Third Channel Podcast

You won't know true ecstasy until you have tasted death. Join PJ and Derek as they reach this franchises strangest crossroads in Turi Meyer’s straight-to-video finale, Candyman: Day of the Dead (1999). In this episode the guys debate the film trading gothic urban horror for sunlit Los Angeles streets and Día de los Muertos imagery, reworking the legend into a generational curse, the franchise fatigue that shaped this overlooked entry, and ask whether saying his name one more time was ever goi...

I am the writing on the wall, the whisper in the classroom. Join PJ and Derek in The Big Easy as they inspect Bill Condon’s sorrow-soaked sequel to the urban legend that never dies in Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995). In this episode the guys unpack how shifting the setting to New Orleans trades the cold brutality of Chicago for Southern Gothic excess, family curses, and a myth rooted in generational trauma that expands Daniel Robitaille’s backstory, reframing him as both monster and tr...

You were not content with the stories, so I was obliged to come. Join PJ and Derek as they step up to the mirror to summon Bernard Rose’s Candyman (1992). In this episode the guys discuss Tony Todd’s iconic performance, Philip Glass’s hypnotic score, and the film’s unsettling use of Chicago’s Cabrini-Green as both setting and symbol. Candyman transforms a slasher premise into something far more unsettling: a meditation on belief, violence, race, and the stories societies choose to repeat. 📺 F...

Have you ever heard of The Three Sisters? Join PJ and Derek as they descend into the nightmare of color and sound that is Dario Argento’s Inferno (1980), the second chapter in the Three Mothers trilogy. In this episode the guys wade through flooded ballrooms, cursed apartments, and brutal eruptions of violence to unpack Argento’s uniquely dreamlike approach to horror, where reason dissolves and atmosphere reigns supreme in something that feels less like a movie and more like a curse. 📺 Follow...

There are some things that man is not meant to splice. This week PJ and Derek are joined by special guest Charlie as they dive headfirst into the pure cinematic mayhem of Joe Dante’s sequel that gleefully tears up the rulebook in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). In this episode they explore how Dante uses slapstick violence, mutant gremlins, and nonstop parody to mock sequels, media culture, corporate America, and even the audience itself. Whether you think this anything-goes approach makes ...

Look Mister, there are some rules that you’ve got to follow. Join PJ and Derek as they unwrap the strange magic that is Joe Dante’s Christmas classic Gremlins (1984). In this episode the guys discuss why the gremlins themselves are both hilarious and genuinely unsettling, and how the movie pushed boundaries for what mainstream horror could look like with its blend of holiday cheer, creature-feature effects, and razor-sharp satire that remains a perfect example of horror that bites while it en...

It's like a virus. So what do we do with any virus? Quarantine. We isolate it and then we kill it. Join PJ and Derek as they revisit the Norwegian outpost of The Thing (2011), Matthijs van Heijningen Jr.’s chilling prequel to Carpenter’s iconic masterpiece. In this episode the guys unpack the film’s strengths and missteps, from its tense early moments and creature concepts to the infamous shift from practical effects to CGI, and how it expands the lore established in the 1982 classic. 📺 Follo...

If I was an imitation, a perfect imitation, how would you know if it was really me? This week PJ and Derek are joined by special guest Bug as they venture into the icy isolation of John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). In this episode, they explore how a simple survival scenario transforms into a suffocating nightmare through its tense atmosphere, groundbreaking practical effects, and how its themes of mistrust and identity still resonate today. 📺 The last time we heard from Bug was for our disc...

And as he had for thousands of years, Krampus came not to reward, but to punish. Join PJ and Derek as they explore how Michael Dougherty transforms seasonal cheer into claustrophobic dread in Krampus (2015). In this episode the guys unwrap the film’s blend of dark humor and folkloric horror, break down its spectacular creature effects, and discuss how a story about family dysfunction spirals into a full-blown winter nightmare beneath the shadow of Saint Nicholas. 📺 Check out Derek's list of C...

Show some enthusiasm. Thanksgiving is an institution here. Join PJ and Derek as they carve into the holiday slasher that proves no tradition is safe in Eli Roth’s Thanksgiving (2023). In this episode the guys unpack the film’s evolution from a notorious faux trailer into a full-blown horror feature, complete with its masked killer, standout set pieces, twisted sense of humor, and practical gore served piping hot. Arrive hungry… leave stuffed. 📺 Check out Derek's list of Thanksgiving horror fi...

You are receiving this broadcast as a dream. Join PJ and Derek as they descend into the forsaken Los Angeles church at the heart of John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness (1987). In this episode the guys attempt to unravel the blending of quantum theory with ancient theology, the unsettling dream broadcasts from the future, and the suffocating sense of inevitability that gives the movie its slow-burn dread that the end is nigh. 📺 Follow us @thirdchannelpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, &a...

Do you read Sutter Cane? Join PJ and Derek as they crack open the reality-warping nightmare that is John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness (1994). In this episode the guys unravel the film’s blend of psychological horror and cosmic dread, with its nods to Lovecraftian mythology and Stephen King’s small town terrors, that explores the nature of fear, the power of fiction, and the terrifying possibility that stories can become real. 📺 Follow us @thirdchannelpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, Thr...

During the spookiest time of the year there are a few guidelines all ghosts and goblins should follow. Join PJ and Derek as they light another jack-o’-lantern and carve into Michael Dougherty’s cult anthology Trick ’r Treat (2007). In this episode the guys unravel how the film’s intertwining stories reinvent Halloween mythology, the eerie atmosphere that captures the spirit of Samhain through its dark humor and gory morality plays, and discuss why this once-overlooked film has become a season...

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to Third Channel Podcast. Join PJ, Derek, and Producer Ty as they catch up on a year of horror. In this episode the guys talk about what they’ve achieved in the last year, which horror films from this year are their favorites, what the next year of franchises looks like for the Third Channel, and what Ty truly thought of Jaws. 📺 Follow us @thirdchannelpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & YouTube and @thirdchannelpod on Bluesky, Twitter, & Letterboxd. You...

Time for Haddonfield to start healing. Join PJ and Derek as they confront the decisive finale of David Gordon Green’s trilogy with Halloween Ends (2022). In this episode the guys peel back the mask to reveal the legacy of trauma, the controversial rise of Corey Cunningham, and the final confrontation between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers. But what does “the end” really means if evil never truly dies… it just changes Shape. 📺 Follow us @thirdchannelpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, &a...

For the past forty years you’ve let the idea of this… Boogeyman, consume you. Join PJ and Derek as they descend into the chaos of David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills (2021). In this episode the guys unpack the film’s chaotic mob mentality, through its themes of fear and vengeance, and debate whether the social commentary lands in one of the most divisive entries in the franchise where Evil Dies Tonight. 📺 Follow us @thirdchannelpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & YouTube and @thir...

There's a reason we're supposed to be afraid of this night. This week PJ and Derek are joined by special guest Bug as they revisit Haddonfield to dissect David Gordon Green’s Halloween (2018). In this episode, they explore how this film reimagines Laurie Strode not as a victim, but as a survivor shaped by trauma, its bold retconning of the franchise mythology, and the return of Michael Myers as a shape of pure evil. 📺 The last time we heard from Bug was for our discussion on John Carpenter's ...

How would you like to join us in the definitive Nightmare? Join PJ and Derek as they venture into the meta-reinvention of Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994). In this episode the guys dissect this self-aware slasher that blurs the line between fiction and reality, how Craven resurrected Freddy as a darker, more ancient evil, the film’s commentary on horror cinema itself, and Heather Langenkamp’s return to a world where the nightmare never truly ends. 📺 Check out Jon Keogh’s work on YouTube and ...

Jason Voorhees. He killed nearly 200 people and simply disappeared without a trace. This week PJ and Derek are joined by special guest Dylan as they leave the campground for the cold vacuum of space in James Isaac’s Jason X (2001). In this episode the guys dissect the gleefully gory kills, bizarre futuristic setting, cyborg upgrades and nanotech nightmares that make this a misunderstood cult gem. 📺 The last time we heard from Dylan was for our discussion on Halloween III: Season of the Witch ...

Oh, God, y'all, two killers? We're not safe awake or asleep. Join PJ and Derek for the long-awaited, bloody showdown between slasher icons in Ronny Yu’s Freddy vs. Jason (2003). In this episode the guys dissect the years of studio delays and scrapped scripts, the tonal clash of dream logic and slasher brutality, and how the film walks the line between fan-service spectacle and franchise fatigue. 📺 Follow us @thirdchannelpodcast on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & YouTube and @thirdchannelp...