Flickers from the Cave

It's the first Sideshow of 2026! Recorded on December 14, 2025, we talk about all the things we've been watching since the last full episode of the podcast! We once again offer recommendations and warnings for a LOT of different things to watch or listen to.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

Welcome to 2026 and another fun year in the cave! We are looking at two films from PM Entertainment, who produced a string of action movies starting in the 90s. Both films star Gary Daniels and are directed by Joseph Merhi, and they share many other actors including a fun reporter charcter played by Kenneth Tigar. We start off with "Rage" from 1995. This is the story of an elementary school teacher who finds himself injected with a type of super-soldier serum that turns him into an unstoppable fighting machine. It's essentially an extended chase scene and is very entertaining despite some flaws. We follow that up with "Riot" from 1996. The focus this time is a former soldier who's trying to rescue a diplomat's daughter who he, coincidentally, used to date. It's a reworking of "Escape from New York" and is also very entertaining, with some standout set-pieces and very fun performances throughout. We recommend both of these, and are eager to dip back into the PM Entertainment pool in the future!Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

Happy New Year! In this VERY special (and short) episode of the podcast, we look at the 16 films we watched for the podcast this year, and we rank them. There's a lot of common ground and some really fun tangents. We hope you enjoyed our output in 2025 and that you'll be back in the new year for even more fun in the cave! Don't forget to check which feed you're subscribed to before the next episode comes out, since we will be moving to a new RSS in 2026 and we don't want to lose you!Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

It's the sixteenth episode of the Flickers from the Cave Sideshow! Recorded on November 9, 2025, we talk about all the things we've been watching since the last full episode of the podcast! We once again offer recommendations and warnings for a LOT of different things to watch or listen to.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

It's been a LONG time since our last episode, but we are returning with something VERY special. Steve Barkett is a one-of-a-kind filmmaker who we had never heard of but who left us with two really great examples of low-budget sci-fi magic. We start with his first directing effort, 1982's "The Aftermath". In the film, Barkett is part of the crew of a spaceship that returns to Earth to find it has gone through an apocalyptic event and the world is run by gangs of vicious thugs. With special effects from some of the best in the business, it rises above it's many restrictions and tells a fun story with a ton of heart. We follow that with Barkett's second and final directing job "Empire of the Dark" from 1990. The story here is much more complicated, with evil cults, magical portals, alternate dimensions and various additional bits and pieces. This is another fun story with a few standout moments, and once again packed with a ton of heart. You can tell with both of these movies that Barkett and his team really cared about what they were doing and gave their all. It's hard to fault that sort of filmmaking and we strongly encourage you to watch both!Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

It's the fourth episode of the Flickers from the Cave Sideshow! Recorded on March 24, 2024, we talk about all the things we've been watching since the last full episode of the podcast! We offer recommendations and warnings for a LOT of different things to watch or listen to.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

We are back to college for episode 232! We start off with "The Initiation" from 1984. With a great cast including Vera Miles, Clu Gulager and Daphne Zuniga, it's a twisty little tale of a college student with a cloudy past that all comes to light during a sorority initiation. It's a solid slasher with some fun reveals. We follow that with 1987's "Blood Sisters" from director Roberta Findlay. It also focuses on a sorority ceremony with a group of pledges. They are sent to a seemingly haunted house to spend the night but things quickly go awry. It's very low budget but manages to overcome that limitation in surprising ways.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

It's the third episode of the Flickers from the Cave Sideshow! Recorded on February 25, 2024, we talk about all the things we've been watching since the last full episode of the podcast! We offer recommendations and warnings for a LOT of different things to watch or listen to.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

Western films made in Italy are very special to us in the cave. They turn the American version of the genre on its ear and give a whole new way to view that era. We look at two interesting examples on this episode of the podcast. We start off with the epically titled "Django Kill! If You Live, Shoot!" from 1967. Directed by Giulio Questi and starring Tomas Milian as "The Stranger" it's a twisty tale of revenge set in a surreal western town, and the film frequently lapses into bizareness. It's quite a ride! We follow that up with show-favorite director Lucio Fulci's 1975 film "The Four of the Apocalypse". Filled with Fulci's signature violence, this one gets REALLY brutal and then rips your heart out at the end with some real emotion. It's quite an accomplishment. Even though we thought both films were overlong, we still think they're worth watching!Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

It's the second episode of the Flickers from the Cave Sideshow! Recorded on January 28, 2024, we talk about all the things we've been watching since the last full episode of the podcast! We offer recommendations and warnings for a LOT of different things to watch or listen to.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

Welcome back to the 70's in the cave this time as we celebrate the two films of Warhawk Tanzania. We start off with Force Four from 1975 where Tanzania is part of a 4-person team that are assigned special missions by an unknown group. Their mission in the movie is to recover a stolen African artifact, but to do so is going to require a LOT of martial arts, and this movie really piles it on. We follow that with his starring role in 1976's Devil's Express. This really shows how magnetic he is and how tragic it is that we never got to see him continue as a leading man. The story this time is focused on an ancient Chinese demon that escapes to the USA and hides in the New York city subway, where it goes on a murderous rampage. Tanzania really turns it up in this one and we also get to see some really excellent supporting actors helping with the heavy lifting. Though both films are recommended, Devil's Express is really the jewel. Both movies are available on free streaming sites, and we urge you to check them out! Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

Welcome to the very first episode of the Flickers from the Cave Sideshow! Recorded on December 12, 2023, we talk about all the things we've been watching since the last full episode of the podcast! We offer recommendations and warnings for a LOT of different things to watch or listen to.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

As we kick off 2024, we are changing a few things in the cave. We are staying true to our mission of finding strange little movies and telling you about them, but we're making some small adjustments to the overall format. To begin the new year, we're looking at two films about movie-fans who are more than a little bit out of control. As fanatics ourselves, these both struck pretty close to home! We start off with "Fade to Black" from 1980. Starring Dennis Christopher and with a fun appearance from the always-great Tim Thomerson, the story focuses on an obsessive movie fan who finds a Marilyn Monroe look-a-like and then goes murderously off the ledge. It's fun with some great cameos and cool location footage of late 90's Hollywood. We follow that with 1991's "Popcorn" which has a team of film students at a local college organizing a festival of B movies. Once the festival begins, they fall prey to a mysterious killer one by one. It also includes the "mysterious lost film" trope which we love, to really pump up the enjoyment. Is it a perfect movie? No. But, is it a lot of fun? Yes!Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

Brace yourself for a truly epic episode! As a special gift during the holidays, we bring you a very fond retrospective of the year 2023 and the movies we REALLY liked and the ones we REALLY didn't! But, before we get to that, we spend time remembering the good old days of visiting actual video rental stores and the magic of discovering something new based entirely on the box art or the simple fact that it was available when the movie you came for was already rented. Our friend Eli joins us for this look into the rearview mirror and he lends MUCH to the conversation. We really want to thank everyone for sticking with us through the year and we can't wait to get back in the cave in 2024! Happy New Year, and please keep flickering!Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

There is something undeniably freaky about puppets and mannequins. This time in the cave we look at two movies which feature this fact at the core of their stories. We start off with "Magic" from 1978. Directed by Richard Attenborough and starring true Hollywood heavyweights Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margaret and Burgess Meredith, and with a script by the legendary William Goldman, based on his own novel...it's no suprise that it's great! This is a dark tale of derangement and psychosis, with young Anthony Hopkins turning in a powerful performance. It's great, watch it! We follow that with 1988's "Pin" from director Sandor Stern. This is a bizarre family drama where a strict father has convinced his children that the medical mannequin in his office can speak. Using ventriliquism, he lets the mannequin handle key moments of fatherly advice and this produces two VERY disturbed children who grow up to be VERY disturbed teenagers. It's weird and disturbing but also well-shot and assembled. Listen in to find out if it sounds like it's for you. We then proceed to list the various things we've been watching for fun. Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

To celebrate Halloween, we went back to the well for another round of "What Scares You?"© where Julie returned to the creepy land of clowns! We start off with the abysmal "The Clown Murders" from 1976. Directed by Martyn Burke, who've we talked about before, this is a fully Canadian production with some familiar faces in the cast, including the late great John Candy! The story is more complicated than it needs to be and the script wanders here and there, leaving the viewer dissatisfied and confused. We follow that up with the surprising "Blood Harvest" from 1987. Directed by the legend Bill Rebane and starring the famous weirdo Tiny Tim, this one really delivers the goods! What's most surprising is that the whole thing was shot in 2 days and, viewed with that in mind, this is essentially perfect. We then proceed to list the various things we've been watching for fun.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

This one has been a long time coming! We have been wanting to cover the work of Ron Ormond since we first stepped into the cave, many years ago! He has been slowly gaining more recognition recently and a box set of his films has been released. Starting out on stage, he moved into films and had a successful run making exploitation movies primarily for drive-in audiences. After an accident in a small plane which he survived, he became a devout christian and redirected his efforts toward religious and anti-communist propaganda. This guy really does have the goods and the two films we look at on this episode REALLY prove it! We start off with "White Lightnin' Road" from 1967. Filled with moonshiners and stock car racers, this one really hits the sweet spot. There is romance, action, deceit and murder in this one and it's all wonderfully over-the-top yet still extremely captivating. There is some sort of bizarre magic going on that makes this stuff work...it's really something you have to see to believe. We follow that with 1968's "The Exotic Ones" where a strip club in New Orleans captures a swamp monster and displays it as a way to attract a crowd. The lighting is lurid, the strippers are badass, the criminals are ruthless and it's sheer perfection all the way down! If it's not obvious at this point, we LOVED both movies and can't wait to watch more from Mr. Ormond, especially some of the later, religiously-focused stuff! We then proceed to list the various things we've been watching for fun.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

For the epically-long episode 224 we look at two dark comedies with cannibalism at their core. We start off with the 1980 classic "Motel Hell" from show-favorite director Kevin Connor. It focuses on "Farmer Vincent" played by Rory Calhoun and his sister Ida, played by Porky's-own Nancy Parsons. They run the "Motel Hello" and are known all across the local area as the purveyors of "Farmer Vincent's Smoked Meats" which we find out are made from waylaid motorists who are trapped, buried in the ground to be fattened up and then butchered and smoked. It isn't a total success but it's an interesting curio from bygone days with a few standout moments that should be seen at least once. We follow this with the seemingly zero-budget "Auntie Lee's Meat Pies" from 1997. This is really a thing that has to be seen to be believed. Starring Karen Black as Auntie Lee, Michael Berryman as her bumbling son and Pat Morita as the local sherrif, the cast is definitely stacked for a movie at this level. The story is essentially that Auntie Lee, who worships Satan, takes bad men and turns them into delicious meat pies. Auntie Lee has a gorgeous squad of young women who go out into the world and tempt these bad men into situations where they can be captured and killed and brought back for processing. Directed by Joseph F. Robertson, who mostly has done adult films, this is a weird combination of trippy moments, soft-core sexiness and over-acting! Trust us, it's a completely unique experience. We then proceed to list the various things we've been watching for fun.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

We cross "the pond" to find two unique films from the legendary British film studio "Hammer". Both movies feature vampires and supple young females, and both are VERY entertaining! We start off with 1971's "Twins of Evil" which stars Grand Moff Tarkin himself, Peter Cushing, as a crusading member of "The Brotherhood" who is trying to save the souls of everyone in his small European village from the women he suspects are witches. His recently-ophaned twin neices come to town and coincidentally so does a vampire who seeks to turn one of the girls into the undead. We follow this up with 1972's "Vampire Circus", where we see a different European village beset by a horde of vampires that travel across the countryside putting on shows for the locals and feasting on anyone they can capture. Both of these are fun escapes and have plenty of surprises and twists. We highly recommend both! We then proceed to list the various things we've been watching for fun.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.

It's Pride month and we are looking at two really fun movies written by and starring the iconic Charles Busch! We start off with "Psycho Beach Party" from 2000 which is a mash-up of the old beach party movies from the 50's and 60's combined with a bit of the "teens running amok" films, but with all of that projected through a modern lens and presented in a campy, tongue-in-cheek send up of all those genres. The campiness continues with our second film, 2003's "Die Mommie Die" which has Busch in the lead role as Angela Arden, a faded chanteuse with a very problematic family. The cast for this one is amazing and it is pure entertainment from beginning to end. We highly recommend both and they're streaming for free on YouTube and Tubi! We then ramble through a list of other things we've seen.Send us your thoughts on the show and recommendations for future episodes to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also reach us on Facebook, Instagram, Letterboxd. YouTube.