SPEAKER_00 0:04

Make an assessment.

SPEAKER_03 0:05

Do you love me? Did you learn to love me?

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Are you playing your love games?

SPEAKER_03 0:09

What about the boat times as a love then? It's attached to your rod, Mother Licker. The more you say, the more concerned I am.

SPEAKER_02 0:23

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. It's showtime. This is your first time listening. Welcome to the party. We are a horror movie review podcast dedicated to telling you whether a movie is a hack, a total joke, a waste of time, or a slash.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

Totally killer, pun intended.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

We believe horror is for everyone, and as such, we're rating these movies with the perspective we've gained from our varying walks of life and the flavors of fear we fancy most. My name is Chris, and I'm your friendly neighborhood slasher enthusiast. This week I'm joined by the Superfly Space Guy Mac.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Hola, Muchachos.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

The Cowardly Creeper herself, Ryan. Hey yeah. And the Scream Queen Paris.

SPEAKER_04 1:01

Hey sweets.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

It's been a while since we covered a spooky anthology, so we reached into our comic collection to dig out a classic helmed by two masters of horror. Before we dig any deeper though, we have some follow-up.

SPEAKER_04 1:11

We do have some follow-up, Chris, and it's good to be back with follow-up. So we actually have two new patrons who have joined our family, and we are very excited to welcome them. First is Dan, not to be confused with Daniel, one of our other patrons. The other is actually a band by the name of Nova Cascade. They've been engaging with us pretty frequently on social media, and we're really excited to have their support.

SPEAKER_06 1:32

It's so cool that people care about us enough to join Patreon and talk to us and interact with us and see our things.

SPEAKER_04 1:39

Honestly, it's still the shock hasn't worn off whenever we get a new patron. And I'm like, people are not only listening to this podcast to begin with, but they're also just like going out of their way to support us. It just feels so nice.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Absolutely. And if you get to the end of this episode and you would like to support us, fear not. There are instructions on how to do so down in the show notes.

SPEAKER_04 1:57

Yes, there are. And that's our follow-up.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

Alright, now this week, it's important to keep in mind that we're no strangers to Stephen King on this podcast, and while we have plenty of George A. Romero ground to cover in the near future, one must wonder what would happen if these two titans of horror collided. The answer came to us in 1982, and the two friends worked together to create a film celebrating the old school EC horror comics of the 1940s and 50s. The very comics many librarians, psychologists, politicians, and teachers blamed for juvenile delinquency. While EC comics featured horror tales with ironic twists of fate and Tales from the Crypt, the Vault of Horror and The Haunt of Fear, their other genres were uniquely progressive and socially conscious in their themes, including racial equality leading up to the civil rights movement, anti-war advocacy, nuclear disarmament, and environmentalism. Despite their high quality, the horror comic's reputation was ultimately destroyed by frenzied panic. The fans, though, never forgot their first love. King and Romero teamed up with Tom Savini to bring the spirit of those beloved comics of their past back to life. This film marks King's screenwriting debut, and Romero's first film that he didn't write. This week, we're talking about Creep Show. Now who had seen this movie before?

SPEAKER_06 3:08

Is it even worth saying that I haven't seen this?

SPEAKER_01 3:10

Not usually, but I also, surprisingly, have not seen this.

SPEAKER_04 3:14

Uh yeah, no surprise that I have not seen this, but plot twist, I actually have seen Creep Show 2, apparently. Uh my boyfriend loves an anthology. Um, so I've actually watched that one, and then I was I told him we're recording for Creepshow, and he was like, Oh, we're absolutely watching that. I was gonna make you watch that anyway. So we killed two birds with one stone this week.

SPEAKER_02 3:32

Oh, very cute. So I like your boyfriend, uh, love anthologies, and I actually love Tales from the Crypt a lot when it was on HBO back in the day. Uh I also remember loving the Saturday morning cartoon Tales from the Crypt Keeper, where the the creeper or the cryptkeeper was like this like little blue guys, kind of ghoulish. And I was fairly sure I hadn't seen this, but as I was watching it, I realized I've seen it in bits and pieces. So I've seen some of the stories just not altogether or with a wraparound story that contains them. I think for some reason I just kind of stumbled upon them and didn't find anything compelling enough to watch the whole thing in its entirety. Who knows what that says about me? But what were you all expecting going into this?

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Tales from the Crypt is is kind of what I was expecting going into this, and perhaps I was expecting the Crypt Keeper as well. And I feel like I kind of I got it in spirit, but I honestly was just expecting that, and then I realized that I kind of have mixed up the movies in my mind, and I felt bad about it. But that's kind of what I was thinking going into it.

SPEAKER_06 4:32

So I don't have a lot of experience with like anthologies, never saw Tales from the Crypt or anything like that. And so I I had no idea what to expect. I did actually watch a trailer for this, and I read the description because I was like, what is Cree Show 1982 gonna have in store for me? And um yeah, I I I couldn't say that I had any expectation going in. And if I had, it would have probably been thrown off.

SPEAKER_04 4:57

Uh I'm with you, Mac. I was also kind of expecting some tales from the crypt vibes. Um, when I was little, I at one point in time I was flipping through the channels like way past my bedtime, and I saw the Cryptkeeper on TV on like HBO or whatever channel that was on, and it actually terrified me so much, just like the design of that character and like how moist and gross it was. Um so I've always hated the Crypt Keeper, and I've never returned to venture back into that now that I'm an adult. The the character in the beginning of this uh kind of gave me Crypt Keeper vibes, and I was sort of expecting a similar tone throughout, but ultimately I was expecting this to be very stupid and very bad.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Interesting that you remember him as being very moist because I remember him being very dry.

SPEAKER_04 5:38

Ew, I don't like either of those.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

And these seem like two very conflicting memories. Now, I I expected it to be lighthearted for sure. Um, but for being rated R, and looking at the two people behind this movie, I expected it to be super dark and brutal at the same time. Knowing what we do of Romero and King, I expected there to be some like crazy twists and really intense skills. And I also expected, like you guys did, the creep to narrate. I wanted to hear some cackles and some he-he-he-he-he-he-he and lead us between each story. I will say the first time I watched this, my AC was out and I was in a grumpy ass mood. So I had to like sit back and disconnect for a bit to give it a fair shake. I'm glad I did because I think the my feelings watching it the second time around were very different. And I was able to actually appreciate it more for what it was and not just like stick it in what I wanted it to be with Tales of the Crypt.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

I watched this after a really long day at work, and I got home and like immediately hit play on it, and I kind of needed it to unwind a little bit. And I'll tell you at the beginning, I I think I had some of that work feeling pushing me against it. But as I watched it, it kind of grew on me a little bit. It wasn't what I was expecting at all. Like it had these moments of comedy that I was just like, is this rated R? Or is this like some kind of PG PG 13 situation? But then you would get those moments while you're watching it where you're like, oh yeah, okay, so I guess this is not made for kids. So that's kind of cool. So it definitely reminded me of comics. So I think they did a good job of bringing that to film because while watching it, I was like, I could see how somebody on paper would would read things like this and like get a kick out of it with their day, especially if they were horror fans where they would like enjoy the stories, but then every now and then they'd kind of you know lol.

SPEAKER_04 7:23

I think uh for once I was actually in the perfect mood to go into this. I was like pretty loose, I was pretty open. I may have had some champagne to celebrate the new place I moved into. And I was just like open. I was like, you know what, whatever this is gonna be, let's do it. Um and throughout the watching experience, I kind of had a lot of uh ups and downs. Um, and we can get into it a little bit more later as we unpack like each individual story. Um, but I made it all the way to the end and I was overall entertained.

SPEAKER_06 7:49

Yeah, similar, similar feelings for me. I was having I was having some fun here, you know. You know, I'm a sucker for obviously like uh when graphics play a big role in a in a movie and stuff like that. And you know, these are graphics from 1982, so I'm not like uh, you know, blown away. Wasn't necessarily revolutionary when I watched it in 2020. Obviously, that's something that pulls me in. And then otherwise, there I have like had some feelings throughout where I was just like, oh cool, like we're here, like this is what we're doing today. Uh just uh doesn't always feel that way when I watch a movie from the 80s, you know?

SPEAKER_02 8:24

Interesting. So I think it's really interesting that you bring up the graphics in particular. A, first off, very on brand for you. Love that about you. You know it. And has anyone else here seen Trick or Treat?

SPEAKER_04 8:35

Oh, yeah. I think I might have.

SPEAKER_02 8:37

Okay. So I feel so bad for not having seen Creep Show before watching Trick Trick or Treat. Trick or Treat is another like modern horror anthology, and it is very much done in the style of a comic book, and it effortlessly weaves together all the stories in it, and it's all containing one little universe. I loved that about Trick or Treat, and I had no idea that Creep Show had done that in 1982. Again, like when I saw these little vignettes, I remember seeing the people, but not the transitions into and out of, you know, graphic novel style art. So that was a huge surprise to me. I was also surprised about the lack of the creep in this movie. So he's present in the beginning, and there are narrations that are written on the comic intros for each story, but I was surprised that he wasn't more prominent, and I definitely didn't expect the goofiness of Jordy Varyl or how like it subverted the darkness of the overall tone of this movie. But what surprised you folks?

SPEAKER_06 9:35

For me, I was really surprised by the types of stories that we got. Like once I realized what was going on and that, you know, we're in an anthology and gonna get gonna get all these different stories. I I had some of these like Black Mirror vibes and uh all these it just it just took me places that I wasn't intending, and they're all uh I mean they they have, I guess, some amount of similarities, but they're all like quite different uh in the ranges of what's horrific. Yeah, it it I just was I it's like a wild ride, man. You go all over the place, and I wasn't I wasn't prepared.

SPEAKER_04 10:12

Yeah, there's definitely like a wide array of different stories being told. Um, I feel like this is a solid option for any horror fan because I'm sure there's gonna be at least like one of the stories that like it tickles your particular horror fancy. Um so I was actually surprised with how effectively uh I was drawn into some of these stories, and then also surprised by how little I cared about some others.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

That's the thing that surprised me is that they did an anthology movie but well, and I was not expecting that to happen. Especially there's there's a couple of stories in the film that I, you know, that weren't my favorite, and so starting off into it, I was just kind of like, oh man, this is gonna be probably not good, and I'm not really going to enjoy this. But as things went on, I found that there's like parts that you can enjoy, and other parts that are kind of not your thing, and then other parts that you might not like as much, but then you're like redeemed when you get another great story that you really enjoyed. So while I didn't find it particularly scary, I did find it enjoyable, and those spikes really helped me get a lot out of it.

SPEAKER_04 11:14

I do have one disappointment I'd like to share. I was very disappointed that none of the actors in the first story could enunciate. Uh, I had a horrible time trying to understand what the hell they were saying, uh, and I actually had to rewind it and put on uh subtitles, which I'm like vehemently opposed to as like a principle. Like I don't like subtitles, but this like insisted on subtitles, so be warned.

SPEAKER_06 11:37

Oh, I need them. I honestly just rolled with the first story. I was like, I mean, I got the gist. They started going with a lot of lineage. Anytime you hit me with a lot of lineage and how people are related, it generally loses me. And I was like, cool, it's Father's Day.

SPEAKER_02 11:52

Ridiculous ages.

SPEAKER_04 11:53

Yeah, plus the person explaining it is like talking at this volume and not letting you understand what they're trying to say. And I'm just like, hello, what are you saying? It sounds important.

SPEAKER_02 12:03

I had to turn up my TV to a volume that I've never turned it up, and I still couldn't hear them in particular. The rest of the and the movie, I think, is pretty well balanced. And that also makes me wonder, is it just the source, the copy of this film that I rented? Or is this true of the enti of the movie itself in any way you get it, any way you watch it?

SPEAKER_04 12:21

I think so, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Mac, obviously you weren't scared, you just mentioned that, but did anyone find anything frightening about this at all? No. There's a little bit of there's a little bit of like satisfying gore.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

There's some grossness, yeah. But there's there's an addition to a story at the end that I could have done without because I don't like things that creep and crawl, and it was so nasty.

SPEAKER_06 12:43

It was so good though.

SPEAKER_04 12:44

Yeah, I'll say that there was uh one element throughout this anthology that really did not sit well with me to the point where I like for the first time in a long time covered my eyes because I did not want to see what was happening.

SPEAKER_06 12:58

Really?

SPEAKER_04 12:59

I know it was actually horrible, and I hated it so much, and I did want to die at the time. I was like, how do I make this stop? I want to just combust right now. Um, but we can talk about that later.

SPEAKER_03 13:08

I can't wait to hear more. I am struck right now, good sir.

SPEAKER_04 13:12

Well, it was honestly a fear that like hasn't really been um, I guess, like abused or manipulated in a horror movie for me in the past, I don't know, my whole life, I guess. Um, so it was a it was a surprise to me as well that I felt so viscerally uh when it happened.

SPEAKER_02 13:27

Interesting. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 13:28

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

I I didn't find it anything particularly frightening about this movie, but I will say if you are someone who spooks very easily or has very specific phobias about things, and that might like make you feel like the heebie jeebies, but I don't know that it's necessarily something that's going to frighten you. It's 50s-style comic horror, right? So it's the thing that scared little boys when they're growing up in the 50s in the nuclear family. So it's not particularly frightening, but I will say the effects were gruesome when they needed to be. It's Tom Savini's who you know you're getting quality. I didn't read those comics, so I can't comment on the originality of the short stories themselves. It feels very Stephen King. Nothing particularly jarring or surprising there. But the approach to its filmmaking felt really different for me, and unlike anything I've seen from that specific era. You know, as I mentioned, I love Trick or Treat, and I love ever I love things that have followed this movie, but if I can't remember a movie earlier than this.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

You know, it's got a certain feeling for me, where, you know, the Pixies, for instance, I love the Pixies. Great band, so much great music out there by them, and they have a newer album and I've listened to it, and it's pretty good, right? But when I go back and listen to like a best of, if I make a playlist of all my favorite songs, it's amazing. And I don't know why that is, because people get really bored by music. But if I can go back and listen to some of the best hits, it still feels fresh and still feels new. And that's kind of how this this movie was for me. Like, sure, each story has probably been done in actual comics or in other films or in other stories or whatever, but it's you're getting that like that best hits collection, and it's so satisfying.

SPEAKER_06 15:02

Yeah, I I feel like it's original, but if I'm being honest, I I don't know that I have the basis of knowledge that would be required to say this is or isn't original. I feel like, you know, there's a lot that goes into this from the comics before it that it's based off of to just the styles of movies that were made at this time and then making it in like that 50 style. It's just there's a lot. It feels original to me, but doesn't everything?

SPEAKER_04 15:30

It's hard to kind of lump them all together as far as originality goes. I would say the the third one, something to tide you over, stood out for me as being the most original. Um and I guess maybe the first one felt the least original. That was Father's Day. Um, but I feel like for the most part, there were a lot of things I saw throughout these stories that I've seen referenced in other movies and media since then. And I was like, oh, I wonder if they got it from this. And more than likely they probably did.

SPEAKER_02 15:55

Interesting. Because I think the Father's Day stood out to me in a positive way. Something to tide you over though felt more soap opera-y to me.

SPEAKER_04 16:02

Oh, I could get that vibe, especially with like the interiors and like the decor.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

Yeah, it just it felt that one to me, not that what unfolds is not horrific in itself, don't get me wrong, but it felt the least horror movie, horror comic to me. It felt more like drama. I thought it was like James Bond, but having a bad day, you know? Oh, yeah. That's fair. The real measure here is the final taste that this movie leaves you with as it ends. I was happy to get a cameo from someone that uh that works on this film. And looking at the ending, I think it really ties in well with the rest of the stories that we get. I feel like the the stories have this kind of theme, and the ending just supports that at its foundation. But how did you all feel about it?

SPEAKER_01 16:47

Yeah, this really was like the Netflix series that you never knew that you wanted for me. And that ending was kind of like, all right, I want season two now. That's how I felt after watching it and making it to that point. Was like, okay, cool. We had some ups, we had some downs, but I'm ready for more. Like, let's let's get to the next batch of these. And I love that the ending, the beginning, the transitions, it's its own thing, it's its own story, which I love.

SPEAKER_04 17:13

Yeah, I would love to uh talk more about what the the common theme was throughout these, because I'm not sure if I picked up on it. Um, and that might just be me. Uh, but I felt like the um the little like the intro and the ending were nice little bookends for this. I would have maybe liked to see a little bit more of a through line for that um sort of like mini story. Um but I felt like the specifically like the sequence that they put the uh different vignettes in, I thought it was really well done in that um I wasn't ever like too bored and I was always pretty engaged.

SPEAKER_06 17:45

Yeah, I totally agree. And I love the ending of this. I felt like it was just a little bit of what we needed, it was perfect. Uh just a little icing, you know? They gave us a little dabble at the beginning, and then we got the icing on the cake at the end. I thought it was great.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

It does make me think about my own grandfather who had his comics thrown out way back in the day. And obviously that's like so sad because who knows how much money 1930s, 1940s comics would be worth. But it kind of questions like, should I uh should I throw out my kid's comics so that he'll have a lasting memory and make a film about it?

SPEAKER_02 18:19

Yes, let's terrorize our children so that we can inspire them to do cool things in their future.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

They need a muse, might as well be me.

SPEAKER_06 18:27

I mean, look, there's no perfect kids that are doing cool things in the world, okay?

SPEAKER_04 18:31

I mean, Mac, I think if there if there's any takeaway from this, it's don't be the dad that throws away your kids' comics.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

Perhaps. Perhaps. Well, I guess we'll we'll break that down when we can when we can spoil exactly what happens. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 18:43

Don't have crafty kids.

SPEAKER_02 18:44

Hmm. All right. Well, let's go ahead and start making our way there then. Now, in Alexis' absence, we still have to count the number of deaths we see occur on screen. So, Paris, what is our body count?

SPEAKER_04 18:56

Our body count is a total of 13, which I think isn't too bad considering how many different stories there were. There was a pretty stark difference in like the number of kills. Uh, like one of the stories had one death, and another one had like five or six. So it's really a a wide vr variety of kill counts per story, if you if you want to put it that way.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

I'm actually surprised it's that high. I thought it was less. Yeah, and arguably it could be more. However, uh, we at Hackerslash do not support the presumably died. We gotta see it happen.

SPEAKER_04 19:28

Yeah, there are a lot of really close calls.

SPEAKER_02 19:31

Moving on from the body count, Ryan, what's our animal report?

SPEAKER_06 19:34

There are lots of living organisms in this movie. Depending on how you feel about beasts and bugs, you may feel differently about the animal report, but generally speaking, we're in the clear.

SPEAKER_02 19:46

Uh, now let's go ahead and start making our way to scoring this movie, creep show from 1982. Was it a hack or a slash?

SPEAKER_04 19:53

So I tried to judge these based on like each individual story. So I hacked and slashed each one. Um, the first one ended up getting a slash. I thought that it was a really good like intro into what this was gonna be, and it kind of set the tone of it being like, this is bad 80s horror, but like the fun kind that you can like laugh along with, and there's like really like cheesy but kind of actually cool and aesthetically interesting graphics. Um the second one gets a hack from me. Uh, I was a little bored and I didn't really feel fear at all. Uh the third one I felt like might have been my favorite, and that one definitely gets a slash. Uh, the fourth gets a hack. Uh, didn't care for it in my opinion. Uh, and the final one I hated the most, and it gets a slash. So I averaged those out, and ultimately the collection gets a slash from me.

SPEAKER_02 20:44

Wow. Some hacker math there.

SPEAKER_01 20:46

Yeah, there's so much math this week. I, on the other hand, judged it holistically as an entire experience. And I didn't want one story to possibly weight it in either direction, because there are some stories I really loved, and some stories that were kind of blah, and a story that I truly hated. But overall, I went into this feeling kind of bummed, and then really fast found myself truly enjoying it, and I wasn't able to like step away to do anything else. I had to pause it and then come back to it. So it it gets a slash from me, an overall slash, a holistic experience, mind, body, soul slash.

SPEAKER_06 21:25

Did you do yoga this week?

SPEAKER_01 21:28

I am yoga.

SPEAKER_06 21:29

So I struggled. Okay. This is this is hard. I talk a lot of trash about like, you know, 80s horror. I am not really experienced in anthologies. I'm I feel like this is a movie that I never heard of and I wish I'd heard of before. It is a lot of fun. There are definitely um, you know, there's some things left to be desired, right? Like everything has a little bit of like a cheesiness, but it's like it's in it's on purpose. Um, and then I I already said, but I in a few of the stories got these like Black Mirror vibes where not only is are you jumping from like story to story, but even just like the things that happen in these stories. Um, obviously it's not, you know, hyper modern technology, but it I don't know, it's so hard. I know that there's people out there that like, you know, sit down with their friends on a fall night with like pumpkin spice lattes and watch like hocus pocus. But in my opinion, this would be a better replacement. Maybe some other drink besides a pumpkin spice latte, maybe like a pumpkin like a cider, maybe? Yes. There we go. Sounds great. And you know, just hang out and watch creep show. Maybe even with your family, maybe with your your parents and your, you know, older little kid family. Like this movie is so fun, it's so interesting to watch. It's like it has some, you know, creepiness, but it's not like scary. I was gonna say no one's getting their head chopped off, but yeah, it's close enough. Um, I think it's a slash because I can't bear to tell you that this is a hack. But it is a joke, it's a total joke as far as horror goes, but it is not a waste of time. You know, take that with a grain of salt. Don't go into this expecting like this is the best movie you've ever seen, you know. But I do feel like if you care about horror and you like horror, I think you should see this.

SPEAKER_04 23:19

Yeah, I totally agree. I actually went into this obviously thinking it was gonna be shitty. And one of the first lines of dialogue is I've never seen such rotten crap in my life. Where do you get this shit? And I wrote that one down because I was like, oh, when I hack this, I'm gonna use that. Uh, but in the end, I couldn't.

SPEAKER_02 23:33

Look at you. What a plot twist. So here's here's my thing. I already told you you had like a failure to launch with this movie. Sat down to watch it and was in a bad mood, and I wasn't particularly amused by some of the early antics. I do have a few issues with this movie. Uh, I think I walked away from it feeling pretty lukewarm as opposed to the burning hot love I know a lot of people have for this movie. And I think it's important to note that I have seen the beginnings of the Shudder creep show. So the show that has been brought back. And I like that approach because it's darker, it's more serious horror as opposed to the goofy antics that we get here. I think the themes in the stories are redundant. Some of the acting is over the top. Ultimately, though, the approach and intentions of this movie are stellar. I love the way we transition between each story. The effects are incredible. All the cheesiness you get are from quality talent who know exactly what kind of character they're trying to deliver. So Creepshow walked, so future anthologies like Trick or Treat could run. So from there, it gets a soft slash from me. It's not my cup of tea, but it's a good movie. I'm so glad to hear you say that. So we can universally slash this thing.

SPEAKER_04 24:40

But also, is it like a universal soft slash? Is that what I'm getting? No, I I would not give this a soft slash.

SPEAKER_02 24:46

Yeah, no. Okay. Mac is super hard slash for this movie. This is right up his alley.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

So to be to be fair, there's some stuff I didn't like. I would say there's probably good two good stories that made this movie a slash for me and strongly a slash.

SPEAKER_02 25:02

I feel good about that count. I also have two that stood out to me in a positive way. One that I was like, meh, and then two that I definitely could have done without. But for now, Creep Show from 1982, helmed by Stephen King and George A. Romero, is a universal slash. And I'm gonna be honest, did not see that coming from a mile away. Did not. You can find this movie available to rent. Don't confuse it with Creep Show 2 that's available on streaming. Don't confuse it with the show Creep Show that's streaming on Shudder. It's available for rent. Check it out and then join us in the second half so we can break down each of these vignettes. We'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

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SPEAKER_02 26:17

Alright, welcome back, folks. You are now entering the spoiler zone for Cree Show. The 1982 anthology has earned a universal slash, surprisingly enough. We have a lot to unpack here, but before we get into the specifics of our ratings, we have to do our best in Alexis's absence to unpack the gore we get to in these stories. So, Paris, what's our gore score?

SPEAKER_04 26:37

So I've approached this a little bit differently than Alexis might, um, but I tried to rate these movies or these stories individually, and then I averaged it all together to give us a total gore score. So our first vignette, Father's Day, got a gore score of six out of ten from me. Uh the next one, The Lonesome Death of Geordie Vero, got a two. It was pretty low on gore, but I think we can all agree on that one. Uh our third story, something to tide you over, also pretty low on gore. I gave it a four out of ten. Uh, then we kind of pick things up with the crate. I actually give that one a seven out of ten because there are a couple kills in there that are pretty bloody and gruesome. And finally, they're creeping up on you, uh, was one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen visually. Uh, so that one is actually getting a 10 out of 10 from me, uh, which leaves us with an average of 5.8.

SPEAKER_03 27:24

So it's kind of gory. Sounds like a solid medium.

SPEAKER_04 27:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

I I love the hacker math.

SPEAKER_04 27:29

Yeah, it's pretty highs and lows. The first one, I think, you know, the most gory thing in that was the dead dad, like zombie dad that was crawling around.

SPEAKER_06 27:38

Zombro.

SPEAKER_04 27:39

Yeah. I mean, none of those none of those kills seemed particularly gory, at least from like a blood standpoint. Um, the second one was almost like no gore at all.

SPEAKER_06 27:48

But it was so intriguing. It's just like weed whacking, really.

SPEAKER_04 27:51

Yeah, at most there were a few moments of like body horror with like as his skin started to transform.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

He turned into the Grinch, is what happened. He did.

SPEAKER_04 28:00

Oh my god, he did. It reminds me of a goosebumps episode. Yes, the one with the dad in the basement. I thought the same thing. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 28:07

Stephen King, I have always felt feels like a who from Who Vu. Like he looks like a Who. So when he started turning in to the Grinch, it just like made my heart delightfully happy. He's a dark who.

SPEAKER_04 28:17

I like this head cannon. But yeah, I feel like somebody out there, like that weird like plants and skin thing is probably their phobia, and for them, this was probably very gory. Uh, then we move on to Ted Danson and Leslie Nielsen. Uh, I gave that one a four again, pretty low gore. Uh, I thought the kill was actually pretty interesting, but ultimately the couple coming back as old Greg, um, all swampy like, that was did it not give you old Greg vibes?

SPEAKER_02 28:43

I love old Greg so much.

SPEAKER_00 28:46

Make an assessment.

SPEAKER_02 28:46

Do you love me?

SPEAKER_03 28:48

Did you learn to love me?

SPEAKER_00 28:49

Are you playing your love games?

SPEAKER_03 28:50

What about the boat times? Was it love then? Because we're having a lot of fun and I don't know what's going on right now. Oh my gosh, you don't know about old Greg? Look, you if you haven't watched it, no, it's attached to your rod, mother liquor. The more you say, the more concerned I am.

SPEAKER_01 29:05

You need to watch this episode of the Mighty Boosh. It's amazing, and it became an internet like sensation, like just this episode on YouTube. The actual show is really good and incredibly silly, but this episode, I don't know what it is about this character. It's just old Greg is fantastic, and you need to watch it.

SPEAKER_03 29:21

Easy now, fuzzy little man peach. You have so many quotables.

SPEAKER_04 29:25

Yeah, it really does. But ultimately, like old Greg is not gore. Uh, so that was not very gory in my opinion. Uh, and then we get to the crate, and I feel like the crate really spiked up the gore with a lot of those kills. Um, we see our girl Billy getting shot in the forehead, even though it wasn't quite real. Um, and then specifically when the grad student, Napoleon Dynamite, gets like his side of his face and neck slashed by the creature. Uh, that was like so bloody, and I was like, oh, here's the gore I've been looking for throughout this whole thing.

SPEAKER_06 29:54

Those teeth marks in his like neck slash face were amazing. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:59

Really good use of practical effects in that one, and they kept it just dark enough for me to not be mad.

SPEAKER_01 30:04

The goriest thing about the crate was the character Billy for me. That was gruesome and it was hard to watch. And I know that's on purpose, but that was a lot, and I felt like it was as good as blood.

SPEAKER_04 30:15

I'm honestly team Billy, but we can get to that in a minute. Finally, we round things out with They're Creeping Up on You, which now that we're in the spoiler section, we can say is absolutely filled with roaches and other similar insects of uh an inappropriate large size and quantity. I personally hate roaches so much in my life and in media. Normally, you don't really see them featured on television anymore, you know, unless it's like a cartoon or something, and that's fine. But just like the way they move, uh the way they sound and the way they look uh really makes me want to just die. Um, so all of the extreme close-ups of the roaches, all of like the thick, dense piles of roaches was true horror for me. Then when uh Mr. Pratt finally dies, uh and the roaches burst out of his neck in like a thick, almost tube-like consistency because there's so many of them, I really just wanted to implode on myself and not exist anymore in this world.

SPEAKER_06 31:13

It's so funny because normally I would completely agree with you, but there's something about like the cleanliness of his home that made me feel like they weren't really invaders, and I was like on the bug side, like I wanted them. So also, the more we like learned about his extremely trash character, yeah. He's a racist Scrooge. Yeah, but it was great the way things went, it worked out perfectly. It was just like, I don't know, for some reason, just such the that like very clean, white everything, and then you know, me feeling like he deserved it. I was like, well, I'm not even creeped out that much, you know?

SPEAKER_01 31:51

Yeah, so homeboy is like a complete jerk-off douche living in an IKEA set, basically. Yeah. The roaches come to life and conquer. And I don't know if our listeners experience cockroaches on a regular basis. Here in the southeast, it's just it's the climate, this is where they live, this is their habitat, and it has nothing to do with like how dirty anything is. It's just this is their home, and so it's a constant battle of trying to keep them out of your house. Literally, just a few weeks ago, Ryan, you and Alexis spotted one, and I had to take it out and uh put it out to pasture. So uh R.I.P. that roach. But to see that many on screen, that was gruesome enough. To see that that bursting moment, Paris, was absolutely nightmare-inducing. Yes. I hate them with a passion, and I wish cockroaches could go live a happy life on another planet.

SPEAKER_06 32:46

So, do we agree that Mr. White set the cockroaches onto Mr. Pratt? I hope so.

SPEAKER_04 32:54

I mean, he deserves it.

SPEAKER_06 32:55

My heart wants that to be.

SPEAKER_04 32:56

I wasn't in a clear enough headspace to to perceive that.

SPEAKER_06 32:59

Yeah. Because you know, he's like, you know, he's he's all jolly when he goes and answers the door and he's like, or goes up to the door and he's like, Oh, you have some bug issues. Oh, let me see what I could do. And it's it just my heart, whether it's the the case or not, my heart wants to believe that he put them in there on purpose to drive that man insane.

SPEAKER_04 33:21

I like that too. I'm gonna go with that. Um, but at the time there were I was literally like holding my hands of in front of my eyes. I was looking away, and then I was like, no, Paris, you have to watch this for the podcast. So I like forced myself to do it, and it was just so hard to watch. It was like, you know, you haven't I haven't seen anything like that in a very long time or ever. Um, but that is really anyone who hates like roaches and palmetto bugs and things like that. This is like truly the stuff of nightmares.

SPEAKER_06 33:46

And if you're not from Florida, palmetto bugs is what Floridians call cockroaches to make themselves feel better about them, just so y'all know.

SPEAKER_02 33:52

See, that's weird. I've grown up calling them roaches and know them to be separate things. They're not, they're the same.

SPEAKER_06 33:58

Floridians are just crazy.

SPEAKER_04 33:59

I thought palmetto bugs could fly and roaches can't.

SPEAKER_06 34:02

Yeah. I'm joking. I'm talking trash about Florida. Stop asking questions.

SPEAKER_01 34:06

So wait, no.

SPEAKER_06 34:07

You can't do that to two Capricorns from Florida.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

They're they're roaches, and it's not just Florida, it's South Carolina. I don't know about North Carolina, I know in Georgia they call them the same thing. They're a certain type of cockroach, and usually it refers to the large ones, those big boys.

SPEAKER_06 34:24

If you Google palmetto bugs, first thing, insect, the Florida Woods cockroach or palmetto bug is a large cockroach species. So, yes, I I stand by my joke.

SPEAKER_04 34:35

I stand by it too. And honestly, as much as I hated that final death with the roaches bursting out, it actually wasn't my favorite. Um, for me, my favorite kill had to have been in Father's Day, and it was our fabulous older woman, Sylvia, uh, when she gets her neck just very suddenly snapped in half, or I guess 180 degrees around uh by the creeping uh zombie dad. Um, because I was not expecting that at all, and it actually made me laugh out loud uh because it was so funny, it was so unexpected, and it was just so like efficient, you know? It was just notion, she's dead now, okay. Uh but what were your guys' favorite kills?

SPEAKER_01 35:12

Jordi Varyl has to be for me. That was really probably my favorite of the stories. And mostly because while it started to play out, I was like, that's Stephen King on the big screen here, and I wasn't expecting that whatsoever. And the character was hilarious, but the whole sequence of events that leads to his death, it was just like so unexpected for me. I just I didn't know that I was about to watch this, and I loved every moment of it. But I loved that the character was consistent through and through, completely self-deprecating, and punishing himself for thinking he's an idiot the whole way through, up until the very end where he punishes himself in the ultimate way by blowing his little, you know, flower buds off. Since at this point he is now a plant.

SPEAKER_02 36:00

Interesting. Because I feel like we'll get to how my my feelings on the overall story in a in a bit. He was my favorite death. That was Charlie from the crate. Charlie from the crate was absolutely my favorite, just the way he's just like ripped apart and massacred. But Geordie was going to end up being my least favorite if he was just going to just you know turn into a plant and die. But the darkness of this goofy character taking a shotgun and blowing his own head off, even though you don't get a lot of gore, the tone in that was just so morbid that it actually redeemed a bit of that story for me.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

It was incredibly dark.

SPEAKER_06 36:35

My favorite kill, I have a bit of a caveat. I have a fake favorite kill because honestly both, but specifically when Wilma got shot, like that scene was so satisfying because it was just like this moment where it's just like everyone hates Wilma slash Billy, and it was it was just so great for him to just be like, Billy, pull the gun out, and then just blow her head off in the middle of the party where everyone's like, Hey, thanks. Like it was such a satisfying scene, and that is another one of those like almost like black mirror-ish type moments where you keep seeing that like flash, you know, into fantasy, which isn't something that went through the rest of the movie. Um, I loved that, but obviously my favorite death is is Mr. Pratt. Like he he it was horrific and amazing and uh such a mannequin that it wasn't even funny, but it that's like the point, that's like the charm of the movie. Um, it was great, disgusting and horrific, but great.

SPEAKER_02 37:38

Did it give you maniac vibes from uh when we see Frank turn into a dummy at the end of the original?

SPEAKER_06 37:45

Yeah, exactly. It's exactly what it did.

SPEAKER_02 37:47

Now, going back to Paris, your favorite death, Sylvia with the neck snapping. That story was so interesting to me, but it w what I think stood out about it the most for me was the end scene that we get in that story. Right. So we have Cass and Richard encountering zombie Nathan, and uh he just has Sylvia's head on the platter. There's that moment where they're freaking out, saying, Oh my god, and this is the taste that you get of the first transition back into the overarching story, and the backgrounds you get between uh behind Cass, behind Richard, are absolutely stunning. I think that actually is one of my favorite scenes from this movie.

SPEAKER_04 38:27

And the gels, the gels of it all.

SPEAKER_02 38:30

They did use a lot of gels.

SPEAKER_04 38:32

It was a nice like end cap on each story. It was like, we're gonna do a hard cut and freeze frame and throw some gels on it, and you're gonna know that they probably died.

SPEAKER_01 38:40

That's so interesting. I had trouble enjoying Father's Day, and that's really what set me in a bad mood was watching that that whole story play out. I was just kind of like, is this what I'm about to watch for this movie?

SPEAKER_06 38:51

I thought I was about to be the only one to say it. I did not enjoy Father's Day, and I feel like Paris and Chris loved it. I it was my least favorite.

SPEAKER_04 38:57

Oh, I didn't love it.

SPEAKER_06 38:58

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_04 38:59

I liked some of the characters because there was a fabulous old woman and an obviously gay man. Um, but for the most part, like the acting was really bad and like the zombie dad was kind of dumb. Um, but the kills for in me, the kills in it for me, uh, were just like dumb and like kooky enough for me to be like, this is the fun kind of bad.

SPEAKER_02 39:16

Yeah, I didn't love it. I loved the crate. The crate was we'll get to our favorites and least favorites in a bit. The crate stood out to me. This one, though, redeemed looking back and kind of looking back, like if if we were to break down an average of like what the uh stories are, this is one of the movies, the stories that kept it on the good side. I love a good zombie resurrecting from the dead. I liked the sound of uh Nathan's voice. It gets a little bit too redundant as you go through the rest of the movie and you hear it from different characters, but I actually really, really liked it. I didn't like Hank in his disco dancing, that was weird.

SPEAKER_06 39:51

There was a lot of awkward dancing happening. So my favorite scene seems to be uh from one of the stories that I don't think you guys liked very much, which was something to tide you over. Like the drowning, you know, bits where they're on the TVs, heads above, just barely above the sand, waves crashing in. Like, I don't know if you guys have been buried in sand before. I feel like everyone should be at some point.

SPEAKER_03 40:17

Hell no. What? No, I can't even swim. Why would I want to like expose myself like that?

SPEAKER_04 40:22

Nope. Is that a bucket list thing?

SPEAKER_06 40:24

Okay, well, I just want to be clear. You don't get buried in sand near the ocean. That's only something that a killer does. But kids get buried in the sand sometimes because it's fun. Isn't most sand near an ocean?

SPEAKER_04 40:35

Yeah, but you do it further offshore.

SPEAKER_06 40:37

Yeah, yeah, but not at the ocean. You know where the ocean goes and where it doesn't go, okay? You go towards the dry sand. Still feels like a terrible idea.

SPEAKER_01 40:45

I mean, I've been a sugar cookie. I don't know if that's similar to being buried in sand, but I don't know what that means, but it sounds dirty.

SPEAKER_06 40:51

I'm uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_01 40:53

What the hell does that mean? You basically you get in the water, so you're like soaking wet, and then you have to get into the dry sand, and then like it it gets all over you, and so you're just covered in sand and it sticks to you like a sugar cookie.

SPEAKER_06 41:06

So no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 41:07

You gotta But we do that on purpose. It's a thing. Kids. Yeah, oh no. This was something I did as an adult, but so yeah, it's a thing.

SPEAKER_06 41:15

Next time you're at the beach, probably don't do it as an adult, but when you're we if you have a kid around, pick up a kid somewhere, take them to the beach, and bury them up to their head.

SPEAKER_03 41:25

Dig a hole. We are not encouraging kidnapping.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

Bury them in sand and record it.

SPEAKER_06 41:32

No, okay, so for real though, you dig a hole, and it's most they're mostly out of the sand, they're not under the sand like these people are. It's very difficult to dig a hole big enough for a human, just so we're clear.

SPEAKER_01 41:42

Ryan would know. She tries often.

SPEAKER_06 41:45

So you you know, you put sand over them, you can pat them, you can get put it into the shape of like a mermaid, you know? It's a fun thing to do as a kid. Anyway, the scene here with the TVs and uh the VCR that's on record instead of play, which is hilarious, and like 20,000 feet of cable connecting everything, it's just such a nice scene. It's miserable and absolutely uh scares the Jesus out of me to be in that situation. But watching it, especially like then seeing him watching it from inside his like lair, so good.

SPEAKER_04 42:18

You know, Ryan, I'm surprised that you think that I didn't like that scene because that was actually my favorite scene too.

SPEAKER_06 42:23

Okay, well, I'm just wrong.

SPEAKER_04 42:25

No, it was so good. Um, because I feel like one, that was such a unique, like kill. Um, I've never seen anything like that before. I mean, you kind of always like hear, like, oh, that's a thing that can happen. It's like an idea that exists in the zeitgeist, but I've never actually seen it done. Um, and the way that it was like filmed, I thought it was really beautiful, like the different angles that they got to really put you into that perspective as the waves like came in crashing over your face. Um, and then I also, like Chris was saying earlier, I kind of enjoyed like the soap opera more dramatic vibes of it.

SPEAKER_06 42:52

Where they're like screaming each other's names.

SPEAKER_04 42:54

Yeah. And just like honestly, the set design in that one was so beautiful to me that every scene was just like a visual delight. Um, and I just thought Ted Danson and Leslie Nielsen both did a great job. I never knew that Ted Danson was actually as handsome as he was at that time. Um, but I did always know that Leslie Nielsen was born 65 years old.

SPEAKER_01 43:15

You know, we're on a trend here because my favorite scene is also from Something to Tide You Over. But it's specifically the scene where Leslie Nielsen's character gets back and he's watching the TVs and his affect changes, like he's feeling some remorse. And I love that moment because I felt like I wasn't expecting the ending of that segment to be what it was, with, like you said, old Greg showing up. But I feel like it was like the proper type of Stephen King that I've come to expect, where like Edgar Allan Poe style, the guilt and remorse of what he's done, would like weigh on him. And I kind of expected him to go like walk into the water until he drowned himself. And I kind of feel like it's a Stephen King film I want to see. I Want him to write a full film based on that segment without the undead showing up at the end. Because that was kind of that was kind of a bummer for me because it's always that human aspect that I love the most out of this stuff, and like to see his face change when he's processing what's happening and as he's watching, and he's like trying to like deal with his laughing of satisfaction, yet feeling the remorse. It was just he was so torn and it wasn't a performance I was expecting from him at all. That whole thing with him and Ted Danton, I was just like, obviously, they have some great actors. I mean, like Ed Harris is in this film, and you don't even like realize it, but their like back and forth was so surprisingly enjoyable because it was unlike the rest of the film, and obviously it gets silly at certain points, especially the whole like VCR thing and you know TV quality and all that kind of junk. But when he gets to that point where he's realizing what he's done and it's like sinking in and he's like accepting it, loved it.

SPEAKER_02 44:52

It's interesting. I feel like the the dramatics of that entire story I could have done without, I feel like it wasn't just menacing enough. You know what I mean? Like I didn't feel like, you know, if Ted Danson at any point, if if he'd at any point decided to just overpower or hit Dusszy Nielsen's character or literally anything, I just feel like it it took a it took a long stretch to kind of get to the point where he was buried. I think once you're buried, I I'm not against the idea of the comeuppance, right? I'm not against the zombies coming back for his character. That was pretty cool. I think as we got those zombies, that's where it started kicking in for me. Like, oh, okay, yeah, okay, this isn't that bad. Oh wow. Everything leading up to it, though, just fell short.

SPEAKER_01 45:35

What's interesting to me about that, I feel totally the opposite. Yeah, I feel the opposite. I feel like that was my favorite part. And I feel like it was like the end of a film. I feel like this was the last part of a really interesting film where everything up to that was, you know, maybe some like snooping around, some some stalking, some threatening, some really crazy behavior where we realize he's kind of a psychopath. A little sex scene. A little sex scene with Ted Danson. And then we get to this as the finale that you never expected because you were expecting just a standard drama.

SPEAKER_06 46:04

It's like back Black Mirror, how they just drop you in and you don't get to know the characters or anything. They just are. They already exist.

SPEAKER_01 46:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:12

I think what it is for me is I'd rather have a zombie movie than a movie about shitty predatory men who are insanely jealous and possessive. I think that's what it is for me. Yeah, that's it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 46:23

It was definitely very male-driven, and they're both like fighting over a girl who we never get to see except her just choking on salt water and then being a zombie.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

I mean, I I could have done without that one. I think earlier, you know, I mentioned that my favorite scene, the the interaction between Cass, Richard, and Nathan. And really one of the things that stood out to me visually about this movie, right, is the use of color and just the way everything shifts in that moment. Even when you have the creature attacking the janitor in the crate, how everything just turns red. Like everything shifts in terms of its color to to denote moments of tension, uh, suspense, or true danger. I absolutely loved that approach to the use of color in this movie.

SPEAKER_01 47:07

That story was absolutely brilliant. The whole part of it, the acting was amazing, and obviously the Yeti was it was kind of silly, you know, it was kind of like the Henderson's going on here a little bit. But I I enjoyed it so much. But the best part of it was it wasn't even about the monster in the box. Like that was kind of sidelined by the rest of the characters in it, and it was so brilliantly executed. I just I don't know, I'm st I'm still torn by Stephen King turning into um a plant bar fan. For for people who don't know, it's a it's a local business here where they sell hipster's plants, uh, and it's very effective and has some great stuff. But that scene just actually, you know what? Everything the blue goo inside of it, his reactions to like his fingers changing, and like the growth that's happening. The growth was so cool as it just like started accelerating. And looking at that scene, I was a I was a huge fan of that because you know, sci-fi is cool and that's my thing, and I could just imagine this thing just sprawling out over acres and acres. And I don't know, I can't I can't get over like how much fun it was to watch that like accelerate at such a fast pace for me, especially over Stephen King himself.

SPEAKER_06 48:23

Dude, for me, that story, the comedy is what made it so good, and like even all the way to the very end, they're like, Oh, Oregon's gonna turn green faster than something. It was it was so funny, everything the way the things that he was saying, like he's trying to, you know, he's planning to sell it and then messes it up and all that stuff. I love that. Um, for me, my favorite visual element obviously has to be the transitions from like the live acting to the graphics. I feel like it's obvious for me. It's just so cool when you get to see things done differently like that. And I will always be here to to shout out those things because we don't get to see it all the time. We don't get to see cool graphics in the middle of a movie. You get a title and an end sequence, you know. So um obviously for me, that's that was the star. And you know, uh not saying I want to remake, but I would like to see this type of thing done again more modernly. But for what it was, it was great.

SPEAKER_01 49:23

They really did hit that feeling of watching a comic book on screen. Obviously, the Jordi Viral section was one of my favorites, but the the parts where he's like thinking inside of his head, you know, where he's like thinking like what could happen or what would happen, feels like you're watching some of those panels in a comic book come to life. And then this to see those segues like put onto screen, even though the transition, like I'm sure technically it's very effective and very impressive, it just like flows so well that it it legit is an effect I want to see more because I like I never really enjoyed comics, but I like comics into movies and watching all the new like Avengers and everything, like it's it's they're cool and everything, but they don't really like feel like comic books anymore. They just feel like action movies.

SPEAKER_02 50:09

Yeah. I can't wait to hear what you think about the way that's approached in trick or tree.

SPEAKER_04 50:13

Oh, we'll get there. I love how much love we're giving to all of the graphic animations in this movie because it was really uh a really unique signature of this uh little experience. I felt like I realize now the more like old uh 80s, 70s films that we've been watching lately, that a lot of times they really have a mastery of lighting that feels like it's kind of lost nowadays with newer films. Um, specifically in the first one, there was a shot of cast through a window. Uh, and the window was gorgeous. You got a lot of like framing around her, uh, and the light passing through the window on her face was just like a beautiful, like I would hang that up on my wall kind of shot. And then later, specifically in the Geordie one, which I probably liked the least, um, that one had a lot of really beautiful lighting on that character as well. And even though he was like really kind of like goofy looking and ugly, uh, the lighting did such a a great job of showcasing all of those things that he actually looked pretty good. Not like good, good, but you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_02 51:08

Not like your daddy good or no, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_01 51:11

Lighting back then was really good. I mean, they didn't have the benefit of being able to say, like, we'll just fix it in post. Just whatever. Like, shoot whatever crap you can get, and then we'll just like fix it later. They had to like get it right the first time.

SPEAKER_06 51:23

It's like something to consider when that um that box opens and it snaps to the that blue and and red like split. That has to happen. So the actor has to be on cue, everybody has to be on their game, the lights have to come on at the right time. That's all happening very live. And so there's definitely an extra level of appreciation of appreciation that should be there. It's it is a lost art, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 51:50

You're absolutely right. So much of what everything that went into this movie is a lost art, but I know we've already discussed a little bit so far what we generally liked or disliked in terms of the stories. Real quick, favorite and least favorite.

SPEAKER_06 52:02

For me, least favorite, Father's Day, favorite, they're creeping up on you.

SPEAKER_04 52:06

For me, my favorite was uh something to tide you over, and my least favorite was The Lonesome Death of Geordie. I did not really like that one very much at all, besides some of the visuals.

SPEAKER_01 52:15

Oh man, I like it's so hard to pick here for favorite. For least favorite, it's really easy. They're creeping up on you mostly because of the bugs, and I hate to say that, but because obviously the acting was great. The character was so intense, and you really love to hate him. That's the fun part.

SPEAKER_05 52:31

How gross?

SPEAKER_01 52:32

I just the bugs, I don't do bugs, I don't like them. And I don't even like killing them. I just want to escort them out of the house so they can live a good life elsewhere, far away from me. But it just it grossed me out too much to see that many of them live on screen.

SPEAKER_02 52:46

Are you gonna be the Pied Piper of roaches?

SPEAKER_01 52:48

Ew. Yeah, if I could just like go grab my clarinet and start playing, and all the roaches in the world would just go elsewhere, maybe to Mars or something, that would be fantastic. But favorite, it's hard to choose because the crate is amazing, and I felt like it was way longer than the other stories because there was so much to it, and it was really enjoyable. But the lonesome death of Jordy Varyl was so entertaining for me, and that entertainment value really crushes. But something that tied you over also like that story. I felt like again, I was watching the end of a movie, and I want to watch that whole movie, but I'm gonna have to pick the lonesome death of Jordy Veryl because Stephen King and Stephen King, and mostly Stephen King, portraying an incredibly goofy character that I found really enjoyable to watch.

SPEAKER_02 53:34

What a thorough explanation, Mac. Let me tell you this: Stephen King, Stephen King, Stephen King, Stephen King is one of the many reasons I actually liked Jordy Varyl the least. I actually I can't even say I liked it the least because that implies a level of liking. I disliked that story.

SPEAKER_05 53:52

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 53:53

I was not a fan, not a fan. I feel like that one was a lull for me. And then to go from that to something to tide you over, uh it was like the middle of the movie for me just fell really flat. I'm not a fan of the goofiness, and I get it. You know, it's it's sometimes it's his brand. Um, I'm not saying that his performance was terrible because that he did what he was trying to do, but it's definitely not my my kind of thing. But the crate redeemed it. So that was the one where to go from something to Taiju over, it wasn't even that the crate was better by comparison. It was like exactly what I wanted for the type of horror that I like, right? So we have a creature in a box who's menacing, but it's more so about the monster inside the man uh and the monster inside that marriage and the dynamics between them. So there's like a level of depth there that I really like. And when you think about like the creature like potentially escaping from the box, um, from that weakened, the weakened boards on that crate as it kind of submerges into the water, it leaves the potential of A, what else is that creature gonna do? B, what else is this dude gonna do? He's been unassuming his whole life, and now he's had his taste of I can rectify my problems, so what's next for him? Their creeping up on you was really, really strong, but I think the crate takes it for me for my favorite.

SPEAKER_04 55:11

That's actually wild because I felt like the crate was like the lull for me. Uh up until the point when people like started actually getting killed by the Yeti in a box. Uh, I was very bored. I was like, who are these characters? I don't really care about them. Everybody's being mean to Billy, even though she's trying to like get people to have a good time. And the husband's just like fantasizing about killing her. And I'm like, is it her fault that you are impotent? And I don't think it is.

SPEAKER_02 55:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:34

The the subtext though really carried it because obviously the monster in the box is is really interesting or whatever, as the janitor is digging this thing up from the past and bringing it to life. But I mean, the story about these like two old past their prime dudes who, like you mentioned, are impotent and feeling emasculated, and now they like find this inner strength or whatever and start taking it out on the world. And then that moment at the end where he's thrown it in the water, yeah, it's not gonna get out because I put the chains on it. Like he's gonna be able to keep in this monster that was always inside once it's been released. And I mean, as we find out, that he's never gonna be able to, and he's you know, properly psych uh he's a psychopath at this point.

SPEAKER_02 56:17

So Mac was the creature in the box really just his toxic masculinity all along?

SPEAKER_01 56:23

Exactly. He was holding it in, feeling like he could never express his manliness and all that kind of stuff. And now these two dudes can just be themselves forever. I mean, he mentions that his best friend has been messing around with the students, with the young women, and the way I like view this is his best friend in real life would have like legitimately like killed some people, and then he goes and cleans it every you know, cleans it up to protect them, and then finds the opportunity to get that inner strength that he's been searching for and finish off his wife. And now, okay, now it's all chained up and we don't have to worry about it.

SPEAKER_06 56:57

If I'm not mistaken, what he says is he's had a hard time coping with some of the younger students. That's what he says. They are a burden to deal with.

SPEAKER_01 57:08

Yeah, coping with his pants.

SPEAKER_06 57:10

I'm sorry, what coping with the younger women?

SPEAKER_04 57:13

I mean, can we be clear that Henry's reaction to finding out the news that Dexter gives him about the thing in the box is absolutely insane? Uh, he drugged Dexter and then proceeded to use this as an opportunity to kill his wife and like clean up so much blood. I was like, what is he doing? It was bizarre to me.

SPEAKER_06 57:33

Handling business.

SPEAKER_04 57:34

And then he gets back to Dexter and he's like, I took care of it, and this is what happened. And even Dexter's like, What? You're insane. What why would that be the thing you think to do with this?

SPEAKER_02 57:45

There are no bodies. What are you gonna do? I want to make clear though, Paris. I am on team Wilma slash Billy. Not that I think she was justified in the way she treated her husband. No matter how incompetent or impotent or anything someone is, like I've been in the relationship where I've had someone just like constantly fucking berating me the whole time, and it's toxic, it's unnecessary. That does not mean that person deserves to die, though. And that doesn't mean that that she deserves to be lured to uh to her death by a creature in a box. I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_04 58:16

Yeah, definitely a toxic relationship.

SPEAKER_06 58:18

I'm not saying she deserved. I'm just saying she didn't not deserve.

SPEAKER_01 58:23

I don't know. She didn't deserve to die, but she didn't deserve to live. All she deserved was some honesty from the people around her to let her know the kind of person that she was being and that they weren't expecting that out of her.

SPEAKER_05 58:32

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_04 58:32

I mean, can we also talk about the fact that she brought that alcoholic drink with so much milk in it? She brought that with her in the car and to the scene.

SPEAKER_02 58:40

She's wild, man. She left, she left relatively sober, came home drunk, and then drove drunker to the scene of the her of her death.

SPEAKER_04 58:48

Yeah, she was a mess.

SPEAKER_02 58:49

While laughing the whole way. So really the answer is be sober.

SPEAKER_04 58:53

Yeah. Just get help, Billy.

SPEAKER_02 58:55

It sounds like from the ways that we appreciated or maybe disliked uh some of these stories, it relied heavily upon its characters. What stood out to you folks about them?

SPEAKER_04 59:04

Ted Danson and Leslie Nielsen were the stars of this for me. Uh I love that we were thrown into that scene without getting the backstory, but their acting in the dialogue gave you the backstory. Um, I thought that they worked really well opposite each other. And I guess now that I'm listening to you guys talk about it, I can give like a runner-up ribbon to Jordy because I guess he did like go through a pretty, a pretty significant like developmental arc with his little vignette, even though I didn't care for it.

SPEAKER_06 59:31

You're so annoyed while complimenting him.

SPEAKER_04 59:34

Yeah, yeah. I could I can admit he did pretty well as far as characters go.

SPEAKER_02 59:39

I liked his death and his death only. That's fine.

SPEAKER_06 59:42

Well, since you just went over those two, um, in their creeping up on you, I think Mr. Pratt is just disgusting in the most perfect way and so obsessed with this thing, which ends up being his demise, which is amazing. Um, he definitely it just he just played that role perfectly, and and then they had him set in the perfect scene, and you know, he's like trying to live in a germ-free penthouse. Like, this is the perfect man to die by roach, okay? Uh it's like this that that character, and then the characters that like you know he interacts with, they're just so good. And I mean, they're 80s good. There's so definitely some parts where you're like, what is happening right now? But in my opinion, Mr. Pratt was right on the money.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:25

The characters were so great because Stephen King is obviously a master at short stories, so that when we get into each one, it feels like you're flipping through channels and you're watching segments of different movies that are all well developed, and the characters are all individuals, and they all have their uniqueness to them. And some of you know, some of the characters in the sidelines there are going to be a little bit two-dimensional just because that's how film is, and you need some people that are there to kind of fluff the story a little bit. But all of our main characters like legitimately could each have their own films, and it would be satisfying to watch them. And it's pretty amazing because I'm I'm not a fan of usually anthology stories, movies, TV shows, anything. I've had a hard time, even with Castle Rock. I've only gotten like halfway through it the second season, and I'm kind of bummed because I really liked the first season, and it suddenly changes. I've tried a couple other popular anthology TV series where I just I hadn't I couldn't keep going. But this movie, it's kind of unique in that way where you you jump in and it's really short clips, and each of the characters feels like somebody spent some time thinking as the characters, which is really cool.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:36

I can appreciate that depth. I I think there definitely is something about the quality with which Stephen King writes his characters that it shines through in this movie, even with the characters that I disliked. Like looking at Hank and Father's Day, right? Dude was nothing more than a bad dancer who liked to strike matches against architecture. That was like his defining quality, but also it just seemed very lived in, right? What stood out to me the most was just how the characters were characters with a capital C, right? Everything was over the top, uh, which can be attributed to its comic book roots. Even the the depiction and representation of that moral panic, right, that caused the demise of these comic books to begin with, with Stan in the beginning of the movie, which is it's wild to me because he's played by Tom Atkins. And this movie and Halloween 3 season of the Witch, which we're covering later this month, also came uh they came out in the same year, and they were competing with each other, and it's hilarious to me to like see him in these two different roles in these in these two different styles of characters, but he was a huge douche, and I think even that performance, right? Even the way that character is written, Stephen King has a knack for writing shitty dads, and I think that shines through really well. A lot of the men in this movie, I think, are just generally crappy.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:52

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:52

Earlier we're talking about the message or theme that kind of shines through this anthology, and that's your ups will come, right? A lot of these are revenge stories. A lot of these are like the only people who had something coming are the people who deserve to have it come to them, and that's really what it all comes down to. That's why I kind of felt like eh, Geordie is the only one I think you could argue that, but it just felt a little bit redundant for me.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:15

We did allude to there being a central theme, and it did kind of feel like that, Chris. I'm curious if there are other themes in this film that I didn't pick up on though, like as like unifying themes.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:28

I feel like now that you point that out, I can see that as being a theme, but I just felt like each one was so different that that wasn't something that stood out to me. Um, and even now I'm like, I can kind of see that uh being like a revenge like narrative throughout. Um, but Jordy does definitely like throw a wrench into that because he was just an innocent bystander trying to, I guess, make money by selling a meteor to a local scientist.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:53

His gone greed. But he it was his it was his dad that he was like thinking of talking to him the whole time, right? Mm-hmm. So I mean there's like some father uh you know it's like daddy issues.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:07

That's the theme.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:08

The the theme of creep show is daddy issues. 100%. But it's like, you know, he's very self-deprecating and stuff like that. So there's there's some of those, but then like, yeah, uh, there's not really much of the revenge thing, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:21

I think the the other broader message there is don't fucking touch things that are weird and don't put your hands in your mouth afterwards. That's the bigger message to take away.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:30

That's definitely very relevant now.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:32

Don't try to sell glowy rocks.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:35

But wait, on that note while we're talking about the intro to that one, did anybody else think like the first Men in Black completely was inspired by this? Oh my gosh. Like with uh like something crash-landing in a farmer's backyard, and then Vincent D'Nafrio goes over there in overalls, and then suddenly some alien stuff happens to him. I was like, oh, this is absolutely where Men in Black got that from.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:53

Then that also means that that's where Superman got it from, even though it came first.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:57

Oh, true. I know nothing about Superman. Is that what he does?

SPEAKER_02 1:05:01

Oh yes, Superman crash lands on Earth uh in on a farm and a farmer finds him, and that's how he gets raised. Have you never seen Smallville?

SPEAKER_04 1:05:10

Is he an alien?

SPEAKER_02 1:05:12

Superman is an alien, yeah. He's from the planet Krypton.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:14

Did you not know? Oh.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:16

Okay, watch first off, before we ruin this any further, watch Brightburn. It's like, what if Superman was evil?

SPEAKER_04 1:05:22

Oh, yeah, that's on my watch list.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:24

Yeah, so watch that first and then you can dive into your Superman mythology.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:28

But would you watch it again? I would I'd actually say no. It's it's fun. Uh, it's not something that I'll just watch on my own, though. I'd want to watch Creep Show too. I'd want to watch like the shorter stories. I think this specific movie and the stories within it don't do enough for me to be like, hell yeah, let's put creep show on. Um, I'm just more of a fan of like the the way I've seen this play out in other mediums.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:50

I'm actually I I mean, I'm not shocked, but I'm a little sad to hear you say that. I'm like planning when I can watch this again with someone, you know? Like I'm saying, just a little I need a little little pumpkin drink, hopefully alcoholic, if my calories for the day allow it. And you know, just sit back, cozy up, mostly talk over the movie and watch the movie, you know. Like, I don't know, this might be my new October uh requirement of the month, but that's not usually in my character. So interesting. Really interesting. Surprising times.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:24

Honestly, Ryan, I wasn't planning to say I was gonna watch this again, but you make it sound really appealing in that context.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:30

See?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:31

Like almost just like putting it on in the background of like a Halloween gathering where everyone's just like you know, having a good time, feeling a little spooky. You can you can kind of tune in and out as you see fit.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:40

Definitely alcohol involved. You guys are going further than I would. I don't know that I could watch this again. Maybe not this year, maybe in the future, but it does make me more open to anthologies now because I have seen that it can be done pretty well in an entertaining way. Because I've been pretty against them for a while. So after having seen this, I I think like I might try another one and and see how it goes.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:05

I would though highly recommend the creep show show on Shudder. I started watching it a few days ago and I'm really, really enjoying it. It I think it corrects a lot of things I wish I would have seen done differently with this. It feels like a comic book, but it also it feels more like Tales from the Crypt. So you definitely have like a spooky thing, not necessarily narrating it, but being present and kind of linking you between the stories. 10 out of 10 would recommend. We've spoken fairly highly of Creepshow, but there is so much to learn. Mac, what do you have in terms of your fact or fiction?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:40

What do I have indeed? Let's start with number one. Stephen King's inspiration for the way Geordie acts is Wily Coyote.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:48

Fact.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:48

I feel like I read somewhere that Stephen King and Looney Tunes was something there, uh, as a vague concept.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:55

So yeah, sure, fact. This is a fact. He was asked to channel the Roadrunner chasing a coyote's look when he falls off a cliff. That kind of scrambly feeling, that's silliness. So well done.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:06

Yeah, I see it 100%.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:07

Number two, Stephen King carried a Star Wars figurine onto set for good luck.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:12

When did Star Wars start? 70s. I'm still going fiction.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:16

We are not historians here. I'll say yeah, because he seems like the type to be into Star Wars. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:21

This one is also a fact. He carried Grito from a new hope.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:25

What is this question though? What kind of specific detail?

SPEAKER_01 1:08:28

This is Stephen King factor fiction. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:32

Here's the next question. Factor fiction. Stephen King uses two ply toilet paper.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:36

I don't know. Obviously not. He has all of his assistants wash him with a hose. Sir. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:44

Actually, it's fact because he's a humble man and only stocks his main riding house with two ply.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:49

Oh my god. Cheapboard humble. He just uses anything that he's written that he hasn't kept. He just wipes with that. Let's move on to number three. In the Father's Day story, they used rice krispies to simulate maggots.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:01

When did rice crispies start? I'm just kidding. Fact.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:05

Honestly, I I'm gonna be real. I don't remember there being maggots. Um I'm gonna say fiction. This one is a fact. And they also used real maggots, you know, for taste.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:16

I don't even remember the maggots.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:17

Yeah, you know, the whole like decomposing body thing and death. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that whole thing. Well, our last one for the night. The crew on this film was also the same as for everyone's favorite film, Sleepaway Camp.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:29

Fiction.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:29

Uh, fiction. Don't know why. Well, you know, that's a good guess. This one is a fact, according to actor Jonathan Tearson.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:36

They're all fact.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:36

Wow. They were indeed all facts. I was trying to trick you guys, but you did pretty well.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:40

I picked fiction because it was like, oh, too many facts. You know when you pick too many C's in a row on the multiple choice test?

SPEAKER_02 1:09:45

Yeah, you start questioning yourself?

SPEAKER_05 1:09:46

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:46

Thank you so much for that, Mac. One thing that Mac was going to include, and I'm a little surprised we haven't brought it up to this point yet. We took it out because of the obviousness of like if you search who's in this movie. Are you guys aware that the kid in the beginning is actually Stephen King's son, Joe?

SPEAKER_06 1:10:02

Of course not.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:03

Better yet, go ahead and Google what he looks like now. Oh, yeah. Because it is exactly Stephen King.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:08

Yep. And he's also a writer.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:09

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:10

How dare he. I'm surprised his name isn't Stephen King, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:13

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:14

Looks identical, right? Oh my gosh, that's hilarious. So, Mac, thank you so much for lining that up for fact or fiction. We thought for sure that it would be spoiled with us seeing, like, okay, he's Joe Hill credited as Joe King would be a little bit obvious for the family connection.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:29

Missed opportunity, but I think everyone did very well, and we've we've all learned a lot about ourselves. Have we?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:34

I think it says a lot, you know, the things that we like. Paris, I think it's very on brand that you'd be Team Wilma.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:39

I mean, she definitely needs help, but not that kind of help.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:42

There you have it, folks. Creep Show from 1982 has earned a universal slash. While we've certainly had a lot to talk about here, and I know we agree on some things and disagree on many, uh, it's important to know that your opinion and your mileage will vary, and we want to know what that variation is. So we want to know what you think. Keep in mind there are a number of ways you can reach out to us, starting with our website, hackerslash.com.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:04

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SPEAKER_06 1:11:08

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SPEAKER_01 1:11:24

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SPEAKER_04 1:11:35

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SPEAKER_02 1:11:43

We'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:44

I hope they keep hell hot for you.