The Midnight Murderama Podcast dives deep into the dark recesses of Hollywood to hilariously examine exactly what it is about ourselves that makes us love the horror movies that define us, both as individuals and as a society.
The devil went down to South Korea, and it was looking for some vengeance to deal... This week our hosts watch I Saw the Devil where they get to answer the question: "What is the most unpleasant act inflicted upon someone in this film?". And there are a lot of acts to choose from. This wraps up the look at South Korean horror, and they truly saved the magnum opus of vengeance films for last! Check out the full episode details
This week our hosts watch Save the Green Planet!, and you know if there's an exclamation point in the title it's going to be good! One of the lesser-known South Korean horror films to come out of the early 2000's, this film nonetheless hops genres from goofy comedy, to tense horror, to cop drama to... alien invasion film? Or is it? Check out the full episode details
It was the best of sisters. It was the worst of sisters. This week our hosts watch A Tale of Two Sisters, the film that teaches us if you're not nice to family members then everyone you love will be crushed by a wardrobe. This continues the investigation into South Korean horror, this time highlighting one of the most successful Korean horror films to have an impact on American horror audiences. Check out the full episode details
Thar she blows! This week our hosts watch The Wailing, the film that makes you question whether to trust old men living alone in the woods. This kicks off the podcast's exploration of Korean horror films, starting with one of the best of them: a supernatural crime drama centered around repression and religious identity found within a small town. Check out the full episode details
The walrus is flawlrus! This week our hosts watch Tusk, Kevin Smith's sea-themed body horror comedy. This wraps up the close look at body horror, as the episode tries to unpack the age old question: where is the line between walrus and man? Check out the full episode details
"They're the children of her rage". This week our hosts watch The Brood, David Cronenberg's ode to the joys of parenting. Always the master of body horror, Cronenberg teaches us how it would feel to spawn murderous creatures... and also kind of tries to work out some issues in his real-life divorce. Let's just say the ex-wife isn't the hero of this picture. Check out the full episode details
"You! Doing that Thing you do!" This week our hosts watch The Thing, the gross monster movie of all gross monster movies. This continues the examination of body horror, as John Carpenter shows us all of the horrible ways a body can be melted and twisted by a shape shifting alien. It also gives Kurt Russell plenty of opportunities to be a badass, and a few opportunities to wear a funny hat. Check out the full episode details
It's a boy! This week our hosts watch Rosemary's Baby, Roman Polanski's 1968 cautionary tale against having Satan's baby. This episode kicks off an examination into body horror, looking at one of the first entries into the genre as poor Rosemary grapples with losing control of her body to every other person around her. That Satan is a real jerk... Check out the full episode details
Float on! This week our hosts watch It, the big-screen adaptation of one of Stephen King's most well-known stories. This wraps up the look into Stephen King by discussing one of the more recent - and certainly most successful - of his adaptations. How does this compare to the 1991 TV miniseries? Can this version of Pennywise ever top Tim Curry's iconic performance? More importantly: can this new Pennywise's true form ever compare with the horrible looking rubber spider from the original? Check out the full episode details
This week our hosts watch Silver Bullet, where Corey Haim battles a werewolf using the only weapon he's got: Gary Busey. This continues the look at Stephen King adaptations, this time featuring a screenplay written by the master himself. It was also released at the "tail end" of the 1980's obsession with werewolves. Check out the full episode details
Outlander! We have your episode! This week our hosts watch Children of the Corn, the 1984 film that made parents afraid of their children again. This continues the look into the adapted works of Stephen King, at a time when adding his name to a film made it virtually unstoppable. It also touches on the "Satanic Panic" that was gripping the nation in the mid-80s. Sources https://www.vox.com/culture/22358153/satanic-panic-ritual-abuse-history-conspiracy-theories-explained Check out the full episode details
They're all going to laugh at you! This week our hosts watch Carrie, the film that introduced the world to Stephen King while also exposing just how truly dangerous prom can be. This episode kicks off a series exploring the adapted works of Stephen King. It debuts many of the staples we'd come to know and love from him: children with hidden powers, close-minded small townsfolk, religious fanaticism... all the greatest hits! Check out the full episode details
Some Hosts Watch A Film Apart Then Talk About It… this week our hosts watch A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, the 2014 romantic, western, vampire film you didn’t know you needed. This episode also features special guest stars Jaleh and Jess from The Hart Chicks Present podcast, where they’re getting ready to kick off their new season of episodes focusing on romantic comedies. Check out the full episode details
This week our hosts watch 1994's Interview with the Vampire, the film directly responsible for making vampires sexy again (you're welcome, Twilight!). This film harkens back to the early 90's horror renaissance, where films were artfully directed, given glorious budgets, and chocked full of stars (not unlike another sexy vampire film, Bram Stoker's Dracula). Whether you love Tom Cruise chewing the scenery, Brad Pitt being depressed and eating rats, or Kirstin Dunst stealing the show, this film has a performance for everyone! Check out the full episode details
This week our hosts watch 2015's Crimson Peak, Guillermo Del Toro's love letter to the gothic romance genre. Despite not being what audiences may have originally thought was a scare-a-minute ghost story, the film instead focuses on the emotional toll of loneliness, forbidden romances, and secrets that can never quite stay buried. Also some pretty brutal deaths... usually involving trauma to the face. Special guest Alexandra explains what it means to be a fan of the gothic romance, why Haunting of Hill House was a bit of a disappointment, and why we should all be appreciating the genius of author Nancy Holder. Check out the full episode details
What is love? Baby, don't hurt me. This week our hosts dive into Romantic Horror with a look at 1993's Return of the Living Dead III, Brian Yuzna's stab at Romeo and Juliet if zombies were the Montagues and the military were the Capulets. It also features a stunning performance by Melinda Clarke, who would later go on to be the formidable Julie Cooper on The O.C. Check out the full episode details
This week our hosts watch "The Void", the 2016 love letter to practical effects, John Carpenter, and the action creature films of the 1980s. The final chapter in the "Cosmic Horror" block of episodes, The Void shows us that Lovecraftian themes are still intriguing filmmakers, even today. But instead of existential dread like with The Endless, this is some good-old-fashioned deformed tentacle monsters, with some murderous cult members thrown in for good measure. This episode also features a guest interview with U.S. Marshall Rob Valentine to better explain some finer points of law enforcement and how they pertain to dealing with possessed townsfolk. Check out the full episode details
Our hosts watch The Endless, the low-budget film from Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead that taught us the repetitive feeling we got in quarantine may just be an Old God messing with us. This film shows a more modern interpretation of how filmmakers are tackling Cosmic Horror, creating a slower, more meditative approach to unpacking how we all fit into this big, crazy universe. Check out the full episode details
Continuing their dive into Cosmic Horror, this week our hosts watched Jacob's Ladder. Decades ahead of its time, this film pioneered the "mind-blowing ending" that would later be done to death in the late 90s / early 00s. While it left many critics scratching their heads at the time, its disturbing and imagery and ambiguity would fit right at home with today's crop of more cerebral indie horror films of the last decade. Check out the full episode details
Do you read Sutter Cane? This week our hosts watched In the Mouth of Madness, the 1994 film that answers the question: "What if Twilight fans turned their focus to Stephen King?". This kicks off a section on Cosmic Horror, diving into the the films that explore sanity, the universe, and all the fun tentacle monsters that live within. Check out the full episode details
"Pod-Pod-Pod Cast-Cast-Cast" This week our hosts watch Friday the 13th Part 2, the sequel that finally introduced adult-sized Jason to the world (just not as hockey themed... yet). This film marks one of the definitive departures from slasher films as "mysteries", and establishes many of the tropes that would follow the genre through the decades. Looking at you, woman who just had to skinny dip! Check out the full episode details
"We've got the podcast, and you've got the ears." This week our hosts continue digging into the slasher genre with 1985's A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge, the black sheep of the Nightmare franchise. Originally dismissed for not following the format established by fan-favorite part 3, it has since been looked at with new eyes for its... less than subtle... subtext exploring teenage homosexuality. But does that mean it holds up as a film? Be sure to check out Mark Patton's documentary Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street as well as the segment in Crystal Lake Memories for lots of crazy details in the making of this film. Check out the full episode details
As they continue digging into the slasher genre, our hosts examine the 2014 film It Follows, a post-slasher film that lives firmly in the world of (80's? 90's? 00's?) slasher movies, but just never really gets around to the slashing. So, is It Follows a condemnation of teenage sex? A rumination on getting older? Or just an over-hyped snooze-fest? Check out the full episode details
"This is your Emergency Broadcast System announcing the commencement of the annual Purge." This week our hosts watch The Purge: Election Year, the film that imagines a world where the U.S. politicians are lying to the public in order to screw over the poor. Could you even imagine such a thing?? The Purge series has been the 2010's closest equivalent to a recurring franchise, so how does the third entry in the series hold up? How does it push the conversation forward when viewed through the lens of the modern slasher film? Listen and find out! Check out the full episode details
Do you like scary movies? No examination of the slasher genre would be complete without talking about Scream, a film that made horror "cool" again in the 1990s. Scream defined its own subgenre full of big named stars and snappy, self-aware dialog, and finally established a world in which the protagonists had watched a horror movie before. But after all these years, does it still hold up? Check out the full episode details
GET TO THE PODCAST! This week our hosts watch Predator, the movie that sees how many muscular guys you can cram into a jungle before something explodes. It also does a great job of using the traditional slasher framework that had been growing in the 80s, but instead of having a superhuman killer descend on hapless babysitters, we're pitting it against a batch of paramilitary soldiers. It's an interesting look at how Hollywood views what changes when you swap the genders within a trope. Check out the full episode details
This week our hosts continue to explore the slasher genre by looking at some of the outliers that slipped out of the slasher boom of the 80s. In this case it's Sleepaway Camp (1983), the film that starts as a derivative camp slasher but has an unforgettable ending. What does this film tell us about feminism and gender politics of the 80s? What does it tell us about the length of shorts on guys in the 80s? And most importantly: what does it tell us about Ricky's hat choices? Check out the full episode details
You can't kill the boogeyman, but you can sure as hell poke him in the eye with a coat hanger! This week our hosts brave the suburbs to watch Halloween, the quintessential slasher movie from 1978 that spawned both a franchise and a genre. Not to mention it launched the careers of John Carpenter and Jamie Lee Curtis. So how does a 40 year old film with minimal blood and body count hold up? Listen to find out! Check out the full episode details
"We all go a little mad sometimes." This week our hosts watch Psycho, the movie that established horror movies didn't just have to feature Universal Monsters, and ushered in the era of the slasher film. Does it live up to the hype? Will our hosts overcome the shock of seeing a toilet flush on screen? Will they see the fabled frame of nudity in the shower scene? (Spoiler alert: yes, no, and no) Check out the full episode details
This week our hosts watch The Faculty, where they ask: “What if The Breakfast Club fought The Thing?” The answer is a strange blend of pro-drug, pro-conformity, Kevin Williamson-penned slice of 90s. But is this film actually a little more subversive? Check out the full episode details
Saturday Night Commentary Series: As 2020 thankfully comes to a close, our hosts take some time to revisit one of the better regarded films to hit the US last year: La Llorona. This Guatemalan ghost story tells the story of a house-bound dictator whose new housekeeper seems to be more than she's letting on. This is designed to be a commentary track to the actual film. Stat the episode at the same time you hit play on the film. The audio track will go a little longer than the film because we can't shut up. Check out the full episode details
This week our hosts take some time to reflect on the movies reviewed in 2020. After asking the community to contribute their own rankings, they've crunched the numbers and created a definitive ranking of the movies they watched this year. Who was voted best final girl? Who was crowned best director? What songs did JT make up this week? All that and more will be answered! Top 5 FilmsTop 5 DirectorsTop 5 Special EffectsTop 5 MonstersTop 5 Final GirlsBest "Scary" FilmsBest "Horror" FilmsBest "Terror" Films Check out the full episode details
This week our hosts watched Mandy, the hyper-stylized revenge flick from Panos Cosmatos, or: "The film where Nicolas Cage transforms into Nicolas Cage." But is the inventive cinematography and over-the-top violence enough to make up for a by-the-numbers premise? Listen and find out! Also discussed in this week's episode: Ghosts of War (2020)"A New Beginning" by Wolfie's Just Fine Check out the full episode details
"I felt the earth move under my feet, I felt Bacon tumbling down!" This week our hosts watch Tremors. If Jaws made you afraid to go in the water, Tremors will make you afraid to even step outside. Is this the perfect creature B-movie? At the very least, it's a wonderful swan song to the practical effects of the 80s, managing to get in just before latex and miniatures were replaced with cringey 90s CG for all monster flicks. Check out the full episode details
Sacré bleu! This week our hosts venture to land of love, art, cigarettes, baguettes and... problematic plots twists! They watched the French film High Tension (Haute Tension), the 2003 debut of director Alexandre Aja. They discuss the early-2000's French Extreme film movement, of which High Tension helped define. The big questions with this film: can you still enjoy a film that botches the ending? Can you appreciate a film's visual style if you don't agree with the messaging? Check out the full episode details
This week our hosts watch Deep Red and venture into the blood-soaked genre of "giallo", Italy's answer to the question: "What would happen if you took a murder mystery but made it make 20% less sense and 50% more bloody?". And of course we all know what would happen: you'd get Dario Argento's fantastic 1975 film that features an evil doll on a bicycle, a psychic German lady, and as much dog-fighting B-roll as you can handle! Check out the full episode details
"Jokes go on the podcast, you get the podcast. Podcast's on your headphones. Our podcast." This week our hosts watched the iconic Jaws, the first blockbuster and perhaps the most mainstream horror movie of all time. After over forty years, does it still hold up? Sure, your parents claim there can't be sharks in the swimming pool, but how do they know for sure? Check out the full episode details
Did you ever wonder what Jason does in his spare time? Ever consider if Freddy and Michael Meyers hang out when not murdering teens? All this and more is answered as our hosts watch Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, the 2006 film that tries to say what happens when you mix slasher films with The Office. Check out the full episode details
We have such sounds to show you! This week our hosts watched Hellraiser (1987), Clive Barker's horror classic that spawned some... less than classic sequels. All these years later, how does a low-budget British horror movie hold up that subsequently had all the British accents dubbed over with American voice-over? Spoiler alert: better than you'd think (Additional spoiler alert: the surprise bone dragon doesn't hold up quite as well). Hike up your leather pants, tighten your chains, and join in the podcast that also draws a fine line between pleasure and pain. Check out the full episode details
BA-BA-DOOK! This episode features the 2014 Australian film The Babadook. Is this a supernatural haunting, or one woman's struggle processing grief? Does it matter which? Does it have to be one or the other? Check out the full episode details
Saturday Night Commentary Series: During the month of October we're going to be adding some bonus content in the form of some movie commentaries. This week we're watching the 80's Halloween classic: Night of the Demons. Start the commentary track at the same time you start the movie! Our commentary goes a little longer than the running time because we can never shut up. Check out the full episode details
Avoid the moors and beware the moon! This week our hosts watch An American Werewolf in London, the 1981 film that kicked off America's love affair with werewolves in the 80's. That's right, without this film, you'd never have your precious Teen Wolf. You're welcome. Check out the full episode details
Saturday Night Commentary Series: During the month of October we're going to be adding some bonus content in the form of some movie commentaries. This week we're watching Full Moon's Puppet Master III: Toulon's Revenge. Start the commentary track at the same time you start the movie! Our commentary goes a little longer than the running time because we can never shut up. Check out the full episode details
This week our hosts answer a distress call and investigate the 1979 film Alien, Ridley Scott's "slasher-in-space" that set the bar for both horror and sci-fi. It also kicked off a franchise that's still churning out sequels today. Check out the full episode details
Saturday Night Commentary Series: During the month of October we're going to be adding some bonus content in the form of some movie commentaries. This week we're watching Full Moon's Puppet Master II. Start the commentary track at the same time you start the movie! Our commentary goes a little longer than the running time because we can never shut up. Check out the full episode details
"I'm dreaming... of a black... Christmas..." This week our hosts watch Black Christmas, one of the forefathers of the slasher genre, and pioneer in the genre of "we picked a holiday and then made a movie about people getting killed on it". With amazing performances by Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, and John freaking Saxon, it's no wonder this film still holds up forty years later! Check out the full episode details
Saturday Night Commentary Series: During the month of October we're going to be adding some bonus content in the form of some movie commentaries. This week we're watching Full Moon's Puppet Master. Start the commentary track at the same time you start the movie! Our commentary goes a little longer than the running time because we can never shut up. Check out the full episode details
This week our hosts watch 2007's REC, featuring one of the best night-vision climaxes since Silence of the Lambs. Few horror sub-genres have been more divisive that found-footage, but REC maintains a reputation as one of the more revered films of the 00's. Despite clearly spoiling the movies final seconds in literally all of its marketing material, it still remains a tensely packed mixture of zombie and supernatural films. Check out the full episode details
Kill her, mommy! This week Midnight Murderama discusses Friday the 13th, the film that launched one of the most recognizable supernatural serial killer franchises. Our hosts are so excited to see that iconic hockey mask, the- what's that? Not in this one? Well then they can't wait to see how many people Jason kills... no one? Really? So then... they are at the very least excited to see Kevin Bacon's butt. Check out the full episode details
TSACDOP! TSACDOP! This week features one of the all-time horror movie classics: The Shining. Seeing as it often tops many horror fans best horror of all time lists, does it live up to the hype? Do any of the theories from Room 237 actually hold up? Is this movie dropping secrets about a staged moon landing? Why is there an issue of Playgirl hidden in a scene? None of these questions and more will be answered! Check out the full episode details
Yes, yes, let’s all make the joke now: “I thought Session 8 was better!”. This week our hosts – along with special guest co-host Elizabeth – watch the deceptively standalone Session 9, a 2001 horror film that flew under most moviegoers’ radars at the time, but has since gathered some considerable clout as more horror fans have discovered it. Is this a psychological horror story of a man having a mental breakdown? A haunted tale of possession? Or perhaps a mix of both? Check out the full episode details