Eye On Horror
Eye On Horror
Toxic Relationships in Horror
Happy Valentine's Day Eyeballs! In this episode, we discuss our some of the most toxic relationships in horror. Also, Correia rants about Moonfall, Jacob talks attends Sundance virtually, and Jay gets excited about pandemic movies.
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*Editor's Note* Correia mentions The Night House but referred to it as The Glass House
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Welcome to Eye On Horror initial podcast of iHorror.com. This is episode 80. Otherwise known as season five, episode two. I am your host James Jay Edwards and with me as always is your other host Jacob Davison. How you doing? Jacob? Doing
Jacob Davidson:fine. Just waking up. Yeah, we're
James Jay Edwards:doing this back in the morning again and yeah, I'm sleepy too. Yeah. Also with us again is your other other host, Jon Correia. How you doing? Korea?
Jonathan Correia:Um, I got some sleep. I got sleep this weekend. I haven't been summoned to my computer in over 24 hours for my job. That is. Oh, I get I've gotten one good weekend in two months. So just go
James Jay Edwards:right on. What's been going on? What have you it Korea? I know you saw something that I desperately want to hear about. So I want to start.
Jonathan Correia:Oh, oh, boy. Oh, oh, do I had did I watch something? So I went to mission Tiki to go see Moonfall. Mostly because I thought that was an appropriate setting to see that movie A still iffy about go into theater. But also I knew I was going to probably have some bitchy comments to make about the movie. So it's best to just keep it in the in the pod of a car with Lindsey. And you know, I from the get go when that movie was first announced. I was like that sounds silly. That's a silly thing. It's a really silly thing.
James Jay Edwards:Isn't it Roland Emmerich though?
Jacob Davidson:Yeah, Mister Independence Day himself.
James Jay Edwards:It's silly concepts is nothing new for that. But
Jonathan Correia:it's a mashup. It's it's a disaster movie and a sci fi adventure thing and one, and they don't do well on either Front. But I gotta say like, I was not excited. I was not looking forward to this movie until the last week because they've been putting billboards up around LA for it. And some of them are fake, graffitied to say the moon sucks on it. Like, it's the worst marketing campaign I've seen. But it worked on me because I was like, oh, maybe this is such a ridiculous and kind of stupid concept that maybe they've embraced it. Maybe this is Roman Emmerich having fun with the stuff that he does, like poking fun at it. And they did not do that at all that was very upset about that, like there was there's one brilliant moment because like, okay, so Halle Berry plays like so. Her and Patrick Wilson were astronauts that were on a mission 10 years ago, and this strange phenomenon happened and the guy that was with them out there, dies, Halle Berry gets knocked out, Pat, you know, basically shit goes wrong. Patrick Wilson goes on trial and gets his life ruined because no one believes him that this like weird black cloud thing, like messed everything up. And it turns out, it's a whole NASA cover up thing. And so his life is destroyed. But Halle Berry still works for NASA and all this stuff. And there's this great moment where her boss goes, remember to fall, remember who you work for and fallen in line. And she goes, I work for the American people and you're keeping them in the dark. And I was like, Yes. Like that was like the first like 20 minutes. I'm like, yes. Okay, yeah, this is gonna be great. There's gonna be some great disaster action sequences. There's gonna be some weird sci fi stuff going on. I love disaster movies. And it's really funny because Lindsey and I have recently got obsessed with The Wave and The Quake, the I believe Swedish or Norwegian disaster movies that take every trope that's ever been done with those films, but actually does it really well. And like really, the suspense built up in those movies. The Human Factors in those movies are just top notch. And like though, those films are so much fun, and like gut wrenching, and Moon fall is not that at all their sequences because you know, the moon's fucked up. So there's going to be like tsunamis and tidal waves and all this stuff happening. And those sequences happen. But that's it, they just happen. There's no build up. Like suddenly LA is flooded and like they're trying to like get to a higher floor of a hotel, and then they're just fine and just hanging out in a hotel and like, there's like almost no consequences to anything that's happening even though like the moon just getting slightly off things, causes apocalyptic level shit. But like it doesn't really it doesn't really matter. Like millions of people are dying from all this like tectonic plates shifting and like all this stuff, and there's like little to no consequence. And then the movie goes into conspiracy theory hard because so a whole thing. There's a conspiracy theorist who's who thinks that the moon is a mega structure like the moon's fake and it was created by other beings, and they lean into that really hard and like not in a tongue in cheek Manna like it seems like they're they it always seems like they're either gonna start doing the disaster movie stuff really good, but then they don't there's like no follow through on anything the Sci Fi stuff, it seems like they're gonna get into some really cool weird trippy like Annihilation type stuff. But then they don't
James Jay Edwards:tell me that somebody dropped an Obi Wan Kenobi. That's no moon.
Jonathan Correia:No space station. Oh, because the film isn't aware enough. It tries to take itself way too serious. Like even Patrick Wilson horrors like DILF is like, they did this whole thing where like his character's life is destroyed. And they're like, oh, yeah, you look like shit. It's just Patrick Wilson with a five o'clock shadow. Like he doesn't look like shit. He just looks like a like a like a Dilf with like a little bit of stubble. And like, because the film has like a really good cast. You got Halle Berry. Patrick Wilson, you got John Bradley who was in Game of Thrones, which he plays a conspiracy theorist. And apparently Josh Gad originally was supposed to be the conspiracy theorist. And like as many problems I have with this film, I will say at least it doesn't have Josh Gad in it, because then it would have made it unwatchable. But Charlie Plummer, who is absolutely fantastic in Spontaneous, charming, and just like lovable all this stuff is given nothing in this film. And he like he's in like, he's like a big plot. Like he's like Patrick Wilson son who gets caught up in some like legal stuff. And that's why he Patrick Wilson gets sucked back into NASA, I guess. I don't know that part wasn't needed. But like, he doesn't even say anything. He just kind of like looks like they gave him nothing to work with, which is really sad, because he's a really great young, talented actor. And God, it's just, there's so much missed opportunity. This could have been such a fun, silly, just like romp of a thing. And just like nothing really works. One last thing I'm going to complain about with this film, is they get Donald Sutherland in it. And you know, Donald, so it's Donald fucking Sutherland, man. So what do they do? He plays like a guy who works at NASA who's like the cover up guy. This is the kids. This is the guy. That is why there's conspiracy theories, because he's the one covering up all the shit like they knew something weird was going on to the moon, and he covered up and there's a scene with him and Halle Berry, but right before she comes in, he's at his desk and like everyone knows the moon's out of orbit all this stuff and he like pulls out a gun and like places on his desk and it's like, oh, shit, this guy's gonna kill him. So and, and then like, he basically spills the beans with Halle Berry. And then he just goes, alright, now I have an appointment waiting for me on my desk. And that's it. They bring in Donald Sutherland did for like a two minute scene to just go. Oh, all conspiracy theories are real. I'm gonna go murder myself now. And that's it. It's like why? Like, what? What was the point of
James Jay Edwards:that? Yeah, I skipped the Moonfall screenings that press screenings because they were press slash promo? Yeah. And it didn't seem like the kind of movie I wanted to risk and 80% theater for. It's so it sounds like the kind of movie that I'm just going to hang out in my little home theater with the with the cool five, one system. My wife got me a couple years ago. And rock with it there.
Jonathan Correia:There are some really cool bits, there's a there's a great moment where they're trying to have a plane take off, or not not playing it's a spaceship. The spaceships trying to launch while a gravity wave is happening in they call it a gravity wave. Because the moon's so close, that all the water is like gravity is fucked in the waters going up. And there's a part where like, people are trying to like get into a helicopter and they're like doing the moon like jaunt across like this military platform. Like that was like a cool sequence. But again, there's no tension building at all. So the sequences just kind of happen. Now
James Jay Edwards:is is the moon falling to the earth? Or is the moon sucking the Earth into it?
Jonathan Correia:Well, it's not like, like Moon falling into Earth, you get the idea that it's just kind of going into it. It's, it's, it's going out of orbit. So it's circling around until it gets closer. And it's getting closer and closer. Because something is basically pushing it to do that, like it's pushing it off its thing and like there is there is you do get the sequence of the moon kind of scraping along the edge of the earth towards the end. But like I was struggling to stay awake during that part because it just yeah, there's there that movie could would have really benefited from like a good comedic writer coming in and just adding that satirical overtone, and just like,
Jacob Davidson:yeah, they should have done the Airplane route and made like a comedy version of it.
Jonathan Correia:Honestly, I really want to make a an unofficial sequel to this movie, like, like, in the style of like an 80s Italian knockoff, but like make it 30 years from now and have it be like a post apocalyptic story where it's like the fallout after that, or I love where like, yeah, 50 years ago, the moon fell into the earth and just like go for that, you know, but I think that's enough about this movie.
James Jay Edwards:Yeah, we talked 15 minutes about Moon fall. I actually get going along what I was saying I skipped the screening um, there are a couple screening Links I got that are really interesting. One is for a movie called Alone With You if you guys heard about this, it is, um, it was a it's basically a pandemic movie. It's made by a team of writers directors, their names are Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks. And they basically took advantage of quarantine to make this movie and it's about a woman who she's in her apartment. She's preparing a romantic dinner for her girlfriend when she gets home from work. And she's basically in her apartment doing all this and her contact with the outside world as she's Skyping with her mother and her best friend who's at a club is video phoning her and her mother's played by Barbara Crampton. Which is actually pretty cool. And, and her best friend is played by door Madison, who you know, Be still my heart because she's one of my favorites. And basically, it turns out that she, there's something weird about her apartment, like at some point, she's locked in and she can't get out and she thinks Okay, the doors busted. She tries to call her super, but then she realizes that she she thinks it's nighttime, but her best friend is like no, it's two in the afternoon, because there's no light getting in. And basically she gets stuck in her apartment and weird shit happens. Serious repulsion vibes. But um, the the woman who plays the main woman in it is the writer director Emily Bennett. So she is basically just takes this ball and runs with it. This whole movie. It's just this crazy, like, you know, contained thriller. Really good, though. Really good feel like that. And, and it's like, 80 minutes long. So similar to host, it's like, I think we're going to be seeing a lot of movies like that coming up, where the filmmakers are taken, what they they're basically taking advantage of lockdown to make these great movies. And as long as they're as good. I mean, I love both hosts stand alone with you. So as long as they're as good, I'm fine with it. You know,
Jonathan Correia:I'm surprised we're not seeing like a huge slew of them. Because we're at the we're at the two year mark, at least, you know, so
James Jay Edwards:I was expecting more movies like host that we haven't gotten, you know, where it's like all film, you know, kind of like, what were those Dark Web, the dark? The Unfriended, Unfriended friend. Yeah, I was expecting more movies like that. And we haven't gotten them. That's interesting. But another one I saw is called The Other Me. And this one's not really a horror movie, but it's it's like a mystery. And it was executive produced by David Lynch. But it's a Georgian movie. It's in English, though. It's so you know, it's not it doesn't feel like a foreign movie. And it's about an architect who's losing his sight. So he's coping with losing his sight. And his wife is working two jobs to you know, support him while he loses his sight because he's an architect, he can't draw. But as he his site gets worse and worse, he starts seeing these weird visions. And and he like, like, he'll go to like an art museum. And while he's looking at the paintings, which he can't see, because he's blind, he'll see visions of what the painting could they're almost like evil versions of the paintings. It's really it's a pretty crazy movie, but he also hooks up with not not hooks up, but he he meets this lady who lives in this mysterious cottage in the woods, which, you know, only adds the intrigue. But yeah, it's another really it's not really horror. It's just like a like a it's just a surreal mystery. And David Lynch just executive produced it, but his thumbprint is all over it. I mean, either the director and the directors name is something that I I'm gonna butcher if I try to say it, but I'm going to anyway, his name is Giga Agladze, which Yeah, I that's probably not the right way to say it. But um, he he he's either a big fan of Lynch or he took a lot of David Lynch's tips because a lot of the dream sequences are really surreal and they look Lynchian So anyway, that's a that's a cool one to
Jonathan Correia:remember that that period in the early 2000s were like big name directors were just slapping their name on like so many straight to video titles saying presents like Quentin Tarantino presents Hostel
Jacob Davidson:lotta West Craven presents.
Jonathan Correia:Yeah, Wes Craven presents Dracula 2000. You know, that hasn't happened a whole lot like the last big one. I can remember what Scorsese presenting that Dragon Gang movie The Green Dragons with like Ray Liotta. Like, I remember seeing that movie be like, I feel like this is the end of people just attaching their names. That was a rough movie, but
Jacob Davidson:then I guess there's an angle to that a as for me, I did get to see some new stuff out of Sundance. Saw a few shows out there. And there's definitely some good horror on the way see like some of the stuff I liked included Watcher from Claudio Kuno. Who did? I think probably a lot of people's favorite segment from VHS 94. She did the Ratna segment. Remember that? Hail Ratma, Ratma. But yeah, no she did. This is very different though. It's like more of a thriller kind of giallo influenced horror, where it's like this. American couple moved to Romania. and her and her husband is more acclimated to there. And she does and he has a job but she's got nothing to do and she starts to feel that somebody is watching her and like she sees it she feels like she's being followed by like this weird guy at the same time there's a serial killer on the loose called the spider. I thought it was really well done a very very tight thriller with like a lot of moments said, you know, just like had me clenching my jaw. And yeah, so I'm very, that got picked up by IFC so very excited for people to check that out. Let's see. Also, the new Benson and Morehead movie speaking of kind of locked down movies and stuff like this was as lowfi as it gets because they actually star in the movie and it's bad like these two guys that live in the same apartment who start become obsessive like this weird supernatural phenomena that starts happening around their place. They decide to make a documentary of how to make a lot of money. And it just gets really weird and off the rails. Which if you've seen their work,
James Jay Edwards:you know or Benson Morehead doing Moon Knight If they are doing
Jonathan Correia:movie nights I just found out about that. Yeah, cuz that when Marvel
James Jay Edwards:is between Chloe's out destin Daniel Cretton, and now Benson and Morehead dude, Marvel is making some really cool choices with their directors
Jacob Davidson:now is starting to go into the indie and arthouse
Jonathan Correia:Yeah, I don't I don't know how I know they they are directing a few episodes back. I don't know how involved they were in the writing with it. But yeah, someone mentioned that that like, oh, new Benson and Morehead project coming, and it's a Marvel and Moon Knight. I was like, wait, what How did I not know that already? But yeah, no, I after deep diving, watching all their filmography last year, I'm so excited for that new one.
Jacob Davidson:Yeah, no, it's especially like a weird kind of borderline horror, character like Mood Knight, cuz it's like it deals a lot with like, kind of magic and surrealism. And I guess you know, what's real and what isn't? Like it? Like I feel like I read the comics a long time ago and as a kid, like one of his, like, biggest enemies was a werewolf called werewolf by night.
Jonathan Correia:Yeah, werewolf by night.
Jacob Davidson:So yeah, really hoping to see some werewolf by night in there.
Jonathan Correia:I'm also excited for that one because it's supposed to be like one of the first ones where there's like, no real connections to like the other stuff like they're not gonna be like, oh, yeah, and here's Iron Man.
Jacob Davidson:And, and Oscar Isaac is Moon Knights. So I'm pretty interested in seeing seeing that Ethan Hawke is in it somewhere, too. Oh, yeah, he's Yeah, I don't know. I don't really remember Ethan Hawkes playing but he does look really menacing.
Jonathan Correia:Ethan Hawke's character apparently is inspired by David corona of the
Jacob Davidson:Heaven's Gate. Oh,
Jonathan Correia:no, no, no, he's Waco. Waco. Yeah, rushes Waco. Branch Davidian?
Jacob Davidson:That's all right. Yeah. Look, I can't keep my colts
Jonathan Correia:together. It's okay. That's what I'm here for. No, but that's yeah, it's good. Yeah, that sounds exciting. But I'm definitely more excited about Benson Morehead just doing their thing and in their own movie, you know, those guys are like, so some of the few words like oh, yeah, we might not get the most money for our projects, but at least it's ours. 100% So I'm going
James Jay Edwards:also no matter how much money they get, it's gonna they're gonna make the most of it. I mean, like you said, this one is sort of like a, is it kind of almost found footage? Like, a pseudo document? Yeah,
Jacob Davidson:cuz, yeah, it's kind of like a mockumentary thing, like they have interviews and I mean, it's like an interesting mix because like some of it is narrative but they also have interstitial segments where they do like interviews and there's also like in cameras stuff during certain scenes so yeah, it's like it's it does kind of go back to some of their other work like Resolution, The Endless that type of thing but very limit well not limited I guess but just Lo Fi and you know, just like if they stick to this kind of one location for pretty much the entire movie, but yeah, pretty cool. Um, and also was also really like this movie, Piggy from Spain by Carlotta. Peretta is basically about this teenage girl who's overweight and she's picked on constantly by the mean girls like the popular girls and they she sees that they get kidnapped by like a serial killer and kind of it kind of escalates from there. It's so it's like kind of a teen drama meets slasher movie type of thing about it was pretty solid. And I did see one other horror movie that's new when is going to be coming up soon. Lee Ann Kurz Student Body have either you guys heard of this one?
James Jay Edwards:No, but it has that's a pretty generic name for it. Tell me it's like a tribute to 80s for women like that. Yeah, it
Jacob Davidson:definitely has that vibe. It's basically About this group of friends who are dealing with high school drama and like they're close to graduating at this elite Academy school and like she's got this overbearing math teacher who's like being real creepy with her. And you have so they say after I was also it's like a like an advanced security system at the school. So like all the glass is bulletproof and like the doors are like heavily locked for security and the slasher, and this one's pretty cool, because it's like the school mascot who is this guy named anvil Andy. There's like this kind of brownie guy in like a welder's costume who's got this kind of like Bruce Campbell size chin, and also has a sledge hammer. Cuz he's an A and fuller. And yeah, so like, they start getting picked off one by one. Although like, it was very, it was very well written legged focus. It was a bit more slow burn of a typical slasher, like kind of focusing on the characters, and also had a good cast. Although also minimal cast. Because let's see. Yeah, you got Motzei Hernandez. Christian Camargo. Oh, yeah, Harley Quinn Smith. Isn't
Jonathan Correia:it Kevin Smith's daughter.
Jacob Davidson:Yeah, exactly. And oh, yeah. And Christian Camargo from Dexter. He's, he's the weird math teacher. So yeah, I mean, it's it did remind me a bit of like those kind of old school ad slashers. Especially the kind of we're like, Okay, we've got a location and a bunch of kids and a killer and a costume. Let's roll
Jonathan Correia:that students. Yeah. Slaughter High.
Jacob Davidson:Yeah, just something something about schools is it's a stomping ground first slashers.
Jonathan Correia:A lot of childhood trauma happens at school. So that's understandable.
James Jay Edwards:And also that was the target audience. So I think you're trying to be relatable, you know, back then.
Jacob Davidson:yeah, so this felt like kind of a good update Yeah. So on that. And yeah, it comes out VOD on the eighth and there's actually going to be a Syria screening at Lowe's feel is next Saturday. So yeah, it's just kind of cool to, you know, I feel like was Scream, there's been a lot of talk about it, but I do think it's hitting a stride that we're getting kind of a slasher revival again, so I you know, especially with Scream being such a success, I imagine there's going to be a lot more slashers in our future.
James Jay Edwards:And those Halloween movies, I think. Yeah, I think they kicked it off, but scream didn't hurt. Not at all.
Jonathan Correia:Especially since we're gonna get a scream five, two. Actually, real quick. Are you just finished up January Giallo? Oh, yes, I did. So I have to ask. I just got the Sergio Martino collection from Arrow, which has to be a Triple Pack of some of the greatest titles for films ever got The Case of the Scorpions Tail, Oh, Your Vice Your Vise is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key. Oh, and The Suspicious Death of a Minor? Which one do I start with?
Jacob Davidson:Um, I'd say the Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key. I haven't seen Mysterious Death a Suspicious Death of a Minor. I remember liking your Vices is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key. So yeah, I mean a lot of great Sergio Martino. Jello to choose from? Well, I guess in terms of slasher stuff. I also saw Dream Warriors last night at midnight at the new BEVs which always a blast. Always a cloud crowd pleaser. Oh yeah. Especially when the Dokken plays
James Jay Edwards:those old 80s slashers and stuff. There's so much fun. It wasn't a midnight show.
Jacob Davidson:It was a midnight show.
James Jay Edwards:Those are so much fun admonitions because the audience is usually super familiar with the movie. So you know, you don't really have to worry about spoiling anything. You can yell at the screen. You can laugh you can just just have fun with movies. I love I miss midnight movies that the one theater down here that used to do them close down but one of my favorite midnight movies I think I've mentioned before is They Live so much fun.
Jacob Davidson:So I can imagine
Jonathan Correia:my mine is still Starship Troopers just oh yeah, I'll bet yeah, being hammered in college watching that and everyone's just shouting kill all bugs kill.
Jacob Davidson:Mandy at bed at midnight shows is always been a blast. Like I've done that a few times. Even though it's more recent movie. It does bring it a good crowd. And also, the speaking of the new Beth I saw Bram Stoker's Dracula there a couple of days ago, and that was my first time seeing it theatrically and god damn that's a beautiful movie.
Jonathan Correia:Yeah, that the 4k release they did for that is gorgeous, but I bet you can't beat seeing that on 35 with a good crowd like Oh yeah. I was very colorful. That's such a beautiful looking movie.
Jacob Davidson:It is and you know I feel like in large part that's in thanks to Aiko Ishikawa. You know who did the costuming including that very memorable even if it was only brief like Knight's armor that Dracula wears it looks like it flayed is like skinless remember that?
Jonathan Correia:Oh, dude, of course I remember that. That's like the most like the most subtle but also most out there outfit like it's it wasn't like gaudy, but it was intimidating, beautiful looking. It was yeah, it spoke so many words. That outfit was gorgeous. And yeah, his his capes and gowns that Dracula had. Yeah,
Jacob Davidson:yeah, it's something. It's something I was thinking about that actually, maybe I could get your opinions on. Just rewatching the movie, there's a scene where Harker is talking to Dracula about how because he's buying a bunch of property in London that that could increase in value. So does that mean Dracula is good at real estate? Of course,
Jonathan Correia:you can't live that long and not be good at investing. You learn a few things. If you're 1000s of years old and you're broke. You might as well just walk into the sun like you fucked up like you gotta I mean, come on. Even though even in Highlander, he was good at investing in like property and stuff and like finagling, like the whole, like taking on orphan identities and whatnot. Like, you got to figure out some form of long term income goals. Like I mean,
James Jay Edwards:if you live for hundreds of years, and you're at you're still living in your parents basement, just walk into the sun.
Jacob Davidson:Yeah. Which, ironically, is another kind of conversation part about Bram Stoker's dragon because it's one of the rare vampire movies where sunlight doesn't kill vampires. Because remember, Anthony Hopkins even chimes in that is like, despite popular belief, vampires can walk during the day just weakens them which, you know, roundabout conversation like the whole vampires getting killed by sunlight was started by Murnau for Nosferatu like that. That was an invention of that movie, and it just kind of blew up ever since.
Jonathan Correia:Well, it's kind of like how zombies eating brains was Return of Living Dead or even zombies eating flesh was Night of the Living Dead right right. Nothing It's all fake. It's not real make up whatever fucking rules you want.
Jacob Davidson:My My theory is that it was conspiracy by Murnau to make it seem like vampires can't walk in the sun to fool the public because Murnau was a vampire. All right.
James Jay Edwards:I have a few quick catch up things that I don't spend too much time on because I think we've already talked about them in the past but things that I missed last year. One of them was Shadow in the Cloud so much fun. Yeah, it that's the best word for it is so much fun. It just
Jonathan Correia:I bitched about Moon fall not being tense and having no buildup that's all Shadow in the Cloud. Yeah. Like intense more than
James Jay Edwards:more than half the movie is she's in that little belly got her it? Yeah. Oh, it's awesome. And the other one that I saw which, another one that I saw was Nobody, I finally got to so much fun. It was not at all what I thought it was exactly to be like another Falling Down kind of thing. But it's like, the whole time you you're like, there's a bus scene in it. And that is I mean, it rivals the Xiangxi you know, bus bus scene, but um, when that happens, that's when I realized something more was going on. And it's not just a dude who's had it up to here with life and starts beating people up there's more to it. And finally Don't Breathe 2 I finally got to oh, wait yeah,
Jonathan Correia:what were your thoughts because you didn't you know that the other night?
James Jay Edwards:Yeah, I had a lot of trouble like most everybody else having Mr. Turkey bastor seeing him as as a hero. That was my biggest problem with it. I'm like wait, so we're supposed to like this guy now
Jonathan Correia:and that's the thing is that they do try to make kind of try to be like he's not a hero. But in this scenario, he kind of in this one specific moment he is but that's because they go so far out of the way to be like but the the people he's bad but the people that he's facing are you know, kidnapping human trafficking pedos that also do this this this this and they killed his dog and killed his dog. So like, you know, that's
James Jay Edwards:something that deserves to be spoiled in any movie if a dog dies and yes, his dog dies,
Jonathan Correia:but like it's so weird because like that the Don't Breathe was so much it was so good real tension builder and that what the fuck third act was came out of nowhere and and like this one, it just felt like they could have they I don't know what choices they could have made, but they could have made some other choices. It's just really hard to get past that just that initial thought of like,
James Jay Edwards:I loved the first one so much. And then don't be too was a 99 cent rental on Vudu. So I'm like, oh, yeah, let me finally check this out. And, you know, I'm not saying I'm having second thoughts about paying 99 cents for it, but I think I was about right. That was was it Which is sad because
Jonathan Correia:there were some really great performances in it there are some really great sequences in it that whole fight scene with the water was really well like it's not a badly made film. I just think there's just like some really rough decisions that were made that just you it's hard to separate things with it you know.
Jacob Davidson:Also before we before we switch off real quick just I'll just talk about Moon fall maybe want to mention that I saw Moonstruck for the first time. So that was that was a lot of fun. The Cher movie? Yeah, Cher and Nicolas Cage, the rom com they played that my theater, I watched it. Now. That's a great movie. It's
Jonathan Correia:a fantastic movie like that. That's just that's just a lot of fun. No need to need to come up with like, oh, you know, I was playing at my theater. No, dude, embrace it. That's a great movie, Nick Cage and Cher.
Jacob Davidson:Nicolas Cage has got one hand. What? Hey,
James Jay Edwards:what about Nightmare Alley?
Jacob Davidson:Oh, yes. Yes. And also, I got I saw the black and white version of Nightmare Alley. That was re released and we actually had Guillermo del Toro at the theater the entire weekend last weekend. Like he was going for like that's the first time I've ever seen a director come for three q&a days in a row nightly.
James Jay Edwards:No, how is the black and white version? Because for me so much of that movie is the color it's a pretty colorful movie even though it's really dark. How does it translate to the black and white?
Jacob Davidson:Personally I thought it added to kind of the noir themes because you know it made it feel more period and of the time that it was said a lot of even you know even subtitled the rerelease as a vision of light and darkness and delivers on that and yeah, now just particularly like is the I don't know the scenery kind of was enhanced with the black and white imagery you know, just like if there's fire just kind of glows and like blood just looks even darker. I mean, you know, I feel like it boils down to personal tastes I mean, you know, just seeing it in black and white again it was kind of gave it more than the war aesthetic so I just love that Deltour referred to the black and white version and the color version but the color version the black and white version as the Betty and Veronica cuts I love it. So yeah, I mean if you want to see nightmare alley again and also I caught on way more foreshadowing and stuff the second time around look for the circles I'd recommend you know seeing either the color version first and the black and white or if you want the black and white version then the color version.
Jonathan Correia:I'm I'm definitely gonna be watching that tonight because it just hit HBO Max and Hulu last week so have you not seen it yet? No. Cuz it's I'm telling you that that line only in theaters for the last few months has been like kind of a slap in the face in some cases but
James Jay Edwards:oh have fun. It's a nightmare Ali's
Jonathan Correia:terrific I can't I loved it. I hope the I hope the home release has both versions of it cuz I do love that when when they do that. You know it works really well with a lot of movies. I thought with Mad Max Fury Road and I think the ultimate you know, movie being enhanced by being a black and white was The Mist you know, because Oh yeah. And not only covered up a lot of the rough CGI but it also like really added to a whole different feel to it. Like if it originally felt like a really good 19 Like 60s sci fi horror if
Jacob Davidson:really? Yeah, that night of living dead vibe. Yeah,
Jonathan Correia:it had a really good like 1950s with like them type of feel when it was in black and white. So I started watching the black and white Logan version, but I kind of feel like that needed that.
James Jay Edwards:Let's move on to our topic, a little behind schedule. Because Valentine's Day is coming up. We're going to talk about couples in horror movies, but not just any couples. We want to talk about the bad the ones where you're like why are you together? The toxic couples?
Jonathan Correia:Yeah, this is an episode on gaslighting.
James Jay Edwards:Not necessarily gaslighting, but just toxicity and you know, kind of like in almost all the cases, the female is the for lack of a better word, the victim the one who's being mistreated, so it's kind of a good for her episode
Jonathan Correia:that depends on the movie depends on Yeah, I swear to God, if you try to make a case that Midsommer is a good for her mood. It is not a good for her movie.
James Jay Edwards:That's what I'm bringing up first though, that for me. The first thing I thought of when we thought these toxic couples, it is Midsommar because Danny and Christian first of all those two she should have kicked him to the curb before they even left but then we wouldn't have had a movie so no big deal. But right even when they were still in America, he was such a dick. You know, the fact that he was gonna leave her out of this trip. The fact that he that all of his friends were like dude, dump her, dump her. I mean it's, and then they get there and he's just As you can tell he's not into the relationship. So he should have stopped it before they left.
Jonathan Correia:But I mean, like his friends weren't wrong, but like, you know, wrong with the motivations for it. But like, yeah, he should have left because he was not there to give the support that any relationship deserve let alone one where such a traumatic event happened.
James Jay Edwards:Have you seen the Director's Cut? You've seen it right. Yeah. Have you seen it? Jacob, the Director's Cut? There. There's really, the thing is I love the director's cut. I think it's better than the than the two and a half hour version of the movie The three hours better. But it is there's really only like two extra scenes. And then the rest of it is just glacial pacing, which works in a movie like Midsommar. But one of the scenes, it does explain a little bit more about why it for lack of a better word of why Christians being such a dick to her or, you know, it basically, one of the scenes is a conversation between the two of them. That explains a lot more of the movie, so it makes more sense. And he is just a royal deck. Oh, yeah, he's just a dick. And I'm not saying that, you know, I'm not saying that Danny was innocent. I think she was caught up in grief at the you know, and that's what what leads us to the climax of that movie. And her choices in the climax of that movie.
Jonathan Correia:No, yeah, but it's not good for her movie.
James Jay Edwards:But if he was a little if he was a little nicer to her, it would have been a different ending.
Jacob Davidson:I don't know. Well, I mean, the whole thing is like she's being inducted into a cult. Yeah,
James Jay Edwards:but but she got to make a choice at the end that didn't work out well for Christian. And if he wasn't as such a dick, she might have made a different choice.
Jonathan Correia:Now I know. We're gonna talk a lot about like relationships between people who are in who are coupled with this, but one that I want to bring up a toxic one. Do you guys remember The Lodge? The Hammer movie? That came out a few years ago?
Jacob Davidson:Yeah, no, I don't think I said I'm not sure if I saw
James Jay Edwards:that one. The one that they're stuck in the snow. Yeah. Oh, wait. Yeah, actually, I
Jacob Davidson:did see that one by the guys that did that other one that mother movie. It's got
Jonathan Correia:Riley Keoh in it. Elvis Presley's granddaughter, which is a fun fact, I learned recently
James Jay Edwards:I was gonna say Riley Keoh is Elvis his granddaughter? Yeah, he is, uh, is Riley Keough. Is she like married to the do four year from Fury Road or something?
Jonathan Correia:I don't know. I don't know about that. But I know. She's definitely Elvis's granddaughter, which was in my obsession with Zola I learned but no. So that movie it little spoilery for those who haven't seen it, so skip over the maybe the next 30 seconds that the relationship between her and her I guess now stepchildren very toxic very like they
Jacob Davidson:also just want to interject that it's also messed up bad like her I guess boyfriend was also her doctor like that is that is crossing a line like you just don't do that
Jonathan Correia:because she's basically like she survived a Colt A suicide cult and so that's like something that she's put past her and yeah, she is in a relationship with her therapist or her doctor that helped her through all that and she's basically left in this lodge with his two kids and the two kids basically use her experience with the colt to mess with their head and gaslight her hardcore and like it becomes like you know she's seeing like symbols from then and like there's an like basically just loses it like completely disconnects and I thought it was such a well paced and like a lot of that I kind of spoiled it's a bit more of like a third act reveal but it's still well worth checking out she gives a fantastic performance there's there's some parts in that where it's just yet feel it in your body some of the change like disconnecting that she's doing it's very physical to see so yeah, that that was absolutely fantastic and it would make for a very uncomfortable but great double feature with the Glass House are What Lies Beneath both also very phenomenal examples of like weird supernatural gaslighting
James Jay Edwards:as good as saying what lies beneath has a toxic couple its itself it's just you don't realize it that's part of the mystery that unfolds
Jonathan Correia:I do have to say I guess I didn't know Harrison well Harrison Ford that well as an actor because between I watched that and Working Girl very close to each other and like dude is fucking like, I know Harrison Ford is great, but I'm used to the Get off my play and you know fingerpointing Harrison Ford more than anything, but those two movies
James Jay Edwards:Han Solo and Indiana Jones may have been the worst things for his career because I know it made him a cultural icon, but they don't do his acting justice at all.
Jonathan Correia:No if you want a good retrospective of like Harrison Ford as an actor What Lies Beneath and Working Girl which make for a fantastic double feature.
James Jay Edwards:Almost as good a double feature as Moonfall and Moonstruck
Jonathan Correia:similar vein Yeah,
Jacob Davidson:I guess it could work.
Jonathan Correia:Except you're watching except with Moonfall and Moonstruck you're watching one good movie and one very forgettable a film? Which it shouldn't be! The Moon is falling that should be like the big that should be a big if I wasted too much time of this episode on that movie so
Jacob Davidson:you can move on Jonathan.
Jonathan Correia:I'll forget about it by tomorrow.
Jacob Davidson:Okay, so in terms of toxic relationships and horror, one of my favorites and one that I'm actually going to be seeing on Friday, David Cronenberg is The Fly. Yeah. Which, you know, which the thing of it is, it's like, from two different aspects because I one hand you've got Jeff Goldlum, who at first you know, is like Gina Davis's dream, a dream boyfriend, and they get and they hit it off really well. And the other side, she's got to get was John gets as, like, her ex is like a total dickhead. And, and like obsessed with her. So, you know, the toxicity is coming from him. But after the transformation, and you know, like Jeff Goldblum starts flying out, and starts kind of pushing Gina Davis away, like, like, the top of that relationship becomes really toxic. Especially you know, when he wants to transport with with her,
Jonathan Correia:which is like a great I don't know if it was an intentional metaphor, but for like addiction and whatnot on like, what, something that someone is obsessed with, because he could have tried to like correct what was happening to himself much early on in the film. And but he wasn't really doing that he was obsessed with what was going on. So that obsession kind of became like an addiction to seeing, like, the transformation and like documenting it and all that. And so I feel like there is a bit of like, a metaphor, or at least you know, that theme of like alcoholism, destroying, you know, a relationship and how it can turn someone you know, who is I mean, you say Jeff Goldblum was her dream, boy, I mean, come on. We all saw him shirtless early on. Everyone's dreaming that. But But yeah, I feel like those themes are there. And like yeah, seeing that, him not only transforming into a fly, but seeing that like dark side of him coming out was was very powerful. And there's there's a few you know, we all talk about, like him spitting on, like, spitting acid on the guy's ankle as like the most fucked up thing, but some of the shit that he puts her through through that movies even I would say even more so. Yeah.
Jacob Davidson:Yeah, no, it's, I would even say that it's just, in general a metaphor for any relationship going toxic, because, you know, it's, you know, it starts off as kind of, like a meet cute thing at that convention, or that science convention or whatever. And they and you know, just, you know, like, if you remove the fly stuff, it's basically a rom com. And then, you know, The Fly stuff happens.
James Jay Edwards:I Ravka. Speaking of, well, a couple of things. Speaking of addiction issues, we also should talk about The Shining, because yeah, that's another one where like, I think the the alcohol kind of fans the flames of the, you know, of the toxicity in the relationship. Yeah. But also, speaking of the whole, this one isn't really, you don't really see that much of the relationship, you see the aftermath. But the Invisible Man is another one that's like to speak speaking of analogies for everything, that whole Invisible Man thing is such an analogy for abuse because even what she's out of the relationship, it's always haunting and hovering and everything she does this relationship is a part of because, you know, the the analogy of the invisible suit, you know, of this guy. Yeah, yeah. And not just Yeah, well, that's another thing. Yeah, the gaslighting because nobody believes her, because they don't see it, but it's happening. And now it's happening
Jonathan Correia:well, because like the, you know, the definition of gaslighting is, you know, denying what's happening so people question what's real and whatnot, and what's the ultimate power move of that than going invisible and moving shit around and making stuff happen that, you know, you can't prove or that you question a lot? So she's questioning a lot of that stuff. And yeah, I mean, there's no metaphor like that to to straight up abusive. I mean, even before the suit is introduced, when she's escaping, and he runs out the car like
James Jay Edwards:and then the fact that he that he faked his own suicide, you know, that that's like the ultimate form of abuse because, you know, you're you're like,
Jacob Davidson:you made me do this.
James Jay Edwards:Yeah, yeah, exactly. He's like blaming Oh, yeah. This is all your fault, like, Well, no, it's not. And he did. He didn't even dead.
Jacob Davidson:I was at the q&a with Liegh Wannel the director and writer. And the interesting thing about it, the setup was that he did He purposely didn't show like any of the abuse beforehand. You know, he started off at the middle because he wanted to show you know that it people should just just believe her, you know, the you don't need to show her actually being abused. You know, just take her word for it.
James Jay Edwards:Doesn't she leave him in the first scene is Yeah, exactly.
Jacob Davidson:Yeah, talk with her trying to escape and Yeah. And he's and he said he didn't felt the need to set it up, like show her show him hitting her or anything like that, before that, you know, just show that she's in it. She's in a abusive relationship so toxic that she's willing to like do what great escape in the middle of the night, like, you don't need to actually see it to get that it's come to that point,
Jonathan Correia:right? Because I mean, we've seen like Sleeping With the Enemy and stuff where that's the that's the third act. That's the climax is the escape. But with this one, it's it like you said, it's all it's less about the abuse and getting people to believe her. Because she's saying like, no, these things happen. It's like, oh, well, he was such a nice guy when we had dinner with him the other night. And then we see a dinner scene where he's not super nice. Oh, yeah, who can forget that scene?
James Jay Edwards:jumping back to the shining? That one is like, that's another one sort of like the Danny and Christian thing that relationship should have been over long before they got to the Overlook. And I think they, I think those two were staying together because they had a kid, you know, you always see, you know, stick together for the kids. And I think kind of that's what Jack and Wendy were doing. Because I have no doubt that that Jack loves his son. But there are other forces at play, you know, his alcoholism. And once he gets to the overview, it there's mental illness there that goes on. But yeah, that's another one of those where it's like, Why are these people together?
Jonathan Correia:But one of the the key differences between the book and the movie is the book definitely leans more heavily into the outside forces influencing what was a good man it to becoming a not good man, whereas Kubrick's film, he was he was from the beginning, like even his description of like, what happened with Danny, you know, and being like, I would just, I pulled the kit to I like you see it in his face and his and like, how he's telling the story that he does. He doesn't really feel guilty because it wasn't his fault,
James Jay Edwards:you know, and also Wendy covers for him when she's telling the story to the the doctor. So and that just tells you all you need to know about that. It's like she's, she would defend her husband before she defend her kid.
Jacob Davidson:Mm hmm. Yeah, like that whole scene where she's talking to that nurse, about like, the time he like, wrenched his arm. And like, just He justifies it, or she like kind of tries to justify it for yourself.
Jonathan Correia:Now, uh, I have one that I've been thinking about all morning. And that before we started recording, and that's Let The Right One In? Because, yeah, that's a very interesting one, because it is portrayed and plays out like these two young folks, you know, finding a loving relationship with each other. Until you think more about who her Redfield was the man with her because at first Yeah, the old guy. He's kind of presented as like her father, and taking care of her and like, because the whole premise of the film is that she's a vampire. And but she's a young, young woman who's like 12, but she's been around for hundreds of years. And so it wasn't really until towards the end that you realize that that her handler or her Redfield her familiar, was actually probably someone who was at one point, a young man who fell in love with her, and then you start to see like, Is this really a loving relationship? Or she just like manipulating this young man into being her next handler, her next person to go out and collect the blood, kill people and collect the blood for her? Like, even if there is that connection between them two, she is still manipulating the situation still keeping it going? So there's like a lot of disk. I don't know. What do you guys, what do you guys think about let or even Let Me In? Because that they it follows the same pretty well?
Jacob Davidson:Well, that mean, it's been a while since I'd seen it, but I guess it's all a matter of interpretation. Because, I mean, he does. I mean, he definitely seems to genuinely care about her. But I guess, you know, with the Vampire, it's hard to harder to tell what if it's a reciprocal?
Jonathan Correia:Well, it's kind of like when people bring up Twilight. And it's like, how many Bella's were there in the past? How many of these these relationships had she, you know, gone through to keep surviving? You know, and I think even more so with Let The Right One and that that's a major aspect of it is survival and using that, and like, you know, they crack jokes about it, like in What We Do in the Shadows when they show the young girl vampires and they're like, oh, killing more pedos and they're like, yep, you know, so using what you have is like a tool to prey because at the end of the day, that's what vampires are predators.
Jacob Davidson:Yeah. And speaking of vampire I did. I mentioned it earlier, but I wanted to bring it up here. You know it rewatching Bram Stoker's Dracula. You know, it's interesting because I feel like Nina and Dracula are in a toxic relationship. Because, you know, in the Francis Ford Coppola version, there's kind of this added romantic subplot where he sees his former bride and princess in Mina. And he kind of any does is kind of set up to, like kind of get get her in his grasp. I'd like kidnapping and holding her husband, Jonathan Harker hostage, while he like lose her, while at the same time like corrupting and drinking from her best friend, Lucy. And it is interesting because like, even toward the end, Dracula kind of wants to call it off because he realizes he's turning her into a vampire, which, you know, it's like a deathless curse, and the hunger and all that, and Mita starts becoming lustful and hungry for him and accepts his blood. So yeah, it's like she was in a way more positive relationship with Harker than she was with the accounts. And we all know that kind of goes,
Jonathan Correia:and James brought it up earlier to Shadow in the Cloud. As much, you know, that film is very much so you know, Gremlins in the sky on it on its base. But at the end of the day, it's also about toxic relations between her co workers not believing her that there's these Gremlins tearing the ship playing apart to the fact that you find out later that the baby is actually one of the guys on the plane. And it was like she had it. And it was out of wedlock and all that jazz, and he's just kind of like denying all that he's not accepting that his participation in that relationship. And there was just like, a lot of gaslighting that was happening of people just not believing anything she was saying, leading to a lot of the tense and crazy moments of that movie. So and not to mention, like the 90s were just like, right with thrillers that were like this. I mean, we got sleep sleeping with the enemy, Fear with Marky Mark beating his chest, you know? I mean, there's so many good examples. A Misery
Jacob Davidson:horse. Got it. We got to talk about Misery.
James Jay Edwards:Would you really call that a relationship though?
Jacob Davidson:Yeah, I'd say was a relationship in a way even though you know, Annie Wilkes was holding him hostage. Because I mean, that's the thing, he has to use his relationship with her to try and save himself. You know, like, there's times when he kind of manipulates her either, you know, like getting drugs or to try and, like, kind of set up an escape. So it was I mean, I mean, you know, it was definitely more one sided, but, you know, it's like, I think I even remember King talking about how it was a metaphor, any wills was like a metaphor for his own addictions, like alcohol and drugs. It's like kind of being his toxic muse. So it's kind of like interesting looking at that, at that perspective.
James Jay Edwards:I would say Gerald's Game is more of a toxic relationship movie than misery because that's the whole reason she ends up handcuffed to a bad Baki dice is because she's doing shit he didn't want to do and
Jonathan Correia:the fantastic play out of that because like, at first they seem like such a loving you know, you get that like such a love. They were such a loving couple thing in the beginning and then like you get to see through layers and layers as the film progress like that come out, and
James Jay Edwards:you realize that it wasn't all happy, you know? And it's kind of more like what we were talking about with the Invisible Man. It's like public facing. Sure. They were this happy loving couple when the doors close that things got dark. Yeah.
Jonathan Correia:Fantastic performances in that film. Like holy shit.
Jacob Davidson:Oh, yeah, no, definitely.
James Jay Edwards:Yeah. All right. We are out of time here. So let us know what did what your favorite toxic relationships in horror are? And, you know, let us know what what did we miss? I'm sure we did miss because we we talked so much at the beginning that we didn't have as long of a discussion as we wanted for this last part, but apologies for Hey, you know, I'm going to apologize because I have a hard out today. But uh, yeah, let us know what your favorites are. And even ones that aren't toxic. Like, you know, do you like Mallory and Mickey, Natural Born Killers They were toxic
Jacob Davidson:to everybody. That's problematic.
James Jay Edwards:Yeah. today. Yeah, that's true. That's more problematic. So yeah, let us know. Let us have it. Our theme song is by Restless Spirits so go rock with them and our artwork is by Chris Fisher. So go show him some love. You can find us at any and all of the socials. I don't think we have a tick tock yet. We pretty much everything everything else covered but you
Jonathan Correia:can find that all in our link, link tree link that's on all our social medias. Go to the link tree you'll find our stuff to where to stream us across the board. There's a little tip jar if you want to support us, you know all money goes towards just making sure or helping us grow our outreach. You know, it's an outreach program.
James Jay Edwards:It's a donate Our outreach program. Um, yeah. So, yeah, let's call this one an episode. So
Jacob Davidson:Happy Valentine's Day.
Jonathan Correia:Happy Valentine's Day,
James Jay Edwards:if that's the kind of thing you do or happy. Cut your roses into a billion pieces day if that's if that's more your thing. And we'll see in a couple of weeks. So for me, James Jay Edwards.
Jacob Davidson:I'm Jacob Davison,
Jonathan Correia:and I'm Jonathan Correia.
James Jay Edwards:Keep your Eye On Horror.
