Saturday Night Freak Show

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.

On this week's episode, Brent chooses the pioneering, live action/animation hybrid Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) for us to watch. The film takes place in an alternate reality 1940's Hollywood in which animated characters co-exist with human beings; when Roger Rabbit is framed for murder, a down-on-his-luck gumshoe (Bob Hoskins) finds himself reluctantly trying to clear his name. The film inspires discussion on the topics of: the career of Robert Zemeckis (and the influence of Steven Spielberg); Disney characters vs Warner Bros. characters; are graphic artists worthy of winning awards for Best Cinematography; and we hear about sexual fantasies starring cartoon characters. Plus, find out how you can win an unopened copy of Who Framed Roger Rabbit! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, Tom takes us for a stroll down memory lane with his selection of Wreck-It Ralph (2012), in which an old school, 8-bit game character ventures outside of his own arcade game, in which he's condemned to eternally be the bad guy, to achieve hero status in a neighboring game. The Freak Show contributors remember trips to the old arcade, and we go on a trip through home video game consoles like Atari, Sega, ColecoVision, IntelliVision and more. Then, we watch a couple clips from Jaws 3-D (1983) and it blows everyone away. Tune in to hear how! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week Sean chooses to revisit Sam Raimi's 1981 classic, The Evil Dead. The film, made by college students, went on to become hailed as a classic of the horror genre, inspiring sequels (Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness), video games, action figures, comics, and a remake in 2013. The story is simple: a group of 20-somethings spend a weekend in a cabin in the woods, read incantations from an ancient book found in the cellar, and unleash evil spirits that possess them one by one. Only proto-movie God, Bruce Campbell, stands a chance. The Freak Show guys talk about the film's relevance 20-years on; we remember the first movie to be rated PG-13; discover how we feel about remaking classic horror films; and Travis loses a bet. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we watch Travis' pick: Porco Rosso (1992), from Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle). The plot revolves around an WWI ex-fighter ace, now living as a freelance bounty hunter chasing "air pirates", who lives with an unusual curse which has transformed him to pig. We also go in depth into trends in Japanese anime and video games, and then we attack the movies that we've seen this week, including Timerider, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, 13 Assassins and Holy Motors. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, Colin subjects the group to the Goth/sci-fi/horror/gore/punk rock musical, Repo: The Genetic Opera, which takes place in a futuristic world where organ transplants are commonplace, and repossessions occur all-too frequently. A crazy cast includes Buffy's Anthony Stewart Head, Paris Hilton, Paul Sorvino, Sarah Brightman and Ogre from Skinny Puppy. We talk opera (or, what we know of opera), musicals, Colin staves off a head cold, and Tom and Travis perform their reviews of the film in song. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.