Saturday Night Freak Show

Holly offers the Internet Radio Superstars $1 million a piece to spend the night in the House on Haunted Hill (1999). Five strangers find themselves trapped in a former art deco insane asylum along with ghosts, creeps, ghouls and a rich married couple (Geoffrey Rush and Famke Janssen) who amuse themselves by plotting to kill each other. Listen as we remember horror's PT Barnum, William Castle; late 90's haunted house movies; and try to get a sponsorship from Cameo.com; all on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sean takes a whack at the Big Apple with Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989). Getting tired of chopping up teens at a woodsy summer camp, Jason hops aboard a cruise ship bound for NYC where he finds himself welcomed by a city in which he fits right in. Listen as we rank all the Friday the 13th movies, pay tribute to Kane Hodder's contribution to the series, and marvel at improbable teleportation and ghostly visions in this week's exciting episode. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We go on a return Freak Show Field Trip to the clown-haunted sewers of Derry, Maine for a final confrontation with It: Chapter Two (2019). Twenty-seven years have past since 7 kids thought they beat a child-eating monster that lives beneath their hometown; now, they're summoned back once it's discovered to have survived. Listen as we talk about killer clowns from outer space, changes between Stephen King's novel and the screen adaptations, and all sorts of other It-related nonsense on this week's exciting episode!Get caught up by listening to our It (2017) review! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Colin lives through the holy terror of communion with a freaky Catholic slasher with Alice, Sweet Alice (1976). Little Brooke Shields, in her first film role, is murdered in church and suspicion falls on her troubled sister, Alice. Is she the masked killer in the yellow rain slicker? Listen as we talk about religious fanaticism, pedophile landlords, schizoid tweens, and soap opera dynamics on this week's exciting show!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Holly finds that fraternity hazing rituals aren't complete without a deranged murderer on the loose on Hell Night (1981). A quartet of pledges locked up in a spooky old mansion who discover that tales of a psychotic killer loose in the house may be true. Listen as we fathom the post-Exorcist sex appeal of Linda Blair, the bizarre bedroom rituals of college surfers, face grabbing as a power move, and more strange behavior on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Michaela swears off going on vacation after watching Vacancy (2007). Quarreling marital duo Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsdale, en route to getting a divorce, stop off at an out-of-the-way motel and end up tormented by three masked men who are intent on adding them to their snuff film enterprise. Listen as we talk about the zeitgeist of horror films in the 2000's, motel-set horror movies, and tips to surviving the worst night of your life on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sean makes a bet that he'll never be killed by lions, a claim that can't be made by the makers of Roar (1981). Called "the most dangerous movie ever made," a madman takes his family (including Melanie Griffith and her mother, The Birds star Tippi Hedren) into a habitat full of man-eating lions, tigers, and leopards to make a movie, resulting in over 70 cast and crew injuries. And that's what really happened, not the plot of the film! Listen as we share our slack-jawed disbelief at watching one of the most nail-bitingly irresponsible films ever made on this week's exciting show! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Colin finds himself forever standing guard over the Gates of Hell as The Sentinel (1977), in a star-studded Satanic supernatural shocker from Death Wish director Michael Winner. A beautiful model moves into a New York City brownstone and finds herself terrorized by bizzaro neighbors and nightmarish visions while a blind priest, who lives in the apartment above hers, may hold the answers. Listen as we talk naked orgies involving the elderly, a touching scene involving Mrs. Clark Griswold, and one of 70's horror's most scary moments on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Michaela finds herself surrounded by killer felines in Strays (1991), in which a family moves into a country home only to find it's cellar is the lair of one super-pissed off, territorial cat and a furry army of murderous pussies. Listen as we debate the existence of the LA Metro, discuss the dynamics of Lifetime movie dramas, and unravel the mysteries of one Chuck Lubin, all on this exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Holly gets baked with the stoner horror comedy Idle Hands (1999), in which forgotten teen heartthrob Devon Sawa discovers his right hand is possessed by Evil, his stoner buddies come back to life as zombies, the hot girl across the street improbably has the hots for him too, and a Druidic demon hunter wants to kill him. Listen as we talk about the career trajectories of Seth Green and Jessica Alba, severed hand movies, and teen girl crushes, all on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sean imagines ending the world with a plague of dinosaurs courtesy of this week's flick, Carnosaur (1993), an ultra low budget Roger Corman-produced quickie designed to ride the dinosaur phenomenon created by Jurassic Park. Diane Ladd stars as a mad scientist determined to destroy the civilized world and restore dinosaurs to their place at the top of the food chain. Somewhere in there, newly minted dinosaurs rampage through the small town of Climax, NV. Listen to our instructive advice for budding filmmakers after our brains overheat while trying to follow the plot of this movie! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Colin geeks out to flame-throwing, laser-blasting, smoke pellet-chucking ninja action in American Ninja (1985). Michael Dudikoff was chosen by Cannon Films to step in when Chuck Norris passed on the project, to play an American G.I. (named Joe!) who must use his master-level ninja skills to defeat an arms dealer and his army of ninja assassins. Listen as we marvel at hitherto unknown ninja magic, the star power of underappreciated action star Steve James, and the wisdom of keeping your kids away from ninja movies, all on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Michaela finds herself pursued by a killer whale with a death wish in Orca (1977)! After a fisherman (Richard Harris) kills his mate and her baby, a killer whale single-mindedly hunts him down, killing everyone he knows in an attempt to bait him out to sea for open fish-vs-man combat! Listen as we talk about Jaws ripoffs, post-apocalyptic roller derbies, leg-capitation, and the best place to eat at the Wisconsin Dells, all on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Holly finds that it takes all kinds of critters to make Farmer Vincent's fritters, and worries about the fate of Igor the mailman as we watch Motel Hell (1980). A kindly farmer and his wife sell the best smoked meats out of their rural motel/hog farm -- the kind of cannibalistic treat made from the body parts of unfortunate visitors! Listen as we talk about the life and career of Freak Show Hall of Famer Rory Calhoun, the best way to season BBQ, chainsaw duels, and pig-headed killers on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sean heads off to a magical land of barbarian kickboxers in search of enlightenment with Circle of Iron (1978, aka The Silent Flute). Allegedly Bruce Lee's personal dream project, it was realized after his death with David Carradine taking on the role of The Blind Man (and several other characters) who lend wisdom to a muscular warrior on a quest to retrieve a sacred book from an evil wizard. Or something. Listen as Eastern philosophy comes crashing down on Western knuckleheads as we weigh the merits of dissolving the Terrible Thing with Eli Wallach, face the trials, and espouse our own nuggets of ancient wisdom on this most excellent episode. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Colin celebrates Alien's 40th anniversary by watching the sleazy, low-budget Roger Corman version: Forbidden World (1982, aka Mutant)! An intergalactic "troubleshooter" is summoned to a distant research outpost where all the women get naked and throw themselves at him while a giant creature alternately eats the crew and/or turns them into pulsating puddles of goo. Listen as we marvel at the styrofoam sets - designed by future wunderkind James Cameron, and witness gratuitous space nooky, gory prosthetic effects, and kamakaze space flute playing, all on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Michaela spins us a full-on spider apocalypse as we watch William Shatner versus the Kingdom of the Spiders (1977), a movie that finds The Shat (in a lull between Star Treks) playing the curiously christened "Rack" Hansen: Horseback Veterinarian, a good-old-boy who must save his arid Arizona community from an attack by thousands of poisonous tarantulas. Listen as Shatner puts his real-life cowboy skills to use as hundreds of spiders learn how to cut power and phone lines (before breaking windows en masse) and one woman makes the questionable choice to use a firearm to remove spiders from her body; all this and more on this week's exciting episode!  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Holly explores the 90's movies' fascination with serial killers with the Serial Killer Greatest Hits movie Copycat (1995), wherein Sigourney Weaver plays agoraphobic psychologist who lends her expertise to the San Francisco P.D. when a psychopath begins recreating the murder scenes of infamous mass killers all around town. Listen as we revisit the "computer morph", ogle open floor plan houses, and marvel at the way the 90's understood the Internet, all on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sean sneaks a made-for-video movie into the dark bowels of the Saturday Night Freak Show screening room with his pick of Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996), the promised final entry in his 2019 Spring of Sequels selections. Listen as we talk about the extended life of the beloved(?) Tremors movie series (and retirement savings project for series regular Michael Gross) which currently stands at four sequels, a prequel, and a TV series, with an announced 7th movie on the way! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Colin thinks The Manitou (1978) is the greatest movie ever made about a woman with a reincarnated 400-year-old Indian medicine man growing on her neck! In one of the 70's strangest supernatural thrillers, Tony Curtis plays a fortune teller who has to recruit a modern day Native American shaman to combat an evil spirit that's taken possession of his girlfriend. Listen as we endure hysterical fortune telling, breezy seances, Indian mysticism, an evil dwarf, ghost lizards, skinned men, frozen hospitals, exploding typewriters, and cosmic encounters on this week's episode. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.