Horror Movie Talk Episodes

If you loved the story of Ralphie and his red ryder b-b gun in A Christmas Story, then you’ll love this other Christmas classic by Bob Clark. In Black Christmas, the Pi Kappa Sigma Sorority receives a strange and obscene phone calls during their Christmas party right before Christmas break. The reactions to the phone call range from disgust and offence to amusement. Barb played by Margo Kidder fires back her own obscenities in return, to which the phone call ends with a sobering “I’m going to kill you”. The faceless killer, which can be described most accurately as a maniac, then stalks and kills several inhabitants of Pi Kappa Sigma. The sorority tries to get the police to take them seriously when they can’t find a missing sister, but the police don’t take any action until a dead body shows up in the park.There’s also a relationship storyline that you won’t care about.Black Christmas ReviewBlack Christmas was an interesting movie, but not the most entertaining. There were a lot of … [Read more...] about Black Christmas Review

The House that Jack Built isn’t getting a wide release until December 14th, but we went to a one night only showing of the director’s cut a month early at the Cinema 21 in Portland. So this is a rare instance where we can provide a review well in advance of a wide release.The film tells the story of an unassuming, yet prolific serial killer named Jack. It's told through a series of 5 short vignettes of some of his notable kills. It’s told over the course of 12 years from the mid-late 70’s to the mid-late 80s and takes place in the rural Pacific NorthWest of the United States. Jack’s nom de guerre is Mr. Sophistication, which he writes on the grisly photos he takes of his victims.Throughout the film Jack's descriptions of his personal condition, problems and thoughts are told through a recurring conversation with the unknown "Verge". Jack views himself as a sophisticated man and the story is told through his own mixture of arrogant and narcissistic sophistry.The House That Jack Built … [Read more...] about The House That Jack Built Review

ALL HAIL NETFLIX! Now that we have that out of the way let’s talk about The Ritual, a Netflix original movie that was released on the streaming platform in February of 2018. I can’t believe that movies of this caliber, that is to say, theatrical release worthy movies, are created in the quiet depths of a streaming platform. I didn’t hear much about the production of this movie. Instead, it just showed up on my Netflix suggestion bar, and I watched it. There must be a better way to hype these things, right? Anyway, The Ritual is a well-done horror movie that capitalizes on the natural spookiness of camping and the woods.The Ritual TrailerI don’t know if you are a camper, but I am. For years I worked a job that had me camping for a good portion of the year as I maintained trails in a National Forest. I got quite used to camping in the backcountry, but the thought never left some primordial part of my brain, “What if something was out there?” The Ritual is very good at capitalizing on … [Read more...] about The Ritual Review

If you want to watch Hereditary, please consider renting or purchasing the movie through this amazon link to help us support the podcast.If you haven’t seen Hereditary, and you are reading this, STOP! Watch the movie. It's available to stream on Amazon.I don’t want to argue about this, go now, watch it. Here is the trailer:You should go into this movie knowing nothing about it. I say this with certainty because I went in to see Hereditary without knowing a darn thing about it, and it was a transcendent experience. I didn’t know it was a horror movie; I didn’t know it was about interpersonal relationships, I didn’t know anything. That’s a slight lie; I knew that the movie had a very disturbing scene that polarized viewers and made many walk out of movie theaters.Ari Aster, the director, has made a masterpiece.I go into most movies knowing almost nothing about them. I don’t seek out trailers. I don’t look for release dates, which has had to change a little bit given the launch of this … [Read more...] about Hereditary Review

If you want to watch Overlord, please consider renting or purchasing the movie through this amazon linkto help us support the podcast.Overlord was fun, very loud, and not to be taken too seriously.Overlord is a fun action-horror movie with intense emphasis on disturbing body horror and super stereotypical Nazi bad guys. It’s got everything you need for an action movie - incredible sound, crazy intense physical fights, gun battles, chase scenes, you name it. It also has plenty of disturbing imagery that works well and makes you say, “Boy, those Germans sure were mean dudes!” All the elements to make this a “fun horror movie,” are present. Overlord provided me with all my favorite things - WWII, Nazi killing, fun horror, drugs, and a decently tight script.Overlord is a movie about a few American paratroopers in WWII dropped behind enemy lines in France. Their mission is to destroy a radio tower in a church that has been occupied by the Germans and converted into a radio tower, and much … [Read more...] about Overlord Review

If you want to watch Suspiria (2018), please consider renting or purchasing the movie through this amazon link to help us support the podcast.We went and saw Suspiria, and there is a lot to unpack with this one...Suspiria takes place in the politically tumultuous 1977’s Berlin and follows a young woman, Susie Bannion, played by Dakota Johnson, seeking out her dream to dance in the famed Tanz Dance Academy under her idol Madame Blanc, played by Tilda Swinton. Not everything is right in the dance academy. The movie opens with a frantic and distressed dancer Patricia, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, visiting her psychiatrist, Dr. Josef Klemperer, played by...Lutz Ebersdorf (We’ll get to him later). Patricia’s frantic and panicked statements about the academy come off as schizophrenic and delusional to Dr. Klemperer, but are an omen of things to come. We find out that the dance studio is undergoing a crisis of leadership as the company is split between having the unseen founder, Helena … [Read more...] about Suspiria (2018) Review

You wanted to know a bit more about your Horror Movie Talk hosts, David Day and Bryce Hanson, so here it is. First of all, we love horror movies – but why we love them is important. In this episode, we delve into what drove us to our horror movie addictions, share some of our horror tastes, and our top five favorite horror movies. Happy Halloween 2018, be safe and have fun! What Got David Into Horror Movies? As a kid, I lead a fairly sheltered life, especially when it came to what I got to watch. I remember begging my mother to let me see Jurassic Park in the 2nd grade because I always loved dinosaurs. I saw it in theaters, on opening night with a friend and it blew my mind. I was instantly hooked. The terror in that movie for a sheltered 2nd grader was high, and I loved it. I remember waking up early quite a bit when I was very young and catching some messed up movies at 4 am on some subscription channel. One of those movies was Frankenhooker, which did a number on me. Frankenhooker … [Read more...] about The Horrific Beginnings of Horror Movie Talk

If you want to watch Halloween (1978), please consider renting or purchasing the movie through this amazon link to help us support the podcast.John Carpenter’s original Halloween released in 1978 is a pillar of the horror movie genre. Halloween helped to pave the way for slashers and created tropes and techniques that are still used to this day to great effect. When it comes to fun, seasonal horror movies, you can’t do much better than this. Today Halloween still stands up on its own but benefits greatly from a form of nostalgia that I have a great deal of respect for.Halloween focuses on three main characters – Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) who is the virgin teen in distress, Loomis (Donald Pleasence) who is The Shape’s head doctor, and of course, Mike Meyers AKA The Shape (played by seven different actors). By today’s standards this movie is quite slow-paced, but if you feel like you can trade in the pacing for nostalgia and sleepy Midwest towns with old-fashioned values, you probably … [Read more...] about Halloween (1978) Review

Halloween is the direct sequel to the original Halloween released in 1978 that ignores the story lines and continuity of the 9 other sequels and/or reboots. There have been so many Halloweens, that this is the third one called, just, Halloween. This round is helmed by David Gordon Green who wrote it with Danny McBride. Yes, that Danny McBride. … [Read more...] about Halloween (2018) Review

If you want to watch Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich please consider renting or purchasing the movie through this amazon link to help us support the podcast.Synopsis of Puppet Master: The Littlest ReichPuppet Master: The Littlest Reich is a reboot of one of the most popular cult classic horror franchises in the past 30 years, and it’s fun for all the right reasons. It is irreverent, funny, fun, completely gratuitous and extremely violent. If you are new to the series, it doesn’t do a fabulous job of introducing you to the puppets, but it does a great job of explaining the premise of the puppet master, Andre Toulon, played by Udo Kier.Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich has enough familiar faces to make you feel at home, and the cast you (probably) don’t recognize do a wonderful job of giving admirable performances.Thomas Lennon (Lt. Dangle from Reno 911) plays Edgar, the main antagonist who is a recent divorcee and comic book creator who has fallen on tough times and is living with his … [Read more...] about Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich Review