Shows
The Ghastly Podcast#17: Titane (2021)“I don’t care. You’re my son. You’ll always be my son. Whoever you are.” “Disturbing”, “shocking” and “thrilling” were just some of the words critics used to describe French director Julia Ducournau’s 2021 sophomore feature Titane. Agathe Rousselle is Alexia, showgirl and serial killer with a titanium plate in her head as a result of a childhood car accident. But her life-saving operation has left her with something unexpected: a romantic predilection for motor vehicles. Following a sexual encounter with a car and a string of gruesome murders, Alexia finds herself both pregnant with a mysterious metallic li...2022-06-1056 min
The Ghastly Podcast#16: Videodrome (1983) (Meta-Horrors Part 7 of 7)“Death to Videodrome. Long live the new flesh.” Where to begin with Cronenberg’s 1983 psychological horror Videodrome? At once a prescient prediction of our modern state and a warning of horrors still yet to come, Videodrome defies categorisation from the start. Our ‘hero’ is Max Renn, CEO of soft-core channel Civic TV, who discovers a mysterious transmission of what appears to be - but surely can’t be - people being tortured and killed. Of course, it’s perfect fodder for Max's seedy channel, but what kind of person watches this kind of material anyway? And, perhaps more important...2022-04-151h 02
The Ghastly Podcast#15: Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) (Meta-Horrors Part 6 of 7)“Every kid knows who Freddy is. He’s like Santa Claus… or King Kong… or…”Wes Craven redefined horror cinema with his 1984 classic A Nightmare on Elm Street, but as the series expanded and a reel of sequels were released, the character of Freddy Krueger - the knife glove-wielding dream killer - grew beyond his control. It wasn't long before Freddy was toppled from his plinth of unfathomable villainy, becoming instead a familiar cultural touchstone and cash cow for corporate Hollywood. New Nightmare is Craven’s reclamation of his original creative vision and a reassertion of his directorial au...2022-04-0849 min
The Ghastly Podcast#14: Scream (1996) (Meta-Horrors Part 5 of 7)"Movies don’t create psychos; movies make psychos more creative!"Watching Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore) being terrorised by an unknown caller in the opening scene of 'Scream' invokes a rather peculiar nostalgia for that most mythical of devices: the landline. As we become ever more attached to our mobile phones, the landline - and all the anxieties it gave shape to concerning the melding of public and private realms - will soon be nothing more than an antique, a home accessory for the trend-conscious. It is now commonplace to be pestered relentlessly by our devices: phones ring, sm...2022-03-181h 02
The Ghastly Podcast#13: Funny Games (2007) (Meta-Horrors Part 4 of 7)"You must admit, you brought this on yourself."Director Michael Haneke’s 2007 shot-for-shot remake of his psychological horror Funny Games, originally produced in 1997 in Austria, shocked and divided audiences and critics upon its release. Derided by some as needlessly sadistic whilst lauded by others as an intellectual confrontation of modern society’s obsession with violence, what all parties agreed on – including Haneke himself – was that the film’s narrative leads unambiguously to a pointless, nihilistic conclusion. Naomi Watts and Tim Roth play a wealthy American couple on holiday in the lakes with their child who are terrorised and held h...2022-03-111h 03
The Ghastly Podcast#12: The Cabin in the Woods (2011) (Meta-Horrors Part 3 of 7)"They don't want to see us killed. They want to see us punished."This week’s episode of the Ghastly Podcast sees Nick and Johanna continuing their deep dive into meta-horror with a look at 2011’s Cabin in the Woods, described by its own co-writer and producer (one Joss Whedon) as a ‘loving hate letter’ to the genre. Five college students – one a dumb blonde, her jock boyfriend, the nice girl, a shy nerd with a crush on her, and the stoner who tags along – take a weekend vacation to an isolated cabin in the woods, ignoring the warnings...2022-03-0451 min
The Ghastly Podcast#11: Berberian Sound Studio (2012) (Meta-Horrors Part 2 of 7)"Gilderoy, this is going to be a fantastic film. Brutal and honest. Nobody has seen this horror before."Nick and Johanna’s exploration of meta-horror continues with a particularly unique example of the genre, Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio. In this film, Strickland takes us behind the scenes to work with mellow English sound engineer Gilderoy, recently arrived in Italy having been personally asked to work on director Giancarlo Santini’s giallo film The Equestrian Vortex - the first horror film Gilderoy has ever worked on. We never get to see the film – sound is the only sen...2022-02-2546 min
The Ghastly Podcast#10: CENSOR (2021) (Meta-Horrors Part 1 of 7)"People think that I create the horror, but I don't. Horror is already out there, in all of us. It's in you."This week marks the beginning of a new series entitled 'Meta-Horrors', starting with a discussion of the 2021 release CENSOR, the debut feature of British director Prano Bailey-Bond. Set in the mid-1980s at the height of the Video Nasties panic, the film follows Enid, a strait-laced censor who works for the BBFC, but who begins to find herself strangely compelled by one particular film she is asked to assess. Bailey-Bond’s film is a love le...2022-02-1848 min
The Ghastly Podcast#9: CLIMAX (2018) (Deadly Dances Part 3 of 3)"Birth and death are extraordinary experiences. Life is a fleeting pleasure."Nick and Johanna’s three-part exploration of the theme of dance in horror cinema concludes with Gaspar Noé’s 2018 film CLIMAX, set in the deep winter of 1996 in France. CLIMAX follows one night in the lives of a dance troupe whose post-rehearsal sangria is spiked with LSD, leading to nightmarish consequences. All the while, dance and music are at the forefront of the film, with Noé including two extended single-cut dance sequences. If nothing else, CLIMAX is an incredible technical feat, and Noé manages to extract both st...2022-02-1143 min
The Ghastly Podcast#8: Suspiria (2018) (Deadly Dances Part 2 of 3)"When you dance the dance of another, you make yourself in the image of its creator..."This week Nick and Johanna continue their exploration of dance in horror cinema with Luca Guadagnino's 2018 reimagining of the cult classic. Starkly different to the 1977 film in both style and substance, 2018's Suspiria makes a bold and admirable effort to establish its own unique interpretation of the original's disturbing premise while bedding the machinations of the cult within a broader historical context. There is no denying that the 2018 version of Suspiria has crafted an enthralling vision of dance as a physical...2022-01-1440 min
The Ghastly Podcast#7: Suspiria (1977) (Deadly Dances Part 1 of 3)"do you know anything about... witches?"There is only one way to kick off a new three-part series on dance in horror cinema, and that is with Dario Argento's legendary 1977 work Suspiria. Taking place in a dance school nestled deep within Germany's black forest, the film follows ballet student Susie Bannion as she uncovers a disturbing truth: that the academy is being run by a coven of witches. Though the film has long been admired for its pioneering film techniques, gorgeous cinematography and extraordinary score, there has been surprisingly little wider recognition of the role played by...2022-01-0732 min
The Ghastly Podcast#6: Crimson Peak (2015) (Haunted Houses Part 6 of 6)"A house as old as this one becomes, in time, a living thing. It starts holding onto things..."There are few voices in contemporary cinema that are as defiantly idiosyncratic as that of Guillermo Del Toro, and 2015's Crimson Peak could well be the Mexican filmmaker's most idiosyncratic work to date. A fitting final instalment to our six-part series on horror film, this neo-Victorian tale of love, murder and ghosts is both a visual feast and a passionate love letter from Del Toro himself to the Gothic genre.2021-10-2541 min
The Ghastly Podcast#6: Crimson Peak (Haunted Houses Part 6 of 6)"A house as old as this one becomes, in time, a living thing. It starts holding onto things..."There are few voices in contemporary cinema that are as defiantly idiosyncratic as that of Guillermo Del Toro, and 2015's Crimson Peak could well be the Mexican filmmaker's most idiosyncratic work to date. A fitting final instalment to our six-part series on horror film, this neo-Victorian tale of love, murder and ghosts is both a visual feast and a passionate love letter from Del Toro himself to the Gothic genre.2021-10-2242 min
The Ghastly Podcast#5: Hausu (1977) (Haunted Houses Part 5 of 6) "The one thing that never perishes... the only promise... is love..."There are films that are unique, and then there's Hausu. Released in Japan in 1977, the film initially garnered lukewarm reviews from critics but rapidly became revered as a cult masterpiece, blending brain-scrambling experimental visuals with a hyper-surreal blend of horror, comedy and melodrama. The film follows schoolgirl Gorgeous as she travels with her six friends to spend the summer holidays at her mysterious aunt's house in the country. But what was intended to be an innocuous break from the city holiday quickly unravels into the holiday...2021-09-0345 min
The Ghastly Podcast#4: The Amityville Horror (1979) (Haunted Houses Part 4 of 6)"Oh, Mother of God, I'm coming apart!"Join us this week as our six-part Haunted Houses series continues with Stuart Rosenburg's The Amityville Horror, the film that kickstarted one of the most relentless cinematic franchises in history. Adapted from Jay Anson's eponymous 1977 novel, The Amityville Horror established the modern haunted house as we know it, and countless cultural works are indebted to its vision of an American middle-class family beset by malignant supernatural forces. We hope you enjoy the episode!2021-08-2746 min
The Ghastly Podcast#3: The Haunting (1963) (Haunted Houses Part 3 of 6) "Can't you feel it? It's alive...watching...."No discussion of horror cinema's haunted houses would be complete without Robert Wise's seminal 1962 film The Haunting. Join us as Nick and Johanna take a look at some of the complex themes and ideas that lie just beneath the surface of this chilling masterpiece. We hope you enjoy this episode!2021-08-2740 min
The Ghastly Podcast#2: The House on Haunted Hill (1959) (Haunted Houses Part 2 of 6)"There'll be food and drink, and ghosts... and maybe even a few murders. You're all invited..."Continuing our Haunted Houses series, this week Nick and Johanna pick apart the somewhat overlooked William Castle production The House on Haunted Hill (1959). The House on Haunted Hill sees Vincent Price at his most eccentric and watchable as the sinister millionaire Fredrick Loren, who challenges a party of strangers to spend the night in a haunted house, with a cash prize of $10,000 awaiting anyone who can make it till dawn. Unabashedly camp, melodramatic and armed with a wonderfully schlocky twist, The...2021-08-2733 min
The Ghastly Podcast#1: The Old Dark House (1932) (Haunted Houses Part 1 of 6)"Do you dare enter?"To celebrate the launch of The Ghastly Podcast, hosts Nick and Joanna kick off a six-part inaugural special focusing on the iconic haunted houses of horror cinema. This week Nick and Johanna take a look at the early Universal classic The Old Dark House (1932), directed by James Whale.2021-08-2728 min