SlashBack Cinema

Happy Halloween folks!! This week we watched Spookies 1986...

There’s bad.

There’s so-bad-it’s-good.

And then there’s Spookies.

We tried to review it normally. That lasted about ten minutes.

So instead, we activated Slashback Emergency Protocol and tried to answer one simple question:

What the hell did we just watch?

Two movies stitched together. A plot that barely exists. Random monsters everywhere. Farting muckmen.

And somehow, that’s not even the weirdest part.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Giant snake gods. Four-inch fangs. Psychedelic religious hallucinations. A strategically deployed mongoose. Hugh Grant with a six-foot sword. And Peter Capaldi somehow producing both bagpipes AND a grenade when the situation demands it.

Welcome to Ken Russell’s Lair of the White Worm  a movie that starts weird and just keeps going.

This week on SlashBack Cinema, Ryan and Shanny descend into one of the strangest corners of 1980s British horror. We talk folk horror, questionable vampire rules, wildly over-the-top practical effects, a monster partially built from a Volkswagen Beetle, and Amanda Donohoe’s gloriously unhinged Lady Sylvia Marsh who may single-handedly earn this movie an extra Stabby Score.

Is it horror? Camp? Folk horror? Looney Tunes with snake people?

Yes.

If you like movies that take a huge swing and then leave you staring at the screen wondering what the hell is happening, this one's for you.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Nine years after Phantasm introduced us to the Tall Man, killer silver spheres and an army of hooded alien dwarves, Don Coscarelli came back with a bigger budget and apparently one guiding principle: more.

More guns. More explosions.  More balls.

This week on SlashBack Cinema, we hit the road with Mike and Reggie as they chase the Tall Man through abandoned towns, suspiciously elaborate mausoleums and enough plot holes to swallow a ’71 Plymouth ’Cuda.

Along the way, we dig into the insane practical effects, a real house they bought just to blow up, the glorious double-double-barrel shotgun, a chainsaw measuring contest and the upgraded golden sphere that somehow makes the original murder ball look quaint.

Plus: ’80s hair, Beastmaster ferrets, and a very 1980s round of ice cream trivia.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Ryan calls it the greatest horror comedy ever made. Shanny says it's basically a live-action Looney Tunes cartoon filmed with terrifying commitment. Somewhere between the possessed hand, Henrietta's basement hijinks, gallons of mulit color blood, and Bruce Campbell absorbing more physical punishment than any actor should, they try to answer the question.

Episode Highlights:

•  Why horror fans are still split on Evil Dead 2 
•  The Warner Bros. cartoon theory 
•  Freddy Krueger's hidden glove 
•  Sam Raimi's mom's car 
•  Stabby Scores

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

If you've ever been in a toxic relationship with a space vampire, this is the episode for you.

This week on SlashBack Cinema, Ryan and Shanny tackle Lifeforce (1985), Tobe Hooper's gloriously unhinged sci-fi horror epic that somehow combines space vampires, psychic powers, zombie outbreaks, alien bats, Patrick Stewart, and the end of the world into one movie.

What starts as a mysterious mission to Halley's Comet quickly spirals into apocalyptic chaos as an otherworldly energy vampire arrives on Earth and turns London into a nightmare. Along the way we discuss Canon Films' biggest gamble, why the original title The Space Vampires would've been infinitely better, Patrick Stewart's unforgettable performance, and whether this cult oddity is actually a misunderstood masterpiece.

Plus:
 • Top scenes from the film
  • Behind-the-scenes production lore
 • The strangest genre mashup we've covered yet
  • Stabby Scores: Ryan 4/4 | Shanny 3/4

#Lifeforce #TobeHooper #80sHorror #CultCinema #SciFiHorror #PatrickStewart #SlashBackCinema

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

If you need to get away from it all… Summerisle is waiting.

This week on SlashBack Cinema, we head back to 1973 to break down The Wicker Man a folk horror classic that trades jump scares for slow-building dread… and delivers one of the most unforgettable endings in horror history.

What starts as a simple missing person case quickly turns into something far more unsettling, as a devout Christian police officer finds himself trapped in a world of pagan rituals, strange traditions, and a community that’s hiding something big.

Spoilers ahead  and trust us, this is one you’ll want to hear.

Got thoughts on The Wicker Man?
Hit us up at slashbackcinema.com

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

“We’re here to chew bubblegum and podcast… and we’re all out of bubblegum.”

This week on SlashBack Cinema, we finally put on the sunglasses and take a hard look at They Live the 1988 cult classic where a drifter, a shotgun, and a pair of cheap shades are all you need to expose an alien-controlled society.

Neither of us had fully seen this one going in… which might explain a lot.

We get into:
• The most famous line that completely outgrew the film
• That insane six-minute alley fight that just… keeps going
• The sunglasses reveal and why it’s still one of the coolest concepts in 80s sci-fi
• And whether this is actually a horror movie… or if we got completely bamboozled

Along the way, we hit John Carpenter’s legacy, Roddy Piper somehow pulling off a legit performance, and the not-so-subtle “OBEY / CONSUME” message that feels a little less like fiction now than it probably should.

Put on the glasses. Things are about to look different.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

Everyone's eating it. Nobody knows what it is. Nobody cares. This week on SlashBack Cinema, we're grabbing a spoon and digging into The Stuff (1985),  the cult horror where a mysterious dessert turns America into willing victims. It's a movie about capitalist consumption, addiction, and how easy it is to sell people exactly what destroys them. We get into the wild premise, the practical effects, the 80s weirdness that makes it unforgettable, and why this one hits harder now than it ever did.
You ate it. It ate you back

yEELEAaRz5D3ssy9P3Z8

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

This week on SlashBack Cinema, we channel Poltergeist...the suburban nightmare that made every flickering TV feel like a portal to hell.

We dig into the behind-the-scenes madness (yes… those were real skeletons), the Steven Spielberg vs. Tobe Hooper debate, and why this movie still hits decades later, even if some of the effects are hanging on by a thread.

Plus: Gen X trauma unlocked, questionable parenting decisions, and our retro 80’s Trivia focused this week on TV shows from the 1980’s

They’re here… and so are we.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show

This week on SlashBack Cinema, we head into the water with Joe Dante’s Piranha (1978) the scrappy Jaws-inspired cult classic where genetically engineered killer fish turn a quiet river into an all-you-can murder buffet. Ryan and Shanny break down the fishy action, the wild B-movie energy, and why this cult favorite still bites.

Special guest Jeff Wilson joins the conversation, and we wrap things up with another round of 80s retro trivia to test your VHS-era memory.

Send us Fan Mail

Support the show