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DIE’CED: Reloaded Review + Gen Con Mayhem | Streamin’ Demons
2 Playsin 1 day
Jo and Amelie dig into DIE’CED: Reloaded, the blood-soaked, synth-drenched slasher from writer/director Jeremy Rudd. With 1987 Seattle vibes, practical gore effects, and a killer clown with a motive, the film channels the best of classic horror without falling into “just a list of kills” territory.
Along the way, Jo shares highlights from his interview with Rudd, behind-the-scenes details on bringing Benny the Clown to life, and why this indie debut feels like a lost VHS gem.
Then the duo swaps stories from Gen Con 2025 — from being mowed down in Tower of Gaxx to killing replicants in Blade Runner, decapitating snake priests in Mörk Borg, dodging slow-moving convention crowds, and hunting for the perfect hotel. Expect sarcasm, survival tips, and a few public service announcements for Lyft.
🎥 DIE’CED: Reloaded hits theaters August 8 and VOD August 12.
🎧 Hear Jo’s full interview with Jeremy Rudd (click on our linktree for more info!)
📍 More episodes: https://linktr.ee/EmptyHell
We are Amazon Affiliates. If you click an Amazon link and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Key Moments:
- 00:01 – IE’CED: Reloaded intro… and immediate Gen Con derailment
- 01:22 – Killing replicants in Blade Runner (and paying the price)
- 01:55 – Mörk Borg mischief: rope, head puppets, and snake temples
- 02:13 – Favorite games at Gen Con — and charity carnage in Tower of Gaxx
- 06:16 – Con crowd control, stroller bans, and scooter survival tips
- 12:02 – The economics (and expense) of 72,000 gamers in Indianapolis
- 16:33 – Interview with Jeremy Rudd on making DIE’CED: Reloaded
- 18:03 – The plot: Benny the Clown’s bloody return to 1987 Seattle
- 20:21 – Nailing the 80s aesthetic without modern distractions
- 22:01 – Why Benny isn’t just “Art the Clown 2.0”
- 27:49 – Strong writing and directing from a single creative vision
- 28:43 – Practical effects, tight runtime, and an EPIC vibe
- 33:14 – Extended logline read: the full VHS-back-cover treatment
- 37:50 – A horror fan’s date-night recommendation
- 39:48 – Jo’s almost-Pulitzer news and him realizing he said STRIKE instead of EPIC the entire review! Watch him die inside as he realizes he botched all hopes that Epic will ever pick up his book for a movie.
Recommended
Transcript
Intro
00:00:07
Jo
Hey everyone, Joe and Amelie here. Today we are doing Geist Reloaded. Amelie, hello, how are you doing?
00:00:15
Amelie
Good in yourself.
00:00:16
Jo
I am doing fantabulous. I just got back from Gen Con.
00:00:21
Amelie
Ooh.
00:00:21
Jo
This entire Tower of Gaxon died a bazillion times. Except for once. I almost survived.
00:00:27
Amelie
Ooh.
00:00:28
Jo
Time ran out.
00:00:29
Amelie
Ooh.
00:00:31
Jo
I know. Almost, almost, almost. I killed some people in Blade Runner by Free League.
00:00:38
Amelie
oh
00:00:40
Jo
i but Put it this way, the solution that I presented to the problem was unique.
00:00:45
Amelie
Tell me, tell me.
00:00:47
Jo
The scenario was basic. I was interrogating a, i don't know, ah what are the replicant there? The replicant, I was interrogating replicant who was being a little snide.
00:00:58
Jo
And so I guess you're supposed to use some charisma or something like that or talk about some stuff. I had a different plan. I pulled my gun and shot in the face.
00:01:11
Jo
And then I got all the information I needed.
00:01:11
Amelie
Zats.
00:01:13
Jo
It was wonderful.
00:01:15
Amelie
That's good.
00:01:16
Jo
and But then everyone came and thought I was a rogue replicant, so they killed me too. But we got the information we needed, which is what was important.
00:01:21
Amelie
Aha.
00:01:26
Amelie
That's pretty good.
00:01:28
Jo
And then i played a little bit of Morkborg. Two versions. One of Ragnarok. Where you have not been called up to Valhalla, but you can be. And, uh, yeah.
00:01:40
Jo
Yeah. And another version of Morkborg from Free League. About getting into a small slithery slithery temple with a bunch of snake people. Da-da-da-da-doos. I'd just like to say, ah ah apparently using rope to strangle someone who with a bunch of armor on is the way to go. They weren't thinking about that one either.
00:02:00
Jo
And then cutting his head off and using it as a head puppet to tell his minions what to do. Also not thought about.
00:02:08
Amelie
Fun! Fun!
00:02:09
Jo
I know. So I had some fun being creative.
00:02:12
Amelie
That's good!
00:02:13
Jo
Yeah.
00:02:13
Amelie
My question is, do you have any favorite games?
00:02:18
Jo
Do I have favorite games? Oh, wow.
00:02:20
Amelie
Yeah, like you went to Gen Con and one game in particular you really loved?
00:02:24
Jo
I always love Tower of Gax. I do. Oh, because it's, you know, it's a charity one, but it's run by Patrick Faye, and he's pretty decent dude.
00:02:27
Amelie
Yeah.
00:02:36
Jo
What kind of jello? This is the one you played last year with me. Last year, right? Yeah, yeah. They say hi, by the way.
00:02:42
Amelie
and twenty two 2022, three years ago.
00:02:46
Jo
Was it really? I thought was year.
00:02:48
Amelie
no, no, three years ago.
00:02:51
Amelie
Yeah, time flies, my friend. See, when you love someone, when you have a lot of fun with someone, you don't see the time passing. You don't count the mouth and you don't count the years and stuff like that.
00:03:02
Jo
Right.
00:03:05
Amelie
So, yeah.
00:03:06
Jo
I agree. I think that's absolutely correct. When you love someone and you're having fun with them, you never count the years in between. So why do I remember you being last year? Damn it.
00:03:18
Jo
Sorry, I'm forking. You know, this is the new heart thing. Heart cards. One of these. Yeah. yeah It took me five years to do this and they changed it to this crap now.
00:03:32
Jo
Yeah, they changed it. It took me five years to do this. I was practicing. so i might People are wondering, like, is he being real? No, my wrists and hands are broken so much from fighting. I had this hard time to do this motion rhythm.
00:03:45
Jo
That looks like Mr. Magoo now. I still can't do it correctly. And now it looks like a diamond cutter. Oh, DDB. Yeah, no, I love it because it's also the Dozen Dragons I grew up on.
00:03:56
Amelie
Yes, exactly. And when I play with them, I really like it because it's old school.
00:04:00
Jo
Yeah. Yeah.
00:04:02
Amelie
Like they give you the character sheets. There is no glitter and lollipop. And it's really fun because they're like, okay, we're going to kill you.
00:04:06
Jo
No.
00:04:09
Amelie
That's thing.
00:04:10
Jo
Yep, straight out.
00:04:11
Amelie
We're not going to be nice with you. We're going to kill you. And they're really hardcore. And I really like that.
00:04:15
Jo
Yeah, apps absolutely. it's It's a great little session. And it's the perfect amount of time because if you are popping out, I go to Gen Con as media. So I have to do like an interview, another interview. And thanks for all watching my interviews, by the way.
00:04:29
Jo
And to everyone who got interviewed, thanks for being and interviewed. you I think your games are all awesome. There's some very cool games coming out that if you watch the interviews, you learn about. But I love the Tower of Gax because i can just sit down.
00:04:46
Jo
If I get killed, great. I got to interview in five minutes anyways. I'm not feeling like I'm letting the party down. Like, oh, no. i' Like, the Blade Runner was four hours. Blade Runner was four damn hours.
00:04:56
Amelie
Wow.
00:04:58
Jo
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:04:58
Amelie
okay but did you enjoy it?
00:05:00
Jo
I did, but I had an interview like stacked up after it. So I thought, you know, four hours, wink, wink, what will we did, done three. No, we're done four. And so my unique solution of shooting the guy in the face kind of works out when I got killed.
00:05:14
Jo
Like, okay, cool. I got killed 20 minutes to spare. i need this good anyways. So I had fun, but imagine if I didn't get killed, like, oh shoot, now I have to be in like the other part of the city.
00:05:29
Jo
10 minute run through like a bunch of crowds walking slower than the baton death march. Ooh, history lesson Korean war kids look it up There is a big surprise remember like not last year remember 12 years ago when you went with me Yes All those people with the huge backpacks and the and the push carts strollers that's all gone They still have backpacks once in a while.
00:05:34
Amelie
Mm-hmm. C'est vrai. It's true. Mm-hmm.
00:05:43
Amelie
Yes.
00:05:54
Jo
They're more normal size Yes, every once while you have a huge backpack because they're dicks. But those strollers, and unless a baby's in them, they're not there.
00:06:03
Amelie
Good.
00:06:04
Jo
They actually have people removing them, which is nice.
00:06:05
Amelie
yeah Still people in scooter?
00:06:09
Jo
Still people in scooters. And actually, the reason why all the strollers and stuff like that, okay, for those who haveve never gone to convention, A, it's huge. Think of about the biggest convention you've been to and go, oh, that's one room.
00:06:21
Jo
you know that's sincerely that like I when I was giving you photos of the the maps before, like, oh, my God, that's huge. I'm like, no, no, no. That's just where they play the games for this one game. The other games are over here.
00:06:34
Jo
Yeah.
00:06:35
Amelie
It's a city. It's a city.
00:06:36
Jo
It is a city.
00:06:36
Amelie
You have a stadium and it's American stadium for those who are European. We have what we call Brokant in Europe.
00:06:42
Jo
Yeah.
00:06:45
Amelie
So it's a full city who blocks a street in the city to allow people to do what we call flea market.
00:06:46
Jo
Bulldrawn.
00:06:51
Amelie
So you take everything from... your basement and from your roof and you sell, you know, all toys, t-shirt, things, etc. right It's really cool. Well, imagine that, but just with Dungeons & Dragons.
00:07:02
Amelie
So you have a full stadium, football stadium for
00:07:02
Jo
Right.
00:07:06
Amelie
Napoleon War, you go to another hotel, all the room out, Don't just dragon, you go to another hotel and it's a full room conference room, but every room, single room for different games, like video game, movies, con, et cetera.
00:07:08
Jo
Yeah.
00:07:21
Jo
It's amazing. they have They have the movie thing. Yeah.
00:07:25
Amelie
It's crazy. And the thing is sometimes we are very excited about games. So for example, me, I had a favorite game and Joe had a favorite game. And we had to say, okay, we're going to have breakfast.
00:07:38
Amelie
You're going to have coffee. If you need to pee, tell me, but just so you know, if your game is four hours long and we need to go in the other side, we have to run.
00:07:40
Jo
yeah
00:07:48
Amelie
And it was like, I think three hours long and we had to literally run.
00:07:51
Jo
Scoot. Yeah.
00:07:53
Amelie
go up, go through a parking, go downstairs, find, yes, find the escalator, then go to the to the correct hotel.
00:07:57
Jo
but Go back down to it. Yeah.
00:08:02
Jo
The other escalator. The correct hotel.
00:08:03
Amelie
And we had to check check, check, check, ask a few people, right, to find the room to go to.
00:08:06
Jo
Yeah. Yeah.
00:08:09
Amelie
And it was like crazy. And we arrived like, hi, can we be accepted? Yeah, yeah, we said we we have a break of 10 million because we have one of our friends who have
00:08:12
Jo
Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
00:08:16
Amelie
a little heart issue, take your time, sit, if you want to have a cup of coffee at Starbucks, do, please, please, please do.
00:08:20
Jo
Yeah, yeah.
00:08:22
Amelie
We're like, wow. So it's a real sport.
00:08:24
Jo
do
00:08:25
Amelie
It's great, but it's a lot of organization. And the thing is, people are very slow. Like I never saw people so slow.
00:08:33
Jo
Oh my God. are they Not to get on this, but that's what I was thinking of. it was I was hall. Basically the vendors really. had to from end exhibit hall and like basically the vendor all really and i had to go from one end to the other end, just just like, not like a long, long distance.
00:09:00
Jo
Like honestly, it'll take you like maybe two minutes if you're walking slowly, but if you're walking at like negative speed and a bunch of people are walking like so effing, cause they're all on their phones, no one's looking where they're going.
00:09:15
Jo
And I've seen the walking dead go faster than this. And it's just, gu buzz you know, you have kind of like scoot through, scoot through, scoot through, scoot through. It was insane. I kept thinking like, oh my God, this is how the Flash feels like. If you ever if you ever want to feel like the Flash, or more to the point, screw the Flash, he's DC.
00:09:34
Jo
If you ever want to feel like the actual Quicksilver from the X-Men movies, not the poor guy that got capped inside the Marvel one. If you want to feel like him, go to Gen Con and just be normal speed walking.
00:09:48
Jo
You're like, because everyone's going so freaking slow. It seems like time just moved slower there.
00:09:55
Jo
Yeah. But, yeah.
00:09:56
Amelie
The thing who really impressed me was the queue because people would go Gen Con and do the queue and you had other people who are working for the event were like, stop, come and just queue, queue, queue, queue.
00:10:01
Jo
Yeah.
00:10:04
Jo
Oh, yeah, no.
00:10:07
Jo
Boom. Boom.
00:10:10
Amelie
I never saw long queues like that.
00:10:12
Jo
QQQ.
00:10:13
Amelie
it just so It's a different world. So would advise for the European who goes to Gen Con because there is a lot of European who decide to go to Gen Con for business or personal.
00:10:24
Amelie
Number one, water. Get bottle of water. Number two, tennis shoes. Number three, the first day. Just go around.
00:10:31
Jo
Yeah.
00:10:31
Amelie
and see where are different things. B13, B50, etc. Check the time to see where you need to go. And if you need to be separated, choose place where you can all meet together.
00:10:43
Jo
Choose a place.
00:10:44
Amelie
It can be a bar. There is a lot of bar around. It can be a garden or something like that.
00:10:49
Jo
Yeah.
00:10:49
Amelie
And don't be afraid to just visit different parts by yourself because it's really, really cool.
00:10:52
Jo
Talk. Yeah.
00:10:55
Amelie
Like ah ah the lady with a witch hat, she's fantastic. the paintings are fantastic.
00:10:59
Jo
Yeah. Little character.
00:11:00
Amelie
There is interesting books and stuff. That's a thing to do, but it requests a lot of organization. So be prepared if you go to Jengle.
00:11:07
Jo
Yeah, and and here's another thing. there According to the press release they just put out yesterday, 72,000 people.
00:11:15
Amelie
My God.
00:11:16
Jo
72,000 people were there. And it made the city $82 million. Yeah,
00:11:22
Amelie
It's an event, huh? It's an international event.
00:11:24
Jo
they're not saying they made $82 million in the actual con itself.
00:11:31
Jo
Here it is. The estimated economic impact of more than $82 million for the local businesses. That's not the people spending money at the actual con buying games.
00:11:43
Jo
That's $82 million for the city of Indianapolis, for the local businesses.
00:11:48
Amelie
This is wonderful.
00:11:48
Jo
Places like you know Starbucks or the cafes or the eateries or the clothing store, the cinema, whatever. $82 million eightyt twoo million u s Which is, like according to my calculator for Canada, $3.5 think,
00:12:00
Amelie
This is really good.
00:12:05
Jo
today
00:12:06
Amelie
The downfall of it, and we talked about it and spoke about it with locals, the downfall of it is the Uber, the Bolt, super expensive.
00:12:16
Amelie
People don't go to the city when it's Gen Con.
00:12:16
Jo
yeah
00:12:18
Amelie
When it's Gen Con, they know this is a no-go zone. You don't go to the city. You don't walk. You stay where you are. You buy in advance and boom, that's all.
00:12:25
Jo
yeah
00:12:27
Amelie
And all the taxis, the hotel and everything will be like filled up.
00:12:31
Jo
Yeah, like the hotels were insane.
00:12:33
Amelie
overbooked, yadada, yadada. And I totally understand why. It's the place you either work or sleep and that's all. I think it must be very expensive to go to Gen Con as a representative, like somebody who sells art something like that.
00:12:47
Jo
It is. and yeah honestly is.
00:12:49
Amelie
But it's a place to be. Like, it's a place to be. Like, it's it's fantastic.
00:12:53
Jo
I mean, yeah, I do. I either go as media or I'm presenting something or I'm doing both. Like sometimes I'll do a seminar for writing or something like that. Or I'll usually do media with interviews and stuff like that.
00:13:07
Jo
Or I have the game, the drinking game to be demo tested. And then I had the rest of my staff go there as media. But. Tickets aside, like I get my hotel, honestly, what this, August 6th right now we're recording it?
00:13:25
Jo
I'll get my hotel for next year and about a week. And most hotels won't release it a year in advance, so you kind of have the scour. The hotel I got was not the one we had before. The one we had before, we could walk, you know? We were just kind of walking to Gen Con and back.
00:13:39
Jo
I had to get a ah Lyft or an Uber. And it it did add up. But the reason why I got the hotel, I was like, why did i get a hotel this far away? What the hell's wrong with me? I got it for free.
00:13:50
Jo
Like, oh, well, yeah, that's why I got the hotel. it was free. I'm like, whatever. I guess I can pay a hundred. I think my Lyft tickets from there and back, there and back was $125. That's not bad for a four day hotel It's, you know, brilliant.
00:14:05
Jo
Lyft, by the way, if you're listening to Lyft, you guys can go fuck yourselves. Yeah, I'm just aware right now. Lyft, I was stranded at Gen Con for three or four rides in a row because, oh, two minutes away, oh, a new person with more money probably came up in your app.
00:14:20
Jo
So fuck you and fuck y'all. Fuck all y'all on Lyft. Uber, we're still good.
00:14:26
Amelie
Have you considered renting a car?
00:14:29
Jo
Fuck that. I'm not driving through that shit.
00:14:31
Amelie
Okay.
00:14:31
Jo
Running a car plus but getting it parked at the... I had a car one year. I did have a car one year. And basically you yet to park at the Circle Mall. And it's you know it' it's about as expensive as a Lyft. And plus you have to put up with all the bullshit of the traffic and the construction and stuff like that. So no.
00:14:50
Jo
Next year I think I'll just get a hotel closer again and just walk that way.
00:14:57
Amelie
It's crazy. um It's very American.
00:14:57
Jo
Yeah.
00:14:58
Amelie
You know, it's crazy because as a European, you heard about exposition. Exposition. That's what we call an event like Gen Con, right? And it's huge.
00:15:10
Amelie
And how you go from point A to point B, it's very difficult. Like there is a lot of roads.
00:15:19
Jo
Yeah.
00:15:19
Amelie
There is a lot of highway. You need a car. You don't have a car, you're fucked.
00:15:24
Jo
No, it's not Europe.
00:15:24
Amelie
Or you need a metro, you know what I mean? It's not like in Europe.
00:15:26
Jo
you your The entire but carate continent of Europe is the size of a state.
00:15:32
Amelie
Yes.
00:15:32
Jo
like No, like it's ridiculously small.
00:15:33
Amelie
Yes.
00:15:34
Jo
like
00:15:34
Amelie
And it's difficult to explain to European.
00:15:34
Jo
F Europe, so sorry.
00:15:36
Amelie
Like my husband was trying to explain to me. You were trying to explain to me. My but my friend Paul was trying to explain to me. a A lot of American and ken Canadian was were trying to explain to me. It's really big.
00:15:49
Amelie
But even if you listen, You don't understand. You have to live it. You have to see it for yourself and be like, oh, it's big.
00:16:01
Amelie
Everything is huge.
00:16:02
Jo
That's what she said, by the way.
00:16:03
Amelie
The building. Oh, it's true.
00:16:04
Jo
say
00:16:06
Amelie
It's true. I said you were big bigger than I expected. yeah da da da da and
00:16:10
Jo
Then you expect it. Jesus. Thanks for the compliment. Nice job. Yeah, it's you i mean it is huge. But you know what? I love going there. And I'll keep going back, I guess.
00:16:20
Jo
And I love the movie section. I got to talk to some directors for the movie section. And then yesterday, I got to interview the director from Dice Reloaded, which is... Welcome to Dice Reloaded Show. We spent 15 minutes on Gen Con. We'll spend two minutes on Dice now.
00:16:34
Amelie
Sorry.
00:16:36
Jo
No, it's all good. This is this is what we're talking about, right? So I interviewed Jeremy Rudd yesterday. And that interview will will come out you know relatively soon. Their movie is on theaters on the 8th. So um two days. so did you This comes out and you know we gather.
00:16:55
Jo
And then you can get it on Video On Demand on the 12th. So Diced Reloaded, and I was talking to the director and writer, Jeremy Rudd, yesterday, and it's a pretty interesting story.
00:17:09
Jo
He wrote a short film. you know He was basically in, I won't ruin my own interview, but he was locked down, COVID, watching 80s movies, 80s horror movies.
00:17:23
Jo
And kind of missed that vibe versus the newer movies. You know, it kind of missed the 80s vibe. So, you know, it's it's all Fear Street stuff now, I guess. they So he wrote a short, a proof of concept, right?
00:17:37
Jo
Made the short. It's about a killer clown, Benny the Clown. Started slicing and dicing. Diced. And then Strike Media saw and loved it and said, let's make this a feature film.
00:17:52
Jo
And so now he's coming out with Diced Reloaded. It's kind of a sequel to the short, but is a full-length feature. And I'll read the IMDb right now.
00:18:03
Jo
When notorious killer Bendy escapes in his stallion on Halloween night, his scarecrow mask rampage turns in the nineteen eighty s Seattle into a blood-soaked nightmare with one young woman in his sights.
00:18:19
Jo
And it works really well. Once he was explaining his thought process, I'm like, oh my God, you nailed it. Because you're watching this. and like, this reminds me of like Halloween, like the original Halloweens or kind of like all the movies I used to rent in a VHS store. Yes, kids, VHS stores.
00:18:37
Jo
In the 80s, we just kind of go by the box cover. I go, what's this one? you know By the way, that's how Rocket Horror Picture got me. Hmm. ra your But we've got Eden Campbell and Jason Brooks in this. We've got a lot of cool things. And you're like, why does Eden Campbell, why does that person sound familiar?
00:18:56
Jo
Fear Street Part 2.
00:18:59
Jo
In 1978, she was playing Annie. She was also in Z Nation. So, yeah.
00:19:04
Amelie
So when you watch the movie, is it 80s aesthetic?
00:19:09
Jo
Yeah, no. And again, I'm not going to ruin the entire interview I just did with him yesterday, but he explains, like Jeremy explains how we got 1987 Seattle, because you think about Seattle now, it's all Starbucks and it's all whatever. And what you we made a joke about, you know is the gum wall still there? the have a wall.
00:19:30
Jo
Lizzie, if you're watching, thanks for touring in the gum wall with me, by And if you're watching, right. There, I know, there is complete 80s vibe to this, the way people are walking and talking, the the dressing, the the phones or actual phone phones that are tied to your wall with the cords.
00:19:53
Jo
No one's got the extra special cell phone. No one's got, everyone's got a video camera in their pants now, you know, or on their faces, I guess, if you have metaglasses. And it's that vibe.
00:20:06
Jo
And it's just that vibe of 1980s Seattle. It's not quite grunge yet. It's pre-grunge, 87. It's pre-grunge. Grunge is coming soon. This is what this is what born grunge into it.
00:20:21
Jo
So yeah, he nails it really well. I'm not going to spoil how they did it. Watch my interview and find out. But he nails it really well. And he's got... With Jason Brooks playing the killer clown Benji, Jason is a great special effects artist.
00:20:41
Jo
And to have someone do this and do a clown for you, like the baddie for you, right? Jason's one...
00:20:53
Jo
Best slasher film, San Diego. 2022 winner. For the gorious film as well. For a Rose Blood. A Friday the 13th fan film.
00:21:05
Jo
So he's been doing a lot of Friday the 13th fan stuff for a while. And award winning, putting it all out there, right? His work in Diced is legendary.
00:21:18
Jo
It is great. And I love, love, love how... Strike took this. God, I'm the edit of the civil world. It wasn't them.
00:21:28
Jo
But I love how they took it and just ran with it. Right? This is Jeremy's first feature film as writer and director. And he's got a hit on his hands.
00:21:38
Amelie
Nice.
00:21:39
Amelie
Nice.
00:21:39
Jo
Yeah, he's got it.
00:21:40
Jo
And it's an hour 21. Your butt doesn't go numb.
00:21:43
Amelie
nice. So the good old 90 minutes long maximum.
00:21:45
Jo
Right? Yeah. You get in, you get out. The pacing's fantastic. And you care about, unlike some films where we actually root just for the girl to die because we we don't care about her. Like, oh, please just kill everyone on the screen right now.
00:22:01
Jo
Like, there's no saving grace in the characters. We care about the final girl. Or people. There might be more than one. And the weird thing is, I actually cared about the killer.
00:22:16
Amelie
Oh, interesting.
00:22:17
Jo
Have you seen Terrifier with Art the Clown?
00:22:21
Amelie
Yep.
00:22:22
Jo
Yeah, I can't give two shits about Art of Clown.
00:22:24
Amelie
Oh.
00:22:25
Jo
i I know on Popular Opinion Day by Joe, I didn't say I don't like Terrifier. I did like the Terrifier franchise. But do you really care if Art Clown and Lizard dies?
00:22:39
Jo
did you You didn't even think about it, did You're like, hey, it's just a guy that kills things, you know?
00:22:39
Amelie
Not really.
00:22:42
Amelie
Mm-hmm.
00:22:43
Jo
It's basically a one long gag. Art of Clown and Terrifier is just one long running gag about how can I make this stuff happen? What's the new cool way we can kill this person?
00:22:55
Jo
You know, it's it's mc Art and MacGuffin, basically. It's just someone, a new sex match, you know. Where, Diced, there's actually a reason why Benny kills.
00:23:08
Jo
Which goes back to original Friday the 13th. There's a reason why Jason Mom's kills. Right? Go back to Freddy Kruegerland, Nightmare on Elm Street.
00:23:20
Jo
with Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund. There's a reason why Friday kills.
00:23:27
Amelie
So my question is, do you think the movie is great because of the writing? Because there is a backstory? Because every character are mold with an idea, with a backstory, and you can have some, I would say it' some pity for the character.
00:23:39
Jo
Yeah.
00:23:45
Jo
Yeah, and that's the thing. like I think the writing, and I told him this yesterday, because he is writer and director in this. So when something doesn't work, he can fix it as a writer. And if something in his head was better in writing as a director, he's not getting it. He knows when to shift in.
00:24:04
Jo
I think because it's well written, and because the director didn't chop up the writing, because it's the same person, right?
00:24:17
Jo
same It's the same creative of mind. Because of that, it became a stronger movie. It became Matt and Trey from South Park once described what was wrong with a lot of TV shows, a lot of TV or lot of movies like this.
00:24:38
Jo
It's not this happens Then this happens and then this happened. If you watch, and God love you, I do like Seth MacFarlane. If you watch a ah ah Family Guy episode, it's sometimes a list of things that just happened.
00:24:54
Jo
This happened and then this happened and this happened and this happened.
00:24:56
Amelie
Yeah, yeah. There is a problem with series, especially series from the 2000s, starting in the 2000s. They were really funny, really hard, really acidic at the beginning with amazing pitch line, etc.
00:25:09
Jo
Yeah.
00:25:09
Amelie
And for example, in VFamily Guy, I really love the dog, Brian and Stewie.
00:25:13
Jo
Ryan.
00:25:14
Amelie
They're a fantastic duo.
00:25:14
Jo
Yeah. Yes.
00:25:15
Amelie
Like, how many times I send you mimis with dog and the baby and I'm like, I like them, really funny, la la la la.
00:25:19
Jo
Yeah.
00:25:21
Amelie
la la la la la la Right? Right. But now when you watch the series, because the series has been running for years and years on, 20 years, right?
00:25:29
Jo
Yeah.
00:25:30
Amelie
The writing changed, the politics changed, etc. And now it's just bang, bang, bang, bang. Even the character changed. Like Lois and Peter changed.
00:25:41
Amelie
Meg changed. She's the same person, same voice. But because of the writing or the situation or everything is modern now, Bang, you don't have the same character and it's uncippied, unfortunately.
00:25:53
Amelie
So a lot of people are taking Griffin, like an example of, look, a series who used to be really funny and now it's no more.
00:25:53
Jo
yeah
00:26:01
Amelie
It's just...
00:26:02
Jo
Well, that's the thing. It's a good problem to have. It's a, it's a Simpsons problem as well. It's a good problem to have. It means they've been gone for 30 years.
00:26:08
Amelie
Correct.
00:26:10
Amelie
Yeah.
00:26:10
Jo
yeah Just that's a a monumental feat and family guy, you know, the Futurama incidents, they eventually go, we've been on for so long.
00:26:19
Jo
What the F we're supposed to do now?
00:26:22
Amelie
And that's the strength for South Park. When you watch interviews and documentary and special reports about the the two South Park creators, they are full of doubt.
00:26:28
Jo
Yeah.
00:26:35
Amelie
Like, have you seen the special pis episode about World of Warcraft episode South Park?
00:26:41
Jo
I did. Yes.
00:26:43
Amelie
The guy said, very simple, I'm going to take medication, I'm going to sleep, and don't wake me up. Because I know I really fucked up. That episode was really bad.
00:26:55
Amelie
Like, that's the worst episode we ever made. He goes to sleep, he wakes up the next morning, and it was one of the best episodes ever made of South Park, considered by the fan.
00:27:04
Jo
Right. No, it's...
00:27:05
Amelie
Like, it's really interesting to see these two guys who are really funny, like, who really go through a lot of of scandal and stuff like that.
00:27:09
Jo
Right.
00:27:14
Amelie
Now, sometimes they're like, no, no, what can we do, et cetera.
00:27:17
Jo
Well, that's the thing. and And they will say, and by the way, South Park is made within one week. Every episode takes seven days to make.
00:27:25
Amelie
Yeah.
00:27:25
Amelie
Yeah. yeah
00:27:25
Jo
From concept to actually give it to whoever owns Comedy Central now, Viacom, Parenthood, fucking house.
00:27:34
Jo
They are saying that was a problem. You know, that this happens and this happens, this happens, like a list. Instead of what it should be, this happened because this happened, then this happened.
00:27:48
Jo
And that's where, getting back to Diced Reloaded, that's where Diced Reloaded shines. It's not a list of killings. That's Art the Clown. Which is why i i get it.
00:27:59
Jo
I'm sure Terrifier fans are go to skewer me. I don't give a F.
00:28:05
Jo
I'll watch it, but i'm not go it's not my top whatever. it doesn't It doesn't really focus my radar that much. They can make Terrified 13 by now. I wouldn't know. It doesn't really do much for me because it's just a list of killings.
00:28:20
Jo
like If Saw was just a list of killings, no one's watching Saw 12. If Dice was just a list of killings, no one's going to watch Dice's.
00:28:26
Amelie
Definitely.
00:28:30
Jo
But because it sets it up, this happened, because this happens, then this will have to happen. Because DICE is done that way, it's a great movie to watch.
00:28:42
Jo
The acting is phenomenal. The special effects are top notch. like The editing is spot on. i called it kind of like, with before before I knew who the studio put it out, I'm like, this is kind of like what Blumhouse would do if you gave him a concept.
00:28:59
Jo
You know, the budget is pretty good. didn't look at the actual budget for this one, but it's well made. You cannot tell this the first time. This is his first time doing a feature film.
00:29:11
Jo
You can't tell at all. He looks like a pro in this.
00:29:14
Amelie
Oh, i I think the reason he is really good at it is because nowadays, my generation, we have the possibility to have camera, computer, etc.
00:29:25
Amelie
We can make a movie in, poof, snap of computer. Look at us.
00:29:28
Jo
Yeah.
00:29:29
Amelie
We're making podcast. If you came back to the 90s and you say to my parents, hi, my name is Joseph and I'm going to do a podcast with your daughter. We're going to do this and that. They will look at you and say, wow.
00:29:41
Amelie
Radio? Like a radio?
00:29:41
Jo
you You think that's what I'll tell your parents?
00:29:42
Amelie
Like something like that? Like, woo!
00:29:44
Jo
hi my name is Joe. I'm going to do things to your daughter.
00:29:48
Amelie
I'm going to do things with you. I'm going to... Yes. Maybe, maybe, you know. Hello! I'm from the future.
00:29:56
Jo
Bonjour, je m'appelle Joe. Bonjour.
00:30:02
Amelie
Right? Right? hu No, my my point is we have access of a lot of things.
00:30:06
Jo
yes
00:30:08
Amelie
Camera, mobile phone.
00:30:11
Jo
Yeah.
00:30:11
Amelie
We have better memory cards, etc. So imagine the dude who wants to make an 80 genre movie, easy peasy, demon squeezy.
00:30:19
Jo
yeah
00:30:20
Amelie
He can use internet, he can rent some video, etc. He can do it in his home, on a computer laptop. Great, great. Think about Quentin Tarantino when he was explaining how he made his first movie.
00:30:34
Amelie
It was all a catastrophe. He had to work from Monday to Friday and then during the weekend, film, film, film, buy film, rent, spend money, go to different places, black room, etc.
00:30:42
Jo
Right.
00:30:46
Amelie
So for a year, he worked on his movie, who was shit apparently, but he had to work, film, organize, find actors, etc.
00:30:54
Jo
Well, I'm only...
00:30:54
Amelie
Yeah.
00:30:55
Jo
Hold on. That's the thing. like Jeremy didn't do this in his bedroom. They had a full movie set. They had to get Airbnbs.
00:31:01
Amelie
yes
00:31:03
Jo
They had to do the whole thing. It wasn't just like, as you I don't know, but easy peasy. This is like Hardy, Marty, slightly Lombardi. I don't know what the other counterpart is that.
00:31:12
Amelie
Yeah, I know. But my point is, even if even if I am a beginner and I want to do a movie with a good camera, with a good group, I can do something solid from my generation compared to the 80s when it's a camera. It's not very good quality. la la li la la la You see what I mean?
00:31:30
Jo
I see you're saying that because the technology helps to lift a little bit.
00:31:30
Amelie
For not expensive.
00:31:33
Jo
Okay, I can get that. Yeah, it does help lift a little bit, but it doesn't replace being able to have an artistic direction of it. You can have the most money in the world. You could have Blumhouse money, money but you if you don't have artistic direction, it it's going to tank.
00:31:50
Amelie
You're right.
00:31:51
Jo
If you don't have the eye for that, if you don't have the creative drive for it. And it's it's when people are like, I want to make movies because I want to make money. Well, you're going to lose money, first of all, probably. Probably. You might make one or two that'll hit at all.
00:32:05
Jo
It's the, I want to make a movie because I want to make a movie about this stuff. And, like, Jeremy busted his butt for this. and it And it really does show. And it shows. Now, I'm going to read you the extended log line. Extended log line.
00:32:17
Jo
Storyline is IMDb, I should say. Seattle, Halloween night, 1986. Benny, an infamous serial killer, long thought contained, breaks free from his high security asylum.
00:32:30
Jo
Reads like somewhat of Michael Myers. Reborn behind a twisted scarecrow mask. And by the way, the face is fantastic. The masking is great. I love the whole vibe.
00:32:42
Jo
Like the makeup jobs are spot on. The practical effects. As he leaves a trail of carnage across the suburbs, whispering of his gruesome past resurfaces, feeling panic in a city soaked in neon and fear.
00:32:56
Jo
Now remember, this is not people texting each other and taking videos, stuff something like that. It's them going, oh, remember this? It's it's the old time telephone game. Where if I tell you a story, you tell your friend a story, you tell your friend story. By the time it gets to the fourth person, it's a different story.
00:33:12
Jo
But Benny isn't just killing it for pleasure. He's hunting someone. So that's why it's not he's just not just Arthur Clown killing a bunch of people. There's a reason why. A young woman, anoint, tied to the darkest chapter of his madness becomes his fixation, like the great slashers of the 80s.
00:33:30
Jo
And the closer he gets, the bloodier gets. Dice Reloaded delivers a brutal, synth-drenched slasher, stoked in 80s nostalgia, where Benny carves his place in horror history one body at a time.
00:33:42
Jo
I would absolutely watch this on the last drive-in of Joe Bob Riggs. This makes a perfect movie for that venue. It's an hour 27. It's got a lot of to deal into. It's well-made.
00:33:55
Jo
And is, without a doubt, the best screener I got in a long time. Probably since the Muppet movie. Not the Muppet movie. You know, the movie with the Muppets in it, should say.
00:34:07
Amelie
yeah
00:34:09
Jo
yeah So that that's diced. Reloaded. Now, when it comes out on video on demand, would you want to watch it?
00:34:21
Jo
Yeah.
00:34:21
Amelie
Definitely. That's a kind of movie I really like.
00:34:21
Jo
Yeah. yeah
00:34:23
Amelie
You know, I really like old school movies, you know, black and white, really good horror one.
00:34:24
Jo
I think you would. Yeah.
00:34:29
Amelie
And the 80s movie, I really like it. And I said it I will say it and I say it right now. I really miss the good old days when a movie was 90 minutes. You would go to the cinema, say, what do you do Saturday today afternoon?
00:34:42
Amelie
Oh, I'm going to the cinema with Paul.
00:34:42
Jo
yeah
00:34:44
Amelie
Oh, great. So see you in two hours and boom.
00:34:46
Jo
yeah
00:34:47
Amelie
And the good old time when you could book a babysitter and say, we're going to the restaurant, we're going to the cinema and maybe on the way back having an ice cream because you could do this thing in three to four hours. Now it's We need to book you for four hours.
00:35:00
Amelie
However, the movie is three hours long.
00:35:02
Jo
Right.
00:35:02
Amelie
We need to buy the ticket in advance, pass, hop, grab a popcorn, and jump.
00:35:07
Jo
Yeah. Yeah. And exactly like the popcorn becomes a meal because it's expensive as a meal nowadays. and And B, like, of all, i i don't blame Marvel, but I blame Marvel for this.
00:35:23
Jo
Movies being three effing hours long, that's really a Hobbit thing. That was, you know, Hobbits land three hours long. then we just kind of got used to it. Or James Cameron, may Avatar burn in flames. That's the most boring ripoff of Last Mohicans I've ever seen in my life. And I've seen film productions from seven-year-olds. Like, not even seventh graders, seven-year-olds did better at that graph.
00:35:46
Jo
you never liked avatar too right or avatar yeah i hated that crap meet me neither i'm like i don't see the point like apparently burning money it makes money who knows maybe it's all drug laundering allegedly i can't prove that obviously but that's why i liked about diced hour and a half start to finish it's it's perfect
00:35:49
Amelie
avatar. I am not an avatar person.
00:36:10
Jo
It's a date night movie. Don't watch with your kids. I'll trade out with this one.
00:36:16
Amelie
That's something that is nice, you know. you Want to spend time with someone and you want to have a chill night, no pressure, et cetera.
00:36:21
Jo
Yeah.
00:36:25
Amelie
Boom, you order something to take away. You sit, you watch. 90 minutes, easy peasy, lemon squeezy.
00:36:29
Jo
Sounds nice.
00:36:32
Amelie
You want to stay, you stay. You don't want to stay. You leave, you know, simple as that.
00:36:36
Jo
Yeah.
00:36:36
Amelie
Like three hours. Like we had this conversation one day during a podcast. We were talking about stranger things. And we're like, yeah, that's great, et cetera. Season after season, the episode just stretched like that.
00:36:51
Amelie
There is even one episode I had to stop in the middle and watch the next day. And I'm like, this is not what I want. This is something I want to watch in my bed, eating my favorite pizza.
00:36:51
Jo
I still hadn't watched that, man.
00:37:07
Amelie
Just one episode, let's say, I don't know, 20 minutes. It was 90 minutes for one episode now. I'm like, this is too much. To say what? To show what?
00:37:17
Jo
Yeah, which is why I don't watch Stranger Things.
00:37:18
Amelie
like,
00:37:20
Jo
Honestly, today on Streaming Demons, Joe doesn't watch much. i I've been re-watching Burn Notice for like 10 years on loop. I actually think sometimes I am in Miami.
00:37:34
Jo
When I wake up, I'm like, am I in Miami right now? But and that's the beauty about Dice Reloaded. It horror. It is 80s. It's not a bunch of TNA.
00:37:48
Jo
they They might have had some breasts. I actually don't remember. Honestly, don't remember. if it had a lot of but It didn't have a lot. It had a lot of good kills.
00:38:00
Jo
It had a lot of smart camera work. That's what it had. It had a lot of art. Not art to clown, but had a lot of art, like artistic merit. I think if Jeremy took this to Gen Con or different horror festivals, it would clean up.
00:38:18
Jo
It would absolutely just clean up the award shows. It would. I love it. I can't wait for you to watch it and we'll come back and talk about it together to see if if I'm just high on Coke Zero. Actually, that's a Diet Coke.
00:38:34
Jo
You can tell because it tastes like...
00:38:37
Jo
But that's it. And now, next week, barring some sort of really cool movie coming. Although I do have another movie to talk about later on. But the embargo is a couple weeks anyways. So I'd sit on it.
00:38:50
Jo
Oh, but, Amelie, I have to tell you. After watching Diced, I got a another movie. And it is fantastic.
00:39:04
Jo
It's different than Dice. But it's the same high quality, great acting, perfect directing, writing spot on feel. So i'm i'm I'm actually on a winning streak.
00:39:17
Jo
But I'm so excited for you to see Dice. When it comes out, you watch it. We'll come back. We'll talk about Dice on our non-berry day.
00:39:30
Jo
non-berry day. All this and more on the next, next, next, Dreaming Demons. So, before we go, and Amelie does not know I'm going to say this. Are you ready?
00:39:46
Amelie
I am ready?
00:39:48
Jo
Okay. Amelie wants to keep this as a secret between me and you, though. Guess who won?
00:39:59
Jo
I'm afraid of this. way Guess who made the shortlist for the Pulitzer Prize in writing? The Pulitzer Prize in writing.
00:40:12
Amelie
you
00:40:13
Jo
No, fuck no. No, I didn't make the shortlist. I didn't win. No, no, I didn't win. I didn't win that one either. No, no. but I mean, I got nominated. nominated. um Yeah, yeah, I didn't win. So that was my last one. I am a Pulitzer also ran.
00:40:27
Jo
I also ran. That was nice. No, I got... sat on the results for like ah but apparently three months. I'm like, oh, that's that's what these are. cool ah Did Did I win? No, I didn't. Okay.
00:40:39
Jo
You thought was going to say won? Yeah, me too. Honestly, I thought I almost had one. All right, but next week, next week, next time, next time, and we either do a Barry or a new movie, depending on things, how it worked out.
00:40:50
Jo
All this and more on the next, next, next stream of demons. Bye, y'all. Like and subscribe now. Listen to my interview with Jeremy Rudd. things