Seasons Greetings everyone! We're taking a month off franchises and raising our glasses to toast some of our favorite one off holiday and Christmas inspired horror movies. Up first we have the black comedy "home invasion" thriller from Chris Peckover, Better Watch Out. This is one of the more divisive titles we covered as fans either love how it subverts the viewers expectations when it pulls the rug out from them at the end of the first act, or they can't stand Luke, the smiling, slimy central antagonist that oozes privilege, sociopathy and toxic masculinity. All this wrapped in a package that subverts those warm and fuzzy memories of the John Hughes teen comedy and family friendly movies of the 80s and 90s. It's a fun discussion with Mike, Devaughn, Nichole and special guest Jason LeBlanc of the Boston Horror Society.

Happy Thanksgiving listeners. As a holiday bonus, we have a little treat. Mike sat down with Stephen Cognetti, writer and director of all the Hell House LLC films to talk about how the latest (Hell House LLC Origins: The Carmichael Manor) came to be. We talk what it was like to step back into this world again after a few years off, the direction future installments might go, how it felt to leave the Abaddon hotel behind for an equally creepy location and just why those clowns are so damn scary. Plus, how does Taylor Swift tie into the latest Hell House movie? Take a listen and find out.

This week we're back to talk about the brand new entry to the Hell House LLC series. Dropping just before Halloween on Shudder, "Origins: The Carmichael Manor" leaves the Abaddon Hotel behind for brand new story. This time we follow a true crime youtuber and her girlfriend as they try to unravel the mystery of what happened to the Carmichaels decades prior. Over the course of the tale we find out just how this seemingly unrelated murder mystery ties directly into the events of the first trilogy while also getting some crumbs that lead us now all new pathways to follow. Going back to the basics, the latest entry may be the best one since the original, and we can chalk it up to not one, not two, but a trio of ungodly and terrifying clowns. It's jump scares galore, and one of that should become a staple for horror fans every spooky season. Mike, Nichole and Rachel are here to break it all down.

We're back with one last trip to SAW City to rank all ten entries in the franchise.

We're taking a week of, so enjoy this clip from our recent patreon page. Mike, Nichole, Stephen and Brian put together their picks for an all night horror movie marathon. 

If you want this and almost fifty hours more of bonus content, become a patron today:

patreon.com/podandthependulum

Happy Halloween all. This week, we take a look at the latest entry in the Saw canon, the surprise hit of the fall, Saw X. The rare entry that's approved by both fans AND critics, this one finds Jigsaw seeking out surgery as a cure for his cancer, only to find out he's been grifted. I'm sure he'll take it all in stride. Mike, Ari, Brian and Nichole talk the shifting timeline, the back to basics approach, the traps, Kramer getting a true foil, the actual emotional arc of X, and the maybe queasy optics of white people torturing brown people for two hours. Strap i for one last ride through Saw City for now.

This wee we're tackling what might be one of the most controversial titles we've covered to date: 2021's Spiral From The Book Of Saw. Just what does a SAW movie look like without its main man Jigsaw? Does Chris Rock try to bring too much of the funny to his role of a police detective on the hunt for the Kramer copycat killer? Did the world need a movie where we're supposed to at least sort of root for the cops in 2021, coming off of Black Lives Protests and the renewed scrutiny and concerns around police brutality and killings of people of color? We talk about this, along with how it still feels like a SAW movie and how it does its own thing to become what Mike calls the "New Nightmare / Halloween III of the franchise". It's a massive episode and we can't wait for you to dig into it.

Mike and Ariel actually got to meet in person at this past weekend's Telluride Horror Show, and to celebrate we snagged some coffee and breakfast burritos while taking in the mountain air and discussed what we loved at the festival. We keep it spoiler free while discussing Suitable Flesh, Hell House LLC 4 Origins: The Carmichael Manor; Sleep; I Will Never Leave You Alone, You'll Never Find Me, Late Night With the Devil, Vincent Must Die, Frogman, and more. We also pause the show to admire a very cool looking bird.

After a seven year hiatus Jigsaw made a return to theaters with, um, "Jigsaw." This week Mike, Ari, and Nichole discuss whether the Spierig's attempt at going back to basics and eschewing the more over the top gore and torture elements of the franchise worked in drawing new and returning fans back to the series. We also discuss the nature of John's early game, whether these traps were simpler and more winnable, and if John being in an early stage of his cancer made this so. We talk about the series introducing yet another disciple, where horror was at in the by this point in the decade and whether Saw was still relevant. It's a big episode as always, hope you enjoy.

This week we are back with a not so final chapter of Saw 3D. We are here to find out how the story of John Kramer, Amanda, and John's large adult son Detective Hoffman wraps up once and for all. We enter the 3rd Dimension to do so and we get even more of cops being stupid the movie, more gore, and the first public display of Jigsaw's talents with one of the most ludicrous and over the top traps the franchise has ever gifted us. We also discuss the Intriguing premise of John punishing someone for lying about being in one of his traps while lamenting with the fact that this great idea wasn't presented all that well. all this in so much more with perhaps the most over the top in goofiest entry of the franchise to date with special guest Sarah Stubbs from Final Girls Feast and Geeks Who Eat.

 

Minor spoilers for SAW X between 1:40:30 & 1:43:39 where Mike asks a question that literally breaks Ari’s brain in real time. 

Check out Ariel’s article “The Hypocrisy of Jigsaw” here