Shat the Movies: 80's & 90's Best Film Review

When listener John S. commissioned the 1983 cult slasher Sleepaway Camp, Big D had zero expectations. Gene was cautiously optimistic after two disappointing summer camp films. Neither was prepared for what they got.

What starts as Meatballs with murder — beehives, boilings, and drownings — escalates into something far darker, culminating in one of cinema's most shocking twist endings. Gene calls it his favorite slasher finale of all time. Big D says it's up there with The Terminator, Empire Strikes Back, and Back to the Future Part II.

In this episode:

• How Sleepaway Camp earned its 82% Rotten Tomatoes score despite being dismissed as a Friday the 13th knockoff
• The legendary practical effects of Ed French (Terminator 2, Star Trek, Buffy) — going way harder than the budget demanded
• Robert Earl Jones (James Earl Jones' father!) as the camp cook who looks the other way
• The most authentic New York swearing since your last family gathering
• A thoughtful debate on whether the film's famous ending is transphobic or a tragic story of a child failed by the adults around him
• Why both hosts agree: watch this movie before you listen to this episode. The twist is that good.

Sleepaway Camp is available free on multiple streaming platforms including Plex. Go watch it first — seriously — then come back and join the conversation.

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When a filmmaker gets a second chance at the same idea and decides to just fucking lose his mind, you get Evil Dead 2. Gene and Big D continue their Shat Spooktacular Halloween celebration with Sam Raimi's 1987 horror-comedy sequel — the film that turned Ash Williams into a legend and gave us the one word that defines an entire franchise: "Groovy."

Commissioned by Spooktacular junkie John, this episode digs into the remake-vs-sequel debate, Bruce Campbell's transformation from likable lead to chainsaw-handed icon, a shell-company distribution workaround to dodge an X rating, and the stop-motion skeletons that still divide the hosts. Gene compares the movie to mopeds — not the best-made, not the scariest, not the funniest, but more fun than better movies. Dick's turning point? When Henrietta's eyeball shoots across the room and lands in her daughter's mouth. Perfect. No notes.

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This week on Shat the Movies, we're heading into the woods with The Evil Dead (1981), where five friends discover that renting an isolated cabin is apparently the fastest route to demonic possession. Gene and Big D break down Bruce Campbell's early Ash, Sam Raimi's inventive camera work, buckets of blood, questionable decision-making, and special effects held together with imagination and whatever they could afford. Is this low-budget horror landmark still genuinely scary, or has forty years of imitation turned it into something closer to a comedy? Tune in and find out. Full movie info below: The Evil Dead (1981) is a supernatural horror film written and directed by Sam Raimi and starring Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, and Theresa Tilly. The film follows five college students whose trip to a remote Tennessee cabin goes horribly wrong after they discover a mysterious book and a recording that unleashes demonic forces. Made on a tiny independent budget, The Evil Dead became a cult horror hit and launched the careers of Raimi and Campbell, eventually spawning sequels, a remake, television series, video games, and one of horror's most recognizable franchises.

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The 10th Annual Shat Spooktacular kicks off with a bang. People are melting. A penis is flying through the air. And somebody brought a woodwind.

Commissioner John kicks off our first-ever full month of horror by taking us back to 1987 for Street Trash, the cult splatter comedy where a Brooklyn liquor store sells poisoned Tenafly Viper to the local homeless population and things go exactly as wrong as you'd expect. With a budget of roughly $100,000, this movie had no stars, no money, and no business being as memorable as it is — and yet here we are, still talking about it 39 years later.

Big D and Gene break down the melt-movie subgenre, the infamous junkyard dong toss set to Looney Tunes clown music, a homeless man shoving raw chicken down his pants, and the discovery that Martin Scorsese found Tony Darrow in this very film. Plus: Big D identifies a BB gun from his childhood, makes a case that B-movie filmmakers were in it for the fetishes, and asks the question nobody wanted answered — is an oboe enough to make a sexual assault scene feel "playful"?

We also hear from the Shat Gang: Fernando calls in with the alternative ending to Born in East LA, and Chris from Chicago corrects Big D on the Buddy Revell vs. Matt Dillon debate. Dick folds immediately.

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This week on Shat the Movies, we're going rogue with Licence to Kill (1989), the Bond movie where 007 forgets about saving the world and makes things very personal. Timothy Dalton's Bond quits MI6 and goes after drug lord Franz Sanchez, giving us revenge, exploding tankers, questionable undercover decisions, and one seriously pissed off James Bond. Gene and Big D break down Dalton's darker take on the character and whether this stripped down Bond adventure was ahead of its time. Does Licence to Kill deserve another look, or was this just too much Bond for 1989? Tune in and find out. Full movie info below: Licence to Kill (1989) is a James Bond film directed by John Glen and stars Timothy Dalton, Carey Lowell, Robert Davi, Talisa Soto, Anthony Zerbe, and a young Benicio del Toro. After drug lord Franz Sanchez brutally attacks Felix Leiter, Bond ignores orders and sets out for revenge, infiltrating Sanchez's organization from within. The film marked Dalton's second and final appearance as James Bond and took the series in a darker, more violent direction years before the franchise would revisit a similar approach with Daniel Craig.

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Commissioned by Michael S. from the UK, "Dragonheart" promised swordplay, knights and old codes. What it delivered was a Funko Pop-headed CGI dragon, Dennis Quaid auditioning for an Oscar that was never coming, and a plot hole so big you could fly a wyvern through it.

Gene and Big D break down the visual effects that aged like milk, the casting choices that could have saved the film (Schwarzenegger?!), the one question the movie never bothers to answer, and why Dennis Quaid delivers "Honor won't feed my belly, nor shoe my horse" like he's filming Braveheart.

Plus: listener emails from a 25-year veteran teacher who vindicates our Mr. Holland's Opus take, and a new listener who recently found the pod and has been binging from episode one.

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We're going back to 1985 for the teen action drama Tuff Turf—starring James Spader, Robert Downey Jr., and Kim Richards. What starts as a goofy '80s teen comedy about a new kid who falls for the wrong girl spirals into a bloodbath with switchblades, fire axes, and rottweilers. It's Grease meets The Karate Kid meets Friday the 13th, and nobody on set seemed to notice.

Gene calls it "one of the dumbest stories ever seen on screen" while Big D calls it "surprisingly enjoyable and wild."

Commissioner Heather adds to the mix with an emotional letter about what the podcast means to her during the hardest summer of her life. Big D pitches a horror movie version of The Karate Kid, and Dick's foster cats run the studio.

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This week on Shat the Movies, we're hunting a serial killer with Kiss the Girls (1997), the thriller that introduced Morgan Freeman as detective and psychologist Alex Cross. Gene and Big D break down Freeman's effortless authority, Ashley Judd fighting back, the creepy Casanova mystery, and a plot packed with enough twists and suspicious dudes to keep everyone guessing. Does this late 90s serial killer thriller still deliver, or was Hannibal Lecter already casting too big a shadow? Tune in and find out.

Shat on Entertainment Kiss the Girls (1997) is a psychological thriller directed by Gary Fleder and stars Morgan Freeman, Ashley Judd, Cary Elwes, and Tony Goldwyn. Based on James Patterson's novel, the film follows forensic psychologist Alex Cross as he searches for his kidnapped niece and becomes involved in the hunt for a serial kidnapper known as Casanova. His investigation leads him to Kate McTiernan, a woman who escaped captivity and may be the best chance of finding the other missing women. The film was the first big screen appearance of Alex Cross, with Freeman returning to the role in Along Came a Spider.

Cheech Marin steps out from Tommy Chong's shadow for his directorial debut, and Gene and Big D dig into whether this immigration comedy still holds up 40 years later.

The Shat Crew breaks down the film's boldest gamble — leaving huge chunks of dialogue untranslated — plus the sight gags that still kill, the sketches that don't, and why Rudy's romance with Dolores might be the real heart of the movie.

The conversation goes deeper than the jokes: workplace immigration raids in the '80s, the real cases (and real consequences) behind the comedy, and why Cheech says this movie now plays more like a documentary. Also covered: the good, the weird, and the completely bananas ending — featuring a Neil Diamond needle-drop and a border-storming finale nobody saw coming.

This week's commissioner, Fernando Z., waited almost two years for this review — and it was worth it.

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This week on Shat the Movies, we're heading to the White House with Dave (1993), where an ordinary guy who looks exactly like the president suddenly finds himself running the country. Gene and Big D break down Kevin Kline's double duty, the surprisingly sweet romance with Sigourney Weaver, and a political fantasy built around the idea that maybe common sense could actually fix Washington. Is Dave still a charming political comedy, or does its optimism feel completely insane today? Tune in and find out.

Full movie info below: Dave (1993) is a political comedy directed by Ivan Reitman and stars Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Frank Langella, Kevin Dunn, Ving Rhames, and Ben Kingsley. Kline plays Dave Kovic, a presidential impersonator recruited to secretly stand in for the President of the United States after a medical emergency. What begins as a temporary deception becomes increasingly complicated when Dave starts taking the job seriously. The film earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay and became a warmhearted alternative to the darker political thrillers of the era.

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