267: What Does the Lamb Say? And the Fox...

This is Calvin Reader, and you are listening to Movie Meltdown. Yes, I'll always be a rambler But it's so hard to find my way Lord, I need someone to help me I. Just can't go on. The following feature has been rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America. It is intended for mature audiences and parental discretion is advised.

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Don't take this lightly, boy. It wasn't all by your numbers. The foe nearly derailed the invocation. With his insolence. The ancient ones see everything, and they will not be.

I'm still on speakerphone, aren't I? What's up and welcome to Movie Meltdown. I'm Ryan and we are coming to you live from one of those convention things we always go to. So we are here with Andy. Hello.

And Ken. Hello, hello. It's since waiting. Is that how you feel? It is.

I'm sorry listeners. It's that Sunday hangover. It's kind of everybody's logie and. or we were hanging out talking about movies anyway like geeks do so i was like all right let's just do our geek activities we're playing the what have you seen lately so ken what have you seen lately well. I just caught up on true detective that was the big thing took me a little while and liked that a lot for the most part it was really really good anytime you get um oh you know the king and well i don't want to give any spoilers i better shut up about that but uh Yeah, no, it was, you know, it was McConaughey's year this last year, so, and it just kept going with that. That's why I.

Was pretty sure they were just going to hand him the Oscar, because I was like, I think it's almost more of like a thanks for not doing any more rom-coms. Like, it really, like, he just changed his mode. He was like, I did 10 years of doing crappy comedies, and he's like, I'm going to take myself seriously, I'm going to take my acting seriously. So, it's, yeah, it's a whole different world. That's just it, you know.

I, you know, I was just... Really amazed that this was the same guy that did, you know, those... I'm trying to think what her name is. Jeez. Kate Hudson.

Yeah, there you go. Kate Hudson movies, you know. And it's like, okay, now all of a sudden this guy from failure to launch is actually in mud, you know, and these others. I just, yeah, I loved it. He's a real actor.

He's just been coasting for a decade. Yeah, yeah. It just took, you know. Go back and look at Lone Star. Like, he's amazing in Lone Star.

And then along came Kate Hudson. Yeah, and just, you know, vacuumed for 10 years. But, yeah, no, it was that. I'm trying to think of what else here lately. I've been, you know, big into Eurocrime, the Italian stuff.

And, you know, that's always a touchstone. There's some, like the weird Bud Spencer and Terrence Hill, you know, stuff. I'm trying to think now. titles are kind of escaping me right now, but what's great is, I don't know how everybody else feels about it, but I discover a lot of stuff on YouTube, you know, and you're like, oh, okay, well, that whole movie is there, it's got German subtitles, but I'll watch it, you know, so. I mean, it makes you a little more adventurous when you don't have to invest, and when you can back out and be like, 15 minutes in, be like, what am. I watching, and so.

Exactly, yeah, no, it's, you know, it's a hoot, and, you know, 77, I mean, that's my wheelhouse anyway, you know, so. It is funny when I go back and how many things in the 70s I'm like, I just kind of love. And it's just a vibe almost. Not the cheesy 70s stuff, but just stuff that feels like it's of that time and the filmmakers were kind of making something different. It was just a totally different feeling that they were going for back then.

Right, yeah. When not so handsome a guy could be a movie action hero. Especially in Italy. Yeah, right. You know, I love going back to, like, California Split and, you know, those Altman movies.

You know, like, when Elliot Gould and George Segal were, you know, big guys, you know. They would not be A-list men now. Not at all. Not at all. They're not just that pretty.

But I'm trying to think. There was a George Segal movie not too long ago. Ah, my names are escaping me. I guess it's that Sunday just... I'm getting that more and more these days.

Oh, yeah. No, it's... It's a really interesting movie. He's a put-upon. It's actually like 68.

He's a put-upon, just your standard kind of down-and-out kind of guy. But Lee Remick moves into his apartment building. I think I've seen this one. Doesn't he have a mother that's sort of pushing him to get in a relationship? Yeah, absolutely.

That's a really interesting movie. Yeah, and I swear, because Rod Steiger is the villain in it, and he's a serial killer who preys on women. And it's a comedy. It's a dark comedy. But I swear that's where Anthony Hopkins got everything he needed for Hannibal Lecter.

I believe it because I remember talking about what an interesting take they have on the serial killer. And to be that old, like it's way ahead of that serial killer vibe that came along. So, I mean, it was just sort of in the news at that point. It wasn't really in Hollywood yet. Yeah, right.

It hadn't gone the full, you know, I mean, you know, you're talking still post-psycho and peeping Tom, but. By the time you hit the 70s and you had so much... The. Headlines were nothing but serial killers. But Hollywood still was kind of like, we don't want to get into trouble.

And they had to give it a few years before they started doing it. I think it was a safe area. They didn't feel like they were still... I don't know, it seemed like you would have gotten more backlash, especially back then. People would have gotten up in arms if you were, like, harping on the actual news and, like, glorifying dead people that are actually being murdered.

Well, now we have no scruples. We don't care. No, the more the better at this point, especially at this convention. I'm seeing stuff and I'm like, really? That's a cover?

Because that's kind of like somebody's really scary nightmares. That's really. Or it's just a naked chick. Yeah, and that's the thing. It's like, you know, I wonder what that, you know, poor girl, she's like, yeah, I'm acting.

This is a job. Yeah, I'm successful. Paycheck's a paycheck. That's it. That's it.

You know, not my cup of tea, but, you know, whatever. Andy, have you seen anything? Well, after that conversation, my choices are going to sound so lowbrow and stupid because you guys geeked out real good right there. We excel at that. So I've been.

Really lazy lately, like really lazy. Like too lazy to push play? Too lazy to wipe myself. I was wondering what was going on around here. It was sort of a, anyway.

Because my teeth are not in good shape right now. I'm just like, don't want to try anything new. So I've been watching a lot of old stuff. I've been watching Frozen over and over again. Frozen, you know.

Which Frozen? I guess for horror geeks, you get a specimen. Oh, the Disney version. I like the other Frozen, but not the pretty people trapped on a ski lift. Not that one.

So at no point the Disney characters don't pull their hand off or anything? There are wolves, but they don't tear anybody apart. Damn it. Disney, get on it. I've just been belting out let it go all over and over again.

I'm such a cliche. You and all of America. Yeah, but it's true. And I've also been. I guess this is somewhat cool.

I've been watching a lot of MST3K a lot. I kind of have been, too. There's a friend that's been like, hey, let's play these, and they're always on in the background now, and they're so awesome. Yeah, it's good. Being a lazy person as I am, they're good background noise, but you can still pick up on the laughs.

So that's my hipster cred, I guess, right there. What's funny with those, like, if you have it on in the background, you'll almost tune out the movie entirely, and you'll just pick up on the jokes, which is kind of even more fun, really. Yeah, and all the movies are kind of exactly the same anyway. But I did stumble upon something from the 70s. It's the Village People movie.

It's called, yeah, Can't Stop the Music. I don't know how I stumbled upon it, but I think after watching it, I got a raging case of AIDS from it. That's how freakingly gay it is. I mean, you really have to wear protection when you watch certain movies. I mean, there's this one sequence called Do the Milkshake on it.

And it's, yeah, there's no straightness there. They're in their regular costumes, but there are silver versions of them. and it's this very lascivious dance called the milkshake where it's just a lot of grinding and thrusting and the lyrics are supposed to be subtle but they're not and just the imagery of just this milkshake like material squirting like splashing everywhere and it is needless to say there's a lot of glitter but it's like one of those things you can just turn your mind off and just enjoy it for what it is yeah. Ain't nothing wrong with the milkshake you just gotta pick your milkshake i suppose. Yeah exactly and then afterwards after watching it you take your azt break and uh and handle that shit you know time for your own milkshake it's cool i mean So that was a nice contrast between what I've been watching and what Ken has been watching.

I was going to say, like, you know, spaghetti westerns and stuff like that, and, well, Can't Stop the Music is pretty far from that. Who doesn't like spaghetti and milkshakes? Come on. Yeah, right. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

Well, I guess about the only thing I've seen in the last few weeks, we'll take it down a whole other dark path. I just watched the new version of Oldboy. Have you seen that? Oh, no. How is that?

That's the thing. I think I'm going to be in the minority because I thought it was pretty damn good, actually. Okay. All right. I mean, everybody wants to hate on it because it's a remake.

Everybody wants to hate on it because it's very Americanized now. And they can't deal with it. But I'm like, those performances are so good. Like, who would have thought I would have liked an Olsen that much and it would be a new one? And then Josh Brolin, like, just fucking brings it.

Like, he is. so committed to this role. He totally owns up to the fact that this character's an asshole. And in the beginning, he. He plays it so well. Josh Brolin is kind of an asshole anyway.

It's perfect casting. How much is it really acting? No far stretch, yeah. I think that's what I liked about it. It's so perfect casting.

It's like they find him, and he totally commits to that, but then he also, once you get into the rebuilding himself and sort of reform, like, again, in the beginning, there's these shots of him with the shirt off, and he's a mess, and he's just such... So he totally, like, physically transforms himself. As the movie goes on, he's later, like. Fucking abs. And I'm just like, what the hell?

Like, you're, like, 50-something, right? I was like, he's in a really good shape. And another one I didn't expect was, like, they still do that big section in the middle with the fighting. Oh, really? Yeah.

He totally commits to that. Like, he is. Like, I'm kind of seeing, like, a whole new Liam Neeson career coming from him of, like, badass action, old dude kicking ass kind of thing. Because, you know. Every year, right around February, there's a Liam Neeson takes on somebody.

It's the lull of like, okay, Oscars. Everybody trying to get their Oscar movies out. It's over now. It's not really the... I mean, summer gets earlier and earlier.

Now it's like May. But it's like you've still got those four months of like, what do we put on the screens now? Liam Neeson kicking ass. That's it. If it's a bear or a wolf or... or a plane full of whatever.

Those wolves kidnapped his daughter. That wasn't cool, man. It has to be one word. Unstoppable, taken. Fight.

Punch. Kick-ass. Wait, there already is a kick-ass. Never mind. There is a kick-ass, yeah.

But yeah I mean I didn't expect him to be that physically committed to like the fight scenes too I mean they sort of one that's sort of famous the tail end of the big one is sort of cut short but even that is cut short in a really clever way like it's all editing and like the way that he does it is really impressive so it's like people are kind of hitting myths with Spike Lee as a director I mean I think he's solid at the basics he's gotten less and less creative sometimes like if you look at his old stuff versus the stuff he does now he's gotten and maybe it's just because he's more established as a filmmaker and he does things by more of a system now than you know kind of winging it like he used to do when he was a kid but but there's still some really good stuff he does these like when they get into like the the whole Chinatown thing and he's like going there hanging around and like they do these weird sweeping shots through the there's like this big structure and this arch and they keep going around kind of working around it I guess it was all crane work but like the way that he shoots that stuff he's still got some creativity to him and the way he blocks the fight scenes they're choreographed perfectly so it's like He's working with the fight choreographer to shoot.

It really well. So he still does some good stuff. That's interesting. I don't hate that part either. Everybody kind of wants to knock all of the elements in this.

They don't like that it's a remake. They don't love Spike Lee's filmmaking anymore. But the other thing that I think is really cool is because I'd seen the original, and I'm like, to me, they make it almost a different movie. I mean, it's still pretty close on a lot of elements, but they change. enough that it's like it kind of takes on new meaning especially by the end they really adjust the way that it ends to the point that you're like it has a whole different arc to it it has a whole different meaning for the characters so it's like I don't know. I was more impressed with it than anything else.

Maybe because I went in kind of guarded. Like, okay, it's going to be... But I've gotten a lot more. Like, I'm not near as anti-remakes anymore. Like, I've kind of come around.

And I think most of it's from the show. We've had so many conversations about people bitching about remakes. And as it went on, I'm kind of like, why do we care? And we almost make it so, like, so holy. You know, it's like, oh, we can't touch that.

Where I'm like, well, why is it different than plays? i got to that at one point i was like we we watch a million people do hamlet over and over and over again but like we can't let them touch old boy because it's so fucking holy i'm. Like well my big thing is like when they say it was an unnecessary remake then what is a necessary remake remakes the remakes well. And like that's the thing though like when you watch somebody do romeo and juliet yeah on the stage and you'll go back three years later and watch somebody else do it again i'm like Are you saying that plays are a more impressive art form than film? Because I really will argue that. So I'm like, if it's equally as impressive, why wouldn't you just give it to somebody else and say, let me see what you.

Can do with it? I've gotten to that point now, and I'm kind of like, if. They can do something creative with it or add something to the story or a new element, like, I'm kind of fine with that. So I've gotten to a whole new level. With my remakes where I don't really bitch about them anymore.

I'm just like, I can like them or not like them. I think we're still, you know, we're... It's still your normal critique kind of thing. But I don't want to go in that anti anymore. It's like, I don't know.

I think it's a whole new way that people probably should look at it. I don't think I'm going to win most people over. Yeah, it's a fight. But for me, it's like I can go in without so many issues and kind of enjoy more movies that way. So I don't know.

I think it's a better way to approach them in my mind. Yeah, that's really fascinating because you get kind of wrapped up in the hate of a lot of that stuff. Especially in this fan circle that we kind of run in, there's a lot of remake hate. Yeah, because I'm trying to think now, too, with a movie like Only God Forgives, too, it's not necessarily a remake, but people went into it expecting a certain thing because of the posters and whatever. I still haven't seen it yet, but I've heard a couple of people talk about how the Ryan Gosling character isn't really the hero. isn't really the focal point of the movie, like everybody thought he was.

It's the Taiwanese cop, like detective, that's really the hero. So if you think about it as a Taiwanese Dirty Harry that just happens to have Ryan Gosling in it, it's a different perspective. It's an interesting kind of idea. But because of the hate that you hear from everybody else, then I'm just like, well, forget it. And that was the way the old boy, I'm like, I'd seen the original, loved the original, I'm like, Josh Brolin, I mean, Jonah Hex wasn't that far, you know, removed in my mind.

So I'm like, what's the point, you know? And Spike Lee has been kind of in a weird flux, you know, for years. And so I was like, yeah, I'll just give up on it. But no, you've won me over, my friend. I mean, it's definitely worth watching.

Again, I don't feel like everybody's going to love it. Everybody's still going to have it. And I've heard a lot of people still like, I didn't hate it, but it wasn't great, and I liked the other one better. But I'm like, to me, it's a different movie. By the time you get to the end, it's a different movie.

They've changed several key. I'm like, again, the arc is still basically the same for the story, but the reasoning is different. And then as you get into the end, some of even the character. Motivations are totally different. So it really kind of changes the dynamic of it all by the end.

So to me, it's worth seeing, even if you're a fan of the other one, just to watch how creatively they adjust the story. Interesting. Again, sometimes people just like to bitch about that. Yeah, you know, that's just it. Hey man, they raped my childhood with that remake.

That's what we say every time they do a remake. And I'm like, your childhood's fine. Go watch your VHS version if you're that old school. But now on the other side of that argument, they have movie screenings here at the convention this weekend. And I did happen to see a remake of Patrick, the old 70s Australian horror flick.

And as a kid, the original, you know, it was a slow burn. It was weird, you know, because I'm like, what is this? They're not English. They're not British. And they're not American.

I don't know what these people are. You know, I'm like eight years old watching it on CBS late night when they used to show horror movies at late night on the weekends. And I'm like, what is this? And then there's, you know, a surprise in the ending that I was like, you know, as a kid, you know, made that a favorite movie, you know. And so they had this remake, which is by the director of the documentary Not Quite Hollywood, which is all about exploitation.

And so I went in there with high hopes because this guy has a love for those movies. and, you know, respects those things. And it was just, you know, more is more, you know, and it was like I was saying earlier that jump scares, if you like, you know, one, then how about a hundred, you know, because, yeah, that's what he was going to give you. Overkill at that point. Right, yeah. So I just, I got kind of, old quickly, and it was disappointing.

But, again, you know, there are other people, like I saw with two friends that had never seen their first one, and they loved it. They thought it was, you know, hilarious, you know, and I'm like, well, that's not mine, but all right. So, yeah, to each their... their own i guess but. Yeah it is it is funny we we kind of bring our own baggage to movies anyway whether we whether we mean to or not it's so like it's just so like constant like you can't fight it it's so it's subconscious like you don't even know but like i guess it is weird that now we have these remakes so there's kids coming up that they're you know that that carrie remake i was talking about earlier it's like that's gonna be the carrie for a whole different generation And they'll probably, you know, unless their mom goes, hey, look, I saw this one when I was a kid.

Like, they won't know of it or they'll just stumble on it later and go, when did this happen? So, I mean, it is a different experience for each generation. And I guess, again, I'm almost of, like, why are we damning their version? Even if we think it's bad, it's, like, it's their experience and their. First time through.

So, I don't know. I'm trying to form a different opinion about this kind of stuff. It's an upward battle, but I admire that because, yeah, I'm slowly coming around to that. I can still not like a lot of them. I realize I have to avoid the Internet for movie recommendations as much as they help.

They build up expectations. Maybe that's probably my fault, but a lot of my friends, especially on Facebook, a lot of them are movie fanboys. and they gush over movies, such as the people I'm talking to right now. The kind of people who go to conventions for movies. But they fanboy over things a lot, and they build up expectations. And there's no way your experience will meet up those expectations.

You get kind of mad at your friends for building up so much. And I get to the point, again, now we're just so saturated by media 24-7. Like, every version of it. Like, on TV, in the internet. And I'm just like, now I almost know so much about stuff going in without even trying.

Like, I'm just, I'll listen to shows or I'll watch something on TV. And, like, before I know it, I'm like, I already kind of know everything that's going on in this movie. Like, I already know so many people's expectations weren't met. And, like, I've already heard so many other people's takes that I'm like, it's hard for me to have my own original now because there's so much. Other stuff piled on there.

So. again we've we've changed the movie going experience by like heaping all this interaction with everybody in the world i mean now that we're attached to everybody in the world it's it's different now i. Don't know get off my lawn okay you kid. Well i say that all the time you kids get out of my yard. Where's my sausage to carry your checks. No you know it's it's like uh i'm as guilty as anybody else especially with the marvel movies because i'm a big marvel you know nerd but The Spider-Man movie, I swear to God, I've seen the whole movie now in, like, two-minute bites.

You know? The new one? Yeah, you know. The first new one? Yeah, right.

The second new one? Yeah. Reboot? It's not a remake, okay? It's a reimagining.

I like that we keep making up new words for this nonsense. Yeah, it's just, you know, I mean, when was the other ones? Like, you know, not even, well, there actually have been, like, ten years ago. Time flies when you get older. But, yeah, you know, I'm just like, okay, I get it.

You had my money at the title, probably, you know. But now I'm kind of like, well, I don't have to see it right away because I know kind of what it's like. And I just let the kids go and see it beforehand. But, you know, I've tried to do my best now to not watch trailers. It's gotten to that.

And it's sad because I loved trailers. I used to love trailers. And now it's almost to the point, I guess you can go and watch them after the fact, which sort of is working backwards. Because to me, there's still an art to making a good trailer. That's like being lost because now nobody wants to watch them anymore because they ruin everything in the trailer.

Yeah, they spoil so much, you know? Now there's buzz for the trailers, and they're like, did you see the trailer? It was so awesome. It was so great. And then, like, when you see the trailer, the buzz has built up so much for the trailer.

Yeah. It's like, did you see that part where it says, coming soon at the end? It was amazing. Up next on Entertainment Tonight, 10 seconds of a trailer. Like, when the Godzilla trailer came up, my Facebook, timeline just lit up like everybody was posting about.

It yeah We did that. Yeah, if you were listeners, we were back there in the middle of that Oscar nonsense. Patrick just stopped, and he's like, have you seen the new Godzilla trailer? And we stopped everything we were doing, and he watched it. And then he went, we're watching that again.

And then, like, he went through it again. We froze the frame where Godzilla's, like, you know, kind of roaring at the screen. And we're like, look at him. Look at him. Like, he's losing his damn mind for Godzilla.

So I'm just like, it's. Still out there. The fans are still there, and they still get all worked up over shit like that. So. I mean, I guess it works, but in a way, that's actually not a bad trailer because they don't show you.

There's that half-second shot of Godzilla, and that's it. And that's the money. That's what you're going for, and they really don't show you much. And they're smart, too, in the way that they show the people reacting. There's a lot of tension.

There's a lot of the big-eyed fear. And awe of it. Yeah. And then you get the moments like the military, the guy's parachuting in, and you're like, I don't know if they're going to parachute straight into his mouth and try. To blow him up.

I mean, you know, it's a suicide mission. What is this? But it's got me going, you know. Let me ask you, because we had the same thing. Why do they have the red smoke coming off them?

Yeah, that's maybe. Because our answer was because it looks cool. It looks cool. It's like, look at me. I'm dying for you.

Notice. But I'm like, if anybody out there works in some sort of military setup, and that's the real reason, write in and let us know. Because I'm like, I agree. It looks awesome. That's the main reason as far as I could tell.

Oh, absolutely. Any kind of destruction on a massive scale like that, and you throw Godzilla in, and then you actually throw it in so that he's something to be frightened of, which even in his movies. After a while, it's just pro wrestling. Yeah, right, yeah, with a tail, which is awesome. But yeah, to see actual fear is kind of interesting with those movies.

That's what you need to go back to if they're going to reboot it, as we've just said. I mean, you do need to take it back to the beginning and, like, try to put out all that. I mean, you've got, how many years now? 40, 50, like, of them, like, doing all these cheesy ones and doing all these, like, you know, again, it is sort of pro wrestling with giant suits as you get into those cheesier ones in the middle there. So it's, like, if you get back to the beginning, like, it's a scary concept.

And, like, we love, I guess, the world over, but definitely in this country we love wrestling. destruction and cities being completely destroyed and national landmarks being torn apart so it's like. I just wonder after pacific rim came out and how everybody loved that if people are going to be comparing godzilla to pacific rim because now like there's like a interest again like kaiju and giant monsters and just. I think that just fueled it really absolutely it was a good Pacific Rim was a good intro to a lot of that. It's like priming the pump. Because I felt like Pacific Rim was fun, but it's certainly not a perfect movie.

It's got a lot of, again, almost more structuring issues. The fights are kind of cool, but I'm like... It kind of needed more character development. It needed to be sort of fleshed out a little more. I think that's the point of it.

Like you said about the red fire in Godzilla, it just looks cool. And it did. I like Pacific Rim, but I didn't love it, and I think that's why. Where I think with this one, if he wants to put more time in with Cranston, if he wants to do some character development and give us a reason to care about these characters, because we really didn't have much of that in Pacific Rim, we're like, Well, that girl's cute, so we'll get on her side. This guy's almost got a backstory, but not really.

But he's our hero, right? I want the Godzilla character to be developed more. I want to find out his motivations and why he's destroying the city. I want a whole flashback scene. What made you so angry, Godzilla?

Who hurt you? Sorry about those nukes, by the way. That might have had a little something to do with it. Whoops. Whoops, humanity.

But i don't know i mean there's there's still it looks pretty cool so i hope they put a little and this this guy the director seems like he's invested like he seems like he loves the property and i think that's what you need to make a good movie like that oh. That's it somebody that actually cares about what they're doing you. Know definitely all right. I think we're worn out here so we're we're gonna go sit down we'll come back later and bring you some more random stuff from the show. Help us, we'll bring us in a terrible sound.

He pulls the spinning high-tension wires down. Help us, people on subway trains. Scream, my God, as he looks. In on them. He picks up a bus and he throws it back down as he waves through the buildings.

Toward the center of town. Good evening. It's intermission time. Good evening. It's intermission time.

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Booby bouncing that monkey was Benson he. Had sex with Kim Cattrall. Open your mouth so I can fill the void rats. Are gross far eastern yeti have smaller feet than so like what are we supposed. To learn from that You're like, shit, this is the one with the really fat guy.

Yeah. Damn it. Okay. They gave each other a Dutch rudder. It was fine.

Apparently you've never been to makeitandy.com. Those are flaps, not doors. Woody. Anyway. Who's Woody?

It's a wiker with a booty. It looks like Mike's jerking it over there. I'm going to class it up now. After that smut. Shows are most popular by the way they smell.

You're a real black hole right now. He sure is. I'd bang him. The horror of unreleased Beach Boys songs. There you go.

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This is Amy Simons, and you're listening to Movie Meltdown. That was me melting down. Critics are calling your next scary scary. Wheelie. F * * * ing scary.

Why would anybody do this? You're next. All right. So the other big highlight of this weekend is we hung out with actors Elsie Holt and Lane Hughes. Both of them have known director Adam Wingard for years, and since then, each of them has turned up in one of the VHS movies.

And these days, they're probably known best for being two of the three killers in Your Next. Yes, they would be the Fox Mask and the Lamb Mask, respectively. So I thought while we were there, we would sit down and not only talk about how they got into filmmaking, but also, because they've kind of worked in horror a good portion of their career. just kind of get their take on the state of horror as it is. It feels like there's a. Lot of things going on in the horror world today, and changes that have slowly taken place, and I kind of wanted to get their take on it as well.

So let's go check in with actors Elsie Holt and Lane Hughes. Alright, so we're here with Elsie Holt and Lane Hughes, and I guess I wanted to kind of get into an intro with you guys and film in general, um, were both of you from Alabama? Yeah, originally, um, we're both from Alabama. I'm from, uh, the Montgomery area. I'm from, uh, this is Lane Hughes.

I'm from a small town called Hartsell, Alabama that no one's probably ever heard of. And you don't really want to go there. Um, but, uh, yeah, we're both. Alabama and, uh, Adam Wingard, is another Alabama uh he's a writer director producer I guess auteur at this point you know because he's acted now and stuff and so yeah. So I being from nowhere near LA myself uh I I kind of wonder sometimes what leads those people that are sort of stuck out there and away from it all into that area is it something you as a kid were like drawn to cinema like in that sense or I don't know did you feel it early on as.

Far yeah I was just always I loved um uh, movies, all kinds of movies. And I still love all kinds of movies, but horror is something I, you know, was probably a first love of mine watching the movies. Um, like, you know, early slasher films, the original Friday, the 13th, the first four, I like, um, I like, uh, you know, Halloween, but then, uh, the dorm, the drip blood, uh, the initiation, the burning, um, you know, uh, Those kind of films I still love. So, yeah, that was my interest originally. Well, Elsie, you did kind of like you and another great actor we've worked with, Brandon Carroll.

He just did The Devil's Knot, which is like the West Memphis 3 film. And he was in. Walking Dead, Homesick with Elsie Adams, first production. And he was in Pop Skull with you and me. And that's where I got my start into acting.

But what I was saying is you guys both did stuff in, like, theater in high school and theater, you know, in college, right? Yeah, that's where I started was in theater. We would do, which, you know, you get a lot of opportunity in theater. In a sense, a lot more than I've gotten in the movies because in the movies I'm a horror guy. But in the theater I did, you know, comedies, Shakespeare.

I did Noel Coward, Christopher Durang. a bunch of old school plays. But you also learn about how to build a character and stuff like that, which I would love to have more rehearsal in movies, but that's just not something that happens ever. Yeah, well, the way, like I always liked art. Like I was a big sports guy, but I always loved music, was a big music lover. And when I got kind of out of sports, when I was in my mid teens and I started picking up a guitar and a four track recorder and getting more into just art and films and had a friend named Andy and he and I would just make little backyard stuff.

And, um, but I, I mean, I quit the high school play. Okay. Because I was so nervous and shy and only I was a thug and I will always be cast. Like Elsie said, we're, we're, We're villains, you know? I mean, we're anti-heroes.

I would love to play the boy next door. Yeah, that would be great. But that will never happen. It will never happen for us. Yeah, it will never happen for us.

No. Unless we write it and fund it ourselves. Yeah. You know, but... Which.

It's fun to play the bad guy. It is. When you play the bad guy, you get to do everything you would never get to do in life. So you get to live precariously. And in a way, you get to vent a lot of the things you could never vent before.

You know, it's great anger management, I think. I agree. I agree. So I was supposed to say this line in high school, like, hey, you give me that purse. I couldn't even say that, okay?

And then when I met Adam, he had finished up Homesick. He was finishing it up, and we got this idea for Pop School, and I co-wrote it and co-produced it. And when we were casting it, I was like, who's going to play the lead? And he's like, you're going to play the lead. I thought, you're out of your mind.

I can't do that. And he was like, I think you have it in you. And so that's how I got started. And then, you know, I wasn't bad at it, but I wasn't great. And I still, that's how I consider myself.

But I've learned from Elsie and by Brandon Carroll and being around these people and asking them questions and, you know, and then, you know, watching your favorite actors and just picking up on things from whether they're talking about it in interviews or magazines. Like, or just actually when you watch them. Like how. Does that guy react to that? Like, cause I like him.

Like, how does he do it? Oh, that's, that's kind of what he's doing, you know? So, but the great thing too about Popsicle is a lot of that movie was improvised, right? So you got, we had an A to B, but it was up to us how to get to from. A to B, right?

And that was the first time I'd ever done anything where there was a script, but there wasn't necessarily set things in terms of dialogue and stuff. And Adam would be like, well, just kind of do this, do that. So you would go, oh, okay. Well, we'll try that. Was it by design?

Yeah, no, that was by design. Because you were on the fly. As far as I know. That was how we wanted to make the film. And it turned out great.

He had a shitload of footage. Oh, yeah, like something like, I don't think he likes to discuss it at this point in his career, but. We had like 90 DV tapes. How long did you shoot? Two years.

Yeah. For me, it was different for Lane because he's the star of the movie, and he lived with him. But for me, I was the ghost that terrorized Lane. Right. So I would come in, and then maybe six weeks later, I'd shoot some more, and then it'd be like four months later, I'd shoot some more.

And I'm like, well, I'm still shooting pops. Sometimes it would just be me and Adam and his little brother shooting. Like, if the fog looked cool outside at four in the morning, let's go. Yeah, exactly. There were times we'd be filming, we would be shooting a scene, and then the next thing you know, we'd be driving home from shooting the scene, and he'd be like, hey, I like that.

So we'd pull off to the side of the road and jump out and then just start shooting stuff that he may or may not use, you know. But it was very experimental in that way. That's awesome. I mean, that's independent filmmaking at its best right there. It really was at its best.

And the whole movie cost, what, $ 3, 000? $ 3, 000. Jesus. Yeah. That's amazing. And it's a brilliant movie.

It looks fantastic. I love it. So has that kind of inspired you as far as, you know, wanting to get into it more? Specifically, like I was going to ask with you, I mean, was it different because you said you didn't like the play thing? Was it different because you didn't have a full audience there staring at you?

I mean, I was still a nervous wreck, you know, but Adam, you know, we became good friends. You know, I trust him. I still trust him to this day, and he's one of the only people that when he says, we've got it, I don't question it or say, well, man, let me just try one more. It's just when he says he's got it, he's. Not going to make you look bad or allow yourself to be bad because he is the kind of director that believes that, hey, at the end of the day, it's.

Going to reflect on me, too. Because he also edits the movies, all of them. So, you know, total trust. Yeah. Yeah, I worked into it.

Plus, like I said, to this day, I mean, I ask Elsie and Brandon questions all the time, you know, and I've done a lot more since then, a lot of shorts, a lot of features. You know, I've done one or two, three things that weren't horror, you know. They were just more like indie dramas and stuff, and I enjoyed those. But even in those, I was kind of like the asshole, you know what I mean? So even then, I was kind of a villain, you know.

Yeah, once an asshole, always an asshole. Right, right. Fighting your character. Right, but those are, you know, like, I think with film, the way, when we did Pop Skull and the way, you know, I Know You're Next is, you know, like, every film Adam has done that we've been in has been made outside of a studio and then sold to a studio through basically going to film festivals. And I think we really got into, like, watching. things like Five Easy Pieces and The Trip and Jack Nicholson is my favorite actor of all time.

I think right now, secondly, I'd have to say Bryan Cranston is my second favorite actor of all time. Yeah, he's great. But we wanted how easy a writer was made. In the 60s and the 70s, they were doing the same thing that we were wanting to do now, is just make cool stuff and then hopefully the studio buys it you. Know and that's how adam works to this day this new movie the guest yes is being done the same way and it i mean it's it's from what i understand a pretty cool yeah and a bigger budgeted movie but i don't know.

How you do it with i mean where you get to that huge level and like you're handing off like it's different when you you write it and you're the creator you're there directing it and you know you're editing it too like you can piece that But to me, it seems even harder to be able to just hand it to an editor, even a skilled one, like how they know to do what you. Had in mind. I don't think Adam would even want to do that. I think now with the directors that are very hands-on, that let's say a studio, they say, well, we're going to put this editor on it. Well, I think a lot of these directors are editing it with the editor, even if you don't see that in the credits, you know, edited by Adam Wingard and so-and-so.

Like, it's at this point, they're probably both in the room together, you know, I would think on the scale. Yeah, because I agree with you. It's like, you know, I do music. Why would I want to make and record and write all this stuff and then be like, you. Mix it down?

I want to mix it. And as an actor, it kind of makes you worry. Again, you say you trust Adam, but trying to think, okay, I did this one bad take, and then I did these several other good ones, and. What if they use that one? What if they like that one, and I despise that one?

Sometimes that happens. Yeah, absolutely. Well, I guess you both got involved in the VHS series. Now, I guess, how did those come about? It is sort of just... an accumulation of, of different up and coming directors.

And I guess, how did you guys get involved? VHS, Adam, just Adam and Simon Barrett, who did a horrible way to die. And, uh, right after horrible way to. Die, they wanted, uh, they did, uh, I came up back to Missouri. Uh, that's where that was shot.

And I came back up to Missouri and that's where, uh, Simon Barrett's from. So he has like, you know, connections there and stuff like that. And so, um, We did VHS, and I guess really it was a brainchild of what? BloodyDisgusting.com? Yeah, they came up with the idea for it.

To do like a film that's like a, what do they call it, like serial shorts? It's an anthology, yeah. And so, you know, I guess the first one was lower budgeted than the second one, but the first one did so well that they brought back certain directors. You know. I think people have a misconception that And it kind of bothers me that they assume that I'm not an actor.

Oh, it's cool that your buddy puts you into these films. It's like, no, I am a film lover, an actor, you know, whatever. It's just that he and Simon and I have developed a relationship. Elsie has the same relationship. When they're writing things, when they're coming up with ideas, they know if they need us or they want us or not.

And if we fit something in as soon enough, they decide, wait, I really hear Lane in my head, so I'm going to start writing it for Lane. I really see or hear LC. I'm going to kind of start writing this geared more towards him. You know, what I know I want to see him do or say. And so that's kind of how it works with casting with us a lot of times.

It does feel like that. Like all these, probably like the VHS and then even going into your next, it feels like you guys are sort of creating this little filmmaking family right it does feel like you're just sort of pulling from yeah yeah. Yeah we've most of us have worked on more than one thing whether it be shorts or features done a lot of shorts with adam oh yeah both he and i and then occasionally we'll do a new feature which you know the features are always a little more fun because you have more time to play oh yeah yeah well and then. I guess do you feel vhs i mean as you came in to do the second one is it Is it doing something different than the anthologies in the past? Yeah, I think that the theme of it is really unique.

I mean, you have wraparound stories and things like Creepshow, but the wraparound concept of the VHS movies is pretty unique. And I think that's really what sets it apart. And then just the fact that they can get directors... Who were really up and coming. Right, like spotlight them.

Incredible. Like in the second one, it was, you know, the guy that did Hobo with a Shotgun. Or getting like the old schoolers from like Blair Witch Project. And Simon actually made his directorial debut on the one that I did. Simon Barrett, the writer and producer of You're Next and a lot of other movies.

Yeah. It is a lot of crossover because I think Calvin Lee Reader is in that first one, too. Yeah, I love Calvin. Calvin is awesome. Calvin is awesome.

And he's in You're Next as well. Yeah, as the cop at the end. He's got a little surprise at the end there. Splat. What's up, Calvin Reader, man?

He's the man, yeah. He's a lot of fun. Which, if you think about, you're next as sort of a smorgasbord of directors. Right. Like half the people who are acting and are directors.

Amy Simons, Joe Swanberg. Yeah, as we were sitting here watching. Ty West. Ty West. He and I have both dabbled in that kind of stuff.

It did sort of create that little family vibe. Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. I guess as we get into your next, did that sort of spin off of the VHS or is it something that you'd already been working on well before?

I don't think so. I don't think it was anything really to do with VHS. It was the original idea that Simon and Adam cooked up. Yeah, and it was already kind of in like pre-production before VHS. VHS was kind of just all of a sudden.

It happened. It happened. And that's not as much of a commitment because they were just doing a short. They did the wraparound segment. We did, and I was in the first VHS.

And then your next was literally like two months later, Back to Missouri. Because that's where I saw the wraparound story when I was shooting Your Next. Yeah. So, yeah, I was like, oh, so that's what you guys did. Right, right.

I was like, this is about starting to make a lot more sense. Right. So I guess, what did you think when you, I guess you're brought in on Your Next, or they give you the script, or I don't know, what were your thoughts on it initially before, like at that first stage? I loved it. I thought it was a great script.

I agree. When I read it, I thought it was great. And then, but. When I was first told about it, I was told that, like, you'll be a mask killer. Well, you know, like, Halloween's my favorite series.

I love Michael Myers, I mean, you know, to death. But, you know, I was almost like, okay, dude, really? Like, I get that you think it would be cool for me to do, but, like, we're to the point. Now where, like, you're going to put me in a mask, you know? It was just slightly insulting.

Then I read the script, and then I was like, wait a minute. This is awesome, you know, and I saw where he's coming from because we, what I've been telling people is we have a great chance in the film not just to be like these iconic mask killers, but we actually get to take off our mask and show emotion and dialogue and. Be real cool. Well, they're real because, you know, I mean, when they get hurt, they scream. You know, it's not like they're going to walk around with gunshot wounds and shit.

Right, right. Like, you're going to stab them in the head and they're going to get right back up. We might get up, but it might take us a few. Well, that nail, that nail really hurt. Right, right.

I actually did step on a nail. Method acting. Did you step on it? Oh, yeah. Like on accident or purpose?

I stepped on that fucker all the way through my foot. No, I'm totally lying. Totally lying. No, you didn't. But I will tell you this story.

Have you ever. Stepped on a nail? No. I have. I stepped on a roofing nail one time and went through my foot. wearing some, like, Vans, like, slip-on.

It went right through my foot. Let me tell you this story, though. This is a great story. I've never told this story before from your next. Okay, let's hear it.

The scene where I step on the nail, and then I, because, you know, she puts down two strips of nails. One is a decoy, and then one is the one I actually step on. Well, you know, when I step on the nail, and I'm wandering around trying to get the nail off my foot, and the board's stuck to me, well, the other board with nails was behind me, and I had to fall down. And at the last minute, they said, would this probably be a good idea to change it out with the ones that had foam nails? And the first take after they changed it out, I fell directly on the foam nails.

I would have had three nails up my ass if they had not done that. That's a hell of a blooper there. That's not even fun for the DVD. But they were foam nails. But that was very close.

Yeah. That could have been. Yeah, man, you would have been Vlad the. Impaler, you know? Yeah, tetanus of the sphincter.

No, when I stepped on that nail one time in real life, I mean, the first thing I had to do was, like, pull it out myself, then go to the doctor and be like, look what I did. They're like, here's a tetanus shot. This isn't very Michael Myers at all. No, it's not. That's just real life.

That's just real life Alabama life. Roofing nails everywhere in Alabama. Watch out. I can. But I guess, again, as you're going into it that first time, did it feel different than other movies?

Could you tell at that point? It was the biggest thing that I had done, and I guess you had done, right? The biggest thing Adam had done, too? The biggest thing I'd done with Adam. Yeah, and that was the biggest thing I'd done in general, the biggest thing I'd done with Adam.

And then they're bringing in all these actors that we've worked with. We had all worked with each other. We knew each other. By the same time, I still was like, I'm not as good as him. I'm not as good as her.

The only one we didn't know was Sharni. Right, Sharni. Well, actually, Sharni, Rob, and Barbara Crampton. Right. We had not worked with before.

But all the rest of them, either Elaine had worked with, or I had worked with, or we had both worked with them. Yeah, but I was nervous. I was. I mean, I'm not going to lie. I was just, can I do this, man, you know?

They were all so cool, though. I mean, you can't get anybody nicer than Charney Vinson or Barbara Crampton. Or Rob. Rob is the coolest guy. Elsie and I roomed together while we were there, and he came to our door one morning.

It was way too early for us, but he was like, you guys want to go to brunch? And we're just like, all right, no. The most fun I had, though, was going out drinking with Rob Moran and Nick Tucci. See, I didn't go anywhere with anybody like that. Oh, man.

I just drank in the room. We went to the brothel. Right. That's in Columbia. Right.

And what it is, we didn't realize it at the time, but it's a bar where you can pick a girl and go into the other part and then do whatever you want to do. Right. And I was like, really? What was the name of that place? What the hell kind of bar is this?

Wait. I don't know if I should or can't. Say the name. We shouldn't say the name of it. To be honest with you, I don't even remember.

Yes, that's what the name of it was. It sure as hell was. I had forgotten that. Okay, okay. Never mind.

We have the name, though. Let me just say that me and Nick and Rob were very good boys. And I think everyone else on the film was, but I can't vouch for them. But I can vouch for Rob, Nick, and myself. I'm a dork.

I would have been the one going, can we read comic books together? I stayed in the room pretty much isolated. I hung out with Sharni and Wendy Glenn a lot. With Amy being ridiculous? Because Amy Simons was on the show, and she's hilarious.

And I don't even know if she realizes how funny she is. I haven't spoke to Amy in a long time, but while we were shooting. You're. Next, like on AMC, they started broadcasting The Killing. Yeah.

Okay, so we started watching The Killing. It was pretty good. Well, I hate the fact that now it's like canceled. Netflix had to save it because it's a great show. But she was on this last season, and I thought she did a great job.

And her film, that new one, she was done in Florida, and it's got a Florida base. It says something about sunshine. I apologize, Amy, that I don't know the name. Sunshine. Sun Don't Shine.

She's in one of Woody Allen's new movies, too. Is she? She was in one of the more recent. It's already come out. I don't know.

Yeah, yeah. I mean, but she's really talented. Yeah, yeah. But I haven't spoke to her in a while. But, yeah, she's a cool chick, yeah.

She's funny. Yeah, she's cool. She likes to kick them back, too, though. You know, she's cool. Like, her, Sharni, I mean, they're all cool.

Yeah she only worked a few days on yeah yeah she pretty much had the dinner scene and then. Got yeah then she had her neck got a wire neck yeah. Spoiler spoiler i hope you've all seen. The movie if you're listening to this then hopefully you've seen it. You're doing it wrong you're supposed to watch the movie first.

Right then you listen to the interview right. Well i was gonna see like that because that That movie in particular kind of falls into play with a lot of them lately. I wanted to see what your take was on just horror now. It seems like we've entered into this new phase and it's like You're Next and Kevin in the Woods and Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.

I love both of those films. All of them fall into a very specific category. Especially Kevin in the Woods is very obvious about it. But even the other two are ones that seem like they're made for fans of horror that understand horror, and it's like, it's not just a casual horror movie. It can be, but if you want to go into it further.

It's not, like, you can't... It's horror movies for horror fans. Yeah, and it's not dismissing how intelligent people are. You know, like, we're allowing them to, like. not just be in on the jokes or in on, you know, whatever, but it's like, yeah, they're smart enough to get this. And if they don't get it, then they don't get it.

I think Cabin in the Woods was a great example of that. Yeah. That was incredibly funny. But if you're a horror fan watching that movie. You may hate it.

I mean, you know, it's like, well, we were discussing this because we're diehard horror fans. Horror fans are the most diehard fans. Oh, yes. On the planet. And if you don't believe it, come to Horror Hound.

Exactly. Or Monster Mania or anywhere else. But, At the same time, they beg for something new. And when you give them something new, they say, that shit's not like that. And then when they bitch about a remake or a reboot, give me something new.

And then you give them something new, well, it's not like that. And they're the hardest to please, but they would literally probably die for you. I mean, that's how just true and blue they are. And I totally agree to some extent with what they mean. But with the horror, the remakes...

Sweet Jesus, never mention a remake to Doug Bradley. That's what I hear. That's what LC warned me about. He's not answering me. He got cut out of his own series.

I can't blame him. I can't believe that because when I heard that he was actually going to do it, I was like, that's great that they're doing a reboot with the original guy. He's Pinhead. I mean, come on. Why would you put anyone else in that make?

It's almost like Chucky with Brad Dourif. How could you even imagine someone else doing that voice? Why? Why? Now, maybe that's me just glorifying the past, but I don't think so.

I mean, let's face it. There are certain things that are said. And, you know, you could even make the argument about Robert Englund. You could make the argument very well. Yeah, yeah.

No, I agree. Even though I love Jackie Earle. Yeah, he's great. He's great in a lot of stuff, but even that one, he did something different with it. And I don't know.

I think it took away from... What charm Freddy Krueger had. And the story wasn't all that hot either, I don't think. I think if you could do it... If you're going to do a remake of Nightmare on Elm Street, the...

Come up with something good. For God's sakes, don't ever again use the cliche of trying to bring him out of the dream at the end to kill him. It doesn't work. Stop. Well, I like that on every one of them it kind of works until.

The little stinger at the end. Right. It's coming back. But they've done it in like four movies at this point. When a guy can cross through planes of existence.

Yeah. I mean, at least do like he did in number three where you just sort of poof him out of existence with some holy water and shit, you know? I mean, at least that's different because you know he's coming back. Right, right. I mean, how do you kill a dream anyway?

Exactly. But yeah, I felt like that. I don't know. There was something to the Robert Englund version that as good as Jackie Earl Haley is, it's like he just. And I wasn't a big fan of the makeup.

No, it's not. Well, again, it's not. fun like that was such a fun series it probably shouldn't be he's a child killer but it was very dark it was much darker. And i enjoyed that more realism and the darker things they brought to it but like have that still mix with like the freddy we know or and love already but make him a little more dark and intense like a good mesh you know you need to find a good fence to sit. On you know and rooney i mean rooney mara did pretty well for herself afterwards yeah That's for sure. I don't think we'll ever see her in another Nightmare on Elm Street movie.

But, I mean, it's funny that we got to that one because that's a good question I want to ask if you guys feel. I feel like that one is a very weird, especially for a reboot, because they're trying to pull in these new kids, and, like, new kids today aren't really even, like, they don't get, they're so unfazed by that stuff. In the 80s, you were just like, kids were shocked by most of that. But now they're so, I mean, they've seen so much horrible stuff on the Internet, they're numb to it. Right.

But I feel like there's this weird game that they play in that Nightmare on Elm Street reboot where they, like, okay, we don't mind showing you all this blood, but if you'll notice, like, all of the kids, like, there's not any weird sex scenes. Right. Like, I noticed there were. Like, it was very natural in that first one. Right.

But they don't have it. They didn't take it to that level. They're not even human. They're talking on iPhones and iPods, and that's what supposedly updates it. Now they have Facebook pages.

Nancy has a Facebook. Nancy has a Facebook. Nancy, whose name is not Thompson, has a Facebook. Another problem I have, and we almost did this in Popsicle with a lot of horror films, is that everybody's got to go to the library. Yeah, that's where you solve the mystery.

Or someplace. They find the archive. Oh, my God. I'm living on an Indian burial ground. No wonder my shit's haunted.

Look at this enormous headline. Fred Krueger burned to death by parents. That's the problem with movies today. Oh, my Lord. Not enough microfiche.

And then they get on their iPod, and it's like, hey. Right. Let's break it down. It just felt like that was something that was really me and it wasn't just the oh we wanted sex scenes in it but it's like as i watched it the more i thought about it was like there's like even interpersonal relations like you don't they're supposed to be boyfriend and girlfriend and they're just there's no physicality to them like it seems and again for very good actors like you know remark's really good but like it's weird that it's almost like they capped it like i don't know if it was a weird directorial choice that like Well, we don't want to take it down that road. So it's like they're very cold to each other, which is really weird to me.

I guess it's trying to reflect that kids now are supposed to all be disaffected. And disjointed from society, which they kind of are. They're all just sort of loners. But you lose the charm of in the first one where they all seem like they're friends and they have this relationship and go, oh, I had friends like that. Nowadays they're just all insensitive and disaffected and their friend dies and they're like, Oh.

Right. Well. That really bothered me about that one. And I think that's what, and maybe that was part of it, is that maybe it is a societal shift. Like, our whole.

Culture has changed so much in that 30 span of years or so. Right. Yeah, it's too, they did lose some fun. Yeah. But I think people also need to look at, like, Chucky, Freddy, Jason, Michael, as, like, the new Universal monsters and, like, the new Hammer films or whatever you want to say.

We'll say Universal. Because there's like 100 fucking Dracula films, right? Okay, you know, Dracula, what, meets Laurel and Hardy, you know, stuff like that. Well, guess what? They are the new versions of that, and there will be before, not in my time, but somebody's time, there's going to be 100 Friday the 13th.

Just get used to it. There'll be a million Jasons, just don't tell Cain. You're right. No, I'll tell him. But.

That's just the way it's. Going to be. I love you, Cain. You know I love you. But hopefully some new stuff like You're Next and some films will like, you know, maybe we'll set a certain path or pattern for ourselves and other people to follow.

Is that then part of the new wave? I mean, we kind of said that, but that's what I'm wondering is that we have these new very self-conscious, somewhat more intelligent horror movies. Is it because. the audiences got smarter or is it because they were asking for something of that caliber? I think it was, it's just where. I'm not sure if they've gotten smarter.

No, I don't think it is. I think the film, if the filmmakers and the, the fans are now making like everything's oversaturated. Like, I mean, let's be honest. There's some, we're doing an interview with you, but there's a million podcasts. You know what I mean?

But let's also remember that, that one film did it well and was very successful. So after that, it became a trend. You know, you say like, let's say what, like Scream was the first one that was like, everyone was smart. Like a postmodern kind of deal. And that was so, they were all so successful, well, for the most part.

I love the Scream franchise. I mean, I love the first two. I don't even hate the third. I hate the wrap up. I don't even hate the third or fourth.

It has some good stuff, but I miss Williams. It's not as good as the first season. I miss Williamson. He doesn't have the right. I like the fourth one.

I do. I like the newest one a lot. We saw that when we were making your Knicks. We saw that. I felt like they took the easy way out.

Like, they just wrapped it up like all the other ones. Like, I so wanted them to do something different. You know what they need to do with the Scream films? They need to stop being so damn protective. Yeah.

If you kill off one of those three central characters, you would go, oh, my God. Right. Remember when they were brave enough to kill Randy in part two? Exactly. That's what they need to do again.

Just grab his ass up in the van. You're like, not Randy. Everybody was like, oh, my God. But Randy got it. And there was a scene in four where they're at that party in that barn and Gale is about to bite it.

That's when she should have gone. That's when she should have gone. It would have given her a good death, but she gets the 15th superficial wound, and the poor woman's been shot, stabbed, fallen. I mean, it works for Dewey. That's kind of his thing.

It's kind of funny that he continues. He gets beat up and keeps coming. He limps over with his theme in the background. He had good physical therapy. Oversaturation therapy.

Because equipment is easier to buy, hardware, software. So fans can actually think, well, this idea I have, I can learn this craft and go out here with my buddies and make it kind of like. We did and do. Still, only we're getting to bigger points. But it's hard to, at the same time, when everybody can have that same hardware and software...

For reasonable prices, you're going to get a lot of garbage you've got to swim through. So it's a good thing and a bad. Thing, you know, that everything is so accessible. But I think the reason some better things are being made is because people, the people that make them are just like, this is what I want to see. I'm going to make what I want to see because I think that there are other people that want to see this.

Well, and that's what any good filmmaker should do, or writer for that matter. I mean, you know, if you look at something like Hellraiser... Clive Barker just made what he wanted to make. It's so unconventional as a horror movie. Or any film, right?

I mean, people who grew up with it may not realize just how fucking original that movie is. It's unbelievable. And if more movies came out with that sort of quality now, but then if you also think about it, the year that was made, what, 87? How many horrible, formula-matic films came out, and then you had the one Hellraiser? So we are still getting, like, every so often you'll get the, The one.

And you'll go, oh, what's that? And that's what you live for as a horror fan. Or even just a film fan. Even if we're talking outside of horror, that just one or two good movies. Just because this wins this Emmy or this Oscar doesn't make me any more interested in it.

Just that one film you see and while you're going through your Netflix InstaQ and you're like, I'll give that a try. And you're just like, man, that was fucking good. I think it kind of goes back to what you were saying earlier about, like, the Easy Rider days. Like, I think it's going back to that. It's almost filmmakers doing it in that same style, not worrying about a studio, not worrying about funding.

It's like, buy it if you want it, don't if you don't, but, you know, get with us or don't. It was that auteur theory that kind of came about in the 70s. It started those late 60s and late 70s with nothing but, you know, artists doing what they wanted to do, and making a film. And the 80s kind of killed that. Right.

It brought some great things, too. It did. And the 70s, they were great for horror films, too, because that's when that new wave came about. Texas Chainsaw. All the really great ones came out then.

Halloween, Texas Chainsaw. And then you had some coming, you know, some late bloomers in the 80s. Yeah. And then it sort of died off and then you got to the mid-90s. Well, you notice when, like, Friday the 13th came out, like, it kind of fucked up things for, like, Halloween in a way because Halloween was kind of this classy kind of thing in a way, really.

Well, and it wasn't even going to be that. Right. Like, you didn't want to keep. Doing that over and over. Right, but then it became...

Friday the 13th messed it up. Yeah, it did. It messed. And then everything now is like, well, Friday the 13th just showed four pairs of tits. We got to show at least one.

And this guy got slammed down this way. Well, now we got to up it. Like, you're right. We got to up the ante. And I think.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. No, I don't either. But I love Friday the 13th. But I think people with the formulaic things, they looked at. That and they said, well, Michael's a killer.

He's a killer. Let's make him more like him. You know what I mean? And both of those killers have changed so much in every film because, like, You know, like each time it's like, well, Michael seems. Like he's an android in this one.

Like for real, he walks and looks like an android. They just get more and more supernatural. Right, and the next one he's like more, you know, he's bigger, he's smaller, you know, whatever. And then with Jason, the same way, you're like, is he a zombie? Is he a ghost?

I don't know what the hell he is. Eventually he became a zombie. Yeah. By about seven, all his flesh was falling off. About seven, eight, yeah, like, you know.

Oh yeah six he comes out of the grave doesn't he lightning or whatever it was seven is hilarious with the psychic that is so. Funny that was filmed in alabama too yeah i was yes it was. But yeah i think i mean part of it is that i think you just had artists doing what they wanted in the 70s right and that it was that kind of that success of horrors in the 80s but also that's when that that studio mentality came into play. It's like that. We've got to have one every year.

Post-Jaws, Star Wars. You get that, well, we need a blockbuster, we need to make money, and then it became about finding that formula, and I think the Friday the 13th thing came along, and like, that's the formula. You just need body after body, and then each sequel, up the body count, up the nudity. Up the. So, yeah, it's.

All of that. It gave Siskel and Ebert something to bitch about for about 10 years. Well, you know, and I mean. Those guys... hated horror it was amazing and you watch it too if you watch any of their stuff it's like you just want to go wow you just really don't get it do you you don't get the idea that sometimes films can just be fun i mean like. And i try to think about it like there's not a horror film that's like won an academy award is there like.

Really no well the exorcist that was the closest yeah That's like... But I mean, hey, that. That's a good point. But it's close. But, you know, you'll never see.

That's about as close as you get. You'll never see, like, the new Halloween was so good that it is now up for an academy. Even if it was that good, let's say it was just that good of a film and a horror film that it deserved to be nominated. They wouldn't nominate it just because it was called Halloween and part of the franchise. It's Yeah, I mean, it is a weird bias with horror.

Because some people look at horror as like pornography almost. They do. To a lot of people, yeah. Yeah. Well, and people are really stiff.

Right. People who don't get horror are the people who are really stiff. Right. Well, and they don't think horror can be anything else. And it's like, if you talk to people who really understand horror, you realize how much is going on under the surface.

Like, even if it looks like something very simple, it's like there's all these layers of commentary and commentating on what's going on in the culture at the time. Well, it's like, that's George Romero's whole thing. Yeah. I mean, in some of the later stuff, you could go, eh. But a lot of his stuff is really, really, really good.

Especially when he got very conscious of that. In the beginning, I think, even that first one, I think they talk about how much he probably retroactively put all. This meaning on Night of the Living Dead. Yes, exactly. I totally agree.

But by dawn, he really was. It was very conscious. He's making a statement. There is so much in Night of the Living Dead. I can sit there and just...

I love it. And some things are, you know, they're sort of. There's something raw about it. Unintentionally funny, where he's like, they flew into the air like bugs. I love that thing.

Me and my buddy back home, we always walk around going, they flew into the air like bugs. This ain't no Sunday school picnic. I love that. There's something that holds up so well. About that movie.

It's such a great movie. I mean, I could watch that movie a million times. I love Martin, and I feel like nobody gives Martin enough credit. Martin sucks. And then I, cause I talked to, I remember talking to him, like the actor and I'm like, you do realize Dexter stole half your stuff, right?

I'm like, it's just kind of Dexter. Yeah. He is awesome. I told him, I was like, I was like, have you watched Dexter? Cause it's like, he's doing kind of the same thing.

Like he stalks around their house. He finds his next victim. Right. He uses the hypodermic. Needle to take them down.

I'm like, it's pretty close. I mean, to, I mean, he's just not, I mean, he is kind of a serial killer really. Yeah. He's just not taking out the other serial killers. I believe that Dexter was one of those shows that I would have loved to have seen a whole season by season three or four that he had gotten caught.

And you have a whole season where his family. And everyone is having to deal with him in jail. What I didn't like is on a lot of series, which made Breaking Bad so good, is that you have the same family like we were talking about earlier. Every show was the same showrunners, same producers, same writers, same cinematography. They never changed anything.

With a lot of these, like even Walking Dead now has changed Showrunner several times. Yeah. Dexter did the same thing. They threw Frank Darabont out for trying to make it better. Really?

And it's like, you know, and I love Dexter, you know, but, I mean, it should have ended sooner than it did. It did. And I would have liked to have seen him take a, like, you know, because it started becoming it. Its own formula started fucking itself up because it's like, I know he's not going to get caught. It's just another close encounter for him.

You know, well, you know, I. Wanted to see him just get busted and just like have a whole season of like Dexter in bars. That should have been the last season. But some people probably wouldn't have wanted to see him. Behind bars and dealing with these emotions and things, you know, but yeah, that's just me.

That's my opinion. It did those tense moments really well, especially in the mid-run. It did. It did seem like, how the hell is he going to get out of this? What's his name?

Oh, yeah, Lithgow. Lithgow? Oh, man, that season with Lithgow. It's the best of the run. That's one of the best seasons of television of any show ever.

It is. Two's good, but three or four. It's four, yeah. It's amazing. Yeah, with the Trinity killer.

That's awesome shit right there. Yeah. Well, have you guys seen anything lately that you think is cool? Either of the indie caliber. Or mainstream stuff.

I've been watching a lot of... I have Netflix on demand. I don't have cable or anything else. So I just do my $ 8 a month and stream. Whatever they send out.

Right, yeah. And you have all these choices. So I've been watching a lot of wrestling things lately. Because I grew up on wrestling. Yeah, I grew up on wrestling, and I got out of it.

And I got out of wrestling, of course, right? And I'm not really into what's going on with wrestling now. But I'm going back and watching these documentaries about these certain wrestlers, like The Rock and Mankind. Mick Foley is one of my favorite people on the planet. I mean, the things he did to himself to entertain a crowd.

He was taking. Crazy bumps. I mean, and then that Undertaker hell in the cell in like 96 when he fell off the thing. I mean, he literally went off like a 15-foot cage, if people don't know, a wrestler. 15-foot cage, dropped through a real table onto concrete, and then got up and fell back through 15.

He crawled back up the hell in the cell and then fell back through the top. And then had a tooth in. His nose and was bleeding and he couldn't even stand up and he poured the tax out. And I've read his book and, you know, he poured tax out on the floor and the undertaker tax him like twice and all these tax are in his body. Okay.

And, um, the undertaker and Mick Foley's book, uh, I think it's like have a nice day or something like that. Uh, the mankind book. Uh, he, um, he said that when he and the undertaker got back, you know, to, be you know the er basically that's there already on site and they're like he's you know sitting there getting examined they both are and obviously mick foley's in way worse condition and um mick turns and looks to the undertaker and he says man did we ever do those um tax did i get the bag of tax out because i mean he's had like three concussions at this point And The Undertaker said, Mick, look at your arm. And his arm, he's just so numb. His arm is covered in.

So I've been enjoying watching these wrestling documentaries and stuff. It's all about Andre the Giant. For me. Oh, yeah. WrestleMania III.

There you go. Yeah. Any wrestling movies for you? I don't watch wrestling. I really don't.

Princess Bride, that's as wrestling as I. Anybody want a peanut? Right. I think Ty West's new movie, The Sacrament, I would check that out. I haven't seen it yet, but me and Sharni were talking about it earlier.

And she says it's unbelievable. She's watched it. Everything he does is, like, that's the thing. I know a lot of people out there get upset with his movies. But I'm like, to me, that's the sign of.

A good movie. Like, if it's middle of the road. But, like, if you love it or hate it, he did something right. I don't know how many people have seen that movie, Trigger Man, that he did. It was one of his first movies.

Yeah. For what it is, the budget they had. I like Trigger Man. Great. And also I like The Innkeepers.

Oh, The Innkeepers. I forgot that. You did that. I love that. Some people talk about, oh, this is boring.

It's an awesome movie. Well, what's the one that he did? It's character-oriented. Exactly. It's so good.

What's the one that he did right before The Innkeepers? The House of the Devil? Yeah, I love that. It's another one. Because it just straight up looked like Tom Newton.

Yeah, I mean, the way the film looked, the way it sounded, I mean, They nailed every part of that vintage vibe. Bowen was in that, too. Yeah. AJ. Yeah.

He's always great. That's another one. And I know people that really hated the way it was paced. And I'm like, it's not by accident. No.

He's doing this on purpose. It's a cool movie. It serves the purpose of the movie. But yeah, I don't know. Everything he does is just so impressive.

Even if you don't like it, you have to inspire him as a filmmaker. He's trying new stuff. Yeah. Well, on the new stuff, do you guys have stuff coming out you need to tell people about? Stuff coming in the future to look for?

I'm working on something, but I don't know. I'm going to wait. Keep it under wraps. Yeah, I'm going to keep it under wraps. Kind of the same way, yeah.

That was a very interesting response. She's giving you the window. Yeah, the window for us to just pimp our product. Yeah, I'm doing that now. We have stuff that we're... been talked to about you know for months or years now you know we have stuff that we want to do.

And there's always stuff that comes along but then but then you know what happens to it it flies through the air and doesn't get funded so many things that you hear about just never happen yeah you're like so it's hard to talk even about it because you just like like two weeks from now yeah somebody could. Be like man we've got budgeting for this i mean even somebody like adam you know it's like I think this is going to happen in two weeks. We'll be like, we're filming something else. Yeah. Yeah.

You know what it did? It flew into the air like boats. I'm sorry. That's such a great line. You can't say anything because fans are so hardcore.

They'll just be like, when's that one movie coming out? And they'll freak out and they'll be bugging you for the next six or eight years. And you're like, but it didn't get funded. It's not my fault. Right.

Oh, yeah. All right. Anything else you want to send people off with? Any other advice for them? I have one thing I'd like to tell everyone.

I think I know what it is going to be. Don't. Okay, one last time. They flew into the air like bugs. So kids out there, don't fly into the air.

No. Or be a moving bonfire. I love the movie so much. I'm sorry. What did you think of the remake?

Love it. I actually love it. Of the few, I don't know. It's one of those you feel like you shouldn't like it. Isn't that original Night of the Living Dead?

That's like public domain, right? Well, they licensed it under the wrong title. Well, it was Night of the Flesh Eaters. Well, see, I saw a trailer the other day for a film where people are watching Night of the Living Dead or something, and halfway through it, everything's in color, then it goes to black and white. Or everything's black and white or it goes to color.

I think they're doing another remake or something. But it's like they are watching the film and they get sucked into the film. Oh, God. Yeah, something like that. There was the animated.

Did you ever see? I still haven't seen that. No. Which that was kind of cool. Again, for something that falls into public domain, it's cool when they can do something like that.

They basically gave it to all these different animators and said, you pick a segment. We're going to divide it up into all these little segments. Do it however you want. You can do it. hand drawn you can do stop motion you can do whatever you want and they piece together this same story obviously but like every few minutes. It changes switch to an entirely different style that sounds cool yeah that was that was something original.

The worst one though was when they denied living dead 30 years and they added scenes john russo who is i mean i'm sorry john but you're a horrible film director he added a bunch of scenes and i had added a scene where it was like a cemetery scene And they had this guy, and it's supposed to be set in 1969 or 8 or whatever. And it's supposed to play into, they added scenes to the movie. So it's supposed to just naturally play in and tell where the cemetery zombie came from. And so they have his funeral scene. Yeah, it's like a funeral scene where the film opens with them taking the casket out to the gravesite.

And then they have this dude who looks like Anton LaVey doing the funeral. And it's like, this is 1968? What? Wow, I haven't seen that. And there's so many things in that that's awful.

And it's just John Russo took it and said, well, this is what we're intending to do, which is basically just what you say when you just want to add a bunch of shit to anything. So it's kind of like. That's George Lucas. See, that's what I was going to say. I always meant it this way.

Is that the equivalent to that? Yeah, pretty much. It was like John Russo's less successful version. We just didn't have the money. But now that I have all this John Russo money.

We were intending to do that, I promise. Yeah. No, we're about to wrap up. You're wrapping up. No problem.

That is cool. I understand. March Madness has taken over, so we better get out of here. Thank you guys for talking with us. Thank you, man.

Anything else we need to cover? No, I think I need a drink and sit down for a little bit. I think everybody's at that point this weekend. We're all plenty worn out. Yes, I agree.

I've done nothing else. That's it. That's the other thing. I've realized I've been talking all weekend. I'm surprised I still have a voice.

It's like I sit by myself the whole rest of the week and don't talk to anybody. So it's probably not used to this. Yeah, exactly. Me too. I just really appreciate you having me on.

This is really cool. No problem. Do you want to plug your show? Go for it. Oh, the 9 to 11 podcast, notlp.com.

Check us out. Thank you for having us on the show, Brian. It was really cool. You know I always love having you guys on. Like I said, I feel like I'm such a rube after the conversations you guys have had.

I talk about crap all the time. What do I care? I like Disney. Well. When I get back home, I'm going to watch Can't Stop the Music again.

It's been a long time since I've seen that one. Actually, last night we had a whole Disney conversation. I don't even remember where we were sitting, but yeah, Christian, we were picking out like, oh, it was while we were waiting for the shuttle that didn't come, by the way. If we want to go into a side bitching story, but I won't bother with that. But while we were sitting there waiting, we were talking about the weird middle range there of like classic Disney's awesome.

And then, like, they're doing some cool stuff now, but there was, like, that 90s run. And, like, what the hell? Like, there was just a lot of off ones. I'm just like, what? So I'm not above talking Disney.

What do I care? That's awesome. With that, we will leave you. Otherwise, that about does it. We will return next week.

Same geek time, same geek feed. Thanks for listening. All my life I've been looking for the magic I've been looking for the magic When the sun shines on us it gives us a chance I've been looking for the magic. You came for the magic in my eyes In my eyes Baby, in my eyes. Oh, when Chuck Charlie sits in the air like that She says, hey, I'm looking.

For the magic. Say so I turn the city, this. Is a desert. She says to him, looking for the treasure. Because of all the crap, it's like an island glass.

On top. And then I never lie, because I never had the time. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Looking for the magic in my life. in your eyes. The Crypt Keeper was just here.

Yeah, The Crypt Keeper was just here. Hey, Crypt, we should have gotten so many people. We missed Kyle Labine, we missed Doug Bradley, and The Crypt Keeper. You guys don't know anything about horror. Get out of here.

This episode is a production of Movie Meltdown. Produced and edited by The Oddity Studios. With opening music performed by The Empires. For more on how to sponsor or support the show, email producer at moviemeltdown.com. Okay, one last time.

They flew into the air like bugs.