Saturday Night Freak Show

This week, Brent insists asks "who you gonna call?" and we answer with a resounding: Ghostbusters (1984). As it nears it's 30th birthday, the Ghostbusters phenomenon shows no sign of slowing down, with a recent release of a video game, featuring the voices of all the lead actors, and the continued threat of a Ghostbusters 3. We go after Ghostbusters' cinematic lineage, featuring appearances by The Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello and Mickey Mouse, Saturday morning cartoons, Star Wars and more that lead to the creation of the world's first multi-million-dollar-visual-effects-heavy-scare-comedy. Plus, it almost comes to blows as RoboCop's status as a B-team cinematic superhero comes up for debate, and Brent and Sean relate spellbinding stories about meeting Bill Murray. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, Tom rolls out a staple of fantasy cinema - the George Lucas-produced, Ron Howard-directed Willow (1988), about a young Hobbit-like fellow named Willow Ufgood (Warwick Davis) who undertakes a task to escort a baby of prophesied birth to her destiny and end the rule of a wicked queen. He's aided by the likes of roguish swordsman Mad Mardigan (Val Kilmer) and a host of fairies, sword-maidens, wizards and the like as Lucas and Co. combine elements from every myth and fable ever told alongside some pioneering visual effects. We get a bonus female perspective on this episode from guest star Elaine, which includes eye-opening discoveries about the dangers of Ron Howard Syndrome, we try to gain an understanding of overly-complicated fantasy fiction terms, and we try to coin a new phrase - the "honk-shake". See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Travis takes us on a trip down memory lane via The Last Starfighter (1984), and we relive a simpler time when video games were played at arcades and every boy wanted to be a space fighter. Alex Rogan (Halloween II's Lance Guest) lives at a Californian trailer park with his mom and brother; he's an ace at an arcade game called Starfighter, and one night he's recruited by alien Centauri (The Music Man's Robert Preston) to fight an actual space battle against a hostile alien force. The talk takes us on an exploration of Spielberg and Lucas' influence on 80's sci-fi, and Brent discovers that Back to the Future was not the first movie to use a flying DeLorean. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, Colin takes us into the colorful world of a supercriminal named Diabolik who originated in Italian comic strips with Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik (1968). Diabolik (John Phillip Law) is a master thief in a black leather getup who robs from the mob or the government with equal enthusiasm, usually to impress his superfoxy girlfriend Eva (Marissa Mell). Join us as we try to start the Marisa Mell Appreciation Soceity, delve deep into the career of Italian horror maestro Bava, make parellels between Danger: Diabolik and Austin Powers, James Bond and the Mission: Impossible movies, and Tom sings a cover version of the memorable title song See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, Brent chooses the pioneering, live action/animation hybrid Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) for us to watch. The film takes place in an alternate reality 1940's Hollywood in which animated characters co-exist with human beings; when Roger Rabbit is framed for murder, a down-on-his-luck gumshoe (Bob Hoskins) finds himself reluctantly trying to clear his name. The film inspires discussion on the topics of: the career of Robert Zemeckis (and the influence of Steven Spielberg); Disney characters vs Warner Bros. characters; are graphic artists worthy of winning awards for Best Cinematography; and we hear about sexual fantasies starring cartoon characters. Plus, find out how you can win an unopened copy of Who Framed Roger Rabbit! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, Tom takes us for a stroll down memory lane with his selection of Wreck-It Ralph (2012), in which an old school, 8-bit game character ventures outside of his own arcade game, in which he's condemned to eternally be the bad guy, to achieve hero status in a neighboring game. The Freak Show contributors remember trips to the old arcade, and we go on a trip through home video game consoles like Atari, Sega, ColecoVision, IntelliVision and more. Then, we watch a couple clips from Jaws 3-D (1983) and it blows everyone away. Tune in to hear how! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week Sean chooses to revisit Sam Raimi's 1981 classic, The Evil Dead. The film, made by college students, went on to become hailed as a classic of the horror genre, inspiring sequels (Evil Dead 2, Army of Darkness), video games, action figures, comics, and a remake in 2013. The story is simple: a group of 20-somethings spend a weekend in a cabin in the woods, read incantations from an ancient book found in the cellar, and unleash evil spirits that possess them one by one. Only proto-movie God, Bruce Campbell, stands a chance. The Freak Show guys talk about the film's relevance 20-years on; we remember the first movie to be rated PG-13; discover how we feel about remaking classic horror films; and Travis loses a bet. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, we watch Travis' pick: Porco Rosso (1992), from Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Howl's Moving Castle). The plot revolves around an WWI ex-fighter ace, now living as a freelance bounty hunter chasing "air pirates", who lives with an unusual curse which has transformed him to pig. We also go in depth into trends in Japanese anime and video games, and then we attack the movies that we've seen this week, including Timerider, The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires, 13 Assassins and Holy Motors. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, Colin subjects the group to the Goth/sci-fi/horror/gore/punk rock musical, Repo: The Genetic Opera, which takes place in a futuristic world where organ transplants are commonplace, and repossessions occur all-too frequently. A crazy cast includes Buffy's Anthony Stewart Head, Paris Hilton, Paul Sorvino, Sarah Brightman and Ogre from Skinny Puppy. We talk opera (or, what we know of opera), musicals, Colin staves off a head cold, and Tom and Travis perform their reviews of the film in song. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On a special, bonus podcast this week, Brent, Tom and Colin recount their adventures of watching the 1954 classic, Creature from the Black Lagoon, the way it was meant to be seen - in jaw dropping 3-D. The story's a familiar one - a scientific expedition to the Amazon discovers a primordial fish-man, and their efforts to capture it and bring it back to civilization; and the creature's attraction to the crew's only female (the fetching Julie Adams). See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Brent places Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy (1997) on the block. Pre-Good Will Hunting/Bennifer/Argo-director, Ben Affleck, stars as a comic book writer who falls in love with a cute lesbian comic book author (Joey Lauren Adams), and the hilarious hijinks that ensue in this unconventional love story. We argue about the cinematic oeuvre of former filmmaker-turned-podcast-impresario-and-stand-up-comedian, Smith; trace character links through the View-Askewniverse; learn about the hitherto unknown "90's Stank"; and crush Brent's dreams of sending this podcast to Kevin Smith himself. NOTE: due to a technical problem, this week's podcast's audio is overmodulated. We've done everything we can to make salvage it. We promise to do better next time! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Brent sits the episode out while Tom brings us Sam Fuller's The Big Red One (1980), starring Lee Marvin (The Dirty Dozen), Mark Hamill (Sushi Girl), and Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds) as an Army squad during World War II. The film follows their exploits from the end of World War I through D-Day and beyond, and was based on writer/director Fuller's personal military experiences. Join us, won't you, as we compile a list of our favorite war movies, evalute the merits of Mark Hamill's acting ability, and challenge the revered status of legendary director Stanley Kubrick. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, Travis chooses to watch Deathtrap, a 1982 adaptation of Ira (Rosemary's Baby, The Stepford Wives) Levin's Broadway thriller, which stars Michael Caine as a failing playwright who plots to murder his protege (Christopher Reeve) and steal his sure-hit play while his nervous wife (Dyan Cannon) looks on. Things get twisty and we recommend you seek out the movie on iTunes, Vudu, Amazon, etc before we spoil it for you. As a bonus, this is also our Oscars podcast, in which we make our picks for the 2013 Academy Awards! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this episode, resident horror buff Colin subjects the group to The Beyond (1981, aka The Seven Doors of Death) from "the Godfather of Italian Gore", Lucio Fulci. No eyeball is safe as a woman inherits a New Orleans hotel that's been built on one of the Seven Gateways to Hell. Plus, there's face-eating tarantulas, exploding heads, and a full on surprise zombie apocalypse! Special guest Sean joins us for a post-film discussion as we talk about Italian horror cinema, and we find out how The Beyond connects to Sam Rami's Spider-Man! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On this week's episode, true-pirate afficionado Tom unleashes The Island (1980), which stars Michael Caine as a reporter who runs afoul of real-life pirates forgotten on an island in the Bermuda triangle for 300 years. Film was based on a novel by Peter Benchley (Jaws, The Deep, The Beast) and also stars David Warner. We talk about the long cinematic history of pirates, American ninjas, the long shadow of Bruce Lee, and then we take a detour into video games! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week: Brent picks Tony Scott's True Romance (1993), a movie that often gets lumped into Quentin Tarantino's filmography (he did write the original screenplay), but clearly exhibits the late director's sleek, neon-lit, sun-kissed visual style. Our usual co-conspirator, Tom, sits this episode out, so we bring in pitch-hitter Sean to talk about True Romance and the people who made it, plus those ripoff movies that show up at RedBox and Walmart's $7 bin, and even Cabin in the Woods gets a mention. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Travis chooses Idiots and Angels (2008), a film from animator Bill Plympton, known for his distinctive art style and early-year MTV interstitials. In Idiots and Angels, a curmudgeonly fellow awakens one day to find he's grown a pair of wings which prevent him from indulging himself in bad deeds. Plympton, an iconoclastic animator, undertakes the entire process of animating a feature film himself. Plus, find out how the Chexist Chainsaw Massacre ties in, and listen as we attempt to trace the lineage of adult animation, from Ralph Bakshi all the way through Adult Swim! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Colin chooses Jean-Pierre Jeunet's The City of Lost Children (1995), a visionary tale of a dystopian, steampunk-ish fantasy world filled with clever visual design reminiscent of the work of Terry Gilliam. We also talk about dark children's fairy tales, modern day cynicism in kids movies, and Tom commits a cardinal sin. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week, Tom chose David Fincher's Fight Club (1999). In our most professional podcast yet, we analyze the film's messages, and discuss whether the film would be able to be made today. Plus, we talk about author Chuck Palahniuk, discuss David Fincher's oeuvre and opine about a select group of actors who lose themselves in a part. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

On our first podcast of 2013 we revisit Joe Dante's dark version of suburban paranoia, The Burbs; Tom reveals why he hates the 1980's; and we discuss our favorite movies of 2012 and what we're looking forward to in 2013. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.