The Fear of God: A Horror Movie Podcast

This week's episode of The Fear of God is somewhat unique and requires a bit of introduction. The film in discussion -- called TRUST, from 2010, directed by David Schwimmer and starring Clive Owen, Catherine Keener, and Liana Liberato -- is about a teenage girl who becomes the victim of sexual assault after being preyed upon by an online predator. The nature of the material sparks one of our most vulnerable and personal conversations yet, one which we hope and believe is as mature and sensitive as the subject matter requires.

Our show's primary focal point is to examine what scares us in order to find what saves us. At times, that exploration can be difficult, with the "scares us" portion not making it very easy to see the "saves us" part. But, as we learn in this conversation, as long as we have the courage to speak the truth about what's been lost, we have a hope of finding what remains. If you, or someone you know, has encountered this week's subject in any degree, then we encourage you to approach this week's film and conversation with discretion, and pray that you may find the safety and the courage to speak the truth to any and all who have ears to hear it.

Thank you for listening.

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Surprise Sydney... This week's episode picks up on the franchise we haven't visited since episode 60 with a discussion about Wes Craven's unexpected farewell film, SCREAM 4. Thanks to a #whatscaresus submission by special guest Jackson Harper, we have the opportunity to discuss the franchise as a whole, and to dig deeper on what makes Ghostface a unique slasher among his peers, and what it might take if we ourselves were to be tempted to adopt the mask persona and do damage in the name of anonymity. It's a fun and thoughtful discussion this week that we hope you enjoy!

17:01 - Whatcha Watchin' / Readin' / Listenin' To?

35:04 - SCREAM 4

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No pun intended (maybe a little) but this week's episode, things get pretty deep. We're tackling another #whatscaresus submission, this time the claustrophobic thriller by Rodrigo Cortes starring Ryan Reynolds -- BURIED. The film is about a man buried alive with only a cell phone to connect to the outside world, and the perils he faces with increasing desperation to try to find rescue. After unpacking the film's nerve-wracking particulars (including formalizing a show segment with a brand new musical introduction) we explore the broader metaphors of the ways in which our own lives, systems, failures, and traumas can overwhelm and bury us, sucking our oxygen away and making it ever more difficult to be seen or heard, or to know our humanness and that we are loved.

This is an episode we think you won't want to miss and we hope you enjoy it.

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Drop a coin for your podcast... we're wrapping up our journey through the Continent this week with a summation conversation about season 1 of Netflix's THE WITCHER. It's been a windy, often confusing, but very fun journey getting to episodes 7 & 8 and through this conversation we explore the landing points of the first season, rank the show's scariest monsters, and talk through some of the overarching themes the show had at its core, particularly themes of destiny and choice and which one really leads us to where we are going.

It's a lot of fun this week and we hope you enjoy it.

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Sweets to the sweet, FoGgers... In a hearty and deeply personal episode, we're joined by special guest Jess Fischli to talk about her #whatscaresus submission: Bernard Rose's film CANDYMAN, based on a story by Clive Barker. The film has been described as both progressive and problematic for the ways in which it both subverted stereotypes and reinforced them. We discuss the film's impact as an effective frightener (even almost 30 years later) but also spent a lot of time unpacking our own personal experiences with the ways that certain stories have changed how we see the world around us and how we see ourselves. The film prompted some scary and honest conversation around the the things we believe we control simply by naming them, only to realize far too late how out of our control those things have truly become.

We hope you enjoy this challenging and heartfelt discussion this week!

6:00 - Afterthoughts and Whatcha Wednesdays

9:08 - Introductions with our guest, Jess Fischli

23:08 - Whatcha Watchin' / Readin' / Listenin' To?

34:44 - CANDYMAN

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The highways are long and stretch out before us in the wild and treacherous wilderness as we tackle one of the most controversial films in horror history: the 1986, taboo-busting thriller starring Rutger Hauer, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and C. Thomas Howell... THE HITCHER.

FoG regular Blake Collier joins us once again to submit his entry in our series of #whatscaresus to discuss this film of uniquely unsettling power, about a man who decides to show kindness to the wrong hitchhiker on the wrong day and finds himself in the crosshairs of a deadly game of cat and mouse. But what emerges from this deceptively simple story is a challenging moral puzzle that confronts even the strongest optimists among us with the painful speculation about what happens when the truth comes down and things don't always work out ok.

This episode also features another lively round of conversation about episodes 5 & 6 of season 1 of Netflix's THE WITCHER before hitting the open road to unpack how to overcome malevolent evil without losing our own soul in the process. It's a hearty and thought-provoking discussion this week and we hope you enjoy it!

7:44 - THE WITCHER, Season 1, Episodes 5 & 6

31:59 - THE HITCHER

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We venture beyond the boundaries of the known universe this week, into a realm of pure chaos, as we welcome continuity guru Steve Beckley back to the show for a new installment in our series #whatscaresus to discuss Paul W. S. Anderson's 1997 cult classic EVENT HORIZON.

We venture through The Continent first for a brief discussion about episodes 3 & 4 of THE WITCHER before climbing aboard the Lewis and Clark for a conversation wrestling with chaos and freedom, and all the attractions, risks, and dangers inherent in our own potential addiction to a world without structure. It's a hearty conversation about a grisly but fascinating film and we hope you enjoy it.

4:57 - Business Time

6:52 - THE WITCHER, Episodes 3 & 4 #tvguideposts

29:00 - EVENT HORIZON

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"Dead or alive, you're coming with us..." to an unconventional conversation this week with an entry in #whatscaresus as we explore the neo-noir, sci-fi, dystopian classic of 1980s action spectacle: Paul Verhoeven's ROBOCOP. Featuring a remarkably sharp and clever script, compelling performances, and an almost gleefully excessive amount of violence, Robocop has emerged as a surprisingly insightful and subversive examination of the relationship between man and our machines, both external, internal, and systematic. What is perhaps the most noteworthy element of its premise, however, is the way it takes a character who is mostly machine, and makes him an unconventional surrogate for the more universal quest for identity and humanity.

We also dive into the first two episodes of season 1 of Netflix's THE WITCHER, in an episode filled with laughter, self-reflection, and a decent amount of really challenging questions. It's one we think you won't want to miss and we hope you enjoy it.

8:08 - Business Time

10:01 - THE WITCHER, Episodes 1 & 2 #tvguideposts

34:00 - ROBOCOP

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Let us go on a quest, beyond the boundaries or our wildest imaginations to combat the dreaded terror of the relentless and unforgiving Nothing. That's right night hobs and rock biters, this week as part of our ongoing series #whatscaresus we are discussing the one and only THE NEVERENDING STORY! (ahhh-ah-ahh-ah-ah-ahhh-ah-ahhh)

In a conversation filled with wonder and possibilities, we are joined by special guest Dave Courtney to discuss one of the greatest fantasy films of the 80s and possibly of all time. Wolfgang Peterson's film means a great deal to each of the participants in this discussion, not just for its nostalgia and how well it holds up, but for the absolute overflow of ideas and inspiration it wrestles with, most particularly the ways in which it proposes that the stories which ground our histories, our faith, and our relationships are not stories locked in time and unmoving, but are perhaps reading us as much as we are reading them.

This is a vulnerable, honest, and hope-filled discussion this week and we really hope you enjoy it.

7:39 - Introductions and Business Time

12:02 - Whatcha watchin' / readin' / listenin' to?

30:35 - THE NEVERENDING STORY

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Another installment for #whatscaresus produces one of our most personal and challenging conversations yet. LAKE MUNGO, written and directed by Joel Anderson, is a fictional documentary about the disappearance of a teen girl and her family's journey through the mystery of her death, the secrets she took with her to the grave, and the spectral shadows that haunt us all along our way. It's a unique approach to narrative horror and a special kind of experimental film. What the film prompts in us is a thoughtful conversation about reconciling our current self with our former self (and our future self); the ways we stage focal points in our lives while ignoring the much more vital periphery; and the difficult but necessary work of bringing ourselves to the place of each other's needs without merely trying to fix problems or force everything to make sense.

Even if you've never heard of or seen Lake Mungo, we encourage you to both seek out the film and hear our responding discussion. We think you'll be encouraged and challenged in equal measure and we hope you enjoy it.

5:21 - Business Time

7:23 - Whatcha Watchin' / Readin' / Listenin' To?

21:09 - LAKE MUNGO

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