This week, we celebrate Christmas along with a feminist Lilith cult, Clint Howard, and a lot of insects. That's right, we watched part four of the Silent Night Deadly Night Franchise - 1990's Initiation. Poor Kim investigates a case of spontaneous combustion, only to wake up naked and shedding (!) in a butcher shop. Also on this episode: incidental Christmas settings, occult bookstores, half-burnt chalk outlines, 90s girl-boss feminism, Clint Howard, big maggots, dog-sized cockroaches, weird metamorphoses, and attempted child sacrifice! 

This week, on Video Store Nightmares, we revisit the work of Scooter McCrae (Shatter Dead) with his just recently-released sophomore feature - Sixteen Tongues. Ginny is a genetically engineered prostitute-assassin, staying with her hacker girlfriend in a sleazy hotel. There, they encounter Adrian, a corrupt cop who survived a massacre via skin grafted tongues from his sixteen fallen comrades. On this episode: the appeal of gimp masks, haunting by tongue, clitoral eyelids, engineered blood lust, ubiquitous PornHub, ejaculations of blood, and giving new meaning to the term "cyber-surfing".

This week, we visit John Water's favorite Christmas movie: 1980's Christmas Evil. Poor Harry is doomed to a lifetime of fetishizing Christmas after seeing his mom and Santa doing the nasty under his childhood Christmas tree. Adult Harry just doesn't understand why everyone else doesn't have the same Santa-mindset, tallying up good and bad behavior until the big day. That's when Harry takes it upon himself to punish the bad guys. On this episode: uninformed psychoanalysis, Christmas-time interior decorating, romanticized pasts, an unreliable narrator, confused messaging about class solidarity, toys as weapons, forced philanthropy, and a little Christmas magic.

It's a classic for a reason, folks! This week, we discuss the 1984/1987 once-forgotten, now beloved slasher - Blood Rage! We're sure you remember this Thanksgiving (very) Florida story, in which poor Todd is institutionalized due to being framed for murder by his evil twin - Terry. Decades later, Todd escapes and Terry begins a murderous rampage. Meanwhile, their mother (Louise Lasser) downs bottles of wine and hysterically cleans the house. On this episode: severed hands, heads, and torsos, gun safety, drive-in condom sales, Florida apartment complexes, the joys of leftovers, Thanksgiving dinner surprises, and absolutely no cranberry sauce.

This week, we talked about the 1973 flick Warlock Moon, as part of a Thanksgiving marathon. Unfortunately, the recording was lost. Good thing we recorded this episode a few months back and had it to share with you - 1968's Twisted Nerve! When a movie starts by warning viewers that there is no established link between homicidal behavior and "Mongolism", you know you're in for something special. On this episode: mysterious joke buttons, exile to Australia, queer theory, genetics bullshit, strategic shoplifting, scissor and hatchet murders, geographic subterfuge and cougaring the wrong cub.

If you're already nostalgic for Halloween, here's the last of our 2022 Halloween episodes. An ancient curse re-awakens one October to plague the Kelly family. In particular, little Sean Kelly is destined to defeat Mr. Jack the Pumpkin Man before it kills him first, foiling the plans of a long-dead wizard, played by the long-dead John Carradine. Co-starring a showering Linnea Quigley! On this episode: awkwardly spliced pre-existing footage, wooden acting, rubber crucifixes, expert scythe-manship, a Volvo-driving witch, Halloween subterfuge, conservative politics, confusing lore, a spook-garage, and community-theater quality frontier footage!

The Varrow Mission (AKA Teen Alien) may not sound like a Halloween movie, but it totally fits into our October line-up! This low budgeter was acted and staffed mostly by local teenagers, and was made entirely on-location in a small town with an old, haunted mill. A group of high-schoolers decide to use the mill as the setting for their Halloween "spook alley", while a rival group - with the help of a teen alien - tries to derail their plans. On this episode: archetypal drunks, abducted moonshine, fat-shaming "Tiny", dollar store Halloween decorations, turntable disco lights, beyond wooden (petrified?) dialogue, shape-shifting/gender bending, teenage hijinks, and yet another department of incompetent law enforcement!

For our second movie of October, we discuss one of television's darkest (and most wonderful) creations: 1981's Dark Night of the Scarecrow. When four men in a small rural community suspect their mentally disabled neighbor of killing a young girl, they execute him. The innocent Bubba returns to life as a scarecrow, hunting down his murderers and avenging his death. On this episode: badass mothers, a very dirty postal uniform, scarecrow faces, the preferability of death by various farm instruments, a Halloween party, pumpkin patches, kids in costumes, and the shame of boarding houses.

And remember: Bubba didn't do it!

This October, we're covering four movies that take place during Halloween. First up, 12-year old Jamie celebrates Halloween by pushing a bully and his girlfriend into a pit of Trolalogs. When he's not sacrificing the "nasty" people in the town to prehistoric monsters, Jamie is snapping nude photos of unsuspecting women, looking up their skirts, coercing them into baths, and otherwise acting like a fucking creep. On this episode: an evil Teddy bear, nude photography theft, bike sabotage, blackboard lessons, monster munching, cohabitating snakes and frogs, absent parents, and a pit full of Trolalogs!

To celebrate our sixtieth episode, and welcome in this year's Halloween season, we count down our top 6 best and worst movies that we've covered on the show. We had a lot of common ground but also some major differences and surprises. Join us as we recollect, reflect, and reconsider our previous 59 Video Store Nightmares!