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Episode 744 - Movie Night at Ajax World f/ Benito Cereno
2 Playsin 4 days
Benito and Matt finally got Chris to watch a movie they recommended, Deadstream. So they're offering up some more spooky-not-scary ideas for stuff for him to watch, while visiting the old abandoned War Rocket Ajax-themed amusement park our grandfathers opened. Happy Halloween!
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Setup
00:00:00
Speaker
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00:00:29
Speaker
I'm bored.
Arrival at 744 Gimmick Street
00:00:31
Speaker
What plaything can you offer me today?
00:00:38
Speaker
got more Rocket Ajax to bring back his body. Terminator
00:00:59
Speaker
All right, Matt, we're here, finally.
History of Ajax World
00:01:01
Speaker
I know that it's Halloween night this very night. Yep. But we were told that we needed to come out here. ah This is the right address, right? this is Yes, it's 744 Gimmick Street.
00:01:14
Speaker
ah it's it I didn't come here ever before, but this is Ajax World. This is the old well abandoned amusement park.
00:01:25
Speaker
It used to be Ajax World. Yeah. Back in the day. You know, all the rides are shut down. and but But kids sneak in here, you know, to to run around and pull pranks.
00:01:38
Speaker
That's what I heard. they They treat the whole thing like the Garfield ride. It's ah it's nasty. Yeah. and there it's It's real nasty in there, yeah. ah You're recording, right?
Grandfathers' Legacy and the Creepy Caretaker
00:01:48
Speaker
Hi, listeners. This is Chris Sims. With me, as always, is Matt Wilson. This is War Rocket Ajax. And ah we had a little unexpected communication in the mail this week.
00:01:57
Speaker
Yeah, ah i don't I didn't really understand it, um but it did it told us to come to Ajax World. so Yeah, well, a thing I didn't realize was that our grandfathers...
00:02:13
Speaker
started this ah dis amusement park. They didn't start an abandoned amusement park. They started an amusement park. it was very popular It was very popular in the 70s. And weirdly enough, it is themed after our show, and they were also best friends. Well, by you your grandfather was my grandfather's best friend, but my grandfather wasn't your grandfather's best friend. But that's okay.
00:02:38
Speaker
It's fine. well It says here we're supposed end up with a that one got you hu ye but says here that we're supposed to meet up with a ah creepy caretaker.
00:02:53
Speaker
Oh, all right. i it's It's weird that it would end say in the text that they were creepy. ah but Yeah, that's a shirt it's kind of judgmental and very specific. It says they're very tall and love books.
00:03:07
Speaker
Hey, guys. Oh, Oh, it's it's Benito. Yeah. Wait, are you surprised? You were supposed to know because I told them. I was like, please make sure you describe me as creepy so they'll they'll know it it's me.
00:03:20
Speaker
Oh. Oh, that explains it. if You dictated this. No, I delegated. i delegated. You know, you don't. you don't get to run the abandoned amusement park without, uh, delegating some responsibilities.
00:03:35
Speaker
Well, you're too busy writing blood and thunder and Hector plasm.
Metroidvania Ride and Haunting Tales
00:03:38
Speaker
Uh, that's too true. Although, although right now, um, I was too busy, uh, sweeping out the old, uh, Metroidvania themed, uh, obstacle, uh, attraction that used to be, ah used to be a non-coff Raiders of the Lost Ark, but it, um, then later it was, uh,
00:03:59
Speaker
Later it was Hollow Knight. And now it's abandoned. Now, Benito, sure first of all, depressingly accurate depiction of the life of a comic book writer.
00:04:10
Speaker
Uh-huh. Second of all, now is it true, the are the rumors true, is this place really hinted? It is.
00:04:23
Speaker
Many hates, many spookums. I think I saw a phase four boogum somewhere. So. You know, if our grandfathers, who just coincidentally looked exactly like us, so all of the art around here. Yeah, but with mutton chops. Yeah.
00:04:41
Speaker
Right. It's just us with mutton chops on all the art. but it's it's really Because your grandfather had a full beard and then layered mutton chops on top of that. Yeah, right. not It's not unheard of.
00:04:54
Speaker
Old Double Chops Wilson, they called him. That's right. It's really too bad that our grandfathers sold this place off to the company that owned that Garfield Amusement Park instead of just willing it to us.
00:05:12
Speaker
Because we would we would make this place thrive, I feel like. Now, see, Matt, that raises a question of why we're here. i was thinking it was an inheritance situation. But now, you've established a piece of world building.
Inheritance Speculations and Humor
00:05:28
Speaker
Well, our grandfathers died years ago. Obviously.
00:05:32
Speaker
yes like Our grandfathers died probably at least a decade ago. I would say 50 years ago this very night. Right. And so there would have to be some reason why we were here other than that.
00:05:49
Speaker
Because our dads are both also in canon dead. job I mean, also real life. Yes.
00:06:02
Speaker
like But you know, think you're still hanging in there. but Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was actually... i was actually if I could step outside the fiction here for a second, I was just talking to Matt about how I feel bad talking to our friends because all the time I'm like, yep, both of my parents are still alive. Sorry.
00:06:21
Speaker
Sorry. It's because it feels like being in the room with the Justice League sometime because like everyone's just like, yep, my parents are dead. i I like this because I was going for more of like a traditional kind of Scooby-Doo-bian level of of like horror.
00:06:40
Speaker
And now you've like the real horror is... aging. and Yeah, the passage of time. Yeah. yeah the It will grind us all down to dust. it It will, just like the dust of this Ajax-themed amusement park that's built on the skeleton of an old Garfield amusement park, which is itself built on an ancient burial ground.
00:07:01
Speaker
So... Yeah, but it's an ancient Garfield burial ground. Correct. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not associated with any like particular indigenous ethnic group or anything. It was where it was where all of those ah Garfield plushes with the suction cups on their hands that you put in the back of your car, that's where those go to die.
00:07:18
Speaker
that was That was here. Correct. so now So why did we get called here? I don't think we need to establish that. Matt, we're here now. I told them this in the letter because I was like,
Dark Ride Antics and Horror Movie Pitch
00:07:30
Speaker
Hey, I got this new job sweeping up the Metroidvania attraction at the ruined amusement park. I wish my boys were here. So you're, wait, you're the caretaker of the amusement park, but only for one ride?
00:07:44
Speaker
Well, no, but that's the one I like the best. Oh, okay. I mean, I would probably like it. So it's not a ride, it's an interactive obstacle experience. Yeah, there's a, um I think there's like ah like a Dark Souls roller coaster too, but I can't get on it for some reason.
00:08:00
Speaker
Yeah, you have to go. There's a really dangerous street that you have to go down. Yeah. Now, Benito, you said this amusement park was haunted. Yes.
00:08:11
Speaker
It's a creepy haunted amusement park. So I don't know if I want to go in there, guys. Because i famously don't enjoy being frightened.
00:08:25
Speaker
Yeah. Well, this is this is of interest. This is interesting to hear. Because Benito in particular, but I as well, I feel like we have both been trying to recommend Halloween-themed,
00:08:49
Speaker
semi-scary movies to you for years. and Many of which you don't try. Yeah. Which I understand. like You don't like the genre.
00:09:00
Speaker
but I do want to point out, one of my literal New Year's resolutions this year was to be more open to specifically both of your
Chris's Movie Recommendation Journey
00:09:10
Speaker
recommendations. for like you know when i When I say, like hey, what what is a good movie for me to watch today?
00:09:16
Speaker
And I don't believe in this calendar year. I think the only one that has been recommended to me was Deadstream. I think that like you you both gave up I don't blame you.
00:09:27
Speaker
It was a real Chris cries wolf situation. In this case, yeah the wolf is, I want to watch a movie. well and And then you don't. You just watch a Power Rangers or something.
00:09:39
Speaker
Bonito did recommend to you the movie Deadstream, which is now available on Netflix. It was a Shudder exclusive, and now it is available on Netflix. And you watched it, and you told us that you like it.
00:09:50
Speaker
Yeah, I enjoyed it. And so, if people don't know about what Deadstream is, it's a it's a ah ah funny – it's a horror comedy about a streamer, like a popular streamer, who has been disgraced.
00:10:05
Speaker
Yeah, he's been canceled. Yes. And so, to get his audience back, he goes to like a haunted house and tries to stream there for a whole night. And hijinks ensue.
00:10:18
Speaker
yeah so i think it's a horror comedy that manages to get a really good balance on the horror and the comedy. And the comedy is all actually really funny. like the yeah The character is is very funny.
00:10:30
Speaker
Yes, it's well done. It's a well done movie. So, Benito and I... I didn't know Benito was going to invite us here to this abandoned amusement park.
00:10:41
Speaker
Oh, sorry. did you think we were going? The Four Seasons? Lawn repair? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I thought we were going to go to the Philadelphia suburbs. All right. well And hang y out at a gardening business. Next year at the Four Seasons, I guess.
00:10:57
Speaker
Yes. Cheapers. What I thought, i but we did talk about beforehand, um maybe pitching you some ideas for other, not scary, but Movies in the horror genre that we think you might enjoy watching.
00:11:22
Speaker
And see if we can sell you on one. Alright, and so if I can kind of, like exposure therapy, if I can get used to that, then we can all hang out in the incredibly haunted and also weirdly us-themed amusement park.
00:11:41
Speaker
Yeah, and I bet there's like a... like a screen in here somewhere that we could watch a movie on. you know, like there, uh, there, there
Theme Park Memories and Mishaps
00:11:51
Speaker
is, ah there is a dark ride, um, that, uh, it's called, uh, it's called book, boogum blasters.
00:12:01
Speaker
And, ah you ride through and you shoot ghosts with laser guns. Now, how is that? How is that theme to this show? Benito? Um, Well, the ghosts are your grandfathers and anyway. Uh, but the thing is, um, it was shut down because local teens took advantage of being in a moving car in a dark, in a dark ride.
00:12:27
Speaker
And so they, um, so it's actually, most people call it finger blasters of boo hill. So, um, uh, But there's a projection screen. That might is my point.
00:12:38
Speaker
Hey, man, if people don't know about that Garfield ride, they are not going to know. They're going to be very confused and upset about this show. Look, yeah you got to go watch the Defunctland video about the Garfield ride. Okay, all right quick all right, quick aside, though.
00:12:54
Speaker
um there at king's island there is there is a ride uh it's called boo uh boo blasters at boo hill it's not called that anymore because they they are re uh they're re-theming it back to its old theme of like the phantom theater or something like that right it was kind of like a phantom of the opera i guess themed thing uh like it was in uh the 90s and my wife sarah who's from the cincinnati area um she told me that all of her friends who had jobs at Kings Island in the summer ah would, and their job was to like monitor the ride.
00:13:27
Speaker
They saw um many second bases at minimum achieved ah at, at, at Boo Blasters. um I people get nasty at theme parks.
00:13:40
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Unbelievable. um I was there on the last day of Boo Blasters. Um, And we, which was, it was just a couple weeks ago.
00:13:51
Speaker
We went there. And were you read like, finally, finally it's going to happen. Yes. I was like, this is the one I was like counting on first and a half base. Maybe.
00:14:03
Speaker
No, I was actually like, generally, genuinely. I was like, finally, my wife is going to let me ride this ghost themed dark ride. um Because every time we've been in there in the past, she's like, no, that's as stupid as for babies. But I'm like,
00:14:14
Speaker
but it's the ghost ride. I get to shoot ghosts with lasers. What do what do you mean? Uh, but we went, uh, to King's Island. We took my nephew to King's Island. He had never been. ah and, uh, the problem was it was really hot and I'm old now.
00:14:31
Speaker
And, uh, by the time we got in line for boob blasters, I had some kind of heat stroke or something.
00:14:42
Speaker
um, And I, like, full-on exorcist-ass projectile vomited all over the front of Boo Blasters at Boo Hill. ah So you so you really you really gave it a send-off.
00:14:57
Speaker
i I did. I did. And you could absolutely tell that the two things I had to eat that day were pizza and a red icy. And, um, but okay.
00:15:07
Speaker
That's a detail. Yeah. The good news is, um, that thing is literally like 20 feet away from the first aid station. And so I went there and they gave me like a little thimble full of power aid and sat me next to a big fan. And I felt real, a lot better real soon. That's a true story.
00:15:25
Speaker
Um,
00:15:27
Speaker
That's me, and that's me and the dark ride, and last time I was at an amusement park. So it's bringing back memories, gang. So thanks for being here with me. I was going to suggest there might be a screen like like Muppet Vision 3D.
00:15:41
Speaker
Yeah, like one of those like rides where the were the chairs move around. i mean, Muppet Vision 3D wasn't even that it was just that. You just went and watched a little short Muppet movie at Disney World.
00:15:52
Speaker
and it's one of the best It was one of the best things there i p So you you and me, werere thinking about we're thinking about like Days of Thunder and Back to the Future. Yeah, yeah, yeah. or the Or the Spider-Man ride at Universal?
00:16:05
Speaker
Well, the Spider-Man ride, that's not... The Spider-Man ride moves. yeah the The chairs move, yeah. No, but they know the Spider-Man ride moves through a... It's it's like a dark ride. It goes on a track.
00:16:17
Speaker
I'm thinking of Back to the Future. Yeah. Back to the Future is great. The original Back to the Future was like in the DeLorean, and there's like a little screen in the DeLorean moves. like Not... on Well, it like it moves in the way that a rocking horse moves, not in the way that an actual car moves.
00:16:36
Speaker
You or whatever. It's fixed in place, but like it rocks and... Yeah, man. we We all know how Days of Thunder works. Yeah, alright. Anyway... So...
00:16:49
Speaker
I've been thinking about
Understanding Fear and Horror Movie Balance
00:16:50
Speaker
this a lot lately. As we get to October in the spooky season, and I do get the desire to what to partake of frightening media.
00:17:05
Speaker
But not for spooky media. And i was having a conversation about this, and I was like, for my entire life, I've been telling people i don't like horror movies.
00:17:17
Speaker
you know I'm not like a horror person. But don't know if that's true on reflection. Because I don't think it's that I don't like horror movies.
00:17:30
Speaker
I mean, i think you love Dracula. Yeah, I love Dracula. That's the thing. I have this opinion that I'll say, and then I have to qualify it a bunch, where I'm like, yeah, I don't like horror movies, but you know you should totally watch Abigail. That movie fucking whips.
00:17:46
Speaker
or you know like Or, oh, those Hammer Draculas are great. Or, Deadstream was ah was a real fun time. I wind up having to qualify it so much that I i feel like I need to stop saying it.
00:18:03
Speaker
And i think the way I need to put it, and you know that I hate having to correct myself.
00:18:13
Speaker
I think the way that I'm going to start putting it is, i just don't like to be frightened. yes yeah I don't like enjoy actually being scared. we're We're not going to recommend Hereditary to you anytime soon.
00:18:26
Speaker
No, no. But I understand that what you what you don't like is like genuine tension and dread. like yeah Yeah. You don't mind having a horror theme as long as you're having a good time while you're watching Yes.
00:18:41
Speaker
And I feel like that makes it very difficult to recommend me things because that's very subjective. Sure. Yes. But ah but we're going to try. We're going to try.
00:18:53
Speaker
So I don't know how many we're going to go through. i don't know how many you have queued up, Benito. If you have some queued up, are you just going to go off the dome? i'm just I'm doing off the dome. I do have some of my Letterboxd lists ready to to look at, but we can discuss as many as we have time for, I suppose. i well i have I have three ready to go and can provide more.
00:19:17
Speaker
Okay. ah So, do you want to start, Benito? What were you going to say, Chris? Well, I was just going to say, you two have a show that you do with Eric Henderson. Yes.
00:19:28
Speaker
That I think is primarily about insulting me. but you've You've said this before. Secondarily. I disagree, but yes. Well, I mean, you know Benito always says something very sarcastic about me whenever I come up, which is frequent because I'm friends with all three of you.
00:19:43
Speaker
oh Like, Benito... it's It's so weird that you can have an air jerk-off motion in the tone of your voice whenever you talk about me.
00:19:56
Speaker
ah It's wild. ah it Yep. it Long practiced. So it it took a ah lot of work to get there. um But, you know, that's what...
00:20:09
Speaker
Makes us professionals. Hey, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? That's right. But I have listened to you. i i will say that as a show that i ah look forward to. Because it is it's it's fun to hear ah you know Benito, my boy, and Matt, my boy too, oh talking about these movies.
00:20:30
Speaker
And I've heard you all talk about Final Destination. And I've been sitting there listening to it and thinking, this just sounds funny. A lot of stuff in Final Destination is just funny and played for laughs. Yeah, yeah. so The line between Final Destination and I-think-you-should-leave sketch seems razor thin just from hearing you talk about them.
00:20:53
Speaker
ah Not wrong. Not wrong. I mean, look, I i i think you should leave – is funny, but it is like verging toward horror. and i observed because i've watch I watched the first episode of The Chair Company. I haven't seen the second one yet.
00:21:11
Speaker
But that's Tim Robinson's new show on HBO. um h HBO Max, ah not a sponsor, but could be. who more like Friendship is nearly a horror movie.
00:21:28
Speaker
And the chair company is even more like verging into that territory. Yeah. I mean, he was already he was already playing with you know ah pretty dark themes, and I think you should leave. so yeah I haven't watched the other stuff yet.
00:21:45
Speaker
um i'm I'm really looking forward to it. I do like Tim Robinson. um like there's a there's a There's a sequence in an abandoned building in the first episode of the chair company that is like, lynchian like it's like it's it's i i can i can definitely see him continuing to push in that direction until he becomes like a weird compliment to the kind of like kind of the darker stuff that uh nathan fielder is doing as well like yeah i mean not the same but like a compliment to that i mean tim and eric did the same thing like the the
00:22:18
Speaker
I don't know if either of you ever watched the Tim and Eric's Bedtime Stories show. No, I remember hearing you talk about it. I got yeah i got so put off by the early some of the early Tim and Eric stuff. ah Where they, you know, I don't know, they put on a lot of lipstick and eat cat food or whatever. And I'm like, this is not for me.
00:22:36
Speaker
The Bedtime Stories show is basically ah horror anthology, too. So, like, there's a fine line. There's a really fine line between, like...
00:22:48
Speaker
surprising I mean, you know people will will theorize and and philosophize about ah horror and comedy being so similar because they're both based on surprise.
00:23:01
Speaker
um Right, and they have similar structures in terms of setup and payoff. yeah Yeah, there's definitely a lot of theorizing because so many comedians have gone on to have success in horror.
00:23:12
Speaker
Yeah. ah so but they yeah They do share a lot of DNA, I feel like. you know Absolutely.
Final Destination and Streaming Services
00:23:20
Speaker
Alright, so on that point, this wasn't going to be my first movie, but since it came up, I was going to say, Chris, you should watch Final Destination Bloodlines.
00:23:30
Speaker
Okay. No, is that that that is that the the most recent one? That's the most recent one. Yes, that's the newest one. you You don't need to have seen any of the previous ones. um and Well, i have listened to about six hours of podcasting about them. Right, right.
00:23:45
Speaker
um I mean, and in in my opinion, the new the new one is is like, don't I'm not going to commit to saying it's the best one. I do think it's the most watchable and accessible one.
00:23:58
Speaker
um And by, if for no other reason, by virtue of being the newest one, it feels the least dated. um And so I think it's super accessible.
00:24:10
Speaker
It's also, I think it's, it, it's probably the funniest one and like yeah intentionally and intentionally. So the, I think the other movies have some intentional comedy in them.
00:24:22
Speaker
Yeah. um But I think the all other movies also have like attempts at comedy that really fail. ah Right. and But also a lot of a lot of the comedy in in the in the earlier movies is the dark comedy of like the absurdity of these death sequences. Well, it's it's it' it can be really mean-spirited. Yeah, that's right. Whereas in Bloodlines, there's a lot more traditional jokes and just funny characters. Well, and there's a self-awareness to...
00:24:55
Speaker
bloodlines that I feel like is missing from some of the other movies in the series. For sure. Where it's kind of like laughing at itself. Yeah. And I, I think, um, that probably comes from the contribution from the, the screenwriter being one of the radio silence guys, the same guys who did Abigail and, uh, the, the two new scream movies and, uh,
00:25:18
Speaker
Some other stuff that I'm blanking on right now. but ah So it's got a lot of that same kind of humor as like Abigail or Scream 5 and Scream 6.
00:25:28
Speaker
um So i I do genuinely think you would like that one, Chris. And I believe it is also on HBO Max. Let me check.
00:25:40
Speaker
I think you're right. i think that's I think it is on the streaming service that is not a sponsor, but could be. Could be and should be. I mean, virtually any streaming service could be a sponsor.
00:25:51
Speaker
That's true. That's true. Okay, so that's your first pick, Benito. Yeah, it wasn't going to be, but it's but i'll I'll include it. was going to include it, but it was it wasn't going to be my first one, but we were talking about it. so And ah we have a whole podcast episode about it on Friends Till the End, so anybody who wants to hear more of us talking about that can go listen to that entire episode where we recap the entire plot of that movie.
00:26:19
Speaker
Here's my first pick, and Chris, I want to be clear. I'm not actually recommending that you watch this. Okay, so, all right. and interesting Interesting way to play with the premise, Matt. Interesting strategy, Matt.
00:26:32
Speaker
But, but, but, but, I do think there's an element of it that would be appealing to you specifically, Chris Sims. Okay, okay. That movie is 28 years later, which is available now to stream on Netflix, on Internet Flickering Pictures. Okay, I think I i think i know you're going with this, Matt. Have you seen the trailer for The Bone Temple that just got released, which is the sequel that's coming out in January?
00:26:59
Speaker
I have not seen that yet. Okay, you should i should look it up, because okay cause I think I know what you're going talk about, and you can see that the next movie is going to be very much... yeah that Following up on the the ending from 28 years later. yeah Okay.
00:27:14
Speaker
So there there are multiple reasons why i don't think, Chris, you should watch 28 years later because it is it is well documented that you don't like bummers.
00:27:26
Speaker
No. Now, I did watch and enjoy 28 Days Later back when it came out 20 years ago. Yes, 28 Years Later is only slightly connected to 28 Days Later. I mean, it takes place in the same same world. yeah world um But there are no returning characters.
00:27:47
Speaker
And it has been much – there was another sequel 28 weeks later, which like kind of follows up on the first movie a little more. The only real connection to the first movie is the reuse of that Godspeed, You Black Emperor song.
00:28:03
Speaker
Yeah. That's it. um But it it is much further in the future, and it involves a family that lives on an island that is kind of separate from the British mainland.
00:28:19
Speaker
And so they have have built rebuilt a society. But as a rite of passage, they go to the mainland And, um like, will hunt some of the zombies that live there.
00:28:33
Speaker
Also, in a truly wild choice,
00:28:38
Speaker
the rest of the world is normal. Yeah. Yeah, it's it's just the British Isles that are are like that. That are infected. Yes. Yeah.
00:28:49
Speaker
Yeah, but, I mean, look, you wouldn't know it from my Blue Sky feed, But I think we could all get along just fine, not knowing about anything that was going on over there.
00:29:02
Speaker
Like, the world just decided to quarantine off the British Isles. And, like, there's ah there's a – where's he from, Benito? Is he Norwegian?
00:29:16
Speaker
Dutch? oh Oh, the, like, special – The soldier guy? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, one of the Nordic countries. I can't remember. He's from a Nordic country. I i want to say he's like Dutch, maybe.
00:29:29
Speaker
um But anyway, there's ah like a soldier from another European country who's like got an iPhone and shit. like like he like He's like, I can't believe I'm here, sent on this mission, when I could be back in the regular world.
00:29:47
Speaker
yeah um Bonkers. um But like The main story of that movie, which I won't give away, um but the one involving Jodie Comer and the actor who plays her son and Ralph Fiennes, and the there's a big like tower of bones, or skulls, that's on the poster.
00:30:13
Speaker
like All of that stuff is part of a pretty sad, self-contained story that ah That's in that movie.
Movie Highlights: '28 Years Later' to 'Psycho Gorman'
00:30:20
Speaker
And also um Aaron Taylor Johnson, who was Craven, is in that movie.
00:30:24
Speaker
um Who is also playing a hunter in this. But does he have any weaknesses? but Not that we see. oh um And also he's a bad dad. His whole thing in this movie is that he's a bad dad.
00:30:38
Speaker
um
00:30:41
Speaker
One thing that I was told before I watched 28 Years Later... um I had seen like trailers and stuff for it, and I heard about it having a ah wild ending. But it wasn't until somebody I did improv with was like, Hey, have you seen 28 years later with those like ah those zombies with the huge dicks? a and And I was like, ah excuse me? And ah then I watched the movie and I understood.
00:31:09
Speaker
Yeah, and there's there's like one in particular. um But like all of the quote-unquote alpha zombies, yeah which hilarious that they're called that, yeah um have are like naked, but huge dudes with like gigantic dicks.
00:31:26
Speaker
And like there's one scene where Ralph Fiennes is just standing right next to one, and it's so funny. It's so funny. Yeah. Ralph Fiennes is amazing in this, by the way. He's great in that movie. Anyway, now Chris. Now,
00:31:40
Speaker
what is the Is that what you think specifically? He's still not at the part. no I'm not even saying you're wrong. I'm just saying it's not something that I think I'm known for.
00:31:53
Speaker
if If nothing else, hearing my friend tell me that, it made me curious. I was like, I guess I have to see that. I mean, look, it did... I am 100% more interested in watching it now than I was.
00:32:07
Speaker
Yeah. Anyway. Chris has been waiting. Do you want to see a gross dude with a hog, like a forearm? Yeah. I got a movie for you. Yeah, man. Anyway, the last like five minutes of the movie is what I think you would be interested in. Okay.
00:32:23
Speaker
Because this movie has the biggest, wildest tone shift I've ever seen. okay Yes, at the end of a movie where it, I swear to God, kind of becomes Power Rangers.
00:32:38
Speaker
It does, yeah. All right, interesting. oh yeah but i I need you to spoil this for me. okay Okay. I think we can talk about it without spoiling the main story because this is basically a frame sequence.
00:32:51
Speaker
Yes, but let me ah let me warn listeners – that we're going to be giving away spoilers for specifically the ending of 28 Years Later. So if you haven't seen it yet, skip ahead.
00:33:03
Speaker
Is it like that season of Power Rangers where they all have huge dicks? No. um the The huge dicks are unrelated. Okay. Yeah. So the the movie starts with a prologue that takes place during the initial infection.
00:33:19
Speaker
Right. Yeah. 28 years ago And this this takes place in Scotland. And there's there are these kids in a house watching Teletubbies. And the zombies, the fast zombies from 28 Days Later, break into this house, smash into this house, and kill like the parents.
00:33:38
Speaker
And seemingly kill a bunch of the kids. But we see one kid like get away and run out into the into the wilderness. And um I believe his name is stated...
00:33:53
Speaker
At the start as being Jimmy. um I was trying to look it up because I can't remember if that's his real name or if he named himself after. um What's his name?
00:34:04
Speaker
You know, the English pedophile and that was yeah du Jimmy Savile. Yeah. um
00:34:13
Speaker
I can't – I don't know. yeah Either his real name is Jimmy or he decides he wants to be like Jimmy Savile. But there there are bits throughout the movie where you'll see like graffiti and stuff referring to a guy named Jimmy.
00:34:29
Speaker
Yeah. And it looks like it's just kind of like background decoration. or There's like one part where like as like the name Jimmy is like carved into a zombie's torso.
00:34:42
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So at the end of the movie, the kid who is like the lead character of the movie – what is the kid? I forget the kid's name. and Spike.
00:34:55
Speaker
Spike. It is Spike. Yeah. His name is Spike. He – decides to go live on the British mainland and not on the island where his family is ah because like because of the events of the movie.
00:35:12
Speaker
And there's one part where he's like cornered By a whole host of zombies. like They have just got him surrounded. And he's in a bad state.
00:35:23
Speaker
like it's Things are looking bad for him. All he's got is a bow and arrow. He's like holding it up. About to try to kind of like hold them off. um it ah In a ah a last stand.
00:35:37
Speaker
Then. This group of characters. In color coded jumpsuits. And specifically, they're Teletubbies color-coded. Yeah, like tracksuits and the Teletubby colors. Yeah.
00:35:51
Speaker
yeah Yes. They show up, and they just immediately wipe out every zombie. Yeah, with like – they have like – I can't remember if they're real or if they're like improvised ninja weapons.
00:36:04
Speaker
Like, did they make them themselves or they like, I don't know. I can't remember. I mean, I could go back and like, look at it again, but yeah, they, they, they're doing like stuff that people have not been able to do in the movie to this point. They're like flipping around and like doing cartwheels and jump, like doing all kinds of yeah like shit that people in this world have not been able to do up to this point.
00:36:29
Speaker
Right. And so it's like with their, with their haircuts and, with their weapons, with their outfits. Like, you have to assume that, like, this kid from the opening frame sequence, the prologue, ran off into the woods and then founded a cult based around Teletubbies, Jimmy Savile, and the Power Rangers.
00:36:53
Speaker
And that's what they are now. And then the leader of the group introduces himself as Jimmy. Yeah. And he's this, like
00:37:06
Speaker
really like... He doesn't look like anybody else you've seen up to now. like Yeah. He's got wild hair. He's got an upside-down cross as a as a necklace. like And eddie likes he's wearing rings on every finger.
00:37:23
Speaker
And he like reaches his hand out and he goes, Hey, Lesby Powell's cut to black credits. Yeah! and So, like, I've been trying to tell everyone i I talk to about this movie, I'm like, I don't want it to spoil anything, but it helps, it will help you to process this movie if you know that it's the first of a trilogy and the sequels have already been filmed and the next one's coming out in a couple months.
00:37:51
Speaker
Because if you if you thought this was a standalone movie, that would be the most insane ending of any movie you have ever seen. I mean, still, it's still there.
00:38:02
Speaker
It's still there, but I just saw, I just saw the trailer for the bone temple on Friday. I saw it in front of, which is ah the the next, the second, that's the next that's the next one. It's coming out in January.
00:38:13
Speaker
Um, uh, I just saw it on Friday in front of, uh, black phone too. Um, which is fine. It's fine. Uh, but, uh, It definitely is going to focus on Jimmy and and his people ah based on the trailer. So...
00:38:29
Speaker
ah Is it going to flash back to how they got to this point? I imagine it probably will. but yeah i'm I'm looking at it now. I really hope not. yeah like leave it Leave the mystery. of i'm I'm watching this segment now.
00:38:48
Speaker
The weapons do look like they're like makeshift weapons. yeah like Made out of like golf clubs and stuff. but that's what That's what happens when you outlaw ninja swords. Exactly. Exactly.
00:38:59
Speaker
written. Something to think about. um It's very funny watching British TV where um so if someone has a knife, ah they they react as if ah someone on a US TV show had a gun.
00:39:16
Speaker
and so if So if someone has a gun, it's like someone pulled out a nuclear bomb. yes I only just noticed this now. I did not notice it when I watched this the first time.
00:39:27
Speaker
Jimmy is also wearing a tiara. Amazing. Okay, this this kind of sounds like it extremely rules, actually. it The ending is the best part of the movie by a lot. like So this isn't like...
00:39:42
Speaker
this isn't like this isn't like his dying fantasy or something. This is like, it straight up really happens in the movie It's, it's yeah really happening. And it's like, it's like characters from a whole other movie. Completely different movies. Showed up in this franchise. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. yeah Um, it, it's, and, and so that's the lesson. This is, this is,
00:40:08
Speaker
what the mainland is like. This is what happens when you, when you leave the, the islands, uh, and you go to the, you know, the bigger island, the main island. Uh, this is just what they're like. Uh, although Chris, if you do want a pure unequivocal recommendation for a movie with power Rangers vibes, psycho Gorman, that's, that's a wreck.
00:40:33
Speaker
It's, it's very good. And it's, it's,
00:40:37
Speaker
It's basically like, if I know there was like a live-action Death Note TV show, but Psycho Gorman, I feel like, really does feel like live-action Death Note.
00:40:52
Speaker
Am I wrong on that, Bedito? No, no, that's true. And the other explanation of it I saw is someone said it was a battle between lawful evil, neutral evil, and chaotic evil.
00:41:05
Speaker
And that's ah that's also basically true. And in that case, the chaotic evil is a small human girl. um It's good, and it's got hunky boys.
00:41:15
Speaker
And Chris, you would love it.
00:41:19
Speaker
That's not my official second recommendation, but since we were talking about Power Rangers-esque moments in horror movies. i mean did there's There's no limit on yeah how much you can recommend it. I don't know when you need to get back to sweeping up the the the every story ever haul of mirrors, but it's the covers to every comic book ever printed.
00:41:41
Speaker
That's right. I got it. It's a lot of Windex, fellas. It's a lot of bleach wipes. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like Psycho Gorman is streaming anywhere. Oh, man. 28 years later is on Netflix, for those who are listening. Yeah, it's on internet flickering pictures. think maybe it's No, it's not streaming anywhere for free.
00:42:08
Speaker
You have to, you could rent it on Amazon and that's it, which that's a shame. Wow. Um, and and it's the, the people who made that are the same people who made the, um, shoot, the one I sent you guys the trailer for the remake of the old Corman.
00:42:25
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Uh, what's the name of it? Uh, The one with the four-bladed sword. Four-bladed sword? Deathstalker. Yeah. Deathstalker. I kept wanting to say... Three-bladed sword.
00:42:38
Speaker
No, no, no. The sword in that movie, it the new Deathstalker, has four blades. So they've added a blade? yeah ah Yes. Yes. That's dope. For all we know, at the end of the movie, they say, fuck everything, we're going to five blades.
00:42:54
Speaker
Psycho Gorman is on Shudder. It is on Shudder. Okay. That doesn't do Chris any good, but... No, I don't think I could justify a Shudder subscription.
00:43:05
Speaker
Well, you could get it. There's a free trial. You can get like a week or two week long free trial. i don't remember how long it is. Okay. Well, but you know, if that was, if that was a bonus rec, what's next? What's next?
00:43:17
Speaker
So my number one rec, and I know I've recommended it on this show to Chris specifically, uh,
00:43:27
Speaker
And maybe one of my overall number one recommendations for anybody, um if you want to have a good time watching a horror movie, ah is the 2017 Japanese film One Cut of the Dead.
00:43:45
Speaker
It is amazing, and ah you've you will never see anything like it. and And it's not... I mean, it's a horror movie in the sense that, you know...
00:43:56
Speaker
ah There's zombies and stuff, but it's really ah ah incredibly like joyous expression of friendship and making art and like determination and stuff. And it's very funny.
00:44:10
Speaker
I don't want to spoil anything about it because it's best experience, like, let it reveal itself to you. But, you know, it does have the title One Cut of the Dead because ah there is a um there's a section 35 minutes long. I think that is one single cut, uh, one, one take.
00:44:34
Speaker
Um, and, uh, so it, you know, cuts through this, uh, like a military warehouse, uh, full of zombies and it's all, it's all done in one take.
One Cut of the Dead and Viewing Tips
00:44:45
Speaker
Um, And if you were just watching and you were you know and you you got to the end of that take, you might go, oh, that was pretty fun and turn it off. But like there's still a whole movie. like they're it's ah It's a feature-length film.
00:45:01
Speaker
So like while while there's a lot of ah ah really impressive technical work to get that 35-minute take, um there's there's still more to it.
00:45:12
Speaker
um And by the end, I guarantee you will be smiling. And you'll be like, hell yeah, friendship. it's so It's so good. I love it. Have you seen it, Matt? I feel like I saw it a long time ago. i have not seen it in some time. I should watch it again. Yeah.
00:45:28
Speaker
Let's see. Because it is very, as I recall, it's very good. Yeah. um Okay. It's on Shudder. so oh it's Amazon on disc. I thought it was on and it was on some other ones. Let's see. Oh, okay.
00:45:43
Speaker
Okay. AMC plus hoopla. Uh, yeah. Shutter. You can rent it for $3 on Amazon, or you can buy it for $5 on Amazon.
00:45:59
Speaker
So, uh, there's some options. I definitely recommend it. It's definitely worth $3. Um, watch it with your friends. Like that's a, it's a real good party watch.
00:46:09
Speaker
Um, I would highly recommend it. Um, it's so fun. And, uh, like I cannot give it a higher recommendation. And I feel like I recommend it a lot, and and I know people are not going to watch it because otherwise they would be coming back to me and saying, I watched one cut of the dead, and now my life is better for it. And that hasn't happened yet. So that's how I know people are not taking I will make my next recommendation.
00:46:37
Speaker
All right. I feel like i'm I'm recommending mostly new things. My next one is not as new, but this one is fairly new. I mean, my next one after this one.
00:46:49
Speaker
I just watched it. It is on internet flickering pictures as well. It is the relatively new, it came out in 2025, horror comedy Heart Eyes.
00:47:02
Speaker
Yeah, okay, that one was on my list. Directed by Josh Rubin. One of the Noise Boys from Dropout.tv. Yes, which I have been very – the premise alone made me want maybe very curious about that.
00:47:18
Speaker
Yes. it The idea of the movie is that it is a slasher movie that is also a romantic comedy. And so it is parodying both of those genres at the same time.
00:47:32
Speaker
Yeah, and it does both well. Yes. Now, i let me say, it's not a perfect movie. There's at least one moment where um it just deals with a situation purely by editing but by cutting away.
00:47:51
Speaker
And then it cuts back, and um whatever was happening is just over. There's at least one of those. And I hate to say that I noticed it, but I did.
00:48:03
Speaker
But aside from that kind of plot issue, um it is a really, really fun and enjoyable and funny movie that never gets like, like, it's never scary.
00:48:18
Speaker
Like, at at no point is it actually scary. Yeah. like there's There's maybe one jump scare that is not even like that much of a jump scare.
00:48:31
Speaker
Right. There there are some... there are some some shots with with gore, which I know are not going to bother Chris, but some other people yeah might have trouble with even comedy gore. you know It's very heightened cartoonish gore, for sure.
Josh Rubin's Work and Horror Comedy Comparisons
00:48:48
Speaker
yeah um But ah I think Chris would have a fun time watching it. um And Josh Rubin makes a brief cameo. yeah like A brief director cameo.
00:48:59
Speaker
um And um for Friends Till the End listeners, um Devin Sawa. i When you said Four Friends to the End listeners, that was going to be my question.
00:49:11
Speaker
yeah a A person whose name I've heard so many times, and I do not know who he is. Well, if you watch Hard Eyes, you'll have seen a movie he's in.
00:49:23
Speaker
Great. yeah he's the He's like the sheriff or something in the movie, right? He's definitely cop of some kind. He's one of two cops. ah that that One of the jokes in the movie is that the two cops are named Hobbs and Shaw.
00:49:36
Speaker
That's right. That's pretty funny. but's Yeah. And so the the the lead, ah the the alley, asks them, like, Hobbs and Shaw like the movie?
00:49:49
Speaker
And they're both like, we haven't seen it. um Even though the other cop is... Oh, what's her name from from the Fast and Furious movies? ah Jordana Brewster.
00:50:01
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. ah So there's like... That's the kind of, like, you know... Jokey inside stuff that's in that movie. Like, it's a lot of, like, winking at the audience, knowing that you know the tropes, and having fun with that.
00:50:20
Speaker
Awesome. And the two the two leads are very charming. ah like they are They are effective romantic comedy leads as well. ah Olivia Holt and... I don't remember the guy's name.
00:50:37
Speaker
but oh Wait, is it the guy from but Dungeons & Dragons movie? No, it's not that guy. oh wait i mean it would be for like You'd probably recognize Chris Byrne.
00:50:49
Speaker
ah um His name is Mason Gooding. ah his He's the son of Cuba Gooding Jr. Oh, yep, he sure is. Apparently, he's in one of the new Scream movies, which I haven't seen any of those.
00:51:07
Speaker
No, he's in all of the new Scream movies. yeah which I should probably watch those. I've never watched. i haven't seen any of them. oh well yeah scream ah Scream and Scream 6 are good.
00:51:20
Speaker
Scream 7 is not out yet, and yeaht I don't have good feelings about it. he's all He's also in Y2K, which is the horror comedy by ah Kyle Mooney.
00:51:31
Speaker
ah It's alright. It's not as funny as it wants to be. Anyway, he's in that. Alright, what do you got next, Benito? Alright, let's see. What do I want to do next? Let's Companion.
00:51:45
Speaker
so companion Have you already talked about Companion on the show, Matt? I wrecked it ah while back. Alright. Well, I mean, that one... ah It's more horror-adjacent. It's a lot more like dark sci-fi comedy.
00:52:01
Speaker
Like, it's definitely very funny. And it's violent. And it's dark. But comically dark. But it's not, like, truly horror. And I don't want to give away too much about it.
00:52:14
Speaker
But... ah But it's, yeah, it's really good. ah Yeah, you wrecked it. So you liked it. It's got Sophie Thatcher, so hot right now. Jack Quaid, also ah a pretty good Nepo baby out there right now.
00:52:30
Speaker
um Oh, Harvey Guillen, right, is in it from What We Do in the Shadows. Yep. Jaboukie Young White from off Twitter is it. Yeah.
00:52:41
Speaker
um
00:52:45
Speaker
ah Yeah, it's it's very good. It's very funny. I don't know how much about the premise I want to say. like i don't I mean, I guess people probably haven't a slight idea ah ah it. i I only know this movie because it was the start of your ah Blue Sky thread about horror movies, so it comes up every time you add to that thread.
00:53:06
Speaker
And every time I think, Campbell Soup font. yeah it's it's the The title is in the Campbell's Soup font. That yeah is undeniable. Yeah, because it came out in like February or something. and so yeah I have a thread i've been on Blue Sky. I've been keeping up all year where I'm posting um ah horror trailers that look interesting. They do not have my personal guarantee that the final movie will actually be good, but the trailers look in interesting.
00:53:32
Speaker
I can say Companion was good and definitely one of my faves of 2025.
00:53:40
Speaker
so and But also, I think, Chris, you would enjoy it. Because, yeah, it's not... Yeah, you're you're not going to feel scared. It's got violence, but it's funny.
00:53:53
Speaker
and it's And it's very funny. And Superman's in it.
00:53:59
Speaker
Superman, Jack Quaid, yeah. Yes. yeah Superman and Brad Boimler are in it. Yeah, both of them. ah And if they can't keep me safe, who can? Well, ah don't don't anticipate him being like that in companion.
00:54:16
Speaker
Don't expect the Superman characteristics to perhaps carry over. um
00:54:23
Speaker
do you Do you know what the premise is, Chris? I do not. i don i Again, the only thing I know about kimball soup right well it, It probably would... Make it more enjoyable to know to to be surprised by it. I think so, too.
00:54:39
Speaker
Which is ah why i don't I don't want to give even anything away. But um it is it is a delight to watch.
00:54:49
Speaker
All right. ah Matt, what's your what's your next one? All right. So, Chris, I know that you... but what Two of your longtime exceptions for...
00:55:01
Speaker
I don't like horror movies, but i I do like X are Evil Dead and Army of Darkness. Correct. Yes. yeah Mostly Army of Darkness, but I also enjoy Evil Dead 2 and to a lesser extent Evil Dead. Yes.
00:55:19
Speaker
Well, I'd say this movie falls more into the Evil Dead 2 category than the Army of Darkness category. But i do think you would probably enjoy it and find it funny. It is a movie from 2010, and it is definitely like heavily influenced by Evil Dead.
00:55:43
Speaker
And that is Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. I have seen that. Okay. okay okay For that exact reason. Yes. ah it is it's For those that haven't seen it, the gimmick of the movie and the joke of the movie is that The two guys that you think would be the killers in this cabin-in-the-woods scenario are, in fact, the protagonists.
00:56:13
Speaker
And the shitty teens are the bad ones. Right, but the circumstances make the teens keep thinking that they are the that these guys are the bad guys.
00:56:24
Speaker
Right, it's it's it's an escalating... like By all appearances, they are killers, but they're not. Yeah, it's it's like yeah ah a bloody comedy of errors. And the title characters are um Tyler Labine and ah Alan Tudyk.
00:56:42
Speaker
Yeah. So those guys are pretty funny. Playing just pretty much straight-up normal dudes. Yeah.
00:56:51
Speaker
But because they're rednecks, they – I mean, i yeah, I guess normal dudes for the three of all i wasm going to say That's what I was going to say. like From our experience, like all the three of us definitely know got guys exactly like that.
00:57:03
Speaker
Yes. um they're They're rednecks, but like well-meaning and nice. But because they're rednecks, they are mistaken for ah you know horror movie killers.
00:57:17
Speaker
um it's a fun It's a fun watch. Matt, I gotta say, when you were gearing up for this and you were like, I know you like Evil Dead, I thought you were going to say Evil Dead Rise, and I'm like, Matt, what are you doing?
00:57:28
Speaker
Oh, no no no no no no, no, no, no. I will say, ah one of the things that has made me really i'll make the almost certainly bad decision for me of watching Drag Me to Hell was finding out that they do the smash cut of the title twice.
00:57:47
Speaker
i I love that movie. Drag Me to Hell is PG-13, isn't it? Yes. yeah i yeah That movie's got stuff that makes it hard to recommend ah in hindsight um because because of some choices. Yeah.
00:58:08
Speaker
But...
00:58:10
Speaker
yeah um but Just that smash cut to the title at the very end is – I remember seeing that movie in the movie theater, and it smashed it did the smash cut to the title card and said and dragged me to hell.
00:58:26
Speaker
And I had to just like stand up and walk around in the movie theater. yeah um will i will tell you this. Matt Wilson will do a lap. When Matt gets excited, he will do a lap.
00:58:39
Speaker
but um but i ah i know I think we were just talking about this on Friends to the End, Matt, but ah i wish I genuinely wish I could recommend ah Barbarian to Chris. I'm not going to. You shouldn't watch Barbarian.
00:58:55
Speaker
Man, it's good, though. it is skill It's amazing, but also it has a smash cut slash needle drop that I think you, Chris, would appreciate more than most living humans. it it It has what is my favorite smash cut of any movie. Well, what is it?
00:59:14
Speaker
um Well, let's ah this would be a major spoiler. I mean, yeah look, buddy, I'm not going to watch it. Okay. Yeah, but there's people listening to the show. Yeah, well, there's a button on whatever device they're on.
00:59:26
Speaker
Yeah. and i I mean, spoiler warning in general for any movie we talk about in this episode. yeah But ah yeah, if you haven't seen Barbarian, this is a major spoiler.
00:59:38
Speaker
So like basically... what you find out is that this Airbnb is built on top of of a bunch of ah tunnels underground where this guy has, ah he like decades ago kidnapped a woman and kept her prisoner down there.
00:59:53
Speaker
And then they end up having like weird mutant tunnel babies, including this one who is coming up into the house and like kidnapping the guests from the Airbnb. Right. And you've already been faked out once because Bill Skarsgård, who was,
01:00:09
Speaker
It from It. Yeah, and Nosferatu from Nosferatu. but This was before that, but yes. Yeah, yeah. But Bill Skarsgård, who was Pennywise, um like shows up at the Airbnb, and there's this like mix-up where like these two guests were scheduled for the Airbnb at the same time. double It was accidentally double-booked.
01:00:31
Speaker
And so there's two strangers, and they're ultimately like in an uneasy... agreement agree to both stay there and but you're of course nervous about what he's going to do to this woman because because he's bill skarsgård exactly yeah yeah yes yes um but then it turns out that that he's just a normal nice guy and the real problem is that there's ah a a mutant lady who lives under the house who kills them both and then suddenly the movie is about justin long who owns the airbnb and
01:01:03
Speaker
and ah it's so fucking funny because when he, when he finds out that there's tunnels under the house, he pulls out his tape measure and is like, Oh, I can start charging more for the Airbnb.
Barbarian and Escape Room Movies
01:01:16
Speaker
Uh, anyway, but the, the, the, the monster woman is force feeding her, uh, her victims, her own breast milk because she wants to baby them.
01:01:29
Speaker
And so the movie ends with like, uh, There's a big confrontation on top of a building, and I forget who all falls off the building, whatever.
01:01:41
Speaker
But it ends with ah the monster woman like embracing Justin Long, and it smash cuts the credits with Be My Baby ah playing, and it's so good. ok Okay, that's a great smash cut.
01:01:58
Speaker
That's not even the smash cut I was talking about. Oh, yeah. I'm talking about the smash cut that introduces Justin Long. Yes, yes. That is ah also great. Because yeah Justin Long's character is this like Hollywood guy who is in the midst of being canceled.
01:02:17
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, and he's like driving down the Pacific Coast Highway yeah something in his in his convertible singing. like it it's It's smash cuts from... the guests of the Airbnb being kidnapped and in the tunnels to like him. I i don't even remember what the song is, but like, like him listening, to him like listening to like, uh, really happy music driving down the PCH in his convertible. Yeah. That it's just like, again, such a tone shift, um, that it's incredibly memorable.
01:02:53
Speaker
Yeah. it It's really good. But, uh, I was, you know, when I can't hear Be My Baby without thinking ah about how like Chris would like to be listening to this right now.
01:03:04
Speaker
But not in that instance, because there's a gross monster lady. yes
01:03:14
Speaker
ah Okay, so you're not recommending Barbarian. What are you recommending? Not to Chris. If there's someone out there who can can handle something a little scarier... i I do recommend Barbarian.
01:03:26
Speaker
ah If you saw Weapons, and I hope you did, one of the best of 2025, same guy. same guy um
01:03:36
Speaker
Similar, but different vibe. um Anyway, ah yeah, what am I going to recommend then? like There's the Blackening, which is a horror satire that looks at like the ways that that traditionally black people have been treated and in horror movies.
01:03:53
Speaker
It plays with a lot of those tropes. ah That one's pretty good. ah Boys from County Hill. That's an Irish one about like these road workers in rural Ireland who accidentally ah knock over a cairn that was keeping a vampire down. And it's got one of the girls from Derry Girls in it. That one's really good.
01:04:14
Speaker
Very funny. um a Dead Talent Society. It is Taiwanese. Okay. um About like... ghost celebrities and how they have to maintain their popularity um by scaring people.
01:04:31
Speaker
That one's pretty good and funny. ah Escape Room from 2019, if you haven't seen that one already, Chris. like I know you love a death trap. I do love a death trap. And that's that's another one that's like PG-13.
01:04:45
Speaker
It is. it is. And um that one also has Tyler Labine in it. I forgot that. But to me, the standout performance is Deborah Ann Wall. Of course, Karen Page from the Daredevil.
01:04:59
Speaker
She's really good in it. um I think you would enjoy that one. There's also a sequel that's also pretty pretty good. um But and let's see. i think I think I'm going to go. i'm going is it Is it just called Escape Room 2?
01:05:12
Speaker
it's called escape room tournament of champions or something like that.
01:05:18
Speaker
That's pretty great. Yeah. Because, yeah. Cause it's like the people who survived the previous escape rooms. Yeah. Um, but I think, I think my, ah my next official recommendation here, uh, of another movie from this year, uh, to go with the monkey. I'm going to give, I'm going to say the monkey, uh,
01:05:42
Speaker
If you want to watch like, like a fucked up splatter comedy. um Did you see that one, Matt? I haven't seen it yet. I've been a little hesitant because i was, I was one of the people that didn't, uh, didn't love long legs.
01:06:01
Speaker
Duper love long legs. Yeah. it's But i know I know the monkey is different. It's extremely different. Yeah. Yeah. um so Just the same director. Yeah. Yeah. So it is it is by Osgood Perkins, who yeah got a lot of attention last year for long legs. and then But if you saw long legs in the theater, ah after the um the credits, it was like, oh, by the way, here's the trailer for my next movie, which is coming out in a few months.
01:06:30
Speaker
And ah then the same thing happened with ah the monkey because his next movie, Keeper, is coming out pretty soon. But um yeah, this one is much more of like, yeah, it's like ah it's like a fucked up ah splatter comedy um about a cursed toy monkey and these twin ah twin brothers who keep it keeps turning up in their life.
01:06:54
Speaker
Um, and it's got a lot of cool people in it. Uh, Tatiana Maslany is in it. Adam Scott, Elijah Wood. Um, I don't know. skimming I'm just skimming the cast list, but, uh, the main, guy is Theo James who, let's see, what was he in?
01:07:13
Speaker
Oh, he was, he was in divergent, the divergent trilogy, which I think we all saw. Um, I think he was on a season of, uh, white Lotus too.
01:07:24
Speaker
Yes. That's what I was trying to think of. Uh, yeah. He's in like the second season of white Lotus, right? He's the, um, he's like the rich guy that Aubrey Plaza's husband works for.
01:07:36
Speaker
Right. I think that's right. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but, uh, yeah. So he plays both of the adult twins, um, But yeah, it's it's really funny. it's very It's very bloody, but in a comedy way.
01:07:52
Speaker
um So if if again, if you're okay with like comedy gore, um then yeah, this one this one is a real good time. Again, another great party pick. like if you're looking for If you're having a Halloween watch party, you're having your friends over, this one would be a good one to pick. It's on Hulu in the US, s which means maybe on Disney Plus outside of the US, maybe.
01:08:17
Speaker
All right. You have another one, Matt? Well, okay. Let me start by asking Chris a question. I would love that. Chris, have you ever seen Return on the Living Dead? ah I don't believe I have.
01:08:32
Speaker
ah You should watch Return of the Living
Return of the Living Dead and Movie Recommendations
01:08:34
Speaker
Dead. Yes, you absolutely should. Oh, you would love it. You would love it. I think I've only seen... I think I've seen Night of the Living Dead, and i think and and I've seen Dawn of the Dead, and the remake of Dawn of the Dead.
01:08:49
Speaker
Okay. Return of the Living Dead is not really related to any of the Romero movies at all. Yeah. it Particularly.
01:09:00
Speaker
There is some connection. i can't but i can't Not plot-wise, but I mean like in terms of cast. and Not cast, crew. Yeah, only very loosely. But Return to the Living Dead...
01:09:14
Speaker
Is, for my money, the funniest horror comedy. i An extremely defensible position. like I would probably agree with you on that, yeah.
01:09:26
Speaker
And it is the origin of zombies saying, Braids! Yep. There is, I'm going to give away one joke in the movie, and either this will sell it to you or not, Chris.
01:09:40
Speaker
Okay. Okay. ah So there's a part where um all the characters are trapped in a funeral home. ah because Because most of the movie takes place in and around ah funeral home.
01:09:56
Speaker
And all the characters who are still alive are trapped in there. And ambulances show up. To help the people who were hurt. because it what they call I think I know this joke.
01:10:12
Speaker
They call 911. And the zombies immediately run up and eat the EMTs that arrive. And a zombie gets on the radio in the one of the ambulances and just says into the radio, Send more paramedics.
01:10:39
Speaker
ah no and now How big are the dicks in that one? um I don't remember there being any, although there is – There is substantial full frontal female nudity. Yeah, Linnea Quigley, the <unk> screen queen Linnea Quigley, um does like a full striptease dance at the start of the movie. and i remember In the cemetery.
01:11:04
Speaker
In the cemetery. And ah I remember watching that movie – With a bunch of coworkers back when I worked at the newspaper where I worked. And most everybody was very much enjoying watching Return to the Living Dead.
01:11:22
Speaker
And seeing Linnea Quigley um do her little dance. But there was one couple, I think the guy was like a business reporter.
01:11:35
Speaker
And he was very kind of like straight-laced down home. Midwestern kind guy. He was there with his wife and they were both like, we didn't come, we didn't come to this Halloween party for this kind of stuff.
01:11:51
Speaker
That happens pretty early on. Like, but it's the, the concept of the movie is essentially punks versus zombies. Yeah. um And one of the punks works at the funeral home and the rest of them are just his buddies.
01:12:05
Speaker
And then there's also Kluh Gulliger, who's just an old guy. Yeah. um also Also, it has probably the best zombie makeup effects of any movie. this specifically one There's one legendary like character ah zombie character in this movie that, you know to this day, we'll talk about as being the best.
01:12:27
Speaker
the Yes, yes. ah But yeah, it's funny. But it's but it's not... it's not It's like impressive and almost, again, cartoonish. like Yeah, yeah, yeah. it's it's It's not scary in any real way. No, no, no, no, no.
01:12:43
Speaker
But it's like extremely cool. And also, Return the Living Dead is set in Kentucky. so That's true. Yes. 4-1 for us. um Now, let me caveat this, Chris, by saying definitely don't watch Return to the Living Dead Part 2. Yeah.
01:12:59
Speaker
no You could watch part three. part three is part three Part three is fun because it's a zombie love story. yeah um But part two is just bad.
01:13:10
Speaker
So don't watch that. ah but the first sort of living It's not that it's scary. It's that it's bad. No, it's it's that it's bad. right um But the first Return of the Living Dead is one of my favorite movies of all time. Hands down, period.
01:13:26
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:13:31
Speaker
And extremely fun. All right. So that's my next rec.
01:13:37
Speaker
I think maybe we do one more each, Benito. One more? Okay. All right. then ah Then I'm going to go for the one that now is – Benito, I don't want you to to double dip too much. I know that you made – you have multiple lists that I believe you make Letterboxd.
01:13:53
Speaker
Yep. of your horror movie recommendations, including one that im I believe you called Spooky But Not Scary for Dumb Baby Cowards. ah Like my friend Chris.
01:14:05
Speaker
And you put friend in quotation marks? Yep, that's exactly the name of it. um yeah i don't know it's not I'm not far off. It's called Horror for Babies because it's a it's ah It's a double meaning because i have I have a list. Yeah, go to my letterbox. It's just Benito Serino all together.
01:14:25
Speaker
um And I have a list called Horror for Babies. And it is a list of movies that are both for people who don't like really scary movies, but also for ah older tweens, preteens, and so on who are interested in horror but not ready for something fully scary yet. right So Horror for Babies, it's ah it's a double...
01:14:45
Speaker
You get it. And I believe when you linked to it in the Blue Sky post, you did use the word coward. I did. I may. Who knows? I know. Who knows what I said? I know.
01:14:56
Speaker
That's who knows, is I know. So, it's yeah there's a list of 50... ah fifty movies on there. And I tried to make notes about if, cause sometimes there's movies that I think, um, you know, a lot of them are horror comedies.
01:15:09
Speaker
Um, but some of them are, you know, lean more towards horror. And so they might be more appropriate for a curious 14 year old than a 45 year old who knows they don't like horror movies. You know you know what i mean?
01:15:22
Speaker
Um, and so 43, I was not talking about you. ah in this instance. ah But yeah, so there's there's a mix of movies. Oh, Happy Death Day. Man, that's a good one. If you haven't seen Happy Death Day... Happy Death hoot. We did Happy Death Day for Movie Fighters. I have not seen Happy Death Day 2U.
01:15:44
Speaker
So Happy Death Day 2 is really interesting because it's even less horror than the first one. okay They lean way more into the weird science fiction of it because they they're trying to figure out what's causing the time loop.
01:15:58
Speaker
um it's very strange and very funny. um But yeah, it's even less ah horror than that ah than the original is. ah happy Happy death day from professional comic book writer and professional screenwriter, Scott Lobdell.
01:16:15
Speaker
Yeah, I wonder how much of his... ah he's He's credited. I've heard, i've i i've heard and i do not know if this is true, but I have heard that there was... It's...
01:16:26
Speaker
it's There's enough of his original script that he is credited. Yeah. i I don't know how much of his fingerprints remain on it. I mean, literally, I'm not saying that there's none. I'm saying I don't know.
01:16:39
Speaker
um But I suspect there were probably some rewrites in there. But anyway, so yeah, i do have that list, and it does include a couple of the movies that I've already mentioned tonight. One Cut of the Dead and Escape Room are on there.
01:16:52
Speaker
um Some stuff more aimed at kids, and then some stuff that's more of a PG 13 vibe and some stuff that's just a retro vintage. Um, but yeah, I have, I have numerous lists on my letterboxd, including my annual, um, list that, you know, we usually talk about on this show.
01:17:10
Speaker
Um, when I'm on here. Um, and so I, I have a new one, uh, 51 movies on there. Although I think, um, I um mistakenly thought that the del Toro Frankenstein would be streaming this month, but I don't think it starts until November.
01:17:27
Speaker
So I should probably drop it actually. Cause it's, I think it came to theaters this month and, uh, won't be streaming until November, but so anyway, 50 movies again that have never been on this list before. So, uh,
01:17:41
Speaker
You can check previous years for another set of about 50 movies. ah But yeah, I think so. I think then my number one pick, my number one recommendation, not just for you, Chris, but for everyone and in general, if you haven't already seen it, the best horror movie of 2025 that I think will land even for non-horror
Sinners, The Menu, and Horror-Comedy Discussions
01:18:04
Speaker
fans. I know that it has happened in my real life.
01:18:07
Speaker
I have told people who I would... assume have never seen a horror movie before to go see it. And they loved it. Uh, centers. Oh yeah. Um, it, an incredible piece of movie making, very powerful.
01:18:22
Speaker
The, the horror elements are not the primary elements. Like there are vampires in it, but, and there's some, you know, there's some blood cause it's a vampire movie, but it's much more about all the other stuff.
01:18:37
Speaker
And it's so incredible. And um there's some, the music, the culture, like, and, ah you know, Michael B. Jordan, Michael A. Jordan is also there finally.
01:18:51
Speaker
um He plays two characters. He plays twins. That's a thats joke okay That's a joke that I stole from some other more popular Letterboxd account just now. um but But, like, legitimately, every choice...
01:19:08
Speaker
that Michael B. Jordan makes in this movie is like mesmerizing. but shots the the the The way that he makes the two twins distinct from each other. like Just in performance. Now, there are visual cues. ah Chris, I think I told you this when I wrecked this movie on the show.
01:19:25
Speaker
That one of them wears a blue hat and one of them wears a red hat. red hat yeah ah but Like when Superman was two guys. like It's right yeah it's a lot it's a lot like that. um but even when Even without the wardrobe signs of the differences between the two brothers, Smoke and Stack, they're very distinct from each other.
01:19:50
Speaker
like You can absolutely tell just in body language and all of and presentation and voice which character is which. They are visually introduced in the movie in a shot where the two of them are...
01:20:06
Speaker
leaning against a car. One of them rolls a cigarette and lights it and passes it to his brother. That's the whole shot. That's the whole like scene.
01:20:18
Speaker
and It is the most riveting thing. Just watching like the little movements he makes, the little bits of business. There are so many scenes in this movie that if they were in another movie, they would be the best scene in that movie.
01:20:37
Speaker
and there's one And there's one scene, and everybody who's seen it, I know, talks about this scene, ah literally took my breath away. Like, I was gasping for air in the theater because I could not believe what I was seeing on the screen. It is so... It's genuinely a kind of magic.
01:20:56
Speaker
and And not because it's scary. No, no, no. but Because it's it's amazing. Yeah. Because it's, like, it's it's so surprising And powerful.
01:21:08
Speaker
like It's emotionally powerful. Yes, but but like – because, you know, we're we're modern film audiences. We think we've seen everything that anyone can do and a movie.
01:21:21
Speaker
Yeah. but it's We don't think we can be like technically astonished. But I've never seen anything like this. That movie pulls it off multiple times.
01:21:32
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yep. um So, like, yeah. My top recommendation, Chris, I know you would love it. You and AC you should watch it together. um But it's my top recommendation recommendation for everybody.
01:21:46
Speaker
i cannot imagine it's not going to be the best movie of the year. I mean, maybe the other contender for best of the year is one battle after another, which also whips ass, but it's not a horror movie.
01:21:58
Speaker
ah But, like, I can't imagine anything coming along that's going to top one of those two. Like, Sinners is just... absolute barn burner of a movie.
01:22:09
Speaker
It's amazing.
01:22:13
Speaker
Yeah, one of the best. i like Chris, if you actually watch any of the movies we talk about, it should definitely be Sinners. have been wanting to see that, so I think I will i will use of the season as an opportunity.
01:22:27
Speaker
Yeah. um it is It is like...
01:22:33
Speaker
It's a movie that I think people are going to talk about and think about and remember for a very, very long time. Yeah. Oh, and watch the whole credits. There's like two or three different post-credits.
01:22:48
Speaker
The ending of the movie is in the credits. yeah Okay. Which is a weird choice. like If there's one criticism i have about the movie, it's like,
01:22:59
Speaker
is that choice so like Some people are going to walk out before they see the actual denouement of the movie. that yeah The narrative ending of the movie is in the credits. yeah like
01:23:12
Speaker
That's weird. um but
01:23:16
Speaker
Anyway. um so the The last movie I'm going to give you, Chris, is not that good. I'm just going to say that straight up. like Watch Sinners. Full stop.
01:23:28
Speaker
um Have we talked about The Menu? Have you watched The Menu? I have watched The Menu. Okay. We're talking about Almost Being I Think You Should Leave sketch.
01:23:39
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Oh, man. Yeah. um Then ah my last one is going to be Megan. I was wondering. I've been wanting to ask you guys because you are specifically – ah fans of haunted dolls, a thing that I am notably not a fan of. Megan is not a haunted doll.
01:23:57
Speaker
Megan's not a haunted doll. Megan's a a doll that goes rogue, I guess. Megan is a a... She's a doll who loves too much. She's she's a badly programmed robot who is rushed to market because Ronnie Chang...
01:24:16
Speaker
is demanding a pra a new a new toy from his toy company called Funky. Um, and she's, she's put out with bugs. She's, she's released with bugs.
01:24:29
Speaker
And, uh, and yeah, she loves too much. And, uh, like It's PG-13. There's an unrated cut of Megan that's not ah that much gorier, really. no um But the the theatrical cut of Megan is PG-13. It's really light on gore.
01:24:47
Speaker
And it is like a fun, light white horror, but mostly action comedy movie. yeah um and That successfully does stuff that the Child's Play remake tried to do.
01:25:02
Speaker
that's That's true. And also, I know it's what we're covering next month for Friends to the End, but Megan 2.0 is truly the Terminator 2 of the Megan franchise.
01:25:15
Speaker
Divisive, as I understand it. Yeah. Have you watched it yet? No. Okay, so er Erica and I have both seen it, but you haven't yet. Okay. Yeah, I'm saving it for the show, but...
01:25:26
Speaker
ah I know some people really didn't like it. I mean, I can see that. Who did like the first one. But it's definitely one of those, it's another one of those cases where it's like, the sequel is even less horror than the first one.
01:25:39
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, I did, thank you for all these recommendations. I did make a joke in our oh group chat yesterday that Matt, you told me to save for the show, but we didn't really, it didn't really organically come up.
01:25:56
Speaker
ah So I guess I'll just ask it now. um Other than Ghostbusters and The Shining, are there any other movies with ghosts who give BJs?
01:26:07
Speaker
This is a great question. i i'm I'm sure there are. But I can't think of any off off the top of my head. i Yeah, I also...
01:26:19
Speaker
can't think of one, and I don't know if I want to put that into my search history right now. also there's It's weird that there's two four years apart that are very different films.
01:26:31
Speaker
and And they're very different ghosts. it's I don't know if the guy in the dog costume in The Shining, is that a ghost?
01:26:43
Speaker
but like I mean, I guess you could... i mean I think we're supposed to understand both of those dudes are ghosts, yeah. Yeah. Okay. I think that's one of those where it's like, there's slightly more context for it in the, in the book, in the book. Yeah. Um, but that's definitely the first time I saw the shining, that was the scene where I was that like fucked with me because it was just like,
01:27:07
Speaker
What is this? What could the added context possibly be? There's a reason why people are in costumes at the hotel.
01:27:20
Speaker
It's partygoers who were at the hotel in like the 30s at six parties. It's when they had Dragon and Con at the Overlook. It's fine. ah it's it's It's Kubrick...
01:27:34
Speaker
ah ah previewing what he would explore further in Eyes Wide Shut many years later. i I feel like both people who are younger than the the generation of of a Stanley Kubrick, and also specifically in our line of work, like if we were in a hotel and we saw a guy in a bear costume blowing another guy, like we'd probably just be like, oh, you should close the door.
01:28:06
Speaker
Yeah, we just on the furry convention. Oh, hey, man. Yeah. Hey, is the ice machine this way? Well, what's funny is that like in that sequence where Shelley Duvall is like seeing all this shit, like some of it is very like conventional like horror imagery, or like spooky Halloween imagery, like spider webs a ji and shit.
01:28:31
Speaker
And then it's like... The most, like, what am I looking at thing you can imagine. Do but you think my neighbors would get mad if I... Already, yes. Like, you don't even have to finish that, because I know about your neighbor.
01:28:48
Speaker
If I had, like... Like a spooky pumpkin and like a 12-foot skeleton and like you know a witch in the tree and then then also light-up guy in a parachute giving ah a Hummer to dude in guy that cheedo a du to de tuxedo. yeah this is This is money that I think that the inflatable lawn decoration industry is just leaving on the table. like someone Someone make the inflatable guy in a dog costume...
01:29:19
Speaker
doing a be Is he a dog? A dog or a bear? I think there's some disagreement about what the costume is actually, what animal it's supposed to be.
01:29:30
Speaker
ah It's not, like, I've seen plenty of plenty of dog and bear costumes that I would, I have no reason to not believe are not used in similar situations. Yeah.
01:29:47
Speaker
in my time ah going to conventions. So, gotta say... That one's not one of the sexier ones. No. i um ah like it I'm looking at like a screenshot of the costume right now, and it's like 50-50 dog or bear. like it could it like It really could be either one. like It's got some bear qualities, it's got some dog qualities.
01:30:19
Speaker
did you just Did you just Google bear costume for oral i i what i saw but i Size adult large. My search term was shining costume guy. And it I got him. that's That's weird.
01:30:38
Speaker
Because that means that Alta Vista or or Bing, whatever you're using, knows what costume you mean. Because there's some other costumes in that film.
01:30:51
Speaker
But... the Look, if you're searching for Shining Costume Guy, there's a pretty good chance this is what you're looking for. and yeah like and They know you're looking to crank it.
01:31:06
Speaker
The captions alternately say bear or dog. So, like, maybe that's part of why it's scary, is that you can't identify that. Where's the cut where Shelley Duvall stops just goes, is that bear? Yeah.
01:31:21
Speaker
Or a dog. Or a dog? Yeah, that's like it's the uncanny valley between bear and dog, where the true sense of the unheimlich lives.
01:31:33
Speaker
Yeah.
01:31:36
Speaker
Well, ah boys, thank you so much for all of these recommendations, and thanks for helping me conquer my fears that are ah keeping me from going deeper into this very clearly haunted amusement park.
01:31:51
Speaker
I'm probably just going to watch just the scenes from Lord of the Rings where Aragorn gets a ghost army again. I fucking knew it. I knew it? I mean, look, find me a horror movie better than that.
01:32:05
Speaker
And maybe I'll watch. but I mean, Sinner's pretty fucking good. Man, look, I haven't seen it yet. And maybe I'll correct this on a future episode.
01:32:18
Speaker
It'd have to be pretty damn good to be better than that scene where Aragorn gets off the boat and all them fucking ghosts show up. Buddy, Sinner's is pretty fucking good.
01:32:30
Speaker
All right. All right. I'll give it a shot then. I'll give it a shot after I've watched just the ghost parts from Return of the King.
Benito's Comics Update and Future Projects
01:32:38
Speaker
Benito, you've got oh you more comics out right now or or impending ah than you have at any time that I have known you, which is very exciting.
01:32:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's true. Yeah. um Yeah, ah so currently coming out monthly ah from Skybound, Blood and Thunder.
01:33:03
Speaker
ah Issue 6 has just come out. Issue 7 will be out in a couple weeks, as well as the Volume 1 trade paperback, subtitled The Prisoner on Cell Block X. ah So it'll be a good chance to start if you want. You can grab...
01:33:21
Speaker
issues one through six in the trade and then issue seven, probably on the same day. If I had to guess based on my knowledge of past actions done by skybound, um, So yeah, you can check that one out. It's going to be continuing for a little while. um you know The first arc, really kind of first half arc, is contained in that and that first trade, but we're still going. we're ah We just finished up ah the storyline on what is basically a hammer Dracula planet, and now we're moving on to a different planet.
01:33:51
Speaker
Excellent. And, so yeah, that is coming out. Uh, so yeah, the volume one trade will be out in November. Uh, also, uh, last week as of this recording, um, or yeah, two weeks ago, almost, I guess last week, I don't know, whatever, uh, Hector Plasm, Hunter Bigfoot number one has come out. Hector has returned after too many years, but we've got a new, uh, three part mini series, uh, with a new artist, Derek Hunter, who's doing great work. And it's, um,
01:34:21
Speaker
Hector is in the Pacific Northwest to investigate a haunted witch house in the woods and gets dragged into trying to find the Bigfoot. And he doesn't believe that there is a Bigfoot, and yet we'll see what happens. Suddenly people start dying, and he has to look into it.
01:34:40
Speaker
Did you base the witch's house on the house from a witch's invitation? i wish i had now I wish I had thought of that.
01:34:51
Speaker
the So the the witch house, um as it's called in the comic, is based on a real life place in ah Portland called the Witch's Castle, ah which was actually like a park ranger station slash public restroom that is in ruins that teenagers have decided used to be a witch's castle.
01:35:12
Speaker
And they go out there and drink and party. Yeah. But I put a ah and put some ghosts in it. but so and So unfortunately it just looks like a fallen down ah ruin of a public restroom instead of like the the house from Witch's Invitation. But next time.
01:35:35
Speaker
so yeah So I guess Hector Plasm and the Witch's Invitation come in 2026? I don't know, we'll see. um But, uh, yeah, so Blood and Thunder, Hectorplasm. Also, there's still time, uh, not a lot of time, but some time to, uh, pre-order Startling Tales of Santa Claus, uh, 2025 annual, uh, coming out in December, the first week in December. Uh, it is 80 pages of stories about Santa Claus and the Krampus and the Cogatio and, Schmutzli and Mrs. Claus and all sorts of different, uh,
01:36:11
Speaker
characters and figures from across the Christmas tradition, 80 pages. ah Some of them are the ah stories that we ran annually for a while on Comics Alliance for Christmas that are in print for the first time.
01:36:26
Speaker
um But there are two 24-page stories that have never been seen before, so all brand new, um including ah Christmas...
01:36:38
Speaker
In Lovecraft Country, as I've been calling it. That's not the actual title of the story. But yeah it is, how do how do they celebrate Christmas up in old Arkham? It's not literally Arkham. But ah but that kind of that kind of thing. So if you want a big, fat book of comics for Christmas, hopefully I can do one every year now. And only you can pre-order Startling Tales of Santa Claus ah and make it so that I can continue making these annually.
01:37:11
Speaker
So I hope you, the listener, will do that. And also buy my other ones also as well. And also the capes, the Invincible Universe spinoff. It's coming back in a remastered edition of the first six issues, but then starting with issue seven, it's going to be all new stories written by me. That'll start in 2026.
01:37:34
Speaker
The first issue comes out in November, so my first issue will be ah spring next year.
01:37:43
Speaker
ah Very exciting, Benito. ah I have been ah your fan longer than I have been your friend. So I am absolutely delighted. Aw, thanks. Thanks, fellas.
01:37:56
Speaker
I think you're both great. Well, what do you say we get out of this haunted amusement park? i I live here, so. Oh, is that part of the job?
01:38:09
Speaker
or Yeah, what do you do you think it pays well enough for me to also cover rent? No. In this economy? In this economy? I got to take this sphin this paint scraper And go do another run through at Finger Blasters of Boo Hill.
01:38:25
Speaker
Okay, well, you do that. I think Matt and I are going to leave. Okay. Well, look. I mean, look. you could You could take a break, right? You could take a like you take a ah little break? No, I'm cursed to be here forever.
01:38:37
Speaker
Oh! You can't... We can't walk a few blocks away down Gimmick Street to the new Hardee's.
01:38:49
Speaker
Just to get lunch real quick? That sounds like it would be part of the curse. Yeah. yeah You have to go to Hardee's. You can only eat Hardee's. It's the new Hardee's.
01:39:02
Speaker
You can only eat new Hardee's. But it's run it's run by Jeff Hardy.
01:39:08
Speaker
What's wrong with that? He's also a ghost. um The new Hardee's, by the way, is at 671 Gimmick Street. It's right next to the Greensboro Coliseum. um I mean, that's... that's That's like 10 blocks from here, Matt.
01:39:25
Speaker
so Yeah, it'd it'd be a nice leisurely walk. I mean, look, we could go to Manz's Pie and Mash Shop at 721. Absolutely not. They have that eel and sausage pie there, and that's not that's simply not happening.
01:39:40
Speaker
All right. It's not that far back to go to the Diet Coke and Cheez-Its store. Okay. Yeah. Do you want anything? you want Diet Coke or Cheez-Its? Sure. Okay, I'm only getting one.
01:39:53
Speaker
so I'll take one Diet Coke and one Cheez-It. Okay, you can get me back later, I guess. Okay.
01:40:03
Speaker
I'll be here. Alright, Matt. Let's leave Benito to his cursed existence. um well ah welcome come We'll come visit come visit Benito. Alright, man. i'll look i'm Matt will lie to you, but I'm going to be honest. I'm probably not going to come back and visit.
01:40:22
Speaker
okay I mean, I bet like somewhere around 780 Gimmick Street will see you again.
01:40:34
Speaker
Or else you'll find yourself in the embrace of yet some other premise.
01:40:42
Speaker
we' we've been It's been 15 years of this, dude. I do my best.
01:40:50
Speaker
and I've been dead this whole time. No! He disappeared!
01:41:00
Speaker
Whoa. What a fun episode. What a good episode that everyone enjoyed. If you would like to get in touch with us about what happened to Benito's ghost just now, or any other reason, like sponsoring the show, or sending us an Every Story Ever list, or ah letting us know...
Podcast Connection and Social Justice Remarks
01:41:20
Speaker
about or i sending us a sort to rate or you know whatever else you want to get in touch with us about you can email us at our email address which is war rocket podcast at gmail.com you can support the show by going to patreon.com slash war rocket ajax boy we would love for you to do that that would be great
01:41:42
Speaker
You can also get in touch with us on Tumblr. We're there at warrocketpodcast.tumblr.com. We're on bluesky at warrocketajax.com. Or you can join our Discord and be part of that community of War Rocket Ajax fans.
01:41:54
Speaker
You have to ask us for an invitation to be a part of that community. But if you ask us nicely for one, we'll get you on and you can join. And you can be part of that.
01:42:06
Speaker
Bunch of cool folks that are over there. um I think we are at around...
01:42:13
Speaker
300 plus ah Discord members. um So you could add to those numbers and be part of that cool crew.
01:42:25
Speaker
but That's enough to fight Xerxes. I mean, look at that. you can help And lose. And die. but but But hold your ground for long enough to hold them off.
01:42:39
Speaker
Hotgates. Anyway. Man, I'm getting you. You are. WarRocketAjax.com is our website. You can go there to find every episode of the show that we've ever done. If if ah if if ah Mark Maron was in 300, you know what he would say?
01:43:00
Speaker
He would say lock the gates, I bet. Lock the hot gates. Lock the hot gates, yeah. yeah um RIP to his podcast. We outlasted him. Look at us. We lost them all.
01:43:12
Speaker
ah Warrocketwiki.com has all the information you can want about this show, Warrocket Ajax. I just referenced it to find where the new Hardys was on Gimmick Street.
01:43:24
Speaker
If you want to find me and my stuff, go to mattdwilson.net find links to my comics, my books, my other podcasts, and my social medias. Chris, where can people find you? T-H-E-I-S-B com.
01:43:35
Speaker
That is my website. It's got things that I've written, links you can follow, things that you can purchase or read for free. Some did some comics with Dracula on them. I think are I put up for free.
01:43:47
Speaker
I can't remember. was like three months ago. I think you did. I believe you did. Yeah, just go look for it.
01:43:55
Speaker
Thanks for listening, everybody. I'm feeling a chill go up my spine ever since Benito disappeared into a puff of mist. I think he might just be vaping.
01:44:08
Speaker
Oh. ah That's what getting a job at an amusement park will do to you. That's true. Until next time, everybody, happy Halloween! Do not forget that Black Lives Matter.
01:44:21
Speaker
Trans rights are human rights. As are abortion rights. Drag is not a crime. Cops aren't your friends. Free Palestine, we love you. Happy Halloween!