The Review Show

Episode 227. We watched the 1971 film The Abominable Dr. Phibes, starring horror icon Vincent Price! Everyone believed that Dr. Phibes died in a car accident while rushing to the aid of his wife, who died in surgery. But Dr. Phibes survived, disfigured and set on revenge. He's murdering each of his wife's doctors using schemes inspired by biblical plagues, with the help of his PhD in theology, his stylish assistant, an animatronic band, a vat of brussel sprouts, and other inexplicable details in this bizarre film.

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Episode 226. We read Shiver, an anthology of short stories by the manga master of horror Junji Ito! These nine unconnected stories show us everyday feelings and fears blown up into striking terror. A model taunts her painter, saying he'll never capture even a fraction of her unnatural beauty. A man's dreams start to feel like they're taking years and he barely remembers the previous day when he wakes up. Fans are willing to kill for the rare recording of a song that was sung from beyond the grave.

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Episode 225. We're kicking off our spooky month with the horror-comedy films Happy Death Day (2017) and Happy Death Day 2U (2019), directed by Christopher Landon. Tree is a college student who already hates dealing with her birthday, and then she's murdered by a mysterious masked figure. She finds herself stuck in a time loop, living this birthday over and over again until she can figure out her killer's identity. In the sequel, just when she's managed to escape, a campus science experiment throws her into another time loop in a slightly different universe. Tree has to solve another murder, while deciding if she should stay with the surprising benefits of this universe or return to the world she came from.

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Episode 224. We're starting a new monthly ongoing series reading the Kaijuxmax comics by writer and artist Zander Cannon! Kaijumax is a remote island prison for huge monsters of all kinds: aliens, robots, nuclear disasters, and creatures from myth. Electrogor is a giant orange bugman and single father just trying to stay under the radar and keep his kids fed. When he's thrown into prison, he has to deal with gangs, prejudice, unscrupulous guards, the uranium drug trade, and the struggle to escape and get back to his family who have no idea where he's been.

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Episode 223. We read the first two volumes of the comic Once and Future, by Kieron Gillen, with art by Dan Mora and colors by Tamra Bonvillain. Hardened monster-hunter Bridgette has to bring her unsuspecting adult grandson Duncan into the family business when a magical artifact manifests the legendary King Arthur, bent on conquering modern-day Great Britain. In a world where myths can be brought to life, the family has to embody these archetypal characters to gain their power and turn the tide on these famous stories to prevent the destruction of their country.

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Episode 222. This time in Shametember, we watched the 1997 blockbuster Titanic, a movie Kyle had never seen and Melissa had never finished because she was a child and the sinking scenes were too scary! An elderly woman tells her story to a modern-day diving team exploring the shipwrecked Titanic, immersing the audience in her experience as a passenger on the ship, her realization of its doom, her fight for survival, and the whirlwind romance that helped save her life.

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Episode 221. It's Shametember again, when we pick movies from our "list of shame" of influential films we can't believe we've never seen. This week, we watched all three Godfather films, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel by Mario Puzo. Spanning the twentieth century, we see the Coroleones struggle to build and keep their place in the organized crime world, turning against each other and abandoning their moral codes as they attempt to protect the family legacy.

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Episode 220. We conclude our monthly coverage of Fringe by talking about the fifth and final season! Stuck in a dystopian future where the Observers have taken over, the team struggles to stay under their radar and uncover a forgotten plan that Walter created years ago. As they deal with both losses and reunions, the team confronts their greatest fears and how much they're willing to sacrifice to return to the world to what they knew before.

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Episode 219. We watched season one of the Apple TV+ comedy The Afterparty, created by Christopher Miller! Following their 15-year high school reunion, a group of alumni have gone to an afterparty at the home of former student and current pop star Xavier. The night turns to chaos and Xavier is murdered. As a detective interviews the party attendees, they tell their story of the night's events, each seeing the world through the lens of a different film genre.

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Episode 218. We watched the new Netflix action movie from the Russo brothers, The Gray Man! A man code-named only "Six" is a secret assassin for a branch of the CIA. When he learns he's being used to kill enemies of his corrupt boss, he goes rouge, and a cruel mercenary who failed out of the program is brought in to hunt him down. Six tries to stay ahead of death, while also trying to save the kidnapped niece of mentor, the only man in the CIA who believes he can still trust.

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