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EPISODE 141: TOURISM IS TERRIFYING
279 Plays23 hours ago
We’re all tourists in one way or the other. But while holidays can be grand… tourism can also be terrifying!
HORROR IN THE MOVIES
TOURIST TRAP and HOSTEL will have you rethinking that trip you just booked!
WHATCHA BEEN WATCHIN’, BITCH?!
Listen in to hear what we’ve been watchin’... bitch!
–
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Fry Gay the 13th Horror Podcast is a proud independent podcast. To learn more about the show, visit frygay13.com. um Next! Bins are on the right!
00:00:13
Speaker
Please remove all electronic devices! Everything in a bin! ah excuse me, do do I need to take my laptop out? Everything in a bin. Everything separate. Okay, okay. Jeez, but what about shoes? Do I have to take them off?
00:00:28
Speaker
Actually, we don't do that anymore. Really? Awesome, thank God. No! Everything get up in a bin! Now hurry up. I'm going as fast as I can. Now through the scanner. All right, now we have to pat you down. Don't have to threaten me with a good time.
00:00:44
Speaker
Excuse me, sir? Sorry, just just a joke. Just a joke. Is this ah joke? What is this? It's just my chapstick. I carry it everywhere.
00:00:55
Speaker
And this? Personal massager? It's episode 141.
Exploring Tourism in Horror and Reality
00:01:03
Speaker
terrifying. I am the writing on the wall, the whisper in the classroom.
00:01:12
Speaker
I'm Marjorie Greene, and I approve this message to save America, stop socialism, and stop China. State of high reality, from life to death to rise.
00:01:23
Speaker
Horror in real life. Doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters, they are going to get it wrong. Horror in the movies. Where are you going to
00:01:39
Speaker
Where are you going to hide? Nowhere. Because there's no one like you left. What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Yeah!
00:01:49
Speaker
Let's go! What are you waiting for, huh? What you waiting for? I want you to know that the movement we started is only just beginning. Sometimes. Sometimes.
00:02:03
Speaker
but Tourism trouble brewing as tariff tensions boil over between the United States and Canada. Both the Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor Tunnel registering declines in travel last month.
00:02:16
Speaker
Local businesses also noticing the absence of Canadian customers. Some Canadians say that they are vowing to use their wallets as a means to make their voices heard.
00:02:26
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of Freigay the 13th Horror Podcast. My name is Matty. And I'm Andrew. And if this is your first time with us on Freigay the 13th Horror Podcast, this is the podcast that talks about horror.
00:02:39
Speaker
Horror in real life and in the movies from an LGBT perspective. Folks, this is our 141st episode all about tourism, because let's face it, in the age of Trump part two, which is basically just fascism, um tourism has become a little bit more interesting. And by interesting, I just mean actually kind of scary.
00:02:59
Speaker
But even before Trump, tourism has always been a little bit weird, right? Good and weird. Look, all of us are tourists in one way or another. We've all been here. We've all been there. You've been a tourist somewhere in your life at some point in your life.
00:03:12
Speaker
But what about the times when it can actually be really terrifying? Like, Andrew, what if you're traveling as like a trans person these days? What if you're, you know, somebody from another country trying to go to America? Maybe you want to go see Niagara Falls.
00:03:26
Speaker
Maybe you want to go see um like the biggest cheese thing in in Wisconsin. I'm trying to think of other dumb, dumb tourist things to go to. um What's that one? What's that one in um in South Dakota?
00:03:39
Speaker
The Corn Palace. Have you ever been to the Corn Palace, Andrew? No, but you just revealed something that I have to delete now. What? What is it? No, I have a game for us later. And now it's a Corn Palace on there.
00:03:52
Speaker
No way. Anyway. So i've I've actually been to the Corn Palace um when when our our friend John took me on ah on a ah road trip all the way to Montana from Chicago way back in the day.
00:04:04
Speaker
ah We were going through, I forget where it is. i can't remember the city exactly, but um we went to the fucking Corn Palace. And let me tell you, it is very fucking weird. it's and And it's huge. it's It's actually kind of, it's a cool building.
00:04:16
Speaker
But blah, blah, blah, blah. I digress. Tourism is terrifying. And we're going to talk all about it today. pairing that Especially these days when planes are colliding with other planes and helicopters are falling out of the sky. well you know what? i didn't I honestly forgot about that aspect of it, too.
00:04:31
Speaker
Jesus. God almighty. um And look, we paired it up with two really great films specifically about this. One hits it right on the nose, Tourist Trap. And the other one is... ah that that that that That Alfred Hitchcock of horror, Eli Roth with with Hostel.
00:04:49
Speaker
um so well It's kind of like the fear of domestic travel versus the fear of international travel. You really think about it. That makes sense. That makes sense. And God, Two Us Trap is one of the strangest things you could ever see. oh life We'll get into it. it is it's ah the The ending still still really mystifies me, but also makes me crack up kind of and also makes me go, huh, at the same time.
00:05:10
Speaker
um But Andrew, um I mean, when's the last time that you were a tourist? Where where where where did you go last? My last travel was to Curacao in the South Caribbean. We went in February, had a wonderful time.
00:05:25
Speaker
Is it where Blue Curacao comes from? is is that It is. They have a whole museum. Yeah, yeah. That's amazing. It's not just Blue Curacao. There's lots of different Curacao liqueurs.
00:05:36
Speaker
Huh. Interesting. Interesting. Blue is just the one that kind of made it out, if you will, ah much like in Jamaica with rum or, you know,
Challenges of Modern Travel
00:05:45
Speaker
and such. But ah we thought about going to the museum. We didn't.
00:05:49
Speaker
um We decided to go to the Heritage Museum instead. um Listen, we were drinking enough on that trip. We didn't need another museum to encourage more. But um no, it was wonderful. um Interesting point of view because it is a Dutch ah colony. Yes.
00:06:07
Speaker
So kind of a weird mix of like feeling like you're in the Caribbean, but also feeling like you're in Europe, um especially when you went out to eat because the style of dining was definitely very European. Really?
00:06:20
Speaker
The waiter would come to your table once. Hopefully you're ready and you have everything you want to order because they'll never be back again until you want to see the bill. Yeah. Yeah, that's it's very continental. Yeah.
00:06:31
Speaker
when When was your last travel? What was my last trip? My last trip? ah Well, i I was in England, but I don't really count. I'm in England pretty often. um I can tell you. Well, you know what? so ah Really, my last my last like real good trip was was to Croatia.
00:06:46
Speaker
I was in splits ah and it was a ah really, really wonderful trip. And if you've never been to Croatia, I highly recommend it. it is It's absolutely breathtaking. It's it's a stunning country.
00:06:59
Speaker
And in many parts of it, it's still very, very cheap. um Only recently on the Euro. um And I was in a Split, which is right on the Adriatic coast. It's where the Emperor Diocletian had his palace.
00:07:11
Speaker
And so Split, the the the the town, like the old town, is basically just Diocletian's palace because the palace was huge. And so like all the shops and all the things and every every all the people's houses, they're all built into the palace. It's it's really, really cool to experience.
00:07:28
Speaker
um And on that trip too, I got to go to – I rented a car and drove to the village – a very, very small village where my great grandfather left for America. And um he left in 1907 and I went back last year. So it was 117 years since any Zyrdich from his line went to Lovrec, which is where we're from. And it was absolutely incredible.
00:07:50
Speaker
yeah um And I might've talked about this on the um on on an episode earlier, but who knows, but the the humor me anyway. um One of the cool things I got to do was to go to the graveyard outside of the the old church there. And there were all these Zerdiches, obviously, because that's where the family's from.
00:08:04
Speaker
And it's if you have a weird name like mine, you've never seen that before. And so it's just like, whoa. And i i was I was walking around and taking a bunch of photos and FaceTiming my siblings so they could see it too.
00:08:15
Speaker
And I just happened to like look down at one point and there was this like a little patch of like clover, like shamrocks. And i literally thought to myself, for whatever reason, what's the chance that if I reach down right now, I'll find a four leaf clover, which, by the way, I've never found in my life.
00:08:32
Speaker
I'm not fucking kidding you. I reached down and I picked up a four leaf clover. It was a cool. It blew my mind. It's still in my passport right now. I felt like their ghosts were saying hello.
00:08:42
Speaker
It was really, really interesting. um i'm I'm heading back to Croatia actually in less than a month um and looking forward to it. This time I'm going to over by Dubrovnik and my my sister Katie is going to meet me there with her family.
00:08:56
Speaker
um I've got four days with her and then four days on my own and it's going to be a really lovely trip. you know One of the interesting things about being in Europe is that like you know you you were talking earlier about like domestic tourism versus like international tourism. yeah So much of the tourism that we do here is international because like it's just easier to do. well it's winning It's right there. It's it's right there and so like you know there. There is like a lot more, you know because of the the first 30, what, eight years of my life, I was in America.
00:09:27
Speaker
And so like I didn't have to worry about my passport so much, didn't have to worry about visas so much or this thing or that thing or that thing or that thing. um And now, you know as an American living here, because I'm not and not not an EU citizen yet, those are all things that I have to think about on a regular basis. like i have to you know I know on May 20th, I have to renew my stamp for visa.
00:09:45
Speaker
I know that I have to get the ETS visa as soon as i' i'm I'm able to do that. um Even for even like for like going to England, I don't technically need the ETA, but I got it anyway, like just in case.
00:09:58
Speaker
yeah And it's just it's just interesting to think about how how many rules there are when it comes to travel. And like, you know, I'm about to come to America. Sorry, I know I'm speaking to for a while. I promise I'm getting to a point.
00:10:11
Speaker
um I'm coming to America not this coming week, but the week after and I'll be there for work for a week and then you know as always I see friends and family for for the week after and then I come back and um ah Some of my employees are coming to not all of them can go and let me tell you why so first off I have two employees in the Philippines We've got a pretty strong team there one really cool thing too is I'm actually I'm i'm going to the Philippines in November, which is really really cool So I'm looking forward to that But my two employees there, um they were supposed to be on the trip with us.
00:10:42
Speaker
They're supposed to come to Chicago to be at this global summit that we're having, which is really important for our team. And in order to do that, people in the Philippines have to get a visa. And in order to get a visa, you cannot do it online.
00:10:55
Speaker
You cannot do it over the phone. You cannot do it by mail. You have to go to the embassy in Manila to get it. For a lot of people in the Philippines, that means you take a plane to Manila to get that That's crazy. And there's no other way that is possible to get it.
00:11:13
Speaker
So my people went, and on the first try, they got denied for no reason. They just went in. And would they asked him like two questions without even looking at the letter or this thing or you know a description of what they're doing.
00:11:27
Speaker
They just gave them the blue slip, which means they they don't get the visa. They went a second time and they both had to fly there. I want you to remember this. Both had to fly there. They went there a second time. Same thing happened.
00:11:38
Speaker
Both of them went a third time. And the third time was after I literally sent a letter to the ambassador, to the U.S. ambassador to the Philippines. I sent a letter to her and Manila.
00:11:50
Speaker
um And then I sent a letter to Senator Dick Durbin, who's one of the senators from from Illinois. Senator Durbin's office was actually really helpful. And they said, you know look, we're not able to to overturn any decision from the State Department.
00:12:03
Speaker
you know what Whatever they decide is what they decide. But what we can do is this. give us their names, give us their numbers, all this other stuff. We will, we will contact the consular section of the embassy and we will inform them that there is a congressional interest in these two people coming to America.
00:12:20
Speaker
That was exceptional. Like I, I did not expect the Senator's office to do that. I'll be very yeah honest, but i I was amazed and i I was honestly kind of like emotional about it. I was like, thank you for, i'm go to start crying.
00:12:32
Speaker
Thank you for being part of America. That's still good. You know? Yeah. And, um, And they still denied them. Even with a fucking senator literally saying, we need these people to be here. They still denied them.
00:12:45
Speaker
That's so insane. It makes me, and and you know i and I had to talk, and like luckily, like you know my my two, and they're such sweet, they're they're both women, they're so sweet, they're wonderful people, and they're they're good workers.
00:12:56
Speaker
And I was so, like I was almost like scared to face them in my next one-on-one with them, because i felt so i I felt so guilty as an American about it. That like these are the dumb rules and the dumb laws that we have that like you can't come there even for work. You're working for an American company making us money, making America money, and you still can't come there because you're brown, basically.
00:13:17
Speaker
It just it made me really sad. Made me really, really sad. And then um another story is, you know, I've got another of employee who's transgender. And I had to have a talk with him. like And you know I was like, look, i can I ask you a ah really personal question?
00:13:32
Speaker
And were like, of course. And like and we're wherere we're we're like good friends but beyond just being a manager and and an employee. um And I was like, hey, you know I hate to ask you this, but like what is your gender on your passport?
00:13:43
Speaker
And they were like, look, look it's okay. It's female. And like female is how they kind of generally present. yeah and i And I was like, I know this doesn't sound right, but like, I'm really glad that it is that you don't have to deal with anything at the border. Because I said, if it wasn't, if you had it marked different, I don't know if they'd let you in.
00:14:03
Speaker
I really don't know if they'd let you in. And that made me so sad too. Just like, this is the state of things. And then I think back to my grandfather, my my great grandfather, who came all the way from, ah ah ah trust me, in the middle of nowhere,
00:14:18
Speaker
in in the in in the in the desert of Croatia. And he left that place and was welcomed at Ellis Island you know on on the USS Barbarossa, got off the fucking ship, registered himself, and then came and made a life here for himself.
00:14:35
Speaker
He was able to do that back then because that's what America was. And now America is something so different and tourism is changing. And everything is changing and the visas are changing and the way you get in and maybe even the way you get out.
00:14:49
Speaker
And, you know, can say as an American, then I'll stop talking, I promise. You know, when I go through the border and I i have a preclearance border here in in in Ireland, which is which is lucky thing. So i don't I don't have to do like when I get to Chicago, I don't have to go through customs again.
00:15:01
Speaker
um So I'm a little bit protected, I think. But like I'm shutting off my phone. I'm turning off my face ID, any sort of biometric on my laptop or on my phone or anything else, that might my watch, anything, turning all of it off.
00:15:16
Speaker
And i am I am keeping it that way as I go through the border because i I am not going to let them look at anything of mine. And it really does kind of freak me out that like I'm probably already on some kind of list because I've talked about Trump on social media so much.
Travel Fears and Nostalgia
00:15:30
Speaker
But this is the state of things. You know, it's really, really scary right now. Yeah, it's getting um much more scary to even think about traveling yeah anywhere outside of your home country, no matter where you live.
00:15:45
Speaker
um some things you know I was thinking about this, and like I didn't really get to travel outside the U.S. until I was well into my twenty s I did not leave the U.S. until I was, I think, 28. I mean, most of us really don't when you think about it, you know?
00:16:04
Speaker
Well, and part of that was just because, and I think that you can agree with me on this sentiment, is like a lot of it was we were just poor growing up. Yeah, 100%. We didn't get the chance to travel. And if we did, it was a road trip.
00:16:20
Speaker
And so what I wanted to talk a little bit about before we get into some of our big topics are just like our personal relationship with road trips. Because yeah I think that that's something, you know, we've shared together when we've gone like camping or totally different things like that. But also like when you're kids and, you know, when a majority of my life I had, you know, many step siblings.
00:16:42
Speaker
And so we would literally all pack up into our, you know, are our Eurostar van or whatever. we're called I can see it in my head right now and go places. And one of the places that I wanted to highlight, because I don't think I've talked about this on the, on the show before. And if I have whatever, it's been 141 episodes, get used to it. We repeat ourselves. Exactly. right Is the mystery spot in the upper peninsula of Michigan.
00:17:09
Speaker
So Michiganders will know that as you cross the Mackinac bridge, ah which is one of the most treacherous bridges. They've shut it down many times this year because of winds, because someone got blown off of it in the 70s that was driving a Yugo. My God, Jesus.
00:17:25
Speaker
um And as you as you exit and go into the Upper Peninsula, you start to see signs for the mystery spot. What is the mystery spot? You've got to know. And one time we stopped.
00:17:36
Speaker
Can you guess what the mystery spot is? ah Is this where like, is this where like your car rolls the the other way kind of thing? Sort of sort of. um So this is basically what I can remember because I was ah ah a teen when we went here ah is it was basically a tilted house on a hill.
00:17:57
Speaker
And they would do they would do little experiments. Like they would put like a a chair on two legs and it would stand up on its own. buts And like um marbles would roll the opposite way they were supposed to.
00:18:10
Speaker
And like it was all like this whole like gravity is weird here. my God. It sounds like Twin Peaks in a weird way. it It definitely is. and But like my teen brain is just sitting here thinking it's just because we're on we're in a tilted building on a hill. Yeah. That's so weird. That's so bizarre. So the mystery spot always stands out to me um as well as many, many other weird places that we would stop on our many road trips of cider farms or like apple orchards and pumpkin places and all these crazy, crazy spots.
00:18:46
Speaker
But did you have any that you can remember that were like standout or that you thought were just like, this is the weirdest thing I've ever seen? Um, I would say like, um, the, the, the road trip that I described earlier, cause like when, when we were, when when I was a kid too, like, um, we, we, we didn't, we, we never went on vacation.
00:19:06
Speaker
Like that, that was never a thing that we did. We're like, And I remember I would always like I if you can you remember like you would call ah hotline for Disney World and they would send you a VHS tape. Do you remember that? my gosh. No. up Well, we were not Disney people.
00:19:21
Speaker
My parents did not even allude to the fact that we would ever go to Disney because was so expensive. And like, and like, i I knew it would never happen, but like, there was always this hopeful part of me that like somehow it would. and like you, would they would send you a VHS tape and it was like, it was like a, a total like, like marketing thing. Like, you know, the highlights reel. Yeah. It highlights reel. And like, as a kid, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
00:19:41
Speaker
Um, so like, you know, but we never went and we never, did we never, we never did any of that. What we did for vac, what we did for, I'm putting this in air quotes for vacations were road trips to go see my sister, Becky, because Becky,
00:19:53
Speaker
lived um she lived in ohio for a while she lived in florida she lived in south carolina um she lived in denver she she they they lived in different places because her husband just kept getting different jobs because he's a lawyer uh we never went to florida but oh and and and san diego they live in san diego too but we did drive to to ohio a lot and so like that was like my vacation was going to go into columbus ohio how how brilliant Um, but, but I mean, it was, it was fun when I was a kid cause I didn't know any better. You know what I mean? And so, um, like, but those were all pretty milk toast.
00:20:28
Speaker
I would say when, when Becky was in, um, when they were in South Carolina, she lived in Greenville and the, those road trips were always really fun. Cause it was always like me, my brother, Michael, my mom, sometimes sometimes my sister, Katie.
00:20:40
Speaker
And we would all go together and we would like, we would like stop in, in Knoxville, Tennessee. And it was a ribs place. then we would drive down and we'd go through the mountains and it was beautiful, beautiful road trip, but nothing ever weird.
00:20:52
Speaker
I I'll go back to the road trip with my friend, John. um it it was, it was the best, it was the best road trip. And, and it was after I had, it was after it was when I was mistakenly dating the prostitute. I probably told the story before. Um, God, what are the things I've done in my life? I swear to God.
00:21:09
Speaker
Anyways, I was really heartbroken after that and John knew it. And so John came through and he because he was going to to South Bend and he picked me up in Chicago on the way back and then we drove all the way to to um to Montana.
00:21:22
Speaker
And ah we we made a bunch of different stops and we stopped at we stopped at Wall Drug. which was a weird place. And we stopped, um like I said earlier, and we stopped in Mitchell, it's it's in Mitchell, South Dakota.
00:21:34
Speaker
ah at It's called the World's Only Corn Palace. And if you've never seen it before, i highly encourage you to Google it
New Travel Regulations
00:21:42
Speaker
because it is weird. It's very, it's it's the strangest tourist thing I've ever been to.
00:21:47
Speaker
Watch like the ah Cheese Castle in Wisconsin. Right, right. And it's just it's just it's just bizarre. Um, it's, it's a weird place and I've got, I think I have, I'm pretty sure I still have photos of me wearing a coon skin cap inside. Cause that's just what we were doing that day. I don't know. Um, and then I remember later, later that we, we then drove to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
00:22:12
Speaker
Um, and we, we went to these, there's like, there's like three gay bars in Sioux Falls, which was wild. And so it was me, John and our friend James. And we we went to all the gay bars that night. And those were also a little bizarre. Yeah, I can imagine.
00:22:27
Speaker
It was weird. But like, those are like the weirdest things I've ever seen. You know, um i think, you know, I do kind of wish i i I could like just go on a wild road trip and go see like the biggest ball of yarn or whatever. Yeah. Just because it's so stupid. It it it almost seems great, you know.
00:22:46
Speaker
Yeah, no, it makes sense. and it's And it's almost like nostalgic in a weird way. Yeah. um But yeah, I think that that's the new, like, i guess maybe it's the new norm where we have to get used to because travel is getting exceedingly hard and expensive. Yeah. um Let's talk about some of the new travel restrictions that have just happened very recently.
00:23:07
Speaker
Yeah. um You know, coming up for all Americans, this new real ID is becoming a real thing. They've delayed it for a number of years because of COVID. But as of May 7th, 2025, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will enforce the use of real ID at airports.
00:23:26
Speaker
And at some federal facilities, ah U.S. s travelers must need and bus be real ID compliant in order to board domestic flights. Now, I will say ah your passport still can work for this. So if you don't have...
00:23:41
Speaker
If you don't have time to get a real ID, you can still use your passport. As of now, I don't know if that's going to change. and Andrew, can I just say too, for people out there that are listening that don't have their passport, what are you doing?
00:23:56
Speaker
Get your I'm very serious. Like my brother, my I think my brother might still not have a passport. Both like sets of our parents. oh Oh, you have to get I don't know how else to tell you this right now.
00:24:09
Speaker
Besides the begging you to do it, you've got to get your fucking passport and do it now. ah don't like it i And I don't know why people don't. It's not hard. It's like one of the easiest things you can do.
00:24:19
Speaker
it's it's not and the The only thing is like, you know, that the cost might be prohibitive for some people. I understand that. But like, trust me, it's worth the whatever, like 75 bucks or 150 bucks. It is worth it. It could be your ticket out. Yeah. Please do it for us. Please go, go see some other stuff.
00:24:36
Speaker
The U S is not the well be all like just whatever. Anyway. Yeah. Another one, the ETA, which I think you mentioned a little bit earlier, but as of January 8th, 2025, there is a new inbound requirement for UK Uh, it's basically modeled after the U S is electronic system for travel authorization.
00:24:58
Speaker
Um, it comes at a cost. You have to go online and kind of put in some information and pay $13, but it is something that you have to do before you travel. And I don't think a lot of people know this. And so it's holding up airports. It's making, um, it's making those inbound flights much slower to get into countries. So if you, if you're traveling to the UK, uh,
00:25:20
Speaker
Please look into the ETA and pay your $13 because we don't want to be stopped at the border. Well, I mean, especially like, i mean, so many flights connect through Heathrow if yeah if if you're if you're going to the continent. So like, yeah honestly, I just think everyone should do it. Like I i did it. like i I actually don't need to do it because Ireland and UK have a common travel agreement.
00:25:41
Speaker
So like when I, when I go to the UK, they don't even check my passport. I just get off the plane and it's like, I live there kind of thing. Um, and then once, once I have my, um, citizenship, I can go back and forth and I can, live I could live in, in, UK if I wanted to, but I did it. they You had to download a little app for your phone. It makes it really quick. I think it took me like literally five minutes to do this and it cost me 12 euro or $13. Um,
00:26:03
Speaker
It is absolutely worth it. And I think it lasts for like 10 years or something. So like just yourself a favor, get it done so that you'd never have to worry about it again. And like, there's no paper you need to carry with you or anything. They just have it in their system.
00:26:14
Speaker
It's like, you're just done, which is good. We had to do something very similar for Curacao. Um, It didn't cost any money, but we did have to like download an app and yeah put our passport information in there and everything, which they don't tell you until you're at the airport. So make sure if you're traveling that you look into these things. Yeah. and but when I was in Dominican Republic, I forgot about Dominican Republic, too, in October. Anyways, when I was there, like it was kind of confusing like that, too.
00:26:39
Speaker
And like especially... like leaving the country it was even more confusing i was like wait what form do i fill out it was it was bizarre yeah um another one that may be going into effect is the etias uh though it is not yet operational the european union's european travel information and authorization system uh which has been postponed multiple times is expected to take effect in may of 2025 um U.S. passport holders who previously traveled to Europe without a visa will now need to apply for authorization through this platform before visiting.
00:27:13
Speaker
um Once granted, the travel authorization travels will be able to enter participating countries multiple times for short-term stays, usually up to 90 days over a 180-day period, um and it is valid for up to three years.
LGBTQ Travel Experiences
00:27:26
Speaker
But if your passport expires, you have to do it again.
00:27:29
Speaker
Yeah. um so just a lot of things that are happening i know that there's a new travel restriction to mexico as well um there's just a lot of these things and it's all stemming from the like honestly the fear and hatred towards america and that's a real thing now that we have to think about is like how do other countries see us because we have a dictator for a president but Yep. Whatever.
00:27:55
Speaker
that is that's that That's the God's honest truth right there, baby. Yeah. And speaking of ah the the one we do not name, um he has a new travel ban that could go into effect literally any day now. um The New York Times obtained a list of recommendations for another travel ban. If you don't remember, we had a travel ban back in what was that, 2020, correct? Yes.
00:28:16
Speaker
ah yeah and These these are countries are Afghanistan, Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen.
00:28:29
Speaker
what's What's interesting is that that none of those actually surprise me. I think Venezuela surprised me a little bit just because it's the only South American country. Yeah. But I can see why because of all the Maduro, the stupid fears that Americans have that all the South Americans are out to kill us. They're they're they're in a Venezuelan death gang. Hurry.
00:28:50
Speaker
um Let's talk a little bit about being LGBTQ and traveling. I think that both of us have experienced things in other countries. um Most of them, for me at least, positive. But there's always...
00:29:06
Speaker
there's always a weird in the back of your brain, like, am I okay? Like, am I, am I okay to hold hands with the person that I'm married to? Well, or in your case, going out to a bar and trying to, you know, you know, get some smooches, trying to bonk.
00:29:23
Speaker
um What's bonking? um It's, it's like table tennis, but with smaller bowls. um When I was in Croatia last year, my One of my cousins messaged me on Facebook because I had been posting about how I'm going and blah, blah, blah, whatever.
00:29:38
Speaker
And she lives in Zagreb, which is the capital of Croatia, which is in a completely different region than where Lovrec is. Lovrec is in a place called Imotski, which is right on the the border with with Bosnia.
00:29:51
Speaker
And Imotski is a very conservative, a very nationalist part of of Croatia. and And, you know, like there's a number of reasons why. Like ah the number one people are are just kind of, you know, obviously if you're a nationalist, you're just kind of an asshole. But beyond that point, like that's where the war really hit hard.
00:30:08
Speaker
um the the The war with Serbia, those people really had to deal with a lot. um And it was not good. um but It's also just a lot poorer up there. So there's a number of things that add up to it. But she messaged me and she was like, look, but they really don't like gay people in Lovrach.
00:30:25
Speaker
She was like, they really don't like gay people in Lovrach. and and And to be fair, like i had you know when I first moved over here, I had looked up Lovrach and you know I was like, oh, I need to go visit there one day.
00:30:37
Speaker
And the first article that I found was them like there was like a a local carnival or something. And like they burned a same sex effigy. Like like there's like two guys holding hands like they burned it in like the town square or some shit.
00:30:49
Speaker
And I'm just like, what? What is this? So, you know, I can tell you that I've i've all i' had always been kind of scared to go there. um And then I finally, you know, web took me until I was 41 years old to go and 42 years old.
00:31:04
Speaker
And I went and, you know, I thought about like going to like the little pub that they have there. I thought about like meeting up with people that are and my family that that still live there. And honestly, was a little too freaked out to do it.
00:31:16
Speaker
And I was like, you know, maybe I'll do it next year when, you know, when Katie comes with me and and when when I'm with my sister. But like, I don't, I don't want to say the wrong thing. And then like, I'm of once again, I'm in the middle of nowhere. I'm in the middle of nowhere.
00:31:31
Speaker
And I don't I won't know what to do, you know? Yeah. So like, and like, when I was in split, I didn't care. I talked about how I was gay. You know, I went to a couple different bars whenever I was open with it. In Dubrovnik, I'll do the exact same thing. But like, you know, there are parts of it where maybe not.
00:31:45
Speaker
And um it's something that I think people like you and me know, like, we just always have to be mindful of this. There's never a time when we can't be. there's parts of the u.s that are like that so see i mean um and that's that's just the thing it's like it's not exotic it's it's everywhere and like in you know even in ireland where ireland really is very very gay friendly there there are very few parts of it that that are not but generally if there are any it's going to be where it's very rural or where it's extremely conservative so like maybe in like the north of ireland where it is very conservative
00:32:19
Speaker
or like way out west, like in like farmland kind of thing. But like those are places you don't generally go to anyway. So like yeah I really am grateful that I live in a place where like, yeah, it's pretty fucking safe here for LGBT people. i'm I'm very grateful for that.
00:32:35
Speaker
I'm not in any hurry to go to Mississippi anytime. So that's a big no. Not going to happen. All right. Let's talk a little bit about the safest countries for LGBTQ travelers. And then maybe a couple that but I was surprised were on the list for most dangerous. And then we can talk about your article and then go on from there. Love it. so The 20th safest countries for LGBTQ travelers, according to Forbes. Yes, we're citing Forbes again. Thank you, Forbes.
00:33:01
Speaker
Yeah. um They are Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, United Kingdom, France, Iceland, Switzerland, Ireland, Luxembourg, South Africa, which is kind of surprising South Africa, but well that's on a different level. Sure. Yeah. talk about ah Germany, Chile, Uruguay, and Austria.
00:33:28
Speaker
didn't know about Austria. Austria kind of surprised me too, if I'm being totally honest. but Austria kind of makes sense to me, but Chile and Uruguay, i actuallyly believe I'm really, I'm surprised to see them on that list. I'm i'm happy to see it, but i didn't know that that they were like, um you know, gay gay friendly places.
00:33:43
Speaker
Yeah, the 20th, 20 safest, according to Forbes. Wow. Now let's talk a little bit ah about some maybe not so safe Not good stuff. And i listen, there was a list of like 15. I just picked the ones that were not obvious, if that makes sense. Yeah, sure.
00:34:01
Speaker
um So one of the ones that I, I, I knew this, but I didn't want to admit it and in my brain. yeah is jamaica oh yeah i've heard some fucking horror stories about this place man yeah one of the caribbean's most popular vacation destinations for tourists worldwide jamaica was another shocking country to top our lgbtq plus travel safety index jamaica ranks as the worst caribbean nation for members of the lgbtq plus community This is largely due to Jamaica's buggery law, which is left over from the colonial era, allows for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, including hard labor.
00:34:41
Speaker
In fact, Jamaica was called the most homophobic place and on earth by Time magazine in 2006. And LGBTQ people are still sadly still the victims of homophobic violence today.
00:34:56
Speaker
Transgender individuals in Jamaica, especially male to female trans women, are also face exceptionally low tolerance from society at large. So if you're traveling to the Caribbean, listen, ah been to a lot of places in the Caribbean.
00:35:11
Speaker
Most of them are very lovely, tolerant, great places to go. oh Just maybe don't go to Jamaica. Sorry, Jamaicans out there. ah You just don't like us very much. really it really it It really sucks because it's a place I actually would really like to go.
00:35:28
Speaker
And it's just a shame that just complete bigotry is is just the way of life. Yeah. The Caribbean is a weird place. I will say that because of all the different.
00:35:40
Speaker
Colonialism. ah Well, yeah. And like some of them are, have gained their independence. Some of them are still quote unquote owned. um And so it's, it's just a very weird place, but I mean, i have a couple of recommendations. If people really want to go, you can, you know, you can hit me up on social media and I can give you some good recommendations of places where I've gone and felt very comfortable. Yeah.
00:36:00
Speaker
Yeah. Another one is the United Arab Emirates. so planning that trip to Dubai to see those big buildings and that the rich, rich, rich place of Dubai.
00:36:12
Speaker
Don't plan it anytime soon. Nope. Hell no. This popular tourist destination comes in at ninth worst place to visit alin as an LGBTQ visitor.
00:36:24
Speaker
If a male even wears quote unquote female apparel, they can face up to one year in prison and a fine of 10,000 dirhams, which is approximately about $2,700. According to the Gallup World Poll, only 1% of respondents felt their city was a good place to live for gay and lesbian people. You know, there's there's a lot of people over here that like to go to Dubai.
00:36:47
Speaker
And whenever there's actually there's this great meme that might my friend Jonathan posted once and I stole it and I sometimes I send it to people. And it's like it's like it's like a it's a tweet. And it's just this woman saying, you look like someone who would enjoy Dubai. And then then and then in parentheses it says derogatory.
00:37:05
Speaker
And I just think it's so funny. i I think Dubai is a crock. And when people talk about going there, i i like I will visibly roll my eyes at them if they talk about it.
00:37:16
Speaker
Because I would rather cut off my foot than go to that awful place. And it's actually funny. there There were these two gay guys that used to live in my my complex here that I was friends with before they had a ah person who who liked swastikas um as one of their friends, which is a whole other story. But um but i I kind of stopped talking to them. And then I saw one of them. And I was like, oh, Kyle, what's going on?
00:37:37
Speaker
And he was like, oh, we're actually moving to Dubai. And I was like, ah what? Like him and his like literal husband are moving to Dubai for work.
00:37:47
Speaker
Because I think they work for Air Emirates now. And I'm like, you're i i didn't say it but I was like, oh, good luck with that. Good luck. um And in my head, I'm like, are you fuck are you are you actually crazy that you're moving to Dubai? What the fuck is wrong with you? It's it's insane moving there.
00:38:06
Speaker
Yeah. And then finally, the last one, ah looking for that over the water cabana lifestyle. Well, don't go to the Maldives. ah Famed as a popular romantic destination destination for LGBTQ plus visitors, it comes as a significant wake up call that the Maldives bear such an anti LGBTQ plus laws.
00:38:30
Speaker
eat Earning the equal 16th spot, the Maldives punishes homosexual acts and intercourse with up to eight years in prison or 100 lashes. Christ. though these laws are enforced in the cities they are largely ignored at the resorts ah For more adventurous travelers, regardless of orientation, be wary of the local customs and avoid any public of displays of affection in the Maldivian cities.
00:38:57
Speaker
yeah So it just sounds like a very um a very ah pushed down, oppressed nation. It's it's just so dumb because like ah you know all of those places are expensive to get to and expensive to spend money in.
00:39:11
Speaker
And like, fine, you don't want my money? I i won't give you my fucking money. yeah and i think that that that's That's as easy as it is. No problem. You know, we talked about it on the last episode, but that that's really important is like to talk with your pocketbook. like if you do percent Like if you don't feel welcome or you don't feel accepted or you don't feel like there are so many places you can go to and give your money that are awesome and lovely And we'll welcome you with open arms. You don't have to go to these places that don't like you or don't accept you. Yeah. And you know what? We we make up a lot of money ah because a lot of us don't have kids and don't have to take them to soccer practice. Yes. Exactly. Violin lessons. So treat yourself to a nice vacation every once in a while where you feel comfortable. Yes. you know Everyone come visit me in Ireland.
00:40:00
Speaker
Come here. Come come to Ireland. It is LGBT friendly. If you come to Ireland, please let me know. Other listeners have before, and I've been happy to meet them. Kyle, a primary among them, who's coming back here in May. Kyle, hope you're listening. I'll see you soon.
00:40:14
Speaker
um But come come here. Please come. it's it's It's a great place. I would love to see you here. um Andrew, I thought maybe a way to end this segment might be an essay that I read um by ah this guy, this this person named Oliver Holmson. It was in Time Magazine.
00:40:30
Speaker
um And the the title of this essay is The Fear of Traveling as a Trans Person. I thought it might be a good way to put a coda on this. So, but let let let Let me read you some portions of this. um as i return home from a trip to canada i walk through the twists and turns of toronto's pearson airport following the signs with american flags pointing me in the direction of u customs and border border protection canadian airport staff check my passport multiple times but as i get closer to the u s clearance area I feel the stakes rising.
00:40:59
Speaker
The U.S. Border Protection agent motions me to approach the counter and present my U.S. passport. He mumbles, doesn't smile. I wonder what he sees on his computer screen, what databases his system pulls from, and how the camera in front of me feeds into those technologies.
00:41:16
Speaker
I am privileged because the M printed on my passport matches the stubble that grows on my face and the rest of my appearance. Yet the computer and database system may reveal a different history, the F that used to be printed there.
00:41:31
Speaker
Ever since January 20th presidential executive order mandated that there are only two sexes, male and female, which are not changeable, American trans people have been stuck in a spiral of fear and uncertainty.
00:41:43
Speaker
The specific consequences vary depending in part on the status of their identification documents. For me, US citizen, a white person, someone who is usually read as our society's default, white male, the effects are less severe.
00:41:57
Speaker
I spend a lot of time and energy reassuring and comforting my mentees many of whom are trans people of color, people with non-binary genders now erased by the new mandate, immigrants or all three.
00:42:08
Speaker
In online trans communities, I read about people's fears, people with an X marker on their passport or driver's license, people who were born intersex and don't fit neatly into Trump's binary gender boxes, and those who dread mailing in their passport for renewal, fearing their new passport's gender marker will revert them back to their birth sex.
00:42:29
Speaker
Those in the U.S. fear crossing the border and worry that they won't be let back in. Those who live outside the country hesitate to visit but may have no choice, whether for work, family, or necessity.
00:42:41
Speaker
Both groups imagine themselves being searched in inhumane and humiliating ways, physically restricted from travel, detained, or perhaps indefinitely delayed.
00:42:52
Speaker
These fears are grounded in reality. News outlets have reported that a trans passenger boarding a domestic flight was flagged by airport security and accused of using a fake ID because the gender marker on his driver's license did not match that on his passport.
00:43:08
Speaker
some trans people have Some trans people renewing their passports, including actress Hunter Schaefer, have, in return, received passports displaying their birth sex.
00:43:19
Speaker
Others have been told that their passport applications will inexplicably face in inter indeterminate delays. New restrictions cement a long history of restricted travel for trans people. For as long as governments have issued identity documents, trans people have struggled with gender mismatches and other challenges.
00:43:35
Speaker
More recently, for instance, In 2015, a trans woman tweeted about her harrowing and humiliating experiences being detained in search by TSA after the body scanner flagged her body as containing an anomaly.
00:43:49
Speaker
The TSA security systems have long required agents to choose from a blue or pink button did not know this. forcing them to guess a traveler's gender before they step into the body scanner.
00:44:00
Speaker
TSA's machines then flag unexpected physical features, like extra tissue on a trans man's chest if he hasn't had top surgery, marking them with a yellow square on the screen. This signals a required physical pat-down. Did you ever know this? Why do they need to know your sex going through the airport? It's fucked up, which must be conducted by an agent of the same gender as the passenger, as often confusing and uncomfortable process for everyone involved.
00:44:28
Speaker
Driver's license, often required documentation, are also fraught and unpredictable for trans people. happen more than 10 years ago, I'll never forget the challenges I faced at the DMV when I move to pencil but i moved from Pennsylvania to California after gender transition.
00:44:42
Speaker
The gender marker on my Pennsylvania license clashed with the one on my California birth certificate, throwing the information system into confusion. We just need to send it up and then send it back down. The DMV worker kept saying, what does that mean?
00:44:55
Speaker
I eventually asked. I learned that this was their way of describing the bureaucratic back and forth between databases in Southern California and those in Sacramento, the state capital. The systems were clashing on one key detail, my gender.
00:45:08
Speaker
I required multiple attempts, often dragging on endlessly, involving managers, phone calls, sending things up, and then sending them back down. And yet, identification documents,
00:45:20
Speaker
are fundamental gateways to mobility. They are, literally, our tickets to ride. And when something as basic as a gender marker or name carries immense risks, when a trans person's ability to travel depends on a government that has declared their
Recent Films and Reviews
00:45:34
Speaker
very existence invalid,
00:45:36
Speaker
then trans people in the U.S. do not have the same rights as other Americans. We are second-class citizens. And if crossing a border means risking detention, humiliation, or worse, we are also trapped.
00:45:51
Speaker
Many trans people, at least 5% of those living in states with anti-trans laws, according to the 2022 U.S. Trans Survey, have already moved across state borders to maintain access to health care and basic rights.
00:46:03
Speaker
now many are considering leaving the country altogether. During my trip to Canada, I spoke with people who told me about the influx of trans-Americans reaching out, inquiring about jobs, housing, and pathways to permanent residency.
00:46:16
Speaker
Though the U.S. does not yet meet the criteria for trans people to receive refugee or asylum status in Canada, trans Americans' interest in moving north has peaked since Trump's reelection. My dad, the son of a Jew who escaped Europe just in time, texts me that he's worried about how the administration is impacting me.
00:46:34
Speaker
My mom and stepdad are themselves moving to Europe. And on a weekly basis, they urge me and my partner to follow. Having supportive parents and family outside the U.S. are privileges I do not take for granted.
00:46:45
Speaker
But the sinister undertone from my parents' message takes a while to sink in. Between the lines, it reads, what if you wait too long? What then? While an executive order or even a law cannot actually dictate a person's identity, it can make survival unbearable.
00:47:02
Speaker
American trans eradication may extend beyond forced detransition or reclassification in documents. Instead, it may happen to the relentless erosion of our rights, pushing us to choose between staying in a country that seeks to erase us or taking the risk necessary to cross the border one last time and seek refuge elsewhere.
00:47:23
Speaker
thought was a really great essay and I thought it I thought it was good to bring to this. Um, and Maybe that's just a good, we'll just let it speak for itself, won't we? Yeah. You know, that was a good segment, Andrew. Are you ready to talk about ah but what we've been watching to to to to lighten the mood?
00:47:39
Speaker
So ready. Let's go. Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby. Let's all go to the lobby to get ourselves a treat.
00:47:54
Speaker
All right, it's time. It's time again for what you've been watching, bitch. What you've been watching, you tourist bitch. And this is the segment of the show where we literally talk about what our eyes have been on. It might be books, TV, or even sometimes podcasts and radio. I don't know. It's not eyes, but it's ears.
00:48:13
Speaker
So this is what you've been watching, bitch. Maddie, what you've been watching, you a little bitch? You know, i it's funny because, we you know, sometimes sometimes we do books and I didn't write this down, but I forgot I even finished one um because I never do it anymore.
00:48:25
Speaker
um So I'll just mention it really quickly. is i asked actually listened to it. but I haven't done that for a long time. um But I listened to that new Careless People book. It's by the woman that that was from Facebook. It was interesting. Anyways, I'm not sure if I would read it, but you might want to listen to it. Anyways, my first one, i watched a lot of Shudder shit, which is weird.
00:48:44
Speaker
Also, did i um i go on this sometimes where I just like, oh, I haven't watched Shudder in like six months. I should probably see what's there. Yeah. So I'll tell you it before I even mention this one, did you see that they're raising their prices?
00:48:55
Speaker
No. To $8.99 a month now. And I got to tell you, I don't know if I want to keep going on it. And I'm I'm I'm probably going to cancel my shutter membership because I have AMC plus, which includes.
00:49:08
Speaker
Yes, you already get that stuff. Like, i you know what? I watch shutter. So i mean listen, we run a horror podcast. Do you understand what I'm saying? I should be watching shutter pretty often.
00:49:20
Speaker
Right. Instead, i go on there and I'm like, I don't really want to watch any of this. Their platform is very dated at this point. Yeah. And so like when I got the email about they're going to raise their price, I'm like, you know what? This might be the time that I cancel. We'll see. Shudder. And look, Shudder, I hope you're listening because you're going to have a lot more people that feel the same.
00:49:39
Speaker
Anyways, the one that I watched was called The Rule of Jenny Penn. Have you seen this movie? I haven't, but I know that it's the one with John Lithgow, correct? Yeah. So the reason why I watch this is because it's not just John Lithgow, it's also Jeffrey Rush.
00:49:54
Speaker
And so this is Jeffrey Rush and John Lithgow. and they are if they're in this fucking ah like old person's home basically um in New Zealand and um and they are there and John Lithgow plays ah ah he hasn't played a role like this since he was the Trinity killer in in Dexter which I thought he was fantastic playing that role that that might be the best thing he's ever done before in my opinion he's just so so good
00:50:26
Speaker
And this one is also him being a fucking crazy person. um So the the little letterboxd, what do you call it, blurb is, confined to a secluded rest home and trapped within his stroke-ridden body, a former judge must stop an elderly psychopath who employs a child's puppet to abuse the home's residence with deadly consequence. Oh, God. So, I mean, it sounds crazy. This movie is wild.
00:50:54
Speaker
It's fucking wild. and ah And Jeffrey Rush and John Lithgow are fan fantastic in it. They're really, really good. um It really freaked me out, too. I think it freaked me out, too, because my mom is in a home.
00:51:06
Speaker
And um it just, it's it was kind of impossible not to think about that, you know? Yeah. um and And John Lithgow is pretty scary in this. He really is. And it just, I think one of the horrors of this movie is,
00:51:21
Speaker
one of the things that makes it so scary is that like yeah yeah you you you come to realize that there will be a certain time in your own life when you are so old and you know so sick or or whatever the case might be.
00:51:36
Speaker
that you can't do things for yourself anymore, that you can't move around on your own anymore, that you can't feed yourself anymore, that you can't you know give just give yourself water. You know what i mean?
00:51:48
Speaker
And so what it what if during those during during that extremely vulnerable period of your life, there was somebody who knew that they could abuse you because they knew you couldn't do anything about it, right?
00:52:00
Speaker
And that's the scary part of this movie. So I thought it was really, really well done. I really enjoyed it. It's it's maybe just a little bit long, i would say, but like just like by like five minutes, you're just like, oh, are we done yet? Kind of thing.
00:52:14
Speaker
um But in general, I really enjoyed it. So the rule of Jenny Penn on Shudder. Yeah, I think i'll I'll add this to my ah will'll make my once a six month Shudder login. i i i think you'll like it a lot. I do. Cool.
00:52:29
Speaker
All right. My first one is called F. Mary Kill. ah This is a movie I rented on On Demand out of BuzzFeed Studios. Oh, really? Interesting.
00:52:41
Speaker
ah This follows kind of like ah a true crime junkie a girl, and she has just gotten out of a long term relationship. And so she's kind of just looking for like, what's the next, you know, I don't want to be in a relationship, but I still want to date people. Sure. And she kind of is going on dates from an app, of course, because that's what we all do now. We swipe and we do the thing.
00:53:03
Speaker
um and There's also simultaneously a serial killer that is going after people that are using that app. um And so she goes on three different dates. And then it kind of the movie kind of posits that one of those three dates is maybe you know the killer.
00:53:22
Speaker
And so it's trying to figure out who is she. It's kind of like a weird mix, kind of like when I was talking about hard eyes where it's like, it's kind of a romantic comedy mixed with a horror movie. Sure. Yeah. um So, but I liked it. I thought it was fun. It's nothing too deep. You're not going to get like the, the, the, I don't know that it's not like, it's not Hallmark channel, but it's also not a 24, you know what I mean? Like it's somewhere in between.
00:53:46
Speaker
um But I liked it. I thought it was a fun little movie. Yeah. um and yeah it had a pretty fun little twist at the end too that i don't want to spoil for people but uh check out f mary kill when it becomes free on one of the various streaming services nice my next one that was also on shutter was antlers um with carrie russell jesse plans yeah um and some other people Uh, so, uh, antlers is a, is a, is about a small town, Oregon teacher and her brother, the local sheriff, uh, who discover a young student is harboring a dangerous secret that could have frightening consequences.
00:54:21
Speaker
Um, this came out in 2021. did not see it then. This is, this was my first watch of it. Um, it wasn't for me. I don't think, uh, I remember being disappointed. and Yeah. Like I, there was, there's just something off about the whole thing. like ah it's the, the acting. I really like Carrie Russell quite a bit. I'm a, I'm a Carrie Russell fan, especially we, you know, with the Americans, she's just so fucking good in that show.
00:54:50
Speaker
And, you know, other things that she's done before too. Jesse Plemons, I think can also be, I think he's a great actor, but there are some things maybe that don't work out so well. um This is one that definitely did not work out so well. I would say um the acting was just, it it was just strange in this movie. And the writing was also strange. And like,
00:55:07
Speaker
I don't know the whole creature thing, just it just didn't work for me. It was it was just like a like a confluence of of things that just didn't hit me correctly. So I think other people like this one. I'm not entirely sure, but it just, it wasn't for me.
00:55:21
Speaker
And I'll just leave it there. Yeah, I kind of feel like this one is just forgettable. Like it's not yeah even, you know, it it just came out in 2021 and i don't think anybody's talking about it. so which Which is a shame because, I mean, once again, some great actors in there, truly great actors, but just it just kind of flopped.
00:55:37
Speaker
Yeah, I remember them just trying to plug in a lot of plot into a movie that didn't need so much plot. That makes sense. Yeah, that is correct. Yes. All right. My next one is a show on Peacock. It is called Laid.
00:55:51
Speaker
ah This follows a, ah how can I say this? A narcissistic woman um who discovers that all of her sexual partners are slowly dying strange and weird deaths.
00:56:06
Speaker
Um, so she has to go back in her timeline in of people that she's slept with to try to protect them from dying in weird accidents. Uh, and that's the, I mean, that's the movie and are right that's the show. I'm sorry.
00:56:18
Speaker
Uh, it's a very entertaining show. It's really funny. Um, the comedy is right up there for me. Um, the main character, you're either going to love her or hate her, but that's kind of the detriment of the character. I'm being honest, she's kind of a, I don't know. Did you ever watch the flight attendant?
00:56:36
Speaker
ah That's the one where um she like she drinks a lot, right? Yeah. Yeah. yeah yeah I did watch that. Yes. So it's kind of like that kind of a character to where you're like, oh, you want a root for her, but she's kind of just self-deprecating a way that's, you know what I mean? So I really liked the show. I thought it was fun. So many cameos in this show that people just come on and are brutally killed right off the screen. Oh, my God.
00:57:02
Speaker
um but yeah i had fun with it it's uh i think it's eight or eight or ten episodes and hopefully it'll get renewed for a season two because it kind of ends on a cliffhanger but that's laid on peacock nice my next one once again on shutter is called oddity ah by damian mccarthy um this is an irish horror film i will i will give uh shutter that you know as somebody who lives in ireland hey baby i Irish lot of Irish movies on there um but there there are there are actually quite a few Irish horror films on there which is which I think is very very cool um this is one Damian McCarthy directed this and it stars Gwilym Lee Carolyn Bracken Tyg Murphy um ah Caroline Menton Jonathan French Steve Wall buth blah blah whatever it takes place ah in Cork um which is like on the southeast of Ireland kind of in in County Cork of course
00:57:52
Speaker
And it's a really beautiful part of the country. It's definitely one that you should visit if you ever come over here. And this is about a psychiatrist and his wife. And the wife, this isn't giving, well, God, do I want to give that away?
00:58:08
Speaker
i suppose if you read anything about it, you would already get that, wouldn't you? know oh why this is Why am I having such a ah little dilemma about what to say about this one? Let's just say this. There is a couple and um and the wife dies.
00:58:21
Speaker
There you go. And the rest of the movie is like trying to kind of like like figure it out and like also reckon with it. And it's her sister, her twin sister, who is doing that reckoning.
00:58:34
Speaker
um I think it was really, really good. If you go on to Letterboxd, people absolutely love this movie. like like mike Mike Flanagan said it was it was one of the best of 2024. And it it was really good.
00:58:47
Speaker
I think like some of it was maybe, like when I watched it, I was like, maybe there's a little there couple of predictable things in there, I'm not going to lie. And like, ah like one or two threads, it just kind of like came me like, like this kind of came out of nowhere.
00:59:00
Speaker
But I can put those aside because the movie was genuinely really good. It it it has a really eerie and like suspenseful um and like just like atmospheric kind of thing going on.
00:59:13
Speaker
And it really, it really brings you in. And it's, I thought it was really, really good. it And there's, there's a few parts that are genuinely like, oh fuck, that's, that's scary. um So I enjoyed it. I had a good time with it.
00:59:24
Speaker
It was creepy. um So yeah, watch oddity on shutter. Yeah, I remember I watched that last year just because so many people had said, like, it's in my top for the year.
00:59:36
Speaker
It didn't quite make my top, but I think if I had a top 10, it probably would have been in there. That makes sense to me. Yeah. It's good. i just think that, um I don't know. i Yeah.
00:59:47
Speaker
I don't want to give anything away, so I don't want to say anything, but I liked it. There's just some things in it towards the end that I was like, well, come on. like i hated that. I don't know. Yeah, I think I know what you're talking about. And I yeah i i bet I kind of feel the same way.
01:00:00
Speaker
but it's like But it's like it was still good enough that like I just kind of like, eh, whatever. I'll let it go. Yeah, kind of I can look past it. Yeah. All right, my next one, I went to the theater to see. um This was the Chicago touring company of Titanic.
01:00:16
Speaker
Ooh, nice. Do you know anything about the show? Oh, my friend Rob Lindley is it. Yeah, so basically Titanic was an off-Broadway ah jukebox musical that is now touring.
01:00:30
Speaker
And for the Chicago ah version of it, the director the original director came here and used all Porchlight Theater. actors to kind of re-invoke this ah this port this musical here.
01:00:46
Speaker
um do you know anything about this ridiculous show? I only know a little bit. And actually, I'm i'm going to try to get tickets um when when I'm back in town. as i would Because like rob my friend Rob is just, I think he's really incredible.
01:00:59
Speaker
um is's He's just so good on stage. You definitely should. I'm anxious to see it. it's It's very entertaining. But here's the here's the basic plot ah So ah what if it's so stupid? What what if um the ah oh, God, why am I blanking on her name right now The woman who sang the song ah Celine Dion. What if Celine Dion was actually on the Titanic? That's absolutely ridiculous.
01:01:28
Speaker
that's absolutely ridiculous That is ridiculous. This is the retelling of the movie version of Titanic, but through Celine Dion's eyes and songs because it's all jukebox Celine Dion music. is like And I got to tell you, the things that this the things that they weaved in here that were ties to fucking White Lotus, to RuPaul's Drag Race, like things that this guy has to be rewriting this like all the time.
01:02:00
Speaker
Because he's putting very relevant jokes to the times of now. And I got to tell you, i laughed for ah the the two hours that I was there. it's I think it's like an hour and 45 minutes, no intermission. And it was so entertaining.
01:02:16
Speaker
And it's in a relatively smaller theater. um it's at the water tower place yeah here in chicago which is not a huge theater and so it's kind of a little bit more of an intimate show and they use the uh they use the theater in the audience as part of the show and so it was really fun if you get a chance to see this whether it travels to your town or or what um i would definitely seek it out especially if you're ah uh if you're like a person of our age where titanic was like the biggest fucking movie in the world when we were kids it was um this just kind of ham fists it right back into your face and it is so funny i got i can't recommend it enough go see titanic that's awesome i i don't know who rob plays in it but um and he's he's so good you you you've met rob before so you you'd probably know him if you saw him again
01:03:08
Speaker
Anyways, my last one is called ah The Twister Caught in the Storm. This is on Netflix um and it came out this year and I almost didn't watch it because I thought I had already seen it, but it turns out that I didn't. Hello.
01:03:22
Speaker
Welcome, brain. but what what Welcome back to reality. um I had watched another documentary about about the Joplin um ah tornado, um but this one this one was really good.
01:03:34
Speaker
This one was really, really good. and This is more of like a documentary, correct? Yep. It's total documentary. And, you know, they and they, they, uh, it's, it's all the survivors of, of the, you know, you have to like put yourself back in it was, it was way back in 2011.
01:03:50
Speaker
Um, but that I remember when that tornado happened, um, cause I, I knew one person who had family there and and I remember them posting about it, about how awful it was. I mean, this tornado absolutely decimated that town. Everything was gone. Everything was gone. And so many people died. i forgot how many people had died.
01:04:10
Speaker
and um And their stories were just wild, absolutely wild. And so like you know they they they interview people kind of all over the spectrum. They interview old people. They interview...
01:04:21
Speaker
You know, people who were in high school, and they interview people who were at prom, they interview people who like, you know, this, that, it's just it's all walks of life in Joplin. um And they all, you know, have their have their voices heard here.
01:04:34
Speaker
And they tell their stories, ah you know, almost 15 years later. after this terrible tragedy. And man, there were some, some of interviews just make you fucking weep in this movie.
01:04:46
Speaker
Oh my God, what these people went through and like what they're still going through from it. which It's just, it it's, it's a wild ah movie that, that it's a wild documentary that,
01:04:57
Speaker
you know If you're into tornado shit and like weather shit at all, it it reminds you the power of nature, the power of ah of a tornado to just of fucking decimate whatever it is in its path.
01:05:09
Speaker
um it's It's really good. I thought it was i thought it was immensely well done. i can't recommend it enough. cool uh i don't know if i'll watch it because tornadoes are one of the one of the one of the weather disasters that really freak me out um just because that's one of the ones that could hit us yeah no without a doubt yeah it's really terrifying i've been terrified ah i've never been scared of thunderstorms my entire life but i'm terrified of tornadoes you know you know that like we don't really get thunderstorms here right Yeah, I i understand that. i I didn't understand that thunderstorms are very unique to the Midwest and the East Coast until but much later in life. And yeah, people when I had people that were living in like California and stuff and they were like, yeah, it doesn't really happen here. And I was like, well, so weird. it's It's only happened like I think in the years that I've lived here, it's happened like maybe three times.
01:06:00
Speaker
And they're like, if it ever happens when I'm in the office and I'm with like my my Irish friends, and they like They get genuinely scared because they're like, oh, God. And I'm like, oh yeah, that's right. You've you've like never heard this before. That must be terrifying for you to hear it in the sky. It's crazy.
01:06:17
Speaker
But I'm glad those people have a voice in this in this documentary. Me too. right. My last one ah is Holland, which is a movie on Amazon Prime ah starring um ah Nicole Kidman amongst other people, which Nicole Kidman is just in literally everything. i don't know how that woman sleeps. She is anymore. It's crazy.
01:06:40
Speaker
But so this follows a ah family that's kind of living an idyllic life in Holland, Michigan, which I lived very close to. ah Funny, fun fact about Holland, Michigan. ah Years and years back, they were voted the happiest city in the U.S. because you have they have the most churches per capita.
01:07:01
Speaker
And so um also a town where our good friend Ray grew up. um So we know lot about Holland, Michigan. This follows a family that's living there, kind of just living an idyllic life.
01:07:15
Speaker
um The mom is a a home ec teacher and the dad is kind of a traveling salesman. And it is she the is she the mom, I'm guessing? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they have one child who is kind of just in the movie. He's kind of, it I don't know, he's piece part of it, but not really. It's mostly about their marriage.
01:07:32
Speaker
and her And her trying to like figure, it's kind of like um like American Beauty. like kind of I have everything I need, but i'm I feel the itch to like do something else or get something else out of my life. And so it's all about that. But then there also could be something...
01:07:48
Speaker
ah more nefarious happening underneath the surface that I don't want to give anything away. Something's not right on Wisteria Lane. Yeah, exactly. um Listen, i this is one of those movies that I liked until I didn't, if that makes any sense. like I was right on board. i was into it. I was watching it. I was like...
01:08:09
Speaker
And then like the last 30 minutes, they kind of just like I, in my opinion, I think they fumbled the play a little bit. I hate i hate it when that happens. God, hate it. And it just kind of fell apart. And the ending was kind of unsatisfying to me. Oh, that sucks.
01:08:22
Speaker
I haven't heard a lot of people talk about this. It is an Amazon Prime exclusive. So maybe that's why. And a lot of people are bowing out of the Amazons of the world and the, you know, all those things. So maybe it won't get seen by too many eyes. But I've heard that they're already planning a sequel. So we'll see.
01:08:38
Speaker
um I recommend people watch it because it is a very well-made movie. And I'm eager to hear if other people had the same ah kind of feeling towards it that I did, where I was on board until I wasn't.
01:08:51
Speaker
It'll be interesting to see if it's if I'm able to watch it over here because sometimes it just two things are weird. I don't know. But if if if it's available, I i didn't know it's about Holland, Michigan. So that makes it yeah interesting for me. So if it's available, I'll definitely watch it.
01:09:02
Speaker
And they definitely filmed a scene in Holland, Michigan. They ah filmed at the windmill. So that's cool. this That's cool. um I think the rest of it was probably a ah lot or whatever, but that's interesting.
01:09:17
Speaker
Yeah. All right. Well, that does it for what you've been watching, bitch. Maddie brought us All From Shudder, The Rule of Jenny Pen, Antlers, and Oddity. And then on Netflix, The Twister, Caught in the Store.
01:09:30
Speaker
And Andrew brought us F. Mary Kill on Demand, Laid on Peacock, Titanic, which is at the Broadway in Chicago Theater, I believe it is, and Holland on Amazon Prime.
01:09:42
Speaker
So, folks, that does it for Whatcha Been Watching, bitch. We'll be right back with our first film of the episode, Tourist Trap.
01:09:50
Speaker
Tourist Trap. Beautiful young people looking for excitement are tricked, terrorized.
01:10:00
Speaker
And trapped. God help those who get caught. in the tourist
01:10:09
Speaker
This is not happening! Rated PG. It's not the cheese castle or the world's largest ball of twine, but it is ah tourist trap.
01:10:20
Speaker
Maddie, tell us all about tourist trap. You'll never be the same again. After their car breaks down, a group of young travelers find themselves stranded at a roadside museum run by the mysterious Mr. Slauson and populated by his collection...
01:10:37
Speaker
of supernatural mannequins. Yes, you heard that right, people. Tourist Trap is directed by David Schmuller, written by J. Larry Carroll and David Schmuller, produced by Compass International Pictures, distribution, at least one that I watched was from Full Moon Pictures, Mr. Slauson by Chuck Connors, Davey played by Shaylar Kobe, Molly played by Jocelyn Jones, Jerry played by John Van Ness, Eileen played by Robin Sherwood, Becky played by Tanya Roberts, Tina played by Dawn Jeffrey Nelson,
01:11:07
Speaker
Woody played by Keith McDermott and mannequin played by none other than Linnea Quigley. The film that yeah the film is, believe it or not, rated PG comes in at 90 minutes ah made in the USA, released March 14th of 1979, filmed a little bit all over Los Angeles County. The budget was $350,000. I could not find any information on the net for this for this movie.
01:11:31
Speaker
um One interesting note right off the bat is that despite the film's official billing, the actor credited as Shaylar Kobe does not exist. It is a pseudonym and portmanteau of star Chuck Connors' son's first names and was devised to mislead audiences from discovering the film's twist ending.
01:11:50
Speaker
It is, in fact, Connors who portrays both Davey and Mr. Slauson. So there you go. So, ah Andrew, this is not our first watch. um I was reminding us of this before. i believe you and I talked about this on Kim and Kat Stay Alive, maybe back in the day.
01:12:10
Speaker
um So that was years ago, though. And I certainly hadn't watched it since then. um And i I doubt you have either. So what was it like for you on this on this view? Yeah. So ah the one I watched, I have a full moon. um ah What do you call it?
01:12:28
Speaker
Sponsorship or whatever. i Like I have that channel on my Amazon Prime. Oh, interesting. OK. And so I watched it on there. And like, I got to tell you, the quality on this movie is wild. It's all over the place. Like some parts look really good and then some parts look like it's out of focus. like Yeah. Yeah.
01:12:44
Speaker
But listen, it's from 1979, and I'm sure they cleaned it up as much as they could um from from the original print. yeah um We've seen movies like this before to where like some of some of it looks good and some of it doesn't. But like listen, this movie is maybe one of the weirdest movies I've seen come out of the 70s.
01:13:03
Speaker
it is It is Texas Chainsaw Massacre inspired for sure. Right. But at the same time, there's a supernatural angle that I had to really think about this time. Because I've watched this movie before, but I've never really like given it thought, if that makes any sense. It's kind of just mostly been an entertainment thing for me. But when we watch her for the show, I do try to like think about the elements of the film.
01:13:28
Speaker
yeah And this one is just wild. Yeah. yeah the things that i i guess what we're supposed to understand is that um mr slawson has telekinesis or some sort of psychic powers to bring to life these mannequins i think maybe maybe um but yeah he uh listen ten I like this movie quite a bit. I'm not going to lie. Yeah, sure.
01:13:56
Speaker
ah Because I just think it's it's so crazy that it works for me because you kind of just have to like let go and let God at some point when you're watching this thing. um Do I think it gets a little repetitive towards the end? Yes. I'll talk about one specific instance of that in a little bit here when we get dive further into the movie.
01:14:15
Speaker
But overall, I just had a great time. This is my jam. Late 70s movies where it's... Listen, I think at this point, after 141 episodes, if you don't understand our tastes in movies, I don't know what you're doing. This one tickles your G-spot.
01:14:32
Speaker
Yeah, it just does. i can't explain it. It's got a little bit of slasher elements. It's got a little bit of what-the-fuck elements. yeah i just I highly enjoyed it, um even though it's got some weird parts that we'll get into. What about you?
01:14:47
Speaker
Uh, yeah, I mean, it in the same token, I think a lot of audiences know that this kind of like isn't my thing, i would say. um But like, yeah, I can still find it interesting. i think I think all the same things, basically, like it is it's a weird movie.
01:15:00
Speaker
It really doesn't make any sense at all, if we're being honest. um And it's just fucking bizarre. Like, yeah, yeah i I think the the parts of it for me that like i that I that I don't.
01:15:12
Speaker
but And like the thing that I have to remember is like, and I did keep this in mind watching it. It's from 1979. Like it's just a very different time of life. And, um, you know, movies were different back then, I guess.
01:15:26
Speaker
i I will say that like there, there were some effects in this that I actually thought were pretty good. Like when, what's his face like at the end of it, when what's his face like turns out to actually be a mannequin, I was like, well, that's actually kind of really well. forgot about that actually. Yeah. Like it's like, Oh, Oh, okay. Sure. Um, but like beyond that, um,
01:15:43
Speaker
and Like it's it's a it's it's's it's funny to like watch how things happen in this movie. Like when what's her face is just on the side of the road because the tire like pops and the other guy has to get a a new tire or whatever.
01:15:54
Speaker
And um she's just like like she just like takes out this bed sheet and like puts it out and like has like a ah ah fucking lawn chair. It's just like that in itself is just so weird. And then, of course, they got a skinny dip at the at the pool. That's that's just like ridiculous from that era.
01:16:10
Speaker
And, um and then, you know, you you just have to make your own decision basically on what's actually going on. Like, is it, is it that they're just crazy?
01:16:21
Speaker
is it that there is something supernatural going on You don't really know. um Like, I mean, like for you, what do you think actually happens? Yeah. So ah the only part that alluded to what how I frame up the movie is that there's a part where um it's Mr. Slauson, but he's dressed up like his brother, yeah um where he has a monologue saying, like, they don't want me to use the power, but the power feels good. Like that's like yeah saying, like when I use it, it feels good.
01:16:52
Speaker
And so I was kind of just putting it in the, in the framework that he has some sort of either telekinesis or psychic powers that he's able to either make people see things or make things happen. Yeah. Yeah. um that's the that's the best of my ability to try to understand the movie without it without it kind of like spelling it out for me um but that's kind of where i where i put it i'd say that that i think that that's a i'm about to say it's a plausible thing as though it's like reality plausible but like but i mean like in in the world of this movie i think that that is plausible um but the reality is that is that you just don't know and um yeah all that being said like it's
01:17:29
Speaker
It's still a zany. It's a zany little weird fucking movie. the The little laughter things that happen all the time are crazy. i love the singing mannequins. Oh my God. Yes.
01:17:40
Speaker
And like, yeah, right. And like, you know, and the and mannequins are just kind of creepy when they're not in stores. Like it's when you, when you take a mannequin out of context it becomes a very creepy object. It's almost impossible for it not to be. And that's exactly what happens here. And the movie relies on that creepiness of it um in order to to so just deepen its its its own its own horror aspect.
01:18:02
Speaker
um I think that the acting um is definitely Oscar worthy in this movie. That is for sure. um But I also think it's not bad, all things considered. Like it is late 70s. It is low budget.
01:18:14
Speaker
you know, like I, I, it's, it's almost surprising that, that it comes out so good if I'm being honest. Yeah. And so like this movie is, you know, it's, it's not my favorite. It's not that it's definitely not the thing that I usually like at all, but I don't mind it for sure. And and I, I, I definitely look, there are some movies that I watch and I'm like, God damn it. I'm never getting that time back.
01:18:33
Speaker
I don't, I don't feel that way about this movie. Yeah, this is definitely another fuck around and find out movie yeah um yeah from the 70s where people just get themselves into crazy situations.
01:18:44
Speaker
Yes, they But like there's all there's also like parts of it where you're like, well, were they forced into this because their car, which is a Volkswagen thing, thank you very much.
01:18:55
Speaker
um it breaks down and like there's a part where you you see the headlight bust for no reason so does mr slauson this is how he lures people into mr slauson's um what does he call it mr slauson's lost oasis um and that's why her car works at the end when she's able to drive away with her mannequin family now we'll talk about that in a little bit but the last photo on the screen oh my god almighty um it looks like they're on like a like a an amusement park ride yeah yeah i do want to talk about a couple parts that actually did kind of freak me out there was like ah a couple of parts that actually did scare me a little bit um the first one was where we are uh jerry and becky i believe are tied up and they are witnessing the is his name davy is that the brother i think so yeah
01:19:50
Speaker
They are witnessing him, which is actually Mr. Sloss, and so it doesn't really matter, but um they are witnessing him put a, well, for lack of a better term, like a mask on a woman, but it's with the wet mask.
01:20:03
Speaker
clay or whatever you yeah the plaster of paris maybe it's like oh and now i'm going to cover your eyes yeah yeah and like the but fact that he's like and you're not gonna die from suffocating you're gonna die from your heart exploding and like just like that whole monologue and her freaking out that honestly did get me like that was like pretty creepy and pretty freaky um And the fact that she, that to to know that that's how you die would just be like the worst fate ever. like Yes.
01:20:34
Speaker
um And then the other part that freaked me out was ah when Mistress Lawson is chasing our our main girl, I think Tina, or Molly, no, it's Molly, Molly.
01:20:45
Speaker
when um he's chasing Molly through the woods and all of a sudden she goes into the water to like try to like disguise like her sound or whatever. yeah And he just like pops up right behind her. i was like, whoa! That really freaked me out. So there are a couple parts in this...
01:21:01
Speaker
For the most part, this is kind of more of a goofy movie, like a little bit, yeah especially like, oh, my God, can we talk about the opening credits music, which is just like, oh, my God, those are opening credits that go for a long time, I might add, like they're they're around for a while.
01:21:21
Speaker
This is 90 minutes, but it's stretched a bit for that 90 minutes. I feel like this movie could be 30 minutes shorter, if I'm being honest. And it could be a really great... And like if and you know we always talk about this kind of thing, but like if it if it was, it was just an hour long, it would be a really strong horror short.
01:21:42
Speaker
yeah um But as a feature film, I think those extra 30 minutes do become a little bit monotonous. And and like you like you said earlier, especially kind of towards the end. Well, I will tell you, this is the part where I felt it.
01:21:52
Speaker
And it's where, so we get the first reveal when Molly is picked up by Mistress Lawson and he reveals that he's, you know, his brother. So he's both characters and that's, we get the big reveal on yeah from Molly.
01:22:05
Speaker
But then like, as soon as Molly is captured, we then get that same reveal with Becky. Like he picks up Becky in the woods and takes her back to the thing and, and she gets killed and in that process. But like, it's almost like the same scene twice.
01:22:19
Speaker
And so it just feels like, I don't know. It felt a little repetitive. um What I will say is I was very surprised by the, um by the acoustic work in this movie, because we had it turned up and you hear like, Becky.
01:22:36
Speaker
Oh God. Jesus. Molly. Like, you hear like those little things like when they're in the woods or like when they're kind of alone and it is pretty creepy. So like, I got to give this movie a little bit of flowers when it comes to like the creepiness factor.
01:22:50
Speaker
Like you said, a lot of the mannequins in and of themselves are pretty creepy because they're like twisted, like versions of humans and they laugh maniacally and like that whole thing.
01:23:02
Speaker
um i got to talk about the beginning of this movie, please. Because, This movie opens, like you said, car broken down on the side of the road. And our our our main guy, Woody, who tragically we lost way too soon because he was very good looking. He was cute, yeah. um But he goes to this gas station.
01:23:23
Speaker
And when I tell you this movie starts off with a bang, it starts off with a fucking bang because that whole scene with Woody in the, in the room with all the mannequins, you just, you are so thrust into this movie in a way that you're like, what the fuck is happening? Like, yeah.
01:23:39
Speaker
Like what is going on? when no When those first, um, the first laughs come out of there, it's immediately but weird. Yeah. and like And even like the way that he dies is pretty strange. like It's like ah items being thrust across the room, and then like you think it's going to be this, the knife, or the axe, and it ends up being you know the pipe. And ah this is where I challenged them on the PG rating, because they do show like a blood coming out of the pipe that is in his back.
01:24:09
Speaker
And so I was like, wow, I'm kind of surprised this wasn't rated Yeah. Because if you remember correctly, we didn't have PG-13 in 1979. So there's no way that it would be PG-13. But the fact that this is PG, and it depicts a woman suffocating on a table and a woman getting axed in the back and a guy with a pipe through his back bleeding out...
01:24:29
Speaker
I was like, how is this PG? Well, and what one of the interesting things about it, too, from from like just the trivia about the film, is that the MPAA awarded the film a PG rating. Because of its rating, the film was able to receive significant broadcasting on syndicated television in the years following its theatrical release.
01:24:46
Speaker
So I bet you a lot of people saw this on TV as kids. Without a doubt. And that's it's it's really, when I saw it was PG, I was like, he got to be kidding me. This is PG right now? just Yeah. It's mind-boggling.
01:24:57
Speaker
Yeah. And I do want to applaud you know the the twist that you said earlier, the fact that Jerry comes up and is saving the day and is going to get Molly out of that situation. all of sudden, Mr. Slosson walks up and takes his arm off and then takes his head off. Oh, my God. He's a mannequin. And I'll be honest, like I think I just forgot that that happened. I definitely did. yeah And so when it happened, I was like, wait a minute.
01:25:22
Speaker
What? that and And like I said, like it was genuinely, that part was really well done. Very well And I also liked to the part where he was chasing Molly through the woods with that mannequin head. And he's like, see my friend, oh little all girl. Jesus.
01:25:39
Speaker
And he throws the mannequin head at her and it opens its mouth and it's like, little girl. It's like i do, you know, as for, as somebody who really does usually believe in the supernatural angle of things, it's interesting to me personally that like, I don't necessarily see it here.
01:25:57
Speaker
Like I wonder, I wonder if it's like, is there like some kind of hypnosis that he does on them? Is there some sort of like way that he like turns their heads so that they think this is all real in one way or another?
01:26:09
Speaker
it But I mean, like, I don't know. It's just, i'm I'm left with that question. I really was at the end, like, wait a minute, what is actually going on? And it just keeps going around in my head. I mean, I get it because there is definitely ah many scenes where our main characters are seeing a mannequin, but then they're also seeing a real person. And then they're seeing a mannequin and then they're seeing a real person. yeah And so like it could be a form of hypnotism um or something.
01:26:35
Speaker
Mr. Slauson is an X-Men. And so he can do whatever he wants. Yeah, basically, essentially, yes. There's one scene in this movie that completely comes out of left field.
01:26:46
Speaker
And I am still left to this day wondering, why is this scene in the movie? What is it? And it is a scene between Mr. Slauson and you quote unquote, his brother, where they're talking about soup and crackers. Oh.
01:27:01
Speaker
And they're just talking back and forth. And he's like, oh do you want some more soup? Oh, do you want... Oh, the crackers are very good. and But it's right in the middle of the movie when like two people are chained up, a person is dead on a table, and another person is like strapped to a bed. And you're just like, what the what is happening? like Why is this in... like It almost makes sense to put earlier in the movie, but at the part that it comes in, you're just like, what are we doing?
01:27:28
Speaker
um think sounds like Sounds like the editor just like maybe missed one. Well, and did you see that there was an editing like ah flub? No, I think it's right after this scene. You see a just a blip of Molly and Mr. Slauson getting out of the truck.
01:27:44
Speaker
But this is but this is far after Molly has already been strapped to the bed. So I honestly think it's an editing mistake. So I mean, I mean, maybe maybe that's it. Maybe maybe that scene wasn't supposed to be in there, especially if that's happening right after that scene. Like maybe that was us all one fuck up.
01:28:00
Speaker
Yeah. um and And I did appreciate, though, there is a part where Molly, or who was our final girl, where she thinks that she shoots um Mr. Slauson and he goes, ha, ha, ha, you have blanks.
01:28:17
Speaker
And then, but what does she do? She just, she takes that shotgun by the barrel and she just hits him over the head with it. And I'm like, girl. And good for her. yeah Good for her. Somebody doing it correctly. That's the way that should be done.
01:28:28
Speaker
um It is funny, though, the amount of um Texas Chainsaw Massacre, just because we just recently watched it, is ingrained in this movie. There's even a part where I think it's Jerry jumps out of a window, totally Sally Hardesty style, like and just runs through the forest. And I was like, oh, I see what we're doing here.
01:28:47
Speaker
um But yeah, I don't know. I think this movie's fun. it's it's You can watch it on, um I think it's on Shudder. i watched it on... What did I watch this on?
01:29:00
Speaker
I think I said I watched it on my full moon channel. I watched it on Amazon. It was on Amazon on amazon time for me. So yeah, Amazon is where you can find this. Matty, what did you give Tourist Trap and what are your final thoughts?
01:29:15
Speaker
I gave Tourist Trap a four. And I said that this is about 30 minutes too long, to be honest, but it still kind of works. So that's my rating for it. Yeah, and I forgot to mention here at Fraggy the 13th, we judge on a seven-stripe scale. So if a four sounds weird, you're like, weird, four? You said you liked it. It's actually a good rating because 3.5 is average. Four is good, for sure.
01:29:35
Speaker
I'm going to give Tourist Trap a five. I said, it does it make sense? Not really. But damn, if it's wackadoo approach, just works for me. Amen. Well, folks, that does it for Tourist Trap. We'll be right back with our next film, Hostile.
01:29:49
Speaker
i
01:30:08
Speaker
Please,
Deep Dive into 'Hostel'
01:30:10
Speaker
please. Please, please.
01:30:36
Speaker
points
01:30:46
Speaker
are
01:30:50
Speaker
Austin
01:30:55
Speaker
When you're traveling, i strongly recommend getting a hotel and not a hostel. Andrew, tell us about hostel. Welcome to your worst nightmare. Three backpackers head to a Slovakian city that promises to meet their hedonistic expectations with no idea of the hell that awaits them. Hey, I just want to interject here, Andrew, actually, um because I always take the the blurbs from Letterboxd, right? Yeah.
01:31:24
Speaker
It is wrong. They are in Bratislava. And that is clear in the text. So once again, Letterboxd, you need to do better about your blurbs. Sorry about that. They do mention Slovakia quite a bit in the movie, but true yeah ah directed and written by Eli Roth. Production and distribution were handled by Next Entertainment and Lionsgate Films.
01:31:44
Speaker
Paxton is played by Jay Hernandez. Good to see him again. It's been a while. Josh is played by Derek Richardson. Ali is played by, cannot pronounce that name. Let me give a shot. Gudjonsson.
01:31:56
Speaker
aor ah e goodjoen ah The Dutch businessman is played by Jan Vlasak. Kana is played by Jennifer Lim. And Takashi Miike is played by himself.
01:32:10
Speaker
Rated R, this movie comes in at 94 minutes. It was mostly done in the Czech Republic. Released on January 6th of 2006, the budget was $4.8 million. And this sucker brought in $8.
01:32:24
Speaker
$82 million. dollars Yeah, it did. And garnished two more sequels. Maddie, I don't think this is the first time for either of us with this kind of movie and this movie specifically.
01:32:37
Speaker
But what did you think about Hostel on this rewatch? ah You know, I'm i'm just... I'm mostly glad that we just don't make movies like this very much anymore. I'll be honest. Like it's um this is ah it's a hard movie to watch, obviously, because it's full of torture.
01:32:54
Speaker
And I don't like torture movies because I just don't like watching torture, obviously. But this one is extra special because it's made by Eli Roth. And so it's just a bunch of bro stuff.
01:33:08
Speaker
And, um, and yeah it's not very far into the movie where you hear faggot going back and forth and whatever. and there's gay panic all over this movie. Oh yeah.
01:33:19
Speaker
But I mean like, look, it's from 2006 and I, you know, not not that that explains it all the way, but it, it helps to explain it at least a little. And you know, it's, um, it is what it is. It's, this is, this is not, um, this is not a masterpiece of writing.
01:33:33
Speaker
It's certainly not a masterpiece of acting either, if I'm being honest. um But, you know, look, there are there are there are parts of it that are that are good, for sure. um and and I would imagine for the people who are into like Saw and and other things, like this is probably one they genuinely like quite a bit.
01:33:50
Speaker
I do think that there is something to that that that the, the scariness to the movie is certainly in the torture, obviously. But there is also, you know, um a bit of a bit of horror when it comes to thinking about like,
01:34:03
Speaker
you know You're traveling in an unknown place where you don't speak the language and you are a very vulnerable person. and um you know and in the i'm I'm certainly not like a world traveler or anything, but I've done a lot of travel.
01:34:17
Speaker
And you know yeah I've never felt like I've ever been unsafe, really. But I mean, it's it's it's it's not hard to imagine situations where you could become unsafe very quickly.
01:34:30
Speaker
yeah i was I was talking about Croatia earlier. There there was one night in Split that I was out and I went to this Mexican restaurant. um And it was, because I just wanted tacos, quite frankly. And and it was OK, but like the food took forever.
01:34:43
Speaker
I mean, it took for fucking ever to get to me. and And I was sitting at the bar and the bartender was like, oh, I'm so sorry. Your food's taking so long, like whatever. like He's like, you know, here here have have what you don't have some tequila. I have this, have this, have this.
01:34:54
Speaker
And then mean we got to talking and, you know, he was buying me beers and everything. And ah eventually his like girlfriend came along and they were like, Hey, do you want to come to this, this bar with us? And I was like, you know what? Yeah, sure. Why not?
01:35:06
Speaker
And we got to the bar and almost as soon as I got in that bar, I my my heart kind of dropped and I was like, wait a minute. I don't know who these people are. I just what what am I doing right now? Actually, like it was it it like suddenly made me feel just like a little bit scared.
01:35:22
Speaker
And like i so i i I kind of i obviously I kept it to myself. And I had like two beers with them and they were like, oh, we're to to this party you should come with. And in my, in my head, I was like, you should not go with these people right now.
01:35:33
Speaker
It just, I, something was telling me like I needed to just go home and like, they weren't doing anything. I just want point that out. Like I'm not, I'm, I was probably just overblowing or I was ah scared of my own or whatever.
01:35:44
Speaker
But like, there's just something about it i was like, oh, I just, I just need to go back to my, my Airbnb. And, um, you know, like you just, you never know what can happen when you're out. And, um you know, look, there are there are parts of this movie that are that are pretty just stupid because of how they talk. They're constantly saying, you know, faggot and, you know, making fun of each other for being gay. But like at the same time, like what what I did kind of think of was, well, like that is actually how guys in 2006 were straight guys.
01:36:12
Speaker
And so like it actually kind of does match reality. And like, to be honest, a lot of young, you know, dudes that go doing stuff in Europe, Like that is what they're after.
01:36:23
Speaker
They are after crazy drugs and, and a lot of sex and that happens all over the place and it's what they do. And it's, and it's, i' I, it's, it's repugnant to watch it in a film like this, but it's also not too far off the truth if we're being absolutely honest.
01:36:39
Speaker
And, um, also hostels. I wouldn't literally never stay in one. Ever. I've been in a hostel once when I was in college. It was a hostel in Chicago, for God's sake. But um no, ah please don't stay in hostels. You're all old enough.
01:36:54
Speaker
Like, please don't don't do that. um be i'll be Beyond that, look, i I think that the movie is it was just it's just middling. i As soon as i as soon as it was over, i was like, I never want to watch this again.
01:37:04
Speaker
um i I will say that like Pat, like the Paxton's like turn from being like a dick to then, you know, being somebody who runs back in to try to save Kana and, you know, gets her out of there and cuts her fucking eyeball off and all that shit.
01:37:18
Speaker
When, when he was going to do it, I was like, are you going to do it? i was like, yeah, you're going to do it. you're You're going to turn around and go back in there. That's what you're going to do. And I was like, ah I roll kind of thing, but at least he did that, I guess. I don't know.
01:37:30
Speaker
How do you feel about the movie? Hostel, I remember i I think I saw this in the theater. I can't remember really 2006 very much anymore. But I remember this was a big deal. like I remember this was like a big deal horror movie when it came out.
01:37:44
Speaker
And um i don't think I've seen it since. So this was like a good 20-year gap almost for me seeing this movie. And honestly... I think I thought it was much more brutal than it actually is. Like, it is brutal. It's a brutal movie. Don't get Oh, for sure it is. Yes.
01:38:01
Speaker
I think that I had it in my brain that this was much worse, like, um in terms of, like, blood and guts and gore and and everything, which it does have, but it's not nearly as... um it's not nearly as bad as I remembered in my brain, if that makes any sense. Yeah. Probably because of 2006, we did just didn't have these kinds of movies. And since then we've had so many of these kinds of movies where it's just like porn torture, you know what i mean? Yeah. Um, so like,
01:38:29
Speaker
I didn't mind it. I remember not liking it a lot more when I watched it back in the day. And like now that I kind of understand what culture was like back then, and I kind of remember like what things were like two years before I graduated college, and they this makes sense. like It makes sense that these guys talk like this and act like this. Exactly. Right, yeah.
01:38:48
Speaker
And so... I don't know. It was kind of a little bit of a time capsule. But overall, it is kind of a weird fear others. And I don't really love that in movies because I choose to embrace everyone and I choose to want to learn more about everyone's culture and their kind of thing. And this fear othering this like fear of othering It's kind of weird and kind of off-putting just as like a plot device for me. Because like, as someone that wants to go back to Europe and wants to go to a lot of these countries, like, I don't want to be like, ooh, like, ah scary Eastern Europeans, you know what i mean? exactly. True. Um, some of that is just like a little off putting for me. I do think it's funny that the one villain in the movie is like a Dutch guy because they're like the most peaceful people. Like it's, it's it's kind of funny to me that the businessman is like a Dutch businessman.
01:39:46
Speaker
Um, and, um, I did not remember the turn. I did not remember that we were kind of led to believe that Josh was our main character. because yeah i always remember that paxton was the main character but watching it this time i'm like oh no they're trying to make you believe that josh is the main character oh sure he has the most background you know they talk about how he's just gotten out of a long-term relationship and you know all this stuff like and the fact that you know he's the second one to die i think we all go into the movie thinking oh ollie's he's he's not far for this world like he's not at all yeah he's gonna be gone
01:40:21
Speaker
But you don't really think that Josh is the one that's going to be abducted second and kind of taken out. And the only reason that Paxton becomes our main character is because he accidentally gets locked in a storage room. Exactly.
01:40:33
Speaker
yeah If he would have gone to the bathroom, he would have passed out in that bathroom and when been taken by the the thug that was watching him in the bar when he was with Natalia and I can't think of the other girls.
01:40:46
Speaker
Svetlana. Svetlana. And those are like totally typical names. Completely. um So like, honestly, overall, I kind of liked it better than I remembered liking it. But yeah, is there a ton of like weird gay panic and like really shitty dialogue? And like the answer is yes.
01:41:06
Speaker
Of course, Eli Roth has to be in his own movie because he thinks he's some like, I don't know. Right. Right. I don't know if you i don't know clocked him, but he's in the Amsterdam bar in like a Red Sox t-shirt at the beginning. Of course. God. um like He's some like Alfred Hitchcock or something always showing up in his own movies.
01:41:23
Speaker
I remember he did this in Cabin Fever, too. And I was just like, you're already sucking your own dick, and I'm like already over it. But listen, I'm going to leave my my thoughts about Eli Roth as a person on the side because I...
01:41:35
Speaker
he he's gotten better over the years, but all of his stuff just like reeks of like misogyny and like, I don't know, it doesn't, it doesn't necessarily work for me. He's gotten better, but he's grown up a little bit, but it's, it's hard. It's hard to reconcile with the young one.
01:41:49
Speaker
Yeah. And so like, and it's funny, um, you know, me and my husband, we have this like tradition of like when there's either boobs or butts on the screen, we cheers, we like boobies and cheers. Like we, if we were to do this in this movie, we'd be wasted. So, we Oh my God. There's so much of it in this movie.
01:42:07
Speaker
um and and it and And no male nudity. just want to point that out. It sucks. There were butts. But not not enough. Well, partly because the only butt that you see is Ollie's with a face on it. Exactly. Right.
01:42:21
Speaker
um But listen, I digress a little bit with this one just because I understand it's a product of its time. um But like honestly, I thought some of the effects were pretty good. like i thought there was a little bit of...
01:42:34
Speaker
um Especially with Josh's torture scene, there was a little bit of restraint in that. Like, you don't actually, like, see the drill go into him. You only see, like, the drill afterwards. Yeah. like, when he cuts his Achilles heel, you see the aftermath of Oh, God, I hate that so much. Oh, my But you don't see him actually cutting it.
01:42:50
Speaker
And so, like... There are parts where there is restraint handled in this movie. um And then there's parts where it really isn't like when he tries to get up and stand up. and Oh God. Just thinking about that part makes me. And especially with Kana and how he has to cut off her eyeball. Like you said, the eye thing is, Oh, it's a lot. And like her, and,
01:43:09
Speaker
And her demise is like really sad because extremely sad. She doesn't want to live with her, you know, with her face being all disfigured. And so she steps in front of a train. and Little does she know that this is going to be the thing that gives a distraction that will help. Exactly. out Yeah. um And his ass his ass is waiting in the bathroom with a scalpel like I'm not letting anyone in this fucker. like yeah Yeah, exactly.
01:43:32
Speaker
um so like Speaking speaking of of just after that, I really do enjoy the comeuppance for the Dutch businessman at the end. Yeah. you know When when he he he he follows him to through the train station down to the bathroom and just again just gets him. And I i really ah really did enjoy that. Drowns him in his own piss and shit. Yep. And ah as so there there was, i don't know if you maybe you've seen it, but there's an alternate ending to this. I have, yeah. um And in the director's cut of the film, Paxton follows the Dutch businessman being accompanied by his young daughter into a public restroom of a train station.
01:44:08
Speaker
After finding her teddy bear in the women's restroom, the Dutch businessman frantically searches the crowd for his missing daughter. Paxton is then seen aboard the moving train with the Dutch businessman's daughter, whom he has kidnapped.
01:44:20
Speaker
Yeah, I remember ah when this came out, that alternate ending was on the DVD. Yeah. And I remember them talking about it. And I think that ultimately what they decided with the ending that we do have is that it's a little too dark for Paxton's character to actually like take revenge on the daughter rather than the businessman himself.
01:44:42
Speaker
i so I would completely agree with that. Yeah. And so it makes sense. And especially if you've seen hostile to, which maybe we'll do at some point, i don't know if it, if it works into our system or not, but like he, he, he has a pretty tragic ending as well.
01:44:56
Speaker
um And so I don't think it makes sense for him to be a kidnapper at the end of the day. It's just, I think it's a right move. I mean, like ah what's what's he going to do after that? That's too much work. Do you know what i mean? This way the job is just done. Like it's it's over. and and it's and And like I said earlier, it's honestly, it's pretty fucking satisfying. It honestly is.
01:45:14
Speaker
um the one The one part with the Dutch businessman that is kind of crazy that I'd never clocked before is when he's talking to Josh and it's right before he slits his throat um is where he says, in fact, I'm paying them. And like that that was like, oh that's actually yeah kind of good. Exactly.
01:45:31
Speaker
um ah what One thing that I found too with the film is that the film's release was accompanied by strong complaints from Slovakia and the Czech Republic. I remember this. Slovak and Czech officials were both disgusted and outraged by the film's portrayal of their countries as underdeveloped, poor, and uncultured lands.
01:45:47
Speaker
suffering from high criminality, war, and prostitution, fearing it would damage the good reputation of Slovakia and make foreigners feel it was a dangerous place to be. The tourist board of Slovakia invited Roth on all-expenses-paid trip to their country so he could see it is not made up of run-down factories, ghettos, and kids who kill for bubblegum.
01:46:05
Speaker
Tomasz Galbavi, Slovak member of me. Tomasz Galbavi, a Slovak member of parliament from the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union Democratic Party, commented, I am offended by this film.
01:46:17
Speaker
I think that all Slovaks should feel offended. ah Defending himself, Roth said the film was not meant to be offensive, arguing Americans do not even know this country exists. My film is not a geographical work, but aims to show Americans' ignorance of the world around them.
01:46:31
Speaker
Roth argued that despite the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series, people still travel to Texas. um I don't... I don't really buy Eli Roth's justification there.
01:46:43
Speaker
Yeah. I think he definitely relies on the fact that Americans don't know a lot about it in order to make it so something really, really scary. And like, you know, that there, there, I mean, like there are parts of, of Eastern Europe that I think a lot of people would never think about going to,
01:47:00
Speaker
um But that are really, really beautiful places and and incredible with it. but Also, you know, with incredible people and incredible cultures. And so, you know, i I would say like for me, this movie isn't like being scared of going to places like that. It's being scared of going to a fucking hostel.
01:47:16
Speaker
Like, yeah, that's what I'm actually scared of. It's like I'm not sitting in a hostel where I have to put my passport here and. I had to share rooms and this, this crazy shit's had to absolutely fucking not. And, you know, and what it does remind you is that when you are a traveler, like, you know, take care of yourself, watch yourself, like make sure that you're, you know, if you go out and have fun and and get crazy, but like, you know, don't drink so much that you don't know what's happening to you. Don't do drugs that you don't know what they're going to do to you. Like,
01:47:42
Speaker
You've got to be careful because like, look, I don't think that this is necessarily going to happen to a lot of people, but like there are evil, there are evil people in the world who enjoy doing evil things. And some of those things are torture.
01:47:56
Speaker
And like, if you put yourself into a vulnerable situation and make yourself even more vulnerable, you might be one of their victims. Is is that something that you really want? You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. um I will say that I really do like um Natalia. I think cause she's ah really good part of the movie. I like when she takes him to You know, the the the area where they're torturing. The art exhibit. Yeah, the art exhibit. And then, you know, he says, like, are you coming? And she says, I've seen this show.
01:48:24
Speaker
like Yeah. I did like that. And then when she has the turn on Paxton, after he sees Josh on the table um being cut open by the the Dutch businessman, you know, she goes, i get a lot of money for you.
01:48:38
Speaker
that makes you my bitch because before that he called her a bitch and i was like least she and then the listen i think that her comeuppance is kind of one of the the funniest but the worst because like when he clobbers through those three so it's it's natalia svetlana and then the guy from amsterdam who that gave them all the information to begin with And they just get clobbered and then she's still alive. But then the people that are chasing them come up and just hit her again. Yeah.
01:49:08
Speaker
yeah See you later, bitch. Bye bye. And then I do. and And, you know, it's funny because like they do make a conscious effort to like make them look like they're all made. They're made up and pretty. But like on their day off where he finds them in the bar, they're like they don't have any makeup on and they're just like drinking a beer. yeah You know, it's like they're off day. They're living their normal life.
01:49:30
Speaker
Yeah, I thought it was kind of a cool little turn. um And then like ah the the one thing that i don't think that the movie needs is there's a part towards the end where we get kind of ah where he's dressing in that guy's clothes to kind of like get out of there. And the other guy comes in the really like smug guy who eventually and it's it lasts so long. It's so long. So, so way too long. like and Like him being like, him being like, Oh, what was it like? Did you like it? Should I go slow or should I go fast? And I'm like, can we just exit the scene so we can move on? It's honestly like that, that scene is, is truly, it's just too much.
01:50:10
Speaker
It's like, so the movie is 94 minutes. That four minutes could have gone out and we would have been fine because that guy at the end of the day doesn't really matter. It doesn't matter that he's the one torturing Kana at the end. It it doesn't it doesn't matter at all. It could have been anybody.
01:50:25
Speaker
It could have been anybody. The only only plot point there is is that he gets the gun from him. That's it. But he could have just done that in another way too. I don't know. But at that point, the gun doesn't really matter because he got a gun earlier from his torture person. Yeah. True. Yeah.
01:50:39
Speaker
um I did think it was funny, though, on the back of the business card. It was like $5,000 for Russian, $10,000 for European and $25,000 for American. it's like oh People hate Americans. You know what I mean? There it go And I do appreciate and I did not remember how graphic the kills were by the children.
01:50:59
Speaker
um when they kill those two henchmen guys were just like basically by beating them in the skull. The kids are kind of badass, to be honest. if They're brutal, and all they want is candy.
01:51:10
Speaker
Like bubblegum. Now. Listen, and I'm going to be honest. If I saw a group of that many children walking together, i would cross the street. i'm not exactly i don't I don't fuck with kids anymore. They scare me. Sorry. Same with teenagers. Tell me this, Andrew. What did you rate Hostile?
01:51:28
Speaker
Yeah, I'm going to be gracious and give Hostel a four. I think it's i think it's an above average movie. um But I said it's definitely a product of its time for sure. it It's not as bad as I remember, but didn't hate it.
01:51:40
Speaker
Yeah, i'm I'm on the same wavelength with you. And and as as sometimes happens on the show after we talk about it, I i remember more of the good things about it. I also gave it a four, which i thought was I thought was generous. I considered doing lower, but I was like, man, it's it's a four.
01:51:54
Speaker
um And I said, like, you know, like I said at the start of this, thank God I just, we don't really make movies like this anymore. To be honest, I'm kind of happy about that. and um So yeah, a four for me. Cool. Well, that is our final movie of the episode. But hang on, we've got a fun game for you to close out the show. It's called Whoa, That's Weird. Where is that?
01:52:14
Speaker
Just like you can't go to San Francisco without going on the Golden Gate Bridge, you can't visit South Dakota without visiting the world's only corn palace. The only place in the world where this type of folk art is being preserved.
01:52:29
Speaker
Become a part of our history. Experience Mitchell, South Dakota. www.visitmitchell.com Well, folks, that was episode 141 of a Friday get the 13th Horror Podcast.
Conclusion and Listener Engagement
01:52:44
Speaker
Before we let you go, however, Andrew has made up a game as he usually does. And this one's called, Whoa, That's Weird. Where is that? So, Andrew, take me through. Yes. So I have ah four, ah quote unquote, tourist traps that I am going to read to you. And you have to tell me, where is it?
01:53:05
Speaker
And I am going to tell you they're all in US states. So all you have to do is say the state. So obviously, I had one on here called the Corn Palace in South Dakota. and south dakota okay um But do you know where whole In, like an hole in the rock is.
01:53:25
Speaker
feel like I've actually heard of this before. Is that is that Wisconsin? It is not. One more guess? Oh, one more guess. It's rock.
01:53:35
Speaker
Hmm. Hole in rock. Is it like...
01:53:43
Speaker
I'm going to guess maybe it's like in Arkansas. It is in Utah. In Utah. Okay. One of the weirdest roadside tourist traps in America, Hole in the Rock, is a 5,000 square foot home carved out of a massive rock in Utah's Canyonlands. God, I love it.
01:54:00
Speaker
Wow. The man-made home includes 65 foot chimney, a bathtub built into the rock, and 14 rooms that visitors can now tour. Oh, you know, I think I've actually seen...
01:54:12
Speaker
like a documentary about that place before. not now Now that you describe it. Very interesting. Okay, cool. The next tourist trap is the Market Theater Gum Wall. The Market Theater Gum Wall.
01:54:25
Speaker
Market Theater. um Is it in...
01:54:31
Speaker
Is it in New York? It is in Washington, specifically in Seattle, Washington. There's a brick alleyway under pike pi Pike Place Market in Seattle that is covered completely in chewing gum.
01:54:44
Speaker
That's so gross. The gum takes over the space, which is 15 feet high and 50 feet long. i i literally never want to see that. And I've been to Seattle. Thank God I missed it.
01:54:56
Speaker
Yeah. All right. The next one, i have to give you a little bit of context. Oh, no, not this one for the next one. um This one is the National Mustard Museum. National Mustard Museum. I definitely want to go there. I'll be honest.
01:55:08
Speaker
I love mustard. Is it like in like Vermont? It is in Wisconsin, which I'm surprised we haven't ever gone to here. I love mustard. I'll tell you what.
01:55:19
Speaker
All right. that The National Mustard Museum features a collection of countless prepared mustards from over 60 countries for visitors to explore. where I need to go there. That sounds like heaven to me. I would love there. My God.
01:55:33
Speaker
And guarantee they got some sausages and stuff. Yum. Yum. All right And your last one needs a little bit of context. It is called the Vent Haven Museum, but it is specifically known as the Museum of Ventriloquism.
01:55:50
Speaker
Is this in Florida? ah You would think, right? ah This is in Kentucky. Interesting. over 900 dummies alone spanning three centuries. Oh, my Nearly everything from puppets, memorabilia, recordings, photos, and scripts related to ventriloquism can be found here. For three centuries?
01:56:12
Speaker
Yeah. Isn't that crazy? That actually is kind of amazing. and Yeah. But that does it for, whoa, that's weird. Where is that? ah Andrew, as usual. A great game. Thank you very much for that. I just want to highlight, you know, some of the, some of the less known places. think it's wonderful. People should check it out.
01:56:28
Speaker
And, and folks listening, thank you for being with us. um for episode 141. Before we let you go here, just a few things. As usual, if you want to support this proud independent podcast, you can do so in a number of ways.
01:56:42
Speaker
First, you can buy you you can become a patron or you can buy merchandise at fregay13.com slash support. um And in fact, we have a new patron, which is really cool. Our friend, Crystal Whoa. So Crystal, thanks so much for becoming um a a patron of our podcast. You've been a good listener for a long time.
01:57:01
Speaker
And also you've been a really good friend for a long time. So we really appreciate that. Yeah. And we also had another patron um up their sponsorship from a dollar to five dollars. That's so very kind of them. Thank you very much. for Thank you so much to Lisa. We really appreciate it.
01:57:16
Speaker
i believe Lisa listens to us from over by you. that's awesome. Lisa, if you're if you are in Ireland or if you're ever over here, please let me know. and like I said, I would be glad to get to get a beer with you whenever you like.
01:57:29
Speaker
Now, we understand that not everyone can afford um you know the the patronage. We totally get it. But if you can't afford it, then you should do something for free. And that's to leave a review. And that's where I'm going to leave this this episode. Just go leave a review. Thanks so much. Bye-bye. Exactly. We've said it enough by this point, but please do it. We really need you to.
01:57:47
Speaker
But there is one more thing that we need them to do, Andrew. And it is this. We need them all to go out there and slayed.