The Curators of Horror
The Curators of Horror
The B-Movie Influence - Drag Me To Hell (2009) vs. Terrifier (2016)
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Hosts: Emrys and Katie
Guest: Christian
In our tenth episode we meet B-movie horror fan, Christian.
We discuss some recent Horror’s we’ve watched, we’re thrown in to Horror at far too young an age and have nightmares, we wish a Winnie the Pooh Michael Myers Halloween mash up existed, we go deep on B-Movie, we watch our first horror movie, we question the scene with the cat, we have horror posters on our walls, we turn off all the lights, lots of things go in mouths, we don’t grant the loan extension and regret it, there’s a talking goat, a silent villain is truly terrifying, we’re all surprised by the gun, we go deep on the chopping in half scene, we compare Art the Clown to Pennywise, Michael Myers, The Gentlemen from Buffy, we’re in a safe place and still decide to run away, we ditch the dialogue to improve our villain and we also discuss the movies Drag me to Hell and Terrifier.
Movies
Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Written and Directed by: Sam Raimi
Where to watch:
US: Streaming on Peacock
UK: Steaming on Netflix
US & UK: Buy and Rent from Amazon, Apple, YouTube
Terrifier (2016)
Written and Directed by: Damien Leone
Where to watch:
US: Streaming on Roku Channel, VUDU and tubi
UK: Streaming on Shudder
US & UK: Buy and Rent from Apple and YouTube
SPOILER WARNING: We will discuss the plot of these movies in full, so if you haven’t seen them, pause this podcast, watch them, then come right on back.
We also discuss the following:
Movies
False Positive, Rosemary’s Baby, Prevenge, Fear Street Trilogy, Scream, Friday the 13th, The Witch, The Crucible, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Candyman, A Bug’s Life, Halloween, The Evil Dead Trilogy, Troll 2, Best Worst Movie, ManBorg, Killer Sofa, Jeepers Creepers Trilogy, Tusk, Jennifer’s Body, All Hallow’s Eve, Hellraiser, It, Terrifier 2, Puppet Master, Clown.
TV Shows
American Horror Stories, American Horror Story, Schmigadoon!, Ted Lasso, Boo to You Winnie the Pooh, Monty Python, Ash vs The Evil Dead, The League of Gentlemen, Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
Instagram: @curatorsofhorror
Email: curatorsofhorror@gmail.com
Produced and Edited by: Emrys
Recorded remotely using: SquadCast
Opening Music: Tiffany Hern
Closing Music: Spooky Scherzo by Sam Fonteyn
Welcome to the Curators of Horror.
SPEAKER_04We're your curators.
SPEAKER_02That's Katie.
SPEAKER_04That's Emris, and here at the Curators of Horror, we believe that there is a perfect horror movie out there for everyone.
SPEAKER_02So whether you're a lover or a hater or somewhere in between, we are on a mission to find you the perfect horror movie.
SPEAKER_04Each episode we convince an unsuspecting victim to join us on the podcast and to learn about their unique relationship with horror.
SPEAKER_02Each of us picks the perfect horror movie for our guest. We then strap them to a sofa, make them watch the movies, and then talk about it afterwards.
SPEAKER_04But who's the best curator? We're in competition, so each episode our guests will pick which film was their favourite and which one scared them the most.
SPEAKER_02Season two, episode ten.
SPEAKER_04Oh my god, how long has it taken you to be able to say that at the top of the episode?
SPEAKER_02I know. Well done. It had been it's feels like it's been so long since we've recorded. I was like, I need to make sure I know which episode it is so that when this moment comes, there's no hesitation. I can just say, it's this episode, go. Yeah. And that's exactly what happened. Mission accomplished.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, good. Yeah. Good for you. Yeah. Huzzah.
SPEAKER_02Huzzah.
SPEAKER_03Huzzah.
SPEAKER_02And um our scores are still tied up as well.
SPEAKER_04Are they?
SPEAKER_02They are.
SPEAKER_04I mean, I I can't pretend that I remember what the scores are.
SPEAKER_02We're both on nine. Okay. Uh you scared four people and got the perfect film for five, and I've scared five people and got the perfect film for four. So it's a few.
SPEAKER_04I mean, I still feel like that means that I'm winning more, but that's just me. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02That is just you.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because I am.
SPEAKER_03I'm just winning.
SPEAKER_04Winning.
SPEAKER_02Winning.
SPEAKER_03Winning. How are you?
SPEAKER_02I'm good. I feel like this feels a bit alien, like we haven't done it for so long that I kind of have forgotten how to do it, which is equally terrifying and exciting.
SPEAKER_04And that's like riding a bike. You know, you might fall off a couple of times, split your lip on the pavement within the first five minutes, but basically you still remember how to ride the bike. Yeah. It's fine.
SPEAKER_02It's funny hearing you say like falling off a bike just makes me think of the fact that earlier today our daughter fell behind the sofa.
SPEAKER_04Oh my god, it was pretty traumatic actually. She literally disappeared off the back of the sofa. And bearing in mind, we have this strange setup where half of the sofa is against the wall, but then we have this funny little pocket of space behind the sofa at one part.
SPEAKER_02But we haven't really found a use of it.
SPEAKER_04Because if it's basically to do with where the stairs are and where the cupboard under the stairs are. So we've got this weird little extra bit of space, but the most of it is flat wall. But basically, it means that if she goes off the back of the sofa, she does kind of go into this void and disappears, and there's no way of getting out. Um so yeah, it was a little traumatic. But she was fine. She was fine. Yeah, no, no children were harmed in in such a said SAP.
SPEAKER_02Exactly. How are you?
SPEAKER_04I'm alright, you know, it's been fucking hot.
SPEAKER_02Yes, it has.
SPEAKER_04I'm just gonna say, I'm gonna put a disclaimer for anybody listening right away. I am not a fan of heat in general. I am British to my very core. I think any heat above 24 degrees is is like just too much excessive. I'm like, come on. And also to anybody who's who lives in, you know, super hot countries, this country is just not equipped to deal with extremes of temperature, be they extreme cold or extreme heat, because we I mean, in the hot weather, that it's just relentless. It's like living in Satan's asshole.
SPEAKER_02We haven't got air con everywhere because we don't need it like 90% of the year. So it's just this little pocket 10% of the year that it's a lot of people.
SPEAKER_04It is hilarious though, because whenever these little spots of heat appear, you know, where suddenly it's like over 30 degrees, and we're like, what the actual hell is happening? Everybody's like, I'm again, I bought this air conditioning unit for my bedroom to make it nice and cold. And and it's like 300 to 400 pounds for this tiny little air conditioner, which literally reduces the temperature by about four degrees. And then I'm like, what are you gonna do with that for the rest of the year? Yeah, that's just going in the loft. Yeah, that's just gonna be taking up space, and probably by the time you go to use it next year, it's gonna be broken.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and then you have to buy another one.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I mean, that it is a constant battle, and I know that for a lot of people who live in places where it's like 40 degrees in the shade constantly throughout the summer are being like, You guys are so stupid. Yeah, but it really is. I think unless you've experienced that heat in this country, you don't understand.
SPEAKER_02We are an island though, so the the humidity that we get is is really bad. It's not pleasant.
SPEAKER_04So yeah, it's been hot and that has upset me. But luckily, just as we were going to sleep last night and as we woke up this morning, it was raining outside, and genuinely I nearly cried because it was just so blissful to have the dreary grey British skies as they are always supposed to be. And I was just like, Oh, thank god, I can actually feel air coming in. It was it was lovely. I'm one of those people. Sorry to everybody who's enjoyed the heat. You do you. Personally, I've hated it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm not not a fan either. So I'm right there with you. Yeah, we're in good company.
SPEAKER_04Exactly. Yes. Yes.
SPEAKER_02So uh we've watched some horror stuff since we last recorded. We have indeed. Uh some of it was good and some of it was not so good.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02We watched a film that is called False Posit False Positive.
SPEAKER_04False Positive, that's right. So I was super excited about this film.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, false positive.
SPEAKER_04Because I love films about pregnancy, horror films about pregnancy, not just films about pregnancy. As someone who has experienced pregnancy in their life. It's a bit of a shit show, to be fair. So I love it when people make horror films about pregnancy. And when I found out about this film, it was the horror film based on kind of IVF and infertility, and it also has Pierce Brosnan is the bad guy. An IVF doctor, and I was like, Well, I am here. I am here for this.
SPEAKER_02It had so many positive, like, building blocks to make a great film, and it just wasn't.
SPEAKER_04I mean, I'm sure that there are a lot of people who would look at it and be like, oh yes, there are messages in here about this experience and blah blah blah. I just thought it was weird and not actually that scary.
SPEAKER_02No, not scary.
SPEAKER_04And for something that was literally completely marketed as this really horrific, oh my god, shocking horror film.
SPEAKER_02It's like marketed as like the new Rosemary's baby. Which obviously it's about like a big thing.
SPEAKER_04And as I always say, if you can't do it better than Rosemary's Baby, then just piss off because there's just no point.
SPEAKER_02There's very few people who could do it better than Rosemary's baby. That's a great film.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, if you want to see a good film, horror film about pregnancy, Rosemary's Baby.
SPEAKER_02If you're sitting there thinking, I'm on Hulu right now, I'm gonna watch False Positive, don't just watch Rosemary's Baby or just anything else.
SPEAKER_04Or watch Prevenge, because that's fun.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. It got a 4.6 out of 10 on IMDB. I mean, I think we're not the only ones who did not enjoy this film.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I mean, I just don't know who it's for, to be honest, because it just didn't seem to know who its audience was, and there were bits in it. You know, I am not averse to bloody graphic violence, as I've said before. I am basically dead inside, and things don't bother me. And there were things in this film that really bothered me. And I'm not even quite sure why, it just left a really unnecessary taste in my mouth.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And it just kind of to nothing.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, agreed. Yeah. I I it's so unmemorable as well. I had to like look up what we've been watching.
SPEAKER_04And really tropey as well. Really tropey, like shitty husband trope.
SPEAKER_02And written and directed by Survey says a white man! Exactly. Who's the best person to know about a female's experience of having a baby and not being able to have a baby? Exactly. Um but we also watched uh Netflix's Fear Street trilogy.
SPEAKER_04Ah yes, we did.
SPEAKER_02So Netflix made three films and then released them all within like a week of each other. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Uh 1994, 1976.
SPEAKER_021967?
SPEAKER_04Something in the 70s.
SPEAKER_02And then 1666.
SPEAKER_041666.
SPEAKER_02So uh they're all based on books by R. L. Stein of Goosebumps fame. Is it exciting? Yeah, and I would say uh there was a bit of a mixed bag. The first one felt like it did not know what it was trying to do. I thought the second one was probably the best one. The first one was kind of like trying to be like Scream, I feel like. The second one was trying to be like Friday the 13th, which is probably why I enjoyed it more. And then the third one was trying to be like The Witch, you know, like set in the kind of pure puritanical times.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And very the crucible, the witch type thing. Yeah, but I think by the time we got to the end of them, I really enjoyed the experience of watching them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, same.
SPEAKER_04That being said, I d always say you shouldn't have to watch three films before you appreciate the entire thing. If you're gonna be doing a trol a trology, a trology. A trilogy, they kind of have to be able to stand on their own two feet as well.
SPEAKER_02A trology, by the way, is a foot of three films about trolls.
SPEAKER_04Um yeah, I didn't enjoy the first one, but that's I think because 90s horror isn't my bag. And also, for a film that was supposedly set in 1994, it was very I was like, look, I grew up in 1994. This this isn't what the world was like in 1994. Genuinely, it was just a little bit um I was like, it feels like 2020's interpretation of 1994, and it just was a little bit, you know, I'm all here for nostalgia, it just wasn't nostalgia, it just didn't feel correct in itself.
SPEAKER_02Whereas the second one was set in the 70s when neither of us were alive, and so I have no idea if it was accurate or not. I didn't really care.
SPEAKER_04Exactly. I think they definitely, I personally actually think the third one was my favourite because it shed so much light on everything else, but I think that they definitely got better, so if you do watch them, I'd recommend to stick it out. It's also really, really good for um LGBTQ representation, which was lovely to see in horror films, considering that traditionally horror is a genre that is very, very narrow-minded and tends to just kill off anybody who's gay within the first five minutes of a film, so that was really refreshing.
SPEAKER_02On the negative side, I would say they read like young adult fiction, like you know, R. L. Stein, young adult fiction, but with really like like 18 or like R-rated violence. So it was just a bit jarring.
SPEAKER_04I was like, who is the first film in particular? Literally, you feel like you're watching like a teeny bop of horror.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04And then suddenly, without giving away exactly what happens, there's a whole lot of death that happens in ways that I was like, okay, this has suddenly taken a turn. Yeah. Um, so yeah, I I think they're worth watching, and there was definitely room for more, which was fun. I like the idea of perhaps there being a continuation, or even if they just leave it as is, it's it's good. But yeah, if you've got if you've got some time on your hands and you fancy, you know, binge watching three films in a row, I think it would actually be better just to watch them all back to back rather than having to week wait a week in between.
SPEAKER_02Also, like as I'm a massive fan of like horror franchises, and it's the first time I've ever seen a horror franchise created in the space of three weeks, yeah. Which was just a very like ballsy thing to do. And in a way, I think it worked. Even though maybe individually I wasn't wild about it, like you. I by the end of it, I was like, yeah, okay.
SPEAKER_04And I do think that the the cast of like young actors are really, really great. Like they and they ended up kind of having to portray multiple roles, some of them, and it was they were they were very well cast and a very strong ensemble.
SPEAKER_02Agreed, agreed.
SPEAKER_04But it's not as exciting as the other thing that we've watched. Which is American Horror Stories. Oh yes. So Emris and I, all cards on the table, are big fans of American Horror Story, or at least some of the American Horror Story franchise that has been out for a lot of the time. I think the last series that I really enjoyed was Hotel, which I think is perhaps the fifth series. Um I haven't really watched the more recent one, which was 1986, was it? Is that what it's called? All these all these things with with dates in them, I can't keep all the dates straight. But basically the 80s one, which was all kind of set in a summer camp with lots of people getting it was kind of trying to do Friday the 13th as well, but for like it was two nine episodes.
SPEAKER_02The problem with that is that you slash drawing out a slasher thing is really hard because slasher is all about pacing. So if you've got nine episodes It's not gonna be pacing, exactly.
SPEAKER_04It's just gonna be it's just gonna feel very odd.
SPEAKER_02But yeah, American Horror Stories, very uninventively named, is a series of two-parters or one-shot horror stories from short stories from uh from Ryan Murphy. Ryan Murphy.
SPEAKER_04And do you know what? I really, really enjoy this because I think Ryan Murphy's the type of person who comes up with incredible ideas, but a lot of the time struggles with the continuity. Exactly. And that I mean you can see that in in American Horror Story, the series, because literally they kind of got to the point where they're like, I don't feel like we've got any new ideas, let's just keep bringing back old characters and rehashing old stories and all of that kind of thing. But this is fun because it is short little snippets so far. They've done a two-parter and a one-parter, yeah. And they're all really, really fun. Yeah, and if you enjoy American Horror Story, the series, then you'll enjoy them. But I think you can appreciate them separately if you just like horror in general. And I'm excited to see what they do with the rest of the series. It's fun to just have a little snippet and not have to get too invested and just enjoy it separately.
SPEAKER_02And I feel like we've we've spoken so much about things we've watched, and it's not horror, but I feel like we've enjoyed it so much that we have to just take a moment to say Schmigadoon!
SPEAKER_04Oh my god. Yeah. I mean, this is literally just becoming a podcast about what we've been watching. It shows that we haven't been on here for a long time. But yeah, Schmigger Doon on Apple TV is genuinely the best piece of television that I've seen in many years. And watch it. If you enjoy musicals, both Emris and I do, we come from a musical theatre background. And it is just so well done and so funny. And it's I think for all of the horror that we have been watching and indulging in, which is lovely that we've been able to watch lots of new horror films and lots of new things have been coming out, we're still at a point. And I think that a lot of people would agree, where sometimes you at this point in the world, with everything going on, you just want something that is a little bit light-hearted and makes you happy rather than making you feel like you're in too much peril. And Schmigadoon just completely fills that space in my heart at the moment. Plus, the music is phenomenal. Yeah, it's so well written as someone who loves like golden age musical theatre, so things like Carousel and Oklahoma and Brigadoon and South Pacific and all of that. It is so clever how they've taken all of those musical theatre traditions and turned them into something that is really, really modern and current.
SPEAKER_02So you should go watch it. Go watch it. And for everyone who keeps telling me to watch Ted Lasso, even though I don't like football, soccer, um, watch Megadoon. Doesn't matter if you don't like musicals, you'll find it funny because they kind of take the piss out of them as well. But we've definitely spoken for much too much about what we've seen. We're very, very happy to have with us our next wonderful, wonderful guest. Welcome, the lovely, the beautiful, the fantastic Christian. Hello.
SPEAKER_01Hi. Hey. When you listen to your chatting for ages, you're like, I was half just wanting to just chime in and start talking about loads of random stuff, and I'm like, oh, I've just got to sweat it out in my uh apartment in this heat and uh listen it through. So yeah, to bite my lip to not say anything, but yeah, some uh this is the moment.
SPEAKER_02Yes. Any comments on any of that stuff we just spoke about? Go for it. Now's the time, man.
SPEAKER_01Well, Schmigadoon, I've done one episode and I'm like semi-involved, but I think I was watching it too late at night and I was like, I'm intrigued. It's one of these things where you watch something and it's like different, and you're like, okay, although I'm not a big fan of musicals and it's not my go-to, like I was very interested in where it was gonna go. So um it's interesting to say that you've really enjoyed it and continued it. So I think I'll definitely watch a bit more of that. Um I've not got to those fear streets yet. Um I think I did exactly the same thing that you way described it. I watched like the first 20 minutes of the first one and thought, I don't know if I have the like the mental capacity. Again, I've said I've not been well for a week or two, so I had to be able to like engage in it, and I was like, maybe I'm not not ready for it just now, so I'll have to go back and give it another try.
SPEAKER_04Well, that first one in particular literally bombards you with about seven different storylines within the first five minutes of the film, and you're like, what the actual hell is going on?
SPEAKER_02It gets a lot more uh like mobile and easy to follow as it goes on.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'll definitely invest some more time in it. Um, as I was saying to you before, um we we kind of came on air. I tend to have like a habit of sitting through films, uh, you know, trilogies, or I don't even know what you say if these four films in something or five or six, but you know, whatever the numbers are for them. I just like like powering through um and watching the one-one hit. So I think you said a good way to watch it because you've not what had to wait week in, week out, it'd just be taken back to back. So actually, it's probably gonna be a better way to watch it for me.
SPEAKER_02Yes, franchise it, watch it all in a row and and enjoy it. Nice. Well, thank you so much for joining us. Um, let's get right down to business. Christian, tell us a little bit about your relationship with horror.
SPEAKER_01I was introduced to horror. I think I've said this to you before I was um far too young. So I think I was just thrown thrown in front of a screen um when I was about, God, I must only have been about seven at the at the at the oldest, I'm guessing. Because my sister was 11 and my cousin Nick was 12 or 13. Um, so there's me like toddling around at Big On Mars, thinking like, you know, I'm just gonna follow suit with everything that's going on, but everything that was going on was like Freddie Krueger, Candyman, um, and some like you know, pretty, pretty brutal um films to get introduced to really early on. And I remember that I think I I got invested in them quite quickly, but it also had the opposite effect of I had nightmares like beyond belief, and I think my mum never really knew why they were as bad as they were. Um, at least like sleepwork and all sorts of things, but you know, whether it was like watching aliens and alien too too young, or it was Candyman, or it was Freddie, like they always really stand out to me as being films that I watch probably far too soon, uh, and probably burned into my dreams for about 10 years as well, uh, and just destroyed my mum and dad's sleep for you know a an extended period of time. Um but that that's kind of where it all began, that's where I started watching it all, and for whatever reason it's still blossomed from there. Like I've I've then kind of grown into enjoying all sorts of films, but horror's always been something that I've I've had as a go-to, even though a lot of my friends don't, so I don't have any mate uh that is like bang into horrors. Um or even like anyone, you know, like you know, that I've you know, even like an ex-girlfriend or something like that, you know, there's no one I've ever really been with that's just like I'm well up for a horror, but yeah, I always manage to like squeeze them in and uh you know force people to sit through it or just just watch them on my own and just just enjoyed them myself. So I think yeah, it's it's not it's not been uh it's not been an easy start with horror, um I think, but I've yeah, I've kind of like enjoyed every genre of it or every subgenre of it in some capacity over like the last god what would it be twenty twenty five thirty years or whatever it is now.
SPEAKER_02I I feel very much the same uh in the sense that uh I will got got into it too young much like you did as well. Uh and I feel like you go one of two ways. It either terrifies you and you're like never again and you're like one of our guests that we'll have on who's like no I can't do it it's too scary. Or you watch it and it still terrifies you but you get this mute morbid curiosity where you're just like I still want more of this I still want more of this. And I think like it's funny because uh not that we've obviously shown our two year old uh daughter horror movies. Not yet not yet we're gonna wait until she's four or five for that one. Yeah ease it in but you know we we were watching the like the Halloween Winnie the Pooh recently and she loves it. She's like show me the scary trees I want to see the scary and we were watching A Bug's life and she's like I wanted the scary bit with the grasshoppers like those are the bits that she enjoys in order to make her watch that whole film I had to keep saying my love it will get scary again there's gonna be more scary bits and she was like I will wait for the scary bits and literally she's two and that's what she and and she's just so she she'll sit there and she'll go it might be a bit scary and I'll tell you if I don't want to watch it but I'm like and you are okay to watch it and she's like yes I want to watch it it's in the d it's in the DNA that's like that's that's that's that's in the DNA isn't it straight from the start and that's the other thing I was gonna say is like talking about like having someone to to watch it with I can't believe we've we've been doing this podcast for nearly two years and we've actually never spoken about this but I do think it is really hard for some people who are really into horror movies that don't have someone like you know that's why I married Katie really you know because I was like brilliant I've got someone who'll watch the horror movies with that is why you groomed me into liking horror movies because when we met I was a complete wuss and I wouldn't watch a single horror movie and now I'm worse than you.
SPEAKER_04So it is true. This is all why so you didn't want to be a Larry loner all on your own watching horror films.
SPEAKER_02No and it is it is important to have that person to watch it with because watching it on your own there is something to be said for that because it's sometimes scarier but getting to watch it with someone else and enjoy that scary moment or have that reflective conversation afterwards is such a big part of where the enjoyment comes from.
SPEAKER_01No and you know I I I think that over the years there's been like films that I've seen with people but it's never the same people. It's not like I've had that mate that's always been into the horrors that I've always gone I've got the mate that's always been into the Marvel films or the big CGI blockbusters so you go to the cinema and you all go and see them every time they come out it was a new Transformers it was a new Marvel it was a new whatever it is it's a new Nolan film but nothing with horror yeah nothing nothing no one like that was always bang into it did I overhear you say I don't know why my reference went there but when you said uh Winnie the Pooh Halloween I immediately thought of Halloween Michael Myers and a Winnie the Pooh version of it but I'm guessing that's not what you meant you actually just meant an Halloween edition of it. I think my first instinct was is it a Michael Mary's Winnie the Pooh and I was like that's incredible.
SPEAKER_02Why have I not do the poor it would be incredible I wish it were that and I if that didn't exist I would definitely watch that.
SPEAKER_01I don't know if I'd show it to my daughter yet but maybe when in a year or so when she's three then I would I don't think they could do it to Winnie the Pooh could they but I actually that that's where my head went when you first mentioned it and then then I actually pieced it together in a normal mindset.
SPEAKER_02I was like oh no it's probably just a Halloween edition a regular Halloween so uh Christian I know in your survey that you did for us you talked a lot about the fact that you're really into like B movie horror which is the one of the things that we feel like we have had the least from all of the guests we've had on we're often we'll you know be known to say I just want someone to write I want something that is just terrible rather than someone who wants like I to for me a horror film has to be really classy and has to have a deep meaningful message. We get people like that all the time and when we read your survey we were like oh someone who likes B movies so talk talk to us a bit more about that like where does that come from why do you like it are there any ones that stand out to you I think for me I because of my sense of humour I like slapstick like comedy so my dad's always been into that when I was growing up I was watching things like Monty Python with my dad or um you know it it was it there was there was that I remember there was a there's actually a film called Slapshot or Slapstick and it's like there's certain types of films that my dad used to sit me down we watched together and it's just wacky comedy.
SPEAKER_01And I think because of that that that naturally kind of crossed over into when I was watching horror films and just over the years I don't know I just ended up I've never I wouldn't call myself a connoisseur of B movies but I've always sought them out when they've kind of they've popped up I mean something that stood out a couple of couple of friends we've got a little bit of a thing around the Evil Dead trilogy and and for me the I watched Evil Dead quite late. It wasn't one of these ones that I watched when I was younger but the third film The Army of Darkness it just basically goes in a completely different direction and like that film for me is like it's not a it isn't a beam beam movie as such but the the humour and the style um of comedy and just like the the almost like the slapstick horror element to it is just so up my street um but like done in a really good way you know it's even spawned like Ash vs the evil dead and it's that that's been like a TV series that's done incredibly well as well so you know like for that that I think that was done with a lot of quality added to it. There is stuff out there which is um more ridiculous I don't know if you've heard of Troll 2 I actually just so you know I don't know of Troll I don't know of Troll 1 but I know of Troll 2 and I've seen it many a time so much so they've even created a film a documentary that was called I think the worst film ever made and they tried to track down all the characters from it because it's just it's just unbelievably ridiculous. Like the town's called Nilbog because it's gobbling backwards and it's just like the concept you know the the concept alone and one of my mates Tom like literally can't get enough of it's just out it's just so outrageous that you can't help but love it.
SPEAKER_02So that that that's definitely a standout I actually haven't seen Troll 2 or the documentary but I'm very tempted to watch both of them and it is yeah it's almost like that that like cult status that that films get sometimes that is it kind of makes them a little bit more special because maybe not as many people have seen them and it feels like you know you're like I'm one of the people who's who knows about this and has seen this.
SPEAKER_01There's definitely an element of like you know kind of digging for films and then just to see what it's about and then you tell all your mates about it and they watch it and it just becomes an outlandish thing amongst your friends. So I think I'm definitely a bit of an influencer more with my mates or probably on B movies. I think we've I've I've I I mean they forced them to watch like old movies like Critters or you know attacking the killer crowns from out of space and things that are just like again just a bit wacky or I've come across random stuff like there was this one called Manborg and it's this guy that just like gets turned into a robot and it's just absolutely ridiculous but again seriously watchable or most recently um there's one called Killer Sofa and it's about an armchair that goes around killing people so I you know I just can't get enough I can't get I I haven't got to it's on the list but um it just that that that's the kind of stuff they need to seek out it's so funny that you say that because one of our listeners recently recommended that to us we haven't watched it yet either but they were like you have to watch this they were like it's so bad they were like it's not funny bad it's just it's like bad and then it goes to funny bad and then it goes to just really bad but they were like you you have to watch it and I was like okay that's brilliant yeah it's it's written down in my list of films to do um but I've I've done that before where then you you come across it a few weeks months or even years later and and you realise like how bad some of them actually are so you've got to sift through quite a load of like awful screenings of things to to kind of find the gems do you know I mean because there are some gems and it's brilliant when you do okay well I think it is about time that we reveal the movies that we have curated for you Christian.
SPEAKER_02So I'm gonna do that right now.
SPEAKER_04But first a warning spoilers in what we talk about we're gonna talk about a lot of spoilers so if you haven't seen these films then maybe don't listen but if you don't care listen anyway. But yeah spoilers because it's not worth talking about unless you get into the gory details and my goodness there are some gory details in these ones so the first movie that we have curated for you Christian is Drag Me to Hell.
SPEAKER_06Mr Jackson I was wondering if you made any decision regarding the assistant manager's position between Stu and yourself someone who's not afraid to make a tough decision. I'm perfectly capable of making the tough decisions I'll let you know as soon as I decide okay will you help me please we have an elderly woman asking for an extension on her mortgage payment we would have to throw her out of her house we've already granted her two extensions it's a tough decision.
SPEAKER_02You're called but another extension is out of the question where will I leave I'm really sorry never have I beg for anything I should have for you I beg you please let go please let go it will be you who comes begging to me someone has cursed you is the Lomia the most feared of all demons for the first three days the spirit torments its victims after that it will come to take you take me where it's a bone in hell for eternity it's coming for me please listen there's nothing coming for you how do I get rid of this you can give the cut away that we have curated for you Christian is Terrifier keep looking over your shoulder where that guy did this to your car what guy the clown you think someone slashed my tires he knows this is your car he saw us getting into it earlier.
SPEAKER_01Hey handsome what's your number look that Kai was a harmless just some douchebag in a costume acting like a retard because it's Holy What I want you to do now is just remain calm and stay on the line with me until the police arrive so Christian tell us which of us do you think chose which of these films for you right um I'm I think my my thoughts have only gone down to the fact that because Emrish you know me from working with me that I don't know I think if you were to read because I the way I looked at it if you were to read the uh questions that I that I put in I think if I was to read what I'd put down you would have heard like that kind of slapstick element or you know you heard the reference to like Evil Dead and with Drag Me to Hell in particular I think that that then comes up as a like a a a particularly good recommendation given what I've liked in the past um so because of that and I think that because you know I'm like I'm kind of into a mix of stuff I I think that Emirus went with terrifier and I think that Katie went with Drag Me to Hell but I could be terribly wrong.
SPEAKER_02You are terribly wrong. I chose Drag Me to Hell for you and Katie chose Terrifier. Well that shows it's impossible to figure out on the fly I had not seen Terrifier before this so that was uh that was it a curation for both of us let's say nice alright well let's get right into the discussion of our first film which is going to be the film that I chose for you which is Drag Me to Hell. So let me tell you a little bit about this movie. Drag Me to Hell came out in 2009. It is uh written and directed by Sam Ramey it stars Alison Lohman, Justin Long, uh Lorna Raver and a bunch of other lovely people as well and here's a little synopsis of Drag Me to Hell a lone officer who evicts an old woman from her home finds herself the recipient of a supernatural curse desperate she turns to a seer to try and save her soul while evil forces work to push her to a breaking point. So Christian tell us what did you think of Drag Me to Hell?
SPEAKER_01Drag Me to Hell is a film that I saw I think when it first came out so I remember watching it right at the start and the reason it's it's it's a it's a good recommendation for me because you've just mentioned there Sam Raimi so like Evil Dead for me is like the epitome of horror for me I just think that it's just a brilliant piece of um horror in the the the trilogy as I've said goes all the way through to kind of almost like a B movie slapstick fully slapstick style comedy in the third army of darkness. So like I I've I've I'm well into the stuff that Sam Raimi does um you know what I love about this particular film is it get it references and draws on all the the the similarities that you get with Evil Dead of like you know basing a lot of it on the sound like for the suspense I think a lot of the um shock moments you know rather than just being like a jump scare like the sound really plays into it and I think for me he does it in a very unique way like you don't really see it done in other horrors in a similar way it's like I say it's a slapstick horror that the the the characters in there when you're watching it the the evil characters like the way that they talk the move again it's just got that evil dead feel to it so it kind of um it's right on my street in terms of its style uh I think that who is it now you've mentioned before is it Justin Long he's the guy that was in is it like Jeep as Creepers and what's that other really weird one where it's like about a Warrus or something tusk tusk yeah we talked about that in our last episode yeah yeah so like like just very into Justin Long at the moment but I I think he's great I don't know why I I really love the I love the Jeep as Creepers like trilogy they've done as well. Find that character really interesting as a new character in a horror but Justin Long I just I think he I think he plays horror really well and I think like Tusk and and both Jeepers Creepers are really good and he's good in this as well as just being that kind of like stressed out guy all the time not really sure what's going on he almost like plays that in all of them he's like a little bit you know misguided in his thoughts and he just always ends up like being well normally obviously in this one the spoilers at the end but um he doesn't come to uh like a horrendous ending for him but it's probably the only film I've seen that he hasn't come to the horrendous ending comparatively um but yeah I mean I I I like the film because of the style I like you know I like how it's shot the camera angles the sound the style of the you know the the the kind of humorous style the horror I like Justin Long in it I think there is some strange moments in it I think and I'm I'm just trying to think of how it went but this this is there's the section with the cat and that was a really weird like couple of scenes because the thing I remember watching it back in 2009 and I completely forgot why I watched it and I watched it because it's Sam Raimi and then I never got around to watching it again and when you put it on it's I've been meaning to watch that for ages so it's like oh great I can watch it again and remind myself what it was about and like there was some I don't didn't remember this scene at all but the scene with the cat where first of all she does what she does and finishes the cat off anyway but then she goes to that meal and there's some really weird dialogue about the cat as well and I can't remember exactly it's like it's like a cat yeah you mean you have a cat like all of the I don't know cats leave cats leave don't live no they don't no cats definitely don't leave not not if you've got a cat the cat stays do you know what I mean it's just like but it's almost like there's a humour to it that's kind of amusing but it's also really odd um this this I remember I'm a big fan of the League of Gentleman uh like hot like in terms of like horror TV series that that's my one of my favourite like comedy TV series of all time and it's even like it's a scene in there with like the guy's like licking the envelope to put the button in and it's just I don't know the way it's shot and the way it looks. It just there's certain elements of it that reminded me of like League of Gentleman or again like you know almost like B movie in the style of dialogue. So in some ways it was really hard to kind of get into another ways actually it's typical Sam Raimi and like highly enjoyable and fun. So I think you know by the end of it I I think on reflection I'm not blown away by it as a film comparatively to some of the other stuff he's done but I enjoy all the elements of it because of the director and the style of you know the style of how it's done at the same time so kind of like torn on like how much I enjoyed it but I'd be interested interested to know what you both thought.
SPEAKER_04This is a funny one because this actually was the first horror film really that I ever watched which Emris made me watch and which I only watched because we were at that point in the early stages of our relationship where I was willing to do a lot more than I was comfortable with in order to make Emris like me. Read into that what you will no just just to do with films. And Emriss literally was like I'm an architect you got the I'm I'm gonna paint you a picture here. When Emris and I first started dating and I thought he was this amazing person and then I went back to his flat which he shared with quite a few other people so your room was really the only place that you had any control over it. Emiris had two posters up in his bedroom massive posters one of them being the poster for Drag Me to Hell which is literally this poor girl being like grabbed like fish hooked in the mouth by like the devil and being dragged to hell. It's not in the mouth it's around the neck well I mean I'm I'm forgive me for thinking it'd be in the mouth enough stuff goes into this poor girl's mouth in this film that I would just assume that it would be in the mouth and then there was evil you had an Evil Dead poster as well. I did Evil Dead too and the other poster that you had was um was Megan Fox from Genomy so I was like great this is great but basically Emiris had just got Drag Me to Hell on DVD and he was like I really want to watch this film with you we can watch it and also he turned all the lights off in pitch black dark We were watching this film, literally like shut in this room in the dark, watching this film. And I remember thinking it was one of the most disgusting things. I also think we had a power cut halfway through watching this film, and that you had to go and look at the fuse box in the dark. And I was literally shitting myself. I was like, oh my god, Satan is here, he's gonna kill Emirates. This started off as a really good idea, and it's ended up being a really poor choice in in life to watch this film. But so much of it is like nothing I'd ever experienced in any kind of film because, like I said, there's a lot of like vomit going in, mouths, and like really disgusting visceral stuff. Like you're talking about the noises, like the noise of the woman taking her teeth in and out and putting them in like hacking coughing into this handkerchief, and it's just so grim. I remember just being like, Well, there's no way I'm ever gonna watch a horror film ever again after watching this, but watching it back now, obviously, after years of being dead inside and deconditioned to feeling anything. I literally just like it's so funny. This film is so funny, and I think I really enjoy it insofar as it doesn't let up at all in terms of it being really disgusting and just really like improperly icky through the whole thing. It's just really fun. It's and and particularly that they have this beautiful leading lady, she is stunning, and I think she's great in this, and all of the really disgusting stuff happens to her throughout it, and I just yeah, I I it's got it's got a big place in my heart this film because now watching it back, I do genuinely just find it it's a bit of a romp, you know. It's it's pure kind of silly, over-the-top, grotesque horror, and I really enjoy it.
SPEAKER_02It is so grotesque. Like there are there are so many things like when she goes to try and you know, like speak to Mrs. Genoush, the old lady, uh and she's dead.
SPEAKER_04And then the coffin pulls on her and her mouth opens, and all the embalming fluid still in her pours all over her face, and then her mouth, like the dead lady's mouth goes on her mouth, and it's just like pouring into I mean it's I mean the amount of mouth on mouth that those two characters have in this film because when she attacks her in the car, her teeth come out and she literally like latches onto this girl's face like some kind of limpet with no teeth. So she's literally like just sucking this girl's chin and lower jaw. It's just so weird and unnecessary, and yet somehow, in in the grand scheme of things, if they'd only done those things like once or twice, you'd be like, What the fuck was that? That was so weird, but they keep doing it. It's like the director is like I'm really enjoying just having this actress have every disgusting thing in her mouth and on her face. So let's just keep doing it, let's just write more in and more and more and more and more. So yeah, it's just it works because they commit.
SPEAKER_02And there's all the stuff with like the flies. There's a lot of flies in this film, and that's that sound, I think. You know, you're talking about the sound, Christian, the sound of the flies is really effective. Because it's just like it's really it feels like it's really close on you, and you feel like there's a fly on you because you can it's like where they play with the soundscape of where the sound's coming from. And I feel like that really just makes you feel super uncomfortable.
SPEAKER_04Where the fly literally pushes its way into her mouth. Yeah. And I don't know about you, but I'm sure that everybody has like irrational fears of like bugs and spiders or whatever, like, oh, they might fall in my mouth while I'm asleep. But the idea that a fly would like actively push its way into a closed mouth is so disturbing and so like oh it was yeah, it's lots of moments like that.
SPEAKER_02I think there's some really clever stuff in there as well. Um, one of my favourite scenes in the whole film is the bit where she goes to visit her boyfriend's parents for the first time, and they are doing the like, oh you know, she's from like the farm, and they're talking about like a fat farm because she used to be more overweight, I guess.
SPEAKER_04No, she literally used to live on a farm as well.
SPEAKER_02Oh, really?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, she's a farm girl. She used to she was like the pork queen. I see. And all of that. No, they're like she grew up on a farm.
SPEAKER_02Right, so either way, they're they're kind of like they have like really low opinions of her.
SPEAKER_04She's just some some southern farm girl. She doesn't have any she she's not got any prospects.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's a photo of her stud like at some like pig contest or something, I think, that pops up at some point, and it's like, yeah, that's the reference to her upbringing, and it was a little bit mocky, but wasn't it, from someone, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02And it's just I just I think obviously one of the things that this film's like, you know, the the Lamia, who's this thing that's like this demon that's coming to get her, is all about like torturing people and making them crazy and pushing them to the the the limit before they're actually taken to hell. And I just think this is this could have gone in such a different way. Like you think, oh, this is gonna be awful, this is gonna go really badly. Uh, but I love that at first it goes really well. Like that she's talking about like this loan thing that she's worked out at the bank, and they're like, Wow, that's really impressive, like really good initiative. And then uh, you know, they ask about her parents, and she says that, you know, like, well, you know, she's like, Well, you know, my mother had problems with alcoholism, and rather than being like, Oh, they're like, Wow, that's really amazing that you can talk about that, and then the mother's like, 'Yeah, I had the same thing happen with my parents,' but I never talk about it because I'm too ashamed. But that's really impressive that you can be so honest, and it is going so well. And then they're eating the cake, and they're like, This is so delicious. And then that's the bit where you're like, Are they eating the cat?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I remember thinking that as well.
SPEAKER_02And then, you know, and then she just goes nuts and like shouts at this thing that's like tormenting her that they can't see or hear, and throws something, and it all goes wrong.
SPEAKER_04But I just And that's when the fly makes its reappearance.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and then it she likes her mouth spews it back out again.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and then so much, so much vomit, so much blood vomit and fly vomit in the and I do I do like it's quite a brutal one to watch for the first time if you say it was the first because it's not a regular horror, it's not like watching a slasher like a Halloween. Like if you see the Evil Deads, the age of them, because I think the first one was banned initially, but like the age of them meant that it probably wasn't done as grotesque as by 2009 Sam Raimi could could like you know play around a bit more. So he definitely like almost dials everything up by 10, you know, so it's got that same sound element, the same like slapstick horror element, the same grotesqueness, but dialed up for this film almost to like to what you say to like like an extreme amount that almost sounds seems like relentless at times, like the the the way it keeps going. So, yeah, I know what you mean, definitely.
SPEAKER_02The other thing that I love about this is it feels like it's kind of like it's a morality tale. Um, and you have this character who is so pure and honest and kind and decent. And the I I like to imagine that the first time ever in her life when she's gone, I want to be an assistant manager here, like, and I've got good reasons and I'm gonna do that well. Um, and you know, like she's faced with the choice of like you can give this woman another extension, or you can be hard line with her and say no, and it is her decision to do that, and that is the reason that all of this happens.
SPEAKER_04I also love though that it's that she wants to be like the assistant manager at like the loan office because it looks like such a shitty little job. Yeah, like it doesn't even have an office, it just has a little separate cubicle that you can work in, and she's like, No, this is important enough for me to like be a complete dick to this woman. It's just so like you say, is you think that she's just so normal and she's so kind of every woman type character, and she is like basically at her heart, just a nice person who's just trying to get what they want in life. There's nothing like evil or particularly outstanding or special about her, which is why it just makes it even more interesting when you see how her character kind of descends because she goes completely nuts in this film. Like when she does kill the cat, she's like, I'm not gonna do that, I'm a vegetarian, I would never hurt a cat, and then literally she's just like I don't care anymore. Like, I don't I literally don't care, I will do anything in order to stop this from happening, and I kind of love that.
SPEAKER_02I do also think it's really funny that the scene where they do like the seance in the big amazing house. It I I felt like the the bits where things get possessed felt very evil dead, like the the helper guy who gets possessed and does this kind of like almost like it's almost like a little Cossack dance in the air kind of thing. And then there's the the goat. You can't talk about this film without with not without talking about the goat, but yeah, that all feels very evil dead. But it is funny that they chose to do all of that, and the woman that they get to do it dies when actually they they had another option, which was just give it to someone. Yeah, and I'm like, Really? You went for that before that? I'm like, maybe you should have tried that first. Uh but I love all I love how clever it is with the whole thing where like sh her um, you know, um her boyfriend collects coins and she's found that coin for him at the beginning. Uh, and then obviously there's the thing where her button is what is taken from her and then cursed and then what is gifted back to her, and then she does the whole thing at the end where she's like, I'm gonna give this back to you, and she digs up the woman, and there's more you know, grotesque.
SPEAKER_04Why she doesn't check up on the face again.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly. Um and then I love the scene at the end where you know she's she's there and she's bought herself a got a new coat, and he's like, Oh, what happened to your old cush? So I threw it away. So, oh why? Because I found this, and he shows the button and her face, and then you think, oh my god, like she's fallen on the rail tracks, and there is a train coming. This is going to be how she dies. She's going to get hit by this train. And then, no, the ground opens up, hands pull her down, and she's dragged to hell. And it is just a fantastic ending to this film.
SPEAKER_04It's a great ending, it couldn't end any other way.
SPEAKER_02No.
SPEAKER_04It really, really couldn't. I love the fact that they went there and they just went, Yeah, the film's called Drag Me to Hell.
SPEAKER_02And that's what happens. Yeah. What you see is what you get. Absolutely, absolutely. Okay, well, I think it is about time that we moved on to our second film of this episode. So, Katie, tell us about Terrifier.
SPEAKER_04So, The Terrifier came out in 2016. Um, it was actually written and directed by Damien Leon, and it stars quite a lot of unknown actors, which is typical of the films that I like. Um, uh starring Jenna Cannell. Samantha Fiti. And um very notably playing Art the Clown, uh David Howard Thornton, and a little brief synopsis. On Halloween night, Tara Hayes finds herself as the obsession of a sadistic murderer known as Art the Clown. So tell us, Christian, what did you think of Terrifier?
SPEAKER_01This is a very intriguing uh film. I remember um when when when you sent me the lister and I saw Terrifier, I was like, I know what that is, and I can't think why. And I hadn't seen it yet, but I'd heard about it because of Art the Clown, and I think there was a film called All Hallows Eve Hallows Eve, which he's based out of. Um so I'd heard about that film, then heard about Terrifier, and it also I remember seeing like and there's a big thing that I do love about horrors that is um like the the the type of character that is the main you don't call them a protagonist, I don't know what you call them, but whoever the main like Freddie is the the antagonist, um you know, and I think about like Pinhead, you know, you think about Freddie, and I and I even like the Jeepest Creeper's character, like I think's a really, really interesting character. Um and then I remember seeing uh an image of this this chat, this art of the clown, and thinking, wow, that looks really creepy. I hadn't got round to seeing it yet. Um and it's a really it's a really interesting film. Um it's kind of very if it's filmed very low budget, but looks really classy at the same time. It's almost like a I don't know, it's like a 90s feel to it, I probably would say. I don't know if that's that that's right. It felt like there was a very 90s look and feel to it. Um the main character reminded me of Neve Campbell. Uh the main initial protagonist. I was all I could see was like Need Campbell running round initially, and I think that you know when I said like the look of it as well, there's like a like a like I don't know what you call like a colour hue or filter or whatever that's added to it, and it gives it a real um a real style that you know I've not seen recently. I wouldn't say in the city.
SPEAKER_04It's comic bookish in terms of the colour palette, like it reminds me of like a less extreme Sin City or something like that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, exactly. And and you know, there's there's a lot of cliche elements to it where it's like someone running around making all mistakes that you'd expect them to make, where it's like, hang on a minute, why did you not just leave in the first place? Um but at the same time, like the the styles also seem quite unique because the whole time he doesn't say anything, does he? He he's like it's it's like a mime character, so you know it like the the there's like a humour to it that's really creepy, and I remember like some there's some scenes in there where she's like trapped, or one of them's trapped in a like a little cupboard, and she's looking through a hole, and he kind of like comes walking up and he then clocks that she's in there, and he starts doing loads of weird stuff, and the the camera's just looking through this hole, and I just thought that's absolutely incredible. Like, just the the the sty the style of how it was filmed. Um, but then like as you go through, it's like you say these all these like useless moments in this. Like I was surprised when he whipped out a gun.
SPEAKER_04Like, I almost like really bizarre that he has a gun, doesn't it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it took me completely by surprise because I think the whole time through you're trying to wonder, is he like evil in the sense of an evil man, or is he evil in the sense like there's something more to it, like actual evil there? And then when the gun comes out, it's like, oh, it's just a guy that's just decided I've had enough of this. She's getting on top of me, so I'm just gonna I'm gonna shoot her instead. And like she's there with that two by four, and you're thinking, go, I'm just bash him on the head, bash him all the time, but she's like, get up, get up, and you're thinking, Oh, this is the cliche bit, it's like, well, obviously that's a mistake, but you're not expecting to get the gun out, and that's the bit that then suddenly changes the other way. You're like, oh right, okay, I was expecting just to get one over on it, and um, and then he shoots her, and you're like, Oh, and he just finishes her off with the gun. I can't bother with this anymore. Um, but like the the the most shocking bit in it, and I think there's an element of I'm not a big fan of gore that's like really extreme, you know. Like if you watch like a hostel or some sores, and it just goes really extreme, you're just like, oh, it just feels unnecessary. I'm not a big fan of that, but there is a really like bit where you could say it's completely unnecessary when he chops her in half.
SPEAKER_04So I think we should probably talk about this. This moment, universally, is I think the moment that this film is most known for, other than the fact that Art the Clown has become like a bit of a cult icon because he's so messed up and creepy, which I think is pretty impressive this day and age to create a character in a horror film that is as kind of people are drawn to it as much as they are to Art the Clown because, like you say, you've got so many iconic horror villains to go up against, so that's pretty impressive, but yes, there's I mean, I should probably say, you know, if you're gonna watch this film, discretion is advised. It's it's not it's not the nicest of horror films.
SPEAKER_02A woman gets hung upside down from her legs, which are splayed apart naked, and is then sworn in half with a rusty hacksaw.
SPEAKER_04And and as I was saying to Emirates when we watched this film, that hacksaw genuinely head. That hacksaw genuinely looks like the type of hacksaw that everybody's dad has at the back of their garden shed. You know the type of hacksaw that you think I really need a saw for something, and your dad goes, I've got a saw, you can borrow this, and you try and use it, and it is literally like as dull as they come, and you're like, Well, this isn't gonna help, and it's like, you know, it's not gonna help anybody. And yet he manages to saw through this woman incredibly fast with this hacksaw, and I was just like, Do you know what? You have to just admire the commitment and the the sheer upper body strength to be able to use such a tool to literally I mean, if you're going through the crotch, you're going through the pelvic bone, like that's not nothing. That's like, you know, that would take me a long time. I'm just saying, if that was something that I was inclined to do, I definitely I definitely wouldn't have the strength in my forearms. I'd I'd at very least need some kind of chainsaw arrangement in order to do what he is able to do in a matter of minutes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04So, you know.
SPEAKER_01What makes it though is it's the it's the silence of it all because he doesn't he doesn't say anything the whole time. So it's just the way he looks, he always looks like he's smiling, the way he looks back, the creepiness of it all, whilst doing something that brutal. And like I said before, like I'm not normally into something that would be that graphic, but there's also there's an element of it that that's not as realistic as say some other films that you see that are really brutally realistic. So I could sit and actually watch it. Normally I'd actually have to turn away, even myself, at some little moments in some films, but I could watch it, but that it's it's a horrific concept. Um the death's a bit of a horrific concept. I think the way you just described it there makes it sound even worse than when you probably watch it. Like see, I cringed more when you were describing it than actually probably when I watched it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I think that the character of Art the Clown, though, is excellent. Yeah. Like the way he's portrayed, like the movements that he makes, like he does this thing where he'll move really like slowly and kind of smoothly. Delicately almost and then just jumps and goes really quickly, and that is creepy. Like you imagine someone doing that, and you'd be like, oh. And but so my my description of Art the Clown, he is like a combination of Pennywise from It, because obviously he's a clown, Michael Myers from Halloween, because he doesn't talk, and also when Michael Myers is a little boy, he also wears a clown mask, and deeper cut, the gentleman from Hush in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is an episode where everyone's voices are stolen from them, so it's a silent episode. So again, you get that connection, but there's all these like weird, very smoothly moving, flying, creepy gentlemen with these like who come and steal people's hearts smiling all the time while they're doing these really horrendous things.
SPEAKER_04They steal your voice so that you can't scream, don't they? And then they cut your heart out and you can't scream.
SPEAKER_02It just reminded me so much of the the look of them. But yeah, I do think that whilst this film really like, you know, there's not a lot going on in this film, it just feels it does just feel like an excuse to have a really cool character who's really creepy kill a bunch of people. Like there's not there's no depth, there's no there's no like deep meaning, there's no message to take away.
SPEAKER_04I would argue that Michael Myers is the same and Freddie Krueger is the same. Pinhead is the same.
SPEAKER_02Like I was saying earlier, sometimes you just want to watch something that's like that that isn't. Um, and that's that's kind of what we're going for this episode. So whilst I wouldn't say it was like one of my favourite horror films of all time, I enjoyed it for what it for what it's trying to do and for what it is.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's it's you know it it's made by the cliche element, though. That's what I mentioned at the start of everyone's a tad useless. Like every character is a bit useless. It's like if you weren't all useless, maybe this wouldn't have happened, but you're all that useless that he's getting he's gonna do you in every time. Uh other than like, say, that gun scene where it looked like all the tables have turned, but then he's just like, Oh, I can't bother with this, I'm just gonna shoot it in the face. Um, which is kind of amusing at the same time because I didn't see it coming.
SPEAKER_02There's so many times where they have the upper hand and then they just run away, and I'm like, kill him. Yeah, and then she ran back into the building. Yeah, there's even a bit where where like the sister of the two girl of one of the two girls has come to try and save her, and she gets rescued by like the handyman of the building, Mike Who is a legend.
SPEAKER_04He is an absolute legend. Mike the exterminator. Mike the exterminator.
SPEAKER_02He like rescues her and and then and he's and and he's like, We should stay here and call the police. And she's like, I'm not staying here. And I'm like, What are you doing? You're in a safe place that is locked and you have a phone, like call the police and stay there. And then they're like, no, no, no, let's go. And then they both get taken out by him, and it is just a twist, isn't it?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's a little that little weird twist at the end. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And then at the end we'd learn that that person is the Victoria that was disfigured by Art the Clown. Uh, you know, at the end of the day.
SPEAKER_04Art the Clown ate her face off.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Emrest missed that bit. I mean, you were looking, you were looking at your phone.
SPEAKER_02I was making a note.
SPEAKER_04And and I went, Did you see what just happened? And he was like, I was like, he just ate her face off. Like you can't, to be fair, you don't you don't actually see him eat the face, you just see him kind of bend over her, kind of making, you know, like dog dog gestures when they've got a toy in their mouth and they're like wiggling their head around that type of thing. But yeah, he eats her face, which is why she looks the way she does.
SPEAKER_02The other thing that you told me about this film while you're watching it is that apparently the guy who wrote and directed it is a visual effects guy. Yes, and he basically made it as an opportunity to be able to do loads of really cool, grisly, gory visual effects. Which when you think of it like that, it makes a lot of sense. It's kind of like a showcase of that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, Damian Leon has, if you look at his kind of back catalogue of work, he's worked on quite a few horror films in particular as like a makeup artist and a visual effects artist. And I think to a certain extent, it explains a lot of what happens in this film because I genuinely think, as a big fan of horror, he wanted to create this film for this character for Art of the Clown, and then he was just thinking, What can I do in terms of effects? So I think that kind of explains why there's a gun moment in it, because it's almost like he had a checklist of all the things that he wanted to put in there, and like gun effects and gunshots was one of them. It's also the reason why at one point he decides that um it's appropriate to scalp a character and cut her breasts off and have Art the Clown wear them like a human skin costume. Because why not, if you want to create some cool special effects, get your freaky clown villain to wear someone's scalp and boobs that they've just cut off a person.
SPEAKER_02The other thing that I've just realized, which is really clever, is if you are someone who is really clearly really good at visual effects, but probably not very good at writing if you look at all of the dialogue in this film, how do you make your villain really good? He doesn't say anything.
SPEAKER_01That's that that's the interesting bit about both films. That I thought when I was making notes on both, I was like, some of the camera angles, like again, the Sam Raimi effect of like how it just starts to tilt and turn like as it zooms in on something, or the sound element, like, and then you look over at Terrifier again, it's like kind of the way the look of it, I said, like it's got like a hue to it, and then there's that the silence of the clown. Um, again, both of them play massively on sound or no sound and like camera, you know, effect in a way to to kind of portray the horror or the creepiness of it. So I thought both had similar, like both both of the films had like kind of similar draws in that sense, which I kind of enjoyed.
SPEAKER_04It's very hammer horror as well with Terrifier in terms of yes, it has a lot of blood and guts, probably a lot more blood and guts than your traditional like hammer horror hammer horror films, but it is that same colour palette of everything being such that was it Kensington red?
SPEAKER_02Kensington gore.
SPEAKER_04Kensington gore, that's the one where it's literally like scarlet, it's not like you know the the actual colour of blood. Like if you watch, say, a sore film or a hostile film, you always see that it's it's a lot of the darker colours that they use for all of the um like the blood effects to make them look realistic because you don't bleed like strawberry jam when you get cut, it just doesn't it doesn't happen, which is what I think actually helps this film a little bit is it moves it into a genre where everything is yes, it is really bloody violent, but it's it kind of elevates it in a way that makes you think, well, this isn't real, because even though it's being quite gory, it doesn't look real. Like the the makeup, I think the one letdown of makeup to be honest in this film is her face after she's been brutally disfigured by Art the Clown really just doesn't look like anything human anymore. It's a very, very strange look that they went for. Even you know, she seems to be like missing one eye, and then the other eye is kind of doesn't look like an eye anymore.
SPEAKER_01And she I mean, it's like some large skin graft, isn't it? Like covering the whole face.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's kind of bizarre, but I kind of like that because it's so odd to look at that it makes you feel uncomfortable in a way that isn't just I'm gonna show you all of the insides of someone's face and make it look really realistic. Because in a way that that wouldn't be as bad as this kind of slightly rotten special effect on her face.
SPEAKER_01The good news is they're doing a terrifier too, so we'll have more art the clown as we saw the resurrection take place at the end. So, yeah, so it'll be interesting to see where they try and take it. What else can be done with him?
SPEAKER_02Okay, well, it is about time for us to tell you, Christian, why we chose these films for you, and I'm gonna go first. So, uh it's an older film, it's an important film to Katie and I. Like we said, it's the first horror film that we saw together, and I was hoping that you might not have seen it, but you had. But I'm uh glad at least that you hadn't seen it since you saw it then, so it was a good opportunity to revisit it. Uh, like we've already talked about, you said that you've always loved B movie horror, and I had wanted to talk about and share this film on the podcast for ages, so I was super happy to finally have the right person to share it with. Um I thought it was really cool that you also talked about like the comedy elements in B movie horror being something that you really enjoy, and or you also talked a lot about like slapstick and liking like um that growing up with watching with your dad, but also things like League of Gentlemen as well, which I also really, really love. Um, you did talk about uh Evil Dead in this episode, but you didn't actually write anything about that in your um survey at all. You didn't mention it once. So as soon as you started talking about that, I was like, I feel like I might be on to something here, as I'm a massive fan of Sam Raimi and the Evil Dead trilogy as well. Um and you talked about liking jump scares and the importance of sound in a horror film being really, really important to you, and I think that this film has both and does both with sound uh and visuals as well, and is really, really clever at doing that, even though it is more funny a lot of the times, it still makes you jump, uh, but it also makes you laugh right afterwards, which for me is some of the best jump scares you can have. Um, you also mentioned a lot of like classic horror that you were really into when you were younger, like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, Candyman. Um, and I thought all of these films have really cool kind of like lore and world building, and even though this is a one-off film, I think it does that really, really well, so I thought that might appeal to you. Um, and when you were talking about what kinds of subgenres of horror that you really liked, you said that you love paranormal, body horror, devil demon hell, animals, and comedy horror, and this film has all of those in it. So, for all of these reasons, and because I absolutely love it and wanted to talk about it since we started the podcast nearly two years ago, I chose for you drag me to hell.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I mean that's the thing. I think I said that at the start. That I do you know what? It surprised me that I didn't mention Evil Dead. I just in my head I assumed I must have done based on what you chose. So yeah, it was definitely definitely a smart choice. Um given like the Evil Dead trilogy is definitely my favourite trilogy. It's just something about it that like I don't know, um it's it's you know Ash as a character through to the the style of um the whack the wacky style of the the Deadites as as they're called in Evil Dead, and then that you kind of get that same feel um in Drag Me to Hell. Um so yeah, I mean like I just yeah it it definitely every every element of that film, and I think this is the thing why like I couldn't remember why I hadn't seen it in ages, but I was trying to remember what it was about and I couldn't, and then the second it started and I saw Sam Raimi, like almost like did my mind just suddenly went, ah right, okay, and I can kind of remembered loads of scenes immediately. So yeah, it had been a long time. I'd watched it probably that first year, so what another 12-12 odd years on, but no, hadn't seen it in between at all. So to your point there, like it's kind of it was kind of nice that I hadn't seen it recently because I'd eyed it up a few times during this last like 18 months whilst I've been at home because I've just been watching tons of stuff, but I'd never got around to it still, so yeah, it kind of kind of slotted in nicely.
SPEAKER_04Well, Christian, I picked Terrifier for you, and um I'm going to now tell you why. You might be wondering why, God, why did someone make me watch this film? And I am now going to tell you. Um your questionnaire, one of the first questionnaires in a while, actually sparked my interest in a way that a lot of others hasn't, which not to say that our previous uh victims haven't been a pleasure to work with, but B movie horror and obscure horror are what I am here for, and I feel like we have really struggled in the past, or at least I've struggled for a little bit, trying to find more mainstream horror for people to enjoy because it's really not my thing in particular. So I was very, very excited at the idea of being able to find something a little bit more bizarre and obscure for you. Um, and the reason that I went with Terrifier in particular, uh like Emirates was saying, with Drag Me to Hell, this is actually a film that I've wanted to bring to the podcast for a while, just because I think I find it interesting in terms of where it sits in kind of current horror films. Um, and I think it's worth watching just because it is so weird and bizarre and it shows that you can have a really strong nasty villain and not much else going on, and it can still be an entertaining experience. And interestingly enough, when I was reading through your questionnaire, a lot of the films that you mentioned as being things that have stuck with you, things like things like Candyman and Puppet Master and Nightmare on Elm Street and things like this are films that basically like Nightmare on Elm Street, for example, basically is just Freddy Krueger. That's all you're there for. All of the rest of it kind of pales in comparison. So whatever else the story does, you're there to see Freddy Krueger and to see how he kills people. That's kind of what the point is. And I think it was interesting for me in terms of you talking about the different type of films that you'd enjoyed and the type of things that you um were seeking out to watch. It wasn't necessarily mainstream, in particular, you you know, mentioning the critters franchise, for example, which is really kind of nasty but also over the top and funny. I really wanted to go for something that maybe was pushing you in a slightly uncomfortable place because I know that you mentioned that you don't necessarily um always enjoy things that are just kind of gratuitous pornography, but I think this walks the line enough that it goes into the fantasy part of the gore rather than it being all out. I'm gonna watch someone actually get disemboweled in front of me to keep your interest and hopefully not put you off too much. And really and truly the thing that decided it for me, because I did, I I mean, I've got a back catalogue of nasty films like this. I could literally have picked you about 10 different films in a in a in a similar kind of ilk, but you said you know, for you what makes a horror film? The simple answer, I guess, is anything that shock scares me or creeps creeps me out. And I was like, well, if any film is gonna shock, scare you, and creep you out and fill fulfill everything else that I want, it's this. So that is the reason that I picked Terrifier for you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was definitely a shocker. I mean, just so you know as well, I watched these films with my my girlfriend Karine. Um, and um also interesting that she she does have a friend called Hannah that is into horror. Uh, she's into a lot of films that I'd be into, so I now do have someone that I could actually watch and should come and actually really enjoy it. So we watched it as a collective lights off um back to back. Uh we started with Drag Me to Hell and then we watched Terrify Afterwards. Um, and like I think, yeah, that there was a definite shock at shock element to what Terrifier is. Because I even though I think that Hannah's into that, and Kate Reen definitely isn't, but she just watched it because I'm watching it anyway. Like, I don't think they were prepared for the level of film that that was trying to be, you know, like whereas it even dragged me to hell, you know. We said before that kind of like the extreme grotesquen of it. I think both films really shocked them. Like, whereas I was kind of prepared for what I was dealing with. I think they were both completely shocked, but yeah, a very, very um creepy character I mentioned before, uh Art the Clown, and right on my street, as you said, because I like there's so many films that I've watched that I think I just enjoy the the character that's building to to like be you know the ultimate like destroyer of the film, whatever that might be, whether it's for pinhead or um you know the candy man, like and they kind of creep through. It's interesting about this, he comes in very quickly from the start and he's just there. Um and the clown element, you know I mean you mentioned Pennywise, I think, earlier on, but I think you know as might mention before that that that film The Clown, like again, you know, or Clown, the L.I. Roth one, is is another film very similar to this where there's just there's something creepy about clowns that you just can't like shake off. I don't think anyone can watch a film with a creepy clown like that and not be like creeped out. So, like, yeah, definitely, definitely tip the boxes for it.
SPEAKER_02Nice. Alright, Christian. Well, it is time for us to ask you our questions and hear your answers. So here's the first one. Christian, which of these two movies scared you the most?
SPEAKER_01Uh, it's gotta be terrifier. Yeah, I think well, it's it's almost, you know, you could change scared for shocked, maybe, you know, as well. Like, I don't know what word you want to put there, but the one where I was like, my eyes were wide and I was going through it going, alright, okay. Uh we spoke about the story and half scene is one, but you you mentioned briefly him wearing the um skin of the woman with the the press, and he just dances around in it, and you're looking through the hole as he's dancing, and the whole time I was just like looking at the screen, I was looking at you know Karine and Hannah going, Yeah, sorry, yeah, sorry for this, sorry for this girl.
SPEAKER_04I would I would like to issue a public apology to the two other people who watched that film with you. It was specifically picked for you. I cannot, you know, um cannot say that I was thinking that anyone else would be watching it with you, you know. They didn't know. They they did so at their own risk, but I can only apologise at the images that are now probably uh etched into their into their subconscious after watching that. It's not something I would wish upon many people.
SPEAKER_02Horrifying. Alright, Christian. Alright, the next question, and the big question is which of these two movies was the best curated horror pick for you?
SPEAKER_01Oh I've been dreading answering this because I think you've both done a phenomenal job, and I didn't know who it picked either or at the start. Um and it it's I think, like I say, I think the Terrify one shocked me the most and I was most intrigued by. But if you go off like the real interests that I have, I think Drag Me to Hell is probably the most curated horror for what I'm into and what um what I really enjoy, probably more so because of the it's the Sam Raimi effect, it's it's that like that it's it's the slapstick horror for sure. But I could put them both there, you see. So I'm I'm horrified to have to choose what, but I'm gonna choose Drag Me to Hell Woo!
SPEAKER_02Ha ha Well, that means that the scores remain tied for episode 10.
SPEAKER_04We're literally tied. Five and five, aren't we?
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Goodness me, this is the closest it's ever been.
SPEAKER_02Well, like I said, it's a little bit more exciting this season because it's like we're actually last season I trounced you. Yeah, basically, we're actually relatively, you know, competitive as opposed to just you being in the lead for most of the season. So photo finish. Yes, exactly, exactly. Who will take home the uh award, the trophy for season two when we get to our our season finale in Halloween at Halloween time.
SPEAKER_03Ah, who knows?
SPEAKER_02We'll have to wait and see, I guess. Well, sadly, we have come to the end, so all we have left to do is say a massive thank you to our guest, Christian. Thank you, Christian!
SPEAKER_04Christian, yamie! Great.
SPEAKER_02Brilliant. How did you find the process of having films chosen for you to watch? Did you like that?
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah, I did actually. I think if people could do that for me weekly, I'd be really, really like, you know, pleased for the and and and grateful of the support. I spend so much time like trawling trying to figure something to watch that I probably could have watched another five films in the time I spent thinking about what I want to watch next. So, you know, if I could get a curation weekly, then maybe that's what I need to be looking for next, like someone that can just do that as a full-time job for me.
SPEAKER_02Well, I know this really good podcast. It's called The Curators of Horror. You can listen to that, and we would pick two good horror films for you to watch every other week. That'll do.
SPEAKER_04Thanks for joining us on the Curators of Horror. We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of Drag Me to Hell and Terrifier. Which did you think was the best movie?
SPEAKER_02Are there any other horror movies that you'd like to recommend for our guest, Christian?
SPEAKER_04You can let us know what you thought over on Instagram at Curators of Horror, or you can email us at curatorsofhorror at gmail.com.
SPEAKER_02Head on over to our Instagram to vote for your favourite movie and to tell us which one scared you the most.
SPEAKER_04We'll be back in two weeks to reveal our next curations and in four weeks with our next main episode.
SPEAKER_02We really hope you enjoyed the podcast. If you did, rate, review us, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER_01And if you didn't, well, we don't care, so it's tough.
SPEAKER_02The clown's gonna come and saw you in half.
SPEAKER_04With a hat saw.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. And I don't mean I don't mean like in half across the middle, I mean down, down, down, split down down.
SPEAKER_04I still weren't expecting to get sawed.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Right through the way you're thinking. If you want to get sawed in half, like it's not Paul Daniels, it's like this is this is the other way. Yeah. This is not the way you want to get sworn in half. Symmetrically.
SPEAKER_04This is the anti Paul Daniels.
SPEAKER_02Thank you, Christian. Turn me on. Thank you, Katie.
SPEAKER_04Thank you, Emmas.
SPEAKER_02Thanks for listening, and we hope you have a horrifying week.