Rogues Gallery

After the divisive response to Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, Paramount knew it needed to bring Jason Voorhees back. But rather than simply return the series to business as usual, writer/director Tom McLoughlin took the franchise somewhere it had never quite been before.

Join us as we trace the course correction that led to Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, and how hiring a director who wasn't particularly interested in making a traditional slasher movie helped produce one of the series' most distinctive entries. We dig into the film's unusually playful sense of humor, its gothic and Universal Monsters influences, the resurrection that transformed Jason from a flesh-and-blood killer into an unstoppable supernatural force, and why audiences didn't turn out despite the return of the franchise's biggest star.

We also discuss how dramatically the film's reputation has improved in the decades since its release, whether Jason Lives deserves its frequent designation as the best movie in the series, and how the undead Jason compares to the more human version who preceded him.

And with Kristen making her way through the franchise for the first time, we check in on just how many of her predictions for Part VI actually came true before asking her to predict what could possibly happen next in Friday the 13th Part VII.

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Ten years after Freddy Krueger first invaded our dreams, Wes Craven returned to the franchise he created with something very different in mind. New Nightmare brought Freddy into the "real world," with Craven, Heather Langenkamp, Robert Englund, and John Saxon playing versions of themselves in a film that blurred the line between fiction and reality.

Join us as we trace Craven's complicated history with the Nightmare on Elm Street series, what brought him back after years away, and how New Nightmare allowed him to reconsider both Freddy Krueger and the effect the character had on popular culture.

Along the way, we dig into Freddy's radical redesign, the film's ambitious effects and set pieces, Heather Langenkamp's unusually personal performance, the ways real events from her life found their way into the story, and the movie's darker approach to a character who had gradually become as much comedian as monster.

We also discuss the film's disappointing reception in 1994, its influence on the self-aware horror boom that followed, and how New Nightmare holds up more than thirty years after audiences weren't quite sure what to make of it.

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Chris's Instagram | Kristen's Instagram Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler

Released at the height of the franchise's popularity, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie brought the titular heroes to the big screen with a larger budget, redesigned costumes, and a brand new villain to contend with.

Behind the scenes, however, there was an entirely different battle being fought. We trace the project's troubled development and the many changes that reshaped the film along the way. We also discuss the movie's complicated relationship with the continuity of the television series, how it was received by critics and fans, whether or not this feels suitably cinematic compared to the show, and much more!

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Chris's Instagram | Kristen's Instagram Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler

Originally pitched as a television series in the early 2000s, Zombieland was ultimately reconceived as a feature film. Join us as we trace the project's unusual journey from rejected TV pilot, to low-budget direct-to-video concept, to hit studio release.

Along the way, we dig into the film's distinctive sense of humor, the chemistry between its unforgettable cast, and how the story evolved as its scope grew larger. We also discuss whether Zombieland: Double Tap managed to recapture the original's magic, the ill-fated Amazon television pilot that brought the franchise full circle, where Zombieland could go from here, and much more!

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Chris's Instagram | Kristen's Instagram Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler

What began as a spec script for The X-Files evolved into one of horror's most enduring modern franchises. By stripping away the traditional slasher formula and replacing the killer with fate itself, Final Destination turned everyday spaces and ordinary objects into sources of dread.

We trace the project's unconventional origins and how director James Wong and writer Glen Morgan transformed a familiar teen horror setup into something more unique. Along the way, we dig into the film's elaborate death sequences, the challenge of creating tension without a physical antagonist, how later entries perfected the formula, and much more!

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Chris's Instagram | Kristen's Instagram Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler

This week, we're stepping into the stylish, seductive, and deeply divisive world of Dressed to Kill.

Released at the height of Brian De Palma's fascination with voyeurism, identity, and cinematic sleight of hand, the film is both a love letter to classic thrillers and a provocation in its own right. Drawing heavily from the work of Alfred Hitchcock (that's putting it mildly) while pushing further into sex, violence, and dreamlike excess, Dressed to Kill quickly became one of the most controversial films of its era.

We discuss how De Palma's visual style helps put a new spin on familiar material, dig into the film's elaborate set pieces, and of course, attempt to unpack its depiction of gender and identity.

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Chris's Instagram | Kristen's Instagram Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler Chris's new EP on Spotify and Bandcamp

After years in development hell, a live-action adaptation of the blockbuster survival horror video game Resident Evil finally hit screens in 2002. As opposed to just retelling a story fans were already familiar with, this was intended to be a prequel featuring a new set of characters and references to the series deeper lore. That's... sort of what this is. Not really. And as a result, the film's financial success was offset by a backlash from gamers who didn't appreciate the bait and switch. Or a Resident Evil that was light on gore and heavy on post-Matrix style action. But now that we're on the eve of Zach Cregger's reboot, we thought it would be a good time to take a look back at where it all began for RE on the big screen. Topics include: earlier incarnations that were more reflective of the first game, George A. Romero's involvement with the project (and unceremonious departure), why Paul W.S. Anderson was exactly the right guy for the approach the producers favored, how many similarities this shares with his eventual Alien Vs. Predator film, the make-up and effects, whether or not the lack of gore is the real issue here, thoughts on the sequels, hopes for the reboot, and much more!

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Chris's Instagram | Kristen's Instagram Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler Chris's new EP on Spotify and Bandcamp

Welcome back to Rogues Gallery! This week, we're gearing up for a deadly game night with Ready or Not. What began as a sharp high-concept pitch from writers Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy became one of the most crowd-pleasing horror films of the last decade: a blood-soaked satire about wealth, tradition, and the kind of family that would literally kill to preserve both. We trace the project's origins and how directing duo Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett balanced brutal horror with pitch-black comedy without letting either undercut the other. Along the way, we dig into Samara Weaving's star-making lead performance, the bizarre and dysfunctional Le Domas family, the surprisingly restrictive filming location that shaped parts of the production, and the practical effects work behind the film's gleeful carnage. We also discuss the movie's original ending, why changing it altered the entire point of the story, and where Ready or Not fits within the larger tradition of horror-comedies.

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Chris's Instagram | Kristen's Instagram Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler Chris's new EP on Spotify and Bandcamp

This week, we're opening a case file on Aunt Gladys, the instantly iconic villain at the center of Weapons.

Told across multiple perspectives and timelines, the film constantly shifts its footing, forcing the audience to piece together what's really happening… and whether or not there's even a single, coherent truth to find.

Topics include: the two separate ideas Cregger combined to create this story, how different the film might have been if the SAG-AFTRA strike hadn't forced them to recast almost all of the major roles, details we didn't notice until subsequent viewings, Amy Madigan's Oscar-winning performance, our reactions to the news that a Gladys prequel is on the way, and much more!

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Chris's Instagram | Kristen's Instagram Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler Chris's new EP on Spotify and Bandcamp

The pod. You opened it. We cast.

Welcome to a brand new season of Rogues Gallery! We're kicking things off by opening the puzzle box on the original Hellraiser. It's a film that didn't just push the boundaries of horror, but gleefully tore them apart.

What began as a low-budget adaptation of Clive Barker's own novella The Hellbound Heart evolved into something far stranger and more enduring: a nightmarish blend of desire, pain, and the grotesque. It also introduced the world to one of horror's most iconic figures in Pinhead.

We trace how Barker's uncompromising vision made it to the screen largely intact, and how its emphasis on obsession and forbidden pleasure set it apart from the slashers dominating the late '80s. Along the way, we dig into the film's tactile, skin-crawling practical effects, the eerie mythology of the Lament Configuration, and the ways the franchise's legacy has been both expanded and diluted by decades of sequels.

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Chris's Instagram | Kristen's Instagram Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler Chris's new EP on Spotify and Bandcamp