195 w/ Jessie J - House (1977) & Midsommar (2019) →

CW: Suicide

The Best of 2021 - #5 Midsommar

It’s Guest Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey invite one of the Jessies back for some seriously great and bonkers movies!

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Classic Film: House/Hausu (1977)
"A schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt's country home, which turns out to be haunted” (IMDb.com). House may be—and this isn't a joke—just about the most bonkers horror movie ever made. And it's magnificent.

The Modern Film: Midsommar (2019)
"A couple travels to Scandinavia to visit a rural hometown's fabled Swedish mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult” (IMDb.com). You might already know what we think of Ari Aster as a horror filmmaker from our episode on Hereditary, and we get more of his signature auteur style with Midsommar. But is his sophomore feature film more or less evocative than his first?

Audio Sources:
"Fanta Commercial - Fantanas" via Brian Friedman @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F614uU3DsqM
"House" (1977) produced by PSC & Toho Company
"House (1977) Monster Madness X movie review #19" via Cinemassacre @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp_ZCuZHVtk
"I Know an Old Lady" performed by Burl Ives
"Midsommar" produced by A24, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones

175 w/ Jessie D - Event Horizon (1997) & Grave Encounters (2011) →

CW: Suicide, Mental Illness, Homophobia

It’s Another Jessie Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey sit down with Jessie (the first one) to watch two horror movies about haunted locations... and that's about everything that's similar about them.

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Classic Film: Event Horizon (1997)
"A rescue crew investigates a spaceship that disappeared into a black hole and has now returned...with someone or something new on board” (IMDb.com). Like Hellraiser in space, but with a preoccupation with eyeballs. Eyeballs. Eyeballs. Eyeballs. Eyeballs. Eyeballs. Eyeballs. Eyeballs. Eyeballs. Eyeballs. Eyeballs.

The Modern Film: Grave Encounters (2011)
"For their ghost hunting reality show, a production crew locks themselves inside an abandoned mental hospital that's supposedly haunted - and it might prove to be all too true” (IMDb.com). Have you ever had a morbid curiosity about what would happen to the Ghost Adventures guys if they actually ran into a malevolent spirit?

Audio Sources:
"Back to the Future" produced by Universal Pictures, et al.
"Casino Royale" produced by Columbia Pictures, et al.
"Dungeons & Dragons" written by Dan Harmon and performed by The Dead Alewives
"Event Horizon" produced by Paramount Pictures, et al.
"Grave Encounters" produced by Digital Interference Productions & Twin Engine Films
"Hellraiser" produced by New World Pictures, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Thank You for Smoking" produced by Room 9 Entertainment

171 w/ Jessie J - Night Of The Devils (1972) & Hagazussa (2017) →

CW: Rape, Sexual Assault, Child Abuse, Infanticide

It’s a Guest Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey bring on Jessie (a different one) and get all navel-gazey over two foreign horror films that are more show than tell!

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Classic Film: The Night of the Devils (1972)
"The patriarch of a wealthy family fears that he will show up one day in vampire form. Should this happen, he warns his family not to let him back in his house, no matter how much he begs them” (IMDb.com). Night of the Devils isn't our favorite Italian horror film (not by a long shot), but despite its slow first act and incomprehensible lore, it also had a campiness and a slow-boiling charm that were hard to dislike.

The Modern Film: Hagazussa (2017)
"In the 15th century, a young goatherd living alone in a mountain hut feels a dark presence in the woods” (RottenTomatoes.com). Hagazussa is a German arthouse horror that tests Chris' infamous patience and causes Kelsey to doubt its horror credentials, but Jessie stands by her recommendation of this shocking film's haunting beauty and creeping dread.

Audio Sources:
"Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" produced by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, et al.
"Hagazussa" produced by Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB) & Retina Fabrik
"The Night of the Devils" produced by Filmes Cinematografica, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Split" produced by Universal Pictures, et al.

126 w/ Jessie - Man Bites Dog (1992) & The Houses October Built (2014) →

CW: Rape, Suicide, Infanticide

Read our afterthoughts for this episode at https://twitter.com/PodSematary/status/1236774557500964864

It’s Fake Documentary Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey invite friend-of-the-sematary Jessie over to dish about one of the better sub-sub-genres of horror, the fake documentary! Plus, getting punched in the face at Knott's Scary Farm! Thanks for the recommendations, Harry and Anthony!

The Classic Film: Man Bites Dog [C'est arrivé près de chez vous] (1992)
"A film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand” (IMDb.com). Early 90s hipster filmmakers loved making provocative, black and white, dark comedies on a shoestring budget and the Belgians were no different, apparently!

The Modern Film: The Houses October Built (2014)
"Looking to find an authentic, blood-curdling good fright for Halloween, five friends set off on a road trip in an RV to track down these underground Haunts. Just when their search seems to reach a dead end, strange and disturbing things start happening and it becomes clear that the Haunt has come to them” (IMDb.com). A sort-of-remake of a fake documentary the same filmmakers already made, this movie is very effective at evoking anxiety through its realism, but only the first time around...

Audio Sources:
"Halloween Spooks" written and performed by Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
"The Houses October Built" produced by Room 101 & Foreboding Films
"Last Exit to Springfield" (The Simpsons S04E17) produced by Gracie Films & 20th Century Fox Television
"Man Bites Dog" produced by Les Artistes Anonymes
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"S&M Present" (Robot Chicken S01E09) produced by Stoopid Monkey, et al. 
"This is Spinal Tap" produced by Spinal Tap Prod. & Goldcrest Films International

043 w/ Bob Ramos - Christine (1983) & Oculus (2013) →

It's Material Possessions Week on Pod Sematary and we have our first guest ever! It's Howdy Price from Championship Wrestling from Hollywood and the voice of Full Moon Features' Gingerdead Man: Bob Ramos!

First up is a personal favorite of Chris & Kelsey: the haunted car movie of all haunted car movies, John Carpenter and Stephen King's Christine from 1983! We absolutely love this movie and you will, too. It's over 20 years old so it's officially an antique!

Then it's on to the criminally underrated Oculus from 2013. This movie is the first foray into American cinema for Guardians of the Galaxy's Nebula, Karen Gillan. It didn't get nearly enough credit when it came out and it seemed to disappear pretty quickly. Don't let it pass you by again!

Audio Sources:
"Beach Blanket Bunker: The Untold Story of Hitler & His Prize Surfboard" (Conan, 9/27/12 S02E146) produced by Conaco
"Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" produced by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), et al.
"The Brave Little Toaster" produced by Hyperion Pictures, et al.
"Christine" produced by Columbia Pictures, et al.
"Christine/Silkwood/Sudden Impact/Thriller" (At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert S02E13) produced by Tribune Entertainment
"Guardians of the Galaxy" produced by Marvel Enterprises, et al.
"M1 A1" written by John S. Harrison Jr., Damon Albarn, & Jamie Hewlett and performed by Gorillaz
"Oculus" produced by Blumhouse Productions, et al.