Herein are chronicled the judgements of this not-so-secret society as its members convene within an abandoned video store in the Stripmall of the Damned, where they scrutinize, criticize, analyze, brutalize, and otherwise vamp on the weirdest films in cin
Verifier Andy presents a Profile in Cinemania on Cinemania Patient Zero: H.P. Lovecraft, creator of the Cthulhu Mythos. Despite a rabid fear of everything, and incomprehensible degree of bigotry, he still managed to end up being one of the primary architects of the past century of science-fiction and horror. Written and performed by Andy Slack Sound design & editing by Andy Slack Caricature art by Andy Slack Comics Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio LEGAL NOTICE: This constitutes a work of parody and/or satire, and should not be construed as making statements or allegations of actual fact.
As the Society spies on their possibly sinister but definitely mysterious doppelgangers, Cinquisitor Ethan gets the idea to hold a Conclave examining Stuart Gordon's 1986 horror-comedy-horror film "From Beyond," perhaps the single most definitive adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft short story yet made. Definitely the stickiest, at any rate. Listen as hijinks ensue. Written by Ethan Ireland and Andy Slack Sound design & editing by Ethan Ireland Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Incidental music and sound courtesy of White Bat Audio Art & graphic design by Andy Slack Comics The Cinemania Society is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents appearing in this audioplay are either the product of the authors' imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead, or living dead; or actual events is purely coincidental and/or part of a work of parody that should not be construed as making statements or allegations of actual fact. All celebrity voices are impersonated unless otherwise stated.
In preparation for Conclave 18 (which is an absolute *banger,* the Society is re-running Verifier Andy's Profile in Cinemania celebrating Jeffrey Combs. See if you can guess what Combs-driven feature is going to feature in our next Conclave! Written and produced by Andy Slack Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Incidental music and sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound Caricature art by Andy Slack Comics LEGAL NOTICE: This is a work of parody only and should not be construed as making statements or allegations of actual fact.
Winding down our delve into all matters Frankensteinian, Verifier Andy and Cinquisitor Ethan meet to discuss the feminist-friendly flesh-golem feature film from 2023 "Poor Things," by Yorgos Lanthimos. Written & produced by Andy Slack Performed by Andy Slack & Ethan Ireland Sound design & editing by Andy Slack Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio
Collected here in one convenient place is the Omnibus edition of our Conclave No. 17, wherein The Cinemania Society returns to the Mall to find all has changed, and then proceeds to scrutinize the 1990 Roger Corman film "Frankenstein Unbound." Hosted by Andy Slack Editing and sound design by Ethan Ireland Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Incidental music and sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound Caricature art by Andy Slack Comics
Profligator Daniel presents this epic-length Profile in Cinemania on the mother of science-fiction, Mary Wolstonecraft Shelley. Mary Shelley is best known for her novel "Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus," as well as her feminism and her relationships with Regency-era English poets Percy Bysshe Shelley and Lord Byron. Ordinarily a PIC on an author would not be our bailiwick, but her best-known novel has been adapted for the screen numerous times and will doubtless be adapted numerous more... Written and performed by Daniel Scribner Editing by Andy Slack and Ethan Ireland Sound design by Ethan Ireland Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Tracks used: "Agreya," "Iridium," "Luminous," "Papaya Island" Caricature art by Andy Slack Comics
The Cinemania Society concludes its scrutiny of the 1990 film "Frankenstein Unbound" and terminates its initial skirmish versus their nefarious duplicates. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Sound design & editing by Ethan Ireland Art by Andy Slack Comics This audio play is a work of parody and should not be construed as making statements or allegations of fact.
Professor Andrea presents a Profile in Cinemania on a scion of one of Hollywood's most illustrious acting dynasties, Bridget Fonda. Written and performed by Andrea Palladino & Daniel Scribner Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Tracks used: "Laguna" and "Lost Cassette" Caricature art by Andy Slack Comics LEGAL NOTICE: This is a work of parody and should not be construed as making statements or allegations of fact.
While The Cinemania Society begins its campaign of strongly-worded missives directed at their doppelgängers, it also continues its scrutiny of the 1990 film "Frankenstein Unbound," Roger Corman's final directorial oeuvre starring John Hurt, Raul Julia, and Bridget Fonda. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Sound design & editing by Ethan Ireland Art by Andy Slack Comics This audio play is a work of parody and should not be construed as making statements or allegations of fact.
Our first Season 3 Profile in Cinemania is on the pride of Puerto Rico, Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay, better known as Raul Julia. Best known to Millennials as the cinematic representation of either The Addams Family's Gomez Addams or Street Fighter's M. Bison, Raul Julia's acting career saw him on stage and screens big and small. Written and performed by Andy Slack Production and Sound Design by Ethan Ireland Music by Meteor at meteormusic.bandcamp.com Caricature art by Andy Slack Comics Legal notice: this is a work of parody and should not be construed as making allegations or statements of fact.
Finally, the wait is over -- NEW EPISODE AHOY! Season 3 kicks off when The Cinemania Society returns to find that that the only constant in the universe is indeed change and in their attempt to return home, they learn that one can never go home again. Their reaction is, predictably, to hold a Conclave to get a handle on it. Verifier Andy chooses to scrutinize the 1990 film "Frankenstein Unbound," Roger Corman's final directorial oeuvre starring John Hurt, Raul Julia, and Bridget Fonda. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Sound design & editing by Ethan Ireland Art by Andy Slack Comics This audio play is a work of parody and should not be construed as making statements or allegations of fact.
In this prelude to Season 3, the Cinemania High Council faces an unexpected reckoning... Written by Daniel Scribner Production & Sound Design by Andy Slack Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Sound FX and incidental music courtesy of Epidemic Sound
Before we get on with Season 3, we're taking a final dip into the Memory Hole for one of our better Profiles in Cinemania, this time on everyone's favorite typecast space wizard. New material drops next week! Written by Ethan Ireland, Andy Slack, and Andrea Palladino Performed by Ethan Ireland Production and sound design by Ethan Ireland Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Caricature art by Andy Slack Comics Legal notice: this is a work of parody and should not be construed as making allegations or statements of fact.
Since it pains us that so much of our Season 1 has been memory-holed, we thought you folks would enjoy this Profile we did on the late (late late late late) Sir John Hurt. Hang in there, new material is coming! Big things are afoot! (You'll find this profile has a lot to do with the pending 1st Conclave of Season 3) Written by Ethan Ireland Performed by Alessa Luz Martinez as Andre Martinez Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Legal notice: This is a work of parody. LEGAL NOTICE: This is a work of parody and should not be construed as making statements or allegations of fact.
So, so much of our early work has disappeared from the internet. If you're GenX or a Millennial, and you grew up with home video, it's a good chance you heard music performed by Vangelis, master of synthesized scores. Here's our memorial take on the guy. Hang in there, new stuff is coming. Written by Ethan Ireland & Andy Slack Performed by Andre Luc Martinez & Zacharia Berks Mixed & Mastered by Ethan Ireland Music track: "Heart of Night" and "Alien Ruins" courtesy of Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio LEGAL NOTICE: This is a work of parody and should not be construed as making statements or allegations of fact.
This is the last of our S1 re-runs, which means we're getting toward the end of our S2-S3 hiatus folks. Just in case you didn't already know, we're re-running all the S1 Conclaves during our hiatus because a few uncouth podcast aggregators refuse to make our back episodes available. In this, the final episode of Season 1, Cinquisitor Ethan holds a Conclave examining Ralph Bakshi's 1977 ALLEGEDLY drug-fueled and definitely-not-for-kids feature-length cartoon epic of fairies versus neo-Nazis, "Wizards." Honestly one of the weirdest films of all time. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio
Hi! It's Atus. Hi Atus! Get it? Yeah, okay. Dad joke over. You probably know the drill by now, but just in case you don't we're re-running all the S1 Conclaves during our S2-S3 hiatus because CERTAIN podcast aggregators won't make our back episodes available. In this one, Auntie Hope joins us in earnest and forces us all to scrutinize Ridley Scott's brother Tony's directorial debut, the lesbian vampire movie from 1984 "The Hunger." Get out the popcorn, folks. It's going to be a live one. Er, that is, an un-live one. Whatever. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio
Hiatus continues. Not for much longer, though. Just long enough to catch people up on our old material so they can understand the full flower of the story we're trying to tell since Big Streaming wanted to deny you all. Here's Conclave #6, featuring Professor Andrea taking us on a journey through time and space as we explore her favorite fantasy film, 1981's "Time Bandits" -- otherwise known as "the film that made Terry Gilliam and almost broke George Harrison." Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio
Guess what? Chicken butt! ...and our hiatus continues. We're re-running the complete set of Conclaves from Season 1, since SOMEONE at Spotify and other podcast aggregators decided to un-list our first season. Here's Conclave #5, wherein Daniel Scribner takes us on a journey through John Carpenter's tribute to both Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft, 1994's "In the Mouth of Madness." Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio
Yep, we're still on hiatus. Good new stuff is coming, don't worry. Just relax and enjoy the complete run of Conclaves from Season 1, since Spotify and other podcast aggregators haven't been listing our first season. To that end, here's Conclave #4, featuring Alessa Luz Martinez playing André Luc Martinez, when we took a deep dive into the landmark 1956 sci-fi epic, "Forbidden Planet." This film was a major source of inspiration for Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek and launched the hardest-working robot in showbiz, Robby the Robot. This conclave concludes with an interview of a very special guest: Tim Russ, best known for his role as "Tuvok" on Star Trek: Voyager. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio
We're still on hiatus, which means we're keeping our promise to re-post the complete run of Conclaves from Season 1, since they haven't been appearing on many major podcast aggregators. Anyhow, here's Conclave #3, where Verifier Andy took us on a deep dive into the 1978 film "The Shout," Jerzy Skolimowski's *exceedingly* British psychosexual drama based on Robert Graves' short story of the same name. We conclude the conclave by interviewing our special guest Alex, a/k/a The Trash Shaman, a real-life student of the occult who has had experience with applying shamanic practices himself, with people escaping cults, and has dealt with charismatic con-men of the type portrayed in the film. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio
Continuing our post Season 2 hiatus, we're bringing you our complete run of Conclaves from Season 1, since they don't appear on a lot of major podcast aggregation services. Here's Conclave #2, held to scrutinize the Japanese Punk Zombie film from 2000, "WILD ZERO!" Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio
It has been brought to our attention that our *entire* Season 1 run of episodes doesn't appear on a lot of different podcast aggregators. Well! We're going to fix that! Since we're on hiatus after Season 2 (Season 3 is coming, folks, don't worry!), let's get everyone caught up on Season 1, shall we? Here, for your listenting pleasure, is the Compleat Naked Lunch. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio
Ever wonder how we got where we are? Recent events have caused Cinquisitor Ethan to reflect upon how we may have gotten there in a Field Report that examines one of the vilest sources of CINEMANIA yet encountered, Stanley Kubrick's 1972 film "A Clockwork Orange." Trigger warning: rape, abuse, fascism, psychological manipulation Written and performed by Ethan Ireland Audio engineering, sound design, and editing by Ethan Ireland Incidental music and sound courtesy of Epidemic Sound Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Tracks used: "Slasher," "Violence," "Safe House"
Verifier Andy presents a profile on the recently-deceased David Lynch, Hollywood's Avatar of Ambiguity, Master of the Mysterious Metaphor, and Señor of Sinister Symbolism. Farewell David, we hardly knew ye -- which is exactly the way you wanted it. Written & performed by Andy Slack Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Incidental Music & Sound Effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound Caricature art by andyslackcomics.com
For the conclusion of our Season 2 Lens Friend series, Daniel Scribner sits down with Alessa Luz Martinez to discuss her pick for Season 2, "Total Recall." These were some of the most popular and highly-rated episodes we've done to date, and Alessa explores her use of the framing story of those episodes as a tool to facilitate her public coming out as trans. Daniel also asks Alessa the same questions we asked one another in Part 1 of Lens Friends, and teases her pick for Season 3. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Incidental Music & Sound Courtesy of Epidemic Sound Directed by Daniel Scribner Editing & Sound Design by Ethan Ireland
The members of The Cinemania Society step out of character to do a wrap up of Season 2, where they talk about the how the podcast has evolved over Season 2 (which was released over 2 full years!), how they've evolved & improved, which movies and episodes from the past season were their favorites, and give the listeners a few teasers about Season 3... Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Incidental music and sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound
This episode compiles all of our episodes comprising Conclave 16, our final Conclave of Season 2, wherein we analyze Lance Mungia's 1998 post-a'rockalypse move "Six String Samurai." Sound design by Ethan Ireland Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Incidental music courtesy of Epidemic Sound
Just in time for Christmukkah, we bring you our 2024 Holiday Special! Scrutinizer Zacharia helps us ring in our own pending apocalypse with a Cinemania Field Report on the exceedingly British Christmas / Zombie Apocalpyse mash-up feature from 2017, "Anna and the Apocalypse." And remember! Ask not for whom the Christmas Bell tolls. It tolls for we... Written by Zacharia Berks and Andy Slack Performed by Zacharia Berks Directed by Daniel Scribner Mixing and Sound Design by Ethan Ireland Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio - Tracks Used: "Wrath" and "Full Metal Jacket" Incidental music and sound effects courtesy of Epidemic Sound Image used courtesy of Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Image has had text alterations.
In this episode, the Society wraps up its review of 1998's "Six String Samurai" and has its final showdown with Death Themself (tm). Will the Society survive? More importantly, will our sanity and sense of good taste survive? Find out in this, our Season 2 finale... FEATURING SPECIAL GUEST STAR KEITH LOWELL JENSEN The Cinemania Society will return later in 2025. We will have a few more miscellaneous episodes to wrap things up before the break, and then the occasional tidbit to tide you over until Season 3. Thanks to everyone for the support and for sharing this with friends. And if you haven't shared with your friends, why the hell haven't you already?! We've got over 100 episodes for them, so tie 'em to a chair* and make 'em listen to all! Sound design by Ethan Ireland Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Incidental music courtesy of Epidemic Sound *This is a joke, not incitement, please do not actually tie anyone to a chair. At least not without consent. We're not kink-shaming.
Given that two of our recent field reports have remarked upon films from a particular year, Auntie Hope decided to take an extended dive into the year 1979 to present a Cinemania Field Report on what turned out to be a landmark year for CINEMANIA. This is a work of parody / satire and should not be construed as a statement of fact. Written by Ethan Ireland, Andy Slack, and Hope Bravo; and performed by Hope Bravo Music by Meteor at meteormusic.bandcamp.com Tracks used: The Spell, Saints and Demons, Thaumogenesis, Suspended in Time, Smoke Trails, Emptiness Image used courtesy of Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 Image has had text alterations.
Lost within the world's largest smallest model of New York City, the outcasts find themselves on the run from their Final Destination. But not even Death Themself can stop a Conclave once the Clave's gotten Conning! The heretic rogues continue their analysis of Lance Mungia's "Six-String Samurai," a style-over-substance post-a'rockalypse samurai musical from the late '90s, starring Jeffrey Falcon (no, really!) and featuring a soundtrack by Russian Rokenrol group The Red Elvises. WITH SPECIAL GUEST STAR KEITH LOWELL JENSEN
Verifier Andy, Master Illuminator, presents a Cinemania Field Report examining Disney's 1979 foray into live-action sci-fi horror, "The Black Hole," and his own experience suffering a case of creeping CINEMANIA from (of all sources) a book about this film. Written and performed by Andy Slack Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio LEGAL NOTICE: This is a work of satire / parody and statements made herein should not be construed as making allegations or statements of fact. Cassette tape stock image by WayneStock provided courtesy of WikiMedia Commons and appears under the Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Image has been modified to include text. Deed: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Waynestock_Mixed_Tape_Shirt_Design.png Source site: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waynestock_Mixed_Tape_Shirt_Design.png
The remaining survivors exiled from the Strip Mall of the Damned find themselves in the world's smallest largest model of New York City. The place is in ruins, which leads Scrutinizer Zacharia to take the lead by proposing the latest conclave: Lance Mungia's 1998 film "Six-String Samurai," a rockin' and rollin' post-apocalyptic alternate future where a Buddy Holly lookalike strides across the ruins of the Old World seeking to claim the mantle of King.
Cinquisitor Ethan submits a field report about the 1979 film Lucio Fulci's "Zombie," a/k/a "Zombi 2," a/k/a "Zombie Flesh Eaters." This knock-off-slash-sort-of-sequel to George A. Romero's 1978 film, "Dawn of the Dead," isn't widely known, yet it's highly influential and features some grave sources of CINEMANIA. Listen at your own risk. Written and performed by Ethan Ireland Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio. Tracks featured: "The Wraith," "Dark Thriller Theme," "Dark Thriller Loop 1," "From the Deep," and "Boarding Nostromo." Extract from "Zombi 2 Theme" by Fabio Frizzi (appearing between 11m56s and 12m48s of this program) is presented here as non-profit /educational "Fair Use," for purposes of criticism / comment as provided under U.S.C. Section 107. LEGAL NOTICE: This is a work of satire / parody and any statements should not be construed as statements or allegations of fact. Cassette tape stock image by Thegreenj provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, and appears here under CC By SA 3.0 "Share Alike" license. This image was modified to remove brand logos and to add text. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Compactcassette.jpg
The Cinemania Society's 16th Conclave begins with a peek into the deliberations of the Cinemania High Council, who call upon the unthinkable to implement the ultimate sanction...
The Cinemania Society's 2024 Halloween Special is a piece of new fiction by frequent contributor and friend of the pod, Patrick Ireland. In this spooky story, a bibliophile finds herself trapped in a bookstore after hours. Written by Patrick Ireland Performed by Andrea Palladino Editing & sound design by Alessa Luz Martinez Opening / closing title music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Track used: "Black Lotus."
Professor Andrea presents a report from the field about a source of CINEMANIA she recently encountered, Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film "The Birds." Not only can this film cause CINEMANIA in the viewers, but upon viewing, it is obvious the filmmakers themselves suffered its debilitating effects during the course of production. LEGAL NOTICE: This is a work of satire / parody and should not be construed as making statements of fact. Written and performed by Andrea Palladino, with additional material by Andy Slack and Ethan Ireland. Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Tracks used: "Patrol Bot," "Alliance," and "Tyrell Corporation." Cassette tape stock image by Thegreenj provided courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, and appears here under CC By SA 3.0 "Share Alike" license. This image was modified to remove brand logos and to add text. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Compactcassette.jpg
As Halloween approaches, The Society re-runs on one of our favorite profiles: one taking a look at the hardest-working automaton in showbiz, Robbie the emmeffin Robot. British Robocop and Kraftwerk's Vacuum Cleaner ain't got nothin on the OG of cinematic androids. Come have a listen. More original content next week -- and stay tuned for our 2024 Halloween Special on October 30. Episodes of the Season 2 finale begin in November...
Andy Slack presents an original story of his. Among human relationships, relations with neighbors are often overlooked in favor of closer, more "emotionally important" people in our lives. But sometimes those individuals whom blind chance has deemed that we must live beside can open our minds to all sorts of new and different possibilities... Written and performed by Andy Slack Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Tracks used: "Black Lotus" and "Prey" Incidental music courtesy of Epidemic Sound
Our own Hope Bravo honors the memory the recently-passed Dame Maggie Smith, a woman who had the rarest of talents, enough that she earned of the "Triple Crown" of acting: a Tony, an Emmy, and an Oscar. Written by Andy Slack Performed by Hope Bravo Editing & Sound Design by Ethan Ireland Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Tracks used: "Millennium" and "Monolith." Caricature art by Andy Slack Comics
Verifier Andy brings us the first in our "In Celebram" series of Profiles in Cinemania, wherein we *urp* celebrate an individual for their contributions, instead of excoriating them for being a cause of CINEMANIA. This episode is about cinematic and television standby, the fan favorite Jeffrey Combs. DISCLAIMER: This is a work of satire and/or parody, and should not be construed as fact. Written and performed by Andy Slack Caricature art by Andy Slack Comics Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Tracks used: "The Witness" and "Undercover"
After ordering numerous failed assassination attempts, the Cinemania High Council holds its penultimate meeting to decide the fates of our protagonists...
The man with the most distinctive voice of the past century, an actor of supreme skill and talent, James Earl Jones, has left us. Vale. The peerless Andy Slack provides you, the listener, with the man's requiem. Written and performed by Andy Slack Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Tracks used: "Dead or Alive" and "Vintage."
Presented here for your listening convenience is all three parts of Conclave No. 15, wherein the society analyzes the 2010 film "Rubber."
Cinquisitor Ethan explores the trope of depicting exploding heads on screen. Where the hell did this come from, anyhow? Why did it become such a thing? Well, listen to find out... Written and performed by Ethan Ireland and Daniel Scribner Music by Meteor at meteormusic.bandcamp.com Incidental music by Epidemic Sound Meteor tracks used: "Manhattan 2019," "The Dark Side of the Sun," "The Streets of Hell," and "Unbreakable."
In our final episode of this conclave, the Cinemania Society is on the run from a pack of biker assassins, and arrives at a roadhouse to conclude its analysis of Quentin Dupieux's 2010 magical realist / neo-impressionist film about a psychic car tire, "Rubber." Pull up a stool, get a beer in your hand, and listen along...
Professor Andrea takes us on a foray into the cinematic genre of Magical Realism, into which fall films such as Amélie, Like Water for Chocolate, and Pan's Labyrinth. What is "magical realism," anyhow? Well, Andrea tells us... Written & Performed by Andrea Palladino Mixing, Mastering, and Sound Design by Ethan Ireland Music by Karl Casey at White Bat Audio Tracks used: "Atlantis" and "Lavender Haze."
Having evaded a group of biker-assassins by slipping into a seedy motel, the gang gets back on the road to continue their analysis of a film from 2010 about a (no, really) psychic killer tire: "Rubber."
From Ferris Bueller to Deadpool, it seems that "breaking the fourth wall" has become all the rage these days. In this week's Profile in Cinemania, Verifier Andy digs into the history, breaks down fourth wall breaks, and examines why this trope might be far older than you'd imagine...
When their stolen Popemobile breaks down, the gang finds themselves lost somewhere in the American Southwest. Naturally, Cinquistor Ethan declares that this is *the* perfect time to hold a Conclave to analyze Quentin Dupieux's surreal offering "Rubber" from 2010...