More Than One Lesson

Bad Times at the El Royale is a difficult film to review because everything we think we know at the start is revealed to be a lie before we’ve even had a chance to settle in. This is cleverly designed by writer-director Drew Goddard (The Cabin in the Woods) and is ultimately one of the movie’s two central themes. The other is about the various ways its characters relate to God.

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Horror stories in TV and film already come in multiple varieties: slashers, paranormal, creature-features, gore-fests, etc. But one variety of horror story that is rarely considered as such is the closer-to-reality ilk of true crime dramas such as CSI or even Law & Order. While it is true that the tone and intention behind these stories are often more dramatic in flavor, I’ve often speculated that the violence described in most episodes of criminal procedurals easily rivals the grisliest of gruesome activities of Jason Vorhees or Michael Myers.

I would submit for your consideration a new entry in that sub-category of “true-crime horror” a new film by Nick Searcy, his sophomore feature effort, called Gosnell: The Trial of America’s Biggest Serial Killer. The title implies a certain horrific conceit already, but the based-on-a-true-story trial in question was the trail of Kermit Gosnell, an abortion doctor who was discovered to live and operate in horrendously filthy and cluttered conditions, and who was responsible for the deaths of numerous infants and at least one adult woman through unlawful and unsanitary practices.

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In this episode, John and Reed discuss Ant-Man and the Wasp.

Listen to “Ep 25 Two and TWO Halves Geek Soup??!?!” on Spreaker.

In this episode, Tyler and Reed discuss Jordan Peele’s Get Out and George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. 

In this episode, John and Aaron discuss the work of H.P. Lovecraft.

Listen to “Ep. 24 “It’s gonna be eldritch and maddening”” on Spreaker.

In this episode, Reed and Nathan discuss John Landis’ An American Werewolf in London.

EPISODE BREAKDOWN

1:47 – Introductions
5:15 – #ilovethe80s Numbers 50-41
18:19 – An American Werewolf in London
1:34:20 – David S. Pumpkins
1:38:20 – Farewells

If you’re a horror fan, you eventually come across giallo films, and in doing so, you quickly find out about Dario Argento’s 1977 classic Suspiria. Set in a ballet studio where a coven of witches carry out dark rituals, the film is famous for its vibrant colors, eerie score, and gruesome deaths. Forty years later, Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) is trying his hand at this story, although he says it’s more of an “homage” than a “remake.”

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In this minisode, Tyler and Josh discuss Michel Gondry’s Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

In this episode, Reed and Nathan discuss Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake.

In the age of memes and video supercuts, Nicolas Cage having meltdowns and pulling freakish facial expressions has taken up roughly 40 percent of the Internet’s content. It’s a fact. You don’t have to look it up. What can get lost in that though is that when it’s in service of the right filmmaker, Nicolas Cage’s unparalleled ability to become unhinged onscreen can be so much more than an out of context joke. In the service of director Panos Cosmatos (2010’s Beyond the Black Rainbow) and his new film Mandy, Cage delivers a mesmerizing and thrilling performance as a man with a personal mission to destroy a local cult.

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