressed up as a dog? We've got a little bit of everything this week as we unpack The Enfield Haunting (United Kingdom, 2015), Gamera Rebirth (Japan, 2023), Gwen (United Kingdom, 2018) and Good Boy (Norway, 2022). Also, an offbeat Chilean dictator vampire comedy and a queer Canadian werewolf movie drop this week on streaming and VOD.

This week, we get cartoonish with a pair of off-the-wall animated horror comedies. Sprite Fright (The Netherlands, 2021) pits awful teenagers against cheerful, bloodthirsty forest creatures who don't resemble smurfs in the slightest. Enjoy with salty snacks. The other, Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires (United Kingdom, 2018), gives 80s action tropes and drunken zombies a compelling claymation makeover. Too bad so many of the jokes are toxic and distracting. SAD! Also - Gamera makes a triumphant return and a creepy Norweigan movie about a "dog" drop this week.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

"Sprite Fright" by Blender Studios on YouTube

"Sprite Fright: Production Notes" by Blender on YouTube

"Chuck Steel Night of the Trampires Official Behind the Scenes" by Chuck Steel Night of the Trampires on YouTube

The jungle is a scary place. It's filled with vicious snakes, cackling brujas and plenty of surprises. This week, we hop a bus to Panama for the deliciously campy Diablo Rojo (PTY), a shameless flick full of 80s tropes with a killer ending. We also get stuck in Quicksand (Colombia, 2023), a plodding survival horror where a giant snake is the most likeable character. We also celebrate the triumphant return of Spirit Halloween and condemn the ceaseless War on Halloween.

Quicksand: Terror Scale: 1. Quality: 2. Enjoyment: 2

Diablo Rojo (PTY): T: 2. Q: 4. E: 4.5

Articles mentioned in this episode:

"'Quicksand' Interview: Star Allan Hawco Surfaces For Terrifying Survival Drama" by Mary Beth McAndrews for Dread Central

"Q&A WITH SOL MORENO, DIRECTOR OF DIABLO ROJO (PTY)" in Cult Projections

"An Interview with Sol Moreno, Director of Diablo Rojo PTY" by Mike Haberfelner for Search My Trash

Need a hairy gateway horror for a pre-teen? Want to watch something freaky on your laptop after the kid is asleep? We've got your Friday night all planned out with Viking Wolf (Norway, 2022) and Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (South Korea, 2018).

Note: We recorded this "backup episode" back in April. We chat about Night of the Killer Bears (Thailand, 2022) which we hadn't seen at the time. We reviewed it back in June - it's a shameless scream-y banger - and it's since dropped on Tubi. Plus, we talk Fulci and the Last Drive In and I give a quick review of The Meg 2: The Trench.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

"'Gonjiam' director energizes horror once again" in Korea JoongAng Daily

"The Haunted Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital: Gone But Not Forgotten" by Ashley for The Curious Archive

"Controversial action-cam horror film 'Gonjiam' sure to thrill and chill," by Ko Dong-hwan for The Korea Times

Is Mother Nature trying to kill you? Are sadistic guards crafting plots to break you? Do you like weird camera angles? If so, this double feature is for you - we get earthy with trippy eco-horror Gaia (South Africa, 2021) and debate the value of exploitation classic Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (Japan, 1972). Also - a creepy doll, a queer ghost and an empowering zombie apocalypse are all dropping over the next two weeks.

Articles mentioned in this episode:

"Jaco Bouwer Interview: Gaia," by Graeme Guttmann for Screen Rant

"The Japanese cult classic that paved the way for the modern female action hero," by James Balmont for Little White Lies

"Film Analysis: Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972) by Shunya Ito," by Rouven Linnarz for Asian Movie Pulse

Craving some midnight indie insanity? We've got you covered. The world's first "Swissploitation" flick, Mad Heidi (Switzerland, 2022), dunks every grindhouse trope in cheese with gleeful side references to Starship Troopers, Gladiator and more movies than we could count. Then, zom-com One Cut of the Dead (Japan, 2017) hits turbo mode with a killer tracking shot and plenty of surprises. Also, is the biggest horror release of the year an Australian film dropping this week?

Articles mentioned in this episode:

"'Mad Heidi' Star Casper Van Dien Is Breaking New Ground With The World's First "Swiss-sploitation" Movie," by Will Harris for Decider

"Tokyo: 'One Cut of the Dead' Director on How the Zombie Hit Made 1,000 Times Its Budget," by Gavin J. Blair for The Hollywood Reporter