The Pod and the Pendulum

This week we are joined by Birth.Movies.Death and Horror Movie A Day scribe Brian Collins to break down Halloween 5. This maligned sequel gets a reevaluation by our crew, and we are here to say that Tina was a far better character than fans have given credit for over the years. Yeah, the mask stinks, and yeah making Jaime a mute while having a stuttering kid translate for her was a bad decision and yeah Loomis is completely batshit crazy in this one but...you know what, never mind we are going to quit while ahead. 

Ten years after the night He came home, The Shape...comes home again. This time he's after his orphaned niece Jaime, in a stellar performance from Danielle Harris. The nostalgia factor is high on this one, and after the box office failure of Halloween III, producer Mustafa Akkad was determined to keep the franchise going by giving fans what they wanted: Michael Myers. Also returning was Dr. Loomis, is a performance from Donald Pleasance that grows more unhinged as the movie progresses. Plus, while Halloween 4 is a great slasher movie, Jerry asks, is it a great sequel to the original Halloween. Mike and Jerry are joined by Justin Beahm (The Justin Beahm Radio Hour, Shout Factory) to discuss all this and more. 

Happy Halloween listeners! As a treat for everyone, one half of your hosts, Mike, joins his daughter Ada to talk about her favorite movie to watch during the Halloween season, Shaun of the Dead. While we can't promise we are the most insightful duo ever, Mike and his 9 year old do their best to keep it entertaining. If you're sitting down on the sofa this Halloween with a giant bowl of candy and this zombie comedy favorite, go ahead, cue up this commentary track and listen alongside the movie. 

This week we are joined by filmmaker IZZY LEE (Re-Home, My Monster, Rites of Vengeance) to talk about the cult classic Halloween III. Yes, it's the one without Michael Myers, but unlike A New Beginning, the Tommy Lee Wallace film has gathered both fan and critical appreciation over the decades. We talk with Izzy about why this movie works, what makes Tom Atkins so great, and why representation and different voices in art matter. As a bonus feature, the episode kicks off with Jerry's daughter Dahlia, and my daughter Ada giving their picks for must-watch movies this Halloween season. 

This week we are back to talk about the as-good-as-you-could-possibly-hope-for Halloween 2. While it doesn't hit the same heights as Carpenter's classic, it's still a prety damn fine slasher film that reunites the gang behind the movie. Jerry and Mike are joined by Ghastly Grinning's Brian Keiper to talk about what the follow up gets right, how it falls prey to the slasher tropes that emerged in the wake of Halloween's success and why the sister angle hampered the series for so many years that follow. 

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What better way to dive into the spooky season than by tacking the series that is synonymous with it. This week Jerry and Mike are joined by Nat Brehmer (Dread Central, Bloody Disgusting, Diabolique, and more) to tackle one of the masterworks of not only horror cinema, but one of the truly greatest films of all time. With so many words already spilled on Halloween, we hope you enjoy our different approach, which focuses on Dr. Loomis, his relationship with The shape, and just why he was so damn driven to the edge of insanity with his quest to contain this evil. 

We wrap up our coverage of the Blair Witch franchise with a look back at the Simon Barrett / Adam Wingard sequel to TBWP. Imagine the 1999 film subsisting on a steady diet of creatine and pixie stix and you have a good feel for what this roller coaster of a movie offers the viewer. We're joined by Spooky Sarah from Geeks Who Eat and the returning Jacob Davison from The Deadtime Stories podcast

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This is one of the rare movies that made your host Mike angry upon seeing in theaters in 2000. Our poor guest host Jinx (Scream Addicts podcast, Dread Central) is walking straight into a hornet's nest with this one. 

We have a bonus episode for you guys. Jerry loved the new Rob Zombie ode to ultra violence 3 FROM HELL. He sat down with friend of the pod Justin Beahm (The Justin Beahm Radio Hour) to talk about their thoughts on the return of the Firefly clan.