Saturday Night Freak Show

Colin cranks the fog machine and creeps around the haunted world of Mario Bava's Black Sabbath (aka I Tre Volti Della Paura - "The Three Faces of Fear," 1963), an anthology horror movie hosted by and starring Boris Karloff. In "The Telephone," a beautiful woman is terrorized by threatening phone calls; in "The Wurdulak," a mountain family worries that their elder has returned home as a vampire; and in "The Drop of Water," a nurse robs a medium who died during a seance, and supernatural shenanigans ensue. Listen as we're joined by Brandon of the Sock Monkey Sound podcast, talk Italian horror, expose "hidden" subtexts and more, all on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Michaela joins a circle of teenage witches who practice The Craft (1996) and makes poor Fairuza Balk lose her mind! Balk plays a sullen, Goth misfit who lures Sarah, the new girl in school, into her coven of witches (alongside Neve Campbell and Rachel True) in hopes of getting revenge on their high school tormentors, but things turn deadly and escalate into a full blown Satanic freak out! Listen as our invocations and magic spells lead to a surprising Freak Show duet, reveal surprising details about your hosts' off-mic proclivities, and force Colin to broadcast from the Great Beyond, all on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Holly hopes to survive an apocalypse of running zombies as she outmaneuvers Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead (2004), a remake of George Romero's classic. As before, a disparate group of strangers must band together within an abandoned shopping mall as hordes of the living dead gather outside. Listen as we contribute to the slow zombie vs fast zombie debate, compare and contrast the remake to its namesake, imagine a zombie movie starring only a cast of pets, and more - on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sean cozies up to the seductive vampire fantasy that is Fright Night Part 2 (1988), which finds Charley Brewster and the Fearless Vampire Killer, Peter Vincent, re-teaming when the sister of the original film's vampire descends on Los Angeles with revenge on her mind. Listen as we try to uncover how this sequel ended up in movie limbo; discuss the high fashion of vampire chic; and wistfully long for cheesy 80's rubber monster FX, all on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Colin uses benign pharmacology and energy sculpting to trip out Beyond the Black Rainbow (2011), director Panos Cosmatos' nod to science-fiction and horror films of the 1980's. A mad doctor keeps a young woman with telekinetic powers trapped in an underground clinic, where 60's-era psychedelic experiments have produced inhuman results. Listen as we discuss the merit of pop culture objects that imitate the style and design of the 80's, movies that value atmosphere over character or plot, and lay the ground work for what constitutes an "art" movie, and more, on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Michaela wants to go serial killer-hunting with American Psycho 2 (2002), an in-name only cash grab sequel to the Christian Bale-starrer. This time, That 70's Show's Mila Kunis plays a college student who killed Patrick Bateman as a child and becomes obsessed with hunting other serial killers, so much so that she's willing to kill her rivals for a teaching-assistant post that guarantees a spot at the FBI academy in Quantico. Listen as we cast shame upon quick buck sequel producers, ponder William Shatner's sex appeal, and drum up the idea for the Canadian version called North American Psycho, all on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sean takes us on a Freak Show Field Trip to the sewers of Derry, Maine to scrutinize not one but two screen adaptations of Stephen King's IT - both the 2017 theatrical feature and the television mini-series from 1990. Listen to our IT overindulgence as we compare and contrast the novel, the mini-series, the screenplay for the aborted Cary Fukunaga-directed version, and the final Andy Muschietti-helmed version and talk Deadlights and cosmic turtles, compare both Tim Curry and Bill Skarsgard's takes on Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and discuss what's been added or removed from both attempts to bring King's gargantuan final thesis of horror to the screen! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Holly doesn't want to be buried in a Pet Sematary (1989), especially not one that once belonged to Micmac Indians and has the power to bring the dead back to life! Louis Creed and his family soon find out that "sometimes, dead is better" after moving into an adjacent home and taking advantage of its evil magic, once tragedy strikes. Listen as we discuss zombie kittens, Zelda, ghostly harbingers, and wonder what Pet Sematary would have been like directed by George Romero and starring Bruce Campbell, all on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Colin prays for daylight after hanging with the grimy vampires of Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark (1987), which follows a farmhand named Caleb (Adrian Pasdar) who is seduced by a sexy Southern belle (Jenny Wright) into joining a group of fangless, hillbilly vampires who prowl the American Southwest. Listen as we spend way too much time talking about the Twilight movies, contrast Near Dark with it's similarly-themed cousin The Lost Boys, and invent plots for half a dozen vampire movies on this week's exciting show! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Michaela kits up, heads into the brush, and howls at the moon with Dog Soldiers (2002), which sees a squad of British squaddies (that's soldiers to you) who, during training exercises in the wilderness of the Scottish highlands, come under siege from a pack of werewolves. Listen as we discuss the career of director Neil (Game of Thrones) Marshall, learn new English slang, rate the surprise villains, and generally cause mischief on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Holly is bitten by a Sumatran Rat-Monkey and finds herself Dead Alive (aka Braindead, 1992)! After his overprotective mother is bitten by the aforementioned rat-monkey, her grown son, Lionel, finds himself over his head in a pile of zombies, romance, zombie babies, and anthropomorphic entrails in what has been called "the goriest movie ever made". Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson shovels on the blood and guts by the bucketload with a side helping of comedy in this splatstick classic. Listen as we blame Jackson for the de-evolution of practical effects magic to computer animation, and eulogize the splatter movie genre, on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sean refuses his right to remain silent after choosing to watch Maniac Cop (1988)! As brutal murders shake New York City, a jaded detective (Tom Atkins) begins to suspect a uniformed cop is the suspect, while another officer (Bruce Campbell) unwittingly finds himself the number one suspect. Can these two team up to stop the Maniac Cop?? Listen as we marvel at the historic team-up of two of modern horror's biggest icons, discuss the political ramifications of remaking Maniac Cop, and invent rules for Tom Atkins Bingo on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Colin squirts 3-D hallucinogenic acid in the eyes of his Freak Show family with Charles Band's Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn (1983)! On a remote planet, a ranger named Dogen (Jeffrey Byron) teams up with a plucky blonde (Kelly Preston) and a washed up soldier (Tim Thomerson) to hunt down an evil magician (Mike Preston) who is leading the indigenous cyclops population (lead by Night Court's Richard Moll) into an uprising, all while dodging laser blasts, tree branches, lightning golems, and Graboids, all in mind-blowing 3-D! Join us as we wonder if the journey is worth the trouble on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Michaela goes for a ride along with the cure for crime himself: Cobra (1986)! When the mysterious Night Slasher begins terrorizing Los Angeles, the only man who can get things done is an officer from the L.A.P.D.'s "Zombie Squad", Marion "Cobra" Cobretti (Sylvester Stallone). Here, he's charged with protecting the only witness (Stallone's wife-at-the-time, Danish model Brigitte Nielsen) who can identify the killer. Listen as we try to quote (or sing, in Sean's case) every single one of Stallone's one-liners; come to learn how Cobra's origins tie in to Beverly Hills Cop; and debate the civility of cutting a slice of pizza with a pair of scissors; all this and more on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Holly turns to the life aquatic with this week's pick of Waterworld (1995), the notoriously expensive Kevin Costner spectacle. Here, he plays a half-man/half-fish mutant loner who lives on a flooded, futuristic Earth, pursued by evil Smokers (literally - they smoke at least a pack and a half a day) while ferrying his charges - a woman and the mysterious child she cares for - in search of a mythical place called Dryland. Listen as we contemplate the egos involved in the creation of the movie, fashions in a world without leather, ecology-minded message movies, and Sean gets lost down a hole in this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sean says it's open season on Predator 2 (1990) as Danny Glover subs for Arnold Schwarzenegger, fighting a technologically advanced killer from another world through the concrete jungle of L.A. This time, the cops - already fighting Mexican and Jamaican gangs - find themselves being chased by an alien trophy hunter who's in town with a few days to kill. Listen as we imagine the pre-safari Predator gearing up at the alien Gander Mountain, postulate that cocaine fueled the making of the movie, and Sean makes a bet that could cost him his luxurious beard... all that and more on this week's exciting show! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Colin wishes he was as cool as The Lost Boys (1987), a vampire classic that finds brothers Sam and Michael relocating to the beachfront community of Santa Carla with their mother, only to discover that its the hunting ground for a pack of ultra-chic teenage vampires; only with the help of the vampire-hunting Frog Brothers does humanity stand a chance. Listen as we celebrate the film's 30th anniversary by charting the history of the cinematic vampire, revel in the cinematic team up of the two Coreys (Haim and Feldman), ponder the film's connection to the Curse of Sergio, and more on this week's exciting episode!   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Michaela hopes many kicks to the head will cure her hunger for Bloodsport (1988), the movie that unleashed Jean-Claude Van Damme upon the world. Here, JCVD portrays a martial artist who sneaks into a forbidden, underground tournament known as the Kumite to compete to become the World Heavy Weight Full Contact Kumite Champion! There, he must fight the formidable Bolo (Enter the Dragon) Yeung! Listen as we horribly mispronounce Asian names, imagine a better version of Bloodsport, discuss the art of acting blind, and wonder how JCVD managed not to tear open his scrotum while doing the splits, on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Holly hopes exposure to spider-men will help cure her Arachnophobia (1990). When the residents of a friendly small town start dropping dead, the newly arrived doctor with an acute fear of spiders (Jeff Daniels) suspects the worst - that they are victims of a never-before-seen, super-poisonous species of arachnid. Listen as we discuss childhood enthusiasm for entomology, the importance of spider love, how to coax an Oscar-worthy performance from an insect, and more, on this week's exiting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Colin unwraps 85 years of Universal horror with The Mummy (1932). Members of an expedition to Egypt accidentally bring to life a 3,700-year-old priest named Imhotep (Boris Karloff), who immediately sets to work on resurrecting his forbidden love. We'll have you shouting "Show me the mummy!" as we guide you through Universal Studios' Dark Universe (old and new) and address at least a dozen mummy movies from over the years, from Hammer Films Gothic chillers with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, to the action spectacles of Brendan Fraser and Tom Cruise on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.