Saturday Night Freak Show

This week, Colin subjects the guys to Shogun Assassin (1980), which chronicles the adventures of a renegade warrior and his infant son as they travel the length and breadth of feudal Japan, slashing and maiming their way through hundreds of ninja assassins who are bent on their destruction. Join the conversation as we talk about spraying blood geysers, the entertainment value of graphic on-screen maiming, the political correctness of choosing the correct ninja outfit, the Lone Wolf and Cub series, Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman and more! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Tom calls out The Warriors (1979) in which a NYC gang finds themselves framed for the murder of a gang chieftain and must fight their way back home, 100 miles through enemy turf belonging to rival gangs. Join us as we talk about splatterpunks, gangs from the future, Greek history, the concrete jungle of pre-Guliani New York, Escape from New York and more! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Brent targets The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), in which Geena Davis stars as an amnesiac assassin who teams up with con-man/private eye Samuel Jackson to uncover her hidden identify. Listen in and hear about vodka shots that roll off the chin; when movies break our suspension of disbelief; female action heroes; nepotism, or "casting your wife against type in the lead role in a summer action movie"; and analyze the career trajectories of writer Shane Black and director Renny Harlin. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Sean takes a look back at Last Action Hero (1993), in which a movie obsessed kid gets whisked into an Arnold Schwarzenegger action blockbuster by means of a magic movie ticket, and finds himself fighting bad guys along side his idol. Listen in as we revisit this post-modern deconstruction of action cinema tropes and cliches, amazing feats of strength, improbable henchmen, alternate universes, the magical powers of Harry Houdini, soundtrack tie-ins, and once again bring up Brent's hatred of the original Terminator. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Travis introduces one of his favorite filmmakers to the group via Deconstructing Harry (1997). Woody Allen writes, directs, and stars as a neurotic writer, suffering from writers block, who becomes haunted by people and characters from his past as his short stories and real life begin to intermingle. Listen as we evaluate the merits of high-brow comedy, the career of Woody Allen, and generally become self-made film scholars overnight. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Colin conjures up Warlock (1989), starring Julian Sands as a 17th century witch who escapes into the modern day to find the three parts of Satan's bible. He's pursued through time by witchhunter Richard E. Grant, who partners up with a modern day woman (Lori Singer) who's been afflicted by the warlock's curse. Join us as we talk magic, witchcraft, valley girls, flying potion, Riddick, Mennonites, and the Friday the 13th movie series. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Tom opens up the throttle and puts the pedal down for The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2) (1981), in which a haunted, burnt out former cop (Mel Gibson) roams the wasteland of the post-apocalypse in search of the scarce commodity of gas, battling costumed punks along the way, culminating in one of the greatest chase sequences ever filmed. Listen in and hear the bourbon shot that nearly kills Tom, we talk about great movie stunts, cinematic anti-heroes, Australian cinema, post-apocalyptic-set movies, and more! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Sean brings us director Rian (Looper) Johnson's Brick (2006), a neo-noir which stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a high school student who infiltrates a seamy underworld in order to find out who murdered his ex-girlfriend. Join us as we don our metaphorical fedora hats and plunge into the world of gloomy shamuses, femme fatales, mysterious figures, shadowy dealings and glamorous dames. And, high school. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Travis digs up the Monster in the Closet (1986) from his childhood memories, in which closets worldwide become unsafe from sudden appearances by a hulking, man-eating monster. We talk about all things Troma and bad movies on this episode, until an evil technical fairy sneaks in and destroys all our fun (in which case we learn the importance of having reliable recording equipment). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Brent challenges us with Event Horizon (1997), in which a rescue crew must board a starship that went missing on its maiden voyage and has now mysteriously reappeared, but has seemingly not returned alone. Topics of conversation include: alternate dimensions, homage vs theft, outerspace-set horror movies and video games, rate the Alien franchise from best to worst, and we wonder why all horror franchises eventually end up in space. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Colin subjects us to Tobe Hooper's 1985 sci-fi horror opus Lifeforce, in which astronauts discover a spaceship in the tail of Halley's comet and subsequently bring back a trio of energy-sucking vampires to Earth, who then proceed to terrorize all of London. We talk Gothic vampires, space vampires, and alien invasions, all while we worship the naked presense of Lifeforce star Mathilda May. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Tom subjects us to Reign of Fire (2002), which pits Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey against fire breathing dragons in a post-apocalyptic England. We learn about the Reign of Fire Scale, what constitutes high-brow comedy, and disingenuous movie posters. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Brent brings us Tango and Cash (1989), a buddy-cop movie that teams Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell in an action-packed romp that sees them framed, thrown in prison, and then setting out on an explosive odyssey to clear their names...and take down evil kingpin, Jack Palance. We talk about the glorious excesses of 80's action films, plus the importance of monster trucks, stunt men, bad English accents, and the trials and tribulations of mounting a Gatling gun on your conversion van. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, Travis pits us against Paul Verhoeven's 1987 sci-fi classic, Robocop, in which a Detroit police officer is murdered and then resurrected by a soulless corporation as the "perfect" law enforcement cyborg. But his programming soon comes into conflict with his supposedly 'wiped clean' memories of his prior life. Join us, won't you, for an hour and a half of fun in which we answer the time honored question: is Robocop a A-team or B-team superhero? See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Sean finally gets to pick Tremors (1990), an affectionate updating of 1950's giant monster movies that pits Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, as two handymen in the small town of Perfection, Nevada, against giant, killer worms! We talk about the movie, go off on wild tangents including: is Bryan Singer's Superman gay; does Johnny Depp only play one character; we discover Travis' war on love; and talk about movies with tentacle monsters! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Colin offers up for study Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter (1974), a film from England's Hammer Films studios, in which an unflappable vampire hunter (Horst Janson) and his hunchbacked assistant track a new breed of vampire across the English countryside. The beautiful Caroline Munro (The Spy Who Loved Me, Starcrash) also stars. We talk about the legacy of Hammer films, including the Dracula and Frankenstein films of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, and the deathless spell of vampire movies in general. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Brent insists asks "who you gonna call?" and we answer with a resounding: Ghostbusters (1984). As it nears it's 30th birthday, the Ghostbusters phenomenon shows no sign of slowing down, with a recent release of a video game, featuring the voices of all the lead actors, and the continued threat of a Ghostbusters 3. We go after Ghostbusters' cinematic lineage, featuring appearances by The Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello and Mickey Mouse, Saturday morning cartoons, Star Wars and more that lead to the creation of the world's first multi-million-dollar-visual-effects-heavy-scare-comedy. Plus, it almost comes to blows as RoboCop's status as a B-team cinematic superhero comes up for debate, and Brent and Sean relate spellbinding stories about meeting Bill Murray. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, Tom rolls out a staple of fantasy cinema - the George Lucas-produced, Ron Howard-directed Willow (1988), about a young Hobbit-like fellow named Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis) who undertakes a task to escort a baby of prophesied birth to her destiny and end the rule of a wicked queen. He's aided by the likes of roguish swordsman Mad Mardigan (Val Kilmer) and a host of fairies, sword-maidens, wizards and the like as Lucas and Co. combine elements from every myth and fable ever told alongside some pioneering visual effects. We get a bonus female perspective on this episode from guest star Elaine, which includes eye-opening discoveries about the dangers of Ron Howard Syndrome, we try to gain an understanding of overly-complicated fantasy fiction terms, and we try to coin a new phrase - the "honk-shake". See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Travis takes us on a trip down memory lane via The Last Starfighter (1984), and we relive a simpler time when video games were played at arcades and every boy wanted to be a space fighter. Alex Rogan (Halloween II's Lance Guest) lives at a Californian trailer park with his mom and brother; he's an ace at an arcade game called Starfighter, and one night he's recruited by alien Centauri (The Music Man's Robert Preston) to fight an actual space battle against a hostile alien force. The talk takes us on an exploration of Spielberg and Lucas' influence on 80's sci-fi, and Brent discovers that Back to the Future was not the first movie to use a flying DeLorean. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, Colin takes us into the colorful world of a supercriminal named Diabolik who originated in Italian comic strips with Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik (1968). Diabolik (John Phillip Law) is a master thief in a black leather getup who robs from the mob or the government with equal enthusiasm, usually to impress his superfoxy girlfriend Eva (Marissa Mell). Join us as we try to start the Marisa Mell Appreciation Soceity, delve deep into the career of Italian horror maestro Bava, make parellels between Danger: Diabolik and Austin Powers, James Bond and the Mission: Impossible movies, and Tom sings a cover version of the memorable title song See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.