Saturday Night Freak Show

Holly discovers that not all aliens come from space in DeepStar Six (1989), one of several competing terror-from-the-deep flicks that hit multiplexes the same year. This one's directed by Friday the 13th's Sean S. Cunningham and finds Navy researchers on the ocean floor terrorized by a giant crustacean. Listen as we dive into deepsea truckers, cold water nips, accidental nuclear detonations, and roaring sealife on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Just when Sean thought it was safe to go back in the water, Jaws 2 (1978) swam up and took a bite! The original blockbuster gets a sequel that pits Amity Police Chief Brody against obstinate bureaucrats, hormonal teens, and another great white shark that stalks and attacks its victims with all the shock and awe of a backwoods slasher. Listen as we land sharks, ghost sharks, club sharks, sand sharks and more on this week's sharktastic episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colin thinks like a sociopathic serial killer in order to catch one in Manhunter (1986), the very 80s adaptation of Thomas Harris' "Red Dragon," pitting empathetic FBI agent Will Graham against The Tooth Fairy, a psycho who kills entire families in pursuit of twisted wish fulfilment. Listen as we compare and contrast Michael Mann's vision against multiple screen versions of the story and witness The Becoming of the Great Red Dragon on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michaela wants to discover the secret of the ooze that makes dreams come true on Fantasy Island (2020), Blumhouse's horror-ish remake of the beloved TV show, that finds several vacationers running from living manifestations of their past sins on a magical tropical island. Listen as we exclaim "The plane! The plane!" as guests of the mysterious Mr. Roarke and our fantasies of revenge, love, heroism, and hedonism all come true this week! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Holly opens up a can of whoop ass by bringing Steven Seagal to the Freak Show with Hard to Kill (1990), in which the human shaped automaton plays a cop who awakens from a 7 year coma and embarks on a rip roaring rampage of revenge, slapping all the guys who murdered his wife, really hard. Listen as watch the mysterious action hero bend elbows backwards, romance nurses, grow an epic beard, and run like a girl, all on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sean leads us into the haunted woods of Burkitsville, Maryland with Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000), a meta-sequel to The Blair Witch Project that seems to suggest madness and murder are the outcomes of obsessive horror movie fandom. But that won't stop your intrepid quartet of Freak Show podcasters from plowing ahead onto haunted boat tours, encountering annoying self-obsessed Wiccans, as we blur the lines between fantasy and reality on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colin wants to discover The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh (1971), along with a lot of other men — one of whom might be a black gloved razor wielding maniac! Giallo queen Edwige Fenech is the titular socialite, whose extramarital proclivities place her life in jeopardy. Listen as we studiously avoid becoming targets of vengeful screenwriters, enjoy wistful sadomasochistic reminiscences, and encounter the deadly love rhombus once again on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michaela takes the weed whacker along on her nightmare vacation atop The Ruins (2008), which deposits tourists upon an ancient Mayan temple that holds a deadly secret. Listen as we talk about risky vacation behavior, hot rock leg amputation, creeping vines and internal organs, flesh invasion, carnivorous vegetation, and more on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Holly plays The Most Dangerous Game and finds Jean-Claude Van Damme very hard to kill in Hard Target (1993), the first American movie by Hong Kong action pioneer John Woo. When a merchant seaman with some very special skills helps a young woman track down her missing father in New Orleans, they become the targets of human safari. Listen as we marvel at snake-punching, motorcycle surfing, double fisted bulletstorm insanity in this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sean says time is on his side, and that's why we spent 2 hours and 4 minutes watching Denzel Washington pursue a body-hopping demon in Fallen (1998). Bizarro murders committed after a serial killer is put to death puzzle Philadelphia police, and one dogged detective finds himself the target of the Satanic trickster. Listen as we talk demon entrapment, chomp on turkey legs, and stage impossible murder scenes, on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colin continues serving Giallo Shots with What Have You Done to Solange? (1972) a hybrid Italian-German co-production that fuses the German "krimi" (crime) films with the Italian giallo genre they inspired. Girls at a Catholic prep school are murdered by a sadistic sex killer and a gym teacher finds himself a prime suspect after having an affair with one of his students. Listen as we talk about the cinematic legacy of writer Edgar Wallace, what Solange Knowles did in that elevator, Eurosleaze, and try to untangle a labyrinthine plot on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michaela wants to time warp back to an 80's era mall but finds it's haunted by the Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (1989)! A horribly burned lover survives the fire that nearly killed him and wreaks havoc on the greedy developers who build a mall on the spot of his family home, while trying to woo back his sweetheart. Listen as we talk about assassin snakes, killer workouts, and the cinematic legacy of action dude Gregory Scott Cummings on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Holly finds that the pen is mightier than the sword in summoning a demonic Cellar Dweller (1987) from the netherworld! Students at a remote 'artist colony' (read: cabin in the woods) fall prey to a hairy creature conjured by a cloistered cartoonist in a film directed by makeup fx man John Carl Buechler. Listen as we pile hate on performance artists, tortured artists, pretentious artists, and art schools in general on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sean wants to swallow your soul after being possessed by Evil Dead (2013), a gory remake of Sam Raimi's no-budget classic. Five friends go to a cabin in the woods and unwittingly set loose demons that possess and kill them one by one, but those expecting a straight retread of the original are in for a surprise. Listen as we make it rain blood, summon evil spirits, hack off our own limbs, and generally get groovy on this week's episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colin tracks the slasher movie genre back to Blood and Black Lace (1964), an Italian giallo from the maestro, Mario Bava, in which a (literally) faceless, black gloved killer stalks models at a haute couture fashion house. Listen as we reveal telltale ways to spot the murderer in any mystery movie, unravel convoluted whodunnit plotwork, and ooh and awe over the use of multi-colored lighting on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michaela begins to think a rocket launcher might be the only way to take out a haunted elevator in Down (aka The Shaft, 2001), a movie that features a pre-stardom Naomi Watts, about a maintenance company employee (Twin Peaks' James Marshall) who finds himself pitted against a homicidal piece of machinery that's lopping off heads at a NYC high rise. Listen as we propose Down 2: The Second Floor with Dutch angles, flying baby births, love in an elevator and more on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Surprise! The Freak Show makes a sudden detour to the Big Apple with Scream VI (2023), as the famed slasher saga relocates to NYC and asks "Who gives a #$%! about movies?" So much stabbing ensues. Listen as we power up on serial killer DNA, get haunted by ghosts and Ghostfaces, and find out if #JusticeForKirby is finally served on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sean vacations at the house by the pond (not to be confused with the cabin by the lake) and shouts, There's Nothing Out There (1991), only to discover there IS actually something out there: a horny, reptilian extra-terrestrial menace determined to kill everyone in sight! Listen as we discuss VHS-themed funerary rituals, the high school phenomenon of "super seniors" as we swing from boom mics while dodging laser eyes on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colin wants to believe the truth is out there by reopening The X-Files (1998), the first big-screen version of the hit 90's sci-fi phenomenon that hopes to explain the first five years of the show's alien mythology, placing FBI Agents Mulder and Scully on a globetrotting adventure against a government conspiracy. Listen as we fight the future, turn people in to Jello, run up an incredible taxpayer-funded expense account, and uncover the secret government agency behind it all on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michaela digs into Esther's daddy bible and uncovers Orphan: First Kill (2022), a 13-years-later prequel to the cult horror flick about a homicidal girl with daddy issues, only this one takes a bugnuts turn into crazytown. Listen as we talk Otherlands, accurate 2000's technological representation, and stab cutting boards with sharp knives on this week's exciting episode! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.