218 - The Best of 2021 →

2021 was yet another dumpster fire and Chris and Kelsey are looking on the bright side by paying tribute to the best movies they watched last year! Plus, our personal Top 10 lists and the 10 movies on which we disagreed with the critics the most!

To listen to these episodes and check out their individual source credits, click the links below:

10: https://bit.ly/3rcYm0O 
9: https://bit.ly/3zRZ9If 
7 (Tied): https://bit.ly/3HS1HsB 
7 (Tied): https://bit.ly/3fdDrou 
6: https://bit.ly/3tg8VCz 
5: https://bit.ly/34FQZav 
4: https://bit.ly/3F8W9Z2 
3: https://bit.ly/3tg8VCz 
2: https://bit.ly/3FgLfk6 
1: https://bit.ly/3K1pA31 

Additional Audio Sources:
"Bowie" (Flight of the Conchords S01E06) produced by Home Box Office & British Broadcasting Corporation
"Chapter One: The Vanishing of Will Byers" (Stranger Things S01E01) produced by Monkey Massacre, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Young Frankenstein" produced by Gruskoff/Venture Films, et al.

217 - The Worst of 2021 →

2021 was yet another dumpster fire and Chris and Kelsey are saying goodbye by paying tribute to the worst movies they watched last year! Plus, our personal Bottom 10 lists and the 10 movies that divided us the most!

To listen to these episodes and check out their individual source credits, click the links below:

10: https://bit.ly/3FVKFcs 
9: https://bit.ly/3JBNFNB 
8: https://bit.ly/3qPybgt 
7: https://bit.ly/3zppPQA 
6: https://bit.ly/3sVpPpV 
5: https://bit.ly/3JBNFNB 
4: https://bit.ly/3JycSbL 
3: https://bit.ly/3JycSbL 
2: https://bit.ly/32XWCQz 
1: https://bit.ly/3HDPk3v 

Additional Audio Sources:
"Keke Palmer Takes a Lie Detector Test | Vanity Fair" via Vanity Fair @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBwAAAOa9Kk
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones

216 - Angel Heart (1987) & Midnight Kiss (2019) →

CW: Sexual Assault, Rape, Incest

It’s New Year's Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey spend the last show of the year looking for someone to kiss at midnight.

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Classic Film: Angel Heart (1987)
"A private investigator is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer named Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes an unexpected and somber turn” (IMDb.com). Mickey Rourke gets really melodramatic in probably one of his best roles opposite a Robert De Niro the likes of which you've likely never seen before. Angel Heart doesn't really stick the landing, but it's a beautiful and troubling movie.

The Modern Film: Midnight Kiss (2019)
"Midnight Kiss follows a group of longtime gay best friends and their straight female bestie as they head to a beautiful desert home to celebrate New Year's Eve. One of their annual traditions is to play a game called Midnight Kiss... [but] the group faces another challenge when a sadistic killer wants in on the game” (IMDb.com). Part of Hulu's Into the Dark series of holiday horror movies, Midnight Kiss does what no other movie in the series we've seen so far has been able to do and actually delights us.

Audio Sources:
"Angel Heart" produced by Carolco International N.V., et al.
"Anything Can Happen Day" (from The Mickey Mouse Club) written and performed by Jimmie Dodd
"Anything Could Happen" written by Ellie Goulding & Jim Eliot and performed by Ellie Goulding
"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" produced by Dramatic Features & Warfield
"James McAvoy/Meek Mill" (Saturday Night Live S44E11) produced by Broadway Video & SNL Studios
"Midnight Kiss" (Into the Dark S02E04) produced by Blumhouse Television & Hulu
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"psa if youre a shit talking director make sure to mute ur shit on zoom mtgings" via @lukasgage at https://twitter.com/lukasgage/status/1329891756020695041?s=20
"The Santa Clause" produced by Walt Disney Pictures, et al.

215 - The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) & Anna and the Apocalypse (2017) →

The Best of 2021 - #2 The Nightmare Before Christmas

It’s Actually Christmas Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey make this holiday season musical!

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Classic Film: The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
"Jack Skellington, king of Halloween Town, discovers Christmas Town, but his attempts to bring Christmas to his home causes confusion” (IMDb.com). This is one of the Christmas movies that we watch every year, and we're still excited to talk about it.

The Modern Film: Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
"A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven—at Christmas—forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash, and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones” (IMDb.com). Anna and the Apocalypse is passable insofar as it's one of the few musical comedy horrors in existence, but it's a goldmine of a premise that isn't exploited for its opportunities nearly enough.

Audio Sources:
"Anna and the Apocalypse" produced by Black Camel Pictures, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"The Nightmare Before Christmas" produced by Touchstone Pictures, et al.
"The Nightmare Before Christmas" (The Movies That Made Us S03E07) produced by The Nacelle Company

214 - To All a Goodnight (1980) & Gingerdead Man (2005) →

CW: Rape

The Worst of 2021 - #5 Gingerdead Man; #9 To All a Goodnight

It’s our first Christmas Horror Week of 2021 here on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey sorta just meander from kill to kill with no real focus or driving force.

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Classic Film: To All a Goodnight (1980)
"A group of teenagers at a party find themselves being stalked by a maniacal killer in a Santa Claus costume” (IMDb.com). Despite the fact that this movie came out first (just barely), it still manages to feel like it has ripped off tropes from better movies (Prom Night, Terror Train, Friday the 13th, etc.). That's probably because To All a Goodnight is pretty lifeless and uninspired.

The Modern Film: The Gingerdead Man (2005)
"An evil yet adorable Gingerbread man comes to life with the soul of a convicted killer—this real-life cookie monster wreaks havoc on the girl who sent the killer to the electric chair” (IMDb.com). Subtracting the intro, establishing shots, and the credits, this movie runs less than 60 minutes and it still feels too long. It's okay for a movie to be silly, but it should be clever, too.

Audio Sources:
"Army of Darkness" produced by Dino De Laurentiis Company, et al.
"Clue" produced by Paramount Pictures, et al
"The Gingerdead Man" produced by Full Moon Entertainment, et al.
"Hocus Pocus" produced by Walt Disney Pictures & Touchwood Pacific Partners 1
"Motherboy XXX" (Arrested Development S2E13) produced by The Hurwitz Company, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Scary Movie" produced by Dimension Films, et al.
"Scream" produced by Dimension Films & Woods Entertainment
"Spider-Man" produced by Columbia Pictures
"To All a Goodnight" produced by Four Features Partners

213 - Amityville II (1982) & Amityville Playhouse (2015) →

CW: Rape, incest

The Worst of 2021 - #1 Amityville Playhouse

It’s Amityville Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey botch an exorcism and inherit a theater!

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Classic Film: Amityville II: The Possession (1982)
"A dysfunctional family moves into a new house, which proves to be satanic, resulting in the demonic possession of their teenage son” (IMDb.com). The Amityville series hasn't quite gone bonkers yet, but this second entry is weird in uncomfortable ways. It's fairly interesting in its execution, but you couldn't say it's great.

The Modern Film: Amityville Playhouse (2015)
"A teenager and her friends become trapped in a haunted theater with a disturbing connection to Amityville's secret past” (IMDb.com). I'm sure we're tempting fate here, but there's certainly no way the franchise can get any worse than this, the 12th entry.

Audio Sources:
"Amityville II: The Possession" produced by Dino De Laurentiis Company, et al.
"The Amityville Horror" (2005) produced by Platinum Dunes, et al.
"Amityville Playhouse" produced by Scrapfilms
"April Fools" (2007) produced by Links Entertainment & Pa Pa Productions
"I Can't Believe You've Done This" via PWee28 @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKbU8B-QVZk
"Kung Pow: Enter the Fist" produced by Twentieth Century Fox, et al.
"The Nightman Cometh" (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia S04E13) produced by Sunny Television Productions, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Pulp Fiction" produced by A Band Apart, et al.
"Rocky" produced by Chartoff-Winkler Productions
"So Good" written by LaTavia Roberson, et al., and performed by Destiny's Child
"The Wiz" (1978) produced by Universal Pictures & Motown Productions

212 - Cujo (1983) & Gerald's Game (2017) →

CW: Rape, Sexual Assault, Child Abuse, Domestic Abuse, Suicide

It’s Movies-based-on-Stephen-King-novels-about-women-stuck-in-a-single-location-and-harassed-by-dogs,-both-of-which-star-primary-actors-from-E.T. Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey really need to come up with a safeword.

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Classic Film: Cujo (1983)
"Cujo, a friendly St. Bernard, contracts rabies and conducts a reign of terror on a small American town” (IMDb.com). Cujo is a thrilling story that manages to wring a lot of pathos out of a little premise, but will never be as good as the first time you saw it.

The Modern Film: Gerald's Game (2017)
"When a harmless game between a married couple in a remote retreat suddenly becomes a harrowing fight for survival, wife Jessie must confront long-buried demons within her own mind - and possibly lurking in the shadows of her seemingly empty house” (Intrepid Pictures). Like Mike Flanagan is wont to do, Gerald's Game is heavy on trauma and emotion at the expense of the scares. It's still a great movie, but maybe not a great *horror* movie.

Audio Sources:
"Cujo" produced by Sunn Classic Pictures & TAFT Entertainment Pictures
"Gerald's Game" produced by Intrepid Pictures
"The Impression That I Get" written by Dicky Barrett & Joe Gittleman and performed by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"The Shining" (1997 TV Mini-series) produced by Lakeside Productions & Warner Bros. Television

211 - Blood Rage (1987) & Escape Room (2019) →

CW: Suicide, Drunk Driving

It’s Thanksgiving on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey are thankful for two more movies that are only tangentially related to the holiday.

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Classic Film: Blood Rage (1987), aka Slasher, aka Nightmare at Shadow Woods
"A boy kills a man and accuses his twin brother of the murder, and the innocent brother ends up institutionalized while his psychotic twin goes free. 10 years later, the innocent twin escapes, which triggers his brother into killing again” (IMDb.com). This overlooked gem from the slasher boom era of the 80s has more to offer than you might assume at first glance. Creative effects, ridiculous characters, and a killer soundtrack make us wonder why people don't talk about it more often.

The Modern Film: Escape Room (2019)
"Six strangers find themselves in a maze of deadly mystery rooms and must use their wits to survive” (IMDb.com). It may be all kinds of dumb, but the more authentic escape room touches and playful camerawork still make this movie pretty fun. Just don't expect anything profound or life-changing.

Audio Sources:
"Backpackers" written and performed by Childish Gambino
"Blood Rage" produced by Film Limited Partnership
"Escape Room" (2019) produced by Columbia Pictures, et al.
"Introduction to Film" (Community S01E03) produced by Sony Pictures Television, et al.
"Mallrats" produced by View Askew Productions, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"The Story of Everest" (Mr. Show with Bob and David S04E04) produced by Independent Film Channel

210 - Double Feature - Ghostbusters (1984 & 2016) →

CW: Suicide, Sexual Harassment

The Best of 2021 - #4 Ghostbusters (1984)

It’s a Ghostbusters Double Feature on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey find out what it is to be roasted in the depths of the Sloar this day, I can tell you!

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Original: Ghostbusters (1984)
"Three parapsychologists forced out of their university funding set up shop as a unique ghost removal service in New York City, attracting frightened yet skeptical customers” (IMDb.com). Barring a minor amount of gags that didn't age very gracefully, this horror-comedy classic is exactly as genius as the current zeitgeist would imply.

The Remake: Ghostbusters (2016)
"Following a ghost invasion of Manhattan, paranormal enthusiasts Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates, nuclear engineer Jillian Holtzmann, and subway worker Patty Tolan band together to stop the otherworldly threat” (IMDb.com). Recasting the classic with women didn't ruin this movie. It not being very good did.

Audio Sources:
"Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" produced by Morgan Creek Entertainment
"Ghostbusters" (1984) produced by Columbia Pictures, et al.
"Ghostbusters" (2016) produced by Columbia Pictures, et al.
"Ghostbusters" (The Movies that Made Us S01E03) produced by Netflix
"Janine, You've Changed" (The Real Ghostbusters S06E01) produced by DIC Entertainment
"Lonesome Ghosts" (1937) produced by Walt Disney Productions
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones

209 - Double Feature - Frankenstein (1931 & 2015) →

CW: Harm to Children and Animals

It’s a Frankenstein Double Feature on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey drop out of medical school and 3D-print a human man to find out who the REAL monster is.

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The "Original": Frankenstein (1931)
"Dr. Frankenstein dares to tamper with life and death by creating a human monster out of lifeless body parts” (IMDb.com). While not a faithful adaptation of the Mary Shelley classic novel, 1931's Frankenstein is a classic itself with not an inconsiderable amount of quality in its brisk runtime.

The "Remake": Frankenstein (2015)
"A married couple of scientists create a modern-day monster” (IMDb.com). This modern retelling of the story we already know and love by Bernard Rose, director of the original Candyman, begins with a promise of novelty that it fails to keep.

Audio Sources:
"Awakening: Part 1" (Gargoyles S01E01) produced by Disney Television Animation
"Clue" produced by Paramount Pictures, et al
"Feed My Frankenstein" written by Alice Cooper, et al., and performed by Alice Cooper
"Frankenstein" (1931) produced by Universal Pictures
"Frankenstein" (2015) produced by Bad Badger, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Science Fiction/Double Feature" written by Richard O'Brien & Richard Hartley and performed by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
"Sound of da Police” written by Lawrence Parker, et al., and performed by KRS-One
"Treehouse of Horror" (The Simpsons S02E03) produced by Gracie Films & 20th Century Fox Television
"Young Frankenstein" produced by Gruskoff/Venture Films, et al.