The fickle finger of box office success has pushed against many young and talented directors.  Movies are such expansive and costly projects that simply creating a solid or even excellent piece of work isn't always enough.  If the ticket buying public isn't there to cast their financial vote on opening night, even the best of efforts can be deemed a count against the talent involved rather than a feather in the cap.  Fred Dekker, the director of the excellent Night of the Creeps (1986) and The Monster Squad (1987) is to my mind, one such casualty of this bitter truth.  Few filmmakers come to mind who have left behind movies that come off as fresh and exciting and GOOD as these two films, Savage Steve Holland of Better Off Dead (1985) and One Crazy Summer (1986) in the more purely comedy realm springs to mind, but his is another story entirely.

For whatever reason, The Monster Squad just didn't live up to it's budgetary expectations, and that's a damn shame.  The script from screenwriter Shane Black (who would go on to stardom as an action scribe following the smashing success of Lethal Weapon (1987)) is excellent, the special effects from Stan Winston and his studio stand tall for both their excellent design and strong execution, and Fred Dekker's overall vision is one that is fun, seamless, and potent.  It was a pleasure revisiting it for our 50th episode, and while I can't help but to think that had he been given further opportunity, Mr Dekker's vision would have led to an unforgettable library and bigger box office success, we can at least be thankful that those of us who were able to experience the joy of The Monster Squad at the theater or found it on video and through cable have such a unique and underappreciated gem to reflect on.  

Love and Respect,

Shonny Constant

5.25.2020

If you've read all this and you're on Facebook, PLEASE join us at our Group to discuss the movie and share your horror love.  We REALLY want to hear from you.  We REALLY REALLY do!  

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@ChzuckBean

Old Man Plays Old Games on Twitch @Chzuck

Cover art for this episode by Crystal Mielcarek!  Find more of her work on Facebook, Instagram, or Smushbox.net.

SHE IS THE BEST!

This week, at the recommendation of our buddy Adam, we took an enjoyable look at a movie that's been hanging around on Netflix since 2017 The Babysitter.  Chzuck absolutely loved the movie, and while I have this sneaking suspicion that McG's style isn't everyone's cup of tea, I really dug it to.  It's got lively characters, a lot of intertwining threads, some great splatter, a few laughs, and a bad ass car stunt.  Pretty strong resume.  The movie is also notable for it's star Samara Weaving, who continues to be a powerhouse in genre film with no seeming intention to stop.  It's always fun to follow somebody film to film as we evolve as an audience in relation to their growth as an artist, especially when in Ms. Weaving's case the quality of material is as high as it's been.

We hope you dig the episode.  As always, we beseech you...BESEECH I SAY...to visit us as often as you like.  It's a great pleasure to be able to do this every week, and we love that you folks are listening.

Stay safe everyone!  

Shonny Constant

5.11.2020

If you've read all this and you're on Facebook, PLEASE join us at our Group to discuss the movie and share your horror love.  We REALLY want to hear from you.  We REALLY REALLY do!  

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And here's a bunch of other links! 

Instagram

@TalkHorrorShow

@Shonny.Constant

Twitter

@ChzuckBean

Old Man Plays Old Games on Twitch @Chzuck

Cover art for this episode by Crystal Mielcarek!  Find more of her work on Facebook, Instagram, or Smushbox.net.

SHE IS THE BEST!

We dipped back into the Shudder library this week for the 2019 horror/comedy Satanic Panic by director Chelsea Stardust and enjoyed the flowing story and unique perspective this movie provides.  It's rare that we get strong female leads presented through the lens of a female director, so when we do, it's great to see such an enjoyably successful film.  

As always, we'd love to hear what you thought of this one.  It's striking to me to consider that typing such a simple description for a film, and feeling like I may be submitting a notion with some socio-political statement, but that's still the world in 2020.  

Have you seen Satanic Panic?  Did you dig it as much as we did, or did the conversation bring any new perspective to your thoughts on the film?  Let us know!  Talk Horror To Us!

Stay safe everyone!  We love you!

Shonny Constant

5.5.2020

If you've read all this and you're on Facebook, PLEASE join us at our Group to discuss the movie and share your horror love.  We REALLY want to hear from you.  

Talk Horror To Me Facebook Group

And here's a bunch of other links! 

Instagram

@TalkHorrorShow

@Shonny.Constant

Twitter

@ChzuckBean

Old Man Plays Old Games on Twitch @Chzuck

Cover art for this episode by Crystal Mielcarek!  Find more of her work on Facebook, Instagram, or Smushbox.net.

SHE IS THE BEST!

Nine Killed You!  Nine SHALL DIE! 

And so goes the message of Vincent Price's ABOMINAL DR PHIBES, spoken to the memory of his deceased wife, about the revenge he is enacting on those he deems responsible for her untimely demise.  It's a simple premise, but a very effective one.  Loss and blame are certainly universal themes in the human experience, and to my mind, Price and Phibes are effective enactors of this revenge, in a movie that crosses lines and expectations in ways that I find fun and engaging. 

It's often difficult to immerse oneself in movies made before their time, I'd reckon especially so for people born in the most recent of times, because so much of the experience is toned by the spirit and limitations of the time.  For many, the Universal monsters are CLASSICS, while film's from the fifties and sixties (and seventies and eighties and...) may just feel...old.  So it goes, so it goes.   

Phibes, I think, stands out.  There's certainly no doubt this is a movie from the 1970s.  You can see it in the direction and performances and even the visual tone itself.  It's in the music and it's in the mannerisms.  Yet...it's also telling a story that takes place nearly fifty years before it's own time, and seems in many ways to presage more familiar stories that wouldn't come for decades.  

AND IT'S FUN.

As despicable as he is, and as hackneyed and antiquated his methods may seem, there's a charmingly relatable quality to Phibes.  He's a vile and irredeemable villain, yet there's also something else.  That strange antihero quality that Horror fans love to embrace.  If you know the film, I hope you can relate to what I'm saying.  If you do not, I hope we help inspire the desire to check it out.  

Stay safe everyone!  We love you!

Shonny Constant

4.22.2020

If you've read all this and you're on Facebook, PLEASE join us at our Group to discuss the movie and share your horror love.  We REALLY want to hear from you.  

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As of publication, The Abominable Doctor Phibes is available in a nice transfer on YouTube. 

In the episode, we make mention of the article The Unmade Sequels of Dr Phibes from the Vincent Price Exhibit blog.  There's a lot of great Vincent Price history chronicled there.

And here's a bunch of other links! 

Instagram

@TalkHorrorShow

@Shonny.Constant

Twitter

@ChzuckBean

Old Man Plays Old Games on Twitch @Chzuck

Cover art for this episode by Crystal Mielcarek!  Find more of her work on Facebook, Instagram, or Smushbox.net.

SHE IS THE BEST!

When Scream was released in 1996, my youthful self was experience peak horror fandom.  However, when it came to horror I was also at minimum patience for nonsense and was thirsting for the grittiest and darkest material I could find.  For those reasons, I remember vividly deciding on taking a hard pass on the movie.  While my disposition and taste in horror changed over time, to a perspective that is radically different than the one I had at that time, I always carried a chip concerning the fact that the biggest horror movie of the time when I was most receptive to horror movies was a comedic spin on the stuff I loved.  THE AUDACITY!  BLASPHEMOUS!

Well, I'm here to confess that 1996 Shonny may not have appreciated the movie, but I can't be certain of that.  This film, that I thought to be a mockery of everything I so preciously valued at the time turns out to be a tense, thoughtful, and very effective homage to the films of days before it, and while there are certainly shiny edges to what would become film and horror in the 1990s, I can finally join the ranks of fans who recognize that Scream is indeed a film worthy of it's place near the top of what the decade had to offer.  Sure, the sleaze was largely gone and the practical effects were less ambitious in many ways than my VHS favorites of the decade before, but the film didn't hide from that fact.  It tucked away the less savory of conventions, while still recognizing them, and did so in a fun way that could put a smile on the audience's face in more shrewd and dynamic ways.  Who knew?!

Well...seeing as it's been nearly twenty five years since the film's theatrical debut, I reckon just about everyone knew.  But here we are and here I go, finally joining the party.  Just in time for quarantine!

Special thanks to our buddy Nicola for requesting this one.  It's been a long time coming, but here it is!

Stay safe everyone!  We love you!

Shonny Constant

4.14.2020

If you've read all this and you're on Facebook, PLEASE join us at our Group to discuss the movie and share your horror love.  We REALLY want to hear from you.  

Talk Horror To Me Facebook Group

And here's a bunch of other links! :o

Instagram

@TalkHorrorShow

@Shonny.Constant

Twitter

@ChzuckBean

Old Man Plays Old Games on Twitch @Chzuck

Cover art for this episode by Crystal Mielcarek!  Find more of her work on Facebook, Instagram, or Smushbox.net.

SHE IS THE BEST!

As we're roughly entering month two of the Covid-19 pandemic, at least by the standard of one of the early "hot spots" of the United States here in Southeast Michigan, times are at best as strange as any that we can collectively recall and at worst downright terrifying.  As we all go through the cyclical nature of dealing with an enhanced level of stress, it's important to find hints of optimism in the world around us, whether it be a result of reexamining our lives and how we judge and categorize things (are we choosing to focus on the negative or showing gratitude for the positive?) or by turning to art to relay stories of better situations than the one's we believe to be in ourselves.  Escapism.

To we here at Talk Horror, the ultra-low budget Japanese film One Cut of the Dead (2017) is a near perfect film for those who need a break to that escapism.  The film follows earnest and delightful characters though a period of discord and confusion, into a period of reflection of what led up to that uncomfortable time, only to then rewitness that initial experience through an expanded lens in a celebration of what was achieved, rather than trapping our experience in what we once thought of as failure.  It's a beautiful little encapsulation of the power of collaboration, or art, or life.

As you'll hear in the episode, Chzuck and I are unabashed fans of this one, and we hope perhaps more than usual that some people will discover this film and find a new favorite.  It's a truly unique experience, and one that has left each of us with a new lens of perspective.  We hope you can capture some of that experience yourself with this one, or at minimum find a respite from the angst long enough to relax a little bit. 

Stay safe everyone!  We love you!

Shonny Constant

4.7.2020

If you've read all this and you're on Facebook, PLEASE join us at our Group to discuss the movie and share your horror love.  We've got a great bunch over there with a very laid back, informed, and interested bunch.  

Talk Horror To Me Facebook Group

And here's a bunch of other links! :o

Instagram

@TalkHorrorShow

@Shonny.Constant

Twitter

@ChzuckBean

Old Man Plays Old Games on Twitch @Chzuck

Cover art for this episode by Crystal Mielcarek!  Find more of her work on Facebook, Instagram, or Smushbox.net.

SHE IS THE BEST!

When we recorded this episode a couple of weeks ago, I already had a suspicion that things were going to be very different by the end of the month.  I was tense, and scared, and wildly uncomfortable.  Of course, one side of you says "business as usual" is the prudent course of action.

"Our listeners will want normalcy!" says the side.

The other suggests that when a cloud comes by that looks to be carrying a storm, it's best to batten down the hatches and see what's on the other side.

That's all a long way of saying that here's an episode we recorded about three weeks before it's release date.  We've recorded another one that we'll release next week.  We've decided to lighten things up a bit, while not straying from the genre, so we're going to become a "horror comedy" podcast for a little while.  I've always loved horror comedies, and now I need horror comedy's.  Besides that slight deviation, we'll keep doing what we do and try to get better.

Stay safe everyone!  We love you!

Shonny Constant

3.30.2020

If you've read all this and you're on Facebook, PLEASE join us at our Group to discuss the movie and share your horror love.  We've got a great bunch over there with a very laid back, informed, and interested buch.  

Talk Horror To Me Facebook Group

And here's a bunch of other links! :o

Instagram

@TalkHorrorShow

@Shonny.Constant

Twitter

@ChzuckBean

Old Man Plays Old Games on Twitch @Chzuck

Cover art for this episode by Crystal Mielcarek!  Find more of her work on Facebook, Instagram, or Smushbox.net.

SHE IS THE BEST!

"11:55, almost midnight. Enough time for one more story. One more story before 12:00, just to keep us warm,"  states Mr. Machen to open John Carpenter's pivot from the more real world horror of his runaway independent success from Halloween to a more traditional ghost story with The Fog in 1980.

While we're never clued in as to why Mr. Machen has been tasked with getting this group of children through this particular night, the campfire tale is a fitting way for this story to begin, setting the stage for a stimulating tale of murder and theft, privilege and revenge. 

 Cheers!

Shonny Constant

3.11.2020

Let us know what you thought of the film, or just join us for any kind of horror chat at one of the links below

Talk Horror To Me Facebook Group

Instagram

@TalkHorrorShow

@Shonny.Constant

Twitter

@ChzuckBean

Old Man Plays Old Games on Twitch @Chzuck

Cover art for this episode by Crystal Mielcarek!  Find more of her work on Facebook, Instagram, or Smushbox.net

As those of you who have followed our show probably know, I'm not the biggest fan of found footage based on my negative experience with The Blair Witch Project back in the day, a fact that I seem to reflexively reiterate as though it was more than a movie I didn't enjoy and something that truly scarred me.  Funny how that happens, as to my recollection it was just a bad time at the movies where I thought a good one was to be had.  Gripping the bat a bit too tightly in that regard...if I watched it again I may even find that whatever burr was in my saddle that day had less to do with the film itself, but I'm not at all eager to find out.  

That said, the found footage film has become a sub-genre with it's own lineage now going back over twenty years and hundreds of films (in the modern sense, where films like Peeping Tom and Cannibal Holocaust toyed with the notion decades before but without inciting a movement) and if we're to cover horror in film in it's entirety, we can't well ignore the thing as much as I sometimes think I'd want to.  Watching this one, what really stuck out to me was that some fifteen years and countless of iterations of found footage after The Blair Witch Project, co-writer and director John Erick Dowdle used not only the trappings of a found footage film from a technical standpoint but also reconstructed the notion of an eerie place mixed with lore in a way that infused his film with the spirit of that original film, while also improving on the formula.  Not only building on the heart and soul at the foundation of that original excursion into the medium, but also in bringing in other influences in a way that felt to me to be both ambitious and effective.  The density and the pacing felt much more right to me than the recollection of BWP, a liberty of hindsight and foundation, whereas in defense of the prior film the film makers great asset was their ingenuity, and despite my protests their proof of concept was an undeniable success at the box office, as an inspiration to other film makers, and to more horror fans than not.

One advantage to not getting invested in a certain kind of art or entertainment for whatever reason, especially one that establishes a legacy of it's own as a sub-genre, is that by simply opening the mind enough to get over personal bias, there's a treasure trove of work to pick through.  By allowing oneself to be open to sampling the cream, there's certainly something to be found as having risen to the top.  In that sense, As Above So Below was very satisfying.  It's still not my jam, that found footage thing, but as it goes I liked a lot of what this film had to offer.  Chzuck liked it too.  Much more in fact.  One might suspect that if he were allowed to select movies for coverage on the show this would have been one of them.  

Just so we're clear, and apropos of nothing other than my inability to stick the landing in this written introduction, I choose the movies around here.  Had Chzuck picked this one, I'd say he brought a good one to the table, and I enjoyed discussing it.

Cheers!

Shonny Constant

3.3.2020

Let us know what you thought of the film, or just join us for any kind of horror chat at one of the links below

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@Shonny.Constant

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@ChzuckBean

 Cover art for this episode by Crystal Mielcarek!  Find more of her work on Facebook, Instagram, or Smushbox.net

I have some vague recollection of 1998, the year Darren Aronofsky saw the release of his first feature film Pi.  Four years out of high school, I was excelling grade wise in college but finding it extremely difficult to understand even a little bit what my life was supposed to be doing.  Looking back with a lifetime of experience, I can finally diagnose a few of the things that were troubling me, but even sitting here now I find the whole experience to that point and beyond to be a bewildering series of misunderstandings that require a level of unsustainable maintenance.  I saw that film at the local art house theater in Royal Oak, Michigan and adored it, yet haven't seen it since.  Just some vague recollection of the lead character Max, in black and white, putting a drill to his head in an act of contemporary trepanation in a finale that resonated with my own discomfort.

Watching Mother! for the first time for this podcast, the discomfort Aronofsky brings to the screen shines through a very different lens for me.  Perhaps the discord in each of us is the same, but the idea of relating to it in any meaningful way has gone from an exercise in empowerment to one of reinforced defeat.  Deign to hold something dear and dare yourself to not see it erode before your very eyes.  This seems to be at least some core theme that runs through the director's work, but the blunt darkness by which he does so, without an ounce of gratitude to be found among the strife of his characters creates a feeling in me of existential dread that I'm having a hard to shaking, even while trying to write this little journal piece to go along with the episode.

I'm not sure what I'm getting at.  It's been a tough week in a life that should have been much easier than it's been but won't ever be.  To that extent, Aronofsky is a dramatist that implicitly taps into dread and therefor horror.  It's making me uncomfortable to think about, to try to put words to, this dread, but I feel it.  I'm not sure I like it, but I respect it.  Have to, it's all there seems to be.

Shonny Consant

2.23.2020

You can find Josh Young 

On Soundcloud: Broadcast From Cow Haus 

On YouTube: Broadcast From Cow Haus

On Bandcamp.  Highly recommended if you dig ska: CBJ

Let us know what you thought of the film, or just join us for any kind of horror chat at one of the links below

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Instagram

@Shonny.Constant

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@ChzuckBean

 Cover art for this episode by Crystal Mielcarek!  Find more of her work on Facebook, Instagram, or Smushbox.net