Saturday Night Freak Show

This week, the whitest people you ever met take a viewing of Brent's movie choice: the blaxsploitation classic Dolemite (1975). Stand up comedian Rudy Ray Moore stars as a flamboyant pimp who's given a few days out of jail to catch the guys who set him up and clear his name. Listen as we explore the origins of blaxsploitation movies and the full spread of afro-centric action heroes of the 1970's! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week Sean looks to outer space and rains down Critters (1986) upon us, in which the family farm comes under attack from adorable but mean alien creatures (think Gizmo, but with teeth). The 'crites' are, in turn, pursued by two shape-shifting, alien bounty hunters who contribute nothing to the story but mayhem and destruction. Join us as we make this discovery about our bounty-hunting friends, and hear how Critters stacks up against Gremlins, Ghoulies and Munchies! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we watch Travis' pick of Lamberto Bava's 1985 gore opus, Demons. A disparate group of people are given free tickets to see a sneak preview of a new horror movie, but terror erupts in the theater as, one-by-one, the patrons turn into bloodthirsty demons. Join us as we pontificate about the logistics of lopping off demon heads with a samurai sword while riding your motorcycle down a theater aisle and other amusements on this week's exciting podcast! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Colin condemns us to watch Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1974), a true grindhouse exploitation classic. Busty Dyanne Thorne stars as the commandant Nazi prison camp who conducts harrowing "scientific" experiments on the camp's female population while forcing the male subjects to fulfill her voracious sexual appetite. Join us as we revisit one of cinema's roughest cult classics on this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Tom introduces us to the cinematic atrocity known as Mean Guns (1997), in which prolific schlockmeister Albert Pyun (Sword and the Sorcerer, Cyborg) traps bleach-blonde Christopher Lambert (Highlander, Mortal Kombat) and Ice-T (Tank Girl, Johnny Mneumonic) in a soon-to-be-opened prison, along with 100 other hitmen and killers, in a game of kill-or-be-killed. Join us as we try to decipher the incomprehensible plot of this action movie that also stars Thom Matthews (Friday the 13th Part 6, Return of the Living Dead) and the bad guy from Karate Kid Part II, all grown up. Fun for the whole family! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Every Saturday, all year long, the guys of the Saturday Night Freak Show watch each other's movie picks. But, we see as many new movies as we can as well! Gather 'round and celebrate the arrival of 2014 with a look back at the past year in film, as Brent, Tom, Colin, Travis and Sean unveil their favorite releases of 2013. We'll be back with our regularly scheduled Freak Show this weekend! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Brent concludes our holiday excursion with a look at the third of director Robert Zemeckis' motion capture films, Disney's A Christmas Carol, which stars Jim Carrey as Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future. The conversation includes talk of motion capture technology, digital animation, and an appreciation of holiday movies. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Sean looks back upon the film that ruined Christmases for the Moral Majority in 1984 - the notorious Silent Night, Deadly Night. A traumatized lad suffers the loss of his parents at the hands of a Santa Claus-suit wearing criminal; years later, when asked to don a Santa suit for the toy store he works at, he snaps and goes on a slasher killing spree. The movie outgrossed A Nightmare on Elm Street (they were released on the same weekend), and we take a look back at it on this exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Travis gets us in the Christmas spirit with Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy (1996), the first and only feature film featuring the Canadian sketch-comedy troupe, in which a pharmaceutical scientist creates a pill that makes people remember their happiest memory, although it has unfortunate side effects. What does that have to do with Christmas, you ask? You'll have to tune in to find out in this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Colin celebrates Christmas with the holiday classic Hardware, which sees a post-apocalyptic artist (Stacey Travis) menaced in her apartment by a killer robot that re-assembles itself after her boyfriend (Dylan McDermott) brings it in from the wasteland. We talk sci-fi movies, killer robot movies, post-apocalyptic movies, and Christmas all in this week's exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Tom ushers in the Yuletide season with the holiday classic Gremlins (1984) that proves that Christmas consumerism can lead to madness, death and monsters. Joe Dante (The Howling, Piranha) directs this terror tale for the junior set in which an inventor brings home a strange new pet for his son which comes with three strict rules: don't expose them to light, don't get them wet, and don't ever let them eat after midnight. Listen to us relive the glory of the 80's on this exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

After our attempt to stream Beowulf in 3D via Netflix goes teats-up, Brent chooses the 3D remastered Jurassic Park (1993) as a consolation prize. Which is fitting, because Steven Spielberg's dinosaur epic turned 20 years old this year. Join us as we talk about the film and it's impact over the decades, and the post-Jurassic Park careers of the principal folks involved in this exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, the Freak Show overindulges in breaking down Travis' Holy Grail: the 2013 Superman re-do Man of Steel, in an epic 3-and-a-half hour discussion that leaves no stone unturned in analyzing Zack Snyder's comic book adaptation pretty much scene-by-scene. The podcast proves as contentious as the movie as Superman continues to weave a swath of destruction that in this case includes a couple of podcasters themselves! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Colin takes us into the third dimension with 1983's Amityville 3-D, the third theatrical installment of the classic Amityville Horror trilogy, which find's a skeptical magazine writer (Tony Roberts) moving into the infamous Long Island address despite warnings from pretty much everyone around him, and chronicles the supernatural shenanigans that ensue. A young Meg Ryan co-stars. Join us as we talk about the Amityville franchise, 3-D movies then and now, and about how movie posters create unrealistic expectations for some viewers. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We wrap up our month of Halloween-themed movie picks with Tom's choice of Hocus Pocus, which stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson Sisters, a trio of witches from Salem, Massachusetts who are reawakened in the modern day (on Halloween, no less) to wreak havoc. Join us as we talk all things Halloween, Disney, witchcraft and Sarah Jessica Parker on this exciting episode of the Saturday Night Freak Show! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Listen to our Halloween Special, a trick-or-treat grab bag in which we take a look back at childhood Halloween TV standards including Walt Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and Garfield's Halloween Adventure! Which one did we like the best? Listen in and find out! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We continue to celebrate Halloween with Brent's pick: Flatliners (1990), in which five too-smart-for-their-own-good medical students attempt to prove life-after-death by killing and resurrecting themselves in an experiment; but soon they discover that they may not have returned from the other side alone... Join us as we talk about awesome production design, the career trajectories of the 90's Brat Pack, faith, religion, character arcs and all that good stuff on this exciting episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Our Halloween celebration continues this week with Sean's pick, Curse of Chucky (2013), which sees the return of everyone's favorite killer doll. The new installment eschews the post-modern camp comedy of his last few screen outings in favor of a return to Gothic horror. A new family, including paraplegic Nika (Fiona Dourif), comes into possession of the infamous Chucky (Brad Dourif) and mayhem ensues. Join us as we revisite the entire Child's Play franchise and the legacy of this pint-sized slasher! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Halloween month continues with Travis' trip back to the past via the original screen adaptation of Tales from the Crypt (1972), an omnibus horror film from England's Amicus Productions which features 5 jolting tales of terror. Join us as we explore the history of Tales from the Crypt, from it's beginnings in E.C. comics, English film adaptations, successful HBO TV series, the Cryptkeeper, and beyond! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we usher in Halloween with Colin's pick of Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), a famous monster-rally that has comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello running afoul of Dracula (Bela Lugosi), the Frankenstein Monster (Glenn Strange), and The Wolf Man (Lon Chaney, Jr.). Join us as we talk about the impact and legacy of the Universal Studios Monsters, vaudevillian comedy acts, Hammer films, and more! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.