Survivor's Ed

One... two... Freddy's coming for you. In the season finale of our horror movie podcast Survivor's Ed, we tackle one of the most iconic villains in cinema in one of the best movies in his franchise. Nightmare on Elm Street 3 features an early example of the touch black guy that SURVIVES the movie, later replicated by Ice Cube, Busta Rhymes, and a bunch of other rappers in horror movies. Freddy Krueger takes center stage as we talk about the Dream Warriors!

Usually, when you ask anybody black if they've seen the movie Life, they will tell you "of course" and immediately start talking about that depressing Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence movie. This ain't that. This week we're talking about Life, a 2017 science fiction horror film set in space, directed by Daniel Espinosa and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson, Ryan Reynolds, and Hiroyuki Sanada. This movie is GOOD y'all. Go watch it so you can join us for a discussion about the most adorable "Calvin" to ever ended up becoming a big scary alien monster. Let's talk about Life!

We've decided to ice skate uphill on this one. Blade is a phenomenal superhero horror film, released in 1998, directed by Stephen Norrington, and starring the incredible Wesley Snipes. This movie holds a special place in our hearts as the earliest mainstream Marvel movie to feature a black lead. Great action. Simple story. Awesome world-building. A ton of fun. We're joined by That Phat Samurai Guy as we discuss Blade! 

Ghosts of Mars is insane, y'all. John Carpenter was on one when he made this one. Release in 2001, this movie feels like a late eighties sci-fi action romp. Ice Cube punches the camera. A guy loses a thumb and no one cares. Drugs save the day. Pam Grier tells us to get double tough. This movie has it all. Let's talk about Ghosts of Mars! 

Mary Lou Davis of Hell's Kitchen Season 19 and her new YouTube channel Geeks and Grubs joins us to talk about a very layered movie. Jordan Peele divided folks with his 2018 horror film Us, which is ironically about divisions within ourselves. Or is it? Maybe it's about class? Race? The abuse, oppression, and genocide of indigenous people?  Look... this movie has a lot to say. Lupita Nyong'o's incredible performance as Red and Adelaide and a pitch-perfect use of "I Got 5 On It" make for a wonderful discussion.  Let's talk about Us!

Annihilation takes sci-fi horror to a super unique place. This may be the most bright, flowery and sunny movie to include a nightmare monster bear you've ever seen.  Full of great performances, as well as brilliant writing and directing by Alex Garland, this movie is unsettling and moving in all the right ways. Now let's talk about how our black and brown people did in Annihilation!

Remember when Tales from the Crypt started making movies, y'all. That was weird. It led to some pretty epic things, including Billy Zane punching a hole in a guy's head and getting his hand stuck in that guy's head.  This movie is amazing, especially for how it treats its black women. Ed Greer, co-creator of Reboot It and The Greatest Pod, joins us as we talk about Demon Knight!

We got through this whole episode without a single Armie Hammer reference! Not sure whether to be proud or disappointed. Ravenous is a 1999 movie about cannibalism. Fun topic, really. Turns out when you eat people, strange things start happening in you. Guy Pierce, Jeffrey Jones, Robert Carlyle, David Arquette, Joseph Runningfox, Neil McDonough, and the unflappable Sheila Tousey star in this INSANE movie. See what we had to say about Ravenous.

We LOVE this movie. Signs is a 2002 science fiction film, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring the totally-not-controversial  Mel Gibson. It's an alien invasion, y'all! And if you saw are episode on The Thing, you know we love a good alien invasion.  Also, this might be our first episode where the writer/director is also the only person of color in the film. M. Night truly wore multiple hats this time. Let's talk about Signs!

Oh boy. Stephen King is a strange man.  This week we dive into the movie adaptation of King's classic book, It! Spanning two movies—released in 2017 and 2019, and directed by Andy Muschietti—the story of Pennywise's reign of terror is far more complex than it seems. We discuss kids in peril, big turtles, and cosmic clowns as we try to nail down a rule for surviving It. Also, Derry is trash. 

The People Under the Stairs is one of those movies many of us saw too young. It was probably because we all wanted to be Brandon Adams. This 1991 American horror comedy, written and directed by Wes Craven, is full of heavy racial and socio-economical commentary, which makes for a very interesting experience for our characters of color. Also, what's up with those people under the stairs? Why are they... like... monsters? 

We're diving into Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon! This 2006 film is quickly becoming a cult classic. Directed by Scott Glosserman, this movie goes from darkly comedic mockumentary to full-on horror fest and we loved every minute of it. Leslie Vernon himself, actor Nathan Baesel, joins us to talk about this incredible meta-horror movie that happens to be a real treat for fans of the genre. 

Sometimes you just need a good ol' fashioned murder night. The Purge, written and directed by James DeMonaco, takes us to a version of the United States where an annual night of legally sanctioned home invasions and murders leads to year-round peace . It's pretty crazy. We had mixed feelings about this movie and our rule for survival is... pretty simple. Let's talk about The Purge!

Forget the #SnyderCut. Dawn of the Dead is Zack Snyder's best movie. No cap. Fight us. It's got some great characters, some pretty incredible action set pieces, and one of the creepiest babies in all of cinema. It also has Mekhi Phifer in a shootout with an old lady. How did our people of color do in this high-energy take on George A. Romero's classic? Well... how does anyone really do in a zombie movie? Let's talk about it.

Sarah, Beth, Sam, Rebecca, Holly, and Juno go on a relaxing girls trip. That's great. Then a bunch of 'em die horrifically. That's bad. The Descent hit the big screen in 2005, written and directed by Neil Marshall, and starring Shauna Macdonald and Natalie Mendoza. We discuss how to not die first in this cave full of monsters. We also go hard for our girl Juno because she deserves some love, y'all. 

Renny Harlan's Deep Blue Sea takes the underwater horror film to a new level, with an over-the-top premise, a great cast, and some legitimately incredible set pieces. It also features a VERY memorable scene with Samuel L. Jackson and an LL Cool J that loves God and has a parrot. This movie has it all. Andres "Ace" Cabrera from First Cut joins us for the deepest and bluest of conversations. 

We've got '80s spaceships. We've got sinister-looking dogs. We've got shapeshifting aliens. And we've got hella flamethrowers. This week we're talking about John Carpenter's 1982 sci-fi horror, The Thing! Kurt Russell, Keith David and a whole bunch of dudes, give each other side eye in the snow, and it's glorious. There's a couple of black guys in this mix, so we're taking a look at how to not die first when your friend's disembodied spider-head is after you. 

No. This is not that one Conjuring Universe movie with Linda Cardellini. This is a really good movie called La Llorona, directed by Jayro Bustamante. You may not have seen this one. See it! It's moving, unnerving, and tells a powerful narrative lionizing brown indigenous women. Find out the rule to survival in a world where killers face their reckoning. 

From Dusk Till Dawn was directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Quentin Tarantino and man... this 1996 film looks exactly like something these guys would create. It's action-packed. It's gory. There's a foot in a mouth. It's all there. What's the rule for survival? How did our people of color do? Find out in our discussion! We are joined by our awesome guest, Mario of The Superiority Complex podcast, as we explore the wild world of Mexican vampires!

Who usually dies first in the horror movie? You know who. Who usually goes to horror movies just to shout helpful advice at the screen? You know who. There's probably a reason for this. In a new podcast series Miles Kelly, Tawny Ochoa and Chris Paicely explore horror movies and try to come up with some rules for survival. The first movie up for discussion: ANACONDA. It's got Jennifer Lopez. It's got Ice Cube. It's got Owen Wilson. It's got some big scary snakes. Most importantly, it's the darkest timeline version of Jon Voight. Let's talk about who survived and why!