Movie Oubliette

We're delving into Disney's Dark Period in the late 70s/early 80s in this childhood nostalgia episode on none other than the cult curiosity The Watcher in the Woods. Directed by John "Legend of Hell House" Hough and featuring Bette Davis in scowling hag mode, this tale of an American family experiencing spooky goings on in an Olde English house is surprisingly effective and perfect gateway horror for 80s kids. But it was also a troubled production, featuring on-set battles, a dramatic rethink after its premiere and reshoots to 'fix' the ending, as the House of Mouse struggled to come to terms with making PG-rated material. Does the end result stand the test of time for Conrad and does it work for newcomers like Dan? Find out! Follow us on Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram and maybe what's left of Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to nominate future films, vote on whether films should be released or thrown back, and access exclusive bonus content!

Writer/director and cryptid enthusiast Serge Bodnarchuk of Cold Crash Pictures joins us for a expedition into previous unexplored territory for Movie Oubliette: 1950s Hammer Horror! But The Abominable Snowman (1957) isn't a gothic horror or even a monster movie. It's an atmospheric thriller starring Peter Cushing as a sweetheart botanist with a thing for yetis who foolishly joins a brash American expedition into the Himalayas to find the eponymous beast, despite the protests of his wife and sage warnings from the local Lama. Sort of The Blair Witch Project meets The Thing with a dash of Wolfen? But, crucially, does this largely forgotten gem from the famous studio deserve to be carried back to civilisation? Or should it be used as monster bait with an unloaded gun? Find out! Follow Serge's Youtube channel Cold Crash Pictures for excellent film essays – including one on cryptids! Follow us on Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram and maybe what's left of Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to nomin

The spice must flow! And we have a feeling all kinds of spices were flowing during the making of Dune (1984), David Lynch's first faltering steps into the Hollywood mainstream. An ambitious attempt to realise Frank Herbert's seminal science fiction novel as a baroque, epic, intelligent, space opera, blockbuster yielded some indelible images – Sting naked except for a winged codpiece springs to mind – and flounders in the uncanny valley between a true Lynchian vision of a world some 8000 years in the future and a cleansed, PG-rated family film for the cinemagoing masses. The result is fascinating and curious – not least for having a jaw-dropping cast – but, crucially, does it deserve to leave the oubliette on its 40th anniversary? Or should it be left as a footnote in the great director's career, its memory erased in favour of Denis Villeneuve's box office smash hit remakes? Find out! Follow us on Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram and maybe what's left of Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to

Rob Hill, author of The Bad Movie Bible, joins us on a medieval adventure into the solo directorial debut of Terry Gilliam: Jabberwocky (1977). The comedy fantasy features a veritable 'who's who' of British comedy: three Pythons, music hall star Max Wall, Harry H. Corbett of 'Steptoe and Son', John Le Mesurier of 'Dad's Army', Warren Mitchell of 'In Sickness and In Health', and Carry On's Bernard Bresslaw. It also has everything you want in a hero's quest: a terrifying monster, brave knights, a beautiful princess... and public urination. It sits somewhere between the Gilliam we came to know and love, and the Monty Python traditions he was trying to leave behind. But does it work? Find out! Buy Rob's book on Amazon.com or other, non-billionaire-funding outlets, and check out his Youtube channel. Follow us on Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram and maybe what's left of Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to nominate future films, vote on whether films should be released or thrown back, and access

Dan and Conrad are invited to join Roddy McDowall's live action role play of 'Donkey Kong' – complete with homicidal primate and princess at the top level – as they check out Shakma (1990), thanks to our patrons' choice nomination! In it, McDowall plays a professor who experiments on baboons with mind-altering substances by day, but stages elaborate LARP-ing sessions with his students in the college building by night. In their latest game, Sam (Christopher Atkins), Tracy (Amanda Wyss), Kim (Ari Meyers) and their friends get more than they bargained for when one baboon goes berserk and starts to pick them off one by one. How will they defeat the primal rage of Shakma? Will pushing cutlery out of the window alert passers by? And why is the hero obsessed with moving around dead bodies? Find out if this is a hidden treasure or an experiment gone wrong! Follow us on Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram and maybe what's left of Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to nominate future films, vote on wheth

We're back at last! And what better way to start the year than being reunited with FilmJoy's Mikey Neumann and Zoe Wells for another Kevin Costner apocalypse movie? This time it's 1997's The Postman – the tale of a travelling one-man-and-one-mule Shakespeare company who, after his acting partner is killed and turned into paste by a roving fascist militia, accidentally starts a religion around a basic infrastructure service that brings hope to the ragged survivors of the third world war. It's heartfelt. It's three hours long. It strangely features most of Kevin's children – in one case, as a townsperson who makes a pass at him. But is it a bloated vanity project or a hidden gem that's more relevant now than it was in the 90s? Find out!   Follow FilmJoy on YouTube and, if you're brave, Mikey and Zoe on the smouldering wreckage of Twitter! Follow us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram and maybe Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to nominate future films, vote on whether films should be release

Happy holidays! Writer Dan Wells joins us for our festive finale for the year to discuss the adaptation of his novel I Am Not a Serial Killer. The film stars Max Records as John Wayne Cleaver, a serial-killer-obsessed teenager who works in his mother's mortuary and has been diagnosed with sociopathy, and Christopher Lloyd as Bill Crowley, John's gentle old neighbour... who harbours a dark secret. When a killer terrorises John's snowbound midwestern town from Halloween to the holiday season, what begins as a hobbyist's investigation turns into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a monster even John struggles to understand. Can he stop the slasher before his family becomes the next target? Will he be able to keep his own dark impulses under control? And will his absentee father send him a decent gift this year? Find out! Check out Dan Wells' website to find out about his books, public appearances and gaming retreats! Follow us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram and maybe Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support

Isaac Sutton guest co-hosts with Dan (while Conrad is on vacation!) to talk all things underworld related in Highway to Hell (1991). We follow lovers, Charlie and Rachel, as they try to escape the clutches of the merciless Sargeant Bedlam, grotesque girlfriend doppelgangers and Ben Stiller's entire family. It's a movie for the whole family! Strap in for Anarchy, Armageddon and Annihilation with the Satanic Mechanic. You're in for a hell of a ride! --- Follow Isaac Sutton on Twitter and check out his YouTube channel!   Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram Support us on Patreon to nominate future films and access exclusive bonus content  

Dan and Conrad resurrect an ancient wizard from a screaming coffin of tomato soup, hoist their triple-bladed shootin' sword and set off for the swashbuckling, headsplitting adventure of The Sword and the Sorcerer (1982) – the late Albert Pyun's directorial debut, featuring Lee Horsley, Kathleen Beller, Simon MacCorkindale, Geroge Maharis and Richard Lynch. It's your standard orphaned son of a murdered king returns to avenge his father's death and restore freedom to the realm, except he's actually not bothered and only wants to shag the Princess who hires him. It has some shocking scenes of gore and copious amounts of unnecessary female nudity, which made it somewhat of a video rental treasure for pre-pubescent boys in the 80s... but does it stand up to scrutiny now? Find out!   Follow us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram and the thing that used to be Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to nominate future films, vote on whether films should be released or thrown back, and access exclusive b

Chris McKay, director of the thrilling horror comedy Renfield, joins us for our Halloween special for a tour of one of his favourite haunted house movies: The Legend of Hell House, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. It features a rag-tag group of psychics and physicians investigating a notoriously evil abode once inhabited by a deranged megalomaniac whose hobbies included bestiality, necrophilia and "a gamut of sexual goodies". Based on a novel by Richard Matheson and directed by John Hough, this 70s take on The Haunting stars Pamela Franklin, Roddy McDowall, Clive Revill and Gayle Hunnicutt and features homicidal chandeliers, ninja cats and Roddy slapping a naked woman. But crucially, is it a spooktacular des res or a footnote in the haunted house listings? Find out!   Follow Chris McKay on the social media formerly known as Twitter and Instagram. Follow us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram and maybe Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to nominate future films, vote on wheth

Serge Bodnarchuk of Cold Crash Pictures joins us for a spooky season double-whammy spectacular. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the late William Friedkin's classic horror The Exorcist (1973) and the release of David Gordon Green's apprehensively anticipated rebootquel, The Exorcist: Believer (2023), we've scrabbled around in the oubliette and fished out not one but two Exorcist prequels: Renny Harlin's The Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) and Paul Schrader's Dominion: Prequel to the Excorcist (2005). That's two for the price of one! Well, more accurately, two for the price of two disastrous box office bombs based on the same premise with largely the same cast on the same sets but with different directors. It's quite simply the weirdest situation to ever befall a major horror franchise. How the hell did this happen? What are the differences? And crucially, are either of them worth exorcising and releasing into the world? Find out! Follow the immensely talented and insightful Serge on YouTube and Instagram!

In this Patron's Choice episode, we're venturing into the territory of sword and sorcery master Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane (2009), M. J. Bassett's largely forgotten action adventure film starring James Purefoy as the brutal privateer turned Puritan avenger on a quest to rescue a young pilgrim girl from an evil sorcerer. This one vanished without a trace after a bungled release in the US, where it was held up by legal issues, so few genre fans had a chance to witness its glorious locations, gritty tone, bone crunching action and stunning stunts on the big screen. But does it stand the test of time, or is it an unremarkable addition to the post-Lord-of-the-Rings high fantasy boom of the noughties? Find out! Follow us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram and whatever we're calling Twitter this month. Support us on Patreon to nominate future films, vote on whether films should be released or thrown back, and access exclusive bonus content!

We're revisiting the big budget adaptation of Stephen King's Dreamcatcher at long last! Not only is the film celebrating its 20th anniversary, it's also a movie Dan's been wanting to cover since he started reading the book 5 years ago when we started this podcast! He's finally finished it, despite a canine mishap midway through, so here we are... And what a spectacle it is. An isolated snowy landscape, an alien invasion, possession, red fungal infections, a group of friends with psychic powers... there's a lot going on in this one! And the pedigree of the artists behind it is astonishing: Lawrence Kasdan, the writer of Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire Strikes Back, directs and co-scripts with Misery adapter and The Princess Bride scribe William Goldman, with a cast that includes Morgan Freeman, Damian Lewis, Jason Lee, Timothy Olyphant, Thomas Jane, Tom Sizemore and Donnie Wahlberg. And special effects by ILM! What could possibly go wrong?! A lot, it turns out. But is it still worthy of freedom from the

The incredible Vincenzo Natali, director of Cube, Splice and In the Tall Grass, joins us to explore Paul Verhoeven's final Dutch-language film before he launched his Hollywood career: The Fourth Man (1983). It's a visually stunning, darkly erotic thriller, with a Hitchcockian blonde, eye-popping and leg-crossing effects, and some subversive religious imagery. But is this hard-to-find tale of a drunken writer encountering a sultry widow of not one but three husbands a mischievous treasure... or a fever dream best forgotten? Find out! Follow Vincenzo Natali on the app formerly known as Twitter!   Follow us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram and maybe Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to nominate future films, vote on whether films should be released or thrown back, and access exclusive bonus content!

Dan and Conrad find themselves itching compulsively while padding around in a tinfoil-covered motel room searching for aphids. Yes, we're revisiting Bug (2006), the late William Friendkin's adaptation of Tracy Letts' play starring Ashley Judd, Michael Shannon, Lynn Collins and Harry Connick Jr. It's an intense psychological thriller set largely in a single room focusing on two lonely outcasts who go crazy in love... literally. Or maybe they really are the focus of a giant conspiracy involving medical experiments, child abduction, genetically modified insects and one giant mother super bug. We picked this one out of the oubliette before the sad news of the director's passing, so this comes as an unplanned but timely retrospective on the film Friedkin called his most intense piece of work. Where does it sit in his legacy? Find out! Follow us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram and maybe Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to nominate future films, vote on whether films should be released or th

Melinda Mock of RetroBlasting and Dreamland guest co-hosts and, while Dan is away, leads Conrad into the weird fairytale horror of Troll (1986), Empire Pictures' second-highest-grossing b-movie, which has since been overshadowed by the internet memes of its largely unrelated and famously awful sequel. Featuring Noah Hathaway (The NeverEnding Story), Michael Moriarty (The Stuff), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (!) and Sonny Bono (!!!), it tells the story of the young Harry Potter Jr. – yes, you read that right – discovering a world of magic and terror when his family moves into a new apartment building infested by the titular Troll. It has everything you'd want in a video rental: Sonny Bono turning into a quivering green turd, June Lockheart brandishing a spear and a singing magic mushroom. But is it any good? Find out! Check out Melinda's podcast Dreamland and the RetroBlasting YouTube channel. Follow us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram and maybe Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to nominate futur

Manika Dulcio of the 'I've Been Meaning to Watch That' podcast visits us with a dusty old board game from 2005 called Zathura: A Space Adventure, and before we know it, we're thrust into a wild sci-fi adventure with meteors, dinosaur aliens and frozen older sisters! Jon Favreau's first big effects movie has been eclipsed in popular culture by the first adaptation of a Chris Van Allsburg children's book, Jumanji – with which it bears a striking resemblance – but it has a lot going for it. It features early appearances by Josh Hutcherson and Kristen Stewart, with Dax Shepherd and Tim Robbins as the responsible adults, some striking visuals and a captivating combination of practical and CGI effects. But did it deserve to fall into the memory hole, or should a new generation of kids give it a spin? Find out! Check out Manika's podcast on iTunes, Spotify or wherever good podcasts are streamed! Follow us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram and maybe Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to nominate

Avast, ye space mateys! Con and Dan haul anchor and set sail for the 80s yet again for a slice of semi-spoof space operatics in the form of The Ice Pirates (1984), which stars Robert Urich, Mary Crosby, Michael D. Roberts and features early appearances from Anjelica Houston and Ron Perlman. Set in another galaxy far, far away, where water has become a rare commodity, the film starts out as a heist caper, then takes a weird left-turn into castration and slavery before ending with a battle in a time warp on the way to finding a fabled water-rich planet. It has lasers and robots, but also knee boots, chain mail, cutlasses and an alarming amount of swinging on ropes. Not to mention something called 'space herpes'. But is it still entertaining when you're no longer 10 years old? Find out!   Follow us on Threads, Facebook, Instagram and maybe Twitter, if it's still functioning. Support us on Patreon to nominate future films, vote on whether films should be released or thrown back, and access exclusive bonus content

Dan and Conrad join the ranks of the best and the brightest (and bored billionaires) as they blast off into low Earth orbit with Kate Capshaw, Lea Thompson, Tate Donovan, Larry B. Scott, Kelly Preston and a Leaf-like Joaquin Phoenix (yet to fully bloom in this early role). Yup! Our Patreons forced us to sign up for SpaceCamp (1986), the sci-fi adventure whose release was timed to capitalise on the teacher-in-space excitement of the Space Shuttle Challenger's 10th mission... but sadly limped out into the box office in the wake of a national tragedy. But, crucially, is this tale of teenage teamwork and survival against the odds an overlooked inspirational boost or just a painful memory? Find out! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram Support us on Patreon to nominate future films, vote on whether films should be released or thrown back, and access exclusive bonus content!

Film critic and Horror Queers co-host Joe Lipsett joins us to explore the body snatching invasion thriller The Puppet Masters (1994), an adaptation of Robert A. Heinlein's 1951 sci-fi novel starring Donald Sutherland, Eric Thal, Julie Warner, Keith David, Will Patton and Yaphet Kotto. Astonishing practical effects abound as parasitic manta rays from space leap merrily onto the backs of unsuspecting cast members, turning them into mindless drones bent on world domination. Their only giveaway? They have no interest whatsoever in Julie Warner's cleavage. Seriously, this is a plot point. It's gleeful straight-to-video fun from the height of the X-Files era, but does it hold up? Find out! Follow Joe Lipsett on Twitter, read his work on Bloody Disgusting and check out the Horror Queers podcast! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram Support us on Patreon to nominate future films, vote on whether films should be released or thrown back, and access exclusive bonus content!