Haunted Picture Palace

The Lost Boys - ”Don’t kill me, Mike. I’m basically a good kid.”

Join us as we look at what it might be like to never grow up as we talk about what vampire metaphors can tell us about the nuclear family in suburban 1980s America, with a fair amount of chat about oiled-up musclebound saxophonists, and a bewildering amount about Batman Forever.

Daughters of Darkness - ”Ghosts Chased Away by Garlic.”

Recordeed when we had covid, a run-through of Harry Kumel's hallucinatory sapphic vampire film, teasing out feminist themes, horrible erotica and excellent threads,

Interview With The Vampire - ” Good night sweet prince, may flights of devils wing you to your rest.”

It's been a while, but we are back with the first in a small series of Vampire Films - Neil Jordan's lush 90s take on Anne Rice's modern gothic classic.  We recorded this a wee while ago, so references to current events are a little out of date, but it's a 30 year old film about 200 year old people, so I reckon we're in the clear.

Whistle And I’ll Come To You (1968) ’A sort of... dog.’

Something of a Christmas special as we look at a bit of 60s telly that one of us watches every year, and every year he's unnerved by it.  A canter through that includes digressions on ghosts, plus-fours and talking while eating.  So much wet egg.

Gremlins - ‘It‘s been a rough night for Rockin‘ Ricky, but he‘s still on the air!‘

It's Christmas, so we have lined up a festive episode with digressions on censorship, radio djs and Phoebe Cates' dress. Listen in the dark, don't get it wet and don't feed it after midnight.

The Flesh and Blood Show - ‘EXCREEEEEMEEEEENNNNNTTTT‘

A dip into the cinematic sewers this week for Pete Walker's exploitation trash that doesn't live up to its poster.  It's called The Flesh And Blood Show, but there's a lot more of one than the other.

Scream (1996) - “I‘m Feelin‘ A Little Woozy Here!”

Join us as we take a look at Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson's shot in the arm for the slasher genre as it turns 25.  We look at potential suspects, what 'the rules' mean, and discuss the very worst t-shirt known to man, as well as talking quite a lot about Scary Movie.  You do like scary movies, right?

Creature From The Black Lagoon - ”Even I, Lucas, Have Heard The Legend of The Man-Fish!”

Join us as we venture up a tributary of the Amazon which somehow leads to a lagoon... a Black Lagoon! We look at the Universal horror classic discussing suitable footwear for a trip upriver, the correct terminology for spans of prehistoric time and the logistics of shooting a 3-d movie underwater in 1954.

The Invisible Man (1933) - ”He‘s invisible, that‘s what‘s the matter with him. If he gets the rest of them clothes off, we‘ll never catch him in a thousand years.”

Join us as we look at the film that made a star of Claude Rains, even though you can't actually see him. We talk about the how and the what and the why of James Whale's 1933 masterpiece The Invisible Man, looking at wayward accents, special effects we still can't quite work out and the latent eroticism of having your protagonist nude (but invisible) for a good cghunk of the running time.

An American Werewolf in London -”Life Mocks Me Even in Death!”

We take a walk on the moors for John Landis's 1981 horror comedy as we take in symbolism of puffa jackets, the logistics of London hospitals and Saint Jenny Agutter. Join us, but don't cut across the park to that middle-class party...