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

075 - God Told Me To (1976) & Holidays (2016) →

CW: Suicide, Mass Shooting/Killing, Transphobia, Interphobia, Miscarriage, Rape, Abortion

It's St. Patrick's Day on Pod Sematary! That means Chris & Kelsey are going to once again find some flimsy connection to the Irish holiday!

The Classic Film: God Told Me To (1976)
"A New York detective investigates a series of murders committed by random New Yorkers who claim that 'God told them to.'" This classic, exploitation-style, 70s horror flick certainly goes some places, but will it really give you nightmares... forever?

The Modern Film: Holidays (2016)
"Holidays is an anthology feature film that puts a uniquely dark and original spin on some of the most iconic and beloved holidays of all time by challenging our folklore, traditions, and assumptions." Will the hit-or-miss natures of these vignettes ruin the movie's chances of becoming an all-time anthology classic?

Get more at podsematary.com! Read our afterthoughts for this episode at twitter.com/PodSematary/status/1104211421850562561

Audio Sources:
"The Alternate Side" (Seinfeld S03E11) produced by Shapiro/West Productions & Castle Rock Entertainment 
"Atlanta" from Nice Try, The Devil written and performed by Pete Holmes 
"Beetlejuice" produced by The Geffen Company
"Clue" produced by Paramount Pictures, et al
"Dracula Untold" produced by Universal Pictures, et al.
"Fright Night" produced by Columbia Pictures Corporation, et al.
"God Told Me To" produced by Big Hit Productions & New World Pictures
"Holidays" produced by XYZ Films, et al.
"The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" (The Simpsons S08E14) produced by Gracie Films & 20th Century Fox Television
"Jingle All the Way" produced by 1492 Pictures & Twentieth Century Fox
"The Neverending Story" produced by Constantin Film, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"POWER" written and produced by Kanye West, et al.
"Smuckers Ad (1975)" via Chuck D's All-New Classic TV Clubhouse @ www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGAUcoBjDhU
"Split" produced by Universal Pictures, et al.
"We're the Millers" produced by New Line Cinema, et al.

066 - Ghostkeeper (1981) & The Children (2008) →

CW: Abortion, Pedophilia, Rape

Happy New Year from Pod Sematary! Chris and Kelsey wrap up their two-week new year celebration with two horror movies that have something surprising in common: talented direction without the resources to execute!

Our classic film is 1981's Ghostkeeper, a little-watched atmospheric horror from Canada about the legend of the Wendigo! When three friends visiting the Canadian Rockies for the new year get lost on their snowmobiles, they’re forced to find shelter in a run-down lodge. While there, they meet a strange old woman who is protecting more than her rustic way of life. Did a dwindling budget ruin what could have easily become seasonal hit?

Then it's on to our modern film, 2008's The Children, a low-budget British flick that takes the Jaws route of suggestion over more explicit gore. What happens when two loving families become the victims of a disease that makes their children violent? Will they be able to keep it together long enough to make it to the new year? Is it surprising when a talented director can't write a coherent script?

Get more at podsematary.com! Read our afterthoughts for this episode at https://twitter.com/PodSematary/status/1081663761583407104

Audio Sources:
"Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" produced by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, et al.
"The Children" produced by Vertigo Films, et al.
"Ghostkeeper" produced by Badland Pictures
"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!