SPEAKER_02 0:04

Are you saying you got cell block tango energy?

SPEAKER_08 0:06

Yes, I did. Tell me you didn't.

SPEAKER_02 0:10

I do now.

SPEAKER_08 0:16

Greetings and salutations, and welcome to the spooky season with Hacker Slash. If you're joining us again, welcome back. You've been a bad bad boy, Gabriel. If 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 0:34

Totally killer, pun intended.

SPEAKER_08 0:36

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

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Hola Muchachos.

SPEAKER_08 0:51

The Gore Lover Alexis. Hey everyone. The cowardly creeper Ryan. Hiya. And the Scream Queen Paris.

SPEAKER_06 0:59

Ballad.

SPEAKER_08 1:00

The people who've spoken this week and our patrons have decided we're checking out another film by James Juan. Before we get down to business, though, we have some follow-up.

SPEAKER_02 1:08

You know, Chris, the people have spoken in our follow-up poll results as well. We recently reviewed the film Basket Case from Ancient Times, also known as 1982. And let's leave it vague, but it did not fare well amongst the team. We can say that. However, we wanted to hear from our listeners, as we always do. The results, everyone, are shocking. Sixty percent of the voters gave this movie a slash.

SPEAKER_08 1:33

What? Wow. Why? It is a classic.

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Is this fiction? This must be fiction. We're getting started early on factor fiction. No, actually, yeah, it is fiction. 60% gave it a hack, but that's still 40% that slashed it.

SPEAKER_04 1:45

Which is again still too many.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Way too many. We have a comment from one of those slashes, and it is from Greg. Greg on Twitter said, This is absolutely 100% a slash. Great kills, good acting, fun plot, and outstanding creature design.

SPEAKER_07 2:02

I agree with some of those. I do believe the outstanding creature design was kind of cool.

SPEAKER_08 2:08

I think this is an April Fool's joke in October. I think Greg is nothing if not generous with his words.

SPEAKER_02 2:15

The creature design does stand out.

SPEAKER_08 2:17

Stands out like a sore thumb in your mouth. It stands out. Sometimes you don't need to stand out.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

And we have another comment from one of our patrons, Darren, who said, Well, against the advice of Paris, I tried to watch this movie. I say tried because I couldn't finish it. I was so bored. And this is coming from someone who loves Blood Rage. I know Basket Case is considered a classic, but it's not for me. Hard hack.

SPEAKER_04 2:39

I take Blood Rage over Basket Case like 10 times a day.

SPEAKER_02 2:43

That's what I said. At least Blood Rage, like, I don't know, was somewhat entertaining, you know?

SPEAKER_04 2:49

There were buts?

SPEAKER_02 2:50

Oh yeah, there were buts. And that's our follow-up.

SPEAKER_08 2:53

Well, on to better days. This week's film pulled away with 50% of our patron vote, while the next closest film managed to earn 45% in an incredibly tight race. This film marks James Wan's return to horror, and upon its release in theaters and HBO Max in September, audiences were treated to a film that blends brutal gore, soap opera dramatics, and classic detective work with just a touch of camp. Now Juan's goal was to make a bold, larger-than-life film that would give modern horror audiences a taste of something different. And that taste of something different came in the form of a movie that follows a woman who's paralyzed by her visions of brutal murders and her fight for survival after she realizes her visions are real. This week we're talking about malignant.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

Now our patrons left us a couple comments since they did vote for this. First up, Brittany. Brittany says, I've heard great things about malignant. Plus, a good excuse to get out to the theater again.

SPEAKER_08 3:48

Brittany probably didn't say it like that though.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

I like to think she did. Me too. Alright, next up, Anthony says, as you all saw on Twitter, I took a lot of see malignant. I cannot wait to hear what y'all have to say.

SPEAKER_08 3:59

It's funny because he's Canadian.

SPEAKER_01 4:02

Southern Canadian.

SPEAKER_08 4:03

Obviously.

SPEAKER_01 4:04

Well, that brings us to our final comment left by Alex. This movie was a lot of fun. Looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts on it.

SPEAKER_08 4:11

Well, I cannot think of three more wrong voices for those three individuals, but I'm so excited that they're excited for us to cover this movie.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

Our patrons are nothing if not diverse.

SPEAKER_08 4:20

Max's best quality is his voices.

SPEAKER_02 4:22

Got a face for radio, what can I say?

SPEAKER_08 4:24

And his horn-rimmed glasses. But what were you all expecting going into this movie?

SPEAKER_04 4:29

I'm not really sure what I expected. I know that a lot of people have been talking about malignant. I don't know. I guess I thought it was going to be good, but I didn't know what kind of story I was going into, because y'all know me. I don't do trailers.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

Me too, Ryan. I knew nothing about this movie and also didn't watch a trailer. But strangely enough, two of my like six best friends texted me about this separately and were like, Did you watch Malignant? One of them is like somewhat into horror, the other one's not really into horror at all. And I was like, no, I haven't watched it, so don't tell me anything. And as a result of that, which doesn't happen almost ever, I was expecting this movie to be, at the very least, notable.

SPEAKER_07 5:03

I thought it was going to be a typical James Wan movie about some possessed thing, some ghost story, not a lot of gore. And that's it.

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Yeah, I too was expecting typical James Wan. I was expecting jump scares and bad dialogue.

SPEAKER_04 5:19

And like haunted house, husband wants to stay there, wife thinks we should leave, like that kind of vibe.

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_08 5:26

See, I expected a sensation more than anything. Now, my gut knows everything James Wan does for the first time, he does magically and masterfully. And then as things continue, I tend to dislike them fiercely. But I also knew that this movie was really like polarizing. I've heard that people either really love what it's all about or people really hate it, and no one's really in the middle on it. So I expected this to be a situation where because it's so different from the stuff he's done, I expected to not really like it at all. But I will say, I felt a wide range of things when I was watching this movie, among them being floored by how beautiful it is, also being shocked at the level of camp in it, that's kind of like subversive camp. It's not really like sleepaway camp histrionic aunt camp. This movie takes you on a really weird ride in terms of like where its story flows, and it's really long, in my opinion. It's an hour and 50 minutes, which isn't the longest movie we've ever seen on this podcast, but it gets to a point where you're like, okay, let's wrap this thing up, and then it just blows your fucking mind. Not because it's shocking, but because it's so over the top. It's an experience.

SPEAKER_07 6:39

Yeah, I felt that roller coaster for sure, and I felt it right at the hour mark. And it was weird because I then felt I was watching a completely different movie from the set of emotions that I had in the first half versus the second half. They were very polarizing.

SPEAKER_04 6:54

Yeah, I agree. I think the weirdest feeling for me that came from this is feeling like I was watching the beginning of a series at the at the start of this movie. It kind of felt like I was signing up for something for a while, and part of it is because of the opening credits, and then part of it is because of the way this story starts to be presented to us. We get a bit of like who done it happening with like cops, a bit of seven energy where we get kind of like the cops' perspective from things that I wasn't expecting. I don't know. There's there are a lot of things that you feel as you watch this. It is a roller coaster to say the very least.

SPEAKER_08 7:31

Okay, look, let's be clear. If there's anything James Juan loves, it's some form of investigation, whether that be ghosts or detectives. That's true. That's true.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

So once I realized this was James Juan, like Mac, I was also expecting like those kinds of jump scares that you're not ready for, but get you anyway. And I can say that this movie at least made me feel tense at times, but there were also times where I felt confused, and I feel like this movie is in a word, like odd, and it's just like so slightly off-kilter to make you question like, is this off-kilter or is that actually a straight line? And I thought that was really interesting, and it put me in like a weird place.

SPEAKER_04 8:10

I think Paris, the way I can describe maybe the same feeling is like James Wan hangs a rope out for you and wants you to grab onto it, but it's a slippery rope, and you you kind of have a grip on it, but you just slip a little bit every time something else, every time someone pulls on it. And I'm not ever sure in this movie if I'm holding onto the rope or if it's completely lost out of my hands. It it's a very, very thin line, a slippery rope.

SPEAKER_02 8:39

That's fair.

SPEAKER_07 8:40

But you're probably gripping it pretty hard because you're you're invested. In in a way, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 8:47

Something like that, you know? I'm trying to hold on for dear life here.

SPEAKER_02 8:51

That's true. If we didn't give a shit, we'd let go.

SPEAKER_04 8:53

Yeah, I don't want to die. It's like, fuck it. It's done. I'm just jumping. Well, we do a podcast, so I can't just let go of the rope. I have to try to hold on.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

I can say I felt some of the things that you've all stated. I do like that phrase, or I guess the words off-kilter. You know, it is kind of hard to figure out what you're watching. And I actually kind of enjoyed that because it is more interesting. I was I was pretty entertained watching this. I did not get what I thought I was going to get. And uh, you know, some of the things that surprised me. One, I'm shocked that this was made by the same director that made The Conjuring and Insidious Episode One, The Phantom Menace. I just kind of can't believe it. But I was also surprised, though, by the high amount of action in this movie. Like way more action than I thought there would be for this type of movie. Like The Matrix? Kind of like The Matrix in a way.

SPEAKER_04 9:43

There was a moment where I sat back and went, ooh, Alexis is gonna hate that.

SPEAKER_07 9:48

I wonder what that part was a whole bit. I was surprised that there was not a lot of jump scares. Yet the gore was amped up in this, and it was very full frontal. Okay. Which you know I enjoy, but I was not expecting that at all, and it was very surprising. But I can't wait to talk about it in the second half.

SPEAKER_04 10:06

When I realized what we were in store for here, I was most surprised by the fact that we don't get an exorcism in this movie or a seance. There's no old lady ghost hunter. It's honestly impressive, and there's no like Darth Maul. We don't have anything from the rest of his movies, which is so unique.

SPEAKER_08 10:25

We do. We have hello detective.

SPEAKER_04 10:28

Yeah. Well, that'll do.

SPEAKER_08 10:31

You know, one of the things that surprised me beyond how different this feels for James Wan, and I think it's actually different in a positive way. I was surprised how unsurprised I was by the direction this movie takes because yet again we have another movie that gives things away with the styling of their opening credits.

SPEAKER_01 10:48

They gave it away in the first scene of the movie.

SPEAKER_07 10:50

They really did. Everyone paid attention, you knew what happened.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

That's fantastic to hear.

SPEAKER_08 10:56

Yes, but also stop giving things away with your typography, alright? It's really cute, it's really clever, but just fucking stop it.

SPEAKER_04 11:03

Yeah, save it for the end credits. It's so weird. Why would you go through all the effort of making a movie just to like hint at the obvious thing that's gonna happen at the end?

SPEAKER_02 11:12

I agree. I can say that I was surprised by the tone of this movie for sure. There were a lot of times where I didn't know if I was supposed to think something was funny or camp, and I was like, huh. And there's like a lot of really bizarre choices, which I at every turn seemed to surprise me. And I was like, what? Uh oh, uh okay, that alright. But I think I was mostly disappointed by the thing we've been talking about, the lack of surprise for me, let's say at the climax.

SPEAKER_04 11:42

Yeah, it it was uh an interesting feeling during that climax. Would you say it was climactic? I would say it was whelming.

SPEAKER_02 11:50

She was whelmed.

SPEAKER_04 11:52

Mediocre at best, got it. Right. Well, since they told us what was gonna happen. Uh yeah, it was just it was just a weird thing to choose to do, honestly.

SPEAKER_08 12:00

Okay, so here's the thing though. Yes, it was apparent, yes, it was obvious, yes, they told us what they were gonna do from the very beginning, but I still felt entertained throughout that whole thing. Again, not because it's surprising, but because it's just so over the top. There's a little bit of that Chicago song, He Had It Comin' energy in there as well that I was really, really feeling for a second.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Are you saying you got cell block tango energy?

SPEAKER_08 12:26

Yes, I did. Tell me you didn't.

SPEAKER_02 12:30

I do now.

SPEAKER_08 12:31

But this movie was still like a really fun time throughout it, which I just I also wasn't expecting that, right? So, yes, the movie itself is unsurprising in terms of like the the path that it follows from like story point A to story point Z, but the elaborate ways that James Wan gets from A to Z is just so over the top and absurd and also hauntingly beautiful that I can't be mad at it.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

I don't I don't think you could be really mad at it. I just think it's not what most people are going to expect going into a James Wan movie that's definitely sold as this horror movie. I think if you watch the trailers, it kind of does a actually it does a disservice, but it also does you a service because in in one way you might be expecting, I'm gonna go see the kind of horror movies we used to see from James Wan. But then when you start watching it, you get a little surprised. Guess what? You're wrong, you're not gonna see that. And I feel like it does remove some of the fear factor from the movie because it doesn't seem like one of those something's lurking in the dark and could jump out and get you at any point kind of movies. It just seems like a there's a nefarious force that we're fully aware of the entire time, kind of movie.

SPEAKER_04 13:39

Okay, yes. However, this movie kind of carries the same bit of fear that Candyman carries for me, which is, you know, it's just the kind of thing that makes you not stare into the mirror for too long, right? This is the kind of movie that makes you, when you walk into a dark room and your eyes are adjusting or something like that, don't look into the corner for too long because you will freak yourself out, you know? Like don't look into the shadows and pay attention too much. Because I will be honest, I wasn't that scared watching this movie, but then afterwards I had to go to the bathroom and it was the middle of the night, and I was a little freaked out.

SPEAKER_08 14:14

You know, there's some scary shadows bouncing around my house. Yeah, no, that's fair. There are some like tall looming shadows in dark figures like that that seem to be creeping from corners in this movie that could be a little bit spooky. The longer it goes on. I got a little bit numb to it, but one of the first few scenes, right? It's so effective. Not in the I'm scared department, but in the holy shit, that would be unsettling to encounter department.

SPEAKER_07 14:44

Yeah, definitely. I feel like the antagonist in this movie in the first half is very ominous and has this presence that is very eerie, but it wears off. And Chris, you might be right. Maybe I just got numbed to it because I was shown too much too soon. So the fright factor for me was drawn away. But uh Ryan, I will agree. I went to the bathroom in the middle of night and was like, I now keep my second bedroom open because now I've made the bed there. So I actually closed it last night again, but I've opened it now, but still I'm I'm back and forth but being like, hey, the room's clean, and I could see someone maybe laying in the bed.

SPEAKER_04 15:22

It's just a little creepy, you know? Just don't be looking at the shadows.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

I didn't have this issue when I lived alone. If something seemed creepy, the way I would approach it is I'm the thing that's going to scare them. So if I ever walked into a dark room, you could just have like a smirk on and be like, if somebody is there, they have no idea what they're in for.

SPEAKER_07 15:39

Must be nice being a man. Or a predator. Like, don't breathe when they walk into the wrong person's house, huh?

SPEAKER_02 15:45

Max the blind man from Don't Breathe. Except even scarier because he can see.

SPEAKER_04 15:50

Just not a killer.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

So I can totally agree that the first act of this movie had a lot of tension. Some of the jump scares actually got me good, and I was like, ooh, bitch, what's going on? But this movie transitions from being one thing to being very much something else. And that something else is not scary at all. But like you were saying, Ryan and Alexis, I went to bed kind of creeped, and I was like, get me in the bed and under the covers quick.

SPEAKER_05 16:16

There's shadows under the covers.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

I think that's why I was pretty entertained throughout. You know, the whole premise when you make it through, it kind of feels like an episode of some kind of science fiction serial TV show or something. So, in and not in a bad way, you know, because it felt like they got a chance to actually flesh things out a little bit more and made it into its own thing. And obviously sci-fi is is my jam. So I actually really appreciated that aspect of it.

SPEAKER_08 16:42

That's fair. I think one of the things you said earlier, Ryan, was that this felt like you were watching the beginning of a series, and there are certainly plenty of points in this movie where it feels like they could have just stopped it and been a great ending of an episode, right? There's a certain point where someone falls from a particular point of elevation and it was like, oh shit, what a what a what a way to end an episode and then hit the play next button. I feel like that would have been good. The part that I struggle is I didn't get that same satisfaction at the ending of the actual movie. I didn't dislike it, but it didn't feel like this, wow, I really want to watch more malignant.

SPEAKER_04 17:21

Yeah, I gotta agree. I think the ending part part of it feels like it's because of the long run time, you know? Could have done for a tight 120, especially with this storyline. But we didn't get that, and we got a really what felt like drawn-out ending, and I I kind of have to agree, it didn't really do it for me. But I would say kind of generally the the third act as a whole was a bit a bit of a stretch for me.

SPEAKER_02 17:45

I think the third act helps this movie stand out as doing something very specific. I think none of us can knock points for originality from the movie Malignant. It did something that I can say that I've never seen before. Now I may have seen it coming, but the way it was executed was unlike anything I could have expected.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

Yeah, I think it was actually a solid ending. I think it leaves you thinking, damn, someone's got a big mess to clean up. And that's that's what I was left with thinking. I wasn't left with thinking, like, you know, that's unrealistic, or like how boring, or I can't wait for part two, or oh my gosh, like what happened to this or that. I just left thinking, what a huge ass mess.

SPEAKER_07 18:26

I felt pretty neutral. Like I wasn't hating the ending, but I didn't overly say this is the best ending I've ever seen in my entire life. So but at that third act, it is kind of ridiculous, some of the stuff that happens. But I don't hate it.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Yeah, Alexis, I can definitely agree that the ending, let's say, left something to be desired. But I think at that point I was like, you know what, whatever. And what they gave me, I was like, there it is.

SPEAKER_04 18:53

Once again, the slippery rope. Do you have a hold of it? You never really know in this movie.

SPEAKER_02 18:59

Oh, at that point I had no hands on the rope.

SPEAKER_08 19:01

But it was holding you.

SPEAKER_02 19:02

It was.

SPEAKER_08 19:03

It sounds like you're really just along for the ride at this point.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 19:07

You really had to be. Well, let's see if our listeners are sticking with us along for the ride as we start getting into the ratings for this movie. Now, before we actually sort out whether this is a hacker or slash, Alexis, how many people died in this film?

SPEAKER_07 19:21

As ridiculous as everyone said this second half of the movie was. So was the body count. We have 41 people that died in this movie. God damn.

SPEAKER_04 19:29

Which is honestly absurd. We're getting into zombie territory.

SPEAKER_07 19:32

Yeah, Amis and Zombie, not uh slasher is not even reaching this ever. Ooh, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 19:38

In one movie?

SPEAKER_07 19:40

Jason goes to space. I haven't seen that one yet.

SPEAKER_04 19:42

And what about the animal report? Yep, our animal report is clear this week.

SPEAKER_08 19:46

There were too many bodies, none of them needed to be animals. Alright, well, at least with that bit of good news, then we can get on to our ratings. Malignant from 2021 by James Wan. Was it a hacker or slash?

SPEAKER_01 19:57

This is probably one of the few James Wan movies I would actually slash. This movie started off interesting and kept up an admirable pace until the end. The very premise of the movie is absolutely absurd, but it had just enough sci-fi horror, body horror, and underlying themes of you know overcoming trauma and whatnot to be a rather enjoyable watch for me. It's not what I expected, but it kept it kept my interest. So it's a slash.

SPEAKER_07 20:21

To me, this movie was over the top. And I see why it's a very polarized movie, but you guys know I like absurd things and things that really wouldn't happen in some complex plot. So I'm definitely giving this a slash for sure.

SPEAKER_04 20:35

Well, you guys are very short and sweet tonight. Um, I'm definitely here to hack this movie because what we're not gonna do is give this movie a universal slash, okay? I can feel that train trucking along. It ain't gonna happen here. This movie is too much. This movie has a ridiculous story, okay? It it takes you down this road and you're like, all right, you know, I'm on board. Wow, things are getting crazy. Things are getting really interesting. Man, this is really creepy. What's happening here? And then they show you every single answer to every question you've ever had in your entire life on screen for like 10 minutes. And so every bit of horror and excitement that you felt throughout this movie, any tension, any of it, it is all literally on the screen for the last part of this movie. And it just does not, it does not work for me. I don't want to see the monster for three hours, especially with what this storyline is. It doesn't work for me. It's weird because I it's not a bad movie in a way. It is beautiful to look at. I want other people to watch it just so I can talk to them about it, but I don't want them to think it's gonna be good because for me, this is not good. It's a movie, it's not a bad movie, but it's not a good movie. Okay. It's just a movie, it just exists and it is worth talking about. And there's a reason everyone is asking you if you've seen it. So it's a Paris, do the right thing here.

SPEAKER_02 22:02

I am here to do the right thing, Ryan, and that is to let you know that I am slashing this movie because I am obsessed with it. Oh my God.

SPEAKER_06 22:10

What?

SPEAKER_02 22:11

I am in love with this movie. I've tried to keep it cool this whole time, but I have not stopped thinking about this since I've watched it. And I've been taking a while to like really think about why do I love this movie so much? Why is it sitting with me so much? And I think, Chris, you mentioned something in the super beginning that was like soap opera vibes, and it absolutely has that. There's moments where characters react in a way that is so over the topped and makes no sense, and then there's a strong musical moment, and you're like, wait, what? And it's so bizarre, but it's not bizarre enough for you to be like, oh, this movie's trying to be weird. This movie's trying to be this. I feel like this movie has such restraint with how over the top it is and how it builds that level of over-the-top essence.

unknown 22:51

Does it?

SPEAKER_02 22:52

It does because this movie starts at the very top. It finds where the top is and says, okay, this is our baseline. And then it goes up like 1% at a time. So it had me like questioning my own sanity by being like, Is this camp? Do I think this is camp? I think everything's camp. Or is this serious? Am I just applying a camp filter to this? And then when I watched it, I was like, no, this is camp. Oh yeah, they're doing this on purpose. Oh, fantastic. This is incredible. And there's so many things about this movie that I love. I can say it's not a perfect movie. There are things that are revealed where I'm like, yeah, duh. It wasn't the big gag I wanted it to be. My friends kind of made it seem like I would not see it coming from a mile away, but I think they underestimate me. It also has like this sort of heightened graphic animated quality that reminds me of like a comic book kind of movie, if that makes sense. And there's also a lot of references in here. I don't know if they were intentional, but it's James Wan, so I'm sure there were. But there's a lot of references in here to other horror movies. And I picked up on a bunch of those along the way. So this movie's absolutely a slash for me, and I am gonna say that this might be my favorite movie we've watched this year.

SPEAKER_04 23:56

You watched his house, right?

SPEAKER_02 23:57

I did.

SPEAKER_04 23:58

Do you remember? Do you remember watching his house?

SPEAKER_02 24:00

His house is still in the running.

SPEAKER_04 24:01

What is wrong with you? Also, maybe I just I don't know what camp is. Maybe I don't know what camp is. Maybe you think everything is camp, and maybe I don't understand camp because I have a real hard time every time people say, I love this, it's campy. What's wrong with you people?

SPEAKER_02 24:16

Have you ever seen Elvira Mistress of the Dark?

SPEAKER_04 24:18

No.

SPEAKER_02 24:19

Well, she recently came out as a lesbian, and you should watch that movie.

SPEAKER_04 24:22

Oh, I know who Elvira I I know who she is.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

Well, you should watch the movie because it's like a picture of camp, like a clear-cut definition of camp.

SPEAKER_08 24:30

Well, this is taking a turn. And look, uh earlier in this episode I said how James Wan's first of something is always great, and then it's usually awful the longer it goes on. And I think that in part describes this movie. I think this movie started really, really strong, and then it didn't quite hit like completely awful territory, but it certainly wasn't as good the longer it went on. When I walked into this and I heard about how, you know, this is a movie that James Wong gets to make because he's made these studios millions and millions of dollars, so it's like fuck it, I'm gonna make what I want now. I wasn't even remotely prepared for the level of absurdity we get in this. There are moments of gore that makes me cringe. There are hysterical musical moments that I actually laughed out loud at, but I also think I laughed out loud with them intentionally. There's an opening shot in this movie that just throws me back to like an old school Batman animated series, and I don't know what episode I'm thinking of, but this movie is an experience, it's a mood, it's a vibe. And I think if this movie wasn't as well shot, if this movie wasn't as pretty as it is, then I think I would have hacked it. But it's gorgeous, it's a fun time. I'm not mad at it, it's a slash. Ryan's upset over here. She's like, What the hell? Did we all watch the same movie? She could have expected that from me, I think.

SPEAKER_04 25:59

Yeah, I had uh said enough to Chris to know that she was gonna slash it because of how beautiful it is. But I'm just so glad I'm here because y'all be wildin', bro.

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Listen, it's important that Ryan is here because there are people that will watch this and will be like, What the fuck? Get this off of my screen. And Ryan is here for those people.

SPEAKER_04 26:18

I mean, it's like it's not the worst thing I've seen, but like y'all are like joyfully slashing it.

SPEAKER_07 26:24

I'm joyfully slashing it because it is 100% absurd, but I appreciate it for all it brings to that. Like, I understand it wasn't trying to like make you believe that this is real. You know, it wasn't trying to, I don't know. It was just doing a lot for me. That the bizarress was just like, all right, this is cool. Obviously, I wish it went a different, few different ways, but it be what it be.

SPEAKER_04 26:50

Y'all got wrapped up by a slippery rope.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

See, I I get where you're coming from, you know. I know some people just really hate cilantro, but I think how are you gonna have guacamole without it? It's I think it's delicious, right? You know, some people probably think the hit movie The Mummy is bad, and I can understand that that's not for them, but I think for all of all other humans, it's probably really entertaining and overall just a good time. So I don't think this is like a masterpiece, it's not the mummy, but it is overall just a good time.

SPEAKER_04 27:21

I don't want to be compared to people that think cilantro tastes like so those people suck.

SPEAKER_08 27:25

Well, look, some people have a distaste for cilantro, some people have a distaste for malignant, but over here in Hackerslash, Malignant has earned four slashes and one hack. Now you can find this movie available for rent. Go ahead and check it out. Then join us in the second half so we can dig through the camp together. We'll see you in a bit.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

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SPEAKER_01 28:09

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SPEAKER_08 28:45

Now, Alexis, what's the gore score for this movie?

SPEAKER_07 28:48

It is high for sure. You start off with some bones breaking and bones coming out, and I was like, I'm not sure where this movie might be going with this.

SPEAKER_02 28:57

Bones sticking out.

SPEAKER_07 28:59

Yeah, totally sticking. There was no way getting around that. And I was so happy to see this because I was thinking, is James Vaughn really going back to his saw roots? Because I'm down for this completely. I don't know, were you guys getting those vibes, or was it just me?

SPEAKER_08 29:14

This felt more classy than saw violence and gore. Not classy, I guess, but because saw it was like early 2000s, gritty, everything is green tinted and grungy, it felt dirtier than this movie's gore. This movie just felt like, oh fuck, that's a lot of gore. This is that good, clean gore, not grungy. Yes. This is this is like some Chris Rojas gore.

SPEAKER_07 29:41

There was some green lighting sprinkled in, though, may I say? Mostly reds and blues, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

It does make me think that like he took everything he learned from Fast and Furious, you know, because he did, I think he did Fast Seven or something like that. Wow. And he was just like, let's think action movie, but like what if somebody broke somebody's leg with a car? What would that look like? Whereas I think when you have Saw level of core, it's kind of like that whole promo thing where it's like you wouldn't steal a car, so why would you download a movie? That like thing leads to put into DVDs, it had that like super try too hard energy, and we're just gonna make heads explode and stuff. And I think he just like learned how to make it more mainstream.

SPEAKER_08 30:17

That's fair. There actually is an interview where he talks about how every movie he makes is the sum of what he's learned of every movie before it, which is kind of interesting. So I do I think appreciate like this movie as an end product of like the amalgamation of all his other bits of gore.

SPEAKER_07 30:33

Yeah, he does take saw level body gore, but you know presents it in a you know fine-tuned with a bow tied for Chris Rojas for sure. Way that isn't completely fucking disgusting, yeah. It was really disgusting, but I was like, ooh, ah, ooh, very intrigued on some parts.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

Only at Mattress Giant.

SPEAKER_07 30:54

Ooh, chah. I was ooh-aeing when this is not my favorite kill, but definitely my favorite gore perspective is when Madison is pulling back her skin in like alien sort of fashion. Gabriel pops out of the back of her head.

SPEAKER_08 31:11

Okay, but let's let it not be lost that he's being rebirthed again through that slit.

SPEAKER_02 31:17

Giving vagina.

SPEAKER_08 31:19

It's true. Please stop.

SPEAKER_07 31:20

It was. I don't like that. And on that note, my favorite death, this has to be the most meaningful death, probably, and it's Madison's husband, Derek. And I think I loved it because the whole setup, we'll talk about it later during Favorite Scene and Visuals. But seeing his body like that all twisted, it was just it was shocking. And it was one of the first deaths you actually see, and it was just jarring to me. And I kind of had to pause it and say, What am I actually looking at though? Because everything's, you know, twisty, turny and contorted.

SPEAKER_04 31:59

I thought that one was so creepy because we you really can't get a good feel of what's actually happening. But then, you know, when they walk in, they're like, Whoa, I've never seen anything like this. That wasn't like an accident. It was intense. That's kind of like the moment where I knew things are gonna be like a little spicy, you know, we were gonna do some stuff here. For me, my favorite kill is Dr. Fields because has there ever been a more exciting stabbing ever on screen? And really, I think it's particularly good because it's before we find out about the killer, right? So we don't realize what's going on, but then when you find out this like odd perspective of everything happening backwards, you know why it looks the way it looks when he's getting stabbed. I don't know. That one worked for me.

SPEAKER_07 32:44

It was really weird, and did I don't know if anyone noticed, but the knees were backwards at one point, they were like right side, yeah. And the other one was the other way, and I was confused. I'm like, shouldn't it be flip-flopped? Well, it's a contortionist, so here we are. You just gotta go with it. Remember, slippery rope, you guys lashed it. I'm just saying it looked odd, but when I think back at it, that's one of the points. I was like, wait, I'm confused. But honestly, don't care because if you can do that with your body, good for you, girl. Exactly.

SPEAKER_08 33:14

Yeah. Well, my death is nowhere near as spicy as those. I'm gonna go with the hospital guard whose pacemaker blew up in his chest. Damn it. What? That were three of your favorites?

SPEAKER_02 33:26

That was incredible because that kill was nothing if not a plot device.

SPEAKER_08 33:31

Yeah. I really enjoyed it because A, I just haven't seen that done in a horror movie. B, you already took my actual favorite death, which was Derek, and the female inmates, I'm gonna leave for Paris. So honestly, hospital guard, pacemaker, I'm there.

SPEAKER_02 33:47

Listen, I had the same exact list. It was Derek and then hospital guard, and now I guess female inmates. I can't even really remember because there were so many and they were all just stabbed, but I loved the whole thing.

SPEAKER_07 33:58

The head stomp? Oh. The hand, the whole arm through the stomach.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

Yeah, I'll take the head stomp. Okay, I can't believe that nobody has picked the scene of 15 police officers getting brutally murdered in their police station because that whole combination, that whole action sequence, like quenched my thirst at that point. Because obviously, this person has some kind of insane strength and power and prowess, and they can just walk through a room and kill everybody without even taking a hit. And that is what I it was like a superhero moment. I needed it so much.

SPEAKER_04 34:31

Shout out to the chair sniper.

SPEAKER_01 34:33

Oh my god, the distance.

SPEAKER_04 34:34

It is none of our favorite kills because we've seen The Matrix before. And this is a horror movie review podcast, not action.

SPEAKER_02 34:42

But yeah, Ryan, I totally agree. That was like one of my least favorite scenes because it was like, okay, this is too action movie for me. It was at that point so over the top that I was like, fine, I'm still here, but I'm glad you liked it, Mac.

SPEAKER_04 34:54

Question. The moment, I will say this is the only part that I really enjoyed was the last moment, the chair sniper. Is that camp? Yes. Throwing a chair from across the room and just hitting people. Absolutely, it is.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

From that distance, absolutely that's camp.

SPEAKER_07 35:10

Okay, well, that I enjoyed and picked up on, but that's it. Yeah, there to me were too many. Okay, throat chop, you're dead. And this is very action-y for me. The only one you might see up close during that action, besides the chair for you if you rewind, is the trophy dagger that goes through a head, but it's so quick you don't even notice it. Like, I wish there was a little bit more, just a little bit more.

SPEAKER_04 35:36

Alexis, after watching an entire person being cut off of someone's back, I just wish there was more.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

There's no satisfying this woman.

SPEAKER_07 35:46

There really isn't.

SPEAKER_01 35:47

Okay, I do want to go back to this Derek thing because it is a pretty profound death in the movie. It's like when we get this, because we all hate the guy at that point. We're all like, this guy's a douchebag, right? But it's like the first step that she's taking to like shedding her past and becoming free and taking control and ownership of her life.

SPEAKER_07 36:06

Interesting thought. Well, Derek is not lovable in this movie, but I do have to admit he is a part of my favorite visual. So you're setting up this scene at night when he's sleeping downstairs and hears the noise coming from the kitchen. So that point he's about to turn his head. And I feel like when you hear something in a movie too, you know the camera's gonna follow, but it's not it's not usually instinctual. It usually has some lag, in my opinion. But this movie, I don't know where or how they did it, but the way it pans just seemed like it was almost an extension of myself. And there's another scene too where Madison is looking out through the people and her eyeball, it's a magnification when you're looking through that. And the lens does that magnification too, which I thought was brilliant. And they do it in one more scene, I believe, but you definitely see it packed in the first half, which I really appreciated.

SPEAKER_08 37:06

Yeah, the camera work in this movie is absolutely stunning from the way they use dollies to move about the space to the way they frame certain shots, like the peephole in the door, like the washer when she's putting her laundry in. And even really looking at the way they drop some foreshadowing, like there's a moment where she's on the phone and she's talking to Gabriel, but you can see the front of her and the back of her head at the same time. So it's like you don't really realize that they're having the conversation together in that moment. The camera work in this absolutely stunning.

SPEAKER_04 37:40

Yeah, I have to agree. My favorite visual is the way these fight scenes look. Because I think someone earlier mentioned they kind of have like a comic book like feeling in a way. The it I don't know. It has a lot to do with the way the character moves, Gabriel, when it when it is Gabriel, the way he's moving. And, you know, there's like the of course the final cop we kill everyone in this room scene, but there's also like running through old Seattle, right? Underneath, and that whole chase scene, it just has this quality of not being realistic that is so lovely. I mean, there's a ton of beautiful visuals in this movie. This movie is absolutely leaning on the visuals for its strongest points because there's a lot else missing. But for me, the the action, the movement, I don't know what it is, I don't know how it's done, but it's lovely to watch throughout this entire movie. Even like from the first scene of when Gabriel's downstairs after killing Derek and she's like running from him and everything. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 38:44

I love that, Ryan. And the level of sort of fantasy, unrealistic visuals that we get is also one of my favorites. Like there's a scene where the sister drives to that hospital and parks her car on a cliff, right at the edge, in a way that looks so beautiful, but makes no sense at all. And I thought that was incredible.

SPEAKER_04 39:07

Nothing about that scene made sense. Not one ounce of a thing in the world made sense, okay?

SPEAKER_02 39:13

That's camp. I don't get it. Be camp is parking on a cliff and getting out of the car and walking away.

SPEAKER_04 39:20

Okay, but also camp just sounds like an excuse for a bad movie sometimes, and that's my beef with it, you know?

SPEAKER_02 39:26

So camp is bad on purpose.

SPEAKER_04 39:29

But how do you know if it's on purpose? Nobody says, hey, this is my campy movie.

SPEAKER_02 39:33

They do it to a level where you're like, okay, this was intentional.

SPEAKER_04 39:36

But then some things are actually just that bad. This is my problem with all of life. I'm I'm this type of conspiracy theorist. Like I don't believe it.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

Okay, so there's like a threshold. It's cheesiness, and that's bad camp, right? Is I'm just gonna be cheesy because like I think people like that. And then there is letting the audience know that I know that they know that I know that they know.

SPEAKER_02 39:55

Yes. When the creators are in on the joke, that's camp. It's tongue in cheek.

SPEAKER_04 40:00

I don't like it.

SPEAKER_02 40:01

Okay, but let me go into my favorite visual. I absolutely loved those brief moments. Also, the scene where the killer kicks the bricks through the wall and crawls through that hole. Like that's a normal path for someone to take. Little things like that really added up for me. But my favorite visual was also a few small moments, and it's all of the little horror references that we got. Like there's a scene, and I don't know if this was intentional, but to me it was, where we have the sister in the hospital in a sweater that's giving like, and a wig that's giving or just her hair that's giving the same like outfit that Drew Barrymore had in the first scene of Scream.

SPEAKER_08 40:34

Casey Becker.

SPEAKER_02 40:35

Yeah, and her name is Sydney, and I was like, okay, Scream. And then we also have another shot where Madison has her face pressed up against a door that she just closed, and it's absolutely a reference to The Shining in Shelly Duval. And it was these small things that they did that let me know that every single choice that they were making was deliberate, and that's how I knew that everybody here was in on it.

SPEAKER_04 40:55

Well, we're not Ryan.

SPEAKER_02 40:58

I mean in the production.

SPEAKER_08 41:00

Yeah, I I didn't catch any of those things. Even the motion graphic artists who did their opening credits with the fucking single letters that split into two because twins. Yes, everybody was in on it.

SPEAKER_01 41:11

I'm gonna be really basic with my picks and kind of greedy because I got two. Um, the first one, just the cool CGI transitions from real life into like the visions of the murders. I really liked that for some reason. It was just kind of you know, we only get a little bit of it. We don't get too much, it's not like every scene, so I appreciated that. Um, the second thing was literally just the look of Gabriel in the first app of the movie when we don't know exactly who Gabriel is or when he's like going out and stalking and killing, just like the shadow that is Gabriel, the hair shadow demon.

SPEAKER_04 41:42

Yes, and really quick and honorable mention for the top-down view of the house when Maddie's like running around. Oh my god, it was so lovely, just going from room to room. It was such a cool view. I know we've seen it maybe once or twice before. I just loved that.

SPEAKER_02 41:56

But with different levels like that, it was so good.

SPEAKER_08 41:59

Very cool. The chaos of that moment where she's just thinking everything is inside of her head in her first night back in her house. So good. But looking at the way that this house is filmed, it really just takes me into my favorite scene, right? Which is all the way up until Derek's death, it is him waking up, starting with the shot of the house on the outside. It's in the the cover of darkness, it's a moody atmosphere. Uh, there's like some blue hues in the background illuminating the fog, and then the warm glow of the porch light. And then looking into the living room where Gabriel was sitting, and then to see that seat cushion just start to reinflate because now something is no longer sitting there. Such a good fucking moment. I absolutely love how it lingers on Derek's body without really showing you too much of it. It shows you just enough to know that something is horrifically wrong, and then the chaos of her trying to run up the stairs, getting knocked at the floor. That was such a tense moment that harkens back to like the home invasion type of horror movies. I'm really, really into. It was just so well done. What a great start to this movie.

SPEAKER_07 43:11

My favorite scene is gonna have to be all the way at the end when Madison's giving this kind of like monologue to her sister about how hey, you know, we might not be blood related, but you're still my sister. And that's camp. Really? That was camp?

SPEAKER_02 43:26

It was so over the top.

SPEAKER_07 43:28

I just I I don't know, and I think we'll I mean we'll talk about this with characters, but I think her character was so strong throughout this that it really was a cherry on top for me when she had said that, even though y'all think it's campy.

SPEAKER_08 43:40

Absolutely, because it was also just as campy when it was said in Days of Our Lives.

SPEAKER_07 43:45

Well, just FYI, my second favorite scene, y'all talk shit about, so I can't I can't even say what was it? The opening credits.

SPEAKER_02 43:52

The opening credits were fun.

SPEAKER_07 43:54

It wasn't a scene, it was a setup, but I like the surgery and all the documents and I feel like you get to learn a lot.

SPEAKER_02 44:01

I was also fully like tearing up pieces of nan and dipping them into hummus while that was happening. And I was like, mm-hmm. Yum.

SPEAKER_04 44:07

Yeah, I was like ready to watch a new series on HBO. It was a very weird experience that this is a movie intro because it didn't feel like one at all. My favorite scene is Gabriel sharpening his knife in his creepy little attic lair with the fan at the edge, which is clearly not a feature of a home. It's this is some industrial space. This is no one's attic.

SPEAKER_08 44:31

Were you or were you not expecting tiptoe through the tulips to be playing because the demon was sharpening his blades in the further in Insidious? Totally expecting that.

SPEAKER_04 44:42

Yeah, it was a lot like that. It also gave me like um Jeepers Creepers vibes a little bit, as well as the f the bit where he's like jumping down the fire escapes. But that scene was ridiculous, and you guys can call it camp all you want, but it was ridiculous for him to take that and then do everything he did with it. But I really enjoyed watching it, and I I loved Gabriel before I knew what he was. Everything before he his life stories revealed is so good and so fun to watch.

SPEAKER_01 45:13

My favorite scene also involves Gabriel, and it's it's when the adoptive sister and mother get to watch on on videotape exactly who Gabriel is and what the background is there from you know the the hospital way back in the day and like their reaction of sheer and utter shock to like finding out that oh my gosh, Gabriel lives in her head like physically, not like you know, emotionally or mentally, but literally she has a face on the back of her head, and they just they can't even process it. I just loved and I think you know, maybe they kind of set it up as if there's this huge twist in the movie, like we don't realize that from the very first scene or something, but you know, come on, it's obvious. I think most people when watching this know that's what the movie's about the second you get into it, but I think for the characters it's still a twist. Like for them, they don't realize this the entire way through. So it's like you're supposed to see how shocked they are. And I did I did enjoy that moment where they're truly just like flabbergasted.

SPEAKER_04 46:12

Sorry, can I ask another really quick camp uh verification question? Yes, sister knocking on the window and then coming in through the window instead of going back to the door to come in through the front door, camp. Yay? Scream, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:28

Clarissa explains it all.

SPEAKER_07 46:30

That's what I was thinking, Pierce.

SPEAKER_02 46:31

Chris kind of touched on my favorite scene a little bit earlier, and this is a scene that occurs right after I fully figured out exactly what was happening here. I put all the pieces together and I said, Okay, this is what it is. And it was maybe like 30 minutes in, but it's the scene where Maddie is in the bathroom on the phone talking to Gabriel, and it's because the whole time I'm like, the face is in the back of her head. That's why the killer moves all weird, that's why there's so much hair involved, that's why it's all this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, malignant tumor, dead twin, whatever. And the whole time you're watching the scene, like the the camera moves in such a way where you can see Gabriel or where Gabriel would be, and the way the camera focuses in the reflection on the back of her head, where it's this conversation between two people that if you're not cued in yet, you're like, okay, this is a conversation with one person in a bathroom. But if you are cued in, you're like, oh shit, they're both right there, just using the phone as like a conduit for the conversation. And I think the movie did a really good job of like focusing on the back of her head in a lot of ways that really kind of helped you kind of get to where they wanted you to be. Also in the scene, and this is gonna be my second favorite scene, where she's like kind of looking at the spot in the wall where her head was basically cracked open, and you see her shadow cast on the wall. Yes. So you see her shadow, and then you also just see the back of her head and you see the spot on the wall, and it's kind of lingering there for so long, and it's like, whoa.

SPEAKER_08 47:55

It's such a moment though. Absolutely the dent in the wall, because at first you're thinking, Wow, remember when he fucking punched her and she went flying into that wall and the back of her head started bleeding, and then you realize, oh shit, Gabriel's face just got crushed into that wall. But also, thinking about this, sure the skin heals over all that, but how does one have gone through life having intimacy and no one feeling anything amiss on the back?

SPEAKER_02 48:24

Because the face was pushed into the skull.

SPEAKER_08 48:27

100%.

SPEAKER_02 48:28

So it was normal skull on the back until her skull was split open.

SPEAKER_07 48:31

He was dormant. We're talking back scars.

SPEAKER_08 48:34

Yeah, I'm not I'm not referencing the skull thing, right? Because obviously, like she pulls the skin, the face ends up coming out, all that stuff, right? I'm talking about the back because there's like levels that have been removed, and like the scars from like that kind of procedure, you know what I mean? Like, there's gotta be something there.

SPEAKER_05 48:50

Have you had a surgery?

SPEAKER_04 48:51

Scars are like so hard to heal. I had one tiny needle biopsy, and I have a whole entire scar from it. Scars are not a not nothing to play with. I called I called BS on that too, but you guys just say all my BS points are camp.

SPEAKER_01 49:05

So oftentimes BS is camp. Like Chris said, soap opera energy.

SPEAKER_08 49:10

Yeah, it is. It was my evil twin all along.

SPEAKER_01 49:14

So also, like, how did her adoptive mother never notice anything about these scars? Like, you she's bathing her as a child, right? Like nine, ten years old, she has to make sure that you know, did they did they never get a haircut? They didn't see, like, hey, you have a line like literally zipping up your scalp.

SPEAKER_04 49:29

You wanna know how I got these scars? This is again the slippery rope. You kind of have a hold of it. You kind of have a hold of the concept of the removed twin, but you can't really pull too tight because it's a little it's a little slippery.

SPEAKER_08 49:44

To be clear, I think eight or nine is too old for someone to be bathing you.

SPEAKER_02 49:48

Fair.

SPEAKER_08 49:49

Also, having long hair. I don't know. My hair was particularly thick when I was a child. I feel like if something's concealed enough, it wouldn't have been that noticeable.

SPEAKER_04 49:58

What? When I I am not a parent yet, but fully assuming I will know what my child's back looks like when they're eight.

SPEAKER_07 50:06

Yeah, but I feel like the adoptive parents probably didn't ask too many questions. You know, they understand she went to some sort of abuse.

SPEAKER_02 50:14

Yeah, it's weird.

SPEAKER_05 50:15

No, not when you're standing over me with a knife. I'm gonna start asking questions.

SPEAKER_01 50:20

I do like how they gave us that background though, because you would obviously have those questions and they don't go too deep into it, but they do let us see that like they were obviously concerned about her mental health and well-being. And they they had an explanation. They knew that something happened, and they were like, like, she's been through some serious stuff, and we need to treat this the right way.

SPEAKER_08 50:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:40

But at the same time, though, that's kind of worrying a little bit.

SPEAKER_08 50:43

How how terrible though to go through life and know that you had a monster attached to you, but also know that the real monster is the man you end up marrying who is abusive as fuck. Just a tragic life for this one. I mean, I don't know. It's fine now. She's chilling.

SPEAKER_02 51:02

It's looking up.

SPEAKER_08 51:03

This movie doesn't really outline any consequences to this whole fucking thing, because at the end of the day, she still did it. Bro, she's spending so much time in jail. Yeah, she killed all those police officers.

SPEAKER_04 51:13

Yeah. She had it coming.

SPEAKER_02 51:15

Oh no.

SPEAKER_04 51:16

At the end of this, that's all I could think about. She was having that sweet moment with her sister, and I was like, Yeah, get it out now because you're never talking to anybody ever again. You're gonna be in solitary for the rest of your life, ma'am.

SPEAKER_01 51:26

That's what I'm talking about. The the mess that you have to, you know, clean up at the end of the film. Like, it's yeah, it's a fun ending and everything, but like think about all the paperwork, first of all. Think about all the litigation. It's gonna be insane.

SPEAKER_02 51:37

I'm gonna not think about that, and I'm just gonna enjoy the movie.

SPEAKER_07 51:40

Yeah, that seems very stressful. Like, very stressful.

SPEAKER_02 51:44

Not the paperwork.

SPEAKER_07 51:45

I was not, though, a fan of these cops, and I know it was supposed to be campy, but it was the campiest detective cops I could have ever had in a movie.

SPEAKER_04 51:58

It was just terrible, and like you can say it's on purpose, but the like flirty, forensic girl, whatever, it was just weird, and then it was weird the way that the two cops interacted.

SPEAKER_07 52:09

She would almost seem like she was about to deliver a one-liner and she wouldn't. Like, she would set it up and she did it, and I was like, You should have just gone with it, because now it's awkward. I think it was for you to fill in, like they wanted the audience to really go for it.

SPEAKER_08 52:22

Honestly, this is the first James Wand movie with detectives and cops that I didn't fucking hate the cops. Like, I honestly, like in Saul, they're annoying. Really, the stars of that film are the people in the bathroom and Jigsaw. And in every Saul movie after that, the cops are mad, annoying, and Spiral. I liked the movie, but the cops were definitely annoying. In this movie, they were light, they were fun. So, what if their forensic girl has a crush? Let her have a crush. What's the point? It's camp. There's no point to anything.

SPEAKER_02 52:54

I think from the very top, the cops were the cheesiest part of this movie, and those are the things that kept like taking me out of it because you would have these like serious moments of horror in the beginning, and I'd be like, okay. And then it would cut back to the cops, and I'd be like, wait, why is this dialogue so purposefully cheesy? What's happening? And I think that's probably why the cops were the least annoying of all of James Wan's detectives, because they weren't taken too seriously, and I don't think we were supposed to.

SPEAKER_04 53:19

But like a lot of people were getting killed. I feel like a little bit of seriousness kind of warranted in this situation. I don't know. I think the characters in this movie don't do it for me, but again, I wasn't buying into the camp element. And so I would say probably the sister, which was a fairly campy character, was the only one that I'd I really enjoyed on screen. Maddie was cool. I don't know. This is a hard one for me because I I I didn't feel a lot of connection to a lot of the characters, but I don't feel like they were bad. Like I didn't, I don't feel like we had like bad acting, if anything, like just some cheesy writing.

SPEAKER_01 53:56

There was definitely some cheese in the dialogue, that's for sure. I mean, that whole thing where they don't believe her when she's telling him about the murder that she saw in her visions, and they're like doing that little banter back and forth, and then eventually they're like, oh well, I guess she was right because there's a dead body, huh? Oops. And it's just like super cheese. So I mean the the cops definitely bring definitely bring the camp in into the equation, but there's like just like mediocre, just generic, like decent dialogue for the rest of the film. You know, it it does seem like I think like you guys mentioned that there's like room for one-liners, but I'm happy they didn't put them in. I'm I'm happy that they didn't like take it all the way there.

SPEAKER_04 54:32

Also, can I just note cops do use psychics? I do hear it in true crime stories all the time.

SPEAKER_01 54:39

Wow. I mean, in this universe, it actually is kind of funny that they don't consult psychics because they literally have you know a like a human who has another face in the back of their head that can control the like electricity, but they're like, we don't use psychics, lol.

SPEAKER_08 54:53

It's the very antithesis of the conjuring, where it's all about psychics. Which is surprising, really.

SPEAKER_04 54:59

I fully expected ex psychics, exorcisms.

SPEAKER_01 55:03

And maybe that's why we you know we got what we got.

SPEAKER_04 55:05

We did get a hypnotherapist, so James Wan still got his moment of like crowding around somebody sitting in your living room, but it wasn't as bad as the usual.

SPEAKER_01 55:14

And like that moment was very seance-y when they used her as well. And I do love the fact that she was just like, This is insane. Like, I'm over this. Like, uh okay, tap your forehead, you're out because I'm getting my money and getting out of here.

SPEAKER_07 55:25

Yeah, pretty much. Almost like I didn't think this was gonna work, and it did. So I want to know how you guys feel about this connection between the two, because for me, it was the worst part. I feel like this ominous presence could have been maybe her having an alternate personality or her being possessed. I didn't like the idea that it was literally her brother just stuffed back in her head. I would have taken those other two options better than this one.

SPEAKER_08 55:55

She's technically possessed. He's hijacking her body.

SPEAKER_07 55:59

I'm talking about a possession like we're used to, something more familiar to myself.

SPEAKER_08 56:04

So you want something that's the same and not something different.

SPEAKER_07 56:07

I mean, this is just so absurd. I feel like I'd feel more comfortable with the other two. Like I or just it was her imaginary friend. Like that would have been cool to me. That'd be high tension. Fucking eh.

SPEAKER_02 56:19

Alexis, you mentioned split personalities, and that's definitely something that I think is still kind of applicable here. And I'm only aware of this because I watched like eight hours of videos on YouTube about dissociative identity disorder one time. And people that have it describe it as sort of like when you are in control, it's like you're in the driver's seat of the car. And then sometimes another personality takes over and you're in the passenger seat, so you can still see what's going on, but you don't have full control because somebody else is driving. Other times the personality takes over and you're in the back seat, so you have less control and you have less awareness. And then sometimes a personality takes over and you are in the trunk of the car and you really have no idea what's going on. You're basically completely blacked out while somebody else is taking the wheel. And I think that's not unlike what was happening here with Gabriel and Maddie. And I think that's what gives it this really interesting element of realism contrasted with absolute absurdism that I loved.

SPEAKER_01 57:15

And it's oh gosh, it's so related to DID as well, because it all started from childhood trauma, which is the most common thing for anybody with DID. And if you like think through what she went through, so first of all, she exists because her mother was raped as a teenager, as what 15-year-old, I think they said. So, like, talk about major trauma for her family, but then she, of course, is given up and then is, you know, raised, dealt with this whole thing attached to the back of her head or whatever. But like it's trauma, it's haunting her. She gets adopted, it's still haunting her. They help her get through it. She like heals, but then of course ends up with this horrible husband who then causes more trauma and then brings back the childhood trauma, thus awakening Gabriel. And she has to like fight it this whole movie, realizes that it's part of her, and then like takes control and like you know, sheds it basically in the end. It also had like sleep paralysis demon vibes. I'm kind of bummed though that we didn't get a full face, you know, we didn't get like Harry Potter. We we kind of got like the weird little demon face that pokes out the back a little bit, but I I wanted full Voldemort.

SPEAKER_08 58:25

I'm totally okay with the amount of face that we got. In fact, I could have done with a little bit less. He looked very reptilian, looked very lizard man, very Illuminati.

SPEAKER_04 58:34

Yes, I have to say, since I'm in the unfortunate situation where I have to talk about a best part of this movie, the best part is everything up until we start seeing Alien Arms, after the first part, of course, the very first scene. Alien arms coming out of the back of Maddie and seeing so much of Gabriel. The first time you see his face in the bedroom with Dr. Fields, it's so creepy, but you only get like a glimpse of it. You get like a creepy eyeball, you know? But when we get Gabriel on screen for 20 minutes, it's horrible. When we get the amputation of his existence, it's horrible. Everything after like finding out that he exists and he was a conjoined twin is rough. Everything before that, absolute best part of this movie. Because it didn't need to show us everything. I didn't need to see Gabriel fight for that long. I didn't need to see Maddie's face on the back of a head for like an hour. It was just a little too much. It was too much on screen for me. Before that, I was so into everything going on. I was on board until like amputation happened.

SPEAKER_08 59:43

Ryan, you have reminded me of the best part of this movie, which I didn't get enough credence to in the visuals portion of this episode, which is the lighting and all the use of red hues in this movie. There's some shots in particular with Dr. Fields where he's in the closet grabbing like a towel or something to dry the floor, and you just have this window you can see the rainfall and is being illuminated by red light from the silver cuff apartments next door. Absolutely loved that. This movie is such a beauty. Now, the worst part though, for me it's the runtime. This movie, I was entertained the whole way through, don't get me wrong. But there became a point where I got a phone call from Ryan in the last few minutes of this movie, and I forgot that I still had a few minutes left. Because I'm like, okay, clearly this is all wrapped up, right? Like I don't feel the need to watch this. I did. I ended up finishing it, but it just goes on so long. I think there's some there's some bits we can trim.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:42

The resolution is obvious and apparent so early that there's no reason for us to get through 18 people getting killed, and like a weird scene of her in a like a room with her Gabriel talking to like I don't know, there's just so much that you don't need at the end of this.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:01

It's true. I remember watching it and and pausing it, and I still had about 20 to 25 minutes, and then I was like, okay, time to keep watching. And I'm watching, and I checked it a few minutes later, and I imagined like all must be done pretty soon. And there was still like 17 minutes left. And it does kind of feel like one of those conversations where your like eyes are wide and you're looking at the person talking, you're like, okay, uh-huh. And then, and then, and then like finish the conversation. Um, because like like you said, when you figure out what's going on, like you know the characters know what's going on, you're like, okay, like finish this now. Like, do it. I want to see it. I've sat here the whole time. Let's make it happen. And to just kind of draw that that last bit out. Like the action, I love it's fun. I love action, that's my thing. And sci-fi, of course. But I think that whole resolution, especially when we get to the soap opera bit with the sister and like taking control and everything, that part got like really slow all of a sudden.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:53

You know what? Keep that in for me, take out the matrix. That's what she said.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:58

It might be basic, but I think the worst part of this movie is that by the time we get to the exposition, someone somewhere is expected to not have already figured this out yet. And for some reason, like my friend was like, Oh, you're never gonna believe what happens. And I was like, Okay, well, I already figured out the main thing, I think. And he's like, Oh no, it's even more than you think. And then I got to it and I was like, No, no, it's exactly what I think. And I'm a little bummed, but Chris mentioned earlier that the way the exposition happened, while it wasn't in any way surprising at all, it was still over the top and entertaining enough that I wasn't so mad about it. But it felt very James Wan to have like the energy of a we're gonna do a flashback of everything that happened, so you understand the twist that we're going through right now, but without actually doing a flashback, more just kind of piecing it together in a different way, which I guess props to James Wan for switching it up and doing the same thing. And if that scene didn't have like explosive levels of gore, I think I probably wouldn't have given this movie a slash.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:59

But Paris, isn't the fact that everyone was in on this plot line from the beginning, isn't that just camp? Isn't that what we're saying? Everything that doesn't make any sense and it's dumb, it's camp.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:08

It might be.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:09

So close and yet so far. I'm just saying, maybe that was I mean, he knew what he was doing when he put that title sequence in, right? And we're not stupid, malignant, like even if you didn't get it from the first scene, which I would say I'd I'd I wasn't paying attention that much to even notice what was happening, I got it maybe 20 minutes in. And so I feel like it was very intentional. The he wasn't really hiding this, and maybe that's part of his shtick, and I would say none of it worked.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:35

I don't think it's camp, I think it's just a gag.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:38

Right. Yeah, that didn't work. That's the same thing, I feel like.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:41

I don't know. I see this brings me to my worst part. My worst part of the movie is the having the introductory scene that we get, you have so many I have so many thoughts about it, right? Because like you imagine if they added that later into the movie, you would absolutely hate the movie as soon as you made it to that point. If it's all in one go, if you got all of the exposition at once and you're like, all the things have been happening because of this reason, out of nowhere, you would be like, No, I'm out. Like, I was cool up until this point, it seemed like there was a ghost or a demon or something. But to find out that she had this twin that was attached to the back of her head, all you know, three quarters away in the movie, I think you would tap out.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:15

But that sounds like exactly what happened to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:18

No, we get it. Five minutes in, not even what, five seconds into watching the movie, and they're like laying it out. I mean, it was kind of cheesy the way they did do this, like we need to cut the cancer out. And I was like, Okay, I know exactly what is going to happen in this movie. Appreciate it. Like, the second that happens five seconds in, I'm I'm I'm like, you ruined it. You kind of spoiled your own movie for me, because now in my mind, I know exactly what is going to happen in the movie. And maybe, maybe the the five of us are just a bit weird, and maybe most people just wouldn't pick up on that. But I feel like at this point, it's kind of like going, the butler did it, and then showing me a movie about the butler killing people.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:56

I'm gonna say something that I mean from a place of absolute love and kindness. If Alexis figured it out at the beginning, it was for everyone to figure out at the beginning because our lovely Lexus sometimes misses the obvious plot points that are right in front of us. And I didn't catch it as early as she did this time. So I would say most people are gonna catch it.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:17

Yeah, I caught it when she said, cut him out, cut the cancer out, and you could actually see the fucking person on the back, the little guy.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:25

The little monster arms, the little boxing arms that you like push the button.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:29

See through the curtain. I was like, okay, they'd even make that a little bit more opaque for me. Not a very good curtain.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:35

Ryan's making a rock'em sock'em robot gesture with her arms.

SPEAKER_04 1:05:39

Yes, thank you. That was basically Gabriel's energy before he was cut out.

SPEAKER_08 1:05:44

It was a little bit confusing though. Not I mean it's very apparent like what the situation is, but they show the regular ass leg with like a purple sock on, and then you just get these like flailing arms behind a curtain, you're like, what kind of area 51 shit is this?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:00

Yeah, I should have paid attention a little bit better, but I knew soon enough, okay? Either way it didn't do it.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:05

But would you do it again?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:06

I certainly would not, but I am persistently telling people they should watch it so I can complain to them about it.

SPEAKER_08 1:06:12

I think I'm good on ever watching this again. It was a great ride for what it was, but I can't get through another hour and fifty minutes of that.

SPEAKER_07 1:06:19

I definitely would probably watch this with someone who has not seen this, and I'd be interested to see if I could pick up on the references that Paris was referring to.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:29

I couldn't help but pick up on them, and honestly, ever since I watched this movie, I've been thinking about rewatching it. And it's very rare that I feel that way. So I'll probably watch this again before the year is over.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:40

I I think I would watch it again, like if if it happened, like if it came onto the TV and like nothing else was on, I was bored or whatever, but it's not one of those movies that I'm gonna actively seek to watch again. I don't think it's like an instant classic. It's not an alien for me, but it's something where if somebody else was watching it, I wouldn't avoid it. I think it would still be enjoyable.

SPEAKER_08 1:06:57

Well, let's see if it gets any more enjoyable with the trivia you've whipped up for fact or fiction.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:02

I've actually never been more excited for fact or fiction. Sorry. Number one, because conjoined twins occur when the cell division that would cause twins doesn't finish, it is possible for Emily slash Madison and her fraternal twin Gabriel to have been born conjoined.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:17

I don't understand the question at all. It feels like a fact. I don't understand what you're saying.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:21

Feels like a fact, but you're smiling, so uh fiction.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:25

Are you saying like it is possible that this could happen?

SPEAKER_01 1:07:28

Not obviously in this exact setup with a psychic face out of the back of your skull, but but the two of them could have been born conjoined.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:35

I'm gonna say fiction because I feel like when conjoinedness happens, it has to be symmetrical, and like back to back is not symmetrical.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:44

No, not symmetrical at all.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:46

So this one is a fiction, but because of something you've missed. Madison, you know, could have absorbed a fraternal twin, but conjoined twins have to be identical twins. Because identical twins, you know, that whole thing happens when you have one egg and that like splits into two and then it keeps you know growing. So fraternal twins happen when you have two fertilized eggs.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:05

And this has been biology with Mac. Thanks.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:07

We got it right, but we're still wrong.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:09

We're right but wrong, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:10

It is fiction. You're right that it's fiction. Number two, most cases of conjoined twins involve twins joined at the chest.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:17

Oh, I think that's fact, but I'm just going off a whim here.

SPEAKER_07 1:08:21

I can't remember if that movie stuck on you, if they were uh front facing or back facing. Or sideways. Uh well, what about basket case? Oh, there we go. I I think this is a fact.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:33

I also feel like it's a fact because lungs for some reason.

SPEAKER_07 1:08:36

Same. Because lungs.

SPEAKER_04 1:08:38

I was thinking heart.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:39

Lungs. Heart hearts are important. Um respiratory stuff. So this this one is a fact. So the next one up is chest and abdomen, then abdomen, then parasitic twins, then the skull. Conjoint twins with having like two faces sharing a head, uh, they don't survive typically. So this is very unlikely to have ever happened. Number three, James Wan is the first Australian director to have a movie make a hundred million dollars at the box office.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:05

Definitely a fiction. I just want it to be fiction.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:08

I feel like it's also fiction because I don't know if he's from Australia, but there has to be somebody from Australia that's had a movie that was successful. I feel like Nicole Kidman is from Australia. She's not a director per se, but nope.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:19

So this is a fiction. So one, he is Australian, but he is the first to have a movie make over a billion dollars at the box office. The first Australian director. Wow. Crikey.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:31

Okay, but who was the first to make a million?

SPEAKER_01 1:09:32

I don't know. I didn't look that up, but So it could have been James Juan too, and this might be a fact. You never know. But let's move on to number four. Juan is also the first Asian director to have two films make over a billion at the box office.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:45

I'm gonna say fact.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:46

Uh fiction. I'm gonna go fiction again.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:49

So the thing I said though is a fact.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:51

Oh. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:53

And keeping on with the Australian theme here, um, as an Australian, Juan's first feature film shot in Australia was made in 2001.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:00

Not none of these questions having anything to do with this movie, though.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:04

The stuff is scarce.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:05

I'll take it as a fiction. I'm bound to hit one of these. I'll go fact, because same reasoning.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:10

I'm gonna say fiction because I feel like his first movie was made in 2001 but wasn't filmed in Australia.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:16

So this is a fiction because his first feature film shot in Australia was actually in 2018. It was Aquaman. What? Aquaman.

SPEAKER_04 1:10:23

Yep, from the guy that brought you Insidious comes.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:26

The new Aquaman?

SPEAKER_04 1:10:27

Aquaman, yep, Momoa.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:29

He made a bunch of movies before that.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:31

Yeah, this was his first feature film shot in Australia.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:34

Oh my god, okay, get me out of here. I'm clocking out.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:38

But then remember that his first feature film was Saw in 2004.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:42

Yeah, okay, okay. I got it. It's the Australia bit I got stuck. I got stuck off.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:47

You're stuck on that.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:48

And that's been factor of fiction.

SPEAKER_08 1:10:50

Well, there you have it, folks. Malignant has earned four slashes and one hack. And while we've had a lot to talk about here, it doesn't end here by any means. We want to know what you thought of this wild ride. Now keep in mind there are a number of ways you can reach out to us, starting with our website, hackerslash.live, and on our social media accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:09

If you're like Gabriel and you can communicate through radios, you can reach out to our Hackerslash Hotline. You can leave us a voicemail at 757-606-0128. Don't worry, we'll understand your creepy voice, or visit Hackerslash.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:22

Or if you're a human in the year 2021, you can just send us an email to feedback at hackerslash.com.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:28

If you've enjoyed listening to this episode, consider joining the New Blood Drive and becoming one of our patrons. You can visit patreon.com slash hacker slash to earn cool perks for as low as $1 a month. But don't forget, if you decide to join our $3 or $5 tier during the month of October, you'll receive our fourth anniversary Halloween poster.

SPEAKER_08 1:11:44

We'll see you next time, folks, and remember it's time to cut out the cancer. Bye.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:55

Alright, team. So we're continuing our free sides. And we have a question from our lovely Freya.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:02

Ooh.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:02

That says, If you were a killer in a horror film, what song would you be playing while you slashed the masses? So I'm gonna go first because mine is obvious and it's Return of the Mac.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:13

Oh my god, that would be a great montage.

SPEAKER_08 1:12:15

Nice. Not Mac the Knife though.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:17

What's Mac the Knife?

SPEAKER_01 1:12:18

So Mac the Knife would be great because it literally talks about a dude with an with a knife, right? So it it would work out. But here's why Return of the Mac works even better. So go to some of the lyrics. It would work for a revenge killer, right? So I'm back in the game, running things to keep my swing, letting all the people know that I'm back to run the show. Because what you did, you know, was wrong. And all the nasty things you've done. So maybe listen carefully while I sing my comeback song.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:44

I don't think that that's the same intention.

SPEAKER_01 1:12:48

It might not be, but I can only imagine a scorned killer who's now getting his revenge at a bunch of teenagers.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:53

What a swaggy song for a killer. Sounds like the movie He Knows You're Alone. Literally, nothing bad has ever happened once Return of the Max starts playing. So uh really gonna ruin this great reputation of a song, but I'm not mad at it.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:07

Imagine the power that would have on screen.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:09

It's definitely a wedding song.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:10

Didn't it play in a Jordan Peel movie?

SPEAKER_01 1:13:12

Oh, I'm sure it could have. I don't know, but it's possible.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:15

Y'all know I have to pick some angsty uh punk rock song, not punk as we think of it.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:22

But pop punk.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:23

Pop punk, yeah. But I'm torn between two. I read sins not tragedies. Close, close, close. I'll give you that one because I couldn't choose. But one I like I said, I hate the artist. Not a big fan, but I feel like it's appropriate. It would be Papa Roach, Last Resort.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:42

Come my life into pieces.

SPEAKER_08 1:13:44

This is my last resort.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:47

Suffocation, no breathing. Or hear me out. I'm not okay by my chemical romance.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:52

I absolutely want my chemical romance to be it. I vote for that one. Are we voting? I vote for that.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:58

I don't know that song off the top of my head. So I have also vote for that.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:01

Just imagine like Alexis spiraling. Well, having like a mental breakdown and killing everyone.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:10

Just like a Hersh, you die to the kitten again.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:15

Okay, but that's Helena. Oh, wrong part. That's a different My Chemical Romance.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:20

Okay, it might be that one then.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:21

No, I'm not okay is better because like I'm not okay. I'm not okay. And that's just like you spiraling and having a breakdown.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:31

Jesus Christ. You wear meow.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:35

Yeah, I knew that one. I'm gonna need some auto-tune on this free side.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:39

Oh god, I know.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:41

I think I actually have to go for something that does not speak to my character at all. Because if I were a murderous serial killer, was that the question? Murderous serial killer?

SPEAKER_01 1:14:51

Just a you know, a killer.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:52

If I were a killer, I don't think I'd be Ryan the killer, right? I'd be something cooler. And I'm not a queen lady, but don't stop me now has energy that you just you can't you can't take anything from it, you know. There's no scene that's ever had that song playing behind it that hasn't been great. Um you know, and then it's you know a little bit of fun energy, you know, a little ironic, you know, you know that's everything that's me, really.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:19

Was that Sean of the Dead? Is that the movie I'm thinking of?

SPEAKER_04 1:15:22

Yes, it's in Shawn of the Dead.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:24

Is the scene you like bashing people's brains in with sculptures?

SPEAKER_04 1:15:29

Maybe. I could definitely like throw some records, you know. Power tools.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:33

Oh, for sure. Power tools.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:34

I feel like power tools would be my jam. Oh my gosh. I also feel like there would be an element of parkour for some reason. Like I do a lot of jumping on things.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:42

I love that.

SPEAKER_08 1:15:43

So when I considered this question, I had to make a ground rule for myself because you know I'll have a good horror movie score, and I made the made the rule of like, okay, I'm not gonna listen to anything that's been in a horror movie. Maybe these songs have, but not like a traditional score. So I have a few. I feel like they're all very distinct, and I'm imagining very specific things. I think a good general one would be Rama Lama Bang Bang. Has anyone heard that song?

SPEAKER_02 1:16:08

What?

SPEAKER_08 1:16:08

By the Rugrats?

SPEAKER_02 1:16:10

No, that's that song from the Rugrats movie.

SPEAKER_08 1:16:13

Oh, that's actually so good.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:15

Oh my god, Chris, this is deranged.

SPEAKER_08 1:16:18

Rama Lama Bang Bang. Or another version would be uh In Hell I'll be in Good Company, which is like a bluegrass, like there's like a whistling sound that's in there that I feel like would be really good for a horror movie moment. But there's also this thing that I've had in my head forever, and there is a record scratchy version of the Disney song Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? This version specifically by Billy Bletcher. Oh, and I really want to slow that down and just put that in like a stranger's esque kind of horror movie, and I feel like that'd be the vibe for me. Just like kill people to it.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:52

Honestly. Chris, if you were a killer, you'd definitely have some kind of like burlap mask.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:56

Oh, absolutely. We really need to address for a second. Chris would absolutely have some slight Disney and or showtune reference in her serial killer song.

SPEAKER_03 1:17:06

Gay.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:06

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_08 1:17:07

I was thinking that or some kind of um 80s reference, so The Strangers Pray at Night. There is a great moment where the man in the mask is killing someone to I think air supply, and that was just such a moment. And uh I I feel like if that was a case, then uh hooked on a feeling would be a great juxtaposition of those two things. I've been thinking about this for a while. Thanks for you.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:31

Yeah, Chris. I definitely see you going as a masked killer, maybe wearing like a Mickey Mouse mask, like the whole head with the ears and everything, like dead mouse.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:40

Maybe dead mouse, but bad, but like a little melted. What about like a chill killer vibe? Like a little Fleetwood Mac dreams, you know, you're just like chilling, you know, and you're just a vibe chilling and killing. Chilling and killing. Definitely smoke some weed while you kill.

SPEAKER_08 1:17:57

Okay. I'm imagining a killer that's chillin' listening to the lazy song by Bruno Mars.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:04

Oh god, what a perfect song though.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:06

See, I was imagining Chill Bill by Rob Stone.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:09

I hate that song. I definitely don't listen to enough music that would be convertible into uh killer background music. That's what I've learned from this question.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:18

Okay, so I feel like the song doesn't necessarily have to translate into a murder montage, but just like what would you want to listen to while you're killing people?

SPEAKER_04 1:18:26

Oh, Anderson Pack, but that doesn't work at all. There's so much energy. It's it's completely doesn't it's completely not working for the situation.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:35

I have to admit I can't figure out what Paris would uh would have on uh while he's doing the slashing.

SPEAKER_08 1:18:40

Toxic Brittany Spears.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:41

Okay, well, one song instantly came to mind. It's a song that I'm pretty sure actually Freya will probably be the only one who knows the song. Uh, but it is a song called Pose by a drag queen named Naomi Smalls, and it's like a low, like minimalist bitch track in which the lyrics are Hey sweets, let me introduce you to my friend. Her name's Fashion. Oh my god. And then it just repeats the words fashion and pose over and over again.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:06

It's like MySpace Jeffree Star, like before Jeffree Star, yeah, before the makeup line.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:11

But it's actually a good song, it's a really good bop.

SPEAKER_07 1:19:14

Is it? I hate songs that repeat. It like gets annoying to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:18

Is it like is it what I'm imagining is just like a really simple bass line, just like fashion.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:30

Fashion.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:31

Yes, a song made for killing, obviously.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:34

I will look gorgeous during this montage. I love it. It's so Paris. And after every kill, I'll strike a pose.

SPEAKER_04 1:19:40

Well, this sounds like it's gonna be a great Apple Music playlist. I'm willing to do some more research and contribute and drop a little playlist, you know. I can come up with a few more good ideas.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:51

All right, listeners. Ryan just committed to doing that work, so uh here comes the playlist. Find it in the show notes.

SPEAKER_07 1:19:57

Yep, Paris, you have to submit for it too.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:59

Okay, I'll come up with a couple.

SPEAKER_07 1:20:01

Mine's gonna ruin it though. No, it's not. Because I'm gonna ruin the vibe. I'm off the vibe.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:05

The point is, the vibe is all over.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:07

Right. There is no vibe, honestly, because we're not killers. That's the really important part of this.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:12

Can I can I just say I'm really happy that none of us picked Goodbye Horses because we've already seen it.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:18

Ooh, well, now I'm adding that to my list. Thank you, Mac. I forgot. It's the song that Buffalo Bill listens to when he tucks his junk in that iconic scene.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:26

Oh I don't know how anyone remembers the name of any song ever.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:30

Like I added that song to my library the moment I had the awareness to do so. It's actually a good song.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:38

There were butts?

SPEAKER_02 1:20:39

Oh, yeah, there were butts. And that's our follow-up.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:44

No one could throw a sentence in there to make it better.

unknown 1:20:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:48

Kulos.

SPEAKER_08 1:20:51

Well, speaking of butts, we're really ruining it for anyone who hasn't watched yet. No one else is gonna pay attention that way. Just don't listen to us. They are now.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:01

I don't know, all five of us did.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:03

I mean, it was really obvious. Hydra turkey baster.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:09

Ew. Oh my god, wait, I forgot about that. Wow, I actually forgot about that.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:13

You know, there's a second one coming.

SPEAKER_07 1:21:14

I know. You think there's two turkey basters in it?

SPEAKER_01 1:21:16

I haven't seen Dumb Reeds, so.

SPEAKER_07 1:21:18

Oh well, we just ruined it for you.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:20

Oh, Mac, listen.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:22

No, we didn't because he still doesn't understand the context of it. So I don't.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:26

I also heard one in the butt. That was just me. Don't listen to me. I'm just throwing you off the trail.

SPEAKER_07 1:21:33

This is totally up your alley, the ending of this movie. I can tell you that.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:36

It's not up his alley.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:37

This is totally up your ass. Okay. Exactly.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:43

Well, cilantro may suck in your mouth, but a lot of things suck in my mouth.

SPEAKER_01 1:21:54

What? That's backwards.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:57

Oh no, wait, never mind. I'm thinking of Halloween.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:59

It was basically the same.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:00

Okay, no, I actually don't remember the head stomp.

SPEAKER_08 1:22:02

They were eyebulbs. No, Michael Myers' head stomp was way more forceful than that.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:07

Yeah, he obliterated that bit.

SPEAKER_08 1:22:09

Yeah, like a fucking ground beef. This head explodes like a pumpkin. It's still kind of structured. You can still have some like the bones on the left and right.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:17

I don't know. I think you're giving it a little more credit than it deserves.

SPEAKER_08 1:22:19

Or a little less. Okay, hold on. Let me pull up the fucking screenshots, I guess, so you can see how obliterated this guy was in Halloween. Okay, spicy. I'll pull up the screenshots of HBO. Clouding me for my pacemaker.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:35

It is none of our favorite kills because we've seen The Matrix before. And this is a horror movie review podcast. Not action. I actually haven't seen The Matrix. Okay, whatever.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:46

Oh, Chris, it's gay. I know. Okay, just so you know, it's gay.

SPEAKER_07 1:22:52

I find body gore and like when you're cutting stuff like that to be very interesting on TikTok. I follow all of these uh doctors. They might not even be doctors, it's on TikTok, so who knows?

SPEAKER_02 1:23:03

Just psychopaths.

SPEAKER_07 1:23:04

But they show like bones and they'll show like muscles and everything like that, which I think is super cool. I don't know if they're real bodies. I'm assuming they're not, but they look real.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:14

What must your for you page look like?

SPEAKER_08 1:23:16

Alexis. I am increasingly concerned about your TikTok habits and where you're getting your knowledge from. Truly. Everyone really should be, though.

SPEAKER_07 1:23:25

It's Amazon fashion or that.

SPEAKER_08 1:23:27

Remember that one time you tried to learn about the female anatomy from TikTok instead of your body?

SPEAKER_07 1:23:32

Very true. Very true. And this is facts that I've learned through TikTok. Stop.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:39

Shedding her past and becoming free and taking control and ownership of her life.

SPEAKER_07 1:23:43

Interesting thought. I love the way they set up Derek's death and this ominous That's not at all what happened in the movie.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:52

Oh, I was just saying that was a weak segue.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:55

Is it is it is it not?

SPEAKER_03 1:23:57

It's not. And it wasn't a segue. I don't understand anything.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:00

I brought us back to Derek.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:01

Her killer brother killed him.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:04

But her killer brother is really her. No. It's the inside of her regaining control. Come on.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:11

Keep calling me Alexis. I'm sorry. I was just baffled by what Mac had to say. You were doing great.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:16

I just wanted to get us back to Derek. Let's do it.

SPEAKER_08 1:24:20

Here's the thing. Derek and this is a douchebag. And you know who the other Derek I know is? Prince Derek from the Swan Princess. He was a little bitch who only liked Odette when she became hot and not the because of the company she tried to keep with him when they were growing up together.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:37

I used to twirl around in the pool and splash water like I was Swan Princess. That's all.

SPEAKER_08 1:24:45

But were you or were you not expecting tip though to the tip-to- Oh my god, words?

SPEAKER_07 1:24:53

I feel like I've seen this. Attached at the tip of the head.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:56

Or one of them wanted to be a country singer. I think I saw that too.

SPEAKER_07 1:24:58

It's very hard for conjoined twins to make it.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:01

That is that is statistically correct. Tough out here in the country music industry.