In Episode 50 of Secret Level, Billy and Joey thrust themselves into the world of Sam Rami’s awesome 1981 horror film The Evil Dead! This is always a fun movie to revisit and there are a lot of interesting and fun behind-the-scenes stories that we came across in our research that we have a blast talking about! From the crazy story behind the cabin where they filmed the movie to all the challenges the crew faced during the production. Ultimately, the creative team made an incredible horror mov...
In Episode 49 of Secret Level, Joey and Billy dive into Quentin Tarantino's iconic debut film Reservoir Dogs, breaking down its most memorable scenes of the unconventional heist film, hidden details, and unique storytelling techniques. The duo shares fun commentary on the razor-sharp dialogue, the heist story, and explosive performances. They also share wild behind-the-scenes stories, and discuss how Reservoir Dogs set the stage for his signature style. Packed with humor, insights, and plenty...
In Episode 47 of Secret Level, we take a deep dive into Sinbad’s classic 1995 film, Shazaam! Revisiting this movie was such an incredibly fun blast from the past! The movie was directed by Joe Dante and it was such a wild and crazy movie that had an unbelievable ensemble cast! This movie went through a lot of bonkers behind-the-scenes drama, but the movie ended up being one of the best fantasy adventure films of its time, and it's beloved by everyone who has seen it! We had a blast talking ab...
In Episode 46 of Secret Level, we dig into the demonic hole of doom and talk about the classic 1987 horror film The Gate! This was one of our favorite horror movies as kids, and revisiting this crazy movie was a blast! So, we accidentally summoned demons who used to rule the universe to come and take over the world, and recorded this podcast! There were some fun details we learned about the making of this movie, and we were especially impressed with how they pulled off some of the visual effe...
In Episode 44 of Secret Level, we discuss Peter Jackson’s classic 1996 horror comedy The Frighteners, which is a completely bonkers film, but also so much fun to watch! We offer some interesting behind-the-scenes insight on the movie and also have some fun just talking about how freakin’ weird of a film it is! This was the last feature film that Michael J. Fox starred in and it was Jackson’s first big studio film before landing The Lord of the Rings trilogy gig. This film was so different fro...
In Episode 43 of Secret Level, we talk about the first and last movie that Stephen King ever directed… the 1986 horror film Maximum Overdrive! This movie is absolutely bonkers and King was completely coked out of his mind while he was making it, which is why the movie must’ve turned out the way it did. It’s been years since we watched this movie and revisiting it was quite the experience of being reminded of the wild madness and mayhem that movie delivers. Things got even more fun for us...
In Episode 42 of Secret Level, we delve into the whimsical world of Tim Burton and Paul Reuben's iconic 1985 comedy, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. A film that never fails to tickle the funny bone, this classic comedy remains a joy to revisit time and again. We uncover the intriguing backstory of its journey to the silver screen, unearthing delightful tidbits that even the most hardcore fans might not know. Join us as we offer our silly commentary, share insights, and celebrate the humor and magic ...
In Episode 40 of Secret Level, we discuss one of our all-time favorite animated movies, Brad Bird’s The Iron Giant. This is such an incredible movie that has found its audience over time, but when it was first released, it bowed at the box office, which is a shame for a film that tells such an amazingly beautiful and emotional story. We talk about the making of the film, the inspiration behind the story, what went wrong with the film’s marketing, and more! There’s a lot of fun and interesting...
In Episode 36 of Secret Level, we talk about the crazy 1989 kids' movie Little Monsters and after we rewatched it, we realized how much more inappropriate it was for kids than we remember! This movie is absolutely bonkers and it was so crazy noticing things about the movie that went way over our heads when we were kids. It makes us wonder what our parents were thinking when they were watching it with us! We offer some behind-the-scene details about the making of the film, which stars Fred Sav...
In Episode 35 of Secret Level! In this episode we have a blast talking about Joe Dante’s 1984 holiday horror classic Gremlins! There was a lot to talk about with this movie including details on how the project came together and information on the absolutely bonkers r-rated version of the film that it was originally going to be! This movie was going to but so much more violent than what was delivered, and we share details on the crazy scenes of violence and death that never made it in the movi...
In Episode 32 of Secret Level, we talk about George Lucas and Ron Howard's iconic 1987 fantasy film Willow. This is one of those movies that we have very fond memories of when we were kids and it’s a film that we’ve enjoyed revisiting over the years. This is just one of those films that take us to our happy place and we wanted to see if we could find some information about the making of it that we never knew before, and we did! We hope you enjoy this episode where we dive into Willow! Follow...
In Episode 31 of Secret Level, we get a little funky as we talk about the making of the greatest music video ever made, Michael Jackson’s Thriller! The music video was released in 1982 and it was helmed by An American Werewolf in London director John Landis. There are actually some interesting details behind the making of this music video and there’s a lot of stuff that we came across in our research that we never knew before! This was a funny project to discuss and things get weird. Enjoy! ...
In Episode 30 of Secret Level, we dive into one of our favorite Halloween horror films Lady in White. The 1988 movie was directed by Frank LaLoggia, and it stars Lucas Haas. This is such a beautifully made horror film that not only offers thrills and chills but, it also tells a wonderful story with so many layers to it! We talk about the unconventional way that the movie was made, share our memories of watching it when we were kids and offer some fun trivia and behind-the-scenes details. We h...
In Secret Level Episode 29 we sit down to talk about one of the best Halloween horror movies ever made! The Michael Dougherty-directed film Trick ‘r Treat! Joey has been watching the movie every Halloween night since it was released on DVD in 2009, but the first time that Billy watched it was for this podcast episode! This film project had quite an interesting journey getting made and until this year, it never got a wide theatrical release! With it being the Halloween season, we wanted to do ...
In Episode 28 of Secret Level, we revisit the 1985 horror comedy House. The movie was directed by Steve Miner from a story by Fred Dekker and a script by Ethan Wiley. This was a wonderfully terrifying haunted house movie that features monstrous elements that stuck with us ever since we were kids! We love this movie and thought it would be fun to dig up some little-known details about it and how it was made! It was also a blast rewatching again and we make sure to include some amusing commenta...
In Episode 27 of Secret Level, join us as we discuss one of the worst and most disgusting movies ever made... The Garbage Pail Kids Movie! After rewatching this movie, it's hard to believe that it actually exists! We keep asking ourselves how in the world this movie got made! It's a monstrosity! Well, we dive into the wild behind-the-scenes story and there's some absolutely crazy stuff that happened! We also offer some commentary on the ridiculousness of the movie and all the socially unaccep...
In Episode 25 of Secret Level, we talk about Jim Henson and Frank Oz’s beautifully made 1982 fantasy film The Dark Crystal. This is a wonderful and timeless film and it was interesting to research the making of the film and how it came to exist. We offer some nostalgic commentary on the film and offer some fascinating insight into how Henson, Oz, and their creative team brought this true work of art to life. It was incredible to learn about the great lengths that the creative team would go to...
In Episode 24 of Secret Level, we take a look at the making of director Gary Godard’s live-action adaptation of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe starring Dolph Lundgren. It’s been a long time since we revisited this movie and it’s so laughably bad! We offer some amusing commentary on the movie and discuss all the behind-the-scenes issues that the production faced. We also share details on the unproduced sequel that was being developed. This is one of those films that did not age well wi...
In Episode 21 of Secret Level, we talk about Disney Animation’s cult classic 1985 animated fantasy film The Black Cauldron! Disney really wanted to do something cool and different with this film and they wanted to take their animated films to a new level with it. But the production of the film was a complete disaster and because of all the crazy things going on behind-the-scenes, this movie almost killed Disney Animation. Seriously, just wait until you learn about what the creative team behin...
In Episode 18 of Secret Level, we strap into the cockpit of an F-14 Tomcat and talk about director Tony Scott’s awesome 1986 film Top Gun, which stars Tom Cruise! With Top Gun: Maverick coming out soon, we thought it’d be fun to see what kind of fun details and trivia we could find for the original movie. We found a lot of cool and interesting stuff that we were never aware of and offer some amusing commentary on the movie and the things that we learned about the making of it. For example, To...