247 - Kiss the Girls (1997) & The Black Phone (2021) →

CW: Suicide, Rape, Homophobia, Child Abuse

It’s Serial-Kidnappers-in-Masks Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey talk to strangers... and dead kids!

Read our afterthoughts for this episode HERE!

The Classic Film: Kiss the Girls (1997)
"Police hunting for a serial kidnapper are helped when a victim manages to escape for the first time” (IMDb.com). Despite its status as the first film appearance of Doctor/Detective Alex Cross, Kiss the Girls is still just one of a slew of mediocre, serial-killer thrillers churned out by the 90s.

The Modern Film: The Black Phone (2021)
"After being abducted and locked in a soundproof basement, a 13-year-old boy starts receiving calls on a disconnected phone from the killer's previous victims” (IMDb.com). A recent critical darling of the genre, Joe Hill and Scott Derrickson's The Black Phone is pretty compelling... if a tad overrated.

Audio Sources:
"American History X" produced by New Line Cinema, et al.
"The Black Phone" produced by Blumhouse Productions, et al.
"Boombastic" written by Orville Burrell, et al., and performed by Shaggy
"Deadpool" produced by Twentieth Century Fox, et al.
"Kiss the Girls" produced by Paramount Pictures & Rysher Entertainment
"Leonardo Leonardo Returns and Dante Has an Important Decision to Make" (Clerks S01E01) produced by View Askew Productions, et al.
"The Little Mermaid" produced by Walt Disney Pictures, et al.
"Robin Hood: Men in Tights" produced by Brooksfilms & Gaumont
"The Sixth Sense" produced by Spyglass Entertainment, et al.

244 - Double Feature - Firestarter (1984 & 2022) →

CW: Child Abuse, Harm to Animals

It’s Firestarter Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey try a double helping of the Stephen King adaptation and start bleeding from all sorts of places.

Read our afterthoughts for this episode HERE!

The Original: Firestarter (1984)
"A couple who participated in a potent medical experiment gain telepathic ability and then have a child who is pyrokinetic” (IMDb.com). Some wonky bits aside, an absolutely stacked cast turns out one of (in our minds) the actually good Stephen King adaptations.

The Remake: Firestarter (2022)
"A young girl tries to understand how she mysteriously gained the power to set things on fire with her mind” (IMDb.com). Compared to the book and the original film, this remake just doesn't stand up. But if you watch it first, you may think it's alright.

Audio Sources:
"Firestarter" (1984) produced by Dino De Laurentiis Company & Universal Pictures
"Firestarter" (2022) produced by Blumhouse Productions, et al.
"Firestarter" written by Liam Howlett, et al., and performed by The Prodigy
"Hot Cold Sodas and Cold Hot Popcorn" by Nuthacker
"The Langoliers" (1995 TV Miniseries) produced by Laurel Entertainment Inc., et al.
"Old School" produced by Dreamworks Pictures & The Montecito Picture Company
"Science Fiction/Double Feature" written by Richard O'Brien & Richard Hartley and performed by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
"Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith" produced by Lucasfilm, et al.
"Stephen King's IT" (1990 TV Miniseries) produced by Green/Epstein Productions, et al.

241 - The Night Flier (1997) & Digging Up the Marrow (2014) →

CW: Rape

It’s Monster Investigations Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey don't blame the actors for this very ranty episode of listener recommendations (Thanks, Aaron & Will!).

Read our afterthoughts for this episode HERE!

The Classic Film: The Night Flier (1997)
"A reporter is on the trail of a vampiric murderer who travels by plane” (IMDb.com). Believe it or not, this Stephen King adaptation starring Miguel Ferrer WASN'T made for TV.

The Modern Film: Digging Up the Marrow (2014)|
"A documentary exploring genre-based monster art takes an odd turn when the filmmakers are contacted by a man who claims he can prove that monsters are indeed real” (IMDb.com). Surprisingly, Adam Green's acting isn't all that bad (neither is Ray Wise's), and almost all of the monster effects are really cool. Unfortunately, that's about where the praise for this mockumentary-cum-advertisement stops.

Audio Sources:
"Digging Up the Marrow" produced by ArieScope Pictures
"The Night Flier" produced by Night Flier Productions, et al.
"Thinner" produced by Paramount Pictures & Spelling Films
"Vampire's Kiss" produced by Hemdale & Magellan Pictures

224 - The Dead Zone (1983) & Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) →

CW: Suicide, Molestation

It’s Presidents' Day on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey can see the future and the future is fighting a mummy with JFK!

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

The Classic Film: The Dead Zone (1983)
"A man awakens from a coma to discover he has a psychic ability” (IMDb.com). Cronenberg, King, and Walken sound like a can't-miss combination, and—for the most part—it is. Strangely, especially considering the names, it isn't very horrific, though.

The Modern Film: Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)
"Elvis Presley and a black JFK stay in a nursing home where nothing happens—until a wayward Egyptian mummy comes and sucks out the old people's souls thru their a-holes. The two decide to fight back” (IMDb.com). Bubba Ho-Tep was a pretty big deal in certain circles when it came out. Of course, it was. I mean, the cast and concept alone are killer. Right?

Audio Sources:
"Bubba Ho-Tep" produced by Silver Sphere Corporation
"The Dead Zone" produced by Dino De Laurentiis Company & Lorimar Film Entertainment
"Fight Club" produced by Fox 2000 Pictures, et al.
"Maximum Overdrive" produced by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
"My Name is Bruce" produced by Dark Horse Entertainment & Image Entertainment\
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Pet Sematary" (2019) produced by Paramount Pictures, et al.
"The Raven" (from Hal Willner's "Closed On Account Of Rabies") written by Edgar Allan Poe and performed by Christopher Walken
"Team America: World Police" produced by Paramount Pictures, et al.

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

162 - Children of the Corn II (1992) & Doctor Sleep (2019) →

CW: Suicide, Infant/Child Pain and Death, Domestic Abuse, Overdose, Addiction

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

It’s Stephen King Sequels Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey shine on in a field of nothing but stupid, old corn.

The Classic Film: Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992)
"A journalist and his son travel to Nebraska to investigate the mysterious town of Gatlin where, unbeknownst to them, a murderous cult of children are still waiting in the cornfields” (IMDb.com). This is not a good sequel, but we were surprised by just how much fun we had watching it.

The Modern Film: Doctor Sleep (2019)
"Years following the events of The Shining, a now-adult Dan Torrance must protect a young girl with similar powers from a cult known as The True Knot, who prey on children with powers to remain immortal” (IMDb.com). Doctor Sleep has the unenviable job of walking the tightrope between following on from Kubrick's version of The Shining and staying faithful to the King books, but it manages to pull it off with aplomb.

Audio Sources:
"Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" produced by De Laurentiis Entertainment Group, et al.
"Children of the Corn II: Final Sacrifice" produced by Fifth Avenue Entertainment, et al.
"Doctor Sleep" produced by Warner Bros., et al.
"Friday the 13th" (1980) produced by Sean S. Cunningham Films, et al.
"Homer vs. the 18th Amendment" (The Simpsons S08E18) produced by Gracie Films & 20th Century Fox Television
"Instant Karma! (We All Shine On)" written and performed by John Lennon
"Midnight, the Stars and You" written by Harry M. Woods, Jimmy Campbell, & Reg Connelly and performed by Ray Noble and his Orchestra & Al Bowlly
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Pokémon Theme" written by John Siegler & John Loeffler and performed by Jason Paige

142 - Silver Bullet (1985) & Wer (2013) →

CW: Suicide, Ableism

Worst of 2020 - #8 Wer

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

It’s Werewolf 4th of July on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey are charming, family werewolf hunters but then they decide to become an action movie because reasons.

The Classic Film: Silver Bullet (1985)
“A werewolf terrorizes a small city where lives the paralytic Marty Coslaw, his uncle, and his sister, the story's narrator” (IMDb.com). An adaptation of Stephen King’s "novelette,” “Cycle of the Werewolf,” Silver Bullet is a surprisingly tense, small-town horror flick with endearing characters and a charming world.

The Modern Film: Wer (2013)
"A defense attorney begins to suspect that there might be more to her client, who is charged with the murders of a vacationing family, than meets the eye” (IMDb.com). One of the best examples of a movie dropping the ball, Wer starts with an incredible premise and tone before deciding it would rather be a terrible, nonsensical, action movie.

Audio Sources:
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Split" produced by Universal Pictures et al.
“Silver Bullet” produced by Dino De Laurentiis Company, et al.
"The Secret of NIMH" produced by Don Bluth Productions
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" produced by Warner Bros. et al.
"An American Werewolf in London" produced by Polygram Pictures, et al.
“Wer” produced by FilmDistrict, et al.

140 - Creepshow (1982) & Frailty (2001) →

CW: Suicide

Read our afterthoughts for this episode here!

It’s Father’s Day on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey find out where their cake is and realize that Tedanson ain't no fool.

The Classic Film: Creepshow (1982)
"An anthology which tells five terrifying tales based on the E.C. horror comic books of the 1950s” (IMDb.com). If you ever read those EC horror comics, there’s a lot to appreciate and enjoy about this anthology from horror masters Stephen King and George A. Romero, but a lot less if you don’t like cockroaches. 

The Modern Film: Frailty (2001)
"A mysterious man arrives at the offices of an FBI agent and recounts his childhood: how his religious fanatic father received visions telling him to destroy people who were in fact ‘demons'” (IMDb.com). Bill Paxton’s directorial debut, Frailty is a sadly overlooked gem of the 2000-era, psycho-spiritual thriller heap.

Audio Sources:
“Christine” produced by Columbia Pictures, et al.
“Creepshow” produced by Creepshow Films Inc., et al.
“Frailty” produced by David Kirschner Productions, et al.
"National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation” produced by Warner Bros., et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones

131 - The Stand (1994) & Quarantine (2008) →

CW: Suicide, Rape, Mental Illness and Ableism

Read our afterthoughts for this episode at https://twitter.com/PodSematary/status/1249931486444130305

It’s Infectious Disease Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey are safer at home and have nothing better to do than watch a 6-hour television miniseries about a global pandemic and then record one of the podcast's longest episodes yet!

The Classic Miniseries: The Stand (1994)
"After a deadly plague kills most of the world's population, the remaining survivors split into two groups - one led by a benevolent elder and the other by a maleficent being - to face each other in a final battle between good and evil” (IMDb.com). Even though this 6-hour miniseries is based on one of Stephen King's longer novels, this televisual epic had everything 90s TV was good at -- namely a high confidence-to-capability ratio!

The Modern Film: Quarantine (2008)
"A television reporter and her cameraman are trapped inside a building quarantined by the CDC, after the outbreak of a mysterious virus which turns humans into bloodthirsty killers” (IMDb.com). American cinema did what it always does and went and remade a foreign movie, this time Spain's [•REC]. But relax, it's basically the same movie.

Audio Sources:
"Boogie Fever" written by Freddie Perren & Kenneth St. Lewis and performed by The Sylvers
"Critters 2: The Main Course" produced by New Line Cinema & Sho Films
"Don't Dream It's Over" written by Neil Finn and performed by Crowded House
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" written by Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser and performed by Blue Öyster Cult
"A Fish Called Selma" (The Simpsons S07E19) produced by Gracie Films & 20th Century Fox Television
"Halloween" (1978) produced by Compass International Pictures, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Quarantine" produced by Vertigo Entertainment, et al.
"Rock-A-Doodle" produced by Goldcrest Films International & Sullivan Bluth Studios
"Snatch" produced by Columbia Pictures & SKA Films
"The Stand" (1994) produced by Greengrass Productions & Laurel Entertainment Inc.

114 - Pet Sematary II (1992) & It Chapter Two (2019) →

CW: Rape, Suicide, Domestic Abuse, Homophobia, Distressing sequences involving animals

Read our afterthoughts for this episode at https://twitter.com/PodSematary/status/1203531590904795136

It’s Stephen King Sequels Week on Pod Sematary! Chris & Kelsey go back to the well to revive Stephen King adaptions in the form of sequels!

The Classic Film: Pet Sematary II (1992)
"A teenage boy and his father move to his recently-deceased mother's hometown, where they encounter the ancient Native American cemetery with the power to raise the dead” (IMDb.com). This bonkers sequel is fairly lovable in its weirdness, even if the ending goes a little off the rails.

The Modern Film: It Chapter Two (2019)
"Twenty-seven years after their first encounter with the terrifying Pennywise, the Losers Club have grown up and moved away, until a devastating phone call brings them back” (IMDb.com). Having enjoyed Chapter One in episode 15 of the podcast (or “liked okay” in Kelsey’s case), we were surprised to find that Chapter Two was massively hobbled in what appears to be an attempt to end the story and include every popular ingredient from the first chapter at the same time. Simply put: it does not work.

Plus! Our spoiler-free thoughts on the Netflix adaptation of King and Hill's In the Tall Grass!

Audio Sources:
"Christine" produced by Columbia Pictures, et al.
"Clueless" produced by Paramount Pictures
"Fading Away" performed by Jan King
“It Chapter Two” produced by New Line Cinema, et al.
"Pet Sematary" written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
“Pet Sematary II” produced by Paramount Pictures & Columbus Circle Films
“Poison Heart” written by Dee Dee Ramone & Daniel Rey and performed by The Ramones
"Reverence" written by William Reid & Jim Reid and performed by The Jesus and Mary Chain
"Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)" written by Johnny Mandel (music) & Mike Altman (lyrics) and performed by The Mash
"Training / Credits" (from "Punch-Out!!" [NES]) composed and arranged by Yukio Kaneoka, Akito Nakatsuka, and Kenji Yamamoto
"Weird Satanist Guy" via BowserVids @ www.youtube.com/watch?v=YErFwJX0HKE