Mathula joins Caitlin to cover Phenomena from 1985. Also known as Creepers, this Argento flick has a monstrous mother, a bug-obsessed Jennifer Connelly, and a razor-wielding chimp. Plus Donald Pleasence. What more could we want?

Tangents include: Eggers, Aster, vampires, Giallo movies as a whole, bugs, Lost, Florida, dystropian fiction, sneezing, and bathroom trashcans.

Be sure to check out Mathula's art at Hallelujah Dystopia!

Elizabeth generously joins Caitlin for re-record of The Birds. (I forgot to hit record last time... RIP.) Elizabeth is a Birds expert, and she's my Hitchcock Blonde. We look at themes of disaster linked to female psyche, man vs nature, and some Oedipal monstrous motherhood. We also do a deep dive into the troubling production, most of which would not fly today.

Tangents include: Nick at Nite, pregnant spiders, Reese's preferences, zoos, aquariums, and hamsters. 

Mary, Zach, and Charlie join Caitlin to cover Swimfan. It's a real time capsule of a movie; it'll take you right back to 2002. It has a monstrous femme figure in stalker Madison, and it gives us themes of obsession, deception, and troubled pasts. It also gives us an iconic pool scene.

In perhaps the most unhinged second-half of a Plug It Up episode to date, we explore the following tangents: birthdays, Twilight (and Skin of a Killer), chugga chugga as it relates to choo choo, game shows, hibachi, coitus, juice (including "doodoo juice"), lots of pool talk, DP of all kinds, Michael Shannon, and some great FMKs. 

Birthday boy Bob from Straight Chilling Podcast joins Caitlin to cover 2017's Thoroughbreds, a movie that features a couple of monstrous femme figures. We look at themes of wealth, pedigree, friendship, and murder, and we do our best to tease out the distinctions between sociopathy and psychopathy.

Tangents include: physical media, chicken wings, tiki drinks, space vs ocean, snacks, antiques, puppies vs kittens, 2023 horror, and some FMKs. 

Be sure to find Bob at Straight Chilling and Let's Get Physical Media! And the book I mentioned is The Sociopath Next Door by Matha Stout. 

Soju from Straight Chilling Podcast joins Caitlin to talk about Park Chan-wook's Thirst. Thirst is a beautiful vampire romance that incorporates themes of sexuality, pain, guilt, and the monstrous feminine. Soju is my vampire homie, and we give a lot of love to Thirst. We also give a lot of love to Underworld. In fact, take a shot every time we say "Underworld" (just kidding - that's dangerous). 

Tangents include: gummies, weapons, peanut butter, Twilight, other vampire media, the Culkin brothers, and some FMKs and WYRs. Be sure to check out all the cool stuff happening over at Straight Chilling. 

Pickens, Joe, and Victor join Caitlin to talk about Return to Oz - a fever dream, a cult classic, and, yes, the official sequel to The Wizard of Oz. For a kids' movie, it's got some serious horror beats, and it has a great monstrous femme figure in Princess Mombi. We chat about our favorite freaky moments and go over some fun movie trivia. Tangents for this episode include: Bugaboo Creek, malls, the Muppets, Disney parks, Elton John, and of course a few on-theme FMKs. 

Colleen and Maddie join Caitlin to cover 2022's Torn Hearts. Torn Hearts is a great look at the complexities in women's friendships, especially the competition therein. We get a wonderful monstrous femme villain (some would say "psychobiddy") in Katy Sagal, but we remember that, ultimately, the real villain is patriarchy. Also, what a unique setting for a horror movie! We don't get a lot of Nashville/country music horror.

Tangents include: bangs, nightmares, drinks, weapons we have stored around our homes, music, PDFs, bachelorette parties, weddings, colors, D&D, movie settings, and how my camera roll proves that I am obsessed with both Maddie and Colleen.

Christian and Mary join Caitlin to talk about the best intro scenes in horror movies. Opening scenes are important in any movie, but in horror movies, they're essential for setting the tone, establishing the stakes, getting viewer buy-in, and not giving too much away.

Movies discussed on our list include: Scream, Final Destination, Jaws, Get Out, Zombieland, The Conjuring, Dawn of the Dead, Saw, Halloween, Carrie, Ghost Ship, Evil Dead, Cabin in the Woods, 28 Days (and Weeks) Later, Sinister, Hereditary, Midsommar, The Empty Man, A Quiet Place, It: Chapter 1, It Follows, and The Ring, among others.

Tangents include: dippy eggs, sleep environments, grocery stores, other stores, senior yearbook quotes, pizza toppings, Saw traps, and more.

Elizabeth joins Caitlin to cover 2005's The Skeleton Key. We've got a great monstrous femme figure in The Skeleton Key, and the movie does a good job of exploring the intersections of race, age, gender, and spirituality. We also speculate at it possibly being an influence for Get Out, another horror movie that explores those issues extremely well. Tangents include: DVD bonus features, pizza, blankets, discount stores, flags, posters, animal horror, the haunted house Elizabeth gew up in, and some FMKs. 

Zach and Mary join Caitlin to cover Evil Dead Rise. Look at us! Covering a movie while it's still in theaters! This is a great monstrous motherhood movie, and we'd all recommend checking it out in the theater if you can. Evil Dead is such a strong franchise. Whether they're campy or scary (or both), who doesn't love a deadite? Tangents include: Bruce Campbell (of course), animal attacks, color schemes, salt, movies that actually scare us, socks, drinks, and legs.