Podcast Episode 53 - Bad Dead-Alive Taste

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In episode 53 we discuss a double feature of Peter Jackson's early work. First up is Bad Taste, an off the wall scifi comedy starring Jackson himself. Second is Dead-Alive, one of the goriest films ever made and one that planted Jackson firmly into the hearts of horror fans everywhere. We also discuss what we've been watching and what's going on in the news. Enjoy!

Podcast Episode 27

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Episode 27 features reviews of two very different movies. First, Mike reviews the 2007 horror comedy "Hack!". How bad could a slasher movie sendup starring Winnie Cooper from "The Wonder Years" really be? Adam follows up Mike's review with his take on the first of the "Class of" trilogy, Mark Lester's "Class of 1984". We also talk what we've been watching, Nightbreed, The Purge and more! Enjoy!

Rent or Purchase "Hack!" on Amazon
Purchase "Class of 1984" on Amazon

Stitches - Review

Stitches is a Comedy/Horror movie about a clumsy unfunny clown name Richard "Stitches" Grindle (Played by Ross Noble). Stitches is hired for Tom's (Played by Tommy Knight) birthday party but when he isn’t as funny as the kids want they play a prank on him causing his death. Six years later Stitches comes back from the dead to seek revenge on the kids that accidentally killed him. Stitches is written and Directed by Conor McMahon who previously directed a few short films and also wrote and directed "Dead Meat", which was featured as part of Fangoria's Gorezone label. David O'brien was a co-writer for the film who is known for “Shrooms” from 2007 and a few other films. Stitches is played by Ross Noble who is an English actor with a long list of credits including self-titled videos, shorts, and documentaries.

The film starts right off with Stitches banging some girl in a trailer, so be careful with kids in the room it's the first thing you see. This is the only real raunchy seen, other than this we get one nip slip, but it is about high school kids so...

In the middle of having sex Stitches remembers he has a birthday party to do so he just stops, pulls up his pants and heads off smelling like liqueur and sex to little Tom's birthday party. Stitches arrives at the party while the kids are in the driveway playing and drives straight for them as they jump out of the way. Tom's mother's tell him he’s late, he call's her ugly and proceeds on into the house. Just the clown you want at your kid’s party right?!

Stitches is not a good clown. He can’t do tricks or even make balloon animal's so the kids decide to throw things at him and tie his shoes together. This is where everything goes wrong for Stitches. Stitches death scene is really funny and contains some great effects. All of the effects in this film are actually done well. Many are filmed on a black background but the cut's from the film to effects are smooth and worked well and while the effects are definitely not realistic but are still fun to watch.

We then learn that all clowns have an egg with a painted face and that holds the clown soul and that all of these eggs are stored away in a special clown tomb. Not sure if this a real thing or not but let's just roll with it. We also learn that if a clown dies in mid-act then he or she can never rest until the joke is finished.

We now jump ahead six years where all of the kids are in high school. They did a surprisingly good job of matching the younger kids to their high school aged selves. Tom starts having visions of Stitches the clown including one with Stitches ripping his friend’s dick off. While the scene will definitely make the men in the audience squirm it manages to be both gory and funny.

Tom's friends are trying to convince him to throw a party but he is reluctant. Finally Vinny, his childhood friend, convinces him but he only invites his closes friends. Unfortunately for Tom there’s a social media site called "My Face" where someone posts an invite to the party. One girl’s MyFace invite reads "You invited everyone to come on My Face" which is just one example of the low brow humor which fills up the movies run-time.

The party is where the bulk of the action happens. It’s a huge typical high school party with a lot of beer and weed. I don’t want to spoil anything but the best scenes happen here.

The acting is really good with each character possessing a distinct personality and the progression from childhood to teenager allows us to see how none of them really change. I mentioned earlier how well the special effects work and I would like to touch on a few specific scenes. There is a decapitation scene where a character’s head is kicked off and their lips are still twitching as it fly's through air. There is an eyeball that is popped out directly towards the camera. Someone has their head blown up with a balloon pump which you have to see to really understand but it’s pretty funny. There is even a chase scene with two kids on mountain bikes and Stitches on a tricycle.

Overall Stitches just a fun movie. If you’re looking for a feel-good movie or romantic comedy this is not for you. If you’re up for a good laugh and plenty of blood and gore then this is for you. Or maybe you just need to receive a life lesson to never fuck with a clown (or did “IT” already do that)? I would definitely recommend you check this out. The re-watch value is high and I fully enjoyed it for what it was. Unless you’re scared of clowns, then you should probably stay away!

I give this a B-

Read About "Stitches" on IMDB
Rent or Purchase "Stitches" on Amazon

Podcast Episode 18

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Episode 18 begins with Mario Bava's atmospheric 1966 ghost story "Kill Baby Kill". Next up is Joe Dante's 1978 killer fish horror-comedy "Piranha" followed up by the film that reinvented the vampire genre, 1985's "Fright Night". We also discuss some recently seen and upcoming releases. Enjoy!

Podcast Episode 14

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Episode 14 has us discussing three very different picks starting with the 1976 cult exploitation classic "Bloodsucking Freaks". It's a deep discussion on Anal Dwarf's, brain sucking and cold cock sandwiches. We follow this with our first look into the world of Fred Olen Ray and his 1983 ultra low budget cheese-fest "Scalps" causing two of our group to contemplate their own Native American ties. We finish up with the 2002 slasher comedy "The Greenskeeper". We also talk recently seen, blu-ray/DVD news and Full Moon Streaming. Enjoy!

Podcast Episode 12

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It's all about monsters in episode 12 and we cover a wide variety beginning with a tour of the English countryside in Clive Barker's "Rawhead Rex" from 1986. We then tear into John Carl Buechler's "Cellar Dweller" from 1988 and finish up with a stomping from 2001's Godzilla, Mothra and King Gidorah: Giant Monsters All Out Attack! Who will come out victorious??? We also list our top 5 all time monster fights. Enjoy!

Podcast Episode 11

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For this 11th episode of Midnight Triple Feature we start with a trip deep into the Green Inferno and a lengthy discussion on the infamous Cannibal Holocaust from 1980. We then move onto the mean gang infested streets of Los Angeles with 1984's exploitation cult classic Savage Streets. Finally we finish up with some lighter fare with 1986's science fiction horror comedy Terrorvision. Enjoy!

Podcast - Episode 10

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In episode 10 Mike & Adam defend the 80's sports montage with 1985's Teen Wolf, Connor has no idea who the Seaver kids are with 1990's The Willies and Adam is jealous of Australian's with 2007's Black Water. In addition we talk/complain about upcoming Halloween television viewing, talk some more about Robocop and more! Enjoy!

Podcast Episode 9

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Our 9th episode is another packed one as we take on 3 very different films. First, Adam can't convince Mike and Connor that meat pies aren't that bad with 1970's "I Drink Your Blood". Next, we discuss misogyny in film with "Humanoids From the Deep" and sound misogynistic in the process. Then we finish up with some lighter fare with the 2011 horror comedy Some Guy Who Kills People. In addition we react to the new Robocop trailer, try and understand the hate for Kick-Ass 2, talk Friday the 13th news and much much more. Enjoy!

Saturday Morning Massacre - Review

Saturday Morning Massacre has a simple premise. Scooby-Doo meets R-Rated horror film. It's an interesting concept that will probably resonate with any of us adults who grew up watching Scooby-Doo on Saturday Mornings. If you happened to be one of those early watchers you will recognize the plot. A group of four college age paranormal investigators go to a spooky old mansion with their dog and VW bus in tow with the goal of debunking a supposed haunting. Following some accidental drug consumption the line between reality and hallucination are blurred until events finally spiral into the promised massacre.

Our four main characters are Nancy, Gwen, Chad, Floyd and their dog Hamlet. These are of course fill-in's for Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy and Scooby. The casting works relatively well here. The "Velma" and "Shaggy" characters have the right mix of believable character and cartoon based caricature. They manage to emulate the characters we expect them to be based on the influence without going over the top into cartoon land. The "Fred" and "Daphne" fill-in's are a bit more underwhelming. They don't come close enough to fitting the bill of what we expect and come off as more generic than anything. There is, however, a pretty gratuitous sex scene between these two characters for anyone that ever wanted to see Fred and Daphne get it on. Basically the casting of the lead's if 50-50. It's probably better that some characters feel more generic than caricature as it probably would have put the film too over the top. There's a good amount of comedy in here but it comes from the situation's and dialogue rather than the characters themselves.

Podcast Episode 8

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We put Connor in charge of episode 8 and he decided to cover one of his favorite horror sub-genres, the horror comedy, and he has chosen three of his favorites for us to cover. First we attempt to understand the allure of Grace Jones in 1986's Vamp, then we take a trip into the country with Tucker and Dale vs Evil and finish up discussing the definition of "so bad it's good" with 1988's Killer Klown's from Outer Space. In addition we each go over our top 5 favorite horror comedies. This podcast will contain spoilers. Enjoy!