Cut to the Chase

     This week a director attempts an impossible take, a detective attempts to remember a clue, and a First Nations activist attempts to show the damage yet to be done.

     The cast and crew of a low-budget zombie find themselves between a director, Higurashi, driven to extremes and the chomping end of an actual zombie outbreak. Before the last drop of blood is spilled, we take a look at what drove Higurashi to this extreme and what was happening off screen. The poster film for "let's put on a show" spirit and independent ingenuity that opens with a in a brilliant 37 minute uninterrupted continuous shot- One Cut of the Dead [original Kamera o Tomeru na!; lit. Don't Stop the Camera!].
     A serial killer thought to have died eighteen years earlier returns. The only surviving witness, whose mother was the last victim in the original murders, and the case's now retired detective, who is suffering from age related memory loss, join together to finally end the terror that has haunted them both. A giallo from widely acknowledged master of the art, Dario Argento, Sleepless [original Non ho sonno; lit. 'I can't sleep'].
     Peter Maguire is the lawyer for a First Nations reserve and trying to stop a logging company from building a road that will lead to clear cutting of Native land. After a meeting where the reserve's representative affirms their desire to fight, Arthur, an Indigenous activist, joins him on his trip back home. That night Arthur kidnaps logging plant manager, Bud, and the three men take a long trip through the wilderness. A brilliantly acted and brutal deconstruction of performative allyship, the limits of pacifism, corporate pillaging of the environment, and the land rights of First Nations people, Clearcut.
     All that and three looks at a magnetic tape. Join us, won't you? 
   Episode 488- Cut to the Chase

Beep Beep

     In the spirit of spooky season and to milk hype for a newer Stephen King miniseries, we take a look at the ABC TV miniseries that started sixteen years of Stephen King adaptions- IT. Does is hold up? Do we just have nostalgia goggles? Does Tim Curry still stalk our nightmares? Join us, won't you?

   A Spooky Season minisode- Beep Beep

Kill or be Kilt

     This week- a two directorial debuts from industry veterans and the sixth film from one of the most divisive cult filmmakers.

     Daisy works in content monitoring at Paladin, a harsh workplace with strict quotas, a martinet boss, and constant employee breakdowns. Trying to maintain her well-being, Daisy indulges in some numbing excess but nothing stops her increasing detachment. Until she can't just look away from one disturbingly violent video. An examination of modern disillusionment and digital detachment, American Sweatshop.
     Philip is forced to return to his childhood home and elderly uncle, Maurice, after an incident involving this spider-like representation of personal trauma marionette. Despite multiple attempts and a suffocating desperation to dispose of the nightmarish puppet, it always returns to him, in tact and close. Maurice torments a mentally crumbling and regressing Philip while the police search for a possible abductor. The feature debut of a cult comedian and author is a brutal and bleak look at the repercussions of abuse and trauma, Possum.
     A mysterious pyramid, showing details combining all the diverse pyramids on Earth, is found under an uninhabited Arctic island. Lex Woods is hired by Charles Bishop Weyland to guide a team of mercenaries and questionably competent scientists into the structure. Unfortunately, it turns out to be an elaborate interstellar hunting ground for the most dangerous organism and most skilled hunter in the galaxy. The sixth feature from both loved and hated genre filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson, Alien vs Predator.
     All that AND a we take a look at "Scottish Mist" the penultimate episode of Channel 4's brilliant horror comedy, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 487- Kill or be Kilt

A Cuckoo in Play

This week- John finds some closure, Kerry does a whoopsie, Guy gets a the terms of his employment rearranged, Noah sees a cameo, and Halogram finally says the words RealHal couldn't. Join us in waxing philosophical for Lanterns finale, "Dirt and Stars", won't you? Lanterns Minisode- A Cuckoo in Play

Gorgeous Rivulet

     This week we kick off Spooky Season festivities with three films about people having troubles with home ownership.

     Simone waits for a letter from new wave superstar R. Thoughts of R and their future consume her every moment. When no reply arrives, Simone decided to help her fate along by hitchhiking to Munich and nothing will keep her and R apart any longer. An incredible performance propelling a tense psychosexual horror, Der Fan.
     Independent film director Alister is fired by VHS distributor William King and told the project is dead. When he learns that the film is actually being sold and he won't be paid, he decides to take brutal and violent revenge on all of King's inner circle. No budget auteur Michael J Murphy's Bloodstream.
     Jae-pil and Sang-goo have used all their life savings to buy a house in the country to begin an idyllic life. The local police and a soo to debut golf pro's entourage treat them with extreme suspicion and contempt due to their looks. When they save Mi-na from drowning, they kick off a bloody misunderstanding. Meanwhile the golf pro might have kicked off the end of the world. A Korean remake of the beloved cult classic Tucker & Dale vs Evil- Handsome Guys.
All that and Dave take a trip out, Kevin settles in for a long month, and Craig plots to gift everyone an existential crisis. Join us. won't we?
   Episode 486- Gorgeous Rivulet

     This week John and the Halogram finally take a small trip outside of Rushville, Nebraska, where it's  slightly chilly 36°F (2°C) with brief flurries to a barren dead world where it's a pleasant 22.2°C (72°F) with brief deluge of mind destroying hallucination causing terror rain. Still both prefer it over Nebraska. Join us, won't you?
     Lanterns Minisode- A Lime in the Rain

Desperately Seeking Madonna

     This week a foursome with the ultimate pop diva and divisive actors to grace the silver screen.

     A New York auteur goes to Hollywood to direct a drama about abuse. In order to get the performances he wants, he pushes his leads to their emotional extremes. In his quest for raw emotion on film, he doesn't even notice how his own careless behavior erodes all the real relationships around him. A metatextual dive through a film-within-a-film by Abel Ferrara, one of the most staunchly independent and unpredictable American filmmakers, Dangerous Game.
     When crime boss and amateur choreographer Big Boy Caprice makes a move to take over all organized crime under his control, only the shovel jawed bright yellow trench coated detective Dick Tracy stands in his way. With only a young orphan witness and sultry singer as the only possible witnesses to Caprice's crimes, Tracy tries to end the reign of the crime kingpin before it begins. A visual treat inspired by the classic 1930s comic strip by Chester Gould that spawned a wave of imitators, Dick Tracy.
     Nikki Finn just served four years for a crime she did not commit and is being released early for good behavior. Loudon Trott is a tax attorney on the even of his wedding to the boss's taxi frequenting daughter. When Loudon is ordered to make sure Nikki gets on a bus to Philly and deliver a rare large cat to an eccentric but very rich client, he ends up having the most screwball adjacent day possible and wondering... Who's The Girl?
     Roberta is the neglected housewife of New Jersey's Hot Tub King. She occupies her time tracing the misadventures of a young and free pair of lovers through the paper's daily personal ads. When she decides to go witness their next meeting, she ends up drawn into a murderous conspiracy without her memory, accidentally stealing an identity, and living a life she could only fantasize about before. While she remains mostly oblivious, it seems the whole city is Desperately Seeking Susan.
     All that and Craig becomes a zephyr in the night sky, Kevin wants to kiss you in Paris, and, oh God,  Dave thinks he's falling. Join us, won't we?
   Episode 485: Desperately Seeking Madonna