The Pod and the Pendulum: A Horror Movie Podcast

Mike and Jessica are joined by Andrew Fabry of The Dead Letter Movie podcast to talk Leatherface, the third entry in the Chainsaw series and the first of two movies with that title. As the 80s closed and the box office fortunes of Freddy and Jason began to taper off, New Line Cinema needed a new hit franchise. Picking the bones of Cannon films, they thought they'd have a name brand icon that they could release a string of hit horror movies on. Were they right? Well, sort of since they keep making these things. This time out we talk how studio interference and an out flor blood MPAA cut this one out at the knees before it could even get up and running.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

How do you follow up one of the scariest, most unnerving movies of all time? By making a straight up comedy of course! This week, Mike and Stephen take a long look at a movie that was a decade plus in the making. From diving into the behind the scenes troubles that nearly torpedoed the movie, rating Stretch as a final girl, trying to determine just how much blow Dennis Hopper was on during filming, to examining why this one works, even if its a dramatic shift in tone and tenor. Spoiler: IT'S ALL IN THE MEAT.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The second half of our discussion gets to the good stuff. We talk about the most iconic introduction of a horror villain ever committed to the big screen, the insanity of the dinner party, have it out over Franklin, discuss the social, economic, and political factors that influenced the making of this movie and examine its legacy. With guests Brian Keiper, Devaughn Taylor and Nichole Goble. If you haven't already, go back and check out part one.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we kick off a brand new franchise with the greatest horror movie of all time, Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. This episode promises to be a massive one, and we've broken our talk down into multiple parts. For part one, we talk about the confluence of events that went into Hooper and writer Kim Henkel's script, the absolute hell it was to make this movie, where Hooper ranks amongst the masters of horror and start breaking down some of the iconic moments of the movie. Mike is joined by regulars Devaughn Taylor (The Bloody Blunts Cinema Club), Brian Keiper (Movies For Life), and guest Nichole Goble (Bodies of Horror) to talk Leatherface and family. We also ask, "Is Franklin as bad as we all say he is?" (Mike says hell yes). We'll be back with another massive installment and the second half of our talk soon.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This is the bonus show Mike has wanted to record for a long time. This week, Jessica Scott comes on to talk about her love for 1999's dark comedy and cult classic Jawbreaker, a movie about some real mean girls that aren't above covering up a murder or two. After that Mike talks about the might Jawbreaker-the three piece punk/emo stalwarts from the East Bay. It's Mike's all time favorite band and while it might not be an in depth critical examination of their music, it certainly gets him right in the feels.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We bring you the second half of our dive into 2022's SCREAM. This week we look at how the legacy characters fare, why this is Dewey's movie, explore the nature of fandom, talk about what we want next, and ask what the hell a requel is anyways?

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we FINALLY get to sit down and talk about one of our favorite movies of the year, the fifth installment of the SCREAM series. It's a massive talk so we broke it into two pieces. This week Mike, Rachel and Stephen are joined by shoe designer and pop culture writer Andrew LaSane. Part one delves into the making of the movie, how the new crop of characters stack up and the elevated violence and gore in this entry.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week we wrap up our latest franchise with one of the most controversial movies we've ever covered. The Child's Play remake had longtime fans of the series up in arms as the movie and characters were ripped from series creator Don Mancini in an attempt by United Artists to cash in on the Child's Play IP. This seemed to doom the reboot from the start, as horror fans wanted little to do with s Chucky that didn't feature Mancini in a creative role, or Brad Douriff as Chucky's voice. Even casting Luke Skywalker himself as the voice of the killer doll did little to appease fans. 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week the crew talks about the last movie in Don Mancini's Child's Play franchise Cult of Chucky. We talk about Nica as the most tormented character in horror history, Mancini's original vision for putting Chucky on a train, how multiple Chuckys opened up whole new avenues for the series and how Seed feels like the middle chapter in a longer sage (now playing out on the series Chucky.)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Reboot? Requel? Sequel? We're not sure but we do know we're back to talk about the time they made Chucky scary again. Mike is joined by regular panelists Jessica Scott & Devaughn Taylor along with special guest Justin Gerber (Halloweenies, The Losers' Club) to break down the 2013 slasher film Curse of Chucky. This one feels like a soft remake of the original film, yet Don Mancini retains the history of the franchise and manages to weave 25 years worth of lore into this single location chiller. We talk about what works, how Nica's disability is handled, and why having one creative team manage the series helps Childs Play maintain a level of consistency rarely found in multiple-entry slasher films. This was a fun one folks, so buckle down.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.