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The Horror Double Bill
The Horror Double Bill
Author: Craig Johnson
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© 2025 The Horror Double Bill
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Welcome to The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts.
Inspired by the legendary BBC2 horror double bills of the 1970s and 1980s, each week we discuss two films that share themes, atmosphere, directors or creators to explore what they say about the time they were made and our fears in the present.
Expect discussions on film and social history, folklore, censorship, cultural anxieties, and a love of horror in all its forms.
New episodes every Sunday.
New episodes every Sunday.
📸 @thehorrordoublebill
📧 thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com
31 Episodes
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Welcome to episode 31 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something for greater than the sum of their parts This week we are discussing two movies that are both very dark comedies and are both set on Christmas Eve, First up is Dead End from 2003 written and directed by Jean Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa. This stars Alexandra Holden, Ray Wise, Lynn Shea, and Mick Cain. Then we head over to Spain for The Day of the Beast from 1995 ...
Welcome to episode 30 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something greater than the sum of their parts. This week both films are directed by Robert Wise, a multiple Oscar-winning American director whose works have included The Body Snatcher, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Andromeda Strain, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, West Side Story, and The Sound of Music, as well as this week’s two movies. So first up, for our Christmas movie we have T...
Welcome to episode 29 of The Horror Double Bill; the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts This week we are continuing our Christmas season, where at least one film in our pairing will have a seasonal theme – or perhaps more appropriately, as this week we are all about anthology movies, at least one of the stories in one of our pairings will have a seasonal theme. First up this week is Dead of Night from 1945, the first British ...
Welcome to episode 28 of The Horror Double Bill the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts This week we are beginning our Christmas season, and discussing two films that are based on the work of M.R James. First up we have Whistle And I’ll Come To You, directed by Jonathan Miller from 1968 and then Night of the Demon from 1957, directed by Jacques Tourneur, starring Dana Andrews, Peggy Cummins, and Niall McGinnis Along the ...
Welcome to episode 27 of the horror double bill the podcasts where each week we pair two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts This week we are exploring the horrors of Victorian London and Jack the Ripper, with two films that use the legend of the famous serial killer to explore themes of conspiracy, class, and the patriarchy First up is Murder by Decree from 1979 and director Bob Clark starring Christopher Plummer James Mason, David Hemmings, and Donald Sutherla...
Welcome to episode 26 of the horror double bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts I'm Craig Johnson and this week we are entering the world of conspiracies and paranoia, with two films featuring journalist protagonists falling into increasingly dangerous territory. First up we return to the Italian giallo, with Short Night of Glass Dolls from 1971, directed by Aldo Lado and starring Jean Sorel, Ingrid Thulin, Barb...
Welcome to episode 25 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair 2 movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts This week we are discussing two movies that use the ghost story as a vehicle to explore themes of family, loss, grief, and instability. First up, we have our first Korean entry in the series with a Tale of Two Sisters from 2003 and director Kim Jee-woon, which stars Im Soo-Jung, Yum Jung-ah and Moon Geun-young. Then we follow this with a tri...
Welcome to episode 24 of the horror double bill the podcasts where each week we combine two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts This week we are returning to the theme of childhood, only this week it is the kids and not the adults who are in peril. First up we have The Night of the Hunter from 1955, the only film ever directed by the great actor Charles Laughton and starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish. Then we’ll be heading back to Me...
Welcome to episode 23 of the Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we combine two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts This week we are exploring the great outdoors with two films that fall into the sub genre of backwoods horror, though to be fair the second one is more backwoods adjacent First up we wade through the swamps of Louisiana with Southern Comfort from 1981 and director Walter Hill, starring Keith Carradine, Powers Booth, Fred Ward, and Peter...
Welcome to episode 22 of the Horror Double Bill the podcast where each week we combine two movies to create something for a greater than the sum of their parts This week we are exploring religious fanaticism, the dangers of group think, cult mentalities, and discussing our first folk horror of the series, as well as our first pseudo-documentary. First up we have Matthew Hopkins Witchfinder General from 1968 and director Michael Reeves starring Vincent Price, Ian Ogilvy, Hillary Dwyer and ...
Episode 21: Cat People (1942) & The Company of Wolves (1984) Welcome to episode 21 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two films to create something far greater than the sum of their parts. This week – after a very short break - we are back with the shapeshifters with two films that use metamorphosis as metaphor for sexuality, albeit with very different interpretations. First up we have Cat People from 1943 and legendary producer Val Lewon. Directed by Jacques T...
Welcome to episode 20 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two films to create something far greater than the sum of their parts. This week we are exploring the horrors of ageing and identity with two movies that take the viewer on a disorienting journey into the price of reinvention and rejuvenation First up we have Seconds from 1966 and director John Frankenheimer, featuring a career best performance from former matinee idol Rock Hudson alongside Salome Jen and Wil...
This week we are exploring the horrors of Artificial intelligence and tech noir with two films from very different eras but similar fears and concerns. First up is Colossus: The Forbin Project from 1970, directed by Joseph Sargent and starring Eric Braden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsett, and William Schallert. Then we jump forward nearly half a century to 2018 with Upgrade, written and directed by Leigh Whannell, and featuring Logan Marshall-Green, Betty Gabriel, Harrison Gilbertson, and B...
Episode 18: The Uninvited (1944) & The Changeling (1980) Welcome to episode 18 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two films to create something greater than the sum of their parts. This week we are exploring the horrors of the haunted house which strangely enough is very different to the trope of the old dark house that we discussed back in episode 12. First up we have The Uninvited from 1944, directed by Lewis Allen and starring Ray Milland, Gail Russell, Ruth...
Episode 17: Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971) & Symptoms (1974). Fall into madness. Welcome to episode 17 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two films to create something greater than the sum of their parts. This week we are exploring the horrors of autumn, with a double bill of movies that use the tuning of the seasons as metaphors for the increasingly fragmented psyches of their protagonists. First up we have Lets Scare Jessica to Death fr...
Welcome to episode 16 of the horror double bill the podcast where each week we pair 2 movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts This week we are exploring the terrors of ballet school with two European horror films that are connected through more than just the depiction of dance. First up we Head to France and 2011 for Livide from the directing duo of Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, starring Chloe Colloud, Marie-Claude Pietragalla, Chloe Marcq, and Felix Mo...
Episode 15: Sleep Tight (2011) & Them (2006): There's no place like home..... Welcome to episode 15 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two films to create something greater than the sum of their parts. This week we are exploring the horrors that lurk in the home, with two movies that depict our safest spaces as places of threat, terror and murder. First up with have Jaume Ballaguero’s Spanish psychological thriller Sleep Tight from 2011, a highly disturbing cha...
Episode 14: Messiah of Evil (1973) & The Fog (1980): "Oh I do like to be beside the seaside....." Welcome To episode 14 of the horror double bill the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts This week we are exploring coastal horrors and the terrors that lurk in the liminal space between the land and the sea. First up we have Messiah of Evil from 1973 a surreal almost Lovecraftian indie horror from the writers of American Graff...
Welcome to episode 13 of The Horror Double Bill. This week we are exploring the horrors of lycanthropy and the legend of the werewolf, a creature that has been used for centuries as a metaphor for themes including sexual repression, puberty, male violence, insanity and the beats within. An we are starting off this week with the first horror movie that I ever saw, Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman from 1943 starring Lon Chaney Jnr, Bela Lugosi, illona Massey and Lionel Atwill. Then we are jumping...
Welcome to episode 12 of the horror double bill the podcast where each week we combine 2 films to create something far greater than the sum of their parts. This week we are exploring the horrors of the old dark house, and the enduring influence of its many tropes on horror cinema. First up is The Cat and the Canary from 1939 — a horror comedy starring Bob Hope, Paulette Goddard, George Zucco, and Gail Sondergaard. Then we head back to Spain for The Corruption of Chris Miller a tw...







