Only In Amityville

Episode 4 of Season 3!

Nightbreed (1990)

A Brush With Death

I remember my youth well. Summers by the Gwäfzštūfvên River, Autumns at the lake house in Dïngdłēdøü. And the winters, the brutal winters... My father was a difficult man - anyone from the village would have told you so, perhaps not in words so kind. He owned a sausage factory just outside of Håültærtōp. It brought great prosperity to our village, and those living in it were thankful for this, but they could not help but resent it for allowing my father to rule with an iron fist. The sausage factory was so successful, so lucrative, that it all but replaced the local government. Sausage factory employees were paving roads, shoveling snow, saving defenseless children from packs of Ice Wolves. In the final years, they were the sole sponsor of the Pöpßpłot Midwinter Feast - not a cheap undertaking. The sausage factory was the village. The village was the sausage factory. There had never before in the history of the village been such decadent feasts. The sausages... such variety, and the rich flavor... when I close my eyes, I can still taste them... The villagers marveled at the indulgence afforded by the factory, grew drunk on it, at times, but soon... they sobered up, and looked up at the factory up there on its hill with hate. My father forced the villagers to work thirty-six hour workdays in order to satisfy the gargantuan demand for his sausages. He paid them only what they needed to survive - and sometimes not even that. Many villagers went home still performing the motions involved with manufacturing sausage, and would fall asleep, still miming the act of making sausage. 

Early on in my life, my father took to beating me. I had a bad habit of dropping large jars of salsa on the kitchen floor when unpacking the groceries. He would cite these incidents as justification for his beatings, but he hardly needed an excuse to descend upon me. He would thrash my legs with my dear departed mother's old ski poles - he said they didn't leave bruises, but I don't know where he got that idea, because they always did leave bruises. "Papa," I would cry, "please! No more beatings! My legs are broken!"

"SHUT UP SWINE!" he would howl. I walked with crutches until I was thirteen.

One year, as a result of my father's decision to cut costs by loosening safety protocols, a fat five-year-old named Gustav fell into the Sausage Machine, and was turned into a five-year-old-boy-sized sausage. The village was in uproar. The villagers walked out on their shifts, and my father took it upon himself to operate the factory - alone. With my crutches, there wasn't much I could do besides watch him. There was a commotion outside, then the villager burst into the factory, many of them drunk. They grabbed hold of my father, chanting: "Gustav, Gustav..." He hardly had time to shriek before they threw him into the Sausage machine. There was a blood-curdling rip-grind from the machine. It seemed to go on forever. The villagers set fire to the factory and as two kind-souled villagers helped me out unscathed, I saw my father - or perhaps it would be more apt to say I saw a sausage - come out of the other end of the Machine with a sickening, "ding!" The doors closed, and I never saw him again.

So, knowing this, perhaps you can see how a man as scarred as me could become so sick and twisted. Perhaps... after hearing my tale, you may find yourself looking at your reflection in your rear-view mirror as you drive toward a retirement home at eighty miles per hour. And maybe - just maybe - you'll find yourself feeling a little Sick and Twisted...

-Matt

Episode 3 of Season 3! 

Basket Case (1982)

Game Theory

"Mr. President?"

"Yes Gabe?"

"We have a problem."

"Oh what's the matter? Is it the Russians again?"

"Well, no sir, it's - "

"The North Koreans?"

"No sir, if you'll -"

"The British."

"No sir, it's not a foreign entity, not exactly. It's actually this Sick and Twisted Game issue..."

"By God, Gabe, I thought that the game had ended, I was made to understand that we'd taken care of the twisted little sicko behind it all."

"It appears not, sir. In fact, our intelligence suggests that the game is far from over. I hate to give it to him, but Matt is much more devious and crafty than our agents initially thought. I'd go as far as to call him a genius, in a fucked-up kind of way."

"Oh my God oh my fucking God..."

"Yes sir, all the boys down at the Pentagon are pretty upset as well."

"Is... Gratton safe?"

"..."

"ANSWER ME!"

"No, Mr. President. Gratton is actually in greater danger than we could possibly fathom. We're doing everything we can, but... sir, we don't even know what the game being played is. For all we know, we could be plodding our way through a round of Yahtzee while Matt is making four-dimensional chess maneuvers, so to speak."

"I'm gonna puke dude, seriously I think I'm gonna throw up."

"This is a dark time for the nation, sir. You must stay strong for the American public."

*President vomits into Official Presidential Oval Office Waste Basket*

This is more or less the conversation taking place in Washington as I type this. Not even the world's most powerful navy stands a chance against the twists and turns and loop-de-loops of my dastardly game. Pray you never have to step into the proverbial ring with me, as Gratton so tragically did...

-Matt

From the creators of Giant Monster BS: Gratton Conwill and Matt Fields bring you Only In Amityville Season 3: Matt's Sick and Twisted Game! Only In Amityville Season 3: Matt's Sick and Twisted Game is a limited series podcast event happening exclusively during October of 2022! Starting October 1st, we will review one movie every other day. Fans of Giant Monster BS and/or horror films will be right at home with this podcast. Vulgar, brutally honest, scary as hell, oh yeah... it's Only In Amityville time Baby! Only In Amityville Season 3: Matt's Sick and Twisted Game is an ad-free, self funded podcast hosted by Matthew Fields. Follow our new Podcast! Our operations on the GMBS podcast will resume November 1st. If you would like to support the show, you can donate to us at: https://anchor.fm/giant-monster-bs or buy our merch at: https://www.teepublic.com/user/cheesemouse2/albums/39997-giant-monster-bs-merch Follow us on twitter at: https://twitter.com/GiantMonsterBS

Episode 2 of Season 3!

The Sentinel (1977)

Opening Moves

I must say, Gratton has proved himself a quite formidable opponent in this twisted little game of mine. He may think he has the upper hand, that the game is coming to an end, but he is horribly mistaken. Recent events have been but mere arrangements of my pawns, so to speak. I have much more in store than I suspect he could ever imagine. If only he knew the full extent of the warped, sick things I have planned... Anyways guys my mom says I have to get off the computer so I'll talk to you later :)

From the creators of Giant Monster BS: Gratton Conwill and Matt Fields bring you Only In Amityville Season 3: Matt's Sick and Twisted Game! Only In Amityville Season 3: Matt's Sick and Twisted Game is a limited series podcast event happening exclusively during October of 2022! Starting October 1st, we will review one movie every other day. Fans of Giant Monster BS and/or horror films will be right at home with this podcast. Vulgar, brutally honest, scary as hell, oh yeah... it's Only In Amityville time Baby! Only In Amityville Season 3: Matt's Sick and Twisted Game is an ad-free, self funded podcast hosted by Matthew Fields. Follow our new Podcast! Our operations on the GMBS podcast will resume November 1st. If you would like to support the show, you can donate to us at: https://anchor.fm/giant-monster-bs or buy our merch at: https://www.teepublic.com/user/cheesemouse2/albums/39997-giant-monster-bs-merch Follow us on twitter at: https://twitter.com/GiantMonsterBS

Episode 1 of Season 3!

Zombie/Zombi/Zombie 2/Zombie Flesh Eaters - (1979)

The Game Begins

Well, well, well... look who's reading the description of this episode. Oh? Why the long face? Wondering where Gratton is? Don't worry about him. He's... occupied... yes... heheheheh. Occupied with a little game I've prepared for him. One that a listener like you might call... sick? Twisted, perhaps? Think what you like, but understand this: I'm in charge now. I'll be calling the shots from here on out. GOT THAT? Good. Now why don't you just relax and listen to Gratton and I talk about Zombie/Zombi/Zombie 2/Zombie Flesh Eaters. It's the Lucio Fulci one from 1979. Yes, that's right. Your favorite. And remember... the Game has only just begun.

-Matt

From the creators of Giant Monster BS: Gratton Conwill and Matt Fields bring you Only In Amityville Season 3: Matt's Sick and Twisted Game! Only In Amityville Season 3: Matt's Sick and Twisted Game is a limited series podcast event happening exclusively during October of 2022! Starting October 1st, we will review one movie every other day. Fans of Giant Monster BS and/or horror films will be right at home with this podcast. Vulgar, brutally honest, scary as hell, oh yeah... it's Only In Amityville time Baby! Only In Amityville Season 3: Matt's Sick and Twisted Game is an ad-free, self funded podcast hosted by Matthew Fields. Follow our new Podcast! Our operations on the GMBS podcast will resume November 1st. If you would like to support the show, you can donate to us at: https://anchor.fm/giant-monster-bs or buy our merch at: https://www.teepublic.com/user/cheesemouse2/albums/39997-giant-monster-bs-merch Follow us on twitter at: https://twitter.com/GiantMonsterBS

From the creators of Giant Monster BS: Gratton Conwill and Matt Fields bring you Only In Amityville Season 3: Matt's Sick and Twisted Game!

Only In Amityville Season 3: Matt's Sick and Twisted Game is a limited series podcast event happening exclusively during October of 2022! Starting October 1st, we will review one movie every other day. Fans of Giant Monster BS and/or  Horror films will be right at home with this podcast. Vulgar, brutally honest, scary as hell, oh yeah... it's Only In Amityville time Baby!

Only In Amityville Season 3: Matt's Sick and Twisted Game is an ad-free, self funded podcast hosted by Matthew Fields.

Follow our new Podcast! Our operations on the GMBS podcast will resume November 1st.

If you would like to support the show, you can donate to us at: https://anchor.fm/giant-monster-bs or buy our merch at: https://www.teepublic.com/user/cheesemouse2/albums/39997-giant-monster-bs-merch

Follow us on twitter at: https://twitter.com/GiantMonsterBS

Thank you for listening to Escape From Amityville! The only podcast that did what we did!

Escape from Amityville was a limited series podcast event happening exclusively during October of 2021! Starting October 1st, we reviewed one movie every other day. Each movie was a lesser known or appreciated, but culturally significant, horror movie made within the past 100 years. None of those movies have anything to do with the original tale of America's most haunted house, but in the spirit of the Amityville story, we reviewed chilling and horrifying movies featuring demons, monsters, and various ghouls! 16 episodes in total! The series finale took place on Halloween night with a special mystery review. Fans of Giant Monster BS and/or Horror films were right at home with this podcast. Vulgar, brutally honest, scary as hell, oh yeah... it's Escape from Amityville time Baby!

Only In Amityville is an ad-free, self funded podcast hosted by Gratton Conwill and Matthew Fields.

If you would like to support the show, you can donate to us at: https://anchor.fm/giant-monster-bs or buy our merch at: https://www.teepublic.com/user/cheesemouse2/albums/39997-giant-monster-bs-merch

Follow us on twitter at: https://twitter.com/GiantMonsterBS

Episode 16 of Season 2! Host, Gratton Conwill and special guest, Matt Fields discuss The Hills Have Eyes (1977).

Day 16

The Hills Have Eyes    1h 90m

On July 22 of 1977, The Hills Have Eyes was released in the United States. Written and directed by Horror icon Wes Craven, The Hills Have Eyes is a horror thriller and the second feature directed by the influential director.

After his first feature, Craven had a desire to escape the constraints of the horror genre. However, financiers had other plans, and producer Peter Locke, a friend of Wes Craven, decided to produce his next horror film. Wes Craven agreed and set out to make a more sophisticated horror movie that explored human depravity. He found inspiration in the story of Sawney Bean. The leader of a Scottish clan of cannibals in the 1600s. Other sources of inspirations included The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and John Ford’s The Grapes of Wrath.

The film was shot in the Mojave desert on a 16mm camera borrowed from a director of pornographic films. With a budget of roughly half a million dollars, the cast was only paid minimum wage, and Producer Peter Locke was on set every day to ensure time was spent wisely. Some days of shooting reached temperatures of 120 degrees fahrenheit, and the cast had to do their own makeup. Understandably unenthusiastic, the cast and crew dreaded each day of filming. But further into the production, Craven’s spirit and enthusiasm rubbed off on the crew, and the shoot went smoothly. The film was given an X rating initially, this resulted in significant amounts of footage getting cut for the final product. The title: The Hills Have Eyes was chosen against Craven’s wishes, after the film was finished.

Upon release, reviews were mixed, with many viewers comparing the gruesome content to Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Regardless of critical response, The Hills Have Eyes made over $25 million and spawned a series of sequels. It should come as no surprise to listeners that The Hills Have Eyes is now praised as a horror classic, thanks in no small part to the popularity of Wes Craven, director of A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream.

Today The Hills Have Eyes has:

3.1/5 on Letterboxd

6.3/10 on IMDb

65% on rotten tomatoes

64% on metacritic

85% on google

6.8 average CTS score

From the creators of Giant Monster BS: Gratton Conwill and Matt Fields bring you Only In Amityville season 2: Escape from Amityville!

Only In Amityville is an ad-free, self funded podcast hosted by Gratton Conwill and Matthew Fields.

If you would like to support the show, you can donate to us at: https://anchor.fm/giant-monster-bs or buy our merch at: https://www.teepublic.com/user/cheesemouse2/albums/39997-giant-monster-bs-merch

Follow us on twitter at: https://twitter.com/GiantMonsterBS

Episode 15 of Season 2! Host, Gratton Conwill and special guest, Matt Fields discuss Faust (1926).

Day 15

Faust     1h 56m

Released on October 14th of 1926 in Berlin, Faust was a German silent fantasy horror film directed by F.W. Murnau, of Nosferatu fame, and written by Hans Kyser. Based on a fairytale, this film was the first cinematic adaptation of the Faust story.

Faust was an expensive production for its time, this is because Director F.W. Murnau’s previous film was such a success, he was granted an unlimited budget for his next project. It briefly held the record for most expensive German film ever made until the title was taken by Metropolis the following year. While it seems absurd by today’s standards, the studio actually decided they disliked the “script” by Hans Kyser after the movie was shot. However, there wasn’t really a script since the film was silent. What the studio disliked were the intertitles edited throughout the film. Writer Gerhart Hauptmann was hired to make new intertitles, essentially rewriting the movie. When Hauptmann was finished, the studio decided they disliked the new titles even more than the ones by Kyser, so Kyser’s titles ended up in the final cut.

Speaking of final cuts, several cuts of Faust exist today, including a U.S. version prepared by F.W. Murnau himself, and a bilingual version intended to play on transatlantic boats for international audiences. The version we watched today was a reconstruction prepared by Kino International.

Upon release, Faust only managed to make back half of its budget. Like many movies we’ve reviewed this year, Faust is part of the public domain, giving most interested viewers a chance to watch the movie and appreciate it in the modern age. Since its release, it has been reevaluated and is praised as extremely influential and many consider it to be one of the most visually impressive expressionist movies ever made. Some notable fans of Faust are Japanese director Shinji Aoyama and the late film critic Roger Ebert.

Today Faust has:

4.1/5 on Letterboxd

8.1/10 on IMDb

94% on rotten tomatoes

91% on google

8.7 average CTS score

Only In Amityville is an ad-free, self funded podcast hosted by Gratton Conwill and Matthew Fields.

If you would like to support the show, you can donate to us at: https://anchor.fm/giant-monster-bs or buy our merch at: https://www.teepublic.com/user/cheesemouse2/albums/39997-giant-monster-bs-merch

Follow us on twitter at: https://twitter.com/GiantMonsterBS

Episode 14 of Season 2! Host, Gratton Conwill and special guest, Matt Fields discuss The Bat (1959).

Day 14

The Bat     1h 20m

Released on August 9th  1959, The Bat is an American Mystery film written and directed by Crane Wilbur. The story of the bat originated from a 1908 Novel titled The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart. Since the novel’s release, several adaptations have been made. The first silent film adaptation was made in 1915. However, the next adaptation would be made for the stage. The play adaptation of The Circular Staircase, titled The Bat, was released in 1920. Here’s where things get a little convoluted. From here on out, the story would keep the “Bat” title. In the wake of the stage play, the 1915 movie would be re-released as The Bat. However, another silent film adaptation, this time helmed by a fan of the play, would release in 1926. The Bat play would be adapted back into a novel, this time opting to use the Bat title. A sound film remake of the 1926 silent film titled The Bat Whispers would be released in 1930. And finally, The Bat was made into one last film in 1959, which is the version we’re watching today.

Horror icon Vincent Price was compelled to pursue a role in this film as he recalled being very frightened by the stage play as a child. His attitude would change by the end of production, as he was not happy with the script or the final finished film. When the film was released, it played as a double feature with The Mummy (1959). Five years after The Bat, Cinematographer Joseph F. Biroc would shoot Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, the spiritual predecessor to What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice.

Original reception was mixed to poor, and unlike many entries on this list, The Bat does not have a big modern following. One of the cultural byproducts of the Bat story was the creation of the superhero Batman in 1939 according to Batman co-creator Bob Kane, however this film holds the distinction of being the only Bat adaptation made in a post-Batman world. This movie has gone into the public domain, making it a very accessible movie over the internet.

Today The Bat has:

3/5 on Letterboxd

6.1/10 on IMDb

20% on rotten tomatoes

87% on google

Only In Amityville is an ad-free, self funded podcast hosted by Gratton Conwill and Matthew Fields.

If you would like to support the show, you can donate to us at: https://anchor.fm/giant-monster-bs or buy our merch at: https://www.teepublic.com/user/cheesemouse2/albums/39997-giant-monster-bs-merch

Follow us on twitter at: https://twitter.com/GiantMonsterBS

Episode 13 of Season 2! Host, Gratton Conwill and special guest, Matt Fields discuss The Invisible Man (2020).

Day 13

The Invisible Man     2h 4m

Released on February 28th of 2020, The Invisible Man was written and directed by Australian filmmaker Leigh Whannell. This film is the most recent reboot in a series of films based on the Invisible Man Novel by H.G. Wells.

This film had a particularly long development dating all the way back to 2006. Originally David S. Goyer was set to write the script for Universal, but by 2011, after no real progress, he was out of the picture. In 2016, the idea was revived as part of a new cinematic universe featuring several classic universal monsters. Ed Solomon was brought on board to write the new script, and Johnny Depp was cast as the titular invisible man. After the financial and critical failure of 2017’s The Mummy, the first film in the aforementioned cinematic universe, Universal pictures trashed all plans for subsequent films, opting to release stand alone reboot films for each character with no connected universe. By this point, Jason Blum came on board as producer, and Leigh Whannell was hired to write and direct. This team would finally see the film release 14 years after the reboot was initially proposed.

Upon release, The Invisible Man made its money back in just one day, and would gross over 20 times its budget at the box office during its theatrical run. Reviews were overwhelmingly positive, among the movie’s fans was respected film critic Manohla Dargis. The film may have enjoyed even more success had it not been moved to streaming services three weeks after its theatrical debut as a result of Covid-19 theater closures.

Director Whannell has stated that the film was created as a standalone film with a definitive ending, however due to the unprecedented success of The Invisible Man, more follow up movies are not out of the question.

Today The Invisible Man has:

3.6/5 on Letterboxd

7.1/10 on IMDb

91% on rotten tomatoes

84% on google

72% on Metacritic

7.8 average CTS score

From the creators of Giant Monster BS: Gratton Conwill and Matt Fields bring you Only In Amityville season 2: Escape from Amityville!

Escape from Amityville is a limited series podcast event happening exclusively during October of 2021! Starting October 1st, we will review one movie every other day. Each movie will be a lesser known or appreciated, but culturally significant, horror movie made within the past 100 years. None of these movies have anything to do with the original tale of America's most haunted house, but in the spirit of the Amityville story, we promise to review chilling and horrifying movies featuring demons, monsters, and various ghouls! 15 episodes in total! The series finale takes place on Halloween night with a special mystery review. Fans of Giant Monster BS and/or  Horror films will be right at home with this podcast. Vulgar, brutally honest, scary as hell, oh yeah... it's Escape from Amityville time Baby!

Only In Amityville is an ad-free, self funded podcast hosted by Gratton Conwill and Matthew Fields.

If you would like to support the show, you can donate to us at: https://anchor.fm/giant-monster-bs or buy our merch at: https://www.teepublic.com/user/cheesemouse2/albums/39997-giant-monster-bs-merch

Follow us on twitter at: https://twitter.com/GiantMonsterBS