The Terribly Entertaining Podcast with Joe and Bob

We've been gone a minute. A comic expo, a wedding, and one very missing copy of Phantasm IV will do that. So instead of waiting on a movie, Joe and Bob did what horror fans do best and argued over a list: a Top 10 horror franchise ranking, with two lists and two very different tastes.

Bob is a sucker for the big names and counts up from #1. Joe has a soft spot for garbage and counts down from #10. They crisscross in the middle, and somewhere along the way one franchise goes missing from a list entirely. Expect ground rules, a pile of near-misses, a Star Wars tangent nobody asked for, and a loving case for why Exorcist III is better than anybody gives it credit for.

**What's in this episode:**

**SEE!** Friday the 13th advertised in Variety before it even had a script!

**SEE!** A Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 poster that strikes The Breakfast Club's pose!

**SEE!** A body-horror cult favorite, Basket Case, made for a reported $35,000!

**SEE!** A DJ turned into a Cenobite by flying compact discs!

Warning: this episode gets deep into the plot, including the ending — if you want to go in cold, watch first.

Watch along: This one's a countdown, so there's no single movie to queue up. If you only watch one thing we mention, Bob checked while we were recording and Exorcist III was streaming on Prime Video in the US. Availability changes, so double-check before you press play.

Connect with the show: Got a movie you want us to cover, a correction, or just want to tell us we're wrong about something? Email us: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

More from Bob: Bob also streams and posts gaming content over on YouTube — including his show "Will I Rage Quit?" Go give him a follow: [@BoBomb_Ash](https://youtube.com/@bobomb_ash)

**Timestamps:**

(0:00) Intro

(0:59) Welcome back: Comic Expo, a wedding, and the Slasher Trash screener

(3:35) The case of the missing Phantasm IV

(5:08) The plan: a Top 10 horror franchise ranking

(5:49) The ground rules: what counts as a franchise

(13:39) Joe's personal cuts: Jaws, Silence of the Lambs, and Tremors

(15:52) Just missed the cut: Hammer, Leprechaun, Child's Play, the X trilogy, Hell House LLC

(21:14) How this works: Bob counts up, Joe counts down

(22:06) Bob #1

(27:33) Joe #10

(31:18) Bob #2

(36:06) Joe #9

(42:06) Bob #3

(53:32) Joe #8

(1:00:28) Bob #4

(1:06:38) Joe #7

(1:12:56) Bob #5

(1:22:20) Joe #6

(1:28:24) Bob #6

(1:31:44) Tangent: Bob's Star Wars sequel-trilogy rant

(1:36:04) Joe #5

(1:40:00) Bob #7

(1:51:03) Joe #4

(1:56:55) Bob #8

(2:07:47) Joe #3

(2:14:15) Bob #9

(2:16:00) Joe #2

(2:19:04) Bob #10

(2:25:06) Joe #1

(2:25:48) The ones that got away: Witchcraft, Amityville, Candyman, The Omen, and more

(2:41:11) Wrap-up: tell us your favorite franchises in the comments

(2:42:27) What's next: Castlevania, the Phantasm hunt, and Joe Bob

(2:44:44) Like, subscribe, and slash that bell icon

(2:45:44) Sign-off

The Terribly Entertaining Podcast — celebrating the movies that are gloriously, unapologetically bad (this week, plenty that are just plain great)

Universal took one look at the box office for Phantasm II and walked. So Don Coscarelli scraped together $2.5 million of his own, got the real Mike back after fifteen years, handed Reggie the top billing for the first time, and made the loosest, funniest, most "sure, why not" entry in the whole series — then watched Universal test it in exactly two cities and dump it straight to tape anyway. It went on to become one of the top-100 best-selling video titles of the decade. It's never over.

Joe and Bob take on Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead (1994) — the one with a killer ten-year-old, a nunchuck-swinging Army vet named Rocky, brains inside the balls, and Reggie coming back from the dead for the second movie in a row. Recorded across two nights, because a storm knocked out the power halfway through. Fitting.

What's in this episode:

SEE! The pink hearse stunt that goes terribly wrong — or terribly right, depending on how you look at it!

SEE! The Evil Dead II makeup-effects man bring honest-to-God deadites to a Phantasm movie!

SEE! The sphere kill so gruesome the MPAA slapped the whole film with an NC-17!

SEE! Nunchucks so dangerous the British censors demanded they be cut from the movie!

Warning: this episode gets deep into the plot, including the ending — if you want to go in cold, watch first.

Watch along: Phantasm III is streaming on Peacock and Shudder/AMC+, and free with ads on Tubi, Prime Video, and The Roku Channel — or rent it for about three bucks on Amazon or Fandango at Home. (Note: it's Part II that's the hard one to find; this one's everywhere.)

Connect with the show: Got a movie you want us to cover, a correction, or just want to tell us we're wrong about something? Email us: [email protected]

More from Bob: Bob also streams and posts gaming content over on YouTube — including his show "Will I Rage Quit?" Go give him a follow: @BoBomb_Ash

Timestamps:

(0:00) Show open — in honor of Victor Miller(1:37) Tonight's pour: Sam Adams Jack-O and Fabled's "I'm Just a Little Guy"(3:37) Straight to video, Reggie takes the wheel, and the Evil Dead II of it all(6:27) The plot begins — a cold open full of retcons(13:33) The Tall Man's throne room: the balls have brains(15:12) The deadite nurse(22:36) Jody's back — "So what else is new?"(34:38) Holtsville and the gas station(44:05) Tim's house: Home Alone with an axe(50:34) Back from the outage — the razor Frisbee(58:16) The lurkers get a name; Tim's backstory(1:06:25) Rocky, Tanesha, and the NC-17 shot(1:12:27) Nunchucks are banned in the UK(1:21:24) The motel — "Ever try vanilla?"(1:37:45) The chase, and the hearse stunt that nearly killed a man(1:41:31) The mortuary: liquid nitrogen and zombie looters(1:51:00) Gold balls and a plunger(2:03:59) Wrapping the plot; where to stream the series(2:04:32) The Evil Dead II makeup connection(2:05:58) In honor of Reggie Bannister: what he was doing between Parts II and III(2:07:37) Recast Corner(2:10:15) Ratings(2:14:20) What's next: Bob at Cincinnati Comic Expo, Joe screens Slasher Trash(2:18:25) Phantasm IV is up next — check this out?(2:19:19) Sign-off: keep your balls in the air

The Terribly Entertaining Podcast — celebrating the movies that are gloriously, unapologetically bad (this one cost $2.5 million and the studio still wouldn't put it in theaters).

Joe and Bob press on with the Phantasm marathon, landing on episode two of five: the one entry in the series a major studio actually paid for. Phantasm II (1988) swapped the original's backyard-budget dream logic for Universal money, a recast lead, and roughly ten times the first film's budget — and the guys dig into exactly what that trade bought, and cost, the franchise.

From the studio casting drama that almost gave us a very different Mike and Reggie, to the real story hiding behind two of horror's most legendary effects artists and how little they talk about this movie themselves, Joe and Bob track just how differently a studio picture plays against the original's home-brewed weirdness — plus set-location digging, a real-world gun comparison, and a Recast Corner that starts obvious and gets weirder from there.

What's in this episode:

• The casting drama Universal didn't want anyone to know about — including who almost played Mike, and who almost played Reggie instead of Reggie Bannister
• The surprising origin story of a legendary special-effects company that was quietly coming together while this movie was still shooting
• Joe and Bob's Recast Corner — one obvious pick, and one that goes straight back to an early script detail nobody kept
• Why, even decades later, this specific Phantasm is weirdly hard to actually watch — and exactly where you can find it right now

Warning: this episode gets deep into the plot, including the ending — if you want to go in cold, watch first.

Watch along: unlike the original, Phantasm II isn't currently on any subscription streaming service — it's rent or buy only (Amazon, Apple TV, Fandango at Home), or grab it on physical media.

Connect with the show: Got a movie you want us to cover, a correction, or just want to tell us we're wrong about something? Email us: [email protected]

More from Bob: Bob also streams and posts gaming content over on YouTube — including his show "Will I Rage Quit?" Go give him a follow: @BoBomb_Ash

(00:00) Show Open & Introductions(01:26) Tonight's Pour(07:24) Movie Introduction & Plot(2:16:50) Ratings & Reviews(2:18:31) Recast Corner(2:23:00) Where to Find Us(2:26:45) Sign-Off

The Terribly Entertaining Podcast — celebrating the movies that are gloriously, unapologetically bad (this one's a little too polished for that — the big studio money bought out some of the weird, but it's still a good time).

Joe and Bob break their pledge to cover lesser-known and "so-bad-it's-good" movies already in Episode 2 — but for a very good reason. Phantasm (1979), one of horror's true icons, gets the full tribute treatment this time around in memory of star Reggie Bannister, who passed away August 9th at the age of 80.

From the real story of how the movie went from an X rating to an R without a single frame being cut, to the actual mansion standing in as the mausoleum — Joe and Bob dig into just how much mythology this 89-minute fever dream packs in, plus a full tribute segment on Reggie's life before, during, and after becoming horror's most unlikely action hero.

What's in this episode:

• Find out J.J. Abrams' surprising connection to the Phantasm universe — and how he paid tribute to the movie in his own way
• Deep-cut cast trivia, including one wild detail about how the characters actually got their names
• A tribute segment on Reggie Bannister's life that goes way beyond "the ice cream man from Phantasm"
• Joe and Bob's Recast Corner, including a pick that's "100% his speed," and a bonus tribute pick

Warning: this episode gets deep into the plot, including the ending — if you want to go in cold, watch first.

Watch along: Phantasm (1979) is currently streaming free on Tubi, and also available on Peacock.

Connect with the show: Got a movie you want us to cover, a correction, or just want to tell us we're wrong about something? Email us: [email protected]

More from Bob: Bob also streams and posts gaming content over on YouTube — including his show "Will I Rage Quit?" Go give him a follow: @BoBomb_Ash

(00:00) Show Open(00:58) Cold Open & Introductions(04:12) Tonight's Pour(05:58) Movie Introduction & Plot(1:53:56) Recast Corner(1:56:02) Reggie Bannister Tribute(2:01:43) Where to Find Us(2:05:10) Ratings & Sign-Off

The Terribly Entertaining Podcast — celebrating the movies that are gloriously, unapologetically bad (and, this time, one that's just plain great).

Roger Corman wanted a Gremlins cash-in, so he hired the actual editor of Gremlins to direct it. That's the kind of movie we're starting this show with: Munchies (1987) — a hand-puppet monster comedy about a snack-food tycoon, his archaeologist twin brother, an alien creature that multiplies every time you cut it in half, and a small desert town with a toxic-waste problem hiding right under the mini-golf course.

Joe and Bob crack open a Corman-produced, Tina Hirsch-directed slice of 80s creature-feature schlock — puppets with no mouth movement, a getaway car with the license plate "OHGIZMO," an unsubtle Gremlins newspaper cameo, and a plot twist about toxic snack food that's honestly smarter than the movie gets credit for.

What's in this episode:

• The wild backstory of director Tina Hirsch
• The Corman/Dante connections running through the cast, including a Piranha and Death Race 2000 pedigree — with a bonus detour into Piranha II's famously chaotic directing history
• Joe and Bob's dream-casting game for a Munchies redo, including a pick that had both of them landing on the exact same idea completely independently
• A full rundown of the film's most quotable lines, worst-edited scenes, and least-subtle needle-drops (including a "look at what happened to Linda Blair" line that sends the whole conversation sideways)

Warning: this episode gets deep into the plot, including the ending — if you want to go in cold, watch first.

Watch along: Munchies (1987) is currently streaming free on Tubi.

Connect with the show
Got a movie you want us to cover, a correction, or just want to tell us we're wrong about something? Email us: [email protected]

More from Bob:
Bob also streams and posts gaming content over on YouTube — including his show "Will I Rage Quit?" Go give him a follow: @BoBomb_Ash

(00:00) Cold Open & Introductions

(01:45) Tonight's Beer

(05:11) Movie Introduction & Plot

(01:12:25) Corman & Dante Connections

(01:46:49) Recast Corner

(01:51:11) Ratings

(01:56:28) Wrap-Up & Where to Find Us

The Terribly Entertaining Podcast — celebrating the movies that are gloriously, unapologetically bad.