Horroretc Podcast

It's the most wonderful time of the year? Listening to the Horroretc podcast should always be a wonderful time, at least that is the intention. Welcome to our sixth annual festivus episode as we ring in the holiday season with some general genre chatter (if not cheer). It truly is a laid back show as we do some catching up, look back at Hitchcock, imbibe in some beer talk, carry out the annual gift exchange and address the usual Christmas complaints. We get to some movie discussion focused on the sci-fi heavy slate that seems to coming in 2013 with comments on Star Trek 2 (whether a special 9 minute preview is a good thing), Man of Steel, Pacific Rim (Cthulu vs Robots), Oblivion (the great Tom Cruise debate), After Earth (M Night is back... again?), Iron Man 2 and of course The Hobbit and Django Unchained. This year's feature festive selection is the 2012 slasher remake Silent Night. In a lot of ways it just goes about its business delivering cheesy old school slasher fare - just adjust your expectations accordingly (and we do have it to thank for this years Christmas rant). Things wind down with some schlock corner entries from an old favourite Bill Shatner and take in the latest metal outing from Christopher Lee dedicated to the yuletide season. Merry X-mas all and thanks for another great year. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

The Alfred Hitchcock spotlight marches on this week with another five selections to ruminate about. The films of Alfred Hitchcock, as even the most casual fan knows, manage to blend elements of comedy, romance, tragedy, and politics, all with a captivating thriller plot. Our picks to share this episode exemplify that range which include a a straight up screwball comedy, a very bleak essay on obsession, a proto-James Bond spy thriller, the iconic killer birds film that ushered in a new horror sub-genre, and a darkly humourous giallo-esque serial killer movie. We do hope you are enjoying the ride with us as we explore the works of a truly visionary, if not sometimes controversial figure in cinema. We have left plenty of room for a further instalment with many more important works and a beloved anthology series that brought his dark wit and techniques for lingering suspense to living rooms). The Trouble With Harry 5:27 - 25:35 (interlude - Shirley MacLain's recap) Vertigo 25:35 - 52:47 (interlude - William Friedkin and Martin Scorsese reflections) North By Northwest 52:47 - 1:12:01 (interlude - the great Bernard Herrmann) The Birds 1:12:01 - 1:38:18 (interlude - a welcome from Alfred Hitchcock) Frenzy 1:38:18 - 2:12:17 (interlude - on the set with Hitch) As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

"Goooood Eeeevening...I am Alfred Hitchcock." Welcome to the beginning of our Hitchcock director spotlight. Arguably cinema's most famous filmmaker, the master of suspense was the forefather of more techniques that have influenced the thriller and horror genre than can be counted. When the question was posed of why people were fond of his thrillers, his response was "an audience likes to put their toe in the cold water of fear." Those words ring very true to the genre fan. Things kick off with a quick review of auteur theory and a look at how Hitchcock as a filmmaker fits the criteria. an overview of the director's trademarks and cinematic techniques open the door to our first selection of titles from his filmography that break down as follows: (interlude - Lovage: Lifeboat) Lifeboat (1944) 29:37-56:18 (interlude - Rope trailer) Rope (1948) 56:18-1:17:06 (interlude - Loveage: Strangers on a Train) Strangers on a Train (1951) 1:17:06-1:36:43 (interlude - Leaonard Maltin on Dial M) Dial M For Murder (1954) 1:36:43-2:02:38 (interlude - Robert Towne on Rear Window) Rear Window (1954) 2:02:38-2:28:33 We have another group of classic films in the hopper for the next installment of the spotlight so join in the fun as we celebrate Hitch. Before things wrap up though, we check out every Hitchcock cameo appearance in schlock corner and crack open Ted's first home brew on air. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

Hard to believe it's been 4 long years since we last talked James Bond on the podcast but the time has finally come. Now we know that not everyone is as big a fan of Bond as we are so as a fair warning to avoid our spoiler laden discussion on Skyfall the segment runs from 7:50 to 37:00 of the show. The remainder of the episode is dedicated to some recent watches including the new DC animated Batman film: The Dark Knight Returns (part 1), a return to the video nasties list (finally) with The Ghastly Ones, aka Blood Rites, and a belated discussion of the time travel thriller Looper. Truth is, we were really just looking for an excuse to share our excitement over Skyfall so please excuse the gushing. Special thanks to Justin for the Hawaiian care package we used to open up the show. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

Let's get caught up on recent watches shall we? When things get too eclectic and a pattern cannot be discerned we call that a 'what we've been watching` episode and we certainly have some picks from across the spectrum this time. Things kick off with a rundown of Compliance (2012) that went a lot longer than intended but that may speak to the impact of the true event story. We progress into an odd slow-paced cult infiltration film The Sound of my Voice (2011) that became more than its pitchline, and Barricade (2012) - a WWE films feature (take that for what it`s worth). The train keeps rolling with The Bay (2012), a faux documentary ecological horror film from a true non-horror director, a very underappreciated indie film Exit Humanity (2011) that really exceeded its limitations, an agoraphobia hoodie horror called Citadel (2012) from the Uk, a long requested classic Romero film Martin (1976), some rewatches and odds and ends. After a disquieting schlock corner quickly looking at a true grindhouse vetsploitation film Forced Entry (1974), we progress to chatting about season 3 of The Walking Dead... thus far. The comments were purposefully frozen from the end of episode 5 to share our thoughts and predictions (heavy spoilers here so be warned). Spoiler discussion for Compliance runs from 18:57 to 26:42 As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

Welcome to an episode spotlighting the genre output of Spain. As we have done many times in the past, we love to focus in on a particular part of the world to discuss and explore the unique and original takes on horror a country has to offer. Spain has a long and prolific history of contributing to the genre and as such it was impossible to attempt a summary, instead we share a selection of recent watches from Spain and touch on some of the key figures in the industry such as Guillermo Del Toro (yes, we know the difference between Spain and Mexico), Paul Naschy, Jess Franco, etc. and look at some of the specific thematic stylings inherent in the work. There is a lengthly list of titles name checked to refresh our thoughts on Spanish films we have already covered along the way including Timecrimes, The Orphanage, The Uninvited Guest, Rec and many, many more. The new additions include Emergo / Apartment 143, Fermat's Room, Julia's Eyes, Sleep Tight, Shiver, Tombs of the Blind Dead, Fragile, La Cabina and several more. So pour yourself a Sangria and join us in what we envision as the first of what could be several episodes exploring the rich history of Spanish Horror. Rounding things out is a schlock corner looking at the first official trailer for World War Z, as well as some discussion of Skyfall, Star Wars and an obscure Fulci film House of Clocks. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

"Fire walk with me" Welcome to Twin Peaks. A place where reality is fused with feverish dreamscapes, and a long list of eclectic characters spin a web of dark secrets. In 1990 the creation of David Lynch and Mark Frost was unleashed upon an unsuspecting network television audience and became a landmark show credited with influencing the shift in small screen storytelling. An iconic tagline "who killed Laura Palmer" brought viewers into the unique world of David Lynch and introduced the quirks and distinct tones of his work. The show's narrarator in the form of agent DB Cooper blurred the line between realism and the paranormal, and the earlier than anticipated reveal of the killer challenged how far we were willing to go down the rabbit hole. This week we reflect on what is ultimately a very difficult show to describe, the method we chose to best explain what Twin Peaks was all about was to visit with each of the eccentric characters that populated it. We do have fair warning for spoilers in the episode but as with most Lynch work, it is really more about the 'experience' than the plot. So put on a pot of coffee, black as midnight if you please, and join in. If you are a long time fan we invite you to reminisce with us, and if you have always wondered whether it was worth taking on the 30 episodes we hope to give you fair preparation for what lies in store. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

Fire walk with me... Welcome to Twin Peaks. A place where reality is fused with feverish dreamscapes, and a long list of eclectic characters spin a web of dark secrets. In 1990 the creation of David Lynch and Mark Frost was unleashed upon an unsuspecting network television audience and became a landmark show credited with influencing the shift in small screen storytelling. An iconic tagline "who killed Laura Palmer" brought viewers into the unique world of David Lynch and introduced the quirks and distinct tones of his work. The show's narrarator in the form of agent DB Cooper blurred the line between realism and the paranormal, and the earlier than anticipated reveal of the killer challenged how far we were willing to go down the rabbit hole. This week we reflect on what is ultimately a very difficult show to describe, the method we chose to best explain what Twin Peaks was all about was to visit with each of the eccentric characters that populated it. We do have fair warning for spoilers in the episode but as with most Lynch work, it is really more about the 'experience' than the plot. So put on a pot of coffee, black as midnight if you please, and join in. If you are a long time fan we invite you to reminisce with us, and if you have always wondered whether it was worth taking on the 30 episodes we hope to give you fair preparation for what lies in store. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

Welcome all to our fifth anniversary episode! Please join in the celebration this week as we take a moment to look back at the past five years and raise a glass to all of you who have been listening and supporting us along the way. The show is quite loose as we meander through a general discussion revisiting the subject of episode 3 - The Future of Horror. We are now a little further down the road since that first discussion so why not look at where we've made it and once again where we feel genre fans should be steering their attention. All this and a disturbing medical anecdote when Anthony defines the term 'too much information'. A pair of schlock corners help make up for the recent absence of the segment being a look at the red band trailer for the upcoming Evil Dead remake as well as one of the best compilation vids we have seen: 170 horror movies in three and a half minutes. We discuss the Halloween watch list and throw out some suggestions of appropriate picks for a variety of scenarios (solo, significant other, uninitiated, party, etc). Finally, we chat about some recent halloween attraction visits and celebrate the fun of the holiday. After a brief hello from friend of the show Luis, the listeners close us out with a short selection of calls received this week. As we stated in the show... Thank You to everyone for making the podcast the great experience it has been - here's to many more to come. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

Exploitation film is defined as an informal label which may be applied to any film which is generally considered to be both low budget and of low moral or artistic merit, and therefore apparently attempting to gain financial success by "exploiting" a current trend or a niche genre or a base desire for lurid subject matter. Lets muck around in the depraved world of exploitation films shall we? This week we were lucky to get our old friend Luis on the show to take a walk through some of the various sub-categories of 'sploitation that have arisen including Blaxploitation, Hippies, Drugs, Vetsploitation, Urban Scum, Juvenile Delinquents, Tough Chicks, etc, etc. There certainly is no shortage of classifications out there from Nunsploitation to Sexsploitation and everything in between. This visit merely scratched the surface of the pile but we're sure you will come away with a stack of recommendations to hunt down. Following our visit with the extreme cinema of yesteryear we get caught up with some recent (and not so recent) watches. Comments are offered on the current big screen horror options Paranormal Activity 4 and Sinister, as well as Grave Encounters 2, Mama, Spanish flicks, Halloween picks and much more. The highlight though is returning to 1931 to share our experience of catching the newly restored versions of Dracula and Frankenstein on the big screen as a double bill. Lots of obligatory gushing over the classics to close things out. And did we mention schlock corner? We also have a schlock corner. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

Buckle up for a bit of globetrotting as we finish getting caught up on our watch lists comprised of a variety of international fare. Our intentions were good - the plan was to narrow our focus and take on a specific theme of films... the result was a surprisingly eclectic mix of stuff. Ahh, the best laid plans... We do have an interesting selection of foreign films though including a slow burning, tension packed stalker with a bit of a mind bend The Asylum aka The Incident (France/Belgium), sharks in a supermarket in Bait (Australia), a fresh zom-com Juan of the Dead (Cuba), and an alien invasion horror comedy Grabbers (Ireland). We make sure to pay respect to Canada's very own David Cronenberg with his new release Cosmopolis, and bring it home with a smattering of North American fare including: Shuttle (underseen 2008 thriller), Apollo 18 (kicking off the found footage debate once more), a Looper tease (hint - its a recommendation), Megan is Missing (2011), Compliance (2012), and a whole lot more. So we are pretty much caught up now on the miscellaneous material, just in time for some fun topics planned in the next few weeks. Special thanks to John in Ireland for the voicemail comments on Grabbers. Once again, he does a better job of summing it up than we could. Please drop us a line to say hello and be part of our 5 year anniversary special coming this Halloween. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

Back to it! Ted and Tony are back in the saddle to bring you a packed episode shooting from the hip. Catching up after several weeks on the go, we present a mish mash of topics, and you're bound to find something to enjoy! It's ham meets ham as Tony goes to Montreal Comic Con to screen his film and gets to meet the one and only William Shatner. Ted goes in search of Bigfoot, but all he finds is a crapload of disappointing found footage movies (The Lost Coast Tapes, and Evidence). Remember the iconic 1978 TV movie Devil Dog? Neither does Ted. Dexter season 7 is underway (and its shaping up to be a good one). Its official: Ted has been replaced with an alien counterpart... and it watched a new episode of Dr. Who(!) Discussions of V/H/S (more found footage !?), the classic Killer Clowns From Outer Space, new Rob Zombie, the inrtiguing premise of Chernobyl Diaries, the superficial 'documentary' The Haunted Boy, a bunch of strange twists and turns - and sharing a Nasty Habit. Yup, its Horror Etc... business as usual. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

Who is up for some more zombie talk? As explained in the short intro to this weeks show, we ran into some scheduling issues that prevented us from getting to the topics we wanted to discuss so in lieu of missing a week we have something outside the box to share. Previous guest host on the podcast Brent Holland promised to drag Ted onto his radio/television show Night Fright to spend an hour and it just so happens that very thing went down - taped as the 2012 halloween special dedicated to zombies. So that is what we have to share with you this week, a preview of the Night Fright program featuring (a very uncomfortable) Kingstown Ted chatting about all things zombie. While on set, we also recorded a short conversation discussing vampire mythology and the radical shift toward the romanticized presentation of the creature of the night, the metaphorical savagery of the werewolf mythology, and Ted may or may not have threatened to run naked in the moonlight. Thanks for your patience with this week's placeholder episode, looking forward to sharing a wealth of recent genre watches next week. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

It's a Child's Play retrospective this week as we take a look back at the franchise that enjoyed a series of successful instalments and raised the character of Chucky to the upper pantheon of horror franchise icons. Chucky is an interesting thing. A murderous doll possessed by the spirit of a voodoo practicing serial killer is at its heart a ridiculous concept, any threat suggested being stripped away when confronted by the absurdity of the visual of a talking doll. There were factors that allowed the series to thrive such as the consistency of the writing by Don Mancini, the vocal performance of Brad Dourif who transformed the inanimate object into Charles Lee Ray (perhaps the biggest a-hole of the franchise killers), and of course the transition of the films from late 80's genre sensibilities into the self-referential perspective of the 90's. Things may have gotten a little too on the nose with Seed of Chucky but Ronny Yu's switchup to playing with the inherent nonsense at the heart of the series with Bride of Chucky was perfect timing. Now we have a five film franchise that strikes a balance between an earnest twist on the slasher formula, and satirical stabs into the tropes of the genre. All pulled off with respectable direction, writing and a well performed antagonist, unlike other franchises say for example... Leprechaun. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM

"A friend with weed is a friend indeed but a friend with gold is the best I'm told" An episode dedicated entirely to the Leprechaun franchise? In what possibly became our most divisive recording session to date, we attempt to convey what this series of films are all about and try to get to the bottom of why anyone would watch them. In a room containing a true fan (Doug), a Leprechaun malcontent (Ted) and someone who watched the movies just to impress a girl (Tony), the subject became hotly debated. It's the story of a mythical creature of lore obsessed with a small pot of gold wreaking havok upon those who dare to cross him, told at a rural cabin, in a city, in Las Vegas, in space(!), in da hood, and in the da hood again - six films with a reboot on the way. In the absence of plot complexities, notable filmmaking techniques and sriking performances, we discuss the ridiculous concept at the heart of it all. Whether you are a fan or not, stick around until Ted finally loses it and blows up at Anthony. As always we welcome your comments: horroretc@gmail.com Voicemail (206) 337-5324 WWW.HORRORETC.COM