Eye On Horror

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iHorror Season 6 Episode 18

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This episode, the Boys talk about Mike Flanagan's Fall of the House of Usher which leads to a discussion of their favorite Poe adaptations. From the golden age of Corman adapting the famed author, to a Poe Subgenre of him being a crime solver (apparently Poe as a character is perfect for a goth dad crime thriller). 

Before the main topic, the boys review Thanksgiving, Napoleon, The Iron Claw, The Marvels, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Dream Scenario, RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop, and Jacob finally watches the cinematic masterpiece Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go to College. All this and more on a brand new episode of EYE ON HORROR!

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James Jay Edwards:

Welcome to Eye On Horror, the official podcast of iHorror.com. This is Episode 117, otherwise known as season six, Episode 18. 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:

good. Currently on the east coast of visiting family for Thanksgiving. So happy I get to sleep in a little later than you guys.

James Jay Edwards:

You're in the future. Yep.

Jacob Davidson:

Three hours into the future.

James Jay Edwards:

Awesome. Also with us, as always is your other other host Jon Correia. How you doing Correia? I

Jonathan Correia:

think it's kind of funny that I'm known for making the bad dad jokes and yet you're the one that always hits the timezone. You're in the future joke.

James Jay Edwards:

Don't tell us what happens though. I want to be surprised.

Jacob Davidson:

Okay.

Jonathan Correia:

We need to give you up the one known for the dad jokes now.

James Jay Edwards:

So what's going on you guys, the big release this week that I think we can't wait to talk about is Thanksgiving. Yeah, I know. We've all seen it. Where do you

Jacob Davidson:

Oh, well, I was fortunate enough to see it at a guys think? pre screening a couple weeks back at beyond fest. And you

James Jay Edwards:

perfect name for a slasher film and John know, they went all out like they were handing out John Carver. The pilgrim masks and they even had corn holder hat. So it looked like the corn holders were in your ears. Nice. Eli Roth was there for the q&a. And it was the right crowd for it too. Because like everybody was screaming and laughing and yeah, like I have to say it might be my favorite Eli Roth movie now because it just really captures the style and fun of particularly holiday slashers and slashers from the 80s and 90s. When just to give some backstory, so it's basically about Plymouth, Massachusetts, a year after there was a massacre at a Black Friday store opening and a dude dressed up as a pilgrim and actual pilgrim named John Carver. He is a Carver Yeah, historically accurate

Jacob Davidson:

cuz he does do a lot of carving. But anyway, yeah, so he starts killing people off in Plymouth one by one. And yeah, there's some really great sequences in this particularly I was a fan of the diner kill, which you see a bit in the trailer where like, he sticks that lady's head and water then smashes her into the freezer.

Jonathan Correia:

Oh, yeah, that one keep going.

James Jay Edwards:

The funniest part of that one to me, is they were leaning into like, cuz I was expecting it to be more Grindhouse more like like a 70s aesthetic. And it was more like Scream. It was real modern, but it was still paid tribute to the slashers. But the funniest part of that was like, she tried to open her phone to call 911 and there's so much blood that she can't open it. Then she tried to use facial recognition but because her face half of it was frozen. She can't wouldn't recognize so she couldn't get her phone. And

Jacob Davidson:

that's actual thing at the screening. Eli Roth even talked about that he treated this feature adaptation version compared to the original Grindhouse trailer to being like if they had made a remake of Thanksgiving from the original Grindhouse version. So like the so basically, imagine if this had been along the lines of My Bloody Valentine 3D, Friday the 13th for I feel it feels kind of like those 2000s You know, Platinum dunes selves, slasher remakes.

Jonathan Correia:

I'm glad you said that. I

James Jay Edwards:

love Thanksgiving. I had so much fun with it. And, and like I said, it's it surprised me that it was more modern, but it was a pleasant surprise because I kind of thought it would have leaned too hard into the 70 stick if it had done it that way. I had so much fun with it, though, is just I mean, it just reminded me of something like Scream where, you know, the it's, it's basically like a mystery slasher. And I just I loved it. I mean, it was gory. It was gruesome it. I had so much fun with it. Um, Correia.

Jonathan Correia:

No, no, I'm glad you said that too. Because I did look it up after because I did you know what the original Thanksgiving fake trailer was my favorite Eli Roth project, you know? So I did spend like a good portion of the movie going, Oh, this is the scene where they're going to do that bit. Oh, this is the scene where they're going to do that bit. And then they didn't. It

James Jay Edwards:

sticks pretty close to the trailer. I mean it it Looks like that is a trailer for this they stuck pretty close with, you know, with the gags from the trailer.

Jonathan Correia:

Well, I mean yeah, there have been there were a few times where like it subverted it but I did read you know that it was treated more like a kind of a remake of that and that they didn't want to go for that aestetic they did want to create it as its own. So I was like, okay, I can respect that. My two qualms with that though. Is is the clown bit. Why there a clown in the thanksgiving parade? That just felt like the killer was like rushed and couldn't find another the other thing? And the final shot of the trailer? Do you guys remember the final shot of the trailer?

Jacob Davidson:

Oh, yeah,

Jonathan Correia:

it's the scene where he hasn't talked about. It's the scene where he has them all at the dinner table. And it shows grandma is you know, burnt and like the like Turkey and all that stuff. And then they have grandma's head on the turkey and then the trailer ends with the killer fornicating with the cooked turkey with grandma's head on it. And that's not in the movie. I feel like I feel like from here the two things that we spoil is dogs dying and no Turkey fucking scene because that disappointed me greatly. But I get it also because that is a very like 80, 70s/80s like, going for shock thing. And then if you're going for like more of like a 90's/2000 slasher aesthetic that they didn't really do stuff like that. Too much there. So like I get it, but also, can a man be disappointed that there was no Turkey fucking scene? Like, come on. That was. But yeah, I'd say it's probably my most liked Eli Roth movie. I don't know if it's entirely my vibe, you know. So you know, but I think it also could have been my crowd. We saw it at City Walk. And we were like in the third row from the front and still saw. I counted five phones open during the movie, there was people giving like commentary to literally anything that fucking happened in the movie was someone going. Oh, wow, whoa, whoa. Oh, man. Well, she was like, listen, it's fine to react to things. It's fine to go. Ooh, it's fine to go. Ah, but like, Listen, this isn't MST3K You don't have to fucking say something. Every time something happens. There's other people having conversations. There was one dude who was doing the loudest yawns the entire time. And he was loving the movie. I don't know why he was being basically what I'm saying is my crowds sucked and it sucked any joy. I was getting out of that movie, but I still liked it. It was fine.

James Jay Edwards:

I told you guys about my Killers of the Flower Moon experience. Sounds like that guy went up to your screening. No,

Jonathan Correia:

that's the thing. It wasn't just one guy. It was like, there was like five or six different people that were doing stuff and what was it there was like one scene in like the third act that was like really quiet. And this motherfucker was going to town on either their on like their drink. Like I mean, like full on, like, swishing around. It was just like, are you doing this on purpose? You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? Um, I did find it funny that because we saw that City Walk. So I had to go to the comic book store next door. And I did get I did get a what is it a drip checked by the cashier because he was like, Oh, do you want a Thanksgiving poster? And I was like, Sure. He's like, Yeah, well, you're wearing a whack. You're wearing a Waxwork shirt and a Fright Rags sweater. So I figured you'd want one. And I was like, Wow, way to call out my drip bud, thanks. So I have a poster.

Jacob Davidson:

Also, I wanted to bring up because it's just funny that they happen to release around the same time that Tyler McIntyre and Michael Kennedy's it's a wonderful knife also came out this weekend.

Jonathan Correia:

Oh, I haven't I didn't see it on any theory

Jacob Davidson:

Yeah, I got a much smaller release. But it did listings. get it did hit some theaters. And I imagine it's going to hit VOD soon. But it is kind of funny because Michael Kennedy was tweeting that he wanted to do kind of a BB and Hymer thing with it. Like it's a wonderful Thanksgiving or knifesgiving or one of those and asking people to double feature.

Jonathan Correia:

Well, it's it I guess it's because a Hunger Games, right? Because the hunger games came out because like, theaters, where it's like they had like, four screens dedicated to it, but like, I was trying to see Saltburn instead because I was like, Oh, those guys are gonna cover Thanksgiving. Like, I'll go see Saltburn. That's more of my vibe anyways. And like, there was like two theaters near me playing it and they were fully booked out and it was just like, What the fuck? But speaking

James Jay Edwards:

of Hunger Games, either you guys see it, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. You know, I mean, I love the Hunger Games, though. You know, those four movies. This one was pretty disappointing. It's kind of not really an origin story. It's about the 10th Hunger Games which I guess In the original batch of movies, they talk about how there's another winner from District 12, before Haymitch. But nothing is known about them. And they presume that they're dead and everything well, this is about you know, and I'm kind of spoiling it. But you can tell it's coming a mile away in the movie. This is about that Hunger Games. And that winner. And President Snow is like a college student. And this is the first mentor program they had where, instead of using past winners, they have these people up for this prestigious college prize, are mentoring The Hunger Games contestants, the tributes, and he gets assigned, her name's Lucy Gray, and he gets assigned her as a tribute to mentor. And the first two thirds of it feels like an Asylum version of The Hunger Games, I think. But then, and that's up to and including the actual games themselves, which are much lower scale, it's like an actual, like, like a coliseum arena. It's not like they put them in like a jungle or on an island. It's, you know, all 24 attributes are actually in the middle of this arena. So it's more it's more like Gladiator dueling than, you know, The Hunger Games that we know from the, from the other movies. But the last third of it is just this. I mean, I won't say unnecessary, because there's a lot of story there. But it's this epilogue about basically the post Hunger Games for President Snow, who they call him Cory, they call him choreo. That's his nickname, but um, he he gets into trouble for helping his mentor. And he, you know, it's the post games between him and Lucy gray. And it's a little disappointing. I kind of wish they had left the Hunger Games legacy alone, you know, and I know that there are hardcore Hunger Games fans who are like, gonna be okay with it. And probably mad at me for not liking it. But

Jonathan Correia:

it's based off a book though, right? This is like, yeah, it's based

James Jay Edwards:

off a book that was written after the other one. It's a cash in. Because the other the other three books, which they turned into four movies, were so huge. So yeah, they wrote this other book. And there's a story there because there is mystery surrounding this other tribute. But they don't really, I mean, I don't want to spoil that. But they don't really solve any of that mystery. I mean, they tell you who this person is, but they don't, you know, there will probably be a part two, I guess that tells you what happens. That you know, that that they're keeping from you that you know, they had to wipe this tribute from the from history. But anyway,

Jonathan Correia:

I'm all set. I saw the first one in theaters. And I was like, Cool.

James Jay Edwards:

You haven't seen Catching Fire or either the mockingjays Oh, catching fire is probably the best. That's like the Empire Strikes Back of the group. I think you know, I love all four of those movies. I do think Mockingjay could have been one movie. And the first Mockingjay could have been just like 30 minutes at the beginning of the second. But you know, hey, they have to get an extra 12 bucks from everybody to see it. So they made to back

Jonathan Correia:

when it was 12 bucks

Jacob Davidson:

been speaking of new releases, any of either views seen a Dream Scenario with Nicolas Cage

James Jay Edwards:

now I'm seeing it Tuesday. They they screened that the press screening for that was the same night as the press screening of Thanksgiving. They've been doubling us up so hard, and we have been having to make tough choices. But anyway, no, I have not. Yeah,

Jacob Davidson:

no. Well, I will say I saw it last Friday. I really dug it. So yeah, that that Beyond Fest, Nicolas Cage actually came to the screening we did. I didn't get to watch it then. But at the q&a, he was saying that this was one of the five screenplays he had to star in and make into a movie. So he really gives his all in this and the basic premises. Nicolas Cage plays is very milquetoast and kind of meek, evolutionary biology professor at a college and all these people start dreams about him even people he doesn't know and hadn't has never met. And so it says kind of about him coming to grips with that and the fame that comes with it and what happens in the Fallout. And this might be one of Nicolas Cage's funniest movies. And also, what one of his most interesting performances because yeah, I mean, it has a lot to do with kind of memes and having Nicolas Cage play a character who's basically memetic, you know, kind of comes full circle. It's hard to get into it without spoiling too much, but I will say there is a scene where or are there are some nightmare A Nightmare on Elm Street does come up quite a bit and he's compared to Freddy

James Jay Edwards:

Krueger. I was gonna say it kind of sounds like that concept. Everybody's dreaming to the same dude.

Jacob Davidson:

Yeah. It's funny at one point, like, yeah, the photoshoot for Rue mourn magazine, you know, the Horror magazine. Oh, nuts. Yeah. So they, so they're very open about that. But it's basically what if Freddy Krueger needed a PDR team? That's great. Yeah. And it's got a pretty Statcast because he got like, Dylan Baker, Michael Cera Tim Meadows. A lot of people really, really great acting off of fun Nicolas Cage, so I'd recommend it. Another

James Jay Edwards:

thing I saw, that's not really horror, but it is pretty horrifying. I saw Napoleon.

Jonathan Correia:

Oh, how was that? You know,

James Jay Edwards:

it's really divisive. I loved it. I actually, but there were a lot of people who hate it. I've heard people calling it uninspiring and unimaginative. And, and I don't I didn't see any of that. It is. I mean, I just I thought it was fantastic. It. They don't I think what a lot of people are having a problem with is and I actually didn't have a problem with this. It's in English, even though all the characters are well, some of them are British, but most of them are French or Russian or Austrian, you know. And, but so everybody speaks English, and they don't really even speak like Joaquin Phoenix is Napoleon doesn't have an accent. And I was actually happy about that, because they didn't have him go in there and go in, you know, ha, ha, ha, I do this for France. You know, he he didn't, you know, lean into the Pepe Le Pew, you know, he just, and people are like, Oh, he sounds Californian. And it's like, well, yeah, but if you're not going to do it in French do it this way. But um, it's it's pretty gross. I mean, put it this way, it. The movie starts with the execution of Marie Antoinette, at the guillotine. Now, and it shows it graphically Oh, boy, I Yeah, it's the first scene. I'm like, oh, okay, you have my attention. And, and it is it's, I mean, the battle scenes are incredible. There's one of them, where he's fighting, I believe the Russian army. And they show a little bit of this in the commercials that I've seen, but um, there's a reveal in this battle of what Napoleon has done. He basically lays a trap for these Russian Army. Yeah, that oh, the battle scenes are incredible. But I had a lot of fun with it. I mean, it's weird to say this is one thing that does deserve to be spoiled. This isn't a dog but a horse dies. Graphically. It's one of his one of his first battles as a general because basically, it follows pretty closely his rise from being promoted to Brigadier General through his Waterloo, you know, his, the way that they the way that they reveal the Waterloo was kind of funny, because he's planning it out, and he's going to be fighting like three different armies. He's like, Okay, we will lower this one here, and this one here, and then we will all meet here, and he points down with this pointer to the map. And so Waterloo, you know, so it's like, the whole audience is like, Ah, it's it felt it's follows the history pretty closely the one thing that there is a prop that I did have a problem with with the history. But anyway, back to the horse. Before I move on from it, it shows his horse getting shot out from under him with a cannon. And, yeah, it's pretty graphic. And from what I hear Ridley Scott pretty much used practical effects for most of the movies. So

Jonathan Correia:

it was a real horse.

Jacob Davidson:

They blew up a horse, they

James Jay Edwards:

really shot a cannonball into a horse. No. But the the one issue I had with it is the the portrayal of Josephine and it's not the actress. Yeah, she's played by Vanessa Kirby Kirby, who was in that. I don't remember the name that she was not movie about abortion with Sheila booth a couple years back. She's really good. But the portrayal of Josephine is really meek and kind of weak. And Josephine was not a meek or a weak person. She kind of put Napoleon in his place in a lot of places. Because he, I mean, you get the impression that he really loves her. But she won't give him a male heir. So there's he's conflicted that way because he's like, No, I need a male heir and you know, and she's not getting pregnant. So anyway, that's my only issue with it is the portrayal the portrayal of Josephine is a little I think they should have made her a stronger character. But I think it's I mean, I loved it. A lot of people are hating it. People are joking that it's going to be Ridley Scott's Waterloo, you know, but

Jacob Davidson:

yeah.

Jonathan Correia:

I mean, it's it's almost It's impossible to go wrong with a Ridley Scott historical epic, because I mean, that guy kills it almost every time and if he didn't kill it, it's probably because it wasn't the Director's Cut Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut is phenomenal. I

James Jay Edwards:

don't really like period pieces. So I kind of went into it. I mean, I like Joaquin Phoenix, I like Ridley Scott. But I really don't like period pieces. So I'm like, I kind of went into it. And it's long it's two hours and 45 minutes or two hours and 40 minutes. I saw it the same day as Hunger Games. So that was two full two hour and 40 minute movies that I had to sit through that day. But Napoleon was worth it. But yeah, I the fact that me that I could be interested enough in a historical epic, you know to to like it is it says a lot.

Jonathan Correia:

Did you see The Last Duel?

James Jay Edwards:

I like The Last Duel as well.

Jonathan Correia:

Last Duel is fucking phenomenal. I was pissed when I was like, why did this make all the money? Why did why did? Like what the hell is going on here? Like it? Yeah, The Last Duel fucking ruled I was. Which is why it also shocks me to hear that Josephine wasn't that well written because that the female characters in that one were written really well. So

James Jay Edwards:

yeah, it's I mean, it has to be the writing because Vanessa Kirby, I don't feel like she. I don't know. I don't know what was wrong with it. But yeah, they she's not as strong as maybe I'm just reading into it too much into the actual historical accuracy. But yeah, that's my only issue. I feel like they should have made Jo- because Josephine was not this meek, timid woman, you know, she was kind of a badass.

Jonathan Correia:

Speaking of historical pictures, I got to go to a early screening of the new A24 movie The Iron claw.

James Jay Edwards:

Yeah, yeah. Is that about the Von Erichs? Who's wrestling family? Right? Oh,

Jonathan Correia:

it's about the Von Erichs. Which if you are a fan of Dark Side of the Ring or wrestling, you know the Von Erich story, and let's just say it's, it's not a happy ending. No, The Iron Claw was phenomenal. Great Performances all around. You know, Zac Efron really kills it. Jeremy Allen White, Harris Dickinson and Stanley Simmons all play the four main Von Erich brothers. And it's directed by Sean Durkin, who did? I'm going to look it up, because I always I always get the names wrong. He did. Martha Marcy May Marlene. Which I always mess that up. I get like halfway through it. I'm like, Martha. May. Margaret. Mary, do we? Yeah. And hold. McHale Lee Holt McEleney played the father Von Erich, which he's one of those actors that always pops up and like an action role as like one of the cooler henchmen or something. And then like, but like, really, like he did that FX series light Lights Out a few years ago, but the boxer what I'm trying to say is he's one of those actors that has like an action hero face, but it's actually like a really good dramatic actor. And he was phenomenal as the Father Von Erich. And it's really good because like, it does follow the Von Erichs family from when, you know, they open up with the father in his prime wrestling and doing and doing the iron claw move. And then him try training the boys and you see them go from like, small time to being the powerhouses that they were and how quickly and tragically, that all falls apart. Try not to spoil too much. But yeah, if you know the history, you know what happens to all of them. But the focus is it like in presenting like, this is what happens. At the end of the day, the whole message of the movie is talking about these themes of like, A. lot of the focus is how much the brothers love each other, which is really great. But it's also talking a lot about like, toxic masculinity and the themes of like, not letting your sons cry. But yeah, it really covers the themes of the toxic masculinity not showing emotions. Zac Efron's character, especially you can see because he's, he's the last surviving of the Von Erichs. And he the entire movie, you can see that there's so much love for his brothers and for his family there. But he can't, like express it. Like there's a lot of physicality that in that role that Efron does, and it works really well because there's moments where he's like, trying to be like, Hey, are you okay? To his brothers were like, clearly not okay. And, and they're just like, Yeah, it's fine. He's okay. And like, you know, he wants to say more, but he just like physically can't get it out and it's really heart wrenching. Um, the it was like an A24 screening and so everyone who was there was like really chill and like really quiet, which was nice. Not a single phone was out the entire time, which was beautiful.

James Jay Edwards:

What theater was that? Was it an art house theater? Or was it an AMC? Yeah,

Jonathan Correia:

it was at the Samuel golden Theatre, which is like an office building with like a really nice theater. And I think they just do for award screenings. But it was

James Jay Edwards:

because I think that has to do with it. I think that you get a more respectful audience. I think AMC is basically where

Jonathan Correia:

yeah, go Yeah, looking trash. I think 32 minutes of trailers and commercials before I got to the fucking Nicole Kidman video, which again, if you're someone I can't believe people are still fucking cheering for that. Or like going Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And clapping for that fucking like, why does the theater need to be advertising for itself When I'm already in there? Like, yeah, I'm already in here. You already have my money. Fuck off. Anyways, back to the iron claw. Yeah, it's absolutely phenomenal. So when it comes out in December, I highly recommend it. Just be ready to cry. There was one really great scene. Basically, there's a really slow reveal of what happened to one of the Von Erichs. That's very tragic. So when it happened, you just hear the loudest gasp from every audience member in the room. And I was sitting there going, I know what happened. This is going to how are they going to handle this and as soon as it happened, Just hearing from like, half the room was incredible. But yeah, very powerful stuff. Very good. On the opposite side of drill. I wouldn't say opposite side of the dramatic because they really do get into the dramatics. Have you guys watched RoboDoc?

Jacob Davidson:

No, but I've seen a clip going around about the Oreo.

Jonathan Correia:

So um, yeah, Robo Doc is a four part Docu series from friends of the podcast, Chris Griffith, Griffiths, and Alan Eastwood. And it's all about RoboCop a they cover they basically go scene by scene throughout the entire for the entire movie of Robo Cop. And they go through the creative the behind the scenes, almost every aspect. It's like, it was the origin, the beginning of alien or something. It's like that on steroids. It is beefy. It's four and a half hours long total between the four episodes. And every minute of it is fucking amazing. It's you can really see the passion and the love that Chris Griffiths and Alan Eastwood have for the movies with the interviews to get really great candid stuff. They interview everybody. They got Peter Weller, Nancy Allen. They got Paul Verhoeven and like, just, it's incredible. And yes, there is a viral clip going around about Robo wants an Oreo. I can tell you right now, that's not even the best story that's just like the quickest like one of the more ridiculous parts of it, but they went into every detail about like, what it was like shooting in Dallas for Detroit at that time, which is really great, because what actually happened made me laugh during Iron Claw. Because Verhoeven said he wanted when they were scouting, they wanted Dallas, because Dallas just got built up in the 80s. And so there were still some parts that look like garbage. But then some parts that looked very futuristic for its time, including the main building that had these green neon lights. But when they went to go shoot, Robocop the green lights weren't working, and so they didn't get the thing that Paul wanted. But in Iron Claw, they showed the Dallas Skyline multiple times with the lights on and I was like, Man, Iron Claw what Verhoeven didn't so yeah, RoboDoc, it's on ScreamBox streaming, and they just put out a Blu ray for it, which Walmart has a really dope steelbook for So highly recommend it. It's a lot of fun. Really great stuff. It will kill your afternoon though. Okay,

Jacob Davidson:

and speaking of fun, just in terms of first time watches for sequels and existing franchise. I think I've seen the greatest sequel in any franchise ever. Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College.

James Jay Edwards:

I thought you're gonna say Book of Shadows. Blair Witch 2

Jacob Davidson:

close enough.

Jonathan Correia:

I J I will fight you Ghoulies 3: Ghoulies Go to College is way better than Book of Shadows.

Jacob Davidson:

This is true. Yeah, now just basically me my friends kept on joking about sequels and kept on. joking

about Ghoulies 3:

Ghoulies Go to College because that is probably one of the greatest sequel titles since Electric Boogaloo. And, yeah, no, it's the third Ghoulies movie. And also it's the Ghoulies movie, where they talk

Jonathan Correia:

Ghoulies is such a weird franchise because like the first movie didn't know what it wanted, whether it was wanted to be a comedy or like a straight up horror, and then I feel like Ghoulies 2 really nailed the tone of what it wanted to do. And then Ghoulies 3, they were just like, fuck it. Let's make a frat movie with these with these weird toilet demons. Yeah,

Jacob Davidson:

they made they just basically stuck the Ghoulies in a Animal House riff. And the thing that really spurred me on is that legendary character actor Richard Kind plays the cat Ghoulie. Here he does the voice of the

Jonathan Correia:

cat. Cool. That's interesting. I didn't know that. Okay, yeah, yeah,

Jacob Davidson:

no, the cast in. This one's also very interesting too, because, well, for one thing, Kane Hodder is in it. And he's in an opening gag where he gets thrown into a mop bucket and thrown down some stairs. And Matt, this was Matthew Lillard very first movie, and he plays like a typical 80s College nerd with the suspenders and the glasses and the bowl cut like man dark. And Kevin McCarthy is the bad guy. He plays the crusty old dean. And he basically looks like he just walked off the set of UHF straight into this with completely the same character. So it's very goofy and is directed by John Carl Beekler. The special effects are the practical effects artists who did the Ghoulies in the previous movies, and now he's in the director's chair, and he wanted to get get really slapstick with it too, because like the three ghoulies basically just act like the Three Stooges with the frog toilet Ghoulie being mo the leader, and he smacks the other gooeys around and again to hygiene said shenanigans, and they kill people in very overtop ways like they flush a dude down the toilet and they stick a plunger in somebody's face is psycho style. It's it's very wacky and goofy and very over the top, like at one point, like they go full Looney Tunes, and somebody uses like a cartoon like one of those round bombs with the fuse. It's amazing.

Jonathan Correia:

It's, it's, it's so great. So tonally different. And it's also really funny because like the effects for the Ghoulies are really good. Oh, yeah, for the first two and then for the third one, they went with like hand puppet things for the talking bits. And they're just like kind of ridiculous and remind me of like, in the 90s when they had a lot of hand puppet toys at like fast food places. You know, remember like for Dinosaur and stuff. But Ghoulies three is a treat. Like it's yeah, it's probably my favorite of the franchise, although I do 2. Again. It just feels like the perfect

Jacob Davidson:

neck and neck

Jonathan Correia:

Ghoulies movie right so I haven't seen 4 yet. Before

James Jay Edwards:

we move on to our topic. Let's talk real quick. Have you guys seen The Marvels

Jacob Davidson:

I have

Jonathan Correia:

no,not yet. I do want you because I want to support Nia DaCosta and everything she does because

James Jay Edwards:

I loved the Marvel's. I actually loves a strong word. I liked it, though. But I can understand why Marvel fans hate it. It's it's campy. You know, it's fun. And that's not the kind of movie they want. Like at one point, they go to a planet that they're trying to save where their language is song. So everybody on this planet sings. And it's like a Bollywood movie that they step into. But yeah, they they have to. The only way you can understand them is if they sing. It's like it's their language is singing so. And then then there's also some real campy stuff that happens with the cats. It's it's pretty, it's pretty crazy. But I mean, I really had fun my favorite thing about an hour and 45 minutes. I'm so tired of these two and a half hour superhero movies that you know, I was. I was so psyched when I saw that runtime. But anyway, the Marvel's is not as bad as everyone's saying it is. Yeah, I'd also like to chime in that Yeah, I thought it was fine. I really don't get all the hate it was getting and also Iman Vellani plays Miss Marvel, I thought she's really good. And she definitely has a lot of passion for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the character. So, ya know, I hope she hopes she gets more leads. And you know, she gets to do more stories than that. Because, yeah, no, I mean, just the dynamic between Miss Marvel, Captain Marvel, and Photon. You know, just it was a lot of it was really great dynamic.

Jonathan Correia:

Yeah. And she's great in the in the show Ms. Marvel, which Yeah, once you get past the first episode is really, really good.

James Jay Edwards:

It did Nia DaCosta do the show as well.

Jonathan Correia:

But the show is good. The first episode leans a bit too hard into the like the oh, if superheroes were real, they would have a real superhero comic con thing and then like nerding out, it kind of felt like you know, a bit of a, you know, self pleasuring of the MCU portraying the MCU you think but I'm trying to say that nicely. I don't know why I'm trying to be coy. I said Turkey fucking scene five times earlier this episode but I but we're

James Jay Edwards:

already checking the explicit box

Jonathan Correia:

but after that like I know we have to because of me every time but Miss Marvel the show was really good so I am excited to see the to see the movie and again we'll always support Nia DaCosta she fucking killed it with Candyman so and it's okay for comic book movies to be campy Not everything has to be influenced by a Frank Miller comic Okay Can we can we just like calm down on that like when people were like, oh campy Daredevil you can't make Daredevil can't be Daredevil was campy for ever until until Frank Miller's run like it's okay to be campy every now and then I still say one of the best Batman movies ever is Lego Batman. Like that's just straight facts.

James Jay Edwards:

And Roger Corman's Fantastic Four has found its audience even as a bootleg. Like,

Jonathan Correia:

I was just talking with a friend the other day about how actually good like the Corman one is they actually got Ben Grimm, right, which no one has done since. And Dr. Doom was fucking awesome.

James Jay Edwards:

Dr. Doom is what they got right as well. Yeah,

Jonathan Correia:

there's a lot wrong with that movie. Don't get me wrong.

James Jay Edwards:

Oh, yeah.

Jonathan Correia:

But those two characters it was like holy shit. You actually get these characters and then ever since then, everyone has been avoiding doing that for some godforsaken reason. It's like it's not hard to do Doom right. He's a dictator with a cool mask. Like, calm down. You don't need to what did they always try to turn him into like some millionaire who has like a tragic like, fuck off. No Doom is come on. And then grim it be tragic as shit with it. Like, come on. Anyways, enough about comic books. Yeah.

James Jay Edwards:

Let's move on to our to our topic, which were a little late to the party here because everyone's probably already watched it, but Fall of the House of Usher. And, more broadly, Edgar Allan Poe's what we're going to talk about? Yes. We've all been through Fall of the House of Usher, right?

Jacob Davidson:

Oh, yeah, sure.

Jonathan Correia:

I think I've been you all, too. That was like week one for me.

James Jay Edwards:

I finished it up last night. So yeah.

Jacob Davidson:

I made second place. Yeah,

Jonathan Correia:

I mean, it were huge Flanagan's fans in this house.

Jacob Davidson:

So it that Or Fanagan's, if you will.

Jonathan Correia:

Flanafans.

James Jay Edwards:

Yeah, I was just gonna say Flanafans.

Jonathan Correia:

We're just flans.

James Jay Edwards:

What I really dug about about the miniseries is it's it's not really it. It kind of just uses the skeleton of the Fall of the House of Usher story, and it plays its way through the Usher family, which it kind of adds all those characters so that it can play its way through the rest of Poe's catalogue, because every episode seems to it focuses on one of the Usher children and their demise as it relates to another Edgar Allan Poe story. So you've got the Murders in the Rue Morgue one where she gets ripped apart by a baboon, or an orangutan.

Jacob Davidson:

Oh, unless we forget Masque of the Red Death. That was one of my favorite versions.

James Jay Edwards:

That was the best episode.

Jacob Davidson:

Second episode. Yeah. Just really hit it off

James Jay Edwards:

hardcore. And they did.

Jonathan Correia:

The Pitt and the Pendulum

James Jay Edwards:

it wasn't with a Yeah, the pit in the pendulum that was pretty creative.

Jonathan Correia:

That was so gnarly.

James Jay Edwards:

They did a Cask of Amontillado in the last episode, but it wasn't on one of the foster kids. It kind of explained. It's more of like an origin. But um, yeah, and the black cat with the with the guy in a row roll.

Jacob Davidson:

No. Black Hat. Yeah,

James Jay Edwards:

I bet. I mean, and the thing is, they keep going back even. They keep reciting parts of Poe's poetry and not just the Raven either, which is awesome. You know, they do Sea by the Sea and all of this other, you know, they they, you can tell that Flanagan knows his, his Poe.

Jonathan Correia:

I loved it so much. Like I as the thing with Poe, though, you got to remember and this is and we'll discuss this more with the other adaptations

James Jay Edwards:

that he's better than Lovecraft. Yeah, I agree. And

Jonathan Correia:

a lot less racist. That's i It's kind of funny. Well, it's not funny, but it's interesting how it seems like Tictok recently discovered the name of Lovecrafts cat, and there's a lot of memes going around about it. And we can't say it on this podcast. But yeah, that's interesting

Jacob Davidson:

Yeah, no, I did not expect it to go that way. anyways, but like Poe's stories are short. They're all short stories. So anytime there's an adaptation of po you have to extend it. So it makes sense like oh, we're gonna do a Poe mini series, having each episode be like, like having the skeleton of Fall of the House of Usher. And then each episode kind of being more more influenced and more about a different story makes so much sense. It's almost it's kind of crazy. Like what how no one has done that before. And Flannigan pulled it off. Perfectly. Before I mean, there was there's times where it's like a lot of Corman adaptations of Poe it was more the third act is the short story and then they create all the first two acts on it so that but so if you're like, I'm tired of this, you just wait till the third act and then you'll get your full Poe. But yeah, a Corman always did a good job with that anyways, but yeah, no, it was it was absolutely phenomenal. And it's, it's it's up there. I wouldn't. I mean, Midnight Mass is still my favorite but Fall of the House of Usher I feel as is a close second for me, at least in my favorites Of Flanagan series, I'll say. But yeah, man. Ah, that Pitt and the Pendulum death was ugh

Jonathan Correia:

If there's someone out there who didn't realize that they were bisexual before that Rahul and Kate Seigel will definitely get you question things. Both of them were at like peak hotness in that show. Like God damn.

Jacob Davidson:

Well, yeah, there was a lot of bisexuality throughout this series. Oh,

Jonathan Correia:

man. It's it's like, I feel like this might be this generation's 1999's The Mummy of just like awakening bisexuality in people.

Jacob Davidson:

And yeah, no. And I really liked it too, because, well, you know, it's definitely following the Edgar Allan Poe stories. And it was very much in line for Mike Flanagan style of storytelling, you know, with Roderick Usher, relegating the story to the DA. It also kind of had a Tales from the Crypt kind of vibe to it, mostly in that, you know, rich assholes getting their comeuppance because there was a very delicious irony to every character's death and, you know, just kind of the layers and building up to the demises Yeah,

James Jay Edwards:

they're poetic, though. Extremely. So the deaths like like, let's talk Mask of the Red Death. The guy who throws the party

Jacob Davidson:

Yeah Prince Prospero

James Jay Edwards:

Yeah. Prospero, you know, he he's killed by his own party by his own corner cutting at his party that he was trying to, you know, he throws this big, almost like a rave party. And it's in an abandoned building, and he clearly is not permitted and that's what ends up killing not only him, but most of his

Jonathan Correia:

guests. Oh, and Carla Gugino. It was just so

Jacob Davidson:

whoah baby.

Jonathan Correia:

Phenomenal in it just, I mean, Carla has been in like three of his projects, right?

James Jay Edwards:

Well, he, I think he's found like a stable that he likes to work with. Because also the I don't know her name, but the woman who plays Annabel Lee, in House of Usher, she's from Absentia, way back, you know, his his first movie and she's got little bit parts, you know, up through So

Jonathan Correia:

Doctor Sleep too, right, wasn't she? Yeah,

James Jay Edwards:

I believe so. Yeah, I believe so. I think that, um, you know, she just kind of, she's just one that he likes to work with, where even if he doesn't have a starring role for her, he'll find something and I think she was perfect as Annabel Lee. I

Jonathan Correia:

mean, this this, this was like pulling this had actors from every one of his projects. There was a bunch of Midnight Club kids in there, there was the usual staples of Henry Thomas, Rahul, all of them. And I'm really stoked that Mark Hamill seems to be getting into that rotation because he's also in the upcoming Stephen King adaptation that plague is doing as well. And Mark Hamill. Like it's one of those things again, everyone online is like Well, Mark Hamill connects like well, we all knew that if you saw The Guyver you would know or Prince of Darkness you would know he's got boys got range, but like listen

James Jay Edwards:

to his Joker. I mean, when you hear Yeah, you hear him voicing the Joker? Yeah, you know that guy's got chops. Oh, yeah,

Jonathan Correia:

but in this phenominal.

Jacob Davidson:

The funny thing though, is that with his role as Mr. Pym, you know, the hatchet man for the Usher family, his his deep, gravelly voice actually was reminiscent of his voice he did for Regular Show as skips D Eddie. Did either you've seen regular show?

Jonathan Correia:

I've seen a couple episodes.

Jacob Davidson:

But yeah, no, because like in regular show, he plays a yeti handyman named skips, who has that same deep gravelly voice so I mean, it, it was different enough, but at the same time, it was reminiscent of that it also made me think of that character. So it was just a thing.

Jonathan Correia:

Yeah, but he was phenomenal dude, like,

Jacob Davidson:

Oh no. He was amazing. Like he was genuinely at his most threatening, just because like He's like, he's this renaissance man. He's a lawyer. He was an explorer. He's definitely a hitman for the Usher family so good. And actually, ya know, watching the fall the house usher and then finishing. It actually inspired me to rewatch the Corman Poe cycle movies, which for those who don't know, in in the 1960s Roger Corman struck cinematic gold by doing several adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's works as feature movies, pretty much all of which starred one of the greatest icons of horror for his time. Vincent Price of

Jonathan Correia:

all time.

James Jay Edwards:

Did any of them not star Vincent Price?

Jacob Davidson:

No, actually, I think it was all of them. Yeah, I

James Jay Edwards:

think he was as well. They were considered Vincent Price and Roger Corman's post cycle. Yeah,

Jacob Davidson:

of course. And the funny thing is, is that the first movie they did in 1960, was The Fall the House of Usher with Vincent Price as Roderick Usher. Yeah, that was right off the bat. And, you know, actually, this was my first time seeing the Corman Poe Price. Fall The House of Usher. I'd never gotten around to it for some reason. But it was interesting because I got the Scream Factory blu ray from the Vincent Price said and which has the PBS and intros and outros by Price. And he was talking about how that kind of came together. And like how Corman you know, when he pitched it, like gothic horror wasn't really in so like, the other producers like we needed a monster. So Corman was like, the house is the monster. And they were like, Okay, roll with it. And Vincent Price for the role Like he actually bleached his hair blonde and shaved off his mustache, because Roderick Usher hasn't seen the light of day in years. So he wanted to look like an albino. It's like one of the few movies I'd never seen with seen without the mustache,

Jonathan Correia:

and they're so good. And it's it's interesting, because that was during those movies are what made Corman, the director, that he is I mean, as a name and stuff because he essentially, with was it new world? They were doing mainly doing like double feature drive ins. And so they would take the budget of one movie to make two movies and he was like, alright, well, I have a crazy idea. What if we took the budget of one movie and just made one movie? And like, really good. And they're like, I don't know if that's gonna work. And he's like, Well, listen, Poe is public domain. So we can do adaptations and not have to pay Poe because Poe is dead and in is public domain. And we already have a name attached to it and they're like, Okay, so if you attach like a horror name to it, you know, and Vincent Price was starting to come up in that world with that and so it became this like perfect blend and he wanted to do that Masque of the Red Death first, but they didn't quite have like the budgets and stuff. So they did a few and Masque of the Red Death, I think is the crown jewel of those adaptations. They're all great, but that one was phenomenal. And they shot the whole thing in England because at the time it was cheaper to shoot in England. But because of that added to the authenticity of the sets, they were able to use a lot of the the sets that were being used for other gothic horror movies at the time Castle locations, and they just had like a stellar English cast in that one as well with you got Vincent Price. You got Patrick McGee, who is phenomenal in it. And it's just all around Jane Asha Hazel core. I mean, it's beautifully shot the colors pop and it's just such a great adaptation. Especially at the end when you see the different deaths in their different colored robes meet and talk.

Jacob Davidson:

Yeah, yeah, and I gotta say Vincent Price's Prince Prospero is one of my favorite villain roles for him because he is such an asshole like he is just deliciously evil and proud of it, like even his says he's excited to go to hell. And, you know, I think it's like right up there with his role as Judge Hopkins from the Witchfinder General which was also one of Price's kind of signature villains is in the other Poe Corman movies you know, he's either kind of more of enigmatic figure or he's crazy and one or two of them or not necessarily heroic, but kind of nominal and a couple of them. But ya know, like in Masque of the Red Death, he's straight up evil with a capital E and he relishes in it

James Jay Edwards:

have you guys ever seen Extraordinary Tales?

Jacob Davidson:

You mean Tales of Terror?

James Jay Edwards:

No, it's called Extraordinary Tales. It's from maybe 10 years ago. It's five animated Poe stories. Oh. And they're like narrated by I think Bela Lugosi does one Christopher Lee. Julian Sands I think is in there as well. But it's just, they're like animated. They're like, animated versions of his of his short stories. Yeah. And

Jonathan Correia:

did Guillermo del Toro Yeah.

James Jay Edwards:

GDT narrates one as well. Yeah.

Jacob Davidson:

Oh, okay. I got to look that up,

James Jay Edwards:

like the Pit and the Pendulum is one and The TellTale Heart obviously is one Masque Red Death is in there as well. In the fall, the House of Usher is one and I don't remember the fifth one. I don't think it's murders in the Rue Morgue but it's there's a fifth one in there as well.

Jacob Davidson:

So for a while we're talking animated Poe adaptations one of my personal favorites and one that kind of helped me introduce me to pole would be the Simpsons Treehouse of horror episode one where they did a straight up reading of the Raven with James Earl Jones as the narrator and but

Jonathan Correia:

and Bart as the Raven goes eat my shorts

Jacob Davidson:

ya know, that cracked me up especially like you know, just having Dan castle and as Homer reading the actual Edgar Poe Edgar Allan Poe lines and saying stuff like oh cloth, oh cloth is the wind

James Jay Edwards:

whatever I can't read the word Nevermore without hearing it in Bart's voice nevermore never, never more so

Jonathan Correia:

good. Even even when watching Fall of the House of Usher like when he but he says Never more. I just just the the iconic image of BART as the Raven popped in one of us who's gonna bring that up because that is probably one of the best adaptations of Poe out there. And it is interesting because he, cuz he got his public domain. So you get to see a lot of people kind of do it for cheap because there was Corman in like the 60s. And then it kind of happened again in the 80s where he saw a lot of Full Moon adaptations of Poe. Well, where you get like, oh,

Jacob Davidson:

yeah, Stuart Gordon did Pitt and the pendulum. Yeah. Which is

Jonathan Correia:

really interesting because they kind of lean more into not body horror, but a lot of like torture horror with it more so and it's it's fine. It's not Gordon's strongest, but it's still a lot of fun, you know, especially when

Jacob Davidson:

you got Lance Henriksen as the chief torture. Yeah.

Jonathan Correia:

Is Lance Henriksen completely shaved head just like going ham on people. It's yeah, you could definitely tell that it was Gordon and trying to do more of like a Witchfinder General type deal with that character. You know,

James Jay Edwards:

they also in in the early 90s, they did that to evil eyes with Argento and Romero. Oh, yeah. Double Shot with the black cat. And I think M Valdemar. Is the other one. Yeah, it

Jonathan Correia:

was was there two or three stories with that? Because Two Evil Eyes Yeah, that's right. Because its Two Evil Eyes. It was going to be a series right. And then they ended up not being able to do a full series. So they just did two of the stories for the movie.

Jacob Davidson:

Yeah. Although the thing was, is that in Argento's segment, the Black Cat, there are a lot of references and homages to other post stories because like wayda who starred in that one again?

James Jay Edwards:

Is it Harvey Keitel.

Jacob Davidson:

Harvey Keitel? Yeah, cuz like Harvey Keitel is a crime photographer. And a lot of the crime scenes taking pictures of our Edgar Allan Poe stories because like there's a dude who gets ripped in half by the pit in the pendulum

James Jay Edwards:

and crime scene photographer. His name is Rod Usher.

Jacob Davidson:

Oh, yeah, that's right. So just layers. Also back on The Simpsons Raven episode. I was also going to add that it has aired while it ends on one of my favorite lines from The Simpsons, where Bart complains that the Raven wasn't scary. And Lisa chimes in that. I guess people were a lot easier to scare back in the 19 century. Bar. It's like, oh, yeah, it's like when you look back on the original Friday 13th It's pretty tame by today's standards,

Jonathan Correia:

which is great. Did you guys ever see The Pale Blue Eye?

James Jay Edwards:

Oh, no, I didn't see it. But that one? That really, it's the it's the Netflix one with Christian Bale. That doesn't really have anything to do with Poe. Except he's a character in it, doesn't it?

Jacob Davidson:

Oh, right. Yeah, they're investigating an actual murder. And it's when Poe was in the military. Yeah, That's what Scott Cooper does is dad movies.

Jonathan Correia:

it's it's it's a weird one. It's from Scott Cooper who did Antlers, Black Mass, Crazy Heart and like Hostiles. So he's worked with Bale a lot. And yeah, Edgar Allan Poe is not is a character in it. I don't know if it's an adaptation. I don't think it's an adaptation of any Poe's work, but it's an adaptation of a book where Poe is of character. It's He does do dad He's the Ron Howard of like, horror thrillers it's a it's a strange one because it felt like it should have been better than it was. It's still solid, but like, yeah, the the Poe who was played by Harry Melling from Queens Gambit, and he is really good at it, but I think they do some like prosthetics on his face that are a bit distracting. It's it's it's a solid like little dad thriller. You know what I any like, yeah, closing this out. We'll go to another where Poe a character mean? Like, it feels very, like, trying to do like, edgy Poe dad. Crime Thriller, but like, we through Poe in it. I don't know. It's interesting. It's worth a watch. did you guys see The Raven?

Jacob Davidson:

with John Cusack?

James Jay Edwards:

John Cusack. Yeah. John Cusack plays Poe, and basically, he, there's a it's kind of like follow the House of Usher. There's a series of murders around Baltimore that are inspired by Poe's stories. So Poe actually helps try to solve this murder that's due in his that's that's basically taken his MO so it's more it's not really adapted from any of his stories but inspired by it.

Jonathan Correia:

Yeah. What did did Poe moonlight as like a murder investigator? Because like, we just listed off two movies where he did that?

James Jay Edwards:

I don't think he did but makes

Jacob Davidson:

for a good story. Yeah.

James Jay Edwards:

It really Yeah, he make a good investigator because he a lot of his stories. I mean, if you're familiar with the stories, like even Murders in the Romorgue It's like, they're like mystery. They're murder mysteries instead of just like horror tales, so, but he

Jonathan Correia:

writes them so like, weirdly that you can see how like someone would be like, oh, yeah, it's horror. It's like procraft though, so maybe Poe is really Gothic dad literature, you know?

James Jay Edwards:

Gothic Dad literature. Yeah, sure. Hey, like I said, He's better than Lovecraft people always fight me on that, but Poe better than Lovecraft. He's no Mapa song, but he's definitely better than Lovecraft. And

Jonathan Correia:

nothing wrong with making stuff for the dads. I love dad movies is Ron Howard. If Ron Howard makes another racing movie. I'm there.

James Jay Edwards:

I'm waiting for my Solo sequel.

Jacob Davidson:

It could happen.

Jonathan Correia:

I want I want yeah, I want a series but anyways,

James Jay Edwards:

all right, let's let's wrap this one up. What are your favorite Poe adaptations? What do you think of the Fall of the House of Usher? Of course, the ending is spoiled by the title because the literal house falls in all of these. But yeah, let's let's hear it. Let's Oh,

Jonathan Correia:

I just got that, fuck! I think this is the third time and like a month we've gotten me go oh, the obvious thing. Gotcha.

James Jay Edwards:

That's awesome. All right. So did you did it take you as long as it took Correia to get the dome of the fall now so I'm not sure let us know. A month are our themes always by Restless Spirits to go check them out and our artwork is by Chris Fisher. So go check him out. You can find us at@EyeOnHorror on any of the socials or at ihorror.com You can catch Jacob on the Halloween Rewind. The Hallo we that's hard to say.

Jacob Davidson:

It's a bit of a tongue twister,

James Jay Edwards:

that Hallorewind. So if you miss us in the off weeks, go check him out there. And we'll see you 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.

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