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Welcome To Horror Presents: “The Day of We Have Been Watching”. News flash, it’s time for a summary of the various visual adventures the team have experienced in between episodes. We discuss Shudder’s “The Haunted Season: The Occupant of the Room” (2025): the remake of “Suspiria” (2018); new Disney+/FX series “The Beauty” (2026); 2009’s “Zombieland”; R.L. Stine’s “Pumpkinhead” (2025); Folk Horror Play For Today “Robin Redbreast” (1970); and Ben Wheatley’s psychedelic sci fi noir “BULK” (2026). No prep for this ep, but listeners beware, as here be (possible) spoilers and (definite) swearing. Join us!
Adam's research
Verbatim lifts from Adam's own words in the episode. Click a timestamp to hear him say it.
- Woody Harrelson's dad's alleged activities and family connections
His dad, on the other hand, seems like a right villain. No, his dad was pictured on the grassy knoll during the JFK assassination. And he may also be Matthew McConaughey's half-brother. Because basically Woody Harrelson's dad was putting it about so much that he said to him one day, 'He could well be your half-brother.' … Hmm. … Well, from what I gather, Woody Harrelson's dad when he wasn't assassinating presidents was putting it about a lot, so, you know. All bets are off. So I think Woody Harrelson is sort of been I think Woody Harrelson in a weird way is sort of making up for the sins of the father by being apparently a very nice man.
- Production secrecy and crediting practices for Bill Murray's Zombieland cameo
So it was, yeah, it was a hell of a surprise like when when it actually came out, they'd managed to keep him very like out out of the limelight of it, you know, he wasn't. I'm not even sure if he's credited for it. He might I can't remember like because sometimes they just do that where someone won't take an actual credit so it's not showing on IMDb or that sort of thing.
- Ease and cost-effectiveness of producing zombie films
But there's because there's there's a hell of a lot of zombie comedies because they're, you know, a zombie film is one of the easier or cheaper ones that you can do. Um, but unfortunately that means that there's also quite a lot of cack out there where.
- Shudder's 'Haunted Season' series as a BBC 'Ghost Story for Christmas' analogue, including episode details, director, source material, music, and visual techniques
uh, had their next episode because Haunted Season is the one they're trying to build up similar to Ghost Story for Christmas on the BBC. So every Christmas they're bringing out an episode and I'm so impressed that they stuck to their guns. So there was one for 2024 and, uh, so 2025's one was The Occupant of the Room. Uh, directed by Kira Lazunis who, um, also is the curator of the series. And also she also was the director of the, uh, that really good folk horror documentary that came out a couple of years back. And, um, and yeah, and it was, uh, based on Algernon Blackwood's story. Yeah, and I think it was just it again, I think it very much fits into that ghost stories for Christmas tradition. It was just so atmospheric and everything. And he basically it's a man goes to stay at an inn, um, they don't have any rooms and then they say to him, 'Well, we've got one room, but we are expecting the occupant back, but she's been missing for days.' And so if she comes back, you're going to have to find, you know, you're going to have to you'll be turfed out. But he takes the room on that basis and a distinctly unsettling night follows. And it's got some incredible atmosphere. The music by, uh, Andrew Sing, who is also called The Nausea and it introduced me to The Nausea as well because that is. It's what I can only describe, I saw someone describe Fetus as baroque and roll and I think that this sort of follows. Because it's basically the most heavy distressed strings that you can hear. It's like someone gave some a cello of like, you know, just like walloping sort of density and discordance from from, you know, from from stringed instruments. It's just really, uh, really good. And there are sort of stop motion animated sequences in it that where they're sort of overlaying the imagery to sort of give the sense of unease and the what's occurring to the main character in terms of just like freaking out and everything. And it's just done really, really, really well. And I think I I like I say, I know we're we're sort of out of season now for ghost stories for Christmas, but the Haunted Season stuff. Uh, Occupant of the Room and the previous one from, uh, the the one from the previous year, both really good, really worth a watch. Sort of low budget, but terrific. Yeah, small cast but just excellent excellent work all both both of them. And I just long may it continue, frankly. I just hope that Shudder sort of is going is going in 20 years time when we're still going to. So we'll have like 20 odd episodes we can watch at Christmas rather than just two. But, um, I'm glad they haven't sort of like they didn't sort of backtrack on it or say, 'Well, we've got this thing here that's haunted season.' It's like, 'No, we're doing these ghost stories.' And they usually crop up just the sort of week before Christmas. So.
- Phenomenon of multiple films with similar concepts releasing simultaneously
Because you often you often find that it's like when you suddenly it's like when suddenly there's like three movies about meteors hitting the planet or coming out within six months of each other. You sort of like there's this it's like idea space seems to everyone everyone hits on the same thing around the same sort of time, so it's probably probably been in development all this time. And then just sort of comes out just after the substance or just just around.
- Ben Wheatley's career pattern, 'Bulk's low-budget production (black and white, iPhone, cardboard props, model cars), cast, narration, and unique touring distribution strategy
Because Bulk is basically, uh, in between sort of bigger films, Ben Wheatley tends to it is now seems to be a thing of he'll do something like The Rebecca that he did on Netflix and then he'll go off and do In the Earth. And then he did The Meg 2, which I've still not seen, but according to former, uh, former guest, Darney, I don't need to have necessarily seen The Meg 1 to catch The Meg 2. I don't think that they're that, you know, I don't think I'm going to miss out on too many plot points if I do so. Um, but, um, yeah, and this is the sort of next smaller film that he's done. And it is, I mean, definitely not for everyone, but I absolutely loved it. And it's basically you've got a cast of four people and it's set in a house where there has been a essentially a reality explosion. And so every part of the house is now a different dimension and it's the main character going through and meeting various splintered versions of other characters and himself as he goes around. And it's done so low budget, it's uh, it's black and white, there are bits that are filmed on iPhones. It is, you know, which is insane that I went to see it at the IMAX because, you know. Um, but it it really does look spec it did look spectacular. And it makes a real, um, it makes a real sort of, uh, it really embraces the fact that there's low budget elements to it. They people are using cardboard guns in it. And stuff like that. And it's like because the guns look great until you sort of see them a few times and then you realize that actually they're cardboard. But it's this whole thing that it's these fractured realities. So, and there's like, there's bits where there's car chases with obvious model cars. But then they'll do things like a helicopter gets shot out the sky and literally just drops like a Looney Tunes cartoon sort of thing and there's, um, bits where they're sort of saying, oh, can we we that, you know, they're sort of like looking for this hermit on a beach. And they're going, 'Right, that's where he lives over there.' And they're going, 'Well, we don't seem to be getting any closer to him.' And it's like, 'Well, we can't actually get there, it's a model.' But. And it all sort of really, it's really, it's one of those things where it's really, really smart but really playful with it as well, so it doesn't, you know, it's like. It has its cake and eats it of taking itself too seriously and not taking itself seriously at all. And I just really sort of loved it and like I say, it's a tiny cast. It's, uh, Alexandra Maria Lara and Sam Riley, uh, Noah Taylor and Mark Monero. And Bill Nighy's doing the narration on it and Bill Nighy's almost like it's like a Hitchhiker's sort of narration. You know where it's like, it's authoritative but then you realize that it's gibberish or sort of just freaking mad. And, um, yeah, and I just really. It's really it was really, really fun. It was like sort of somewhere between like a 2000 AD story and, um, bits of Jerry Cornelius and stuff. And a detective story but like a bit like, you know, that's the best way I can think of it is you know right at the end of spoilers for this film, but right at the end of Pontepool where they suddenly have gone off into this weird William Burroughs black and white world where he's a detective and she's like a like a nightclub gangster's moll. It feels like it's like from that it's that bit has gone off and done its own film. It's just yeah, just really, really great sort of Noir and just but so much fun. And afterwards I I met Ben Wheatley before because he was signing stuff at the booth and. He was really great and, uh, I nearly I nearly walked right into Sam Riley because most of the cast were there doing a Q&A and that was great afterwards as well. So, uh, but yeah. No, it's really good and just roll on when it actually comes out on DVD. Because on Blu-ray rather. Because I think, I think it's one of those things that might just disappear because it's so sort of because basically what's happened is Ben Wheatley's toured it round the country. So he made it on a shoestring, he's toured it round and he like did first screening, they did was at The Nickel, so it was like about 40 people and then you're doing like the IMAX and they sort of toured it over Ireland and, uh, up down the country and everything else like that. So, yeah, but. A definite recommend if you can get to see it.
- Goosebumps' role as a gateway horror for a younger generation and its lasting cultural impact
And you see from you you can see how they are still talked about with such reverence by a younger generation to us. And sort of like, yeah, no, these these things they made their mark. And they were they were there, they were a lot of people's gateway.
- 'A Bunch of Amateurs' documentary about the oldest film club in Britain, their films, and online availability
Uh, mine is just, uh, I watched a thing called A Bunch of Amateurs, which is about the Bradford Movie Makers, the oldest film club in Britain. And I just enjoyed it because it was it was a great sort of nice just general documentary. But, uh, they I've then looked up a couple of the films that these guys have made because they're on YouTube including The Haunted Turnip and Nice Jam by director Phil Wayman. And, um, both of those felt like we'd see them at Horror on C. That sort of like proper low budget, just like five minutes just great stuff.
- The preservation history of 'Robin Redbreast', including the loss of the color version and the survival of the black and white backup
I believe I believe actually the version that we've got is the is the hold over in the BBC. Because originally it was in color, but I think they I think they wiped the color version. So they but fortunately some bugger had the backup tape on black and white. So they so that's why we can still see it.
Highlights
Transcript
Show full transcript
Lee Good evening and welcome to Horror. I'm Lee.
Chris I'm Chris.
Adam I'm Adam.
Lee And we're here again for an episode of what we've been watching. There will be some spoilers, there will be some swearing, and hopefully we've all watched enough stuff to talk about. So.
Chris -
Lee Yeah. Or too much normally we've end up watching, but yes. So.
Chris I've almost made a mistake of watching a non-horror film, but we'll get into that.
Lee Oh. I've been, as I just mentioned to you off air, I luckily had watched quite a lot because I've just in the last three days just watching the ice hockey on the Olympics. So luckily I already had stuff to talk about, otherwise I'd been in shit as well.
Adam Has has the ice hockey been a horror story though?
Lee From a perspective.
Lee No, it's been I've really enjoyed it. The men's starts on Thursday, so it's the women's at the moment, all the preliminary stuff. But yeah, it's been, yeah, highly entertaining, so always good. Always good.
Adam Good.
Lee Right. So, Chris, would you like to kick us off with your first choice?
Chris Yep. So, so I decided I would follow on from the film that I was very impressed with at Horror on C. All all you need is blood.
Lee Yes.
Adam Yeah.
Chris I've said it so many times now, showed it so much I I liked it. But yeah. I thought, what other comedy zombie films are there aside from Shaun of the Dead? There's got to be loads, really, but anyway.
Chris I'd heard someone mention Zombieland.
Lee Yeah, yes.
Adam Yeah.
Chris Last week. Okay. Now, I didn't remember I was talking about it.
Chris But I had seen clips of it and I think it was, yeah, so it's 2009, which that I'm sure it was way newer than that.
Chris But I know they've got sequel one, maybe two. I haven't checked yet.
Lee One sequel, yeah.
Lee Not as good as.
Adam Isn't this Zombieland as well?
Lee that Zombieland came out long before, I think.
Adam right, okay.
Chris Okay.
Chris but yeah, so I thought, all right, give it a go and started watching and instantly it was very good. It is very funny.
Chris it sort of feels like it's it's somewhat applicable to to current US politics. I won't go too much into that, but it didn't feel as far off as perhaps it would have done in 2009.
Chris So, yeah, like who's in it? It was, we got Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, and Abigail Breslin.
Chris And I really like Woody Harrelson.
Chris Now, I think the last time I saw him was, was it Solo? Was he in that? Oh, yes, yes, of course. He's like his mentor, wasn't he? Yeah. Yes, yes, yes, that's it.
Chris So that was quite a long time ago as well, worryingly.
Chris Now, what I was hoping is you weren't both going to tell me that he's done something terribly wrong. And we have to, you know, ignore him.
Adam No, no. Woody Woody Harrelson remains firm.
Adam His dad, on the other hand, seems like a right villain.
Chris All right, okay.
Adam No, his dad was pictured on the grassy knoll during the JFK assassination. And he may also be Matthew McConaughey's half-brother.
Adam Because basically Woody Harrelson's dad was putting it about so much that he said to him one day, 'He could well be your half-brother.'
Chris Because while watching this, I was like, he keeps reminding me of Matthew McConaughey.
Chris I was like, okay, I mean, they're both from Texas.
Adam
Chris So I was like, is that enough? There's just loads of people that are like that in Texas.
Adam Well, from what I gather, Woody Harrelson's dad when he wasn't assassinating presidents was putting it about a lot, so, you know. All bets are off.
Adam So I think Woody Harrelson is sort of been I think Woody Harrelson in a weird way is sort of making up for the sins of the father by being apparently a very nice man.
Chris Pretty decent. Okay. Yeah.
Chris And he is he's excellent in this. I mean, they they do work so well together, yeah, the two of them.
Chris And yeah, he's he's very funny.
Chris Especially when, very unexpectedly they had, totally forgotten his name. Bill Murray.
Lee Yes.
Adam Yeah.
Adam Amazing.
Lee Just amazing.
Chris That was great.
Lee How they kept that out of the limelight when that film came out? Because I was, I was desperate to see it. It was supposed to come out a week before I got married, I think. So I was going to be like, not doing a stag do, guys, I'm going to watch Zombieland. And that was going to be my.
Lee And then they put it back and it didn't come out until November or December, I think.
Adam Yeah, then we all went and saw it, didn't we? And.
Lee Yeah. Just yeah, totally blown away by it. So much fun, ridiculous amount of fun.
Adam Well, especially at that point, Dean was having like what can only be described as a full Bill Murray love affair because he was just watching like all stuff like Royal Tenenbaums and, Lost in Translation as well as like, you know, the usual stuff, Ghostbusters and Scrooged and so on and so forth.
Adam And then suddenly out of the blue, we were all like, 'That's Bill Murray.'
Adam So it was, yeah, it was a hell of a surprise like when when it actually came out, they'd managed to keep him very like out out of the limelight of it, you know, he wasn't.
Adam I'm not even sure if he's credited for it.
Adam He might I can't remember like because sometimes they just do that where someone won't take an actual credit so it's not showing on IMDb or that sort of thing.
Chris Yeah, yeah.
Adam And but yeah, no, and no, I I Zombieland.
Adam It's weird because I think I only ever I saw it at the pictures that first time, and I've seen it a couple of times since it's been on the TV, but it never fails to make me laugh. I do think that.
Chris It is, it's a genuinely entertaining, yeah.
Chris And I it does have, you know, there's there is some deeper philosophy there if you fancy thinking about it.
Adam Well, I think that the whole thing with Woody Harrelson where it's like, you know, there's like because it's the lovely thing of, you know, it's just quite sweet that it's like, 'Oh, it's my dog.' And then you realize that actually, no, it wasn't his dog. And, you know, it's sort of like that's actually quite moving.
Adam But also just just lovely stuff like where it's like, have you got any words of wisdom for me? That will do, pig.
Chris Yeah, there you go.
Chris So yeah, so that was a good one. Nice follow on from from the horror and see.
Adam In many ways when we when we were saying about, because I was thinking the same when I was like, all you need is blood. And then we got Shaun of the Dead. And it was like, I was trying to think and I was like, actually, yeah, Zombieland's freaking great, you know.
Adam But there's because there's there's a hell of a lot of zombie comedies because they're, you know, a zombie film is one of the easier or cheaper ones that you can do.
Chris Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Adam but unfortunately that means that there's also quite a lot of cack out there where.
Lee Yeah, but no, great choice, Chris.
Lee That film is just again, another one of those I can't believe we haven't covered because of how much I absolutely love.
Chris I was thinking that, yeah.
Adam Because because it's also because it's got that lovely thing as well where it's like it does because it does the zombie lessons, doesn't it? All the way through.
Lee Yes, which comes up in text on the screen, which I loved that. I love that.
Chris That was yeah.
Adam Yeah. And those sort of touches, you know, it's got some really lovely stylistic flourishes to it that I think are really great.
Lee It's I've I've got the Pico VR headset and the game I've played far more than anything else on there is Zombieland Headshot. It's fucking brilliant. It's such a.
Lee It was one of those, it was like six quid and I was like, they've taken the name, it's probably just a bit of a, but it isn't. It's all the characters and they all talk to you and it it's just it's, yeah, it's brilliant. I love it.
Adam Oh, that's good.
Adam Yeah, nothing nothing worse when it's just like, oh, they've just got the name.
Chris Yeah.
Lee Yeah, exactly. But yeah, no, it's it's got that feel to it and all the zombies have got that same, yeah, it's a fantastic game. So.
Lee Anyone on VR go and check out Zombieland Headshot. It's amazing.
Lee
Lee Fantastic. Adam, what's your first choice for this evening?
Adam well, my first choice I'm going to go with something, because obviously we, we're sort of back now after the after the Crimbo break and, we horror on C and stuff like that. And I realized that we haven't really spoken about there was a glut of.
Adam very good sort of ghost story for Christmas items.
Adam So the one I really want to toss in first is, The Haunted Season on Shudder.
Adam had their next episode because Haunted Season is the one they're trying to build up similar to Ghost Story for Christmas on the BBC.
Adam So every Christmas they're bringing out an episode and I'm so impressed that they stuck to their guns.
Adam So there was one for 2024 and, so 2025's one was The Occupant of the Room.
Adam directed by Kira Lazunis who, also is the curator of the series.
Adam And also she also was the director of the, that really good folk horror documentary that came out a couple of years back.
Adam And, and yeah, and it was, based on Algernon Blackwood's story.
Lee Lovely stuff.
Adam Yeah, and I think it was just it again, I think it very much fits into that ghost stories for Christmas tradition. It was just so atmospheric and everything.
Adam And he basically it's a man goes to stay at an inn, they don't have any rooms and then they say to him, 'Well, we've got one room, but we are expecting the occupant back, but she's been missing for days.'
Adam And so if she comes back, you're going to have to find, you know, you're going to have to you'll be turfed out.
Adam But he takes the room on that basis and a distinctly unsettling night follows.
Adam And it's got some incredible atmosphere.
Adam The music by, Andrew Sing, who is also called The Nausea and it introduced me to The Nausea as well because that is.
Adam It's what I can only describe, I saw someone describe Fetus as baroque and roll and I think that this sort of follows. Because it's basically the most heavy distressed strings that you can hear. It's like someone gave some a cello of like, you know, just like walloping sort of density and discordance from from, you know, from from stringed instruments.
Adam It's just really, really good.
Adam And there are sort of stop motion animated sequences in it that where they're sort of overlaying the imagery to sort of give the sense of unease and the what's occurring to the main character in terms of just like freaking out and everything.
Adam And it's just done really, really, really well. And I think I I like I say, I know we're we're sort of out of season now for ghost stories for Christmas, but the Haunted Season stuff.
Adam Occupant of the Room and the previous one from, the the one from the previous year, both really good, really worth a watch. Sort of low budget, but terrific. Yeah, small cast but just excellent excellent work all both both of them.
Adam And I just long may it continue, frankly. I just hope that Shudder sort of is going is going in 20 years time when we're still going to.
Adam So we'll have like 20 odd episodes we can watch at Christmas rather than just two.
Adam But, I'm glad they haven't sort of like they didn't sort of backtrack on it or say, 'Well, we've got this thing here that's haunted season.'
Adam It's like, 'No, we're doing these ghost stories.' And they usually crop up just the sort of week before Christmas. So.
Adam yeah, that's that's a definite recommend.
Chris Excellent.
Adam especially when it's still cold.
Adam Yeah.
Lee Excellent. Oh, yeah, I'm planning on, catching up with those at some point or together. So I might wait a while until there's a few and then and then binge them all one year.
Adam They are well worth it, definitely.
Lee Excellent.
Lee right, so my first choice, I don't think I've discussed this yet on the podcast.
Lee so I finally caught up a couple of months ago with the 2018 Suspiria remake.
Adam Oh, yes.
Lee I was not in a rush to do so because as everybody knows.
Chris You're not too keen.
Lee I'm not fond.
Adam You weren't you were let's face it. You weren't keen on the original as it's so.
Lee But the reason I liked the idea of a remake is for me, this was a perfect remake because I love the concept, I hated the execution.
Lee So I was like, if someone does it, takes it in a new direction, this could be it for me.
Lee This could be.
Adam Yeah, exactly.
Lee Brilliant.
Adam It's it's the litmus test as well.
Adam Because like we always say, why don't people remake crap films?
Lee Yes.
Adam And if you, you know, you like you say, you like the concept of Suspiria, you don't have a problem with it. You just don't like the way it's the way it's directed. And everything else like that.
Adam So this should be the the sort of thing for that, yeah.
Lee Don't like the direction.
Chris It does still have dancing in it though.
Lee Don't like the music well.
Lee I thought, I don't like I don't like ballet, but I if it's got ballet in it, I can kind of put up with it and my.
Lee However, it turns out ballet is not the worst type of dance.
Lee Because if you take Suspiria and replace the ballet with interpretive dance, which is more pretentious by about 1000%, it just makes me angry every time. It's just it's it's so. I mean, the concept of it angers me. That's how much it upsets me. It's just the idea of people going into a room and going, 'Right, no words, just using your dance and your body, I want you to tell me what your cup of coffee tastes like.'
Lee Or what a unicorn looks like when it's having a shower. Like and it's just it's pretentious nonsense. And it makes me so, so angry.
Chris Just just want to check, did you get abused by your drama teacher?
Adam I don't think I liked my drama teacher any more than any of the other teachers anyway.
Chris Just.
Adam They had for him, I'll be honest.
Lee So, it was a shame because the the it was it.
Chris Take that out of it.
Lee If you took that out of it, it was it was okay.
Chris Still not great.
Lee again, it's a brilliant concept, but I think they did try to stick a bit with the original.
Lee With the strange angles and things which I just found a bit jarring.
Lee The gore in it is incredible.
Lee That I mean, you can't take away from that.
Chris It was, yeah.
Lee but yeah, it was just so much nonsense dancing and just watching people throwing themselves around aimlessly like idiots.
Chris No, which one was the worst, though? The original or the remake?
Lee I thought I thought the remake had more good points, but I still still came away.
Chris It's still it's still only a two out of 10. You.
Adam You balked at you balked at, interpretive dance.
Lee Yeah, it just spoiled it for me so much.
Lee And again, I I'd been told that the last 10 minutes, it was worth sticking around for the last 10 minutes.
Lee And the final scene is okay.
Adam Right. Okay. So it wasn't even.
Lee So I sat through two and a half hours waiting for this great crescendo. And then when it happened, I was like, I could probably have saved my time.
Lee To be everybody in it is brilliant. It is one of those, it's brilliantly acted. It just it isn't for me, it's too much stuff I don't like and it's trying.
Lee Again, it's trying to slightly channel the original in ways that I didn't like of the original.
Lee So it it definitely was not for me. I mean, don't get me wrong.
Lee If you like interpretive dance.
Lee I mean, I've got questions about you, but this could be the film for you.
Adam So.
Chris So I I did enjoy it and I'm sure I'm sure Lee has got questions for me.
Adam I was going to say for that.
Chris Not just because of this.
Adam Lee's judging you, but the but Suspiria might be your cup of tea.
Adam So, so there you go. I told you, Chris, you know when you said about can we move into an interpretive dance podcast? I just said, 'I think Lee's going to put the brakes on this, mate.'
Lee You know.
Adam You know.
Adam He didn't he he wouldn't go and see La La Land human steps with us, you know.
Adam So it was, yeah.
Lee Just.
Adam Didn't happen.
Lee Oh, it's so painful. Just so, so painful.
Adam Did you did you get the sense of, 'Brother Cat is portraying envy?'
Lee Yes, from that.
Adam Right to walk.
Lee It is exactly that.
Lee Oh, it's oh. I just couldn't get past it. It just angered me.
Lee You know when you just don't like something so much that it just makes you angry every time someone's.
Adam It's what it is these days. Well, yeah, yeah.
Lee I'm like, I'll just pull yourself together.
Lee Right.
Lee Anyway, so, let's move on before I get any more irate.
Lee Chris, what else did you watch?
Chris bit bit of a quick one.
Chris I decided to follow on from my previous, another previous because this just happened to get released recently and I kept advertised and it is the beauty, which I'm sure was inspired a bit by The Substance.
Adam Oh, right.
Chris And I really enjoyed The Substance and I thought, let's give this a go.
Chris so I've seen episode one and so far I do really like it.
Chris But of course, I don't know a huge amount about it because it's whatever it is a five five-part, series.
Adam Well, I can honestly say you know a damn sight more than I do because I do not know I've not heard of this at all.
Lee Nor have I.
Chris Oh, we go.
Chris So it's just just been released on Disney Plus.
Adam -huh.
Chris like a few weeks ago, I think I first saw it.
Chris the characters are Matthew Hodgson and Ryan Murphy.
Adam Oh, right, okay.
Chris And so far, I haven't recognized anyone in it. That doesn't necessarily mean a lot because I do not recognize a lot of people.
Adam Well, also sometimes it's better. I, you know, I think sometimes you can be disappointed.
Chris It's like.
Adam Yeah. You have an idea of like certain actors, but there's also things like, oh, you mean I got to sit through this shit just because I really like that one actor who's in it.
Chris Your expectations.
Adam I wish they'd just pick better films.
Chris But but what I like so far, it is, it's certainly got, a it's sort of giving you a taste of the horror to come so far.
Chris but it's also seemed like quite a good mystery, like detective mystery at the same time.
Adam Oh, cool.
Chris So you sort of got two threads going.
Adam So so what's the what's the premise? What's it.
Chris Oh, yeah, okay. So, so essentially you find this out fairly quickly, I think, that, there is a a way to kind of become, I suppose, the most perfect version of yourself.
Adam -
Chris but it's it's by getting an STD.
Lee Oh, I have seen the trailer for this. Sorry, yeah. It did look interesting.
Chris Okay.
Chris Yeah, I mean, so I I can't remember if either of you.
Chris I don't think either of you did see The Substance, did you?
Lee No.
Adam I've still not seen either.
Chris So so I still think that was amazing.
Adam I still I still need to see it.
Chris I thought.
Adam I still need to see it. I I do got.
Chris I would absolutely, yeah, recommend that.
Chris And so I was sort of thinking, is this going to be just, you know, a walked it down version of that, just not quite there.
Chris Or trying to be too too higher production and, you know, just not getting what's good about The Substance.
Chris But at the moment, it's definitely got potential.
Chris
Chris And so it looks like the six episodes have been released so far.
Adam Oh, okay.
Chris Yeah, and the fact that it's it is similar, but with its own unique take on it. So, yeah, I think it could be could be good.
Chris I know, you know, I suppose it's looking at loneliness and, yeah, people wanting to be beautiful and, you know, which of course affects a huge amount of the world.
Chris and and it's got some brutal scenes as well, which, you know.
Adam I see what you mean because I see what you mean. I think it's obviously sort of in the same sort of ballpark as the substance, but it's got its own unique take on it and everything.
Adam Because you often you often find that it's like when you suddenly it's like when suddenly there's like three movies about meteors hitting the planet or coming out within six months of each other.
Adam You sort of like there's this it's like idea space seems to everyone everyone hits on the same thing around the same sort of time, so it's probably probably been in development all this time.
Adam And then just sort of comes out just after the substance or just just around.
Chris Yeah. But where The Substance is very focused on women aging and not wanting to age, this this is anyone, so, you know, again, it could be different enough.
Chris It's it's interesting to see different people's perspectives on what's making them miserable and what they think may help them.
Adam Oh, wow.
Chris I'm going to have to look more into this and, yeah.
Chris Well, I'll I'll watch some more and I'll report back to see if it's.
Chris Yeah.
Chris Stays good.
Adam You you are you are our cosmic, you know, come.
Adam You you beat the path and let us know, sir.
Chris I will do that.
Lee Good job.
Lee Adam, what's your next, choice?
Adam my next choice is, this I suppose is more horror adjacent.
Adam But, I went to see, Ben Wheatley's new film, Bulk.
Adam in the IMAX, BFI IMAX.
Adam Which as I learned when I was there, is the biggest screen in the country.
Adam which is quite intriguing.
Adam Because Bulk is basically, in between sort of bigger films, Ben Wheatley tends to it is now seems to be a thing of he'll do something like The Rebecca that he did on Netflix and then he'll go off and do In the Earth.
Adam And then he did The Meg 2, which I've still not seen, but according to former, former guest, Darney, I don't need to have necessarily seen The Meg 1 to catch The Meg 2.
Adam I don't think that they're that, you know, I don't think I'm going to miss out on too many plot points if I do so.
Adam but, yeah, and this is the sort of next smaller film that he's done.
Adam And it is, I mean, definitely not for everyone, but I absolutely loved it.
Adam And it's basically you've got a cast of four people and it's set in a house where there has been a essentially a reality explosion.
Adam And so every part of the house is now a different dimension and it's the main character going through and meeting various splintered versions of other characters and himself as he goes around.
Adam And it's done so low budget, it's it's black and white, there are bits that are filmed on iPhones.
Adam It is, you know, which is insane that I went to see it at the IMAX because, you know.
Adam but it it really does look spec it did look spectacular.
Adam And it makes a real, it makes a real sort of, it really embraces the fact that there's low budget elements to it. They people are using cardboard guns in it.
Adam And stuff like that.
Adam And it's like because the guns look great until you sort of see them a few times and then you realize that actually they're cardboard.
Adam But it's this whole thing that it's these fractured realities.
Chris Okay.
Adam So, and there's like, there's bits where there's car chases with obvious model cars.
Adam But then they'll do things like a helicopter gets shot out the sky and literally just drops like a Looney Tunes cartoon sort of thing and there's, bits where they're sort of saying, oh, can we we that, you know, they're sort of like looking for this hermit on a beach.
Adam And they're going, 'Right, that's where he lives over there.' And they're going, 'Well, we don't seem to be getting any closer to him.' And it's like, 'Well, we can't actually get there, it's a model.'
Adam But.
Adam And it all sort of really, it's really, it's one of those things where it's really, really smart but really playful with it as well, so it doesn't, you know, it's like.
Adam It has its cake and eats it of taking itself too seriously and not taking itself seriously at all.
Chris Okay.
Adam And I just really sort of loved it and like I say, it's a tiny cast. It's, Alexandra Maria Lara and Sam Riley, Noah Taylor and Mark Monero.
Adam And Bill Nighy's doing the narration on it and Bill Nighy's almost like it's like a Hitchhiker's sort of narration.
Adam You know where it's like, it's authoritative but then you realize that it's gibberish or sort of just freaking mad.
Adam And, yeah, and I just really.
Chris It sounds great.
Adam It's really it was really, really fun. It was like sort of somewhere between like a 2000 AD story and, bits of Jerry Cornelius and stuff.
Adam And a detective story but like a bit like, you know, that's the best way I can think of it is you know right at the end of spoilers for this film, but right at the end of Pontepool where they suddenly have gone off into this weird William Burroughs black and white world where he's a detective and she's like a like a nightclub gangster's moll.
Adam It feels like it's like from that it's that bit has gone off and done its own film.
Adam It's just yeah, just really, really great sort of Noir and just but so much fun.
Adam And afterwards I I met Ben Wheatley before because he was signing stuff at the booth and.
Chris Oh, nice.
Adam He was really great and, I nearly I nearly walked right into Sam Riley because most of the cast were there doing a Q&A and that was great afterwards as well.
Adam So, but yeah.
Adam No, it's really good and just roll on when it actually comes out on DVD.
Adam Because on Blu-ray rather.
Adam Because I think, I think it's one of those things that might just disappear because it's so sort of because basically what's happened is Ben Wheatley's toured it round the country.
Adam So he made it on a shoestring, he's toured it round and he like did first screening, they did was at The Nickel, so it was like about 40 people and then you're doing like the IMAX and they sort of toured it over Ireland and, up down the country and everything else like that.
Adam So, yeah, but.
Adam A definite recommend if you can get to see it.
Adam I'm hoping that it will come on streaming and so on.
Chris Yeah, definitely.
Lee Excellent.
Lee I'll be looking out for that.
Lee so next thing I'd like to cover, family friendly horror. I know we talk a lot about, the things that inspired us as kids and are they still making those types of things as much as they were when we were younger?
Lee so I was very pleased to see that there was a two-week exclusive came out at the end of last year. R L Stine, of course, did the Goosebumps books.
Adam Oh, yes.
Lee Did a pumpkin head one-off movie.
Adam Oh, well.
Lee and yeah, I I really enjoyed it. It is very much in that kind of it is horror aimed at young teens.
Lee or not even aimed at young teens because I thoroughly enjoyed it, but there's nothing in it that you couldn't show, you know, a younger audience.
Lee
Lee But yeah, yeah, really good.
Lee And it it really felt like a like a feature length Goosebumps episode but brought more up to date. So it looked really nice, it sounded really good, yeah, excellent cast, nobody I'd ever seen in anything before, but it was it was really good.
Lee I say and it's it's good to see that R L Stine's still doing stuff. Because obviously, I know the Goosebumps stuff came out a little bit late for us.
Lee We were kind of already we'd already gone from the family friendly into the more horror by the time those things came out.
Chris But I heard good things about them generally.
Lee Yeah, I mean, Goosebumps was I've seen a few episodes and yeah, and they are quite good.
Lee It's, you know, they're still entertaining even now as an adult. I mean, obviously they are very tame because they are aimed at a younger audience.
Lee But quite good at building atmosphere and introducing kids to the concept of horror, really.
Adam I mean, they were K's generation and she she's literally just mouthed to me, 'Terrified me.'
Lee So you know.
Adam They I think.
Chris Did it achieve its job.
Adam And you see from you you can see how they are still talked about with such reverence by a younger generation to us.
Adam And sort of like, yeah, no, these these things they made their mark.
Adam And they were they were there, they were a lot of people's gateway.
Lee Yeah. So it's great to see that he's doing it now again for an even younger generation. He's continuing to bring more people into the fold.
Lee yeah, and it was just really well done, really entertaining, it had some really good, suspense in it and but again, it had comedy and things, so it sort of brought that levity into so again, you know, you'd you get a bit of a you get a bit of a scary bit and then they put a little funny bit at the end just to take the edge off.
Lee So the kids don't walk away terrified. It's always broken by these comedic characters and.
Lee yeah, and it was really, I say it was one of those, I watched it, I was like, I know it's going to be family friendly and it's aimed at a younger audience, so I might find it a little bit twee and a little bit, you know.
Chris Tame.
Lee
Lee Yeah, exactly.
Lee But I did, I found it really entertaining and really good fun, so.
Lee Yeah, very pleased to, to see hopefully it's going to bring more people to replace us when we get too old to keep doing this shit, really.
Adam Oh, what by next Tuesday, you think?
Lee Yeah.
Chris So I think.
Lee So.
Lee Right, so just a very quick run through.
Lee Just title and, you know, a couple of lines.
Lee Chris, anything else?
Chris Well, my one's easy because this is my non-horror one, which I I reckon I can figure out how there's a bit of horror in it.
Chris It's The Shape of Water.
Lee Yeah.
Adam Oh, it's horror.
Lee Yeah, it is horror.
Chris Yeah, well, but it's it's the human is the horror.
Lee Okay.
Chris You know.
Lee Yes.
Chris Clearly, it's a very nice monster.
Chris now, I mean, that might be giving things away, but I realized it's 2017.
Chris Now, I totally thought this came out like a year or two ago.
Chris I'm sure you both watched this when it came out.
Adam It won an Oscar, man.
Adam It was, you know, it's been it's been quite some time, yeah.
Chris Yeah, it's crazy.
Chris But anyway, I really enjoyed it.
Chris It was like, yeah, it was it was fascinating. It hooked me right from the off and, yeah.
Chris So but the thing that I thought was, how have I not seen more Guillermo del Toro horror? Like, I think, I can only think of Pan's Labyrinth.
Adam Yeah. That's I mean, we we need to do we need to do more Guillermo del Toro on on the show, I think.
Chris I I definitely want to.
Adam I mean, he's particularly, I mean, I I his English language stuff, but I love his Spanish stuff.
Chris Yeah.
Adam Is my.
Lee Yeah, and The Orphanage are brutal.
Chris Oh, okay. Yeah.
Adam Everything is good as Pan's Labyrinth.
Lee Yeah.
Adam Oh.
Chris There we go. That's that's the takeaway.
Adam Yeah.
Adam Absolutely, yeah.
Lee Excellent. Well done.
Lee Adam.
Adam mine is just, I watched a thing called A Bunch of Amateurs, which is about the Bradford Movie Makers, the oldest film club in Britain.
Adam And I just enjoyed it because it was it was a great sort of nice just general documentary.
Adam But, they I've then looked up a couple of the films that these guys have made because they're on YouTube including The Haunted Turnip and Nice Jam by director Phil Wayman.
Chris Yeah.
Adam And, both of those felt like we'd see them at Horror on C.
Lee Nice.
Adam That sort of like proper low budget, just like five minutes just great stuff.
Adam But, the actual documentary itself really worth seeking out and as I say, from there you can spin out and see they've put, you know, they've got stuff online of like the various guys there what they've made over the years.
Lee Yeah.
Adam But yeah, really good.
Lee Excellent.
Lee so mine very quickly, Chris, for Christmas bought me as we'd discussed it previously on the show and I hadn't seen it.
Lee Robin Redbreast, the play for today 1970.
Adam Oh, yes.
Lee Black and white folk horror made for British TV, very slow burn, completely psychological horror.
Lee Absolutely brilliant, so unsettling, so uncomfortable.
Lee hilarious in places where it's maybe not supposed to be, but it's equally just.
Adam I defy that because the the the guy who they've got in, the Kung Fu the Kung Fu naturist who, you know, he's got one point of conversation, which is Nazi German.
Adam I was like, Christ, this just probably feels like very, very, there's probably a lot of women who can tell this horror story.
Lee Yeah.
Adam He's listening to this boring bastard.
Lee So.
Lee Yeah, oh, just yeah, really good, really brilliant. I I definitely want to see more of that series if there's more stuff like that.
Lee It's just so, say just uncomfortable the whole thing.
Lee Even the cast, apart from the Kung Fu guy.
Lee The three main the main character in it, actually, yeah, four of them from it are, you know, British TV standards. You'd know them as soon as they come on, you're like, 'Oh, it's her. Oh, it's him.'
Lee Couldn't tell you anything they've been in, but as soon as you see them, they look so familiar, they're like an.
Adam Yeah. Oh, it's him from that.
Lee Old uncle you ain't seen.
Lee Oh.
Adam Yeah.
Lee Yeah.
Adam Yeah.
Lee Fantastic.
Lee So that's just come out on BFI Blu-ray, so if anyone.
Adam I believe I believe actually the version that we've got is the is the hold over in the BBC.
Lee is into the folk horror and hasn't seen Robin Redbreast, do treat yourself because it's.
Adam Because originally it was in color, but I think they I think they wiped the color version. So they but fortunately some bugger had the backup tape on black and white.
Adam So they so that's why we can still see it.
Lee It looks better in black and white.
Lee It looks so much better.
Adam It looks amazing in black and white.
Lee Yes.
Adam I I think it really does add to it to be honest.
Lee right, so we will be back, in a fortnight's time.
Lee Adam, what are we going to be talking about in a fortnight's time?
Adam Oh shit. we haven't even thought of anything, have we?
Lee No, we haven't. That's why I thought I'd throw it over to you.
Lee You sort.
Adam Okay, let's have a think.
Chris We did have The Wicker Man on the list.
Adam Yeah.
Chris But unless we've got a theme planned for that.
Adam Well, I I think The Wicker Man, I might have to wait till summer.
Lee Yeah.
Chris Right. Okay.
Lee Yeah.
Adam You can't you can't you can't do the solstice in the winter. It's just just what.
Lee Okay.
Chris Okay.
Lee I'll tell you what.
Adam
Lee I'll tell you what.
Lee Tell you what then.
Lee As, it it is a Winter Olympics and there's lots of ice hockey going on at the moment.
Lee I know there's no ice hockey in the first one and we should probably watch the first one before the second one. What about WolfCop?
Lee Okay.
Lee Yes.
Adam WolfCop?
Lee WolfCop.
Adam Yeah.
Lee Yes.
Lee Brilliant.
Adam I've still not seen WolfCop, so yes.
Lee And the second one has got, what's his name who did Clerks and Kevin Smith's in it.
Adam Kevin Smith.
Lee So it's basically a horror film about werewolves, ice hockey and beer. So we can watch the first one and talk about it and I will use it as an excuse to watch the second one.
Lee And I'm sure Chris will because there's.
Chris I'll try and get both of them in.
Adam Yeah, if if they if they're both there, we'll roll over.
Lee Excellent.
Adam Like a good WolfCop.
Lee Excellent.
Adam Clutch from the air, I love it.
Lee Right. Thanks ever so much for listening, everybody. Go and check out all the stuff we've suggested, apart from Suspiria, because it was wank.
Lee And we'll see you in a fortnight's time.
Lee Good night.
Adam Good night.
Chris Good night.
