F This Movie!

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 15

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

FTM 842: BUBBA HO-TEP

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

Patrick and JB argue over which one of them is actually Elvis.

Download this episode here.

Listen to F This Movie! on Apple Podcasts.

Also discussed this episode: Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein (194?), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (194?),

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 14

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Wed, 14 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

Fifty Before '50: Cheap Thrills

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

by JB

Excited to watch some CRAZY CONTENT this Scary Movie Month, but a little short on cash? Come along with me, my friend.

In the mood for some turgid fun on a budget? The following titles are available FREE on the YouTube machine, and COMMERCIAL FREE if you, like me, pay some service like Verizon, to carefully remove the commercials with a tweezers every month for the princely sum of ten dollars.

It’s the best ten dollars I have ever spent.

The Haunted House (1921)

Buster Keaton shows us all how it is done. Watch this one in the dark. Actually, watch all ten of these in the dark! You know, Keaton’s “collapsing staircase to hell” is a real thing that exists. Honest. I have been on it.

The Cat and the Canary (1927)

This film is the granddaddy of the haunted house subgenre. You have undoubtedly seen dozens of riffs on this familiar theme. A group of strangers are forced to spend the night in a creepy mansion. (The reasons for this vary, but two favorites are inclement weather and the reading of a will.) Creepy stuff happens, and eventually we discover the unexpected... or totally expected... source of the creep-eepiness. Sound familiar?

The Old Dark House (1932)

James Whale was such a fan of The Cat and the Canary that he made his own version at Universal Studios between directing Frankenstein and The Invisible Man. Have a potato?

The Ghost Walks (1934)

Nice example of a B-movie programmer, meant to round out an evening’s entertainment at the local Bijou. Not all movies back then were big budget and star studded. A lot of them were like this one... and that is why today, they are forgotten.
This one involves ghosts.

Haunted House (1940)

Another nice example of a B-movie programmer, meant to round out an evening’s entertainment at the local Bijou. Not all movies back then were big budget and star studded. A lot of them were like this one... and that is why today, they are forgotten.
This one involves a house.

Terror in the Haunted House (1958)

Controversial at the time, this movie tried to use subliminal frames to scare audiences... but the producers used the subliminal angle in its advertising, so audiences knew all about it in advance... which makes them hardly subliminal! This is the Rhino Records re-creation of “psycho-rama” from the Eighties; they basically added cartoon ghoulies to single frames in the film.

House on Haunted Hill (1959)

William Castle’s entry into the haunted house genre. Original screenings featured “Emergo” where theater staff would float an inflatable skeleton above audiences’ heads, and misbehaving little boys would try to knock said skeleton off its guide wires by throwing popcorn boxes at it. A recent screening of this at Chicago’s Music Box Theater recreated the Emergo gimmick. God, how I wanted to attend that screening.

Spine Tingler: The William Castle Story

Assuming that House on Haunted Hill gives you an insatiable yearning to learn more about filmmaker William Castle, check out this nifty documentary.

House of the Damned (1963)

Yet another nice example of a B-movie programmer, meant to round out an evening’s entertainment at the local Bijou. Not all movies back then were big budget and star studded. A lot of them were like this one... and that is why today, they are forgotten.
This one involves the damned.

Hillbillies in a Haunted House (1967)

In case any of my readers have EVER said to themselves, “Gosh, Lon Chaney, John Carradine, and Basil Rathbone were all terrific, accomplished horror actors. But what I would like... is to see them in a movie with country and western stars Merle Haggard, Ferlin Huskey, Molly Bee, and Sonny James! Here is the movie for YOU.

Happy Scary Movie Month.

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 13

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

My Top 5 John Carpenter Movies

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

by Patrick Bromley

My favorite movies from the Original Master of Horror.

Few directors have ever had a run like John Carpenter did from the 1970s into the 1990s. My man didn't miss. What I love about his run, though, isn't just that all of the movies were bangers -- they were -- but that they were all so idiosyncratic and so distinctly his. Carpenter never compromised for someone else's ideas, never diluted his vision because of studio notes until probably Memoirs of an Invisible Man, which is not a terrible movie but the one that ends the run. There are more than five movies that could easily have been on this list because I love different Carpenter films for different moods, but these are the ones that moved me the most as of this writing.

1. The Thing (1982)

My favorite John Carpenter movie and one of the best horror movies of all time. This is Carpenter at the absolute peak of his powers, combining everything he had been doing formally for the first 8-10 years of his career with the cynicism and unrelenting bleakness of a worldview that would inform most of his work. Add in Rob Bottin's special makeup effects -- still the best of their kind ever put on film -- and a banger Ennio Morricone score and you've got one of the all-time masterpieces of the horror genre. This is the only one I'm actually ranking because I just don't see anything being put above it; the rest of the movies on this list aren't in any particular order.

2. Escape from New York (1981)

Not only is this one of my favorite John Carpenter movies, but Snake Plissken remains maybe my second favorite movie character of all time. The director's satiric vision of a future that's already past (1997), Escape from New York is one of the great sci-fi action westerns ever made. I absolutely love Kurt Russell's performance (it even beats out Jack Burton in Big Trouble in Little China, which is no easy feat), I love the colorful cast of supporting characters and performances (Ernest Borgnine, Harry Dean Stanton, Donald Pleasance, Adrienne Barbeau, Isaac Hayes), I love the low-budget aesthetic, I love the music, I love it all. More than anything, I love that Carpenter put this movie out into the world. No one else would have.

3. Prince of Darkness (1987)

Carpenter's biggest grower for me is also his most Advanced Studies work -- you can love a lot of Carpenter but still be left cold by this one and I totally get it. This is a weird one to wrap your arms around. The antagonist is green goo. The protagonist is a wet noodle. The movie is kind of slow and talky. And, yet, I find the vibes to be impeccable, the slowly mounting tension and dread undeniable. Carpenter's score is one of my favorites and I like the ensemble built around Jameson Parker even if I find Jameson Parker lacking at the center. For as much as this is one of Carpenter's darkest, most apocalyptic movies, I find it to be weirdly comforting -- the kind of horror movie I can so easily put on and lose myself in. This is also Carpenter's scariest movie, which is saying something given his filmography.

4. They Live (1988)

I've always loved this movie but spent years believing it was B-tier Carpenter compared to some of his agreed-upon masterpieces. I rewatched it for F This Movie Fest a couple of years back and was blown away but what a truly great movie this is. From the lead performance by a professional wrestler to its somewhat lackluster makeup effects, it's intentionally schlocky in order to maximize its messaging. In designing it this way, its limitations actually become its strength. Of course, it helps that the world has only become an even more cartoonish version of what Carpenter was predicting in 1988.

5. The Fog (1980)

Another grower for me and another one I have to pick just for the vibes. I'm never fully drawn into the narrative of The Fog, about a town invaded on vengeance-seeking ghosts, but it's one of the Carpenter movies I put more than almost any other. Like so many of the picks on this list, I know a big part of my affection is driven by the score by John Carpenter, which I listen to every year when putting up our Halloween decorations. But it's also the Adrienne Barbeau voiceover and the New England lighthouse atmosphere. While the script isn't my favorite, Carpenter gets all the other details of the movie just right. Outside of maybe The Shining, this is probably my favorite ghost story put on film.

Your turn! What are your Top 5 Carpenters?

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 12

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 11

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Sun, 11 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 10

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

Review: THE SOCIAL RECKONING

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Fri, 9 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

by Rob DiCristino

Drop the “director.” It’s cleaner.

Any list of the most important films of the twenty-first century should include David Fincher’s 2010 docudrama, The Social Network. Written by Aaron Sorkin and adapted from Ben Mezrich’s book, The Accidental Billionaires, Fincher’s generation-defining masterpiece traces the origin of our Post-Truth Era (era) to a Harvard dormitory where nineteen-year-old Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is reshaping the world in his own lonely, hostile, self-righteous image. Pounding out the code that would eventually spawn Facebook, Zuckerberg had no idea — or at least we hope he didn’t — that he would be the architect of a new attention economy, an empire of rage-bait and misinformation that would provoke the most radical transformation of our sociopolitical infrastructure since the printing press: “We lived on farms, and then we lived in cities, and now we’re going to live on the internet!” exalts Justin Timberlake’s Sean Parker as he celebrates Facebook’s triumph. And how right he was. How gruesomely, tragically, horrifically right he was.

Sixteen years later, Aaron Sorkin has returned to the Facebook Cinematic Universe with The Social Reckoning, a retelling of the events that led to The Wall Street Journal’s scathing 2021 exposé on the company and its voluminous betrayals of the public trust. Jeremy Allen White stars as Jeff Horwitz, a seasoned political reporter who, despite having about as sophisticated an understanding of the technology sector as Aaron Sorkin himself, launches an investigation into Facebook’s shady ethical practices with the help of insider Frances Haugen (Mikey Madison, who spends half of her screen time in lingerie for reasons that had better be Based on a True Story), a data engineer who believes that Mark Zuckerberg’s (now played by the extremely normal Jeremy Strong) thirst for cultural hegemony is corrupting his company’s core mission of connectivity and collaboration. Facing a decrease in engagement from an aging user base, Zuckerberg has built algorithms that use anger, disgust, and fear to keep people liking, posting, and sharing.

And if you’ve participated in The Discourse at any point over the last decade, that will hardly be news to you. The dead internet hellscape, the political extremism, the proliferation of hate speech and conspiracy theories, the distrust of authority figures — nearly every tangible backslide in our societal values can be traced directly to Facebook’s corrosive influence on our media literacy. As Horwitz discovers during a year’s worth of clandestine meetings with Haugen — a self-described whitehat who, perhaps naively, believes she can save Facebook from the inside — Zuckerberg’s companies intentionally target their users’ emotional vulnerabilities to boost engagement. Seated behind a mock-deposition table for most of the film, Zuckerberg resolutely insists that Facebook is simply “a corkboard” and “a public square” that bears no responsibility for what those users post. But even his media advisors (including Wunmi Mosaku, Bill Burr, and Billy Magnussen) struggle to spin this position as anything but self-serving and profit-hungry.

But again, you know this. Everyone does. The trouble with The Social Reckoning is that it all seems genuinely revelatory to director Aaron Sorkin, who — without David Fincher there to guide him — presents the story from the dramatic point of view of, well, an entrenched Hollywood relic loudly misremembering something he heard at a cocktail party. Docudramas deviate from real events, of course, and The Social Reckoning isn’t any worse because it makes changes to fit a conventional Hollywood narrative. Instead, it’s Sorkin’s catastrophic misunderstanding of Facebook’s moral turpitude that makes it all ring so hollow. True good cannot comprehend true evil, it seems, and since Sorkin lacks Fincher’s appreciation for perverts and sickos — as well as any insight into the lived experience of the people he’s depicting — The Social Reckoning becomes a toothless polemic tone-deaf enough to crescendo with Haugen’s testimony before Congress, as if a fucking West Wing speech on Good Government will ease the existential terror the film has instilled in its audience.

Indeed, it’s Sorkin’s maddening preoccupation with the same lazy crutches — the rat-a-tat banter, the syntactic gymnastics, the musical theater references, etc. — that proves he still isn’t disciplined enough to direct any film, especially one reaching this hard for the grandeur of All the President’s Men or Spotlight. He simply cannot grasp the gravity of the events he’s attempting to dramatize, a fact made painfully clear as the film fades out on Mikey Madison fist-pumping in victory. Victory over whom, I would ask? Over what? Facebook rebranded to Meta. Frances Haugen went on a book tour. Mark Zuckerberg attended Donald Trump’s second inauguration. While The Social Network closes with an uncomfortable anti-catharsis that forces its protagonist (and its audience) to confront the devastating consequences of his narcissism, The Social Reckoning deludes itself with an old-world fantasy where justice and integrity win out over greed and ambition. That certainly sounds like a lovely world, Mr. Sorkin, but it’s not the world that any of us live in.

The Social Reckoning hits U.S. theaters on Friday, October 9th.

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 9

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Fri, 9 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

Thrill Seeker: SE7EN

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Thu, 8 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

by Sonia Mansfield

Sonia won’t tell you what’s in the box.

Seven
Starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, and Gwyneth Paltrow
Written by Andrew Kevin Walker
Directed by David Fincher
Rated R for gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, wrath, pride, and lust. Also, murder, lots and lots of murder

Welcome to Thrill Seeker, in which I watch thrillers from the '80s and '90s. In the spirit of Scary Movie Month, I leaned into the horror genre with this month’s thriller and picked Seven, starring Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Seven played at the theater where I worked, so I saw it many times back in the day. Like a lot of women in 1995, I was all-in on Brad Pitt. Ever since I saw Thelma & Louise, I believed he might be the hottest man alive. So much so that I paid money to see Cool World.

Now I have very mixed feelings about Brad Pitt because reasons. He still makes movies I want to see, and he’s good in them, but I’m not happy about it, if that makes sense. He’s not enough to get me to watch a movie. I’ll see The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth because I loved Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and it’s directed by David Fincher, but I don’t feel the need to see the movie he made with a dog.

ANYWAY, enough about Brad Pitt.

Let’s run through the plot, no spoilers, because believe it or not, there are people who haven’t seen Seven.

The plot: Det. William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) is one week from retirement, and not in a funny “I’m getting too old for this shit” way. He’s disillusioned with the city he’s been working in, and he says he doesn’t understand it anymore. His replacement is Det. David Mills (Pitt), who 100% thinks he’s in a buddy cop movie at first. He’s all ego and one-liners that he thinks are clever. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have a homicide." Mills definitely watched 21 Jump Street as a teenager. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Their first case is an obese man who has been forced to eat until he died. It’s some nasty shit, but somewhere in a dark movie theater an executive from Olive Garden was inspired to create the never-ending pasta bowl.

Somerset and Mills immediately clash over how to handle the case, and they break up for a bit.

Mills catches a new case: a prominent defense lawyer is found dead after being forced to cut off a pound of his own flesh, with the word "GREED" written in his blood. Meanwhile, as he continues his work on the obese man case, the ever-observant Somerset notices a clue pointing to gluttony.

Because Somerset is smart, he realizes the killer is working through the seven deadly sins, and the detectives now know there will be five more victims. So, Somerset spends his evening reading everything he can about the seven deadly sins in the library. Cut to Mills getting pissed just trying to read The Seven Deadly Sins for Dummies. Nowadays, they’d just Google or DuckDuckGo that shit. “Alexa, tell me about the seven deadly sins.” I have a feeling Somerset would still go to the library.

These two very different detectives have to work together, and their styles clash with every decision. Somerset is patient and thoughtful. This is a puzzle to be solved. Mills is impulsive and eager. He’s quick to kick in doors and draw his gun. I bet he watched a lot of Miami Vice as a teenager, too. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Hoping to improve their working relationship, Mills’ lovely wife Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow) invites Somerset over for dinner. It’s such a great scene, and Paltrow is so good in it. She softens both of them, and for the first (and maybe only) time in the movie, Mills and Somerset actually smile and laugh.

After dinner, Mills pours Somerset the world’s biggest glass of wine, and they get to work on the case because the murderer still has sloth, pride, lust, envy, and wrath to go.

Seriously, that's a hefty pour

And here’s where my plot summary ends, thrill seekers. Just know there are more murders, a lot of rain, and a very special delivery.

Is it a thrill? Yes! Fincher pulls off a neat trick here. The movie is gruesome, but you never actually see the murders take place. The violence is implied, but you see the aftermath (and it’s so gross). The movie makes it so easy to imagine the murders that you kinda scare yourself. This movie still horrifies me.

Let’s talk about David Fincher for a minute. David Fincher has made a few of my favorite movies: Gone Girl and Zodiac. But I'm still not sure I'd call him “one of my guys.” Mainly because I hated The Curious Case of Benjamin Button so much, and I couldn’t even be bothered with Mank or The Killer. Still, I was kinda obsessed with Seven in 1995. I loved the look of it. It’s forever raining, and the color is drained. Everything looks soaked and grimy. To me, it looks like how despair feels.

And Morgan Freeman is sooooo great in this. This could’ve been such a lazy performance. We all know the cop-who-takes-one-more-case-before-retirement trope. Instead, Somerset is weary and weighed down by all the darkness he’s seen. He should’ve been nominated for Best Actor, but I guess we’ll all have to settle for Seven totally cleaning up at the MTV Movie Awards, including Best Movie, Most Desirable Male (Pitt, not Freeman), and Best Villain, which is a spoiler for the movie. You gotta love that it was nominated for Best On-Screen Duo, but lost to Chris Farley and David Spade for Tommy Boy. *Chandler Bing voice* Could these things be any more different?

Anyway, the ending of Seven is … damn. Again, no spoilers. It’s a meme now, but in 1995, it was a punch in the gut. I remember the audience FREAKED OUT in the theater. Someone yelled, “OH MY GOD!” and someone else shrieked, “Nooooo!” And I love a thriller that fuckin’ goes for it.

Rating: 5 out of 5 bunnies in a boiling pot

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 8

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Thu, 8 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

FTM 841: AUDITION

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

Patrick and Rob would never.

Download this episode here.

Listen to F This Movie! on Apple Podcasts.

Also discussed this episode: Evil Dead Burn (2026), When a Stranger Calls (1979), The Keep (1983), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1973), The Hitcher (1986), Buzzkill (2026), Pinocchio Unstrung (2026)

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 7

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Wed, 7 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

Fifty Before '50: Universal Horror Monsters & Curiosities Box Set

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

by JB

Who is this for?

The quick answer is ME. Is there a single Universal Horror release I have ever passed on? That’s not a rhetorical question. I’m thinking... (day turns into night...hours turn into days...leaves redden and fall... I finally qualify for Medicare...) Fortunately, the completist in me already ordered this, already received this, and was glad I did when it quickly sold out and went out of print. Gotcha, sucker!

So why am I wasting your time writing about something you cannot buy? Because Umbrella Entertainment announced last week that it is doing a repress that will street on October 9, so as it turns out, you can buy one... if that's the kind of thing you like to do in this economy.

The main reason to own this set is value. It’s selling for about $250, and it contains 45 films. Boy Howdy, that’s around $5.50 per film... and these are Blu-rays. Most of the transfers are pristine. I would quibble with The Hunchback of Notre Dame, but does a pristine print of that film exist anywhere? I think not.

For the casual fan looking to “stick their toe” into the Black Lagoon (ha, tricked you! Creature is not included in this set) you could do worse. My problem is that this attractive little box could easily have saved me oodles of shelf space, IF Umbrella Entertainment had chosen to port over the various commentaries and featurettes from the movies' original Universal discs. They have not.

INSTEAD, Umbrella planned a panoply of new featurettes. Yet Dave Lee, the producer of this boxset, explained on a YouTube video that Universal refused to approve any of Umbrella's bonus material. All of the planned featurettes were vetoed (though shortened versions of their scripts appear in the accompanying hardback book). This is very disappointing because when Shout! Factory released some lesser Universal Horror titles on Blu-ray in a terrific series of boxsets a few years ago, Universal gave Shout Factory! permission to include all sorts of nice new featurettes and commentaries.

What does Universal have against Australians?

SO NOW I own a boxset that contains no unique special features aside from the aforementioned hardcover book and ten miniature lobby card reproductions. On the plus side, it does contain four films that I do not already own on disc: The Last Warning, Horror Island, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and The Land Unknown. That changes the essential “bargain equation” to about $62 a film, if you're purchasing at full price (I purchased at a significant pre-order discount.) Egads.

If I was but a fancy lad and starting out on this journey we call “Universal Monster Fandom,” Umbrella's Universal Horror Monsters & Curiosities Boxset would be awfully attractive for the reasons listed above. To the cranky, curmudgeonly collector I have become... meh.

NOTE TO SELF: Hey, Self! Ready to buy more boxsets of Universal movies you already own, including some on the underwhelming boxset you just wrote about? While this column will be published on October 6, you are writing it on September 25, so don’t forget to pre-order the new 4K Frankenstein and Wolf Man Complete Legacy Collection sets from Universal, which won't drop until September 29, i.e., four days from the now that is exactly a week ago. These sets contain all eight Universal Frankensteins in 4K, all seven Universal Wolf Man pictures in 4K, and the chance to own Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein in 4K for the third and fourth time, respectively. Self, if you don't pre-order this 10 days ago from now, you'll never forgive yourself... in a week ago.

Happy Scary Movie Month.

BONUS SPECIAL FEATURE OF THIS COLUMN: If you are reading this and you do not already own a 4K copy of Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein, DM me on the Instagram or the Blue Sky with a mailing address... I MAY be able to hook you up.

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 6

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Tue, 6 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

Friday Night Double Features Vol. 71

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Mon, 5 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

by Adam Riske and Patrick Bromley

Ten new horror double features to impress your friends with this Scary Movie Month!

Double Feature 1:

Adam: #1: Body Snatchers (1993)
Patrick: #2: Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn (1987)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows, The Marsh, Devour
Patrick: Theme: Burn Notice Horror

Patrick: Did you know I used to watch Burn Notice? USA, man. Characters were welcome. I had a big crush on Gabrielle Anwar back in the day, so a) I was excited to see her come back on Burn Notice after her film career stalled out and b) I used that as a jumping off point for this double feature. The fact that Bruce Campbell was on Burn Notice makes this easy because he’s such a horror legend, but I tried to represent the whole cast with the trailers. Are you a Body Snatchers fan? I really like it and it makes me wish Abel Ferrara made more studio horror. I originally thought about doing a whole Abel horror night but didn’t feel up to rewatching The Driller Killer.

Adam: I did not know this! I have a distinct memory of considering watching Burn Notice when it first premiered but opting not too for some reason even though it was at the height of my Bruce Campbell fandom (I was even watching his Sci-Fi Channel movies like The Man with the Screaming Brain and Alien Apocalypse at the time). This theme is really fun. I saw Body Snatchers once a few Scary Movie Months ago and really enjoyed it. You can never go wrong with some Gabrielle Anwar. I don’t know who’s luckiest in the tango scene in Scent of a Woman: Pacino, Anwar, or tango cuck Chris O’Donnell.

Double Feature 2:

Patrick: #1: The Sentinel (1977)
Adam: #2: City of the Living Dead (1980)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things, The Vampire Lovers, The Wizard of Gore
Adam: Theme: Music Box Massacre 2011 Selections

Adam: The Sentinel is a crazy, crazy movie. I went to this MBM but didn’t stick it out the whole time so I ended up watching The Sentinel at home and I was bummed I didn’t catch it with an audience. This rights that wrong. I figured (of the other movies playing at that marathon) that City of the Living Dead would be the best movie to program afterwards since it’s probably also a fun movie to watch with a crowd and equally nuts but with a different vibe.

Patrick: That Music Box screening was my first viewing of The Sentinel too! It played so well at like 7am because it’s so crazy and entertaining that I found it super easy to stay awake. I really liked it and showed it to Erika a few years later and it has since become like a Top 5 horror movie for her even though she can rarely remember the title. Programming it alongside CotLD is genius. Maybe I didn’t really appreciate the lineup at the 2011 Massacre because these are bangers.

Double Feature 3:
Adam: #1: Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
Patrick: #2: Scream 5 (2022)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: Candyman (2021), Saw X (2023), Halloween (2018)
Patrick: Theme: LegaSlashers

Patrick: An easy, obvious theme, but I thought Scream 5 might go well alongside H20 because they’re both dealing with similar things in terms of their protagonists. Scream 5 is far from great but I’d probably rather watch it second than any of the movies in the trailer lineup.

Adam: You made the right call. I like Saw X more than Scream 5 but I would rather revisit Scream 5, if for no other reason than to see the third act again now that Jack Quaid and Mikey Madison are leads who can open their own movies now. I’m a bigger fan of H20 than most because a) it’s the most Scream of the Halloween franchise (making this pairing inspired) and b) I think it’s the best Laurie Strode characterization in the entire series. I believe her as becoming an alcoholic a lot more than turning into Sarah Connor.

Double Feature 4:

Patrick: #1: Cursed (2005)
Adam: #2: After.Life (2009)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Addams Family, Casper, Sleepy Hollow, MC Hammer “Addams Groove” music video
Adam: Theme: “Scary” Ricci Night

Adam: I love Christina Ricci. She and Kirsten Dunst were Millennials’ Winona Ryder. Having a night celebrating her Scary Movie Month (and adjacent) season work seems really fun. I haven’t seen After.Life but the cast is interesting enough and I wanted to program something junky as a B-picture to a double headlined by Cursed, which is not a good movie but one I could watch anytime. Isn’t there like a wax museum or something in that movie that plays a prominent role? Also, Greer Wolf. Always Greer Wolf.

Patrick: Cursed sucks hard but I, like you, could easily rewatch it which is why I decided to play it at the ‘Rink. A Ricci horror double sounds sublime. This would be a good chance for me to finally see After.Life too. I know the premise and the cover art but it remains an unseen Ricci. Greer Wolf is the best part of Cursed and it’s not even close. Greer Wolf can get it.

Double Feature 5:
Adam: #1: The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Patrick: #2: House on Haunted Hill (1999)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: The Haunting (1999), Lake Placid, Idle Hands, The Sixth Sense
Patrick: Theme: ‘99 Horrors (But a Witch Ain’t One)

Patrick: Looking at this lineup makes me think that 1999 wasn’t just a great year for movies (probably the best in my lifetime), it was a great year for horror, too. Some of these seemed like programmers on release but have since become all-timers. Except for The Haunting. No amount of distance can rose color those glasses. What’s your favorite horror of 1999? I know it should be The Sixth Sense for me but my heart is saying House on Haunted Hill.

Adam: I would definitely go to this! My favorite horror movie from 1999 is The Sixth Sense. It works maybe even better as a drama, so I think it has a lot of rewatchability. The Blair Witch Project would be a close second. I’ve never turned on that movie like most people did in the months and years after its release. I still find it really creepy. I didn’t love House on Haunted Hill (1999) in 1999, but I love it now after many revisits over the years. The Geoffrey Rush performance I’m 50/50 on (which is odd because I love Vincent Price and that’s clearly what he’s going for), but I love the whole Dark Castle aesthetic and vibe. Plus, the roller coaster prank at the beginning fascinates me. It doesn’t seem sustainable for a ride that’s expected to operate daily.

Double Feature 6:

Patrick: #1: Hatchet II (2010)
Adam: #2: Alligator II: The Mutation (1991)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Hills Have Eyes Part II, House II: The Second Story, Wishmaster 2: Evil Never Dies
Adam: Theme: Kane Hodder Part IIs

Adam: Kane Hodder will show up for anything. I hope he doesn’t show up for this. I dunno. The guy rubbed me the wrong way when I met him at a con. He counted the money I gave him in front of me before adding it to a money roll (that’s why you have handlers!) and then seemed annoyed I was having him sign a Wishmaster poster instead of something Jason or Victor Crowley. Whatever. I’ll take out my mixed feelings by programming a double feature for him. Because I let those I don’t like walk all over me sometimes. The trailer reel are all movies where he did stunts. Rank the Hatchet movies. My memory is the original is the best, then I think I like Hatchet III the most after that. Hatchet II and Victor Crowley are fun, too.

Patrick: You know I have some history with Kane Hodder because I’ve had to interview him so many times. He has always been cool with me but I’m also ok if I never interview him again. I appreciate how devoted he is to the horror genre and how he carried the torch for Friday the 13th all those years but I don’t love his whole “I’m Kane Hodder and I’ll beat you up” thing he does sometimes. I love the idea of ranking the Hatchet series but I don’t think I can do it because there are different things I like in all of them and together they probably add up to one really great slasher. Right now I’ll say 1, 2, 4, 3. Subject to change.

Double Feature 7:
Adam: #1: The Craft (1996)
Patrick: #2: The Substance (2024)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: The Love Witch, Jennifer’s Body, Carrie
Patrick: Theme: The Monstrous Femme

Patrick: Horror movies are maybe better than any other genre at depicting how hard it can be to be a woman, so I thought it would be cool to do a whole night devoted to that theme. I find The Craft super rewatchable even though it’s not one of my movies and it seems fun to amp up the crazy by showing The Substance second. That’s a movie I’m due to revisit. I only saw it the one time but it lives in my memory. We should let all the ladies in the Cinemarink come up and tell stories between the movies like The Vagina Monologues.

Adam: I like how this double feature builds in intensity and craziness. I’m in the same boat as you on The Craft. I haven’t had my viewing of it where I love it, but I do like it quite a bit and it being 30 years old now does lend itself to mid-90s nostalgia I find very appealing for comfort viewing. I’ve seen The Substance two or three times. I think the first viewing of that movie is the best one but there’s still a lot to admire on rewatches. I’m 100% onboard for women taking over the Cinemarink that night even if they want all the guys to leave before The Substance begins. We’ll put that on the website, so people are warned. If it happens, the fellas can have The Dick Monologues out on the sidewalk. And by that, I mean monologues about the movie Dick (1999).

Double Feature 8:

Patrick: #1: Tarantula! (1955)
Adam: #2: Revenge of the Creature (1955)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: Them!, It Came from Beneath the Sea, The Blob (1958)
Adam: Theme: '50s Creature Features

Adam: I knew immediately after you programmed Tarantula! that I wanted to double it with the other ‘50s creature movie that featured an early performance by our guy Clint Eastwood. He didn’t do any other straight horror/monster movies so I couldn’t make that my theme but that’s cool because there’s almost nothing better to binge than trailers for ‘50s Creature Features. Now I want to go to the Sci-Fi Dine In Theater at Disney World.

Patrick: Yeah, this is right up my alley. What a night at the movies. I want Sci-Fi Dine In to start rotating their trailer and clip reel out because we’ve been to Disney enough in the last 10 years that I kind of have it memorized and would love some new stuff. We might have to take over their programming as well.

Double Feature 9:

Adam: #1: The Witches (1990)
Patrick: #2: The Gate (1987)
Patrick: Trailers/Shorts: The Monster Squad, Tremors, The Garfield Halloween Special, Lady in White
Patrick: Theme: Starter Horror

Patrick: Do you think The Witches is good starter horror? I haven’t seen it in a really long time but I remember the actual look of the witches being pretty scary, especially for a kids movie. I miss when we could do that kind of stuff. The Gate is a little more intense and adult, but I thought that was appropriate for a second feature because if the little ones want to leave or are traumatized by Anjelica Huston that would be ok. People are climbing the walls and lighting each other on fire at these Starter Horror doubles.

Adam: Hahaha. The last sentence is so funny. The Witches is absolutely good starter horror. The look of the witches by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop is pretty scary. My theory is it was something kids could handle by 1990 because the 1980s made us so used to puppets and creature effects that it all became scary in a fun, familiar way by then. I love the trailer block here and finally an excuse to watch The Garfield Halloween Special for the first time in decades. You know me so you know I mean that sincerely. I need to revisit The Gate. I saw it once and didn’t love it but a recent hangout where it was on VHS in the background while I shot pool made me want to give it another viewing.

Double Feature 10:

Patrick: #1: Drag Me To Hell (2009)
Adam: #2: Thinner (1996)
Adam: Trailers/Shorts: The Ring, It Follows, Smile, Tales from the Crypt episodes “Staired in Horror” and “Only Sin Deep”
Adam: Theme: Curses!

Adam: Curse movies are fun. I love Drag Me To Hell (most underrated Raimi??) and adding Thinner to it seems like a blast. They’re both folk magic curse movies (it’s offensive to use the other term so I’m being cognizant of that) so the pairing made sense. Plus, Crypt Episodes! Do you/have you ever believed in curses? I remember being SO FREAKED OUT as a kid in the '90s by chain letter curses. I got one from a so-called friend and I remember riding my bike around the neighborhood and putting new cursed letters in the mailboxes of strangers because I thought if I didn’t, I would die. I wonder what those people thought when they got them, especially with my elementary school handwriting.

Patrick: I struggle with curse movies sometimes because I think they speak directly to my fears of being totally powerless, but I guess that just means they’re effective and working on me as they’re supposed to. I hate when I realize things about myself in the middle of writing a column. I’m a big DMtH fan even if I kind of wish the ending was different (I am a softy) and I love the thought of following it with Thinner, a movie I started really appreciating thanks to you. Being able to see it through your eyes helped. Plus, it’s a true Dirty King and those are always welcome at the Linderground Cinemarink. This could be my first choice double of the month. What’s yours?

Adam: I like a lot of them. It’s probably either this one or The Witches/The Gate!

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 5

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Mon, 5 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 4

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Sun, 4 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 3

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Sat, 3 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

Review: LADY

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Fri, 2 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

by Rob DiCristino

Or: The Indiscreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie

The most prominent critics’ quote included in Lady’s press materials touts it as “Saltburn on shrooms.” There’s a hint of truth there, I suppose, in that both films are set in stately English country houses and poke a fair bit of fun at the insularity of the spoiled aristocrats who reside in them. But while Emerald Fennell’s gaudy Talented Mr. Ripley knockoff collapses under the weight of its own smug self-satisfaction — poverty, says Fennell, is a dangerous and transgressive act — Samuel Abrahams’ charming new mockumentary approaches its subjects with decidedly more warmth and empathy. Lady follows the exploits of the solipsistic Isabella of Ravenhyde Hall (Fleabag’s Sian Clifford) — who would argue that she is merely “self-centered,” and that the distinction is consequential enough to mention — and the young, BAFTA-nominated documentarian (Laurie Kynaston as Sam) recruited to chronicle her life for Netflix. But when that gig is revealed to be a lie, Sam has two choices: Head home empty-handed or follow Isabella down a bizarre rabbit hole of self-discovery.

Co-written by Abrahams and partner Miranda Campbell Bowling, Lady begins with an initiation into Isabella’s lonely, spiritually malnourished existence: Compensating for her isolation with a conspicuous display of acquired riches — Isabella claims to be a Kardashian of the aristocracy but behaves more like the Michael Scott of the decaying landed elite — the delusional dilettante regales Sam and his documentary crew with an invented itinerary of charitable acts, social obligations, and familial routines. Sam sniffs her out almost immediately, of course, noting the clear absence of any friends or family except long-suffering housekeeper, Becky (Juliet Cowan), as well as a general social awkwardness that betrays the fact that she hasn’t actually left Ravenhyde’s grounds in over five years. Still, Isabella’s commitment to the bit proves curious enough for Sam to indulge her as she prepares for “Stately Stars,” a self-funded talent competition for local youths that she — much to Sam’s surprise — intends to win herself. Yes, her own talent show. Against children.

Abrahams claims that the original inspiration for Lady came from his chance viewing of a fledgling YouTuber’s first half-baked attempts at video posts: “Every decision — the editing, song choice, subject matter — was gloriously off,” he says, but “beneath the ridiculous was something heartbreaking: a need to be seen, to connect, to matter.” It’s this undercurrent of sweetness and compassion that keeps Lady from ever getting too mean-spirited to be fun, especially as Sian Clifford ramps up Isabella’s unraveling with an innocence that becomes undeniably disarming. In a surreal turn that shapes the film’s later movements, Isabella’s fear of ignominy is literalized as she gradually turns invisible from the fingertips inward — think Marty McFly’s family photo in Back to the Future — a bold narrative move that would read as clunky and obvious if it weren’t so very right for a preposterous figure like Isabella. Known best as the uptight sister on Fleabag, Clifford is delightfully unhinged here, gleefully embodying a pampered toff who fancies herself a performance artist.

Force majeure though Clifford may be, the more difficult role in Lady belongs to Laurie Kynaston as Sam, who begins the film as an unassuming audience surrogate but finds himself slowly corrupted by Isabella’s anxiety and lust for catharsis. The struggling filmmaker does everything he can to keep an ironic distance from his self-sabotaging protagonist, but even after a rough-cut trailer earns him an actual commission with Netflix to complete his documentary — the streaming giant presumably believes in Isabella’s “so-bad-she’s-good” potential — Sam grows too attached to the vulnerable human being under the bombastic facade to sell her out. Blending Grey Gardens, American Movie, and What We Do in the Shadows, Abrahams’ handheld camera captures their May-December disintegration without judgement or commentary: In a brilliant move that bears out a sly thematic poignancy, Sam’s camera operator eventually rebels against him, insisting on capturing the “objective” filmmaker’s unexpected assimilation with his accidental muse.

Lady will ultimately fly too far under the radar to make any real noise this awards season, but its chaotic humor and infectious charisma testify to the craft and ingenuity of all involved. Armed with a talent like Sian Clifford, Abrahams and his team could have taken a much easier, more Tik-Tok-friendly route by keeping us laughing at Isabella rather than, eventually, with her. As both versions of The Office prove over and over again, it’s easy to churn cheap humor out of gutless schadenfreude, to mock the sincerity of the talentless and uninspired simply because they yield nothing we judge to be of any value. But as the far, far superior Parks & Recreation demonstrates, it’s always the trickier — and infinitely more resonant — path that encourages us to recognize our own frailties in those we’d presume to belittle. In the end, we’re every bit as naive, stubborn, and self-destructive as Isabella, and watching Sam and his crew come to terms with their own foibles and limitations makes his would-be punching bag’s vindication — as well as our own — all the more triumphant.

Lady is in limited U.S. release on Friday, October 2nd.

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 2

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Fri, 2 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500

FTM 840: BORDELLO OF BLOOD COMMENTARY

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Thu, 1 Oct 2026 05:00:00 -0500

Patrick, Adam Riske, and Mike kick off Scary Movie Month 2026 with some sexy vampires courtesy of the Crypt Keeper, babe.

Download this episode here.

Listen to F This Movie! on Apple Podcasts.

2026 Scary Movie Challenge Day 1

fthismoviepodcast@gmail.com (fthismovie.com) — Thu, 1 Oct 2026 02:00:00 -0500