The Movie Crypt

Filmmaker John-Michael Powell (VIOLENT ENDS, THE SEND-OFF) joins Adam and Joe in the ArieScope studio to discuss his career journey and the making of VIOLENT ENDS (opening in theaters this Friday 10/31).  From a kid growing up in Arkansas riding his bike to the video store… to going to college in Texas and heading straight to Los Angeles after graduating… to his decision to get into editing and work his way towards directing… to the incredible amount of filmmaking knowledge he gained by being in the room "where the sausage is made"… to how his script for VIOLENT ENDS was actually written in 2011 and went through several incarnations and starts/stops before finally going before cameras… to how he chose the incredible cast that brought his characters to life on screen… to his answer to the usual final question that left Adam and Joe stunned, John-Michael offers an incredible amount of insight and inspiration in this terrific conversation. Watch Adam's 27th annual ArieScope Halloween short film HALLOWEEN HANGOVER - A STAR WARS STORY on the ArieScope YouTube channel HERE and then cure your hangover with the new season of Joe & Becca's A COUPLE OF OLD FASHIONEDS! The first two episodes of Season 2 are now available on YouTube HERE along with ALL of Season 1!

Actress and musician Jill Schoelen (POPCORN, THE STEPFATHER, PHANTOM OF THE OPERA 1989) joins Adam and Joe in the ArieScope studio to share her career journey. From a 7 year old girl with alopecia who loved to sing for whoever would listen… to landing her first agent at age 10… to auditioning for the role of "Emmeline" in THE BLUE LAGOON as a teenager seven times only to not get the role… to her audition for "Sarah" in LABYRINTH alongside Jennifer Connelly and Ally Sheedy (Jill didn't get that role either)… to landing the role of "Claudette" in Joel Schumacher's D.C. CAB (1983) and then going on to star in a string of genre films like THE STEPFATHER, CURSE II, POPCORN, and WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK all while suffering from agoraphobia and severe anxiety… to the surprising information Fred Walton shared with her about her audition for WHEN A STRANGER CALLS BACK after the film had finished shooting… to her upcoming films RALPH'S PERFEKT CHRISTMAS and A DYING ART… and what to expect in her upcoming book of memoirs and on her upcoming album, Jill explains why you can't attach your happiness to an outcome that you can't personally control and why it's so important to just keep showing up. Want to get all of your MOVIE CRYPT episodes without ads? By supporting the show for just $1 a month you'll get every episode ad-free and downloaded right to your podcast app of choice! Keep the podcast alive by supporting it at www.Patreon.com/TheMovieCrypt today!

Filmmaker Matt Sampere (CREEPING DEATH) joins Adam and Joe in the ArieScope Studio to discuss his journey bringing his debut feature film to life. From watching GODZILLA and KING KONG with his father as a child and developing an early love for monsters and genre films… to being told by teachers that it wasn't realistic to pursue a career as a filmmaker… to attending community college while playing in a band before heading to Syracuse to pursue a degree in film production… to PA'ing on David Bruckner's THE NIGHT HOUSE and making the move to Los Angeles just in time for the pandemic to turn the industry upside down and then have the WGA/SAG strikes delay most productions for an additional year… to working a variety of different positions on both film and TV projects before writing CREEPING DEATH… to making a short film version of the story during the pandemic that he would use as a calling card for helping raise the budget to make his debut feature of the same name two years later… to how personal family experiences almost unknowingly seeped into the characters he wrote for CREEPING DEATH… to how his constraints on resources actually helped turn some set pieces into something even better than what he had originally planned… to the film's world premiere at FRIGHTFEST in the UK and learning to deal with armchair critics, Matt's story is one that almost every aspiring filmmaker can relate to and draw inspiration from. Watch CREEPING DEATH on Amazon Prime and/or Screambox and get in the Halloween spirit!

Filmmakers Dennis Cahlo and Bethany Watson join Adam and Joe to discuss the making of their new series THE TROUBLE WITH TESSA (now streaming on Screambox). From meeting on a podcast and getting together romantically… to making the decision to leave previously established careers and become full time filmmakers… to making short films together before putting together a mock trailer to sell their vision for THE TROUBLE WITH TESSA… to pulling off the feat of shooting their 6 episode series with extremely limited resources, a tiny crew and only 19 days… to the casting of their fully non-union cast and the careful planning that went into making each day of filming… to working with Screambox and the pressure they put on themselves wanting to make sure that the platform's first original series was a success… to the ins and outs of co-directing and co-producing effectively as a couple… to the hurdles of working with practical effects when there is often only one take to get it right, Dennis and Bethany's accomplishment with TESSA is one that will surely inspire other filmmakers to find their own way to make big things happen. Don't forget, MOVIE CRYPT LIVE is FREE for all to enjoy next Sunday October 12th! Join us at 8am PST / 11am EST for our annual 2-hour Halloween pre-show "IT'S THE GREAT HALLOWEEN PRE-SHOW, ARWEN!" and then enjoy a LIVE episode starting at 10am PST / 1pm EST. A link will be posted on www.Patreon.com/TheMovieCrypt about 30 minutes before the pre-show begins and remain posted until the LIVE show ends. You don't need to be a Patreon member to see the link or join in the fun for this annual FREE event!

Filmmaker Mercedes Bryce Morgan (FIXATION, SPOONFUL OF SUGAR) joins Adam and Joe in the ArieScope studio to discuss the making of her latest feature BONE LAKE (in theaters now). From first reading the sexy, violent and twist-filled script… to her thoughts on the current cultural temperature with erotica in commercial cinema… to how she approached shooting the sex and violence integral to BONE LAKE's plot… to the key in finding the right location as a character… to how she pulled off this very ambitious thrill-ride with a fresh-faced cast on a tight schedule… to the film's triumphant premiere at Fantastic fest in 2024 and how she's been dealing with the many surprises the film has in store in a time of "spoiler culture," BONE LAKE has stormed into theaters with a wave of major buzz behind it. See BONE LAKE in a theater near you!

SPECIAL EPISODE! Legendary writer/director Shane Black (LETHAL WEAPON, THE MONSTER SQUAD, KISS KISS BANG BANG, IRON MAN 3, THE NICE GUYS) joins Adam and Joe in the ArieScope Studio to discuss his career journey and his new feature PLAY DIRTY - now available on Amazon Prime. From his writing process… to feeling the very same "imposter syndrome" we all feel despite his many massive successes… to what goes in to creating a terrific protagonist and how he makes every character a memorable one despite the size of the role… to what it's like working with some of the greatest actors in Hollywood… to the cinema that inspired him and why many of his projects have had a Christmastime setting… to the production of PLAY DIRTY… to where the now iconic "Wolfman's got nards" line came from in his script for THE MONSTER SQUAD… to how he overcame his own demons and came roaring back, this conversation with one of the industry's most beloved giants is one that every filmmaker needs to hear. Watch PLAY DIRTY on Amazon Prime tonight!

Academy Award winning make-up FX artist Christopher Nelson (KILL BILL Vol 1 & 2, SUICIDE SQUAD 2016, HALLOWEEN 2018, HALLOWEEN KILLS, HALLOWEEN ENDS, AMERICAN HORROR STORY) joins Adam and Joe in the ArieScope studio to discuss his incredible career journey. From growing up on a healthy diet of Fangoria magazines and going to the movies as often as possible… to becoming consumed with the dream of making movies after seeing NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD on TV and then enamored with make-up FX after seeing DAWN OF THE DEAD in the theater… to a lifetime of FX work that lead him all the way to China where he worked with the great Quentin Tarantino on the KILL BILL movies… to winning Emmy Awards for his work on AMERICAN HORROR STORY… to almost walking away from working on SUICIDE SQUAD (2016) two different times before winning an Academy Award for his work on the film… to his amazing and surreal experience at the Oscars… to the pressure that came with taking the FX reigns on the beloved HALLOWEEN franchise and its highly opinionated fan base… to what it meant to see his Michael Myers mask on a banner for HALLOWEEN (2018) hanging from a sound stage at Universal Studios… to his thoughts on the current state of the industry and entertainment in general, Chris is a true giant at his craft and this candid conversation is one that every cinephile is sure to enjoy. Want to stop hearing ads? Support THE MOVIE CRYPT on Patreon.com/TheMovieCrypt for just $1 a month and get every new episode, ad-free and downloaded right to your podcast app of choice with your RSS code!

Filmmakers Pierre Tsigaridis and Maxime Rancon (TWO WITCHES) join Adam and Joe in the ArieScope studio to discuss their career journey and the making of their latest film TRAUMATIKA (in theaters now). From how the two randomly met at a Los Angeles club, bonded over their similar tastes in cinema and music and began working together… to how they put both TWO WITCHES and TRAUMATIKA together with their own resources rather than waiting for outside financing… to the many pivotal crew positions the duo perform themselves on their projects… to how they came up with the story and the title for TRAUMATIKA… to the challenges of crafting a film that involved child actors and why they performed and recorded the film's ending credits song themselves… Pierre and Maxime are two shining examples of how you can make big things happen if you stop waiting for someone else's permission.

Filmmaker Michael Chaves (THE CONJURING: LAST RITES, THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MAE ME DO IT, THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA, THE NUN 2) joins Adam and Joe in the ArieScope Studio to discuss his career journey and closing the casket on the Warren saga. From his beginnings in the commercial arena… to working with Nickelodeon on a short lived digital series… to how he met James Wan and was "conjured" into taking the baton of THE CONJURING universe… to working with Billie Eilish on the "Bury A Friend" music video… to the moral responsibility that comes with telling stories based on true/mythological events and actual people and much more! If you're hankering for "How'd they do that" anecdotes from the last two CONJURING films, this is your episode! THE CONJURING: LAST RITES is in theaters now!

Producer Oren Koules (SAW 1-10, TWO AND A HALF MEN, DEAD SILENCE, RUN RONNIE RUN, SET IT OFF) joins Adam and Joe to discuss his career journey and the making of his new feature TRUST (in theaters now). From setting up at least half a dozen projects at studios only to have them never get made… to trying his hand at being a studio executive himself… to surrounding himself with talented professionals and learning how to produce on the job… to just how close SAW came to either never being released or being released directly to home video… to the incredible story of the testing scores that changed SAW's fate… to his experience shepherding the franchise for over 20 years now… to how his obligations to TWO AND A HALF MEN and making annual SAW films left him with a long stretch of time when he didn't have time to work on anything else… to the casting and producing of TRUST… to how he picks the projects he produces… to his thoughts on horror/comedies, why slasher films aren't his thing, and why he disagrees with SAW being labeled "torture porn"… this conversation is Producing 101 for anyone looking to become a producer but not being sure what steps to take.

Special BONUS mini-episode! Filmmaker and actor Macon Blair (GREEN ROOM, OPPENHEIMER, I DON'T FEEL AT HOME IN THIS WORLD ANYMORE, MURDER PARTY) joins Adam and Joe to discuss his new film THE TOXIC AVENGER (in theaters today)! Recorded during the second day of YORKIETHON IX, in this conversation Macon discusses how he got involved in the Legendary-produced remake of Troma's seminal cinematic masterpiece… working with the great Peter Dinklage… the long road to its UN-RATED release into theaters and much more! It's a short blast of Toxic goodness to get you hyped to see THE TOXIC AVENGER, out in theaters RIGHT NOW!!! GO SEE IT AND SUPPORT INDIE HORROR!

Actress and filmmaker Sarah Nicklin (THE BLACK MASS, POPEYE THE SLAYER MAN, SPLATTER DISCO, EXHUMED) joins Adam and Joe in the ArieScope studio to discuss her career journey. From how her young fandom for HOME IMPROVEMENT's Jonathan Taylor Thomas lead her to want to become an actress… to watching John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN and William Friedkin's THE EXORCIST as her first ever horror movies… to going to college at Emerson in Boston and launching her career in New England through whatever auditions she could find out about… to her discipline in always trying to better her craft despite having over 100 films and TV shows under her belt at this point in her career… to how she decompresses after finishing each role and more, Sarah's path is a perfect example of how never giving up can lead to continuing to work, work, work! Also, Dr. Arwen provides "Hollywood Therapy" for a listener looking for life hacks to improve their imperfect process. See Sarah in V/H/S HALLOWEEN coming this October!

Actor/Filmmaker Peter Cilella (RESOLUTION, THE ENDLESS) joins Adam and Joe in the ArieScope studio to discuss his career journey and the making of his feature directorial debut DESCENDENT (in theaters now as well as SVOD). From his struggles doing various jobs while getting his acting career off the ground… to writing and directing his own short films… to how working with Rustic Films (Benson/Moorhead & Lawson's production company) "set him up for success" with making his first feature DESCENDENT… to the writing of his deeply personal script during the pandemic… to how the project briefly got derailed for a full year and almost never happened… to how he created instant chemistry between his leads (Ross Marquand and Sarah Bolger)… to working with the Russells on the film's alien FX and much more! Dr. Arwen provides "Hollywood Therapy" for a patient looking to understand how to best support the films and the filmmakers who's work he enjoys and the boys reveal the final total raised in YORKIETHON IX!

In THE MOVIE CRYPT's annual Yorkiethon round up Adam recaps the weekend long charity benefit and replays the full interviews with director Chuck Russell (WITCHBOARD, THE MASK, A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3) and actress Kate Siegel (HUSH, THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, LIFE OF CHUCK). Yorkiethon IX was the most successful Yorkiethon yet with over 50 guests and $42,000.00 raised for Save A Yorkie Rescue! That's A LOT of dogs who will be saved! Thank you to everyone who watched the 3-day LIVE marathon, thank you to everyone who donated, and thank you to Bloody-Disgusting for sponsoring this year's event and being such terrific partners with us!

Film editor Glenn Garland (THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, HALLOWEEN 2007, IT: WELCOME TO DERRY, POKER FACE) joins Adam and Joe in the ArieScope studio to discuss his career journey. From growing up with parents who didn't understand why he would possibly want to work in the entertainment industry… to finding personal peace and joy in the edit suite as opposed to enduring the chaos of being on-set… to why as an editor it can be easier to separate yourself from the overall production process and just focus on the story being told… to starting out working as a dialogue editor for the late Roger Corman on ultra low budget films (even though he didn't know anything about cutting dialogue)… to why he has enduring affection for THE FANTASTIC FOUR (1994)… to making the transition from cutting on film to cutting digitally… to how he first wound up working with Rob Zombie on THE DEVIL'S REJECTS and the incredible working relationship they've had ever since… to stories from working on RZ's HALLOWEEN (2007) and HALLOWEEN II (2009)… this is a fantastic conversation that brings you beyond the set and into the dark room where it all comes together.