Episodes
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Actor, writer and producer Amanda Jane Stern – whose psychosexual thriller Perfectly Good Moment has launched on Tubi this month – joins us to discuss David O. Selznick's production of Portrait of Jennie. Based on a popular novella by Robert Nathan that Ray Bradbury said "touched and frightened" him, the romantic fantasy won an Oscar for Best Special Effects in 1948, but was not a success. Set in depression-era New York, it starred Jennifer Jones as the titular Jennie, an enigmatic young woman who inspires an impoverished painter, played by Joseph Cotton. The film is well regarded among those who remember it or have rediscovered it, but it's not easy to come by on streaming services or physical media. Unless you stumble upon it on Youtube, of course. But does it deserve to escape the oubliette and be immortalised? Find out!
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Dan and Conrad find themselves exiled to a leafy island that looks suspiciously like Queensland in this episode, where they explore Martin Campbell's No Escape (1994) – an airy, outdoor adventure set in the distant future of 2022. It stars Ray Liotta as the scarred military vet convicted for shooting his CO after he covered up a war crime, who teams up with fellow inmates Lance Henriksen, Ernie Hudson and Kevin Dillon to defeat the evil Stuart Wilson's 'tribe' of sadistic killers and expose the greater evils of private prisons. Produced on a $20 million budget by Gale Anne Hurd, the movie got Campbell the gig directing GoldenEye (1995), but quickly vanished from theatres. But does it deserve early release from the oubliette to ease 90s prison movie overcrowding? Or should it be hurled back in with no chance of parole? Find out!
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Missing episodes?
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Happy Halloween! Duncan Skiles, director of the chilling The Clovehitch Killer and the forthcoming comedy thriller Neighborhood Watch, went trick or treating into the oubliette and brought back a Peeping Tom. This proto-slasher from Michael Powell, one half of the famous British duo Powell and Pressburger, emerged in the same year as Hitchcock's Psycho and explores similar territory: a handsome, unassuming man with a homicidal compulsion spurred by parental abuse.
But while one film was an instant box office sensation that became a landmark in horror history, the other was savaged by scandalised critics and destroyed its director's career. Rescued from obscurity over a decade later by Martin Scorsese, Peeping Tom has become an influential cult favourite. But does it deserve to escape the oubliette with a fulsome sack of calorific treats? Or should it be thrown back with some candy corn and a rotten apple? Find out!
Follow Duncan Skiles on Instagram, Facebook or his website! Look out for Neighbourhood Watch in Spring 2025.
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Stuart Gordon's post-apocalyptic sci-fi featuring gladiatorial battles between giant mechs has to be one of Empire Pictures' most instantly recognisable titles, sitting proudly on video rental stores worldwide. Starring Gary Graham and Anne-Marie Johnson as the brave robot jockeys and Paul Koslo as their ruthless enemy, Robot Jox could be the brightest and breeziest dystopian action movie ever made. It was also one of the most ambitious film Charles Band's mini-major studio ever attempted, and may have precipitated the fall of his Empire! But does it live up to our childhood memories? Or is it as cringe-inducing as a fondly remembered Saturday morning cartoon? Find out!
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In our third and final bonus episode covering highlights from the Toronto International Film Festival, friend of the pod Joe Lipsett joins Conrad to review three haunted house movies from this year's programme: Steven Soderbergh's bold ghost P.O.V. mystery Presence, Karrie Crouse and Will Joines' dusty western Hold Your Breath, and Nick Toti and Rachel Kempf's rarely screened found footage chiller It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This. Conrad also reports on Mike Flanagan's latest Stephen King adaptation, the warm-hearted but oddly structured The Life of Chuck.
Check out Joe Lipsett on Instagram and the Horror Queers podcast for more of his reviews from the festival and other fabulousness.
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For our second round-up reviews of horror films that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, special guest Joe Lipsett and I cover four more horror films. We start with two ghost stories: the frosty New Zealand drama Went Up the Hill, directed by Samuel Van Grinsven and starring Dacre Montgomery and Vicky Krieps; and the rambunctious Taiwanese horror comedy Dead Talents Society, directed by John Hsu and starring Gingle Wang. We also take a look at Scott Beck and Bryan Woods' psychological puzzle box thriller, Heretic, featuring a charmingly sinister Hugh Grant, as well as Joseph Kahn's monster-on-the-loose horror comedy Ick, starring Brandon Routh and Malina Weissman.
Check out Joe Lipsett on Instagram and the Horror Queers podcast for more of his reviews from the festival and other fabulousness.
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Saurian cinema connoisseur Serge Bodnarchuk of Cold Crash Pictures joins Dan as guest co-host for a dinosaur sci-fi horror adventure from 1993. No, not that one. This is Movie Oubliette! It's the low-budget Roger Corman production Carnosaur, starring Laura Dern's mom, Diane Ladd, and Bryce Dallas Howard's uncle, Clint Howard! This adaptation of John Brosnan's novel hit 65 theatres a few weeks before Spielberg's blockbuster romped into box office history. Featuring astonishing special effects from Troll director John Carl Buechler, this alleged mockbuster is without doubt the scrappy underdog, but is it a charming creature feature that deserves to be rescued? Find out!
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Conrad is joined by Joe Lipsett live and in-person at the Toronto International Film Festival to give early reviews of the horror, sci-fi and fantasy films that premiered at TIFF this year. In this first bonus episode, we're looking at the body horror films on the programme: including Coralie Fargeat's The Substance (winner of the People's Choice Award), Max Minghella's Shell, Marielle Heller's Nightbitch and Thibault Emin's debut Else.
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Vincenzo Natali (director of Cube, Splice, Haunter) introduces us to the little known sword and sorcery film, Conquest, directed by splatter gore master, Lucio Fulci. We deliberate over Mace's nunchucks, magical laser bows, bargain bin wolfmen and Ocron's wardrobe choices to decide whether Conquest is an ethereal journey into a ritualistic ruthless fantasy world or rather a fever dream you can't wake up from. Also there's buckets of blood! Conquest awaits!-----------------------------------------------------
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We're exploring the twisted underbelly of suburbia in Wes Craven's 1991 horror comedy The People Under the Stairs. Much like Craven's other non-Nightmare and non-Scream franchise-related outings, this one has remained hidden from popular consciousness despite a warm reception in the box office on its first release and an ardent cult following ever since then. Should The People be freed from their cruel incarceration and allowed to roam free in the daylight? Or should it remain an embarrassing secret in Craven's basement? Find out!
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Joe Lipsett of the Horror Queers podcast joins us for a Long Weekend (1978), where bickering couple Peter and Marcia venture out into the Australian wilderness for a camping trip they might not live to regret. Colin Eggleston's psychological thriller, written by Everett De Roche (of 'Patrick' and 'Razorback' fame), won prizes on the festival circuit and is fondly remembered by filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino, but it's been largely forgotten since. Does this Ozploitation revenge-of-nature horror deserve its day at the beach? Is it a quietly disturbing parable with a convincing air of growing existential dread, or is it a forgettable slog with two awful campmates and too much grotty symbolism? Find out!
Follow Joe Lipsett on what was Twitter and Instagram, and check out his Youtube channel with Conrad, The Queer Gaze!
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Christian Bale backflipped out of the oubliette dual-toting pistols, so we're forced to contend with Kurt Wimmer's Equilibrium (2002) – a sci-fi action extravaganza set in a totalitarian state where everyone has to complete the Kolinahr ritual and avoid content creation of any kind. Also starring Emily Watson, Taye Diggs and Sean Bea (although, of course, not for long), the film faceplanted on its release in December 2002 and has been dismissed as a lukewarm second serving of The Matrix (1999) ever since. Does everyone need to take a chill pill and appreciate this high-concept actioner for what it is? Or was everyone right first time? Find out!
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Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Danny Boyle's debut feature film Shallow Grave (1994) was eclipsed by Trainspotting (1996) and remains largely forgotten outside its native UK. But is the dark comedy thriller worth exhuming? Dan and Conrad pack up their hack saws and head for the woods to explore this slice of 90s Britain!
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Michael French of RetroBlasting joins us on a quest to Valhalla with Erik the Viking (1989) – Monty Python alumni Terry Jones' fantasy film starring Tim Robbins, Samantha Bond, Imogen Stubbs, Eartha Kitt, Mickey Rooney and John Cleese. This is the second historical adventure film from ex-Pythons we've covered this year that attempts to avoid treading on the comedy troupe's large coat-tails and trips rather spectacularly, stumbling out of the box office top 20 in under a week with less than $2 million on a $15 million budget. But is Erik's earnest quest to end the violent days of Ragnorok an overlooked rib-tickling masterwork or a tedious misfire? Find out!
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Dan and Conrad venture into Disney's 'dark era' again – this time with a sci-fi twist! It's The Black Hole (1979), the mouse house's answer to the colossal box-office and cultural phenomenon of Star Wars two years prior. And like all dark era flops, it uncomfortably straddles mature themes (an egomaniacal scientist determined to journey through a massive black hole and willing to enslave his entire crew as zombified androids to do his bidding) with family-friendly fun (robots with Disney eyes having laser battles). The result is a grandiose, steampunk adventure with stilted dialogue, eye-popping visuals and a doom-laden score by John Barry at his finest... but is it any good? Or are Conrad's nostalgia goggles deceiving him? Find out!
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Dan and Conrad join the British Armed Forces for a spot of hiking in the Scottish Highlands, only to find themselves in a siege horror surrounded by werewolves! Yes, Neil Marshall's debut feature Dog Soldiers (2002) has escaped its leash and scampered out of the oubliette for this episode. Often overshadowed by the director's wildly popular follow-up, The Descent (2005) – particularly in the U.S., where it didn't get a theatrical release – Dog Soldiers is a witty, action-packed lost patrol monster movie that punches above its weight and delivered some visceral practical werewolf goodness at a time when CGI was becoming a popular method of visualising lycanthropic transformations. But does it hold up 22 years later? Find out!
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Marta Djordjevic – aka Marta McFly of McFly's Movie House podcast – joins Conrad and Dan for the delirious 2002 Japanese musical comedy horror The Happiness of the Katakuris directed by none other than prolific iconoclast Takashi Miike, who lensed 6 films in that year alone! In this case, Miike remakes Kim Jee-woon's disturbing black comedy The Quiet Family (1998) – about a family attempting to cover up a series of unfortunate deaths in their new guest house – as a genre-defying musical with karaoke and claymation sequences. The film eludes any kind of explanation, but is it any good?
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We're hopping on a motorcycle with a built-in 8-track player and getting zapped back the wild west for this Patreon's choice episode! Timerider (1982) stars Fred Ward as the lovable if slightly clueless motorcross racer, Lyle Swann, who finds himself transported back in time to 1877, where he falls in love with the fearless Claire (Belinda Bauer) and attracts the unwanted attention of ruthless bandit Reese (Peter Coyote). Directed by Harry and the Hendersons helmer William Dear, and co-written and produced with Michael Nesmith of The Monkees (who also provides a rocking 80s score), it's a notable precursor to a much more successful time travel adventure comedy that would emerge just 3 years later – and is alarmingly similar to one of its sequels! But, does it deserve greater recognition or should it be lost to the mists of time? Find out!
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Retrospective reviewer extraordinaire, documentary filmmaker and action movie editor Oliver Harper joins us to probe the dark recesses of The Shadow (1994) – Russell Mulcahy's would-be summer blockbuster superhero adventure starring Alec Baldwin, Penelope Ann Miller, Jone Lone, Peter Boyle, Tim Curry and Ian McKellan (pre-Sir!). It has an action packed soundtrack from Jerry Goldsmith, a hero with mind control abilities locked in mortal combat with the last descendent of Genghis Khan, and a Taylor Dayne end title power ballad. What more could you want?! Well, moviegoers in 1994 who were hooked on Speed wanted a lot more, and stayed away in droves. But were they wrong? Who knows? The Shadow knows!
Check out Oliver's retrospectives and reviews on YouTube!
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We're delving into Disney's Dark Period in the late 70s/early 80s in this childhood nostalgia episode on none other than the cult curiosity The Watcher in the Woods. Directed by John "Legend of Hell House" Hough and featuring Bette Davis in scowling hag mode, this tale of an American family experiencing spooky goings on in an Olde English house is surprisingly effective and perfect gateway horror for 80s kids. But it was also a troubled production, featuring on-set battles, a dramatic rethink after its premiere and reshoots to 'fix' the ending, as the House of Mouse struggled to come to terms with making PG-rated material. Does the end result stand the test of time for Conrad and does it work for newcomers like Dan? Find out!
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