That's Dark

In our Cold Cuts episode on I Stand Alone, Danny takes us deep into the mind and persona of Gaspar Noé with his movie facts. Pappy encourages the group to get all meta and leads a charge straight through the 4th Wall. And, as always, David rescues the conversation from the philosophical ether with another rousing segment of movie reviews. Listen in.

Danny plays his only veto card early in the season, dismissing David and Pappy's film. So, listen in on the Hot Takes episode for Gaspar Noé's 1999 I Stand Alone. Spoiler Alert: Danny loves this movie.

In our Cold Cuts edition, we do a deeper dive into the giant puddle of puke that is Slaughtered Vomit Dolls. Danny’s movie facts try to pierce the veil of director Lucifer Valentine’s persona, and Pappy pushes the discussion toward literary modernism. And then, as per usual, David swoops in to save the day with much needed (and much hilarious) movie reviews. Listen as we try to close the vomit valve.

In our Hot Takes edition of Lucifer Valentine’s (2006) Slaughtered Vomit Dolls, we try to make sense of, well, a lot of vomit. But that’s not all. The confusion starts with a cryptic and grossly misleading Wikipedia plot summary, and it just regurgitates on itself from there. Listen as we sludge through a film “famous” for creating its own genre, predictably called Vomit Gore.

In our Cold Cuts episode of Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom, we dive into the history of the film’s director, Pier Paolo Pasolini, for Movie Facts. Then it’s time for a good old fashion debate whether or not people are born innately good or evil, as we discuss the work of the Marquis de Sade, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Pasolini’s film. Needless to say, there are conflicting opinions in the studio. Thankfully, the mood gets lighten by some pretty startling and hilarious movie reviews. Have a listen as we cap off this cinematic monolith.

We’re back! It’s Season 2, and we’re starting off with a bang! Canon for Extreme Cinema, Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Salo, Or the 120 Days of Sodom could’ve been a season finale. But we’re all about instant gratification at That’s Dark, and patience isn’t one of our virtues. In the first Hot Takes of the season, listen as we wade through torture, nudity fecal matter and overtly political, if not confusing, overtones thanks to one of the most notorious movies ever made.

In the last episode of Threads season one, the guys take on the complicated subject of women and the representation of females in Dark Cinema. Listen in as Danny, David and Pappy offer more questions than answers as they try to understand these films from a woman’s perspective.

In the third episode of Threads, Danny, David and Pappy ask a pretty important question – what is Extreme Cinema? This question spirals into a conversation around genre and even tempts the boys into starting their own definition of “Dark Cinema.”

In the second episode of Threads, the guys discuss whether or not extreme movies are actually trying to make them afraid. And if not, what do they feel instead? Listen as they investigate the relationship between fear and the movies they watched during season one.

For the inaugural That’s Dark Thread, the guys discuss laughter in general in hopes that they can understand its relation to the films they watch. Acknowledging the range from innocent laughter that claims no victim to mean-spirited laughter at the expense of others, the guys try to place the laughter moments that will materialize during the viewing and discussion of dark films.

For our season finale, we end with the big one. Danny is caught blindsided when he realizes Pappy and David’s red herring film pick — the fictional 2017 film What We’ve Done to Tyler, doesn’t actually exist. His fear of the unknown is immediately replaced with a sense of dread, knowing the rumours surrounding Srdjan Spasojevic’s A Serbian Film. From the sounds of Danny’s voice, the film lived up to the hype. Pappy, David and Danny dispute whether or not the film has a message, as suggested by the director, or if it is simply intended to shock. Pappy is reminded of the brutality of this film, while David begins to see some artistic merit. The last Hot Takes episode of the season is ignited by an inflammatory shock piece.

This episode was a long time in the making. The initial conversation in this episode took place over half a year ago. What began as some friction over which genre this film belongs to, became an unlistenable argument between Danny and Pappy over Freud’s Pleasure Principle and Death Drive. The boys recently sat down to revisit the conversation and managed to replace the previous Freud discussion with a much more productive one.

Our Hot Takes on In a Glass Cage mostly revolve around how well executed the shock was in this artsy chamber thriller. The guys try to make sense of the deep perversion of some of the characters and discuss Angelo’s shortcomings as a nurse.

In our Cold Cut edition of Grotesque, we give some serious consideration to the genre of torture porn, and David regales us with one of the craziest stories from his past.

One of the more recent films notorious for its violence, we get into Koji Shiraishi’s 2009 Grotesque. This is Hot Takes where we give off the cuff reactions as we dive deep into Japanese torture porn. While opinions vary as to what the movie is about and how good it is, it definitely made all a little squirmy while watching.

Join us as we conclude our take on McNaughton’s film with some fresh Cold Cuts. In this episode, plenty Henry Lee Lucas facts abound as Danny dips into his inner true crime podcast and goes FULL Henry. Also, we take a suspect serial killer personality test to see who we’d be.

In this week’s episode, Pappy and David try to get to Danny with John McNaughton’s serial killer film. Due to Danny’s fear that he might fall victim to a home invasion at any given moment, Pappy and David are pretty confident this one will put a crack in the armour Danny has been building up. Join us for Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer Hot Takes – everything is off the dome, gut reactions at we make sense of this cult classic.

Hand-picked by Danny, the boys watch Bill Zebub’s Breaking Her Will (2009). David makes interesting claims about the effectiveness of torture scenes. Danny seems to defend the trained talents of Bill Zebub’s actors. And Pappy leads a discussion on the panopticon. An important term is coined that appears in the rest of the season, and Danny, David and Pappy are tested to come up with their own awesome director pseudonym.

This episode we dive into the Bill Zebub’s low-budget psychological shock thriller Breaking Her Will. David struggles through his recap of the film we had finished moments earlier, and Pappy defends his character from “Who would you be?”. Danny continuously tries to force the conversation towards the films soundtrack and set.

n our first interview, we sit down with Mike Diana to discuss his recent documentary – Boiled Angels: The Trial of Mike Diana – and his unique story of art, the law and freedom of speech. Mike’s documentary is absolutely fascinating. There are a few screenings coming up. Please follow the link to find one near you.

Last week, we all took home an empathy quotient designed by Simon Baron-Cohen (affectionately known as Borat’s cousin). Listen in as we discover who is the least empathetic member of the podcast!

Time gets away from us as we dive into part three of Murder Set Pieces. This episode, Pappy leads a discussion on Empathy, we subject the killer in MSP to various psychopath tests and we all get a little homework – filling out individual empathy tests to see who's the least empathetic of the group. We promise this is the last episode on Murder Set Pieces.

Danny deals with pent up anxiety that’s built up since last episode. He almost goes Full Henry when explaining his reactions from part one. Pappy and David play everything from Devil’s Advocate and therapist to listening ears as Danny’s works out his guilt on the air. And we all get ready for a talk about empathy.

David and Pappy try to turn up the heat on Danny, but they're all left somewhat speechless after watching Nick Palumbo's Murder-Set-Pieces (2004) – for reasons they didn't quite expect. They introduce a 3-minute drill plot summary in an attempt to make sense of Palumbo's messy collage of extreme images.

The guys talk discuss how Martyrs was received in France, and begin to learn about European authoritarian censorship boards. Pappy drives a conversation about PTSD and how it’s represented in this film.

Danny is confronted with a film he’s been avoiding for years, but to Pappy and David’s dismay, he’s unaffected. Pappy reveals his cold and calculating nature, and the boys discuss just how far we would go for our friends in a rough situation.

After some research and deeper thought (and reading other people’s reviews), the guys realize that they have been mindbucked™. Pappy provides some thought provoking learning material on Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze and challenges Danny and David to think about Cutting Moments in a new way.

David and Pappy throw Danny into the deep end with one of the most notorious titles in horror movies and extreme cinema. The guys discover and navigate some implicit themes and are forced to admit that Cutting Moments was an excellent movie, despite their Hot Takes.