Bela Lugosi’s Undead

11. Halloween Franchise Draft!

We're back with another entry in Halloween mini-series. Hot off our scorching takes on Halloween Ends, AJ and Spooky Ryan showdown in our first ever franchise draft!  Take a listen and vote on our Twitter poll for the winner of the Halloween Franchise Movie Draft!  Next week, we're back with another New Blood -- Barbarian!!!  Keep it spooky!   

10. Halloween Ends (2022) - David Gordon Green & Picking Some of the Best Horror of 2022

We are back after a short break! We get into the controversial Halloween Ends from David Gordon Green. Do you think Corey works? What do you think of Jamie Lee Curtis' farewell to the iconic Laurie Strode? Spooky Ryan and AJ break it down (and are mostly unhappy with the results).  We also drop some recommendations for some of 2022's best horror films. Quick hits on Death Loop, You Won't Be Alone, DeadStream, Speak No Evil, Fixation, Sinphony, and A Wounded Fawn. 0 - 41:00 - Review and Breakdown of Halloween Ends   41:00 - End - New Recommendations Follow AJ/Alan and Ryan on Twitter at @TheAlanFrench and @KeepItSpooky09. Check our reviews at SunshineStateCineplex.com

9. Donnie Darko (2001) - Directed by Richard Kelly

We're back with Mr. Jake Gyllenhaal, Ms. Maggie Gyleenhaal, and a wonderful supporting cast!    The teen melodrama turned horror sci-fi has become an internet favorite, especially of teen boys. Now its time to dive into the very dense, sometime nonsensical world of Donnie Darko.    00-5:00 - Intro/Spoiler Plot Synopsis 5:00- 51:00 - Discussion of the Film 51:00 - End - Awards

8. Halloween Horror Nights 31 (2022) at Universal Orlando Resort!!

We are back! Sorry for the delay (Hurricane Ian knocked out AJ's internet for 5 days), but we hope you feel good for the start of October! Here's our breakdown of Halloween Horror Nights 31 at Universal Orlando!   

7. X (2022) & Pearl (Preview) - Directed by Ti West

Welcome back to Bela Lugosi's Undead! AJ/Alan's been busy with the Toronto International Film Festival, but we're back!  A couple of programming notes. 1) We are moving the show to Friday afternoons. Let's get your freaky Fridays off to a great start!  2) We are covering two film festivals in the next month - Fantastic Festival from September 22nd to 29th, and Brooklyn Horror Festival from October 13th - 20th.  Please check our website SunshineStateCineplex.com to get all the latest updates on each festival. We may have one of our hosts attend Brooklyn in person, so keep an eye out!  Check the timestamps below!    
00:00 - 5:30 - Intro and Plot Recap 5:30 - 22:00 - Film Discussion 22:00 - 27:00 - Digression into Scream Queens and Don't Worry Darling Controversies 27:00 - 40:15 - Awards  40:15 - End - Quick "Pearl" Discussion   Read our written review of X below! https://sunshinestatecineplex.com/2022/08/20/review-x-simmers-with-sexuality-and-regret-in-homage-to-70s-exploitation/ Apple Podcasts Amazon Music/Audible Podbean Podcast Addict (Android) Spotify Check out our Podcasts here and subscribe at your Podcast Player of choice!

6. May (2002) - Directed by Lucky McKee

We're back with 2002's May, a horror film from Lucky McKee. A dark, Frankenstein-adjacent slasher with a Vet Tech surprised us with its surprising themes and ideas.  Come for dark horror, and stay for discussions about Rian Johnson's first job, a very excited Roger Ebert, and the weirdest caterer stories you've ever heard.    00:00 - 05:40 - Intro, Trailer, Synopsis  5:40 - 39:50 - General Film Discussion 39:50 - End - Chainsaw Awards, Bela Lugosi Awards

5. The Thing (1982) - Directed by John Carpenter, He’s Watching (2022) & Glorious (2022)

Nobody trusts anybody now… and we’re all very tired. Welcome to the seminal horror film, The Thing (1982), directed by John Carpenter. The iconic film began as a box office and critical bomb. Today, 40 years later, it is considered one of the greatest films ever made.  For the first time, Ryan and I also jump into some independent releases that are worth your time. Check out the timestamps below!  00-2:15 -- The Thing Trailer (Shout Factory Re-Release) 2:15 - 8:30 -- He's Watching (2022) Directed by Jacob Estes 8:30 - 11:40 -- Glorious (2022) - Directed by Rebekah McKendry (steaming on Shudder) 11:40 - 13:30 -- The Thing spoiler recap  13:30 - 54:30 -- Discussion of The Thing 54:30 - End of Podcast - Awards 

4 - Halloween Horror Nights 31 & Satan’s Slave (2017) - Directed by Joko Anwar

Universal Orlando got the jump on us before we released our episode previewing Halloween Horror Nights 31. However, we jumped back on to run through the recent house announcements, scarezones, and shows. Then, we cover Joko Anwar's highly influential film, Satan's Slave, a pseudo-prequel-remake of the film from the 1980s.  00 - 15:15 - New Original Houses, Scarezones, and Shows 15:15 - 42:40 - The Weeknd House, Universal Monsters Legends Collide, The Horrors of Blumhouse: Freaky & Black Phone, Halloween (1978) and rampant speculation 42:20 - 1:06:05 - Satan's Slave Review 1:06:05 - End of the Podcast Satan's Slave Awards

3 - Hereditary (2018) - Directed By Ari Aster

Welcome back to Bela Lugosi’s Undead! We kick off our first A24 horror run with Ari Asters Hereditary. It’s Spooky Ryan’s favorite film of all time, and one of the most memorable theatrical films of recent memory.  After premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, the film quickly took the world by storm. It became the highest-grossing movie for A24 until this past summer, and Toni Collette became the must-see performance of the year. Scary and upsetting, Hereditary signaled the arrival of one of our best filmmakers.  00 - 10:00 - General Discussions10:00 - 12:20 - Spoiler recap12:20 - 42:20 - Discussion of Film42:20 - End of Podcast - Awards  Next week, we dive into Halloween Horror Nights 31 and cover a film available on Shudder. We look at the 2017 Satan's Slave, an Indonesian haunted house film that launched a franchise in Indonesian horror. While we understand it will not be for everyone (it is also in Indonesian), we hope you tune in to one of the scariest movies of the past decade.  We promise we have a great discussion ready for you!

2 - Trick ’r Treat (2009) - Directed by Michael Dougherty

Welcome to Bela Lugosi's Undead!  In our second episode, we cover the straight-to DVD Trick 'r Treat from 2009. Originally released at a festival in 2007, the film took 2 years to find its way to home video. Since then, it's found its audience in the horror community, thanks to its inclusion at Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando. Let's Halloween it up!   General Discussion/Film Trailer/Intro: 0- 3:20 Trick 'r Treat Spoiler Recap: 3:20 - 5:15 Trick 'r Treat - General Discussion: 5:15 - 25:30 Awards/Spoilers: 25:30 - End of Podcast Next week, it will be heartening to see so many faces. But we'll be watching  Hereditary (2018) so I'm a little suspicious.