This week we're in the grocery store - and not for the weekly specials. Fresh off our Intruder deep dive, we wander the aisles of supermarket horror: Messiah of Evil, Alien Raiders, Bait, 28 Days Later, and The Mist. Plus, John debuts his demo "One More Shot" - a love song with a trunk and some red flags. 
00:00:01 - Intro
00:06:12 - Messiah of Evil (1973)
00:09:34 - Alien Raiders (2008)
00:10:46 - Bait (2012)
00:12:47 - 28 Days Later (2002)
00:15:37 - The Mist (2007)
00:21:42 - Demo: "One More Shot"

The overnight crew at Walnut Lake Market is closing up shop - and someone is killing them off one by one. We dive into Scott Spiegel's 1989 cult slasher Intruder, the Michigan filmmaking crew behind it, and how a $130k grocery store shoot became the audition tape for the most important practical effects team in horror history.
Citations
 
Hadden, Christine. "Friday Flashback: Intruder (1989) - Death Amidst the Frosted Flakes". Fascination With Fear. 6 July 2012. https://fascinationwithfear.blogspot.com/2012/07/friday-flashback-intruder-1989-death.html.
 
Hamman, Cody. "Intruder (1989) Revisited - Horror Movie Review". JoBlo. 26 May 2022. https://www.joblo.com/intruder-1989-revisited-horror-movie-review/.
 
"Makeup Mavens: KNB EFX Group". Cinemonster, Letterboxd. 2015. https://letterboxd.com/cinemonster/list/makeup-mavens-knb-efx-group/.
 
00:00:00 Intro00:06:22 Intro: Distribution & Reception00:14:59 Let's Make a Movie: Filmmakers00:22:56 Let's Make a Movie: Cast00:33:24 Let’s Make a Movie: Production00:38:10 Vibe Check: Cinematography00:51:51 Vibe Check: SFX00:56:42 Vibe Check: Music & Sound Design00:58:39 Story Time: Characters01:08:59 Story Time: Murder & Mayhem01:25:07 Story Time: Themes01:37:06 Open Mic01:46:48 Losing Light

Psychic powers make for some of horror's best and weirdest movies. This week we tour five of them - Carrie, Scanners, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, and Spellbinder - and talk about what it means when your mind is the weapon. Plus the demo for "Completely Normal Individual."
00:00:00 Intro
00:04:08 Carrie (1976)
00:07:23 Scanners (1981)
00:09:57 A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987)
00:12:00 Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988)
00:15:43 Spellbinder (1988) 00:19:31 Losing Light
00:22:46 Demo: "Completely Normal Individual"
 

We're back in the Overlook for part two of our deep dive on The Shining (1980). We dig into the Steadicam innovation that changed horror forever, the blood elevator's year of prep work, and Wendy Carlos's groundbreaking score. Then we make the case for Wendy Torrance, unpack Jack's alcoholism through a recovery lens, and ask the question the film never answers - did the hotel make him a monster, or just find one?
Citations
Balick, Aaron. “The Psychology of The Shining: The terror of family dysfunction.” Depth Psychology in the Digital Age. 31 October 2012. Updated 15 April 2025. https://www.aaronbalick.com/post/the-psychology-of-the-shining-the-terror-family-disfunction.
Blakemore, Bill. “The Family of Man.” The San Francisco Chronicle Syndicate. 29 July 1987. http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0052.html.
Ciment, Michel. “Kubrick on The Shining.” http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/interview.ts.html.
Darren. “Is The Shining About Native Americans?” The M0vie Blog. 1 December 2009. https://them0vieblog.com/2009/12/01/is-the-shining-about-native-americans/.
Eggert, Brian. “The Shining (1980).” Deep Focus Review. 27 October 2019. https://www.deepfocusreview.com/definitives/the-shining/.
Elizabeth, Jasmine. “The Shining: The Horror of a Family in Disrepair.” Duck Eyes. 23 February 2020. https://duck-eyes.com/film-journal/the-shining-the-horror-of-a-family-in-disrepair.
Kieckhefer, Daniel R. “The Shining.” The Cinematograph. 2025. https://www.the-cinematograph.com/movies/the-shining/.
McBride, Kameron. “Dealing With Our Bloody Past: Repression vs. Recognition of American History in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.” Digital Literature Review, vol. 1 (2014). Ball State University. https://openjournals.bsu.edu/dlr/article/download/2587/1519/4169.
Nair, Shreejit & Rae Torres. “‘The Shining’ Ending Explained - What's Jack Doing in That Photo?” Collider. 13 August 2024. https://collider.com/the-shining-ending-explained/.
Trzcinski, Matthew. “Is ‘The Shining’ Really About Native American History?” Showbiz CheatSheet. 2 December 2019. https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/is-the-shining-really-about-native-american-history.html/.
00:00:00 Intro 
00:03:00 Vibe Check: Cinematography
00:20:26 Vibe Check: SFX
00:31:35 Vibe Check: Music & Sound Design
00:41:27 Story Time: Characters
01:10:11 Story Time: Murder/Mayhem
01:23:19 Story Time: Themes
01:38:13 Open Mic
01:50:43 Losing Light

The Shining finally got the two-part treatment - because some movies just won't fit in a box. Part 1 covers our personal histories with the film, how it landed (badly) when it first came out, and how it became one of the most analyzed pieces of horror cinema ever made. We get into Kubrick's adaptation choices, the famous tension between his vision and Stephen King's novel, and what it actually looked like to make this movie - the cast, the sets, the myths, the takes. So many takes. Next week we finish up our deep dive with Vibe Check and Story Time. See you there.
Rae Torres & Shreejit Nair. “The Shining Ending Explained - What’s Jack Doing in That Photo?” Collider. 13 August 2024. https://collider.com/the-shining-ending-explained/
00:00:00 Intro
00:09:19 Intro: Distribution & Reception
00:22:57 Let’s Make a Movie: Filmmakers
00:39:34 Let’s Make a Movie: Cast
00:57:38 Let’s Make a Movie: Production
01:25:37 Losing Light

John opens this episode by announcing himself as "the man of the duo." Rachel introduces herself as "John's wife, defined by her role in the life of a man." Then we talk about feminist horror for 30 minutes. Inspired by The Slumber Party Massacre, we're asking what actually makes a horror film feminist - and whether it matters who made it. We work through The Descent, You're Next, Midsommar, The Love Witch, and more. Plus Rachel debuts "You Want It," a duet with the male gaze itself.
Adams, Jenn. “’Pearl’ and the Face of a Woman Pushed Too Far.” Strong Female Antagonist. https://femaleantagonist.com/pearl-and-the-face-of-a-woman-pushed-too-far/.
Dolar, Danne Niko. “Ti West’s Pearl (2022) and the Affliction of Female Sensibility.” Academia. https://www.academia.edu/97577659/Ti_Wests_Pearl_2022_and_the_Affliction_of_Female_Sensibility.
Salinas, Julianna. “If You Don’t Fall in Love With This Campy 2016 Horror Masterpiece, I Don’t Know How to Help You.” 4 January 2025. Collider. https://collider.com/the-love-witch-movie/.
Totaro, Donato. “Female Empowerment in the ‘Small World’ films of Midsommar (2019, Ari Aster) and The Other Lamb (2019, Malgorzata Szumowska).” December 2019. OffScreen. https://offscreen.com/view/female-empowerment-in-small-world-films.
Wilhelmi, Jack. “You’re Next: Every Horror Movie Final Girl Trope It Subverted.” 26 December 2019. ScreenRant. https://screenrant.com/youre-next-horror-movie-final-girl-trope-changes/.
00:00:00 Intro00:06:02 The Descent00:11:08 You're Next00:16:25 Pearl00:20:03 The Love Witch00:24:27 Midsommar00:31:17 Demo - You Want It00:34:05 Losing Light
 

This week we're taking a deep dive into The Slumber Party Massacre (1982) - a 77-minute slasher that's weirder and smarter than its reputation suggests, and honestly more fun than it has any right to be. Written by Rita Mae Brown as a feminist parody and shot as a straightforward exploitation film, the result is this fascinating hybrid that we genuinely cannot stop thinking about. We dig into what makes it tick - the girls' social world, the camera choices that keep quietly flipping your expectations, the drill (which is maybe the least subtle symbol in the history of cinema, and we love it for that), and the ways this movie centers female friendship and survival while still giving Roger Corman exactly what he paid for. Plus our original songs inspired by the film - our gimmick this week is Scene Swap, meaning we dropped this bloody sleepover into the present day. We are not sorry.
 
“The Slumber Party Massacre,” AFI Catalog, https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56875.
Brock, Peyton. “How ‘The Slumber Party Massacre’s Feminist Lens Subverted the Slasher.” Collider. 28 July 2021. https://collider.com/slumber-party-massacre-feminist-explained/.
 
00:00:00 Intro
00:07:56 Intro: Distribution & Reception
00:19:57 Let's Make a Movie: Filmmakers
00:28:12 Let's Make a Movie: Cast
00:35:24 Let's Make a Movie: Production
00:39:21 Vibe Check: Cinematography
00:44:03 Vibe Check: SFX
00:49:41 Vibe Check: Music & Sound Design
00:53:01 Story Time: Characters
01:02:53 Story Time: Murder/Mayhem
01:16:10 Story Time: Themes
01:30:25 Open Mic
01:42:25 Losing Light
 

In this encore episode, we dig into the fascinating history of horror movies at the Academy Awards. From early classics like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Phantom of the Opera to modern favorites like Get Out, Pan’s Labyrinth, and this year’s record-breaking Sinners, we explore which films from the genre have scored Oscar nods and wins. We discuss trends in how horror films are recognized - often in technical or “vibes” categories like makeup, sound, and visual effects - and share our surprise at some unexpected nominees and winners. Plus, we debut our original demo, Yet We Breathe, inspired by this year’s Oscar darling Sinners. Join us as we celebrate nearly a century of horror’s place in cinematic awards history! 
00:00:00 Intro
00:01:26 Horror at the Oscars
00:04:43 1930s-1940s
00:08:40 1960s 
00:11:28 1970s
00:22:09 1980s
00:25:29 1990s
00:29:56 2000s & 2010s
00:32:58 2020s
00:35:24 Yet We Breathe Demo
00:38:45 Outro