New York City, 1829. The kings of New York's organized crime world were the notorious Roach Guard Gang, and their founder, murderer and extortionist Teddy Roach. Roach was nicknamed The Devil for his unfiltered brutality, said to have been of Biblical proportions. But as bad as The Devil was, his deeds paled in comparison to that of his right hand man, Bill O'Malley, a murdering, hulking psychopath known throughout the 5 points area of the city as The Basher. Rich or poor, man or woman, no one was safe from the murder and mayhem dished out by the gang. And anyone crossing Teddy Roach personally could count on a visit from The Basher. It was usually the last visit of their lives.
Our 2021 Halloween special edition celebrates the 83rd anniversary of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater on the Air broadcast that panicked the country, and lead to changes in broadcast rules for terrestrial radio worldwide. The First Fake News story in modern media history: The War of the Worlds.
On this episode, Fatal Gothic hosts Julia Parker and Stephen Savage interview actress Mhairi Calvey and director Paul Dudbridge about filmmaking, their upcoming film, "Fear The Invisible Man", H.G. Wells and Jules Vern, and how the SteamPunk movement has brought Gothic Sci-Fi back into vogue.
France, 1573. A number of children have been abducted and eaten by what local villagers believe is a Werewolf. Gilles Garnier, a local hermit, is caught red handed with a murdered child and put on trial. But no one is willing to step forth to act as his defense attorney before the dreaded "Witch Hunter Judge", Henri Bouget. No one that is except a 26 year old nun from Paris called Sister Marie Arquette. Sister Marie's task is to prove that, though the man is obviously insane, he is not a werewolf, and certainly doesn't deserve to be burned alive at the stake.
On this episode, Savage interviews actress Emily Peachy about her roles in the films “The Fault In Our Stars”, which was the highest grossing film of 2014, “American Pastoral”, and her new series, “Paradise Lost”. Emily discusses working with Ewen Mcgragor as an actor and under his direction, her short lived law school tenure, which ended when she landed a big film role, and her time working in DC as a White House intern. And she and Savage talk a bit about his new film, “Ulysses Coyote” of which Emily is one of the stars.
On this episode, Savage takes a call from actor and director Oscar Torre who talks about how he landed the role of Vinny in the popular series "The Haves and the Have Nots", growing up in Miami, working with Tyler Perry, and starring in the first film to shoot in Los Angeles after Covid restrictions were lifted slightly for Hollywood production companies.
On this episode, Savage takes a call from actor, director, writer, Duane Whitaker to talk about Duane's life and prolific career, working with some of his favorite directors including Rob Zombie and Quentin Tarantino, and his iconic role as Maynard in Tarantino's classes film, "Pulp Fiction".
On this episode, Savage welcomes back to the podcast, actress and screenwriter Chuti Tiu ("Nashville", "How To Get Away With Murder", "The Internship") on her career in commercials, modeling, film and television, on the benefits of having immigrant parents, and on why soap operas are such a great training ground for actors. She also gets into the ins and outs of navigating pilot season, and how things have changed for actors in this new frontier of streaming networks and so much production being done outside of California.
After the Donner Party incident of 1847, Cannibalism became the big sensationalist news across the United States for a generation. The public was obsessed by it, and two men became infamous for their taste for human flesh and murder. Though Jeremiah Johnson would become a larger than life fictional hero of mythical stature in books and finally in movies, the real man was known as "Liver Eating" Johnson, and killing and eating the body parts of a reported 300 plus warriors of the Crow and Blackfeet Nations in battle was far from his only activity. He was known to kill Native women and children as well, and may have murdered and eaten three white children years after his battles with the Indians. And nearly as prolific a cannibal was Boone Helm, another mountain man of the mid 19th century. Helm is thought to have murdered and eaten as many as 100 people in his lifetime, and many more in gunfights and barroom brawls during his travels from Missouri to California. His cannibalism made him a creepy household name before he was finally hanged, not for eating people, but for simple bank robbery.
On this episode, Savage interviews actress Sondra Currie about about her epic film and television career, starting out working with icons John Wayne and Howard Hawks, working with Roger Corman, her role in the Hangover franchise, and her rock star sister, Cherie.
On this episode, Savage talks one on one with writer and producer Erik Bork about his career working with some of Hollywood's biggest names, including Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, about how he came to be a writer and producer on the iconic HBO series, Band of Brothers and From the Earth to the Moon, and what it was like carrying two of Tom Hanks Best Actor Oscars around in his car for a day.
On this episode Savage talks one on one with famed director Alan J. Levi on his career producing and directing for such iconic television series as Magnum PI, Columbo, NCIS, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and many many more. Alan also talks about his new film, "Take My Hand", starring his lovely wife Sondra Currie ("The Hangover Parts 1, 2 and 3", "7th Heaven") and Barbara Bain ("Mission Impossible", "My So Called Life"), and what it was like directing Frank Sinatra in Hawaii.
Australia, 1835. The entire continent was at this time, for all intents and purposes, one giant prison colony. From the late 18th century until 1900, convicts from England, Ireland, and all of Great Britain’s worldwide domain, were routinely shipped off to the mysterious “Land Down Under” to serve out their sentences for crimes ranging from petty theft to murder. A prison break in '35 led to Australia’s first ever case of serial murder. Over the course of less than a year, ten innocent people, and perhaps as many as 5 more, were murdered in cold blood by an escaped convict named John Lynch, who would in time become known throughout Australia as the Berrima Ax Murderer.
On this first ever Stephen Savage remote podcast, an on stage interview with Oscar and Golden Globe nominated actress Anne Archer. The interview was conducted live at the Rustic Theatre during the Idyllwild International Film Festival, in front of a sell out crowd of actors and filmmakers. NOTE* The sound quality is not the best on this episode, but good enough to hear the Q&A.
On this Episode, Savage takes a call from just outside Paris, France, to speak with actress Nathalie Boyer about acting and screenwriting, working on the Netflix series "Versailles", her role in the top French television crime drama series "Spiral", and what it's like working with iconic actor Gerard Depardieu. Savage also dives into the fact that Nathalie has a Ph D in Business Law and tests out at an incredible 175 IQ.
Actress, director, producer, and YouTube Influencer Marlene McCohen ("It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia", Lenny Kravitz' "Let Love Rule") returns to the show to talk about her life and career, Parrots, and how she ended up being such a huge YouTube star.
England, 1657. The Civil War and the beheading of King Charles I has forced many Noble families into desperate straights, as Oliver Cromwell's Round Heads, along with the radical parliament, confiscated lands and fortunes that had been secure for centuries. Into this chaos arose a phenomenon known as The Highwaymen, former titled gentlemen who took to robbing pay wagons and travelers along the country's narrow roads after dark. The worst of these was no gentleman at all, but a woman who became known as The Wicked Lady Skelton, a Royalist aristocrat's daughter who murdered over 50 innocent souls during her three year reign of terror.
Join Savage as he takes a call from the UK and interviews actress Mhairi Calvey ("Braveheart", "Robert The Bruce"). Mhairi talks about her career, growing up in the Scottish Isles, how, at the age of 5 she was given the role of young Murron in Braveheart, and how working with Mel Gibson as a kid happened accidentally, and why she is called upon to do so many cameo roles. She also discusses her new big budget historic film, "Robert The Bruce" where she stars alongside Angus Macfadyn.
An Expanded Episode with Special Guest, Actress SAMANTHA LOCKWOOD On this episode, Savage talks one on one with actress and entrepreneur Samantha Lockwood (Hawaii 5-0, The Lords of Dogtown, Shoot The Hero).
In the spring of 1881. Bass Reeves, the first black Federal Marshall in US history, was called upon by an old friend, Cherokee Tribal Policeman Charlie Next Moon, to help track down a man who had murdered in cold blood two Cherokee women and a white reservation school teacher in the Indian Territories of Oklahoma. Both men were seasoned lawmen, but neither was prepared for what faced them out on the murderer's trail. And even after witnessing the brutality of the killing fields of the Civil War, the horrors they would witness in their pursuit of this crazed killer would haunt them both for the rest of their lives.