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.

167 - End of Days (1999) & Midnighters (2017) →

CW: Rape, Suicide, Addiction

Worst of 2020 - #4 (tied) Midnighters

It’s New Year's Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey shoot the devil with a grenade launcher and also make some very bad decisions.

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Classic Film: End of Days (1999)
"At the end of the century, Satan visits New York in search of a bride. It's up to an ex-cop who now runs an elite security outfit to stop him” (IMDb.com). Arnold Schwarzenegger stars (for some reason) in one of many turn-of-the-millennium religious thrillers, and you know what that means... shooting Satan with a ton of bullets!

The Modern Film: Midnighters (2017)
"Midnight, New Year's Eve: when all the hopes of new beginnings come to life - except for Lindsey and Jeff Pittman, whose strained marriage faces the ultimate test after they cover up a terrible crime and find themselves entangled in a Hitchcockian web of deceit and madness” (IMDb.com). Wow, that plot summary is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Midnighters is dim, contrived, and not very inspired. It's beyond us why this film is as highly rated as it is.

Audio Sources:
"Adventures in Babysitting" produced by Touchstone Pictures & Silver Screen Partners III
"Chicago" (2002) produced by Miramax, et al.
"End of Days" produced by Beacon Pictures & Lucifilms
"Midnighters" produced by Graystone Pictures
"Moral of the Story" written by Ashlyn Rae Willson, Casey Smith, & Noah Conrad and performed by Ashe
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Usual Suspects" produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, et al.

117 - Bloody New Year (1987) & New Year, New You (2018) →

CW: Suicide, Bullying

Worst of 2019 - #8 Bloody New Year

Read our afterthoughts for this episode at https://twitter.com/PodSematary/status/1211413429241597952

It’s New Year's on Pod Sematary! This week, Chris and Kelsey get trapped in a time loop and go DF!

The Classic Film: Bloody New Year (1987)
"Five shipwrecked English teenagers take refuge in an island hotel that is decorated for New Years. The problem is, it's early summer, and soon enough, even the walls themselves are striking out against them” (IMDb.com). Even the director gave up on this movie, and we can see why.

The Modern Film: New Year, New You (2018)
"A group of old friends gather for a girls' night on New Year's Eve. But as they begin to rehash old memories, many of the gripes they've been harboring manifest in murderous ways” (IMDb.com). Part of “Into the Dark,” a Hulu Original horror anthology series produced by Blumhouse, this New Year’s episode explores what can happen when alpha-female bullies become internet influencers. 

Audio Sources:
“Bloody New Year” produced by Cinema and Theatre Seating Limited & Lazer Entertainment
“New Year, New You” (Into the Dark, S01E04) produced by Blumhouse Television
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones

065 - New Year's Evil (1980) & Antisocial (2013) →

CW: Suicide, Mental Illness

Worst 2017/18 - #9 Antisocial

Happy New Year, Pod Sematary Fossors! Chris & Kelsey are celebrating two weeks of New Year's horror "fun"!

First up is a New Year's classic we've seen before an totally forgot about if that tells you anything: 1980's New Year's Evil! Famous New Wave DJ Blaze is hosting a rocking celebration on the last night of the year! Meanwhile, a killer calling himself "Evil" is on the prowl murdering women every time it strikes midnight across the various time zones of the contiguous United States.

Then it's on to a movie with "a lot to say," 2013's Antisocial! This is a horror movie that thinks it's high-minded commentary on our society's connection to technology and social media. "Thinks" is the operative word here...

Plus, a Pod Sematary Year* in Review(s)!
--Our bottom ten lowest reviewed movies!
--The ten biggest disagreements with the "critical consensus"!
--Our top ten highest reviewed movies!
--The ten biggest discrepancies between Chris' and Kelsey's ratings!
(*Actually, 15 months)

Find more on podsematary.com! Read our afterthoughts for this episode at: https://twitter.com/PodSematary/status/1079570442854297600

Audio Sources:
"An American Werewolf in London" produced by PolyGram Filmed Entertainment & Lycanthrope Films
"Antisocial" produced by Black Fawn Films & Breakthrough Entertainment
"Babadook" produced by Screen Australia, et al.
"Baseketball" produced by Zucker Brothers Productions
"Beetlejuice" produced by The Geffen Company
"Cabin in the Woods" produced by Lionsgate, et al.
"Dracula Untold" produced by Legendary Entertainment, et al.
"Get Out" produced by Monkeypaw Productions, et al.
"It Follows" produced by Northern Lights Films, et al.
"New Year's Evil" produced by Golan-Globus Productions
"A Nightmare on Elm Street" produced by New Line Cinema, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Rosemary's Baby" produced by William Castle Productions
"Sesame Street" produced by Children's Television Workshop (CTW), et al.
"Se7en" produced by New Line Cinema, et al.
"Silence of the Lambs" produced by Strong Heart/Demme Production & Orion Pictures
"The Wolf Man" (1941) produced by Universal Pictures

014 - Phantom Carriage (1921) & Life Blood (2009)

Worst of 2017/18 - #1 (Tied) Life Blood

Friends, this episode has the worst movie we've reviewed so far. Frankly, it's incredible just how bad it is. Chris and Kelsey take a trip in the way back machine to review the influential, silent, Swedish classic, 1921's The Phantom Carriage. Then... well, then there's 2009's Life Blood about holy lesbian vampires. Folks, don't bother watching this ahead of time; we'll tell you all you need to know about this festering garbage fire.

013 - Terror Train (1980) & The Signal (2007) →

The Scream Queen, Jamie Lee Curtis, is back in this week's New Year's Rockin' episode of Pod Sematary! For auld lang syne, Chris and Kelsey rewatch one of their favorite New Year's horror films, 1980's Terror Train, and follow it up with the violent and quirky The Signal from 2007. End this awful year right and join us in ringing in 2018 the way it ought to be done: by hitting 2017 over the head repeatedly with a canister of rodent poison!