THIS WEEK: House on Haunted Hill (1959), The Tingler (1959), Homicidal (1961) Sometimes called the P.T. Barnum of Hollywood, William Castle made his mark in the world of cinema by promoting his kitschy horror films with one of a kind gimmicks. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon…

THIS WEEK: The Devils (1971), Gothic (1986), The Lair of the White Worm (1988) We're taking Shawn on a trip across the pond to discuss transgressive auteur Ken Russell's contributions to the horror genre. Will we cure Shawn of his disdain for grand theatrical hijinks and flat British production? Probably not. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Suppo…

THIS WEEK: The Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead II (1987), Army of Darkness (1982) Like an incurable rash, SHAWNTOBER returns again so we can subject respectable film lover and Wiseman Cast host Shawn Glinis to all the horror films he's managed to avoid watching for decades. This year, we're starting off with a big blind spot: Evil Dead. Donate to Pales…

THIS WEEK: Baby Cat (2023) vs The Towel Man (2021) We're taking a little break from your regularly scheduled OpVac episode to prep for our favorite yearly tradition, Shawntober. But don't worry, we won't leave you hangin'. Enjoy a little treat from the PATRON EXCLUSIVE feed: The debut episode from Caustic Content: Season 2 - The show where Steve an…

THIS WEEK: Caged Heat (1974), Crazy Mama (1975), Last Embrace (1979) Before Jonathan Demme was hanging out with David Byrne and winning Oscars, he was pumping out exploitation flicks for Roger Corman and doing weird Hitchcock homages Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon…

THIS WEEK: Manhunter (1986), Hannibal (2001), Red Dragon (2002), Hannibal Rising (2007) After covering Jonathan Demme's Silence of The Lambs last week we decided to keep the ball rolling and cover the rest of the film adaptations of Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter novels. Not that any of us need an excuse to watch Manhunter for the 74726587432 time.…

THIS WEEK: The Silence of the Lambs (1991), The Cell (2000), Longlegs (2024) People keep telling us Longlegs is the new Silence of the Lambs so we figured we had better see how Osgood Perkin's screeching Nic Cage glam rock dollmaker stacks up to Hannibal Lecter. We watched The Cell too because Miros is ride-or-die for J Lo and who doesn't love Tars…

THIS WEEK: The Crow: City of Angels (1996), The Crow: Salvation (2000), The Crow: Wicked Prayer (2005) What's that? There's a brand new reboot of the Alex Proyas/Brandon Lee film, The Crow, and it stars the guy who played Pennywise in the IT remake? While the cowards make their way out of the local Hot Topic and into the AMC theater on the other si…

THIS WEEK: 300 (2006), 300: Rise of an Empire (2014), Meet The Spartans (2008) Some things are so difficult to comprehend they boggle the mind to the point of madness. Who knew Zack Snyder would create the cinematic playbook for stylized dumb guy action and modern reactionary right wing fascism? Who could have ever dreamed a wildly successful non-S…

THIS WEEK: Dances With Wolves (1990), Open Range (2003), Horizon: An American Story - Chapter 1 (2024) We're joined by Aaron from Hit Factory to discuss the standard bearer for the modern American western, Kevin Costner, and why sometimes you need to lose your wife of 18 years so you can make a four-part epic about the 19th-century American frontie…

THIS WEEK: I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006) In the late 90s, Kevin Williamson was the hottest name in horror after penning Scream for Wes Craven. Just a year later, he capitalized on his newfound fame with a script about small town teens getting th…

THIS WEEK: Golgo 13: The Professional (1983), Ninja Scroll (1993), Perfect Blue (1997) and Kite (1998) Steve and Jack are both out this week so there's never been a better time to subject Adam "Hentai Hater" Miros to some of the best anime produced in 80s and 90s. And also Kite. Donate to Palestinian Medical Aid Support Optimism Vaccine on Patreon…

THIS WEEK: Wishmaster (1997), Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies (1999), Wishmaster 3: Beyond the Gates of Hell (2001) and Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfilled In the horror desert of the late 90s, a group of practical effects legends and genre has-beens came together to crown Andrew Divoff as heir to the horror icons of yesteryear. We all wish that thi…

THIS WEEK: Death Race 2000 (1975), Rollerball (1975), The Running Man (1987) Recently, President Joe Biden tried to salvage his legacy after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump by going on national television and reassuring the American people he was fit to be the commander-in-chief. Unfortunately, he committed the ultimate gaff an…

THIS WEEK: Beverly Hills Cop (1984), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) The biggest surprise of 2024 might be that there's one person John Landis can't kill despite his best efforts: Axel Foley. Join us as we dig into the Beverly Hills Cop franchise, crown Eddie Murphy the king of on-screen i…

THIS WEEK: If Footmen Tire You What Will Horses Do? (1971), The Burning Hell (1974), The Believer's Heaven (1977) Throughout the 1950s and 60s, Ron Ormond and his family made a name for themselves peddling trashy drive-in flicks across the country. After a near-fatal plane crash, the Ormonds gave up their wicked ways and dedicated their lives to Go…

THIS WEEK: Captain America (1979) and Captain America II: Death Too Soon (1979) Can you believe we were blessed with not one but TWO made for tv Captain America movies in 1979? Nothing says FREEDOM on the 4th of July like watching Reb Brown in red, white and blue spandex popping a sick wheelie on his lil motorcycle. Celebrate America’s birthday lik…

THIS WEEK: Dreamaniac (1986), Batas Impian Ranjang Setan AKA Satan's Bed (1986), Night Killer (1990), and Mahakaal AKA The Monster (1994) Knockoff month has been a dream, but sometimes you eat a supreme pizza just before bed -- and the dream curdles into nightmare. A nightmare not unlike what transpires when Wes Craven's masterpiece is entrusted to…

THIS WEEK: Slash (1984), The Intruder AKA Pembalasan Rambu (1985), Strike Commando (1987) Knockoff month marches on with a visit to Indonesia and the Philippines where we trade in Stallone’s Rambo for a Rambu, a Ransom, and a guy named Slash with a DIY rocket launcher. One of these movies was filmed in the exact same location as Apocalypse Now, but…

THIS WEEK: Creature (1985), Creepozoids (1987), Shocking Dark AKA Terminator II (1987) Knockoff Month has jumped from fake Terminators to a scene-for-scene ripoff of Aliens (1986) inexplicably marketed as a Terminator sequel in Italy. Speaking of beloved knockoff auteurs, David DeCoteau once again makes his mark on the pod with the only Alien ripof…

THIS WEEK: Assassin (1986), Lady Terminator (1989), Solo (1996) WELCOME TO KNOCKOFF MONTH Whether it's a TV movie of the week, a bizarre transmission from the shores of Indonesia, or just a pile of Mario Van Peebles trash, you can't go wrong with a classic Terminator knockoff. Or maybe these are Robocop knockoffs? Or Universal Soldier knockoffs? We…

THIS WEEK: Straight-Jacket (1964), Berserk (1967), Trog (1970) After a career resurgence with the hagsploitation classic, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Joan Crawford spent the final decade of her career in kitschy William Castle films, a Circus whodunit, and a murderous monkey man pseudo-horror flick. Sure, it ain't Mildred Pierce, but how do Mo…

THIS WEEK: The Intruder, aka I Hate Your Guts (1962), X: The Man With The X-Ray Eyes (1963), Frankenstein Unbound (1990) The god of independent filmmaking. The mentor who helped jumpstart the careers of Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, and Francis Ford Coppola. The cheap asshole who claims he never lost a dime making m…

THIS WEEK: Mother's Day (1980), Mommie Dearest (1981), Grand Jeté (2022) Some cowards only celebrate moms once a year. Here, we're dedicated to eschewing that silly Hallmark holiday and respecting mothers a week later when no one is expecting it. We're absolutely not late on this one I promise. So why not celebrate moms the best way we know how: Wi…

THIS WEEK: Lake Michigan Monster (2018) and Hundreds of Beavers (2022) From the Milwaukee shoreline to the snowbanks of the Wisconsin north woods, Mike Cheslik and Ryland Brickson Cole Tews have risen to 'Sconnie cinema royalty status alongside other greats like Bill Rebane and Mark Borchardt. Join us as we dig into their unique brand of indie film…