Bela Lugosi’s Undead

23. 2023 HHN Final Preview List and Hype Rankings - Choose They Fate!

It's been a crazy month since the end of our 2nd season, and we're back to kick off Season 3! A couple moves and a bout with Covid left us eager to return to our favorite topic. Halloween Horror Nights kicked off a couple weeks ago, but we've done a good job of avoiding it for the most part (Well, AJ went for a low-key night opening weekend, but only went for 2 houses). 
Here we are with our Hype Lists mere hours before our first HHN Night. Will we accurately predict where each of our houses will rank? Will the houses make us change our opinion on The Exoricst: Believer or Chucky? Can Dueling Dragons live up to our lofty goals as fans of the ride? Can Oddfellow break through as a new icon? 
We discuss all 10 houses, all 5 scarezones, and a handful of the extras at the event. We will be back this weekend with our ranking of the houses and scarezones and be back in the next few weeks with episodes on Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors, Prince of Darkness, and more! 

22. Gremlins (1984) - Directed by Joe Dante

The boys are back with Gremlins - the iconic Christmas movie, creature feature, and Amblin classic. Joe Dante would later direct Small Soldiers, but his experience with Piranah and Twilight Zone: The Movie caught the attention of a young producer named Steven Spielberg. With future Harry Potter director Chris Columbus providing the screenplay, Dante, Columbus, and Spielberg create one of the biggest hits of the 1980s. 
Beyond the fun little guys at the center of the film, Gremlins has an all-time great cast, excellent vocal performances, and some of the best craftsmen in the world. 
Time Stamps
00:00 - 7:20 - Intro to the Episode and Recap
7:20 - 16:20 - Joe Dante
16:20 - 41:15 - Discussion of Gremlins
41:15 - End - Awards and Gremlins 2: The New Batch preview for a future episode

21. Talk to Me - Directed by Danny & Michael Philippou (RackaRacka)

It's been a while since we've dropped a New Blood, and Talk to Me has taken the horror world by storm. Not only have we already heard about a filmed prequel, but a sequel was announced as well. With Talk to Me quickly becoming one of the few franchises to watch in horror, we hopped on the mics and addressed the good, the bad, and the very gross about the film. 
00:00 - 34:00 - Talk to Me (Spoilers throughout)
34:00 - 40: 00 - What We're Watching - Fantasia Festival, Children of the Corn & The Watcher
40:00 - 49:05 - HHN Updates and More Information
49:05 - End - Talk to Me Awards 

20. Halloween Horror Nights 2023 - Monsters Unmasked, The Exorcist: Believer, Chucky and More

Hello HHN Heads & Horror fans alike! Welcome to our latest episode, breaking down the Halloween Horror Nights announcement that surprised the Haunt World last week. We recorded in the hours immediately after the announcement, so many of the details revealed by the team at Universal were not yet available. That said, we break down what we knew, when we knew it, and will address new items in the weeks to come. Keep an eye out for our series of house breakdowns, which will come with plenty of movie recommendations to get you in the spooky mood.
As always rate review and subscribe on your platform of choice! 
Timestamps below! 
0-5:00 - Intro to the Episode
IP Houses
05:00 - 07:30 - Chucky: Ultimate Kill Count - Reannouncement
07:30 - 10:00 - Stranger Things recap
10:00 - 14:00 - The Last of Us recap
14:00 - 20:15 - The Exorcist: Believer
20:15 - 23:00 - Universal Monsters: Unmasked
Originals
23:00 - 25:00 - Oddfellow's House (Dr. Oddfellow's Twisted Origins)
25:00 - 28:05 - Dueling Dragons: Choose Thy Fate
28:05 - 29:45 - YETI: Campground Kills
29:45 - 30:50 - The Darkest Deal
30:50 - 33:30 - Blood Moon: Dark Offerings
33:30 - 45:00 - The Scarezones
45:00 - End - Nightmare Fuel Revenge Dream & Potential for M3GAN/Death Eaters

19. The A24 Horror Draft

We're drafting again! With the excellent Talk to Me in theaters today, we decided to do a 5-round draft for the best horror films from A24. We discuss how the indie distributor has taken over the cinephile world and discuss some of the trademarks (and setbacks) of the films they promote. 
Check out AJ's Talk to Me review from SXSW 2023. 
Timestamps:
00-8:30 - Intro
8:30-12:30 - Hereditary
12:30 - 15:00 - Green Room
15:00 - 20:30 - Midsommar
20:30 - 23:55 - The Witch 
23:55 -32:25 - Men 
32:25 - 35:00 -  X 
35:00 - 38:20 - Pearl 
38:20 - 40:25 - In Fabric
40:25 - 44:10 - The Lighthouse
44:10 - 48:00 - Saint Maud
48:00 - End - Honorable Mentions & Other A24 Horror

18. X-Mas In July -- Black Christmas (1974/1975) - Directed by Bob Clark

We continue our horrifying X-Mas in July series with the granddaddy of all cold-weather horror -- Black Christmas. The 1974 Slashic features Margot Kidder, Olivia Hussey, and one of the scariest killers of all time. Famed for its depiction of toxic men, scary tracking shots, and inspiring John Carpenter, Black Christmas remains an all-time great slasher today. 
Next week - Get ready for Gremlins on Max. The following week, we're hitting New York City up for the Shudder indie flick Brooklyn 45. Expect a small check-in on Halloween Horror Nights 2023 as well, as a new house seems poised to announce in the next week. This year, Alan will be attending the event on both coasts, but be ready for dispatches during our annual trip in Mid-September. 
Below are the time stamps for the episode! 
00:00 - 6:00 - Intro
6:00 - 14:30 - Context for the time
14:30 - 20:00 - The Cast
20:00 - 27:00 - The Making of the Movie
27:00 - 31:00 - The Release (1974 in Canada, 1975 in the US)
31:00 - 34:00 - The Ted Bundy of It All
34:00 - 41:00 - Legacy
41:00 - 57:00 - Our Awards
57:00 - End - A Promise to Cover the other films of the franchise

X-Mas In July - Krampus (2015) - Directed by Michael Dougherty

It's time for a new mini-series of the month of July! We want to celebrate the season, but with it so far away, what else could we do? It's time for an X-Mas in July celebration, with more fun on the way. We're kicking things off, with Michael Dougherty's "Krampus" from 2015.  
In the weeks ahead, rewatch "Black Christmas" (1974) and Gremlins (1984) to get ahead! 
With an all-star cast signed up for scares, the horror comedy excels. Yet we have questions? Could they have gone to David Koecher's family in Florida? Why is the Jack-in-the-box so scary? Does Michael Dougherty hate DHL? We ponder these questions and more in our first X-Mas in July episode.
00  -  7:00  - Intro
7:00 - 11:00 - Michael Dougherty's return to the podcast
11:00 - 12:30 - Is Krampus a perfect horror movie to show to younger audiences? 
12:30 - 16:00 - WETA collaboration
16:00 - 23:00 - The All-Star Cast
23:00 - 29:00 - The Naughty Cut & Other Krampus movies
29:00 - 42:00 - Awards
42:00 - End - Alan and Ryan talk about The Quarry

Top 10 Horror Films of 2022 - Loving Nope, Black Phone, Hypochondriac, Nanny and More

This week, we look back at 2022 (now that we have some space) to discuss our favorite horror films of the year. We finished last week's Barbarian podcast and realized we had left a lot of great 2022 titles on the cutting room floor. Rather than wait for each to get their own episode, we instead counted down our Top 10 horror films of the year, as well as some of our favorite performances. 
Quick note, we are sorry Alan/AJ's audio was not of the highest quality. The recording failed, and we had to use our backup. Nice reminder, always backup record! 
Check out the full list of movies discussed below, as well as timestamps. 
0 - 04 - Intro to the Episode
4:00 - 7:00 - Nope - Alan Pick
7:00 - 12:20 - Glourious - Ryan Pick
12:20 - 15:25 - Bones and All - Alan Pick
15:25 - 17:00 - He's Watching - Ryan Pick
17:00 - 18:30 - Barbarian - Alan Pick
18:30 - 19:30 - Hypochondriac - Ryan Pick
19:30 - 21:20 - Crimes of the Future - Alan Pick
21:20 - 22:15 - Fresh - Ryan Pick
22:15 - 24:40 - Nanny - Alan French
24:40 - 26:25 - A Wounded Fawn - Ryan Pick
Horror Performances 
26:30 - 28:00 - Mia Goth - X and Pearl
28:00 - 29:25 - Rebecca Hall - Resurrection
29:25 - 31:15 - Ethan Hawke - Black Phone
31:15 - 32:30 - Joseph Winter - Deadstream
32:30 - 33:30 - Justin Long - Barbarian
33:30 - 35:00 - Gwendoline Christie - Flux Gourmet
35:00 - 36:00 - Rohan Campbell - Halloween Ends (Hate the role, not his fault)
36:00 - 36:30 - Sebastian Stan - Fresh
36:30 - 37:10 - Rachel Sennott - Bodies Bodies Bodies
37:10 - 39:00 - Maika Monroe - Watcher
39:00 - 41:00 - Which of these houses would we want to see as a Haunted House? X/Pearl, Smile, & Barbarian as a Haunt discussion. 
41:00 - 44:00 -- Most Surprising Movies of the Year - Terrifier 2, Soft & Quiet, Deadstream, The Yule Log Movie
44:00 - End Honorable Mentions: Master, Speak No Evil, Piggy, Sinphony, You Won't Be Alone, The Leech, Mad God, In Search of Darkness Part III, The Found Footage Phenomenon