Milicent and Other Universal Monsters

     This week- children of the night, voyeurism as meet cute, a wedding interrupted by vigilantism, and a 68-year old wrong.
     A nobleman, from a dilapidated castle in Southeastern Europe, buys a dilapidated building in London, which once housed monks, next to the worst run asylum of its time. The nobleman soon makes a small splash with the neighbors and both young women at the asylum begin to take up his unusual habit of vampirism to differing degrees. Ah, the precode children of the night, what beautiful music they make.... Dracula.
     A different nobleman, this time from Germany, tried to hide away in a lonely location to finish the work he is obsessed with. This location is an easy and short walk from the town he and everyone he has ever known lives. Tragically, he hires an assistant of questionable competency with a cruel streak, allows himself to be distracted from the proper care and maintenance of his scientific endeavor, and keeps delegating important tasks to incompetents. His monster running loose in the hills is really the fault of... Frankenstein.
     A third nobleman, this one just returned home to Wales after nearly two decades in California, uses his father's new telescope to check out women from the village. After some light creeping, he badgers an engaged retail clerk to go with him to see the fortuneteller, Bela. The clerk wisely decides to bring a friend along on her forced trip. Unfortunately, the friend is killed by a wolf, a cursed wolf. If only our entitled perv listened to the rhyme everyone in town is happy to recite at a moments notice. A poem about... The Wolf Man.
     Doctor David dreams of lungfish. When his mentor uncovers a fossilized hand that shows a direct link between land and sea animals, David, his girlfriend of 6 months, and their boss go to help recover the rest of the artifact. Following the river to the most logical place to find the missing pieces. Before long, they will find their quarry might have a still very active... Creature from the Black Lagoon.
     Join us, won't we?
   Episode 281- Milicent and Other Universal Monsters

Knocking on Devon's Door

     This week three films about evil within ourselves, others, buildings, and lack of capitalist society's demanded productivity.

     Anton has a serious lack of motivation. All he does is sit at home, smoke the devil's weed with his friends Mick and Pnub, and fantasize about Molly, the literal girl next door. But, as they say, idle hands are the devil's playground and soon a killing spree rocks his sleepy town. Will Anton be able to save the day, get the girl, and not be arrested for truancy at the Halloween Dance? Obvs. The most late 90s of late 90s teen comedies... Idle Hands.
     Mima is trying to make a career move from j-pop idol group member to serious full-time actress. Soon Mima learns what that move will cost. An enraged fan stalks her, someone else is writing detailed posts about her daily life and private thoughts, the production company demands a taxing and traumatic filming experience, and without her old support system she beings to fell excessive amounts of impostor syndrome. Can Mima find herself or is she just a thing to be replaced? Satoshi Kon's directorial debut, Perfect Blue.
     Still grieving, Sophia rents a house in the middle of nowhere. There she convinces an alcoholic occultist, Joseph Solomon, to spend months leading her through a trying ritual to summon her guardian angel to ask for a favor- contacting her deceased child. Does Sophia have the wherewithal to endure this test of physical and spiritual fortitude? Can Joseph hold himself together long enough to see her through? A Dark Song.
     Poet Rose Elliot bought a rare book. It details three witches who secretly control the world. One of which just happens to live in the same building as Rose. Writing to her brother for help, but being unwilling to wait for the requested backup to arrive, Rose begins following the book's clues to find the witch's lair. Meanwhile, her brother, Mark, in Rome might be closer than he expects to a witch of his own. The second of Dario Argento's Three Mothers Trilogy, Inferno.
     All that and Halloween Ends.
     Join us, won't we?
   Episode 280- Knocking on Devon's Door

Congruous Sights

      This week three films that pair well together for a part of your October Challenge intake.

     Angela and Jackson Sayers are running a psychic scam on the people of Scotland. Jackson is in murderously deep debt to loan sharks and Angela begins to fear that her mental health is crumbling, just like her mother's years before. Jackson forces Angela to take on a case in what might be the worst possible place for them. Will the frauds see the light? Are there really ghosts in the West Wing? What was the real fate to befall these screaming specters? Will this be another job or are the forces at work Malevolent?

     Riley is a recovering addict living with her brother, his boyfriend, and their roommate. When her boyfriend convinces her to break into a warehouse, they find only a puzzle box. Riley accidentally solves the puzzle and avoids the hidden sacrificial blade. Soon the Hell Priest arrives to demand another sacrifice. After 15 years of development and delays and rights affirming franchise entries, the long promised reboot Hellraiser (2022).
     Chris Cleek, country attorney and extreme misogynist, discovers a feral cannibal woman bathing in a river. He decides to trap her, keep her in his root cellar, and domesticate her. Meanwhile, his daughter is going through issues of her own and his son could be following his father's footsteps a bit too closely. The middle entry in a trilogy following the supernatural feral cannibal, The Woman.

     All that and Tyler begins the Ritual of the Thorne, Dave catches up on hot titles, and Anna argues with the DA that her film choices do not equal elder abuse. Join us, won't you?
   Episode 279- Congruous Sights

Black Magic Bad Luck

     This week dabbling in the dark arts leads to trouble and murder.

     Sheriff Langley is dispatched to find a runaway bride named Kate. He finds her car abandoned on a road to a long abandoned town without any tangible sign of her ever being there. Soon he's recruited to fight Devlin, a 200-year old zombie outlaw who controls the town through a deal with Satan and Kate's current captor. Can Langley stop the forces of Hell, free the town from its curse, and let the former sheriff find a resting peace? Will Kate take up a career as the local tavern dancer? Is the Dealer faking an eye impairment? Ghost Town.
     A belated sequel to a cult film from the House of Mouse. It has been 29 years since the Sanderson Sisters came back from the dead to try and eat all the children of Salem. This time they plan to get infinite power so they can have revenge on Salem and the Traske bloodline that originally banished them from the town 350 years earlier. The only people standing in their way is a pair of aspiring teen witches and the mayor's daughter. Will the Sandersons get maximum magic power? Will the girls find a way to fight magic with magic? Will Disney wait another 29 years to fully reboot or are the young cast signed on to never ending sequels? Hocus Pocus 2.
    Mäddy decides to join the cheer squad in tribute to her late friend, Alexis, who died last year in a cheer accident. Soon she ingratiates herself into the squad. Meanwhile, Leena, Mäddy's ex-girlfriend, just cannot understand why she wants to hang around those girls and not her magical self. But Mäddy has a reason for her actions, to get revenge on Alexis' former boyfriend, Troy. Will Mäddy get her revenge? Will the girls ever have any agency of their own? How did no one notice that Troy is an over the top psychopath? All Cheerleaders Die.
    All that and so much October Horror Challenge viewings... join us, won't you?
Episode 278- Black Magic Bad Luck

Deeper Underground

     This week- Horror Movie Month begins! Be you a October Horror Challenge participant or an enthusiast who doesn't go for gimmicks or a fan of kids fright flicks or a connoisseur of the extreme, welcome to the most wonderful time of the year. 

     Someone is killing the staff at Pleasure Island, a sprawling resort owned by former beach bum singer, Coconut Pete. Can the staff hold out until the boat arrives to safely take them back to the mainland? Could the killer be the new magic fingered masseur, Lars? Could it be Coconut Pete's nephew? Will aerobics instructor Jenny survive to take her place as a world beloved exercise guru? Is anywhere safe on Broken Lizard's Club Dread?
     Perfection, Nevada... a small town with a big problem. Val and Earl have had enough with their lot as handymen, doing every dirty job as it comes up. The boys decide to pack up and head to neighboring Bixby. Unfortunately, they waited a day to long to come to this realization and will soon find everyone between them and freedom has fallen prey to something new. Rhonda, a seismology student conduction a study in the valley, has found some unusual and worrying readings. Survivalists, Burt and Heather Gummer, believe they are prepared for any situation... they are wrong. A b-movie masterpiece and the last practical creature feature before the CG effects boom... Tremors.
     A squad of British soldiers think they are in the Scottish highlands for a training exercise against a special forces unit. Before long they find only one member of the other squad, alive but grievously wounded. They will soon learn their real reason for being there... as bait for werewolves. Can the squad last the night or will they be taken in the onslaught of teeth and fur? Multiple cult filmmaker Neil Marshall's debut feature, Dog Soldiers.

     All that and Kevin prepares, Dave misses the joke, and Tyler joins in limited capacity through digital voodoo. Join us, won't you?

Episode 277- Deeper Underground