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Episode 86 – 2024 Wrap Up

December 25, 2024

As 2024 comes to an end, we look in a rearview mirror filled with some amazing films, especially ones that came out this year. Filmmakers around the world wowed us with creative stories, intriguing plots and outstanding techniques. It is definitely a great time to be a horror fan.

2024 was another stellar year for us at the podcast, where we covered a wide variety of subjects, from Bigfoot to Amicus Films, from Women Directors to Al Adamson & Sam Sherman, to more obscure topics like German Expressionism, and much more. We also had an astonishing lineup of special guests including Severin’s David Gregory, Vinegar Syndrome’s Archivist Oscar Becher, HorrorHound’s Aaron Crowell, and Will Morris from Oscarbate and The Music Box Theatre, just to name a few.

One thing that continues through this year is our constant love and admiration for those that have made some long-lasting impact on the genre, and our constant striving to help share that love with our listeners. Nothing excites us more than hearing that we’ve turned someone on to a film or filmmaker or even sub-genre that they might have not experienced before. And you can be damned sure that we plan to continue that in 2025.

So, join us in this extra-long special episode as we go over our favorite viewings of this year, as well as some shout-outs and discussions on other films that came out in 2024.

Titles mentioned in this episode:

Episode 85 – Modern Folk Horror

December 11, 2024

Wake Wood (2009), The Wind (2018), Apostle (2018)

Folk horror has its roots in tales of witches and paganism, stretching back centuries. In cinema, the term “folk horror” was first coined by Rod Cooper in Kine Weekly to describe the 1971 classic Blood on Satan’s Claw. However, the themes that define folk horror—witchcraft, ancient rituals, and the eerie power of nature—have been present since the earliest days of film. A prime example is Benjamin Christensen’s Häxan (1922), which delves into witchcraft and age-old rites.

Regardless of its origins or definitions, folk horror has endured over time, weaving its way through the history of cinema. In recent decades, the genre has experienced a remarkable resurgence, not just in the United States but globally. This renewed interest may owe much to Kier-La Janisse’s expansive 2021 documentary, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, which shone a spotlight on the subgenre and sparked widespread conversation.

With the recent release of Volume Two of Severin’s All the Haunts Be Ours box sets, now seems the perfect time to explore some of the standout modern folk horror films from the past two decades. So, venture with us into the remote villages, pagan rites, and shadowy woods where all the horrors sit waiting for you in the dark corners where people rarely go.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Episode 84: Turkey Day 2024

November 27, 2024

Cry Wilderness (1987), From Hell it Came (1957), The Oily Maniac (1976)

It’s Turkey Time once again here at the podcast! And in this one, we have 3 wonderful titles to serve up to you, each one with a different flavor to appease a variety of tastes!

As we’ve mentioned many times before, a “turkey” is not a bad movie. It’s not an intentionally made bad movie. It is a film where the creators did their damnedest to make an honest-to-goodness quality production. For whatever reasons, either lack of budget, time, talent, or whatever, what they delivered might not be as good as they’d hoped, but it is still entertaining. Remember, the only bad movie is a boring one, and Turkeys are not boring. So, tune in to find out about 3 Turkeys that we feel are more than worth watching during your own Turkey Day celebration!

Movies mentioned in this episode:

Episode 83: Wes Craven

November 13, 2024

One of the things we continue to preach on this podcast is learning about the people that are involved with the films we love. It helps you see more and understand more, about the person, as well as the final product they are involved with, whether they are an actor, makeup artist, or director.

Author Joe Maddrey’s recent book, The Soul of Wes Craven, from Harker Press, does just this, digging deep into the man, and shows us fans a lot more behind this Master of Horror than we might not have known. To help dig into Craven and his work, we invited Mr. Maddrey on the show to talk about his book and this highly influential filmmaker.

Films mention in this episode:

Episode 82 – Haunted Houses

October 30, 2024

The Legend of Hell House (1973), Hausu (1977), The Abandoned (2006)

In older small towns, there is usually some old house on the outskirts of town, maybe someone lives there, maybe not. But it is one that young kids dare themselves to go up to. And if you do dare to enter this dwelling, you’ll find creaking boards, dust covered items from furniture to knick-knacks, and a lot of cobwebs. And any noise, no matter how small it might, gets the mind racing.

There is nothing better for the Halloween season than sitting down with a nice Haunted House movie. Which is why we decided to tackle 3 of our favorite scary movies about demented dwellings, as well as ones that we feel that need more attention. Going back to the very beginning of cinema, with Georges Méliès’ The House of the Devil (1896), it shows how important this sub-genre is, and why filmmakers continue to go back to it. When done correctly, can be highly effective, and damn scary.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Episode 81 – Fangoria

October 16, 2024

Four decades on, and Fangoria is still one of the leading voices of horror culture. But in its heyday in the 1980s, it was the gold standard. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that Fangoria was the most important part of horror culture at that time. On this episode of Discover the Horror, we take a trip through Fango’s history and discuss how it shaped out love of the genre, as well as speculating on how it shaped the genre as a whole.

Movies mentioned in this episode:

Episode 80 – Blood Thirsty Trilogy

October 2, 2024

The Vampire Doll (1970), Lake of Dracula (1971), and Evil of Dracula (1974).

In the annals of Japanese horror cinema, this vampire trilogy from director Michio Yamamoto seems to be close to escaping into obscurity. In fact, try finding much more than a passing mention of these films in any reference books. But thanks to Arrow Video, all three of these films are at least saved from fading away in the sunlight like any good vampire, in one fantastic box set! Because these seemed to be on the outskirts of the vampire genre, we thought it would be a great opportunity for us to take a closer look at them, and to see if they need more attention. Listen and find out!

Films mentioned in this episode:

Episode 79 – Gordon, Yuzna & Paoli

September 20, 2024

Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), and Dagon (2001)

Bringing the works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft to the screen is not an easy task. Much of the horrors Lovecraft talked about wasn’t described or explained too much, leaving it up to the reader. But when director Stuart Gordon, producer Brian Yuzna, and writer Dennis Paoli got together to adapt Lovecraft’s 1922 story “Herbert West – Re-Animator” for a movie, they changed cinema forever. Not only did they show us more than Lovecraft would ever dream of, they created a perfect blend of outrageous horror, gore, and bizarre imagery that would immediately put them in the horror history books.

The following year, they took another short story, From Beyond, first published in 1934, and showed even more strange, bizarre, and gooey things we’d seen before, going beyond then what the short story told us.

Then 15 years later, these three deranged creators returned to Lovecraft to take us to a fishing village filled with very unusual citizens, in 2001’s Dagon.

While Gordon’s filmography might not be filled with classic after classic, when he hit a home run, usually when he’s working with Yuzna and Paoli, they knock the cover off the ball.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Episode 78 – Twice Told Tales: Invasion of the Body Snatchers

September 4, 2024

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).

We’ve decided to take on a little twist here, doing an on-going series that we’re calling Twice Told Tales. This is where we are going to compare two films, an original and its remake. This is not to say which one is better, but to highlight the positives of both, what we feel works, and the differences between them.

For our first episode in this series, we’re going to tackle the first two versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. We’re not discussing about the 2 later day versions for any reasons specifically, but wanted to concentrate on the two that are more well know, and obviously because they were the first two versions. With both of these titles recently being released on 4K, you might find yourself wanting to upgrade. Careful, there are spoilers here, but I’m sure any fan of any merit already knows of what we’ll speak about. Enjoy!

Movies mentioned in this episode:

Episode 77: Slashers with Aaron Crowell from HorrorHound Magazine

August 22, 2024

Mother’s Day (1980), Madman (1981), Pieces (1982), and Evil Dead Trap (1988)

When you’re talking about horror films with most non-horror fans, they usually are thinking about the slashers which they seem to encapsule all of that genre. But when us fans start to dig into that sub-genre, that’s when the questions arise, parameters seemed like they have to set, even though plenty of the films go out of their way to beyond said parameters. As if any were meant to stay between the lines!

Then you start to delve into when the sub-genre started, which can then start another round of questions and discussions.

To help get those arguments . . . we mean discussions started, in this episode we’re going to cover 4 different slasher films, granted, of varying types, but we feel still fits into the category of slasher films. And to help with this, we’ve invited Aaron Crowell, Managing Editor of HorrorHound Magazine back to join in the conversation.

Movies mentioned in this episode: