We're continuing our 1985 season this week with Walt Disney oddity, The Black Cauldron.

Caught between the classic early decades of Disney animation and the studio's 1990s resurgence, The Black Cauldron is an unusually dark (and unusually British) adventure, with moments of dread and horror mixed in with the odd and unfathomable (magic pigs, hairy little thieves, gruesome self-sacrifice).

Clearly, it struck a chord with young Rob, who grew up loving fantasy stories, and who picked this for our 1985 season. Enjoy, let us know what you think of the film, and join us next week for more 1985 oddness with Terry Gilliam's Brazil.

Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at [email protected] and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

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Back To The Future! Our 1985 season begins in earnest this week with Dave's pick of the year, Robert Zemeckis' layered, heartfelt time-travelling adventure (although do go and listen to our Goonies bonus episode if you can...)

BTTF is a perfect fit with several films the pod has already absorbed, a "Spielberg-ing" of early 1980s life that like ET (and The Goonies) presents a world beset by adult problems to which only children have the answers. Dense with physical gags and cultural references, and tightly plotted around its time travel premise, we are in the presence of another absolute classic.

Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at [email protected] and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

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We're taking a long overdue look inside the Redshirt Cinema Club mailbag this week (please keep emailing us, we do read them, promise) before kicking off our new mini season by each selecting our favourite movie of 1985, in celebration of the year Dave was born. This has caused alarm for a couple of reasons: firstly it's made us realise a number of our favourite movies are now, like Dave, 40 years old and secondly it turns out Rob has only seen two movies released in this year. Time to fix that stat.

Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at [email protected] and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

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Man is the warmest place to hide this week, as our John Carpenter mini-season comes to a spectacular, gushing climax with 1982’s The Thing. Is Jed the dog the best dog actor ever? Could speaking Norwegian have solved this whole business in 5 minutes? And who - if anyone - is human by the end? Let’s find out

Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at [email protected] and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

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Hello and welcome to Redshirt Cinema Club, a weekly podcast about smoking, apparently.  

In the distant future of the year 1997, Manhattan has become a super prison, the president of the USA has crash landed inside, and only one man has tight enough trousers and good enough arms to break him out again. This is John Carpenter’s Escape From New York…

Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at [email protected] and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

Our October John Carpenter series:

Dark Star - 6/10/25

Assault On Precinct 13 - 13/10/25

Bonus - The Fog - 15/10/25

Halloween - 20/10/25

Escape From New York - 27/10/25

Bonus - Prince Of Darkness - 29/10/25

The Thing - 3/11/25

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Halloween has come early, which is only fair as two of us are coming very late to Halloween, John Carpenter's genre-setting 1978 teen slasher classic.

The adults are all busy at boring grown-up parties, the teens are constantly on the phone and swapping houses, and Michael Myers - inscrutable killer, embodiment of evil, and provider of cheap Halloween costume options for several generations - has been to the hardware store and is ready to work.

Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at [email protected] and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

Our October John Carpenter series:

Dark Star - 6/10/25

Assault On Precinct 13 - 13/10/25

Bonus - The Fog - 15/10/25

Halloween - 20/10/25

Escape From New York - 27/10/25

Bonus - Prince Of Darkness - 29/10/25

The Thing - 3/11/25

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Welcome to Los Angeles in 1976, setting for John Carpenter’s Assault On Precinct 13, a tale of bad gangs, good guys, and a tragically mishandled ice cream order. This is America and Hollywood as we remember it growing up - a scary, magnetic clash of morals and modernity. And also lots of shooting.

Yes, this week we're watching John Carpenter's second film, where a criminal gang lays siege to a handful of survivors trapped inside an abandoned police station. Immaculate vibes, incredible music, and a absolute sense of right and wrong. Enjoy!

Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at [email protected] and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

Our October John Carpenter series:

Dark Star - 6/10/25

Assault On Precinct 13 - 13/10/25

Bonus - The Fog - 15/10/25

Halloween - 20/10/25

Escape From New York - 27/10/25

Bonus - Prince Of Darkness - 29/10/25

The Thing - 3/11/25

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new dawn! A new day! A new Dark Star!

Welcome to a brand new series on Redshirt Cinema Club, as we embark upon a vaguely Halloween-timed viewing of the early films of John Carpenter.

There are so many reasons this run of films fits with what we've watched on the pod so far, not least the fact that several of these films are very good. We're starting this week with Carpenter's first film, Dark Star, co-created with eventual Alien writer Dan O'Bannon, and a teasing love letter to mid-century science fiction. Enjoy!

Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at [email protected] and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

Our October John Carpenter series:

Dark Star - 6/10/25

Assault On Precinct 13 - 13/10/25

Bonus - The Fog - 15/10/25

Halloween - 20/10/25

Escape From New York - 27/10/25

Bonus - Prince Of Darkness - 29/10/25

The Thing - 3/11/25

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We've reached the finale of Alien: Earth! This week we discuss episode 8, 'The Real Monsters'.

The journey has ended, and have we been walking in a circle this whole time? The hybrid kids use soft(ware) power to launch a coup, we finally get to see that Morrow vs Kirsh showdown, the orchid escapes, and Johnny Eyeball finds a new home. Are we happy? Nearly. How are you doing?

Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at [email protected] and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

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This week - episode 7 of Alien: Earth, 'Emergence'.

Things are happening, Fletch - many of them bad, especially for any humans remaining on the Neverland island complex in possession of a moral compass. Slightly and Smee become body smugglers, Wendy and Nibs feel their humanity slipping away, and Morrow does an actual invasion. Oh, and the alien got out.

It's all a bit much for us, as our the first really significant cracks appear in our confidence that all these fabulous ideas are going to land, somehow. Well, we've been wrong before...

Let us know what you think of this episode by emailing us at [email protected] and support us on Patreon at patreon.com/redshirtcinemaclub for access to two bonus episodes per month as well as our newsletter, The Civilian Observer.

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