Movie Meltdown

Movie Meltdown - Episode 635 Join us as we recap our day at Scarefest. And as we make a point to not annoy celebrities at their table, we also bring up… Clive Barker, Don Coscarelli, The Midnight Meat Train, Rose McGowan, cenobite girl, Cyborg, The Fanatic, Gregory Nicotero, Billy Zane sportin' a look, The Wolf has a line, Felissa Rose, the Gorton's fisherman, sexy sax man, the Mandela effect, Skeet Ulrich, pyramid heads, the creeper truck, Kung Fu Hustle, CG effects, Nightbreed, Velma vs Daphne, getting married to Roach, Hellraiser, showing a movie on your backpack, Devon Sawa, I Know What You Did Last Summer, 3D printed toys, John Travolta, Matthew Lillard, Candyman and being a nerd hero.   “Conventions in general are not a Fred crowd.” For more on Scarefest, go to: https://scarefestweekend.com/

Movie Meltdown - Episode 634 Come join the party… as we celebrate Halloween by watching Late Night with the Devil, directed by Cameron and Colin Cairnes and starring David Dastmalchian, Laura Gordon, Ian Bliss and Ingrid Torelli.  And while we toast with glasses of blood, we also delve into… Oddity, Ghostwatch, the Bohemian Grove, Sleepaway Camp 2 and 3, Agatha All Along, weird jelly beans, getting bumped, Abraxas, weird musical instruments, I don’t know a moments peace, Doug Jones, drinking blood, making a sequel, the reality of hypnotism, 1977, production company intros, black licorice, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, Lego Halloween costumes, the owl statue, Gary Busey: Pet Judge, we’ll be right back title cards, pumpkin patch update, getting monkey pawed, turning on the Hadron Collider, you can't fight Snoop, a neat little ghost story, he don’t come back right and a demon pyramid scheme. Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for “Late Night with the Devil”, so watch the movie before you listen. “How did we lose the theremin?!”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 633 This episode Sam Drog returns as we delve into our own history with the original movie The Crow, give a recap of all the failed incarnations in-between and then get into an honest discussion of our thoughts on the new film directed by Rupert Sanders.    And while we comprise our ultimate anti-social movie experience, we also address… Bill Skarsgård, Brandon Lee, James O'Barr, wearing your aluminum foil hat, enabling bad behavior, Michael Wincott, hanging out with a squirrel, Ridley Scott, making a deal with the devil, panel layout, David Patrick Kelly, John Waters’ zombies, a dystopian future, not Tilda Swinton, limbo world, cg blood, having crow-powers, Cold Cave, the power of credit cards, I want to go back to that well of heartbreak and bankruptcy, Jon Polito, this concentrated version of every bad decision they’ve made, I want to go back to that well of heartbreak and bankruptcy, Tony Todd, Hellraiser 2, a nuclear-powered Chicken Biscuit, Jon Polito, the closest I’ve gotten to love, The Veils, action sequences, the furry lifestyle, John Wick, dirty rice and a coffee, Alien: Resurrection, being a moody teen, I like breakin’ stuff, Ghost in the Shell, then it’s not consumerism - it’s culture, nostalgia grab, the culture has become a deep-fried Twinkie, the finer things in life, a gothic landmark, an interesting trainwreck, Blue Ruin and juicy out on the town.      Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for "The Crow", both the 2024 and 1994 versions. And pretty much everything else Crow-related.  “It's not like the fans are just going out and seeing whatever's got a crow on it.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 632 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") Join us as the horror club discusses She Beast, directed by Michael Reeves and starring Barbara Steele, John Karlsen and Ian Ogilvy. And while we try to decide our favorite thing about Ghost Toast, we also mention… Sarah Squirm, pumpkins, Longlegs, Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, Alien: Romulus, Halloween encroachment, a dunking chair, because Communism, terrible fashion choices, The Thing with Two Heads, he creeped me the hell out, fake grilled cheese sandwiches, British accents, Witchfinder General, my circadian rhythms were screwed up just watching this, who designed your kitchen, it never got dark that day, you don’t look for your wife, special popcorn buckets… doing things, the screaming was really distracting, is this Back to the Future, Osgood Perkins, Black Sunday, torches at noon, the thematic through line of Communism, alcohol and barbiturates, I expected at some point to have raw meat thrown at me, slow atmospheric and bleak, about spending about 90% of the movie unconscious, state fair fun and we ask, do Volkswagen Beetles actually float? Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for She Beast (aka Revenge of the Blood Beast) so watch the movie before you listen.  “That should be the tagline… what was the point of any of this?!”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 631 This episode we sit down with Max Neace, a writer, director and producer originally from our neighborhood. So listen as we find out how he took his interest in film from shooting YouTube videos to getting his own feature films made. Plus we discuss the conception and challenging execution that is his most recent movie - Shift.  And while our guest may wish he was conversing with a chair, regardless we still discuss… comic strips, self-storage facilities, horror, outlining, Connor McGill, we are losing our minds, self-distribution, writing, Alfred Hitchcock, changing the frame rate, physical media, Garfield, eight sequence breakdown, shooting with no budget, Rio Bravo, embracing limitations, festival circuit, Longlegs, continuity, Twister, a lot of monitor footage, the first watchable cut of the movie, Don’t Tell a Soul, acquiring music, moving to L.A., audience imagination, editing, Watchmen, our voyeuristic culture, finding mentors, storytelling and Rear Window. “There was a method to the madness. And it was really gratifying to get to that point because it was complicated.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 630  (For our Patreon "Horror Club") The Horror Club is back with Mario Bava's giallo classic - Blood and Black Lace. And as we narrow down where we want to put our secret bookcase/door, we also bring up… When Evil Lurks, The Exorcist, Shaun of the Dead, The Ninth Configuration, Dick Tracy, her hair, her makeup, the eyeliner, the outfits, I was like - I love her, I wanna look like you, Frankenstein in every room, Peter Lorre, sitting in the dark, messing with mom’s purse, the question of the masked killer, whoever gets possessed gets… gross, cinematography, demon hunters, working at night, being a sex maniac, Jersey Shore meets fancy Italian architecture, Edgar Wright, it was gnarly, luckily they didn't base World War II on a fashion show, affordable reproductive rights, epileptic or possessed by a demon, the third act monologue, if you came to this movie for dialogue, being a DJ, Cameron Mitchell, gorgeous in the same way, the pettiness of Warren Beatty and a faceless supernatural entity the likes of which we have never seen. Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for "Blood and Black Lace", so go watch the movie before you listen. “It's like the Melrose Place of 60s Italy.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 629 Sam Drog returns… and this time we kick things off with a book club discussion on how reexamining children’s books as an adult can ruin your life. Or perspective of it? Then eventually we also discuss some movies we’ve watched.  And as we decontextualize someone's feelings, we also delve into… Bucket of Blood, Abigail, Charles Beaumont, The Million Eyes of Sumuru, Roger Corman, Damon Packard, Venom, The Girl from Rio, 1984, Dom DeLuise, Tobe Hooper, The Giving Tree, keep making art, beatniks, the Scream sequels, Dick Miller, unconditional love, Green Eggs and Ham, A Day in the Life of John Carpenter, this is a very codependent relationship, with a wrench and a bucket, a killer snake, the dancing scene, becoming part of the system, Death Race 2050, unfulfilled expectations and disillusionment, Beyond the Valley of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and everything's become a metaphor. “You are sort of like a children’s book… a weird, crazy children’s book.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 628 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") After taking care of our nuptials we are finally back to discuss our previously announced (quite a while ago) feature - Alice, Sweet Alice. And as we recap how we may have gotten lost and murdered during the post-ceremony activities, we also address… The First Omen, Them, Near Dark, that’s a huge chapel, The Howling, Luke James, the crazy age reveal, don’t play with matches, the creepy landlord, Don’t Look Now, memorable settings, acting dialed to eleven, in the rain, Alfred Sole, Catholicism is weird, this is a hospital… you have to stop screaming, Brooke Shields, Bernard Herrmann, making it rain, X-rated movies, New Jersey, Beef, Ralph Ineson, spooky kids and nuns, Diabolique, having no money makes you creative, I was creeped out the whole time, Psycho, Lillian Roth, getting roaches, Aliens, funeral grifting and Paula E. Sheppard.  Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for "Alice, Sweet Alice", so go watch the movie before you listen.  “The honeymoon doesn’t start yet!”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 627 We're coming to you “live” from WonderFest as we hang out and talk about toys and marriage… and possibly even a few movies.  And while we’re confused about converting things to the metric system, we also mention… getting married to George Romero, Lego storylines, Kill Bill 1 and 2, head trauma, Greg Nicotero, bringing a howler monkey to a fancy affair, Shrek 2, a specific face of Barbie, murder shows, references that don’t land, changing burritos, tiny little Godzillas, a breakfast taco, Michael Madsen, asking questions about liters and trees, older than Elvis, obsessed with whatnot, layers of pop culture references, building a slightly futuristic world, books on tape, double decker tacos and a howler monkey in a tuxedo.   “How many yards are in a two liter?” For more on WonderFest, go to: https://wonderfest.com/

Movie Meltdown - Episode 626 Sam Drog returns… and this time I’m not sure we truly represent both sides of the argument as we discuss Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver.  And as we bust into a large box of Wheat Thins, we also cover… Close Encounters of the Third Kind, bag-head musicians, Maximilian, shoveling coal, let’s not forget holes, The Island, badass robot arms, Irish jig dancing, a good laser, a gluten allergy, I still got into it with caveats, this might take some mental gymnastics to get excited about, a Nature Valley commercial, viking amish paradise, the titular scar, she’s filled with magic fairy dust, check the haircut, Quaker Oats bland guy, that’s not an efficient way to kill, underground laser town, pick a thing,The Black Hole limited series, this is work for all of us, Roger Corman, The Freshmaker, you humans are dumb, it's like a trailer for a movie that you never get to see, you got techno rave Jeff Goldblum fly crystalis snot-covered guy coming up out of the water, Farm Wolverine, Army of the Dead, struck a mean silhouette, flexing his shots, you need oven mitts, a car with no motor in it, physical labor, Micheal Bay, Monk in space, fooled again by holes, commercial director style, they beat in a scene, our little space coup, you gotta have some carbs dude, Silence of the Lambs, the coal room, the planet’s the thing, that’s the subscription model, Tyler Perry seduced by AI and the valor of the everyman. Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for “Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver”, so watch the movie before you listen. I mean, if you care?  “Wait a second… this might not have been a good movie!”  

Movie Meltdown - Episode 624 We’re back to round out the Enzo G. Castellari trilogy as we discuss Escape From the Bronx.  And while we carefully construct an exact miniature version of our future city, we also delve into… Dune 2, Sydney Sweeney, Jodorowsky's Dune, Poseidon, Emmy Rossum, Turkey Shoot, Henry Silva, Mark Gregory, the death truck rolls up and the guys pour out, George Miller, are they being exploded or electrocuted, Piranha 3D, animal safety in films, Wish stormtroopers, Antonio Sabato, goombas in suits, influencing science fiction, Wolfgang Petersen, Strike Jr, Three Thousand Years of Longing, The NeverEnding Story, Australian post-apocalyptic movies, setting up explosions, Escape from New York, a post-apocalyptic sewer, Australian exploitation cinema, so it’s just these two dudes wandering through the sewer now, John Carpenter, The Adventures of Milo and Otis and the sexy popcorn bucket.   Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for “Escape From the Bronx”. I mean, if you can actually spoil that movie? “Nothing was really done here… we just killed time and people.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 623 Join us "live" from Lexington as we discuss our day at the Lexington Comic & Toy Convention!   And while we assemble and eat our Mr. Bones candy, we also address… Julie Brown, crocheting, Tim Jacobus, American Gladiators, Emma Roberts, maybe I am the reason you stress out, 3D printing, Scream 6, Earth Girls Are Easy, The Fast and the Furious, Cynthia Rothrock, VHS rental pricing, What We Do in the Shadows, walking with your elbows all the way out, Kathy Long, Goosebumps, garbage can candy, Sam Irvin, Dune, getting movie posters back in the day, Jeff Speakman, R.L. Stine, getting stung by a jelly bean, seeing Madonna live, Fight Club, Don "The Dragon" Wilson, people being polite, Out There, Mark Dacascos and the best way to judge Charisma Carpenter's height.  Spoiler Alert: Spoilers for Scream 6, Scream 4 and random moments from season 4 of What We Do in the Shadows… you have been warned.  “Oh, wait a minute… I’ve seen movies!” For more on the convention, go to: lexingtoncomiccon.com

Movie Meltdown - Episode 622 This episode we discuss the recent comedy Bottoms directed by Emma Seligman and starring Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri. And while we take turns punching each other in the face, we also mention… Mad Max: Fury Road, The Monkees, Easy Rider, football players, The Bear, the most level-headed out of a bunch of crazy people, magic melons, Leslie Nielsen, phone books, cloning is real, alternate crazy world, winning awards, quick one liners, the commentary track, painfully realistic, this should be red flags all over the place, smart comedies and dumb comedies, Instagram posts, musical ironic jokes, the differences in being a high school student today versus years ago, Head and the insane universe of Jim Steinman. Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for the 2023 movie "Bottoms", so watch the movie before you listen.  “Ha, ha… joke’s on you! You got a better movie than you even thought you were gonna get.”

Attack of the Killer Soundtrack 68  Composer Erich Stem once again joins us as we play and discuss all the 2023 Oscar nominees for both Best Original Song and Best Original Score. And as we try to decide if we are really into serialism or total serialism, we also cover… the mandocello, the use of motives, electro punk, Tōru Takemitsu, chord progression, it disrupts the food industry, Threnody, sci-fi predictions, singing about battling oil and greed, Woman in the Dunes, whispering song voice, hard bop, real life events attaching themselves to songs, scat singer, Disney songs, connecting with the song, detuning, Juilliard trained, AI writing, compared to other songs of a similar style, a dry studios recording sound, free jazz, Milton Babbitt, use of instrumentation, Krzysztof Penderecki, ultra modern pop and a certain very successful song writer.  “...I think it makes it better for the movie industry.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 621 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") The horror club returns to discuss the 2007 horror/comedy The Mad directed by Johnny Kalangis and starring Billy Zane.  And while we try to decide who can just kinda get it, we also bring up… Saltburn, Fargo, Circuit City, Twin Peaks, what an inconvenient place to kill somebody, the finer and lesser points of fake bacon, Mtv, Jon Hamm, eating meat, camcorder shooting, I’m grossed out but I want to know more, Dave Foley, choking on a bone, steer clear of  drummers, domestic abuse, vintage TVs, Barry Keoghan, necrophile, VCR head cleaners, awkward adoption conversations, turn down the banjos, those parts were definitely swinging, Jennifer Jason Leigh, the tiger, I want you to be sexy when I put you in the ground and cows.  Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for “The Mad”, so go watch before you listen.  “It’s really gross and like really beautiful and it’s really something.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 620 Sam Drog returns… as we adamantly argue both sides of Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire.  And while we're trying to pick out our favorite Trapper Keepers, we also delve into… Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Lisa Frank, it's an Oliver Stone critique of American foreign policy mixed with a zany Disney brain switch movie in Cambodia, if I came out of a vacuum, Man of Steel, taste vs style, Star Wars, when we go to Gladiator planet, if you like that story you’ll see it dressed up in different ways, Michael Bay, Kill Bill, a unified vision, an army of art directors and designers, towing the company line, watching video games, visually striking emotionally shallow movies, Alan Moore, throwing talent to the sarlacc pit, Heavy Metal, intensified reality, anime style, J.J. Abrams, Flash Gordon, nobody gets to retire, a hodgepodge call back to every sci fi thing you've ever seen, Netflix blockbusters, Army of the Dead, the desperation of content creators, David Goyer, a chicken pot pie of cultural references, Slim Pickens writing the atom bomb down, an unhealthy relationship with a filmmaker, Seven Samurai, we wanna forgive, Anthony Hopkins robot, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Tarantino's directing style, a victim of his success, George Lucas, very presumptuous, Sucker Punch, watching concept art, space orifices and the impending Snyder cut.  Spoiler Alert: Random spoilers for “Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire”, watch it beforehand… if you want to.  “Man, Zack Snyder underlines, highlights, italicizes and puts fifteen exclamation points, in all caps - on everything he does.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 619 Sam Drog is back! Listen as we discuss Family Switch, Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity, Flash Gordon, A Christmas Story: The Musical and so much more. And while we continue to work on our how’s it going response, we also address… John Carpenter, Phantom of The Paradise, Star Wars' disco cousin, Joe Dante, were we media saturated, John Woo, punch upwards, song and dance numbers, the peak of cinematic achievement, George Romero's Polar Express, he did not read the script, let’s make as much stuff as humanly possible, community theater movies, dead eyed automatons, Snowden, a Swedish meatball, Flash Gordon, so Santa Claus and the alignment of planets, somebody has to bear witness to the horror, Escape from L.A., an act of torture and an act of brutality that is almost inhuman, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2, I was wondering why Oliver Stone was in my shed, a magic metal bowl, everybody's kind of in on the joke, approachable B movies, Sam Raimi, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, kind of like smutty back in the day, big toothpick, they're pandering to people of a certain demographic, the career of McG, you've never punked me before, trapped inside the genre that you're in, In the Mouth of Madness and Frito-Lay feeding the cultural discourse.  “This discussion has been an emotional roller coaster.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 618 This episode we discuss Enzo G. Castellari’s 1983 post-apocalyptic “classic” Warriors of the Wasteland aka The New Barbarians.  And as we strap on our bubble armor, we also mention… As Above so Below, Skinamarink, Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain, Once Upon a Deadpool, bad smoke effects, George Eastman, the unnecessary dome, George Miller, extra tubes n’ stuff, A Fistful of Dollars, VHS, there's secretly a Matt Damon hiding somewhere in your movie, questionable theme music, the Starscream of the group, three different cameras shooting at three different film speeds, a weird creepy kid, the most awkward shadow sex, floppy shoulders, no backstory, a very hilly area outside of Rome, if Indiana Jones was a horror movie, Fred Savage, wearing camouflage in the 80s and the golf carts from hell.  Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for Warriors of the Wasteland, I mean if you can actually ruin this movie? “Again that’s what I love about these movies. Like, half the time none of this shit makes sense… but you just kind of just keep going with it.”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 617 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") Gather around the yule log as The Meltdown Horror Club comes together to discuss the 1987 holiday "classic" - Silent Night, Deadly Night 2. And as we all practice our festive maniacal laugh, we also cover… who’s your Grinch, The Cult of Humpty Dumpty, Boris Karloff, the feet stuff, the plot made very little sense… and I don’t think really mattered anyway, not even following your own rules, the child welfare system has issues, Thurl Ravenscroft, having someone else’s flashbacks, a fake movie theater, murder with eye contact, what are those nuns doing, the meet cute where you get hit by a car, exploding eyes, line delivery, everything's better with Yakety Sax, being crazy gives you super strength, awkward love scenes, nuclear waste exposure, Benedict Cumberbatch, that guy at a party that you get cornered by that’s been doing coke all day, becoming a vigilante, put your tee hee fingers away, he wears preppy clothes in the woods, they are wearing the most Party City black vampire capes, Eric Freeman, off-screen kills, Makit & Bakit Suncatchers, we flash forward in the flashbacks, Chuck Jones, alternate universe Christmas music, who decided how much time do allot to each of these things, Quentin Tarantino, watching movies in the shower, the time-honored tradition that is… hopscotch in the dark, Ron Howard, rolling down the stairs, toxic Mother Superior and who wanted this… who asked for this?! Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for Silent Night, Deadly Night 2. And since half of the movie is just re-watching the first movie, also spoilers for Silent Night, Deadly Night. “I don’t think Billy had a chance to tell ‘em… ‘Hey, I saw some boobs and killed a guy!’”

Movie Meltdown - Episode 616 (For our Patreon "Horror Club") There's no place like Movie Meltdown for the holidays, and this year the horror club comes together to discuss the 2019 movie Pilgrim directed by Marcus Dunstan. And as we make Thanksgiving dinner like the children we are, we also bring up… A Haunting in Venice, The Conference, Bob Clark, Kerr Smith, Psycho 2, the healing power of love, a set dinner for cannibalism, Into the Dark, Hallowe'en Party, look at everyone with a skeptical eye, (There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays, iPad finance dad, the elaborate dunking chair, jelly bean flavors, headbutt technicalities, Agatha Christie, the taffy timeline, Psycho IV: The Beginning, doing things as a family and a marketing goldmine. Spoiler Alert: Full spoilers for “Pilgrim”, so go watch the movie before we listen. “I’ve seen this movie like four times, I think… and I just turn my rational brain off.”