The Horror Explorer Podcast

Long ago Dave, Erik, Nat, and Aly recorded an episode revisiting Killer Klowns From Outer Space. Plagued with technical and audio issues, this episode remained in the can for months because the hours of repair required to make it publishable was just more work than I wanted to do. Thankfully, occasional co-host Tim decided to take a swing at editing it... and a couple of months later, I decided to finish it up and publish it. There are still a couple of issues with the editing, but we did our best to have something to put out for everyone until we come back this summer.

We're back! This week Dave, Erik, Liam, and Tim take a bite out of the 1986 creature feature "Critters". Perhaps boosted by the success of "Gremlins", this moderately successful movie is perhaps the most memorable Small Creature Feature out of a small field of similar movies such as "Ghoulies" and "Munchies". Fuzzy little balls of hunger and destruction escape an space prison and land on planet Earth for a bite to eat but bite off more than they can chew in a midwestern town as intergalactic bounty hunters are in pursuit.

On this episode of the Horror Explorer Flashback, Dave, Erik, Tim and Liam take longing, awkward look at forgotten director Fred Decker's 1986 coming-of-age-and-kinda-gay-even-though-it's-the-80s sci-fi/horror homage "Night of the Creeps". Liam lusts for John Carpenter while Tim's eyes linger on an alien's groin as the gang all takes in this undeniable and obviously inspirational cult classic.

This week Dave, Liam, Erik, and Shaun look back on 1984's "Night of the Comet", a tale of two sisters trying to get laid (and survive) in the aftermath of a comet-spawned apocalypse that has left the world almost completely wiped clean of human life. They also spend a surprising amount of time discovering and discussing the career and achievements of Tami Holbrook.

This week Dave is living out his podcasting fantasies as he gets to discuss the feminist slasher parody "The Slumber Party Massacre" again, but this time with 3 young women as Lauren, Aly, and Nat join him to talk about things like male gaze, voyeurism in horror, impotence, and phallic symbols. I'm sure he'll mention Carol Clover at least once.

This episode of the Horror Explorer Flashback revisits an uncommonly good offering from producer Charles Band, 1986's "Terrorvision". A gluttonous monster from another planet is beamed away for disposal only to end up arriving in the television set of an outrageous mid 80s family of archetypes, setting off a scathing indictment of 1980s society and culture as well as commentary on the impact the availability of a wider range of TV entertainment had on the American family.

The first episode of our new "Flashback" podcast, in which Mike hands the keys to the podcast off to his younger and newer co-hosts so they can check out some of the movies we covered long ago in our old format....and there's no better way to start this off than with 1980's extra-obscure "Night of the Demon". This movie revolves around a wildly irresponsible college professor's suicidal field trip with his students into the killing spree of a rapist bigfoot.

This week Mike, Lauren, Dave, and Liam take a look at one of Mike's favorite movies of all time, "The Hitcher"(1986). This is the story of a young man driving a car across the desert who makes the mistake of picking up a hitchhiker who is unfortunately also an unstoppable killing machine. The young man escapes, but The Hitcher follows him across the desert leaving a path of death and destruction. If you thought that "Mad Max: Fury Road" was wonderfully shot, you'll be amazed by what it's Director of Photography John Seale was able to do to the desert 30 years earlier (without the help of CGI) in this movie.

This week Mike introduces Lauren and Tim to "Jacob's Ladder"(1990).  A Vietnam veteran traumatized by the death of his young son struggles to maintain his grip on sanity as the line between horrific reality and horrific delusion is blurred not only for himself, but for us as well.

This week  Mike, Erik, Liam and MHMM Dave check out the one and only Chuck Norris horror movie, "Silent Rage". Obviously seizing upon the early 80s success of the Halloween franchise and the slasher craze in general, this movie features upcoming action star Chuck Norris going against a scientifically resurrected psychopathic Michael Myers clone whose only apparent vulnerability just happens to be roundhouse kicks. Do action and slasher go together like chocolate and peanut butter, or like toothpaste and orange juice?

This Week Mike, Liam, and MHMM Dave welcome new panelist Erik as we get abducted by the 1989 box office flop "Communion", based on the NYT #1 best seller of the same name that pretty much mainstreamed UFO abduction mythology. Written and produced by the book's author, Whitley Strieber, this movie features Christopher Walken... it Stars Christopher Walken... it IS Christopher Walken, turned up to 11 and at the craziest you'll ever see him. Add an anal probe, another terrible child actor, an unsupportive wife, and some dancing aliens and you get one of the most baffling movies we've ever examined.

This week Lauren, Liam, MHMM Dave, and Mike explore "The Pit", the story of a 12 year old boy who has more than one hole on his mind. Walking a fine line between childhood innocence and full blown sexual assault, Jamie creeps out his entire community and has no friends besides a talking teddy bear who encourages his worst urges. The horny, warped child struggles to feed both of his obsessions - a young woman his distant parents have hired to care for him, and a pit hidden deep in the woods that is home to prehistoric monsters.

This week Mike, Dave, Liam and Lauren learn that duck and cover might help you survive the initial blasts of a nuclear war but the only way to survive the ensuing apocalypse is to crouch and walk cautiously. We follow 5 army deserters as they do just that in an abandoned government research lab that isn't completely abandoned because the experiment hasn't left yet... and neither will they!

We're back! We made good use of our time off gathering up fresh young co-hosts. This week we welcome Liam and Lauren to the show and break them in with the 1981 Corman sci-fi/horror flick "Galaxy of Terror". Will the star power of a Happy Days actress and early performances by relatively young Sid Haig and Robert Englund be enough to win them over?

This week we welcome TJ back to the show and take a look at the meta-horror/comedy "There's Nothing Out There". Predating other self-aware, fan servicing horrors such as Scream and Cabin in the Woods, this movie follows a group of friends out for some vacation debauchery as3 cliche couples endure one annoying loser who's obsessed with horror movies and uses his knowledge to try to warn them of the impending doom that they are sure to face.

Since everyone loved The Toxic Avenger, Mike picked another original Troma movie for this episode, "Class of Nuke 'Em High". Once again we visit Tromaville, this time turning our attention to the local high school right next to a nuclear power plant that happens to spring a leak, changing some of the students into outlandish gang members that sell radioactive marijuana that causes birth defects.

Mike decided to change the schedule around a bit after last week's movie and string together a couple of Troma movies. This week we look at the the seminal Troma creation "The Toxic Avenger"(1984), a wildly transgressive movie for the times that would end up putting Troma on the map and lead to a spinoff cartoon and many sequels and crossovers in the Troma universe. Another 80s ode to the dangers of pollution, this movie dunks a dorky janitor into a drum of toxic waste and turns him into "New Jersey's First Super Hero", a deformed human monster who walks a gory and montage-laden path to vengeance and justice.

Mike, Alicia, and Dave are just completely and utterly rekt by a 1-star iTunes review of the podcast from some mysterious person who claims to have listened to FIVE 1-hour episodes of a podcast they really hate. Dave has to be airlifted to the burn unit after experiencing multiple SICK burns at the hands of the world's most astute and witty podcast reviewer who is also chameleon-like in his ability to conceal his identity. After everyone recovers from being criticized by someone whose name resembles an Xbox gamertag, we move on to discussing this week's movie: "The Children"(1980), a movie in which a small New England town's children have gone missing after driving through a radioactive cloud from a nuclear power plant, only to return as freakishly grinning zombies with black fingernails that can cook people just by hugging them.

This week Mike has the gang take a bite out of "Cannibal Ferox", Umberto Lenzi's 1981 attempt to replicate the infamous Italian cannibal movie "Cannibal Holocaust", and gets some surprising reactions. If you check out the movie because of this episode (and we hope you do) please be aware that there is a lot of animal cruelty in it.

This week we introduce a short new segment in which Critical Dave gets to review a screener that has been submitted to us. After that we discuss "C.H.U.D.", a movie in which corrupt government officials try to stop too many characters from spilling the beans on a missing persons epidemic that can be traced back to man eating monsters living in NYC's vast underground tunnels.

This week Mike suggests a movie that he's never actually watched through before. Metamorphosis: The Alien Factor was intended to be a sequel to The Deadly Spawn, but the filmmakers were afraid that associating it with such a low budget movie would reduce interest in it... but nobody ever heard of it anyways.

This week Critical Dave gets something to sink his teeth into when Mike makes the gang watch the 1986 movie "Troll", perhaps best know for being the movie before "Troll 2". A new family moves into an apartment building and brings along the worst nuisance imaginable - children. The youngest daughter almost immediately unleashes an ancient evil that possesses her body and begins going door to door in the building, turning the residents into other trolls and their apartments into habitats. As the music tests our patience, the little girl's brother and the conveniently located "good witch" next door try to stop the troll before it's too late.

Shocked that they had never seen the movie, Mike makes the crew watch "The 'Burbs" even though it's just a comedy with some horror elements. Really how does a movie as great as this get lost in the annals of film history so quickly? A group of neighbors in a quiet but quirky suburb become suspicious of a new creepy family on the block and begin investigating after the mysterious disappearance of one of their own. Are these people paranoid or has evil really found a new home next door?

We're back! The Horror Explorer Podcast has returned with a new and improved shorter and more focused format! VHS-era horror aficionado Mike chooses and older or obscure horror movie for his younger co-hosts to watch that most younger people have never seen, or maybe even heard of, and has them review it in a lively discussion of everything from cinematography or special effects to double penetration and butt-chugging. Go ahead and google it!This week, Mike makes our eager youths (Alicia, David and Jordan) watch the original 1978 Roger Corman classic "Piranha" directed by Joe Dante. Given the wide variety of quality in Corman movies, this could go either way! Is it just a JAWS ripoff? How does it compare to the 21st century remake? Was alcoholism just not that big of a deal in 1978? Press play to find out!

This week everyone but Mike talks about Richard Stanley's killer robot movie "Hardware". Since Matt didn't turn off Steam it occasionally sounds like everyone is talking through a box fan for a bit, but that gets cleared up in time for Dave to read way too much into some mirror scenes.This week's outtro music is "You Are a Mirror" by Silence is Sexy