Happy Black History Month! All February long, The Rad Revival House celebrates African-American culture through the all-compassing eye of the cinematic lens, especially by way of underrated, underseen black movies. Joining our podcast for the very first time is Derek Major, an old friend of RRH Host Professor Cesare Augusto from their days at Penn State University’s own student radio network PSU ComRadio, and a talented writer for many notable news outlets.

We begin our cinematic BHM movement with HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE, a great independent film featuring written, directed, and starring great black actor/comedian Robert Townsend. HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE offers an in-depth look at aspiring thespian Bobby Taylor, who finds himself at a creative and moral crossroads. Looking to make his big break, Bobby is close to securing a lucrative actor role, which unfortunately happens to be a racially-typecast character of the urban, inner-city “street” persuasion. Bobby must make his choice: would he accept portraying a negative stereotype as a means of holding steady work as an actor, or will he make that sacrifice in order to keep his integrity as a man?

HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE is an interesting exploration of the working person-of-color actor which combines comedy and hard-hitting subtle drama. Both Cesare and Derek discuss the film’s hilariously-constructed vignettes designed to poke fun at Hollywood’s use of cinematic black stereotypes, along with exploring Townsend’s realistically human approach in focusing on Bobby’s professional and personal journeys. HOLLYWOOD SHUFFLE is a great example of the burgeoning black independent cinema movement that may have cemented the rise of other African-American filmmakers like Spike Lee and John Singleton!

Hey, freaks! In this very special episode, The Rad Revival House takes things a bit “upside down” with a unique new topic, “The Unrealized Pop References of STRANGER THINGS”!

Joined by longtime regular Special Guest Lecturer Steve “The Analog Man” Tumolo, host Professor Cesare Augusto tackles the worldwide phenomenon of the hit Netflix series STRANGER THINGS. Both Cesare and Steve are big fans of the show, especially with its nonstop use of 70s and 80s-based movie references towards legends such as Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, George Lucas, John Carpenter, Sam Raimi, and more. These legends clearly shaped the work of STRANGER THINGS creators Matt and Ross Duffer, but what about more unobvious references? What were some of the other, more obscure, more underrated films that influenced this show and helped shape its amazing impact?

So Cesare and Steve put their heads together and came up with 5 movies they theorize helped create the classic pop culture zeitgeists of STRANGER THINGS. Together, they speculated that films such as  THE MONSTER SQUAD, THE MATRIX, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, THE BREAKFAST CLUB, and others are possible cinematic candidates that possible burned into the creative brains of the Duffer Brothers, which in turn helped them envision the grand design of STRANGER THINGS. Cesare and Steve painstakingly discuss their movie theories, and have a damn good time doing it! Plus, they discuss the series’ grand finale, and what the Duffers should do to continue their successful careers down the road!

Konichiwa! The Rad Revival House returns to the Land of the Rising Sun with a look at the bonkers Japanese monster thriller MATANGO, OR ATTACK OF THE MUSHROOM PEOPLE!

Writer and Japanese cinema aficionado Jennifer Upton returns as Special Guest Lecturer to lend a helping hand in discussing this unique picture. Directed by the mastermind behind iconic Kaiju movie beast GODZILL, Isihiro Honda, MATANGO is a significant departure for Honda as he tackles an emotionally-deeper, thought-provoking tale, wrapped in a bizarre monster motif. Seven Japanese tourists on a yacht in the middle of the Pacific ocean survive a brutal storm and land on a deserted island, only to encounter a brand new threat: mysterious and deadly mushrooms. Faced with possible starvation, the survivors must resist eating the strange fungi as they work to return to civilization. However, lack of proper sustenance, the rough natural elements, and volatile bickering among the survivors lead to drastic measures, before the arrival of the dreaded mushroom people themselves!

Jennifer and host, Professor Cesare Augusto, discuss director Ishiro Honda’s bizarre, yet ultimately prolific vision, how his experiences of the WWII horrors shaped his creative style, and his overall artistic contributions to the world, including his Godzilla pictures. Both reviewers agree that filmmakers can indeed create a striking, emotionally-charged picture despite set within a seemingly-goofy premise, provided it is armed with strong writing, convincing characters, and a powerful creative outlook!

Happy New Year, Class! The RRH is proud to present our first review of 2026 that slices harder than a sword to the neck: the 1973 Kung Fu epic, BEACH OF THE WAR GODS!

Joining our discussion as Special Guest Lecturer is Chris The Brain, the esteemed host of the excellent Bulletproof Action Podcast, the show that analyzes all things cinematically action. Both Chris and our host, the Professor Cesare Augusto, explore the unique martial arts thriller that is BEACH OF THE GODS.

Written, directed, and starring vintage movie legend Jimmy Wang Yu, BEACH OF THE WAR GODS is essentially the Chinese answer to THE SEVEN SAMURAI. During the Ming Dynasty, a community of Chinese fisherman found themselves oppressed and threatened by a horde of invading Japanese samurai. Unable to repel the marauders alone, the fishermen look to Hsia Feng (Wang Yu), a taciturn swordsman with justice and vengeance on his mind. Recruiting five equally-deadly warriors, Hsia Feng rallies the fishermen to fight back against their oppressors, leading to a deadly, blood-soaked confrontation on the town streets and the local shores.

Both Cesare and Chris analyze the film’s magnificently-shot battle sequences, the incredible use of genuine, elbow-grease stunt work, and Wang Yu’s expert directorial vision. Our reviewers also discuss Wang Yu himself, on how his stunning career was hampered by his controversial off-screen life and alleged ties to Chinese organized crime. Despite the star’s setbacks, both reviewers admire Wang Yu’s efforts in making one of the greatest and yet criminally-underrated martial arts tales ever released!

The Rad Revival House continues its Unlikely Holiday Movies run with the bonkers 1984 Sci-Fi cult classic NIGHT OF THE COMET!

Joining us is our newest Special Guest Lecturer, former screenwriter and now Writers Guild of America auditor Chris Chabot, who worked the hustle and bustle of the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Pennsylvania alongside our host, Professor Cesare Augusto! Together, Cesare and Chris explore this goofy satirical look at the cinematic post-apocalyptic craze of the early 80s.

When a comet decimates half of the human race during the Christmas Season, two young Valley Girl sisters (Catherine Mary Stewart & Kelli Maroney) are stunned that they are among the very few survivors of this global disaster. Left with the very strong possibility that they are the last people on Earth, the sisters do what every other person will do after surviving the Apocalypse: go shopping! That is, until they run afoul of gun-totting zombies and a sinister cabal of government scientists!

Despite its limited budget, NIGHT OF THE COMET is a fabulously-shot independent science fiction thriller thrown in with a happy dose of 80s-flavored comedy. Backed with a hilariously effective cast and a catchy 80s New Wave soundtrack (including Cyndi Lauper’s megahit “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” NIGHT OF THE COMET is slambang entertainment, especially for cult film fans. Both Chris and Cesare discuss the film’s quirky writing, its surprisingly strong special effects (including that eerie yellow sky!), and indie movie charm.

Filmmakers should view NIGHT OF THE COMET to help them understand that a $100 million dollar budget isn’t necessary to tell an end-of-the-world tale, as long as you have a strong imagination and memorable characters to boost it!

The Rad Revival House continues its Unlikely Holiday Movies run with the bonkers 1984 Sci-Fi cult classic NIGHT OF THE COMET!

Joining us is our newest Special Guest Lecturer, former screenwriter and now Writers Guild of America auditor Chris Chabot, who worked the hustle and bustle of the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Pennsylvania alongside our host, Professor Cesare Augusto! Together, Cesare and Chris explore this goofy satirical look at the cinematic post-apocalyptic craze of the early 80s.

When a comet decimates half of the human race during the Christmas Season, two young Valley Girl sisters (Catherine Mary Stewart & Kelli Maroney) are stunned that they are among the very few survivors of this global disaster. Left with the very strong possibility that they are the last people on Earth, the sisters do what every other person will do after surviving the Apocalypse: go shopping! That is, until they run afoul of gun-totting zombies and a sinister cabal of government scientists!

Despite its limited budget, NIGHT OF THE COMET is a fabulously-shot independent science fiction thriller thrown in with a happy dose of 80s-flavored comedy. Backed with a hilariously effective cast and a catchy 80s New Wave soundtrack (including Cyndi Lauper’s megahit “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” NIGHT OF THE COMET is slambang entertainment, especially for cult film fans. Both Chris and Cesare discuss the film’s quirky writing, its surprisingly strong special effects (including that eerie yellow sky!), and indie movie charm.

Filmmakers should view NIGHT OF THE COMET to help them understand that a $100 million dollar budget isn’t necessary to tell an end-of-the-world tale, as long as you have a strong imagination and memorable characters to boost it! 

Happy yee-haw Holidays! The Rad Revival House begins its Unlikely Holiday Films movement with back-to-back reviews of the most unlikely movies to watch before Christmas!

First on our list is DAY OF THE OUTLAW, the 1959 wintry Western thriller from genre master Andre De Toth. Our host, Professor Cesare Augusto, analyzes this what he calls a “Hitchockian suspense Western”. In an isolated Wyoming town, powerful and angry cattleman Blaise Starrett ( criminally-underrated screen legend Robert Ryan) is feuding with a major farmer when their local squabble is interrupted by an invading outlaw gang. Led by dying but principled cavalry soldier Jack Bruen (Burl Ives), the gang threatens to violate the town’s women and destroy everything in its path. Forced into action, Blaise must find a way to outwit the outlaws and save his town from utter destruction. 

DAY OF THE OUTLAW is a powerful winter-based Western that, in Professor Cesare’s eyes, serves as a precursor to later icy frontier pictures such as THE GREAT SILENCE and THE HATEFUL 8. Aspiring Western writers should absorb this little-seen picture that combines both the hostile threat of freezing temperatures and the cruelty of evil men!

The Rad Revival House is proud to present our Double Feature Tribute to the late great Diane Keaton.

Joining our discussion is Jeanne Marie Denizard, “The Sleepless Critic,” one of New England’s most revered and esteemed film critics. She and our host, Professor Cesare, analyze two of Keaton’s most notable yet notably underrated pictures, LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR, and BABY BOOM. Both films were critically- and commercially-acclaimed on their respective years - 1977 and 1977- but are largely underseen by today’s audiences.

First in LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR, Keaton plays the complex and tragic role of Theresa, a teacher with a dark double life. A teacher who assists deaf children by day, Theresa scours the New York City streets by night where she partakes in a progressively-increasing path to self-destruction. Showering herself in alcohol and drugs, Theresa also meets scores of young men, many with less-than-honorable intentions. Backed with a strong supporting cast of then-unknown actors like Tuesday Weld, William Atherton, Levar Burton, Tom Berenger, and Richard Gere, Keaton tackles this difficult role with a combination of grace and wild abandon, right to the film’s horrifying climax.

In contrast, Keaton also stars in BABY BOOM, an 80s comedy that tackles motherhood and the decade’s corporate lifestyle. As the “Tiger Lady” J.C., Keaton portrays a sharp-as-a-tack, ambitious working woman who finds her life turned upside down when she is unexpectedly made the guardian of a very small baby, the daughter of a deceased distant relative. Now trapped with this life-changing development, Keaton balances a no-nonsense corporate fierceness with a sweet comedic edge that she was armed with since her funny 1970s heyday. 

Both Jeanne and Cesare hope all aspiring actors would watch both of these two particular performances and learn to utilize versatility and raw gifts for drama and humor combined, just like the great Diane Keaton!

The Rad Revival House is back with a vengeance in its 3rd Season!

We are thrilled to open Season 3 with quite the lethal combination: a dual look at the unique 1971 vigilante thriller BILLY JACK, and the gritty hard-boiled Native American mystery thriller novel WINTER COUNTS. Our Special Guest Lecturer is David Heska Wanbli Weiden, the author and brilliant mastermind behind WINTER COUNTS!

Weiden and our host Professor Cesare break down what parallels BILLY JACK and WINTER COUNTS together: both film and novel showcase the adventures of true Indigenous American badasses and their shared desires towards brutal yet righteous justice. In BILLY JACK, star and director Tom Laughlin is the eponymous hero, an Indigenous ex-Green Beret and Hapkido expert who uses his deadly martial arts skills to protect a special school of Hippie students from a gang of sadistic white racists deep in the American Southwest. Caught between his desire for violent revenge and deep pacifism beliefs, Billy is pushed to the breaking point when a loved one is caught in the crossfire.

In WINTER COUNTS, a young Indigenous enforcer/reluctant sleuth named Virgil Wounded Horse is hired to find the source of illegal drugs creeping into his South Dakota Indian reservation. Unsure in taking the case at first, Virgil then declares war on the drug dealers when they take their poison drastically close to home.

Both BILLY JACK and WINTER COUNTS offer great glimpses into the world of Indigenous American culture, and what happens when hate and crime rear their ugly heads in said world. Weiden, an enrolled citizen of the Sicangu Lakota nation, provides fantastic insight of what BILLY JACK means to him as an Indigenous American, and how the film (despite its rather outdated cinematic feel and utterly bizarre moments of haphazardly thrown sequences), contributed to the write of his novel. Plus, Weiden shares exciting news about the long-awaited sequel to WINTER COUNTS, coming in 2026!

We at the RRH thank David Heska Wanbli Weiden again for his terrific contribution to our show, and highly recommend everyone to read WINTER COUNTS available on Amazon!

An RRH Exclusive!

For our Season 2 finale, we’re focusing on our very first documentary feature, where we explore the often brutal and bombastic 1970s Italian cop and gangster subgenre of action cinema, with EUROCRIME!

In another Rad Revival House first, we’ve invited an honest-to-God member of the filmmaking crew behind this week’s review as Special Guest Lecturer, professional VFX creator and EUROCRIME co-producer, Michael Martinez!

The basic concept of “Eurocrime” (or “Politzioteschi”) is simple: it involved Italian filmmakers in the 1970s taking the era’s burgeoning cops and gangsters movement in Hollywood (with films such as DIRTY HARRY, THE FRENCH CONNECTION, and THE GODFATHER, among others), and copied as gritty action cinema but in a very distinct Italian style. The EUROCRIME documentary focused on such films as HIGH CRIME, VIOLENT ROME, VIOLENT NAPLES, and ROME ARMED TO THE TEETH (which was reviewed on the first season of The Rad Revival House), and some of the extreme measures Italian filmmakers took to make these movies. These measures often included making dangerous guerilla-style shooting, and fearless stuntmen who employed dangerous stunts that were perilous to the safety of the cast and crew! Plus, EUROCRIME sheds light on the Italian social crises that plagued the films’ productions at the time, ranging from actual mafia influences to even political terrorism.

Our host, Professor Cesare Augusto and Michael discuss how EUROCRIME the documentary came to fruition, how its director Mike Malloy (a self-styled “Tough Guy Film Expert”) worked to gather the film’s many special guests, and what aspiring filmmakers can learn from the Eurocrime subgenre to enhance their own craft should they decide to create their own gritty, no-holds-barred action cinema. Who are these special guests, you may ask? Try such icons as Franco Nero, Henry Silva, John Saxon, Fred Williamson, Luc Merenda, and Enzo Castellari, among a ton of others!