Halloween Retrospective #4: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)

We previously announced that this episode would be a Missed Classic episode on Fulci’s The Black Cat with special guest Spider-Dan.  However, circumstances have forced us to shift things around, and so here is the fourth of our series reviewing every film in the Halloween franchise, featuring the return of Howard and a guest appearance from… none other than Spider Dan.  So you do get him after all.

This part of the episode was recorded back in 2018, before any of those present had seen David Gordon Green’s then-new franchise rebootquel.  However, this chat is bookended by some up-to-date segments with Stella and Dan discussing news and recommendations from the world of horror.

Contents:

0.00 Intro and news with Stella and Dan

16.46 Halloween 4 discussion with Howard, Dan and Spider-Dan

1.35.43 Recommendations with Stella and Dan

Relevant Links and Availability:

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers can be streamed with an Amazon Prime and Starzplay subscription

The Halloween Kills (2021) teaser can be streamed on YouTube

Slasher can be streamed on Netflix

The Witch in the Window (and Host from July 30th) can be streamed on Shudder

Spider-Dan & The Secret Bores podcast

Modern TV and Serialised Horror, Part 2: Beyond The Walking Dead

Stella, Kirsty and Dan return to their discussion of the recent revolution in US TV horror triggered by the success of AMC’s The Walking Dead, taking in subsequent series like American Horror Story (2011-), Fear The Walking Dead (2015-), The Strain (2014-18), The Haunting of Hill House (2018) and Scream Queens (2015-16).  There are very mild spoilers for Fear The Walking Dead season one and one major spoiler for The Walking Dead Season 7 (concerning Glenn).

Contents:

0.00 Intro and news

17.55 Main discussion

1.24.45 Recommendations

Relevant Links and Availability:

Ana Lily Amirpour’s episode of Homemade on Netflix

Hannibal reunion on the Nerdist YouTube Channel (available from 11th July)

The Walking Dead on Amazon Prime

Fear The Walking Dead on Amazon Prime

American Horror Story on Netflix

Feud: Bette and Joan on rental from Amazon

The Strain on NowTV

Scream Queens on Amazon Prime

The Haunting of Hill House on Netlix

Haunted on Netflix

Hereditary on Netflix

Modern TV and Serialised Horror, Part 1: The Walking Dead

Poster for The Walking Dead Season 3 (2012)

Stella did her PhD in modern TV horror, and in this week’s episode she begins to take Kirsty and Dan on a tour of how the TV landscape has changed in the last ten years allowing the genre to flourish.  The trio discuss the state of TV horror on either side of the Atlantic prior to 2010, and go into detail on the trend-setting series that changed everything, AMC’s The Walking Dead.

(Spoiler warning for various elements of this show’s first seven seasons: if you don’t want to know what happens to Glenn, don’t listen to this until you’re up to date! Also, we get into a little confusion over the name of the current showrunner.  In case you can’t hear it clearly, it’s Angela Kang – and not Gale Anne Hurd, who has been an executive producer throughout TWD’s run.)

Next week, we’ll be continuing the subject by discussing the many TV horrors which followed in The Walking Dead’s wake.

Contents:

0.00 Intro and news

12.26 Main discussion

1.24.13 Recommendations

Relevant links and availability:

The Walking Dead is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

The Vast Of Night is available for streaming on Amazon Prime.

Unsubscribe is available for rental streaming through Vimeo.

Female Voices In Modern Horror Cinema

Despite the debt owed by the horror genre to the works of female novelists like Mary Shelley and the Brontes, female authorial voices were rare in horror cinema throughout the twentieth century.  However, the 2010s saw a proliferation of fascinating horror debuts by a stream of female directors, and in the main feature here, recorded in October 2019, Kirsty and Dan focus on four key examples: Jennifer Kent’s The Babadook (2014), Ana Lily Amirpour’s A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014), Anna Biller’s The Love Witch (2016) and Alice Lowe’s Prevenge (2016).

There’s also some up-to-date content in which Stella joins Kirsty and Dan to follow up on last episode’s discussion about remakes.

Relevant links and availability:

All four films in the main discussion are available for rental streaming from Amazon, YouTube and other services.

David Lynch’s Rabbits on YouTube

Rabbits (the podcast)

What We Do In The Shadows (both film and TV series) on BBC iPlayer

Crooked House on Amazon Prime

Visit our website, www.andnowpodcast.com

The Case For Horror Remakes

Join Kirsty, Dan and Stella as Stella makes her case for why the generally disparaged horror film remake is a valuable and worthy part of the horror genre.  To test this, the trio discuss four key examples of horror remakes from the last 20 years: The Grudge (2003), Let Me In (2010), The Crazies (2010) and Carrie (2013).

Please forgive the teammates occasionally being less coherent than usual, which was down to being forced to record the episode in the morning, rather than the usual afternoon!

Relevant links and availability:

MGM on Amazon Prime – to watch Carrie (1976 or 2013 versions) in the UK. UK TV viewers can also catch the 2013 film at 10.55pm on Monday 15th June on Channel 5.

The Grudge (2003) is not currently available for streaming – you will have to seek out an old DVD!

My5 – to watch Let Me In in the UK

Amazon Prime – to watch The Crazies (2010) in the UK

The Left Right Game podcast

Murder in the Outback streaming on All4 in the UK

The Movies That Scared Us The Most

This week, Kirsty, Stella and Dan each present their two scariest film experiences, encountered at different times in their lives, and discuss why they found the films so terrifying, and whether the fear lingers years later.  Prepare for a six-film menu of extreme horror!  What would your choices be?

Howard wasn’t able to be present for this recording, but did offer up 1976’s Alice, Sweet Alice as a childhood viewing experience he’ll never forget.

In addition, Kirsty has news that her husband and ace recordist Sven (@svenworrow on Twitter) is subjecting himself to a heroic and possibly horrific sacrifice this weekend – shaving off his beard for the first time in their marriage.  He’s doing this to raise money for NHS Charities, Stonewall and Black Lives Matter UK.  See the video of his beard-off on Facebook and donate to the good cause if you can!

Referenced works:

Kirsty’s recommendation this week is the podcast TANIS.  Give it a try!

As for the films Kirsty, Stella and Dan chose as their most frightening… to note them here would spoil the surprise!  Rest assured, they’re all available on DVD or Blu-Ray.

Lee/Cushing, Howard/Dan #5: Horror Express (1972)

In Howard and Dan’s first ‘new’ recording (actually recorded in September) on a Lee/Cushing film since 2017, the duo are joined by uber-fan Tim Shaw to discuss an often-overlooked gem in the canon, 1972’s Spanish period genre mash-up co-starring Telly Savalas, Horror Express. Somehow they manage to talk about the film for two hours without mentioning the brilliant editor Robert Dearberg, but apart from that, it’s fairly in-depth!

Stella also drops in with present-day Dan to discuss the state of coronavirus Britain, horror highlights streaming in the UK, and her favourite fact about Christopher Lee.

Referenced works:

Horror Express is available on Amazon Prime in the UK, YouTube and various free platforms as well as Arrow Blu-Ray.  Dead Set is currently available on All4 in the UK, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer will join it from June 2020.  The Platform is currently available on Netflix.  Apparitions is currently available on Amazon Prime.

Tim Shaw’s Ghosts In The Machines episode about Ghostwatch can be heard here.

All soundtrack clips are used for the purposes of criticism, in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK law) and Fair Use (US law).  No copyright infringement is intended.

Lee/Cushing, Howard/Dan #4: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) and other Sherlocks

In our final (for now) re-upload of old material from The Lee/Cushing Podcast, Howard and Dan look at the Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee’s sixth film together, and third for Hammer Films. 1959’s The Hound of the Baskervilles starred Cushing as Sherlock Holmes and Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville.

In a separate discussion (recorded in an unfortunately noisy cafe) they also consider the numerous other film and TV productions which saw either Lee or Cushing venturing into Arthur Conan Doyle’s world.

Referenced works:

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) and the existing episodes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes (1968) have been released on DVD and are available to rent from Amazon Prime and YouTube Movies.  Sherlock Holmes: The Golden Years (1991) is part of Amazon Prime‘s current UK package.

All soundtrack clips are used for the purposes of criticism, in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK law) and Fair Use (US law).  No copyright infringement is intended.

Lee/Cushing, Howard/Dan #3: Scream and Scream Again (1970)

In the third of four re-edited re-uploads from their previous series The Lee/Cushing Podcast, Howard and Dan discuss an unusual Amicus/American International Pictures co-production that billed Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing alongside Vincent Price, without the three stars ever sharing the screen: Scream and Scream Again (1970), a unique science fiction-horror-conspiracy thriller from director Gordon Hessler.

They also take some time to discuss the career of Price, the British horror star who wasn’t British.  This episode was recorded in 2016, shortly after the death of Rod Temperton, the songwriter behind Price’s last major horror success – Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

All soundtrack clips are used for the purposes of criticism, in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK law) and Fair

Referenced works:

Scream and Scream Again is available on DVD and Blu-Ray and for rental on Amazon Prime.

All soundtrack clips are used for the purposes of criticism, in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK law) and Fair Use (US law).  No copyright infringement is intended.

Lee/Cushing, Howard/Dan #2: Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965)

In the second of four re-edited re-uploads from their previous series The Lee/Cushing Podcast, Howard and Dan discuss the first of the many all-star horror anthologies from Amicus Productions, Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965), in which Cushing plays a train-based teller of strange tales, and Lee one of the travellers who share his carriage.

They also touch on two related anthologies from director Freddie Francis: Torture Garden (1967) and Tales That Witness Madness (1973).

All soundtrack clips are used for the purposes of criticism, in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK law) and Fair Use (US law).  No copyright infringement is intended.

Dr Terror’s House of Horrors is available on Amazon Prime and is periodically shown on the UK Horror Channel.

Visit our website, www.andnowpodcast.com