Now Playing Podcast Presents: The Fast and Furious Retrospective Series

This movie gives a whole new meaning to the term 'bugging out'.

Join Now Playing Podcast this week as we count down the days until Halloween, Halloween, Halloween. Silver Shamrock! This episode tackles Halloween III: Season of the Witch, the bold franchise detour that dares to remove Michael Myers, Dr. Loomis, and just about every element audiences associated with the series. Instead of The Shape, viewers get sinister masks, corporate conspiracy, Irish witches, and a jingle that will lodge itself in your brain whether you want it there or not. Was this anthology experiment ahead of its time, or did stripping away the franchise’s core identity doom it from the start? The hosts dive into the risks, the mythology, and whether this season without Myers deserves a second look.

Think of the bright side. If he does attack you here, you are already in the hospital!

Join Now Playing Podcast this week as we continue our Halloween retrospective with Halloween II. Picking up right where the 1978 classic left off, Michael Myers, aka The Shape, is still on the hunt, still wearing that infamous Captain Kirk mask, and still turning quiet suburban spaces into a killing ground. Does Halloween II successfully extend the fear and tension that sparked a slasher boom, or does it feel like more blood and noise without the same creeping dread? The hosts dig into the escalation, the hospital setting, and whether this first sequel earns its place in the series’ legacy.

It's a nice 3-bedroom, 2-bath. A bit of a fixer-upper. The gutters are falling down, and there's a murderer living inside. But you can't beat the payment!

With the release of Halloween II, Now Playing Podcast begins a deep dive into the entire Halloween franchise, revisiting all ten films in the series. It all starts with Halloween, the low-budget shocker from John Carpenter that introduced the world to Michael Myers, also known as The Shape. Armed with a Captain Kirk mask and an unrelenting presence, Michael Myers stalked suburban streets and helped define the modern slasher film. Does this 1978 classic still deliver the tension and terror that frightened a generation, or has time dulled its edge? The hosts step into Haddonfield to examine the atmosphere, the score, and the legacy of the movie that turned Carpenter into a master of horror.

You're gonna teach me to do what with that chicken?

Now Playing Podcast continues its look back at Rob Zombie’s early horror films with The Devil's Rejects, the gritty follow-up to House of 1000 Corpses. This time, the Firefly family is on the run, trading haunted-house madness for a dusty, grindhouse road movie soaked in violence and moral decay. Stripped of some of the carnival surrealism of the first film, The Devil’s Rejects leans harder into brutal realism and outlaw nihilism. Does this sequel refine Zombie’s style into something sharper and more effective, or does it double down on cruelty without adding depth? The hosts follow the Fireflies down the highway to decide whether this chapter elevates the saga or just leaves more wreckage in its wake.

What do Billy Joel, Ric Ocasek, Chris Robinson, and Rob Zombie have in common?

In anticipation of Halloween II, Now Playing Podcast looks back at director Rob Zombie’s first plunge into feature-film horror: House of 1000 Corpses and its sequel, The Devil's Rejects.

The journey begins with House of 1000 Corpses, Zombie’s fever-dream introduction to the twisted Firefly family. Blending grindhouse aesthetics, carnival grotesquery, and unapologetic brutality, the film throws viewers headfirst into a nightmare world where every door hides something worse than the last. Does Zombie’s debut announce a bold new horror voice, or is it style over substance buried under a mountain of mayhem? The hosts step inside the Firefly home to find out just where all those bodies fit.

If I only had a heart!

Today, the Now Playing Podcast Terminator Retrospective Series concludes (for now) with Terminator Salvation. With a new director, a new leading man, and the story shifting fully into the post-apocalyptic future war, this installment attempts to reinvent the franchise by showing the world audiences had only glimpsed before. Featuring Christian Bale as John Connor and a conflicted new Terminator model at the center of the story, Salvation trades time travel for battlefield grit. Does this bold change in direction breathe new life into the saga, or does it prove the series has finally run out of power? The hosts render their final verdict on whether this chapter redeems the franchise or brings it to an abrupt shutdown.

When playing with your Terminatrix, always remember the safe word.

This episode of the Now Playing Podcast Terminator Retrospective Series jumps ahead twelve years to Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the T-101, now facing off against a new model assassin, the deadly T-X, while protecting an adult John Connor and his future wife as Judgment Day once again looms. With nuclear annihilation hanging over the story and expectations sky-high after T2, this third installment tries to prove the franchise still has life left in it. Can John Connor actually change fate, and more importantly, is it entertaining to watch him try? The hosts evaluate the action, the tone shift, and whether this sequel stands on its own as they gear up for the release of Terminator Salvation.

Time for a Pepsi and a five-dollar footlong!

This episode of the Now Playing Podcast Terminator Retrospective Series takes on Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the biggest movie of 1991, and the sequel that redefined what blockbuster visual effects could achieve. James Cameron raises the stakes, flips the premise, and unleashes the groundbreaking liquid-metal T-1000 against a reprogrammed T-101 now sworn to protect John Connor. With Arnold Schwarzenegger returning in an iconic role and cutting-edge CGI pushing the medium forward, T2 aims not just to top the original, but to evolve it. Does this sequel surpass The Terminator, and in doing so set a standard so high that future installments can’t possibly match it? The hosts break down the action, the emotional core, and even touch on the T2-3D: Battle Across Time theme park show inspired by the film.

The only things that can make it through the time machine are organic materials and hair gel.

Welcome to the Now Playing Podcast Terminator Retrospective Series, where we revisit every film in the killer-cyborg saga. We begin with The Terminator, James Cameron’s lean, relentless sci-fi thriller that fused time travel, slasher tension, and gritty action into something audiences hadn’t quite seen before. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the unstoppable cybernetic assassin sent back to 1984 Los Angeles, the film turned a low-budget premise into a genre classic. It launched one of cinema’s most enduring franchises. Does The Terminator still pack the same punch decades later, or has time diminished its impact? The hosts break down the performances, the pacing, and whether this original machine still runs like new.

It's taken 11 movies, but the mystery is finally uncovered... her first name is Nyota.

In the final (for now) installment of the Now Playing Podcast Star Trek Retrospective Series, the hosts arrive at the franchise reset - the brand new Star Trek. J.J. Abrams’ reboot promises a new timeline, a younger cast, and a faster, louder approach designed to relaunch Trek for a new generation. How faithful is this reimagining to the spirit of the original series? Do the new actors successfully step into some of science fiction’s most iconic roles, or do comparisons prove unavoidable? And most importantly, does this reboot modernize Trek, or does it make the series genuinely fun again? The hosts engage warp speed one last time to see where this bold new direction takes the franchise.