The Flop House - Ep.#463 - Until Dawn, with Hallie Haglund

Episode Date: October 25, 2025

We wrap Shocktober 2025 up with a discussion of the extremely-loosely-based-on-the-videogame meta-slasher UNTIL DAWN. But that's enough about the movie! We're burying the lede! Hallie Haglund returns to join us in our filmic antics. Has she seen a ghost yet?Come see us live in Chicago, on 11/16, discussing the Jim Belushi-and-a-dog buddy comedy K-9! OR, if you prefer to watch us from the comfort of your own home: Flop TV Season 3 tix are ON SALE!To stay updated on Flop House events and side projects AND get a little bit of extra fun nonsense, subscribe to our NEWSLETTER, “Flop Secrets!Wikipedia page for Until DawnRecommended in this episode:Dan: If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (2025)Stu: Deathstalker (2025) The Lost Bus (2025)Elliott: Highest 2 Lowest (2025)Hallie: Weapons (2025)

On this episode, we discuss until dawn. An odd conclusion to Richard Linklater's Before Trilogy. Hey everyone, welcome to the Flop House. I'm Dan McCoy. Oh, hey, that's Dan McCoy, and this is Stuart Wellington. I'm looking at Dan McCoy and Stuart Wellington, and I like what I see. My name is Elliot Kalen, and today we're joined by a very special guest. You might even call her the star of the show. Coming at you hot, this is Hallie Hagglin.

Oh, wow. Too hot. Yeah, have you been moonlighting as a shock-chalk radio dean? Boop, boop, bo, bo. They call her the human soundboard, Hallie Hagland. You straighten your shirt and I thought you were like, yeah, I'm wearing this Neil Young shirt.

We're all shockjocks wear. Yeah. It does have a megaphone on it. That feels kind of shocky. There are a lot of shock shocks who are searching for a heart of gold. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Well, we're all back in our respective coasts.

Of course, I was just out there seeing Elliot briefly and Hallie briefly as well. But now there's two four. two folks on each coast. It's all balanced out. Finally, the American continent won't flip over anymore. Yeah, no, guys, real quick, let's be real for a second.

Dan, cover your ears. Was Dan a good guest, or was he a real pain in the ass? No, Dan was a great guest. He rolled with some scheduling mishaps that were my fault, and he did a great job with it, very unlike him.

And I felt like he's shown a lot of maturity and development. He was very good with my younger son. He drew Italian brain rot after Italian brain rot at my son's request. So Dan was a great good guest. Yeah. Oh, thank you.

I was listening. I didn't follow your instructions. You didn't put your hands over the headphones that are on your ears right now. You put them inside the headphones. It's possible. Yeah. Yeah, because Dan is a flat Stanley. He's got very thin fingers, yeah.

Flat Danley. Thank you. This is, of course, Shocktober. Oh, yeah. Sorry to shock you. Yeah, I've installed tingler things in your little seats. Yeah, yeah.

And we did, of course, we did imaginary last week. Of course. Or last episode, not last week. Here's where my head is at. Here's where my head is at. I forgot we did imaginary. So I kept being like, am I watching the right movie? Did I get it wrong?

What's going on? Did I, oh, wait. And I had to keep looking up our schedule that we have internally. Be like, oh, yeah, imaginary. Oh, yeah, that's a moment. movie. Why? So what are we watching now? So I so yeah like you were in some kind of weird like time loop exactly exactly. Exactly. And I texted, scarier than any of the movies we watched. I texted Hallie with the option of watching either

imaginary or until dawn and she was like people would expect me to do imaginary so I think I'm going to pick until dawn. Well, did I make a bad choice was imaginary? What did you guys think of imaginary? Bad. I mean neither of these are I mean they're on the flop house both of them so So what does that tell you? I feel like the last few movies I watched for the flop house have been really good. I mean, you watched, what, Italian Mafia Mama? Exactly. Yeah, that one.

That's true. The last one I watched was, oh, the monkey one. That was so good. Oh, yeah, yeah, solid man. What's it? Real man? Oh. Rock and roll man.

The Robby Williams one. Better man, yeah. Yeah, I'm not going to. The best movie of the century. I went to a video store and I asked for it because I like to watch things on physical media and I go, can you give me a copy of Better Man and they looked and they looked and they can't find a better man Wow, that's still

paying dividends there No, I would say I don't want to tip my hand too much about where we're going with this, I won't say any more than this, but I definitely enjoyed this more than imaginary. For sure, yeah. Yeah. Do we want to get in on this piece? It's rare

that we get to watch a movie where this many people explode during the movie. Yeah. That's true. Some multiple high on the explodeometer. Yeah. Explodometer. Guys, I just, before we get into this, you know, we got to address the elephant in the room. And that elephant is, the fact that this,

this is a movie based on a video game. It's a video game. Hence the PlayStation Studios logo at the beginning. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's, you fucking found all the clues. They were right there for you. Mr. Policeman, Sony and PlayStation told us everything we needed to know. Yeah.

No, I'm assuming, Hallie, the reason we watch this is because you were a big fan of the video game. Is that true? Huge until dawn head. Uh-huh. Now, until dawn is a, like, a semi- like FMV game where you just, like, wander around exploring. And there's occasional moments where you have to do, like, little, you have to, like, hit a button at the right time or something ripped your head off.

Like, jump over something. Yeah, well, there's very little jumping. It's like a, not an action game. It's more like a weird movie exploring game. Collect coins? Any coins, collect? You had to throw at the same. Blasher, to be like, can I pay you off?

And this is a video game that is like, it basically is a, it's attempting to recreate the feel of like watching a horror movie, but you get to make all the calls. Yeah. And it had a, it had a bunch of them. The calls are coming from inside the you. And the, yeah, that was their initial tagline. It didn't work for some reason. We're like, there's a killer with a phone in my tummy. Yeah.

That's how I feel sometimes. Now... It sounds like a Gialo. There's a killer with a phone in my tummy. I mean, that's a great title. Baby's first Gialo. The, uh, so, and the video game has a cast of, you know, teens involved in a murder thing.

And those, uh, those characters are voiced and the characters resemble the actors that play them, including Hayden Panetare, Panetary, Panic. And Rami Malik. I think this is what actually got him. Got him his Academy Award, not Bohemianab City. Oh, wow. And, of course, Peter Stromer, who in the game is kind of like a, it's kind of like a cryptkeeper type figure who's like narrating things and kind of doing

like little chapter heads. And he's kind of playing the same role that he ends up playing this movie, spoiler alert, but he's less of an antagonist. He's just, you know, there. And I think of the current working actors, Peter Stromer is a pretty good choice for like a human cryptkeeper. this is one of the few semi-recent, I mean it's like a decade old now

but like they did a remaster of it. Like a semi-recent game that I actually have some experience of. Yeah. And it's a weird thing. Because it's made like a leisure suit Larry in a while. Yeah. Yeah. But like this got a lot of I think

shit from people who played the game because it introduces this like time loop element that has nothing to do with what's in the game. It's not the game at all. Oh. But the thing is, like, I understand, like, why they made that choice because, as Stewart said, the game is just an attempt to be like, can we make a slasher movie as a game and, like, have that be the experience? And if you transform it back into a movie, it's just like, well, okay, it's just a slasher movie. Yeah.

Like, I understand why they thought they should do a play through of the game. Can we do a movie that's like a slasher movie? You can. Yes. They made many of them. Yeah. Like, whereas this, like, kind of is like, I guess they're going off the conceptual idea of, like, like a video. game you can reset you know you go back to a different point you can try something else to see if your choices are better but after a while you turn into a weird monster yeah just like a video game you turn into a windigo turn into an insale they're there they're they're depict their depiction of windegos i felt like was a little a little loose yeah they're ghouls it's a the windigo for those who don't know is a first nation monster that uh a hunger spirit it's a hunger spirit yeah it's a

Often has something to do with cannibalism. Yeah, you turn into one if you eat another person sometimes. Why do you say First Nation? What's First Nation? Well, like Native American. Indigenous Canadian. Oh, that's what I thought. But then I was like, that couldn't be what he's talking.

No, that's exactly what it is. Oh, okay. Hallie, the Indigenous peoples, the Americas have a rich folklore of monsters. I believe, I know that, but I just didn't know that Dan was so well first. Dan's a big fan of the BPRD and the issues with the Windigo character. Those are great issues. But Dan, I'm not sure also mostly knows the Windigo from his appearances in Marvel comics, where he was there when Wolverine first appeared.

And he just says his name a lot, right? He does. He always goes, when do you go? He's always introducing himself. He's like a Pokemon character. Yeah, yeah, and you've got to catch them all. Yeah. Because they'll eat you if you don't, just like Pikachu.

Yeah, but don't eat that. What do you think Pikachu is Pekachuing? Human flesh. And how about let us go on with a summary? So we have a... You're right, Stu, the minute the mic turned on, your hangover disappeared. I'll allow it.

Only good stuff. Okay, so this is a modern horror movie. So you know this bitch starts with a cold open. Always. We have a young woman covered in dirt, climbing through some tunnels. This is Melanie. And she is running from some flesh-eating ghouls.

She claws her way out of this tunnel grave type thing. It feels a lot like we're watching the dissent in this one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's going to be a lot of things in this movie. They're going to remind you of other better movies. So she claws her way out of the dirt Only to be confronted with a masked slasher character And before he kills her

She moves her butt a lot more than she needs to also Did you notice if she's climbing out Well, what is need? That's the thing Slowing her down And I think it's also So you're like She's like shimmying

Less shimmying when you're trying to get away Yeah like she's stutting on those ghoul She's like look you can't catch me You could have all this but you gooo it. I gotta get away for these ghouls. Chor, chort, tor, tor, tor, tor, I gotta get away.

So she's confronted by this mass killer and before he kills her, she says, like, please don't kill me again. And you're like, what again? Okay, cut to like a year later, I think. We have five friends who are trying to track down one of their. No, no, no, no, no, no. Did you think, as I did, sorry that I'm interrupting right away,

That their apartment was huge, yes, Dan. It's a huge apartment for New York City. How could they afford it on their salaries impossible, but it's TV? Come on. It was a mistake to make all of these characters. They always get the same table at the coffee place, and it's clearly the most desirable table because it's where the couches are. What do they have someone staking out that table at all times?

It's a TV show. It's okay. So it's a slasher, so all the characters are going to be somewhat interchangeable in the first place, and they made all of these characters brunette. Like the most different is one of them is Asian. and I think from her name that she's Korean, but, like, that's it. Like, it was too similar in terms of, like,

I mean, there's only two other girls. So you just wanted... It was impossible for you to keep track of the difference between these two girls with brown hair. I'm not saying it was, like, I couldn't do it. I'm saying that, like, I know that, like, when you're casting this thing, like, a good rule of thumbs,

like, let's get a variety of people here. And you did not. You got a fighter and cleric, a rogue. Yeah, Ranger. This was not an issue for me. No, I think Dan what helped me with telling them apart was they all had different faces. Yeah.

They did, yeah. And characters. I could fucking tell them apart, but I know people who have trouble with this shit. And, like, I guarantee you that the sort of person who has trouble with this would have a lot of trouble with this. Dan's really into old-time radio, so he likes to watch his TV with his eyes closed. Uh-huh. Well, as Audrey described what's happening. I rescind my objection.

I rescind my objection. No, you can have objections. No, no, no. due to overwhelming pushback. One of them reminded me a lot of Pamela Adlon, which makes sense because it was Pamela Adlon's order. Yeah. Yeah.

Okay, so speaking of these five friends, we have Clover, who is the one missing a sister. We have Nina, who is her friend who has, I don't know, like rocky history of relationships. We have Nina's newest boyfriend, Abe, who is tall and drives. I thought it was very funny. His name was Abe, not a name I associate with like. tall, handsome guys other than

the original, the tallest and the handsomest, Abraham Lincoln. Yeah, Abe Sapien, the tall handsome fish man. But every time they'd be like, Abe, where's Abe? And I'm like, I kept imagining an old man, you know. We have Max and we have Megan. Megan is

psychic. Can I just say there's a part in here where like they make a point of how what is, Nina always breaks up with the boyfriends after like three months or whatever. And I And Danny said, I can fix her. No, I thought this movie was going to, knowing that there was a time loop,

I thought they were going to make hay out of like the fact that she was now stuck with this dude. And there was no payoff for that at all. Like I felt that was a setup without a punch. It's just character. It's just character texture, you know? I have a question. How old do you guys think these people were supposed to be? Like 30?

I mean, they could be. It was like they could be 18 or 30. I had no idea. I assumed they were all like 23, maybe 22. Yeah, I don't know. Like fresh out of college? Fresh out of college, exactly. Or Compton.

I guess. Or at the box. I mean, I think they're in the, again, not diverse enough to be fresh out of Compton. No, well, they're exchanged students, I guess, in Compton High. But I assume that these were all kids who were fresh out of college, exactly. But you're right, it could be, there's a flashback to Clover and her sister, who they're looking for, we'll find out, arguing.

And it's like, they're in a house. It's like, do they own this house? Have they just inherited it? Are they just visiting? Are they squatting? I've heard of looking over a clover, but a clover looking for someone else? I got the audience back.

Dan, you got them back with a surplus. Now you can say a couple of racist things and we'll still be on your side. That's how good that was. I wouldn't, though. Okay, so they are on a road trip trying to track down Clover's missing sister Melanie, who we would remember from moments ago in the cold open.

They stop at a... Cold open melody, they call her. They stop at a rural gas station where they have a brief... We get a little bit of character background and we have a brief interaction with gas station attendant Peter Strohmer, which I don't know about you guys,

I'd be like, I'm leaving. Yes. No, thank you. It is real Texas Chainsaw Massacre roadside barbecue vibes here where it's like, you know this guy's bad news. You should get out of this place, you know. And spoiler alert, he will come

a comeback later, and he is the antagonist of the movie. Peter Stormair? Yep. Well, his character is like something hill or something. It is very funny to have a guy with... It is very funny to have a guy with an accent as thick as his. Attempting to be just a roadside guy on an American rural highway. I also like his hair cut a lot.

It's really cool. Yeah. So, and he gives them a lead that there's a nearby, there's a nearby town or area called Glor Valley, where there's a lot of missing, there's been a lot of missing people. Lour Valley, it feels to be like, it sounds to me like a place

that orcs would live, you know? Yeah, I, I wrote it down in my notes for my next RPG campaign. Before the time loop was explained, I was worried that the twist was like, kind of be that there were like literally in a video game called Return to Gore Valley or something like that. And, but it wasn't.

That's the kind of idea that is both too clever and too stupid. Yeah. That's what I specialize in Ellie. Okay, so they, while they're trying to find Glor Valley, they get caught in this crazy rainstorm and they're, they want to turn back. But then they find a very odd pocket of area, I guess a land where there is no rain at all. It's like James Bond's villain odd pocket. He pulls like weapons out of his pocket. How do you have that in there?

Lint and stuff, you know, whatever's in the pocket. Yeah, exactly. Here's that thimble. In my hands, anything is a weapon Pulls a gun out of his pocket But that is a weapon Hold on a second But Odd Pocket can turn anything into a weapon

Pulls a knife out of his pocket Again, anyone can use that as a weapon Pocket's not seeming me that odd today Odd Pocket It's a very big one I just have one I just have the one pocket I sewed another one shut

But my hand was still in it So I can't fight with that hand Like a kangaroo Yeah Kangaroos do pull weapons out of their pockets So, as I said, they find the one odd pocket of clear air. And in this little, like, glade, I guess, there is a... The Glor Glor Glade, yeah.

Yep, there's a visitor center. Classic Glor Glorade. There is a visitor center for Glor Valley, and that is it. It's otherwise an empty area. So they, of course, parked that car. They don't want to go back out in that rainstorm, and they begin exploits. Finding all kinds of odd things in this visitor center. I want to give a little back story here for a second for the listener.

Now, of course, our friend Stephen Kostanski has a movie out, Death Stocker. And Stewart was honored to be the moderator for a Q&A last night. I believe you're doing one again tonight. Uh-huh, yep. And, you know, afterwards, when I was Stephen, had a few drinks. And so now the Untell Dawn-style challenge that Stewart has to get through is to, be the person doing the summary with a hangover while we all interrupt you over and over again.

At this point, I'm just like water. I'm like, whatever, just go along with a baby. Now, if you were these people and you were in a visitor center like this, would you be suspicious as soon as you saw the wall-mounted hourglass with a skull on it, or would you say, I'm going to continue to explore after seeing it? Continue to explore. I've played a lot of these video games.

The first thing I do, find the bathroom to make sure it works. because they were just driving. It was rainy. You know, you got to go to the bathroom. I was just imagining in a video game. Do you need to find the bathroom? That's the... But that bathroom, once they get in there,

it's very dangerous to be in there. You don't want contact with that water as we'll get to. Yeah. But they check the... What else? They check the ledger. Yeah, there's a ledger. There's, yeah, here are the mysterious items.

There's this mysterious clock with an hourglass and a skull. There's a... There's the, like, guest book ledger that people sign in that is filled with the same. names over and over that get crazier and crazier as they like looser and more haphazard scrawl. That's a detail I liked, like certainly in a better horror movie, I would like it a lot, like where it's the same name being signed in again and again, but it deteriorates over time. And then, of course, there's a big punchboard filled with missing person things that I think

doesn't have any other information other than it says missing and their picture. And a picture. So this is, once it was made clear, this is kind of like a semi-supernatural thing. I was like, okay, that's fine. But then seeing them again, for the first time I was like, what kind of missing posters are these? Like, literally, yeah, there's no contact information. There's no name.

So all you tell you is this. No, this face is missing. Do what you will with that information, you know. But it's because it's all supernatural. You know, it's just scary, spooky. Well, I do think was a good scene when she go, when, when, Megan gets pretty close to here when she gets taken over by whatever spirit

and then she goes in front of the board and she's pointing at each of the missing. That was great. And she's doing their voices. She might win an Oscar. Oscar painting. Yeah, you heard it here, folks. Hallie gets it.

She wins the whole Oscar pool. All right. So they explore a little bit. Obviously they're all confused and they're like trying to get pieced together what's going on. They find that there's a basement area that is actually, feels more like a ground floor because there's windows down there.

And it's fully furnished. It's beautiful. I feel like you get rent this out, yeah. Unfortunately, there's already, there's an unwanted guest, and that is the masked maniac who begins chopping them all up. And there's some good, I don't know, how do you feel about it? I thought there's a bit where Max tries to smash the maniac over the back

with a chair and then the maniac stabs him through the eyeball with a chair leg or something and is like eye pops out and I thought that was a cool bit. What do you think, Dan? Yeah, you know, I mean, like there's, this is, you know,

for what could be, you know, as a sort of teen horror movie, it could be the sort of like PG-13 slop that we got for a long time. There's a lot of fun, weird gore that happens in this movie. And I also think that if I had watched into this movie not knowing anything about it, it would have been sort of shocking to me, I think, to some degree, that it's just like, oh, we're going on a speed run of killing off all of the characters.

Yeah, all the characters are now dead. Wait, though. I had an issue with this part because in the first attack, the monster seems like impervious to. violence. They keep trying to kill him and nothing kills him. And then that you think that's going to be like a defining detail of these monsters as you continue. But then they can totally kill them later. I don't understand. Yeah. Yeah, it's weird. I think there's there's some kind of in an element where as we'll later find out that everything is kind of born out of her specific fears

or phobias, that the idea of like an unstoppable monster is one of them. But as they become more used to it it becomes less it has less power over them i think yeah that's that would be our own fear once they once they stop being as afraid because my the thing i had with this was uh yeah that these these bad guys this happens in horror movies though i i feel like where as the movie gets on the bad guy becomes less impervious just because like the movie's got to end at some point but especially the characters are uh they become less afraid over time which is understandable because once you know that you're going to get killed a bunch of times, I feel like getting killed becomes less scary, you know, right?

Well, and that idea, the idea of like this being, like, as you say, Stuart, a reflection of her fears, like, that idea, like, comes so late in the movie that I, I'm of two minds of, like, the rest of the movie seemed like there's such a mishmash of stuff. Like, it was just like I couldn't get scared by any of it because it felt like a haunted house, like, we're going to throw everything at you. We got this kind of monster, this one. The witch? What the fuck is the witch how to do with anything?

Spoiler, this is something I like about the movie. Is there like, it has been, has it been in a horror movie before? Sure, throw it into this one. Why not put it in the bag, jumble it around? And I think when, at the end, when Peter Stramer is like, this is a, it's a reflection of your fears, I was like, this feels like he doesn't really understand what he's talking about and he's just kind of making it up. No, it would have been funny if he was like, yeah, so you've probably seen horror movies,

and this is what you think about. I like the variety. You're a big horror fan, aren't you? Not really. Yeah, it's fucking psychoananas over here, reading her memory guard. I like the variety for sure. I just kind of feel like,

well, would this work better if it was just literally like, oh, we went to a haunted house that somehow came to life and every, like, weird thing is attacking here. Because when the bad guys are chasing by the end, it does feel very haunted hay ride, you know, Halloween horror nights.

Yeah, like 13 nights at Freddy's. Okay. nights. Freddie is like, I've got to get these people out of here. I only thought they were going to stay for five nights. It's been 13. You know what Franklin said, all guests and fish stink after three days,

and it's been way longer than that. How do we get them out of here? I think he calls him Ben. I think they know each other. Okay. Because Ben Franklin stayed at Freddy's for three nights and said, I understand. I don't want to stay longer than that, Frederick.

Man, you're really, yeah, you really got a lot of the impressions tonight. Whenever Ben visits, he brings that mouse along with him. Uh-huh. So, all our characters are dead, and then they wake up back in the place they were when they first started exploring the Visitors Center. We got a time loop situation. So our characters kind of like argue a little bit, trying to figure out exactly what happened. In this process, they're like kind of, they continue exploring. Megan has her psychic episode where she seems to be possessed and then dies.

then Clover gets dragged by some invisible force into a new house that had appeared across the way that has all kind of scary stuff on it. Inside we have a like a creepy old witch with a oxygen tank and the witch pins are down and basically explains that like they're trapped in a cursed mining town

that was swallowed up by the earth and that if you don't survive the night you become one with the night. like Bain and then she then she puts that gas mask on Clover's mouth and then that turns

it like possesses her and then she kills someone and everybody dies again and the witch just kind of turns into just deteriorates into dust right yeah yeah and there are also tons of those like harlequin masks

around the house that's true yeah yeah like yeah like eyes wide shut domino masks kind of thing it was around here that I was like oh this movie's just gonna throw a bunch of stuff in And I was like, all right, movie, let's see what other stuff you got.

Yeah, lots of stuff. And I got to say, like, as much as I objected to it to some degree, like, if you're not going to make a, like, a good movie, make a grab bag like this. There are times, I was like, you know what? There are obviously differences between this movie and Cabin in the Woods, but there are some times where I was like, you know what, this is like if Cabin in the Woods didn't think it was so fucking smart and, like, wasn't trying to be, wasn't so smug about being clever.

And I like Cabin the Woods, but I think it's obviously a better movie than this. but there are times when I really admire this movie was like, you know what, we're making a kind of dumb slasher movie, let's throw as many monsters in as we can, let's throw as much stuff in as we can, what do we, let's, why not pretend we're doing something more than we are, you know. So in the next time loop,

they try to barricade themselves. Know thyself said this movie, and it did. They barricade themselves in a bathroom and they're like, man, I'm firsty. So they start drinking some water out of the tap and then that water makes them all explode. And this is... Best seen in the movie, maybe?

Best seen in the movie? What did you think, Callie? Was this too much for you? All these people exploding? This was too much for me. Honestly, I was eating lunch as I was watching the part where the Megan explodes and she explodes just like in pieces. And when her stomach got all big, I was like, I think I'm going to throw up.

It was too much. I didn't like this. This movie, I'll say, was bloodier than I expected and grosser than I expected. The one thing it doesn't have that would make it more of a classic slasher is at no point does what's her name and Ave sneak off to have sex somewhere? Yeah, no sex. Well, the other's getting killed. And that's one thing it was missing to feel like, oh, this is like a real, like, kind of,

kind of just throw a bunch of blood at you videotaper. You could just do what Dan did, which is pause the movie in the middle and then pop in red shoe diaries and lost the fuck out of that. Yeah, that's what I did. That's what I mean. Well, he isn't, he, Dan, that's prescribed by his doctor that every, every hour and a half, he has to watch the red shoe diaries. Part of my ADHD.

That's a crank situation. My attention deficit needs to be broken up by regular sense. You know, it would be funny if you discovered this was like all, this movie was like sponsored by Sunny Delight or something like, don't drink water. You can't trust water brought to you by RFK's anti-fluidation campaign. Okay, so. Be healthy like me.

Have a worm in your brain and collect dead bears. She did have a worm in her face. She did have a worm in her face at one point. She did have a worm in her face. Do you guys think it's because kids just aren't having as much sex these days? Then she got a worm in her face? Yeah, that's the number one calls worms in face. Or why there's why the movie is fairly asexual.

There's no hunger for it. Nobody wants to eat. I feel like there's, I feel like, at least based on what entertainment comes out, for a lot of material is less sexual than it used to be. In this particular scenario, where's the time to do it? it. Dan, in usual slasher movies versus the time, Dan, there's just night after night after night.

There's so many horror movies, Dan, where people are getting killed and two horny teams sneak off to have sex. Think about the crazy body horror you could have done with like a wiener with a mouth on it or something. Were they start doing it and they get stuck together? I know what you're... Sure. Yeah. Like a certain movie that just

came up this year. I know what you're saying. Oh yeah, I forgot about that one, yeah. In slasher movies, usually the sex happens between characters that don't know the slasher's It's true. It happens in the early part of the movie. Once people are running away for slashes, they're not like, hold on, let me get my pants down.

If I was in a slasher movie, I'd still do it. But then I'm built different. Here's how you do it. You set up that these characters are always horn-dogging each other, and they realize they're like, hey, what would be hotter than doing it in danger? Like, doing it when we know, not only could we get caught at any moment, we get caught and murdered at any moment. It's like crash.

It's like crash. It's instead of cars and slashers. Yeah, exactly. Slash. Slash. Slash. David Cromberg, where are you?

Make this movie. And at that point, you know Slash can write the theme song because his name's in the tiny. Oh, for sure. Well, he's the guy who starts in it, too. He's the one who starts the club. He's the Peter Stromever.

Today's Slash? Okay. No, here's the thing. He shows up early on in the movie and you don't recognize him because he doesn't have his sunglasses and hat on. And then later on he shows up

and he puts on the sunglasses and the hat and you're like, shit, that was Slash the whole time. Yeah, and they, for when he reveals, they do a drum solo and you're like, what? Shouldn't have been like a guitar sting? Elliot, you're blowing. And then Sting walks out and goes, no, no, I'll play guitar and he pulls out a mandolin. That's not your best sting impression, but I'll allow.

Oh, it's me, Sting. Hello. Perfect. All right, Governor, it's Sting. We got to stop smash. You blew my mind, Elliot, because I realized that, like, if you're going to become a celebrity, what you got to do is do it. slash style where you have like a couple of key items so you can maintain your privacy like

no one's going to know who you are like if charlie brown goes out in the world without a zigzag shirt no one's like oh it's charlie brown goes out in the world yes yeah yeah no that's just a bald child i'm spinning a tail here elliott but that's why this is a humor podcast that's fair bald children with no shirt on oh it's my charlie brown oh it's me charlie brown where's me dog yeah Do you guys not know that all the characters in Peanuts have thick cockingy accents? Yep. Except for the parents. No, no, no, that's how adults speak.

Oh, wow, wow. That's hot and gibberish slang. Yeah, yeah. Waw, wwop, wwop, means up the stairs. Okay, so we're in time loop number four. They do some more exploring and they find some videotapes. At least one of them is like a dirty movie, which is a weird choice. Yeah.

Which is probably the sex they were trying to sneak in there. Yeah, that was Dan. That was from Dan's collection. And then they find some video evidence of Peter Stromer as an evil psychologist conducting experiments on people that are trapped and turning them from regular people into like flesh-eating ghoul windegos. And then he comes over the radio and he like does a somewhat rubber mask. It is. They have fairly, did you guys feel like the ghouls were more, the masks were more rubbery than I expected them to be? Yeah, I'm okay with that, though.

Okay. Yeah, it's fine. It's just like there was, I felt like there were a lot of great effects in this. And the one place that the effects fell down was those, those cool faces always look like, again, people on like a haunted hayride were going to jump out and scary. Yeah, but it allows them to do like. Well, Clover has a latex allergy, so that's your biggest fear. Oh, wow. So that's really scary.

Okay, that's why. Yeah. Then, never mind, 100% makeup people, you did a great job. But I think I like that the makeup effects allowed them to use actual stunt performers. So they could do some, like, wacky, body movements. Yeah, that's true. So they, after this video,

he, like, gives him an ultimatum, and they're like, you can let one of your members die for real, and the rest of you can escape. And, you know, they're like, no, friends forever. They split up. Except for Abe. Clover runs off into the woods trying to find her sister, because they're sure that her sister somehow is trapped here.

And they find her, but at this point, she is monstified, and they all die. They realize they have to die. because they need to figure this out. Okay, so at this point, they start realizing, like, wait, how many times have we died? Like, it's only been like four or five, right? But nope, they check the ledger.

They have died like 13 times, and Megan is missing entirely. So to try and make up for the time loss, Abe whips out his phone, and we look through his videos where we get little clips of creepy pastas of, like, all the different ways they died. And there's a couple of, like, good little gags.

There's a, I like, the one where they're, like, they find an open doorway and there's just like a mass kind of floating at regular human height and then it stands up and it's much larger and they're like, ah, I thought that was cool. I like that. And that's the part with the worm in the face where it's like she's got a worm in her face and they're trying to pull it out and they're like, uh, and she's like, is it out? Did it fall out? Yeah, and it's way worse.

It's way worse. I thought this was fun. Again, like you said, it is very creepy pasta, but it's like, that's fine. At this point, again, the movie is like horror grab bag. So like, make the most of it. It's also like the equivalent of, you know, like in Groundhog Day where you get like a fast montage of a lot of things happening over time. When Bill Murray drinks water and explodes. Yeah, exactly.

Like if we're going to do this, we don't want to see all of the 13 nights. Like this is a good way of like getting in some like just general weirdness. I will say this movie did the thing that I always want these movies to do, which is when they realize they're in a time loop, one of them says it's like in that movie. And someone else, there's a joke Oh, there's a lot of movies like that. But I think I like that more than in any of these movies where people are like, what's happening? We've got to puzzle it out.

Hold on. Let's, how do we explain this? And it's always like, these movies are famous. Just say it's like Groundhog Day. Like this, you know, it's okay if in this universe Groundhog Day exists or Palm Springs or whatever, you know. But I like that they at least. Or Happy Death Day.

Or Happy Death Day. As of Tomorrow. Yeah, exactly. Live, die, repeat. That's the same movie, Stuart. All you need is kids. On that one, Stewart. Oh, no, actually, Dan did.

Live Di Repeat was the original one, right? Edge of Tomorrow was the original theatrical... I thought it was originally called Live DiRpeat, then they changed it to Edge of Tomorrow. Yeah, but then they re-released the movie under the other title. Yes. No, the book was... Wait, sorry, the book was all you need is kill.

Yeah. The tagline was Live Di Repeat. Oh, never mind. The movie was titled Edge of Tomorrow, but then they were like, the tagline's better than the title, so they re-released it or released on video under Live DiRpeat. Okay, I misunderstood. I forgot that the first one was

All You Need is Kill, which is I also don't love that title. Yeah, people were like, why did you call it All You Need Is Kill? Like, well, because that's a bad title too. Yeah, all you need is kill. They could have called it dead again. No one's used that before, right?

Uh-huh. You guys have been talking about this for 13 nights. No. Hey, check out my back. Do I have cool spines? Okay. I need to have the one. It's pretty cool.

Thank you. Tell that to my scoliosis. doctor. So they... So is ragging on my spine. Straighten up, spine. I'm trying. So watching the videos, they learn the fate of Megan

that she managed to survive one of those nights while recording Hill, kind of like inspecting their dead bodies. And she follows him into the tunnels. So they're like, well, we got to find her. She's in the tunnel somewhere. So if she survived, why doesn't it just end and they're dead and they're monsters.

Isn't the whole thing that someone has to make it through the night? I have no idea. I was wondering that too. I think the movie at a certain point doesn't care. Maybe there's an explanation for it. Rules are, yeah. She's like, I'm going to go follow him. Rules are weird.

But she doesn't take the phone with her to record anything else so that they can get this message. So like there's, you know, the movie's just kind of at this point the movie is like, you got it. Let's just get into the end game. Come on, enough of this. Okay. So they wander off into the tunnels,

into these old mining comments. Sorry, can I say one thing? Yeah, of course. No. Okay. Only one, though. Okay. Just this, just this one.

That was a thing. All right, you could say two things. Say the other thing. Okay, so at this moment when someone's like, oh, we gotta go, we gotta go follow Megan, we gotta go find her. This is a moment where Abe takes like the hard line and it's like, this is not a good idea, you guys.

And this happens a few times in the movie where like one character makes a really, has like a really strong opinion about one thing and it's like how did you get to this conclusion it doesn't like i don't know why you guys think one thing is a bad idea versus another thing like there's no context for their like strong uh points of view did you guys did that i think you're both right and also i'll i'll say they're young people you know they're just picking up and putting down opinions left and right you know they're just trying on personas yeah maybe they heard maybe they they got it from their mom

Maybe they got from a message board I did like the one point where Abe was like They learned that someone has to die or whatever And Abe is like Let's hear him out Like everyone else like No we're not gonna just like No but come on let's listen to it

Yeah but that made sense No but that made sense because I thought it was like But he's consistently the selfish one But you're right the idea that like no let's stay here And not go anywhere Like why he feels that way is They all take turns being the one who's like I don't want to do what the rest of the group wants to do, you know.

But I will, my counterpoint to that is they're not really the most richly drawn characters. So I think it's, they're just kind of doing whatever the plot needs them to do, you know. Okay. We haven't mentioned that they're so beautiful. I think that did a lot for me. It is a good looking group of people. Yeah. Yeah.

You know how, you know how usually each group has like one really handsome member and the others are kind of like monsters talking about us I couldn't tell if it was that I was watching it I'm like are these all really good looking people or is it just that they are young and so to my eyes they look good looking because they have their whole

lives ahead of them they're not broken down yet I know I looked at a picture of myself five years ago I was like I could have been in this movie oh my god we're all at least we're all various levels of attractive especially for podcasters.

Wow. Oh, we have fun here, guys. We're also now at the point where watching this movie, it's like, oh, these people are about 20 years younger than me. Like, I was around their age when they were born, which makes me feel old. And yet they're still, they're now dressing exactly like I dressed at that age. Fashion has gone full circle, is what I'm saying.

They dress in a very 90s early style. That's with Hallie. You're a trendsetter. Oh, my gosh. Thank you. It was Hallie. It wasn't the 90s. specifically Hallie. Yeah, the costume designer suggested that Hallie influenced all her choices. So they follow, they go into the tunnels.

They have some run-ins with some when-to-goes. Clover finds her. They don't take the opportunity to say, where do you go? When to go? They don't do that, yeah. Clover finds Megan. Who's on to go? Who's on to go?

The classic Avicostella First Nation's routine Yeah Yeah Yeah so they I don't know The Roadrunner's always on to go We need to list other

Yeah The Energizer Bunny Always on to go Yeah Always So Clover finds Megan Tied to a chair And there's a wind to go

Trying to snatch her But he's chained to the wall But he's slowly pulling That his chain free Elastic escape room She investigates them more She finds a... I mean at this point

It does feel like They're just going through a haunted house Yeah Does she fight Does she deal with her sister Before she deals with With Hill Or is it the other way around?

I can't remember I think she deals with her sister first Yeah So she runs into her sister And they wrestle around a bit And then she Her sister's obviously totally monstified Look off your face

It's not that kind of two sisters wrestling around for a little bit How dare you, Alex, put this video out, show that my face was blank and I was zoning out. Zoning out because you were imagining two sisters were wrestling around, yeah. This is the thin veneer of like theme, though, that is in this movie of, you know, overcoming, like, putting trauma behind you, moving on. Like, he's like, oh, I'm no longer letting this tragedy define me by killing you. Yeah, my Wendigo sister. Yeah, she used to kill her when to go sister.

Then she stumbles into. Are we too far away from my slander of you as a per from a couple of minutes to go to talk about the idea of you buying a ticket to the Chekhov play three sisters and going, oh, this is going to be sweet. And then it's a pretty good guy. I'll allow it. Okay. So she finds. But at least Robert Altman's three women will give me what I crave. What?

It's a weird fractured examination of identity. I don't understand. That's the one where John Quesack has all those people living in his head, right? Yeah. That's right. I know it's Peru, Taylor, Vince, calm down. So she, Clover finds... Pallie was raving.

You're so mad. Yeah. I fainted. So she finds Hills like office slash like evidence dungeon and they have a conversation. He's drinking some coffee. And while he's distracted, she pushes his little coffee cup underneath a dripping pipe. So water drips into it. And he explains all this crap about like how everything's born out of her fears.

and, like, her fear is the engine that drives everything. Your special, Clover, yeah. Okay, riddle me this. How did he make that coffee if he's never drank any water in that house? He probably brings in his own bottled water. I'll do you one more. So, as we've talked about, the rules have gone at this point, but, like, wasn't that just, like, a one-night problem?

Like, that was the fear that water would make people explode. A weird fear to have, but he even says it's a weird fear to have. Yeah, he's like, the water was. interesting, that was pretty cookey. She's like, that's how my mom died. Like, if the water was a general problem, he should probably fix those pipes rather than just

nothing. She probably doesn't have like a really bad like water balloon fight. Regardless, you would expect him to fix the pipe that is directly over his desk that is leaking water on the, or remove the desk, you know. But, yeah, but it did seem to be. Or move his papers

that were still scattered on the desk, getting all wet. Yeah. So she tricks him to drinking coffee. He totally explodes. He gets the tummy rumbles for a second, and then he explodes. And she's like, I did it. And then she rescues...

She's like, someone's going to die tonight. It's going to be you, doctor. Uh-huh. And then... So she rescues Megan from the Windigo, and then they all are, like, kind of fighting their way through the tunnel. The other three confront that maniac,

and they use the power of friendship to overcome his strength, and they smash his head with a sledge hand, and I thought that was pretty cool. And then... That was a great... That was... I rewound to watch that again

because I was like, this is so much goryer than I expected in this movie. It's a real good head splat. Yeah. And then, yeah, they all run from the Windigo's chasing them and they managed

to burst through to the surface. They all survived. They greet the dawn. And they escape. The, uh, this section... Do the sun salutation. Mm-hmm. This is the thing, good morning, starshine.

This is the section where it's like you're cutting back and forth between the hourglass is almost out, but they're still being chased and the hourglass is all out. I don't know if you guys felt this way. I was like, I got it movie. Like, let's just empty that hourglass. I know. And no more than this, please. It's too slow. Come on, Sand.

Because none of the characters have access to that information. Like, we know that the hour, like, I don't know. I feel like it's a necessary thing to show us. Like, we're not like, what are they going to do, like, trick us? Like, I mean, like... They show them being chased and then you cut the hourglass and it drains out and you're like, oh, they're saved and you cut back in everybody's dead or turn it to monsters already. Yeah, and it was like, oh, that was a different time.

Theoretically, like, I don't necessarily have a problem with it. This hourglass is on Easter standard. Oh, no. Like, I wouldn't normally have a problem with it in. This scenario, I guess, I'm not like, oh, they're going to, if they're not going to make it out, it's not going to be because this hourglass goes out. I don't, like, I don't believe that as, you know, I know we're at the end of the movie. That is not a fear I have.

It was like, I know we're at the end. I know they're going to make it out. So, like, let's just have it happen. They're just cutting back and forth too much for me between that hourglass and then being chased by the same monsters, you know. Yeah. Uh-huh. So they escape.

And then it cuts to a shot. of an office filled with CCTVs and we see CCH Pounders actually. And we see... C-C-Me on that TV, please. And we see a different... Be it. I don't want to get a bunch of reply off the TV. Yeah, BCC it, yeah. And we see a different property.

It looks like a ski lodge similar to a certain video game called Until Dawn. Oh, snap. Oh. Oh, so that was a little tip of the hat to the fans, I guess. And we get a little storm air whistling. Yeah. Yeah. Terrifying stuff.

Not since Peter Lorry and M has a whistle been so chilling. Yeah. Wait, I don't, wait, Stuart, can I ask a question? What? Well, I, so wait, in the video game, is that like a different level that it's snowing instead of raining or what's the, what is the nod? In the, so in the, in the video game, it all, like, that, takes place in like a snowy ski lodge

that's near this mining town that collapsed. And in the game, initially you think that there's some kind of mass killer who is stalking the characters, but it turns out that's just a prank being played by one of the friends. Nobody's actually getting killed. Unfortunately, they happen to be doing this prank thing

above a nest of Windegos. So they have to escape the Windegos, and that's the whole thing. Ah, I see. And then the one who's playing the pranks. Of course, that's Rami Malick, because he's the creepiest of the actors. He gets, like, captured by Windegos. Oh.

But he sings as well. Yeah. That would have been cool. They should have had someone do a prank. Yeah, pranks are better on movies. Hallie just wanted to be watching impractical chokers. Yeah. Yeah, you put a little headset, you put a little earpiece in the Wendigo, and you're like, okay, so you're going to try and not.

Tell them you want 3,000 hamburgers. Okay. They keep running away from me. You keep eating the guy at the drive-thru. We're trying to break the guy at the drive-thru. Why'd we hire this guy? Works for cheap. This is where we do our final judgments.

Okay. Is this a good, bad movie, a bad, bad movie, or a movie you kind of like, I'm going to go bad, bad, but it came. sort of close to be a movie I kind of liked. It has this weird throwback feeling. It doesn't, it feels like an early 2000s horror movie in a way

that like, if it had actually come out at that time, I feel like I would feel weird nostalgia for it. And I could see in 20 years people being like, you know what, wasn't bad until dawn. It's a little better than you remember. And then they tried to turn it into a franchise, yeah. Yeah.

And if it came out then, the creepy doctor would have been played by Udo Kier. Yeah, yeah. And Jennifer Love Hewitt would have been the girl who's looking for her sister. Yeah. Like, there's stuff in it that I enjoyed watching. Like, I was more into it than a lot of the stuff we watched,

but I still, it's not quite enough for me to say that I liked it. What do you think, Stuart? Yeah, I'm going to say this is a bad bad. It's, um, that's, you know, there's some bits in it that are cool and there's obviously some gags. Like, I feel like some of the people that are involved in this clearly, uh, were excited to get to make a fun horror movie. but I think they're like just the central premise is such a mess

it just doesn't work and it ends up not being I think like just the constant stuff being thrown at you makes it not scary at all and I feel like Elliot mentioned Cabin of the Woods and it feels very much like a derivative take on that but at least Cabin of the Woods had like a very specific idea that makes sense I'm gonna feel I mean not disagree because just about feelings

I'm gonna say this is a movie I kind of liked I enjoyed watching it, and I think it was partly because it was just doing the most, it was not scary, but it was doing the most basic thing to me of like, hey, here's a fun scene, here's a fun scene, here's a fun scene, and I'm like, you know what, this is not a great movie, but it feels like the closest I've seen, having seen a bunch of like attempted throwback movies where they try to shoot something in the style of an older movie, this felt like the most successful of that kind of throwback thing because it's just trying to accomplish what those movies were trying to accomplish rather than trying to ape the visual style or anything

like that. So I was like, you know what? I'm having fun. People are exploding. People's heads are getting bashed in. It's too long. I wish it was like 10 minutes shorter. The characters, you know, don't matter.

But everyone's... It's like almost two hours. It was almost two hours. At one point I was like, all right, this movie's clipping along. And I just saw there was 50 more minutes left in it. I'm like, oh boy, this should not be... that much more. But I kind of liked it. It was a, especially compared to the stuff

we've been watching recently for the flop house. Yeah. That's fair. I was like, you know what? I like that there's a bunch of good gore effects in this. And you could very easily watch this on a, on a, you know, lonely Saturday afternoon and be like, that was fine. What do you think, out? I feel like you guys liked this better than I did.

I really didn't like it. I felt like at least if you're going to Yeah, it wasn't scary at all But it wasn't even scary in the fun way That bad scary movies could be There were no like jump scares I would have, you know, I want to I want my heart racing from something

I mean there aren't jump scares But they're not very, they don't pull them off They didn't make me jump I was sitting the whole time Unlike Chris Cross Yeah Who makes you jump jump jump jump jump And it's a good thing you were paying

for the whole seat Because you didn't use just the edge Uh huh Yeah there's no pranks Yeah no pranks No jokes No goat And I don't know

Yeah I found it like This like throw everything In and make it seem like a haunted house Actually annoyed me Like the witch thing really annoyed me Especially because there was Witch thing

You walked into that one But there's like graffiti on the house That she lives in That's like fuck the glor witch And you're like Oh there's gonna be We're the glor witch this is going to be interesting.

We're going to hear more than just this single scene. I will say the scariest thing and my favorite thing was for oxygen tank. You wanted to watch the Glor Witch Project is the problem. Yeah, exactly. I would love that. I love witches. Probably my favorite is my favorite scariest thing. We should watch a witch movie with you sometime.

Well, Dan, can you make a witch movie? Stewart, I walked into that one. I mean, there was a really good one this year in movie theaters, but I know. Yeah. Which one was that? Well, we don't want to spoil it. My life has made it so I can. have not been able to see a movie in the theaters for, I don't know, half a year.

So I've missed all these movies I want to say. Yeah. I feel like I interrupted you, Hall. I think you were going to say something else that I derailed. Yeah. I mean, I just didn't. I wasn't entertained. I found it too long.

And it made me wish that I were at a haunted house, not watching other people be at a haunted. That's fair. That's fair. Are you not entertained was, yes, I'm not entertained. Exactly. Because Russell Crow was standing outside of Hallie's house yelling at her. Yeah. That was scary.

He threw a phone at me. Moving is the worst. Yeah, but it's exciting, too. Our new MaxFund HQ office in downtown L.A. is actually going to fit all of us in it. And the new studio is going to be so nice. Plus, we'll have space for hangouts and events. Yeah, you're right.

It's going to be worth it, but boy, is it expensive. Maybe we can get some help. Hmm. Hey, cool, listener. If you want to get fun stuff and help us move, go to maximum fun.org slash moving day, where you can get vintage merch or buy naming rights to stuff around the office. If you help us move by buying something, we'll invite you over for pizza and beer at our new place. Maximumfund.org slash moving day.

if you want to know what's going on in the world of movies you should be listening to maximum film so we can tell you all about it okay but what if you already know what's going on in the world of movies what if you're kind of obsessed with movies like maybe you have a problem well then you should definitely be listening to maximum film because we too have that problem and it's important you know you're not alone we're talking indies you'll want to seek out blockbusters and blockbusting wannabes classics we can't get enough of i'm comedian and writer kevin avery

I'm film critic Alonzo Duraldi I'm festival programmer and producer Drea Clark together we're Maximum Film smart about movies in Hollywood so you don't have to be but if you already are that's also great and hey we see you new episodes every week on maximum fun.org

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That's right. We are coming to Chicago, Illinois. Yeah, Chicago, specifically. We're not just going to show up, but your door stop. Chicago, Illinois, on November 16th, it's a Sunday night. We have one show, an early show that's already sold out, I'm sorry. However, we still have tickets. There's some tickets still available for our late show.

The show's at 9.30 p.m. at Sleeping Village. The 9.30 shows when things are going to get a little loose. Well, because we are reviewing the Jim Belushi vehicle, K-9, where Jim Belushi tries to get his dog laid. It's very exciting I can't wait And we And we also

We're gonna I just ordered the merch So we're gonna have some cool merch there Our new flop house shirts And posters But if you're not in Chicago Hopefully we'll see you there But if you're not in Chicago

We have flop TV season three That's right The first Saturday of every month Beamed right to your phone Computer or I don't know Smart TV The Flop House is doing some live shows.

Now, if you're not familiar with the past seasons of Flop TV, this is kind of our love letter to classic, like, local television, like public access TV. And we do a trim down version of our live show. We do a new PowerPoint presentation. We do some pre-taped segments that you would never get to see anywhere else. And we do quick reviews of some classic movies. This season, we are doing.

flopsterpiece theater. So we are covering classic flops from the past six decades. And our next one is going to be in November, the first weekend of November. And that is going to be Zanadu, right? Zanadu, right? Zanadu get tickets.

That's our 80s. Zana, don't sleep on this offer. Thank you. Our 80s installment, although it's really in vibe, it's sort of a 70s hangover. It's technically 1980, but yeah, but that's okay, you know.

Yeah. I don't think the cops are going to drag us away for reviewing Sanadu. No, it'll be for being against fascism. That's why the cops will drag us away. Okay, well, that's a, that bumbed us all out. I guess the only way we can feel better, watching some flop TV.

Now, if you can buy tickets for individual shows over at theflophouse. Simpleticks.com. That's theflophouse. Simpleticks.com. And we also have a season pass available where you get six shows for the price of shows are going to be archived,

at least through the run of the season. So if you miss an episode, don't worry, you can catch up. Hope to see you there. These have been really fun. I know my friends here have enjoyed it. So I'm really enjoying this. And I hope you guys tune in and jump in the chat on our next show. Let's answer some letters from listeners, this first one.

Why not? Yeah, we've never done it before. Let's do it now. I like to draw new things Check the archives on that one Elliot You might get some Pinocchio's but This one's from I would love a Pinocchio

To do all my chores Oh wow Like a living puppet doll Sure yeah Uh geez Take it on the road Wait a minute This could be my ticket to show biz stardom

I take it on the road I put on a show where it's It's a real strumpets From Bucits from different countries Are coming on to him Yeah we could do this I always thought you were a Geppetto But the bus feed quiz says you're strumpoli

This is from Jackie last name. That little goldfish, what? This is from Jackie last name withheld. I'm the whale? Who right? Monstro. Thank you. What's your favorite phone call in cinema?

Phone scenes tend to be short and sweet that only move the plot along, sorry, that only move the plot along but pack a punch. We got one in Ghostbusters, and I'm going to bed in the post. The phones are working in Jurassic Park, which call do you love thanks jackie lasting withheld this seems upon rereading to be specifically about short phone calls but uh not the one i'm gonna say can i jump in yeah like i don't i don't think i can stick to that we may have the same one elli i was thinking dr strange love that's why i wanted to go first dan that's why i said can i jump in because i was going to say you can jump in you can talk about i figured we might have the same one which is in dr strangelove when the president murkin muffley is on the phone with dmitri the premier of russia or the Soviet Commissar or whatever.

And it is clear that Dimitri is that maybe a Bordello, maybe a party or something like that, but just this one-sided conversation where he's trying to explain to somebody that they're about to, that a nuclear bomb is about to hit his country and the stuff about like, can you turn the music down, Dimitri? Can you turn it? That's better, Dimitri, thank you. And clearly, Demetri is upset. He's like, I, I'm just as upset as you are.

I don't like, it's just a touch of funny performance to only hear. And Peter Sellers does such a great job with it that you feel like you're hearing the other end of the phone, even though you're not. Well, and he's really trying to, like, soften an impossible to soften blow. He's like, now one of our fighters, he wouldn't did a silly thing, Dimitri, if you did. The bomb, Dimitri, the hydrogen bomb. Yeah, it's a very funny scene. What about you guys?

What kind of phone calls do you like in movies? I mean, this is a short one, but I just love in the movie Night of the Creeps when Tom Atkins answers the phone by saying, thrill me. I think that's such a great Yeah And obviously when somebody takes Liam Neeson's kid and he explains his special service skills

Well I was going to say The phone calls in when Harry met Sally I feel like they don't do the like split screen Like each person is doing a separate thing But they're just like narrating what they're doing on the phone While they're falling in love That was um That was what I was going to say

It's another good split screen one in Down with Love where it looks very sexual as they're both on the phone on different sides because of what they're, the blocking of the phone call. I bet you it's a parody of the one in, I think, pillow talk with Roddiction and Darstay. I bet it's a call back to that. Kids don't want that anymore. No sex. They want sexless phone calls. They just text and it's not about sex. Have you seen a phone these days?

There's no place to insert your sexual organs. I mean, that's a similar thing. Like, do you guys have favorite examples of texting in a movie? I have one, but I don't know. Oh, what is it? Yeah, you just tell us yours. Mine is in a decision to leave the way that he, when he's texting with the femme fatale character, the detective, and he's like so, like, stressed about it and the way, like,

he's watching the fucking three bubbles, and then the three bubbles are kind of like superimposed over his face as he's, like, waiting for her. her response. It's so great. Let's move on to this next letter, which is from Kelly last name withheld. Kelly Kapowski from Save By the Bell. Hey, wow.

Hey, Peaches. Wow, it's a fictional character, guys. Yeah, wow. It's not, okay, that's what you're impressed by. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did somebody stick her in an Indian in the cupboard cupboard and she popped out? Yeah, one of the lockers at Bayside is one of those cupboards, actually.

Yeah, Screech invented it. Hey, Peaches. I recently went back to grad school at NYU. Congratulations. And my first, well, thank you, on their behalf. And my first course was about strategic. You've been designated to thank for, okay. My first course was about strategic leadership.

There was a lot of media to consume for the course, including an episode of the podcast, Work Life, focusing on the Daily Show. I listened closely and I got exactly what I was hoping for. a two-second clip of Dan pitching a joke and promptly getting shut down by Jubin Perang. Dan did not show up at any other point in the podcast. I learned a lot from that podcast, but the most important lesson is, of course,

that Dan McCoy is a leadership expert. My question is, what's the most unexpected university course in which each of you could plausibly claim expertise? And what's the course where you'd be most surprised if you recited as an expert? Kelly, last name withheld. My problem is that I feel like doing this podcast has revealed most of my hidden talents.

We've found ways to work them into, yeah, the top one, of course. But like, you're really good at it. Thank you. I've been practicing. You can do it so fast. Stuff like that. I think people don't realize that. I think people don't realize that Dan is a globally ranked masturbator.

Yeah. So, yeah, drawing. That was a real flashback to... Dan masturbates like stenographers type. Oh, wow. He's still like... Kind of staring off into space. He has to be read back every now and then.

It's a real roast. First, I get to remember how I was at the Daily Show. Yeah, they're really taking you back there. So, Dan, what is that... So drawing? Yeah, I guess. if, yeah, some sort of art thing? Yeah, I mean, obviously things like miniature painting,

but I also feel like I, like I could probably teach a class on like staff development or like management training and or strategic leadership. Strategic leadership, yeah, why not? I think I could, at this point, maybe I might show up as a source in an urban studies, class after all the work I did with the powerbroker, which to be ironic because I have no formal training in it or really credentials or academic background.

Yeah, that's pretty ironic. Somebody call Alanis. Hey, yeah, got him. We're roasting Elliot now. I like to do. It's in on this one. When you said Alanis, at first I thought you said Atlantis, and I was like, Atlantis Morissette, it's ironic

she lives underwater. Atlantis marmosis? Yeah, that would be. She was in Zootopia. She could be in Zootopia, too. So I think I'd be most surprised to end up as a source or end up involved in a course for any science, anything, any physical or natural science or anything like that. Yeah, if you want to look to me for any sort of sports instruction or knowledge, that would be very surprising. Oh, yeah, actually, that would be it.

If my brother was teaching a class about sports in grad school and he called me in for a class to be an expert, it would turn out the whole thing would just be him making fun of me, roasting me for not knowing anything about it. Like you do to Dan. Yeah. And what we do? It's a cycle of violence, Hallie.

Yeah. What about you, Hallie? Hurt people, hurt people. Oh, God, I don't know. I'd probably be at like a history course where they talk about me and they're like, oh, she died penniless. Here's a case study.

And yet, look. Why are we studying her? Yeah. No, but then I become really famous, like a century after. She is the trendsetter for the 90s fashion revival. Hallie Haglitt. Yeah. Halis Haglund.

Now, what were you wearing in the 90s, Hallie? Me? Dan. Oh, my God. I'm not. Come on. Baby doll dresses. Plad.

Plad pants that were flared. Skater dresses. uh, striped shirts, um, terry cloth, uh, plaid, uh, oh, I already said that. You know, you're, you're basics. And like, like Doc Martins or, you're bringing me back. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I had these, um, knee-high, baby blue Doc Martins. Cool.

Yeah, I had a lot of creep, I had a pair of creepers. Do you guys remember creepers? I don't know what creepers. They have healed. They're just like flat. Yeah. Well, they were silver with black stars. on them. I'm sure some of your audience remember creepers.

I had these red platform pat. I had a great shoe collection. Were they used for sneaking up on people? Yeah. Well, I think that's why I think they're supposed to be very quiet. I would always wear like big baggy. I always wear like big baggy straight leg jeans where the back of the gene of like

the cuff is all like frayed as fuck because they're of dragging them along the ground. Yeah, like a Sam Keith drawing just kind of horrible. That stuff, yeah. Yeah, I wore whatever my parents bought, which was why I was not stylish. Sailor shoots. Yeah, like a little beanie with a propeller on it.

Mickey Mouse shorts with the big yellow buttons in the front. Why are there two big buttons on the? Yeah. I don't even see pockets. Like a bib all the time so you don't make a mess. That's right. You're like, Dad, I've grown out of short pants. we'll make your socks taller

That's kind of like pants Okay, let's do some recommendations of movies That may be a better use of your time than until dawn There's a movie that's coming out I believe the day that we're recording this I saw just slightly early Because of the guild screening You're still cool, you got to see it slightly early

No, well I'm just like, it's not going to be so long that's been out by the time of this uh but i saw if i had legs i'd kick you uh with uh the writer director and supporting actor mary mary bronsstein uh was there and did a good Q&A afterward but you're recommending we see it with the Q&A no i'm just saying that it was nice to you know like the guild puts on these things and uh they're supposed to at least be i think in addition to uh an awards push sort of educational like like writers talking to So you got to go to that because you show up at the theater and you're like, don't you know who I am?

I'm Dan McCoy of the Flop House podcast. No, but I will make or break this movie. It was funny. I went to the, it was at the Lincoln Square Theater and there were like two other tables of special screenings going on there. I'm like, which one do I go to? There was also a roof man screening at the same place. It was the premiere of the new season of Ellsbeth, which was by far the most glamorous.

There are all these, like, people there dressed up actors to go to Ellsbeth. But anyway, if I had legs, I kick you is, I think that probably because I'm an anxious person myself is why I love movies that feel like anxiety stress dream. Like, for me, it's a weird therapy almost to go through it from a distance. And this sort of goes on the list with, you know, something like Uncut Jim. or after hours or Bo was afraid, like that kind of like... Airbud. Just...

Relentless stress. Relentless. And this one's more about the stress of her being a mother who's, her partner's out of town. And you really identify with being a mother. She has a child that has some sort of mysterious ailment. And it's just, you know, things... Stress on stress, on stress, but all. also funny and surreal and, you know,

Rose Byrne is amazing in it, but also... She's been on a real tear lately. She's great. But Asap, Rocky, and Conan O'Brien are in supporting roles and are both really good. It's a fun movie, if you like stress. Yeah, Stuart. Guys, can you check the rulebook?

Can I make two recommendations today? I'll allow it. But watch yourself, counselor. Okay, so my recommendations are both movies uh from friends of the flop house so i got to recommend them both uh the first is of course the new steve kastansky movie death stalker which is a reboot reimagining sequel of the roger corman cheapo sword and sorcery movie death stalker back in the days when your video store aisle was filled with boris valetio painted uh fantasy uh movies that look nothing like the paintings

on the cover and this is Steve has managed to make this like super fun movie filled with lots of gags and like literally like wall to wall with cool creature effects it's like it's such a dream to get to see it and it feels both nostalgic but it doesn't feel like it's despite the fact that it's clearly related to these like these old sword and sorcery movies it's not like it doesn't feel like it's aping anything um and And it's one of those things where you're just, like, watching it, like, and you can't believe that people, that he gets to make it and that, like, movies like that are being made.

Yeah, it's really fun. And if you get a chance to see it just came out this weekend, and I'm sure it's doing a limited run. It'll be streaming at some point. And then if another thing to recommend is friend of the flop house, Ashley Atkinson, who was a guest on the show recently, is in The Lost Bus, which is on Apple TV, plus right now. It's the new Paul Greengrass movie about a horrible wildfire. And Matthew McCona

plays the lead where he plays a bus driver who is tasked with saving a bus load of kids and getting them out of the fire zone. America Ferrara plays the teacher that is helping him and Ashley plays the bus dispatcher and Ewell Vasquez plays the fire chief. And I'm not normally a big fan of disaster movies, but Greengrass seems to really understand that the only way to make this story work is to really focus on the individual drama and individual to see it through their eyes, and we get four really strong performances from the leads, and it really makes the whole thing, the stakes really work and the whole thing's great. It was very stressful to watch my friend play a character who is upset. But yeah, the Lost Bus, it's good. Check it out.

I'm going to recommend a different movie that's on Apple Plus TV right now, and that's, yeah, I know Dan is shocked. He has a shocked look on his face. That is Spike Lee's new movie, highest to lowest with Denzel Washington, which is a remake of Kurosawa's high and low. And it's, I thought it was a really solid, really fun kind of like suspense movie. It's a little slow in the beginning. It does not have the crackling oppressiveness of Kurosawa's original high and low, which is a truly just amazing movie. But I really enjoyed it a lot.

And Spike Lee, when he's putting together a sequence, he can be one of the greatest filmmakers that ever lived. And he has a couple of those sequences in this one. Especially as the movie gets going, I felt like it picked up kind of like emotional energy, tension, you know, dramatic energy. And so I would say, sit with it in the beginning, where it kind of takes a little time to get going.

But once it gets going, I was really enjoying it a lot. And Denzel Washington, as always is, you know, possibly the greatest actor there's ever been. And so seeing the way he so kind of effortlessly owns the screen that he's on and how effortlessly he can kind of go back and forth with the other actors is really fantastic. The other performers are great too, but, you know, it's hard to take your eyes off him when he's on screen. Yeah, there's not a lot of actors that I would put up against Tashira Mafune, but Denzel Washington's one of them. Yes.

That's what I was going to say. My turn? Yes. You're going to recommend until dawn, right? No, I was going to recommend weapons. Oh. Because the whole time I was watching until dawn, I was like, man, I wish this was weapons. I wish I was watching that again because that was really good.

I went and saw it alone on my birthday, a little matinee. Whoa. And yeah, it was, it was. Don't talk about what happens and they still haven't gotten to see it yet. I won't tell you what happens. Wait, just tell me this, is there a weapon in it? Well, don't tell me. Okay.

Are there plural weapons in it? Don't tell me. All right. Well, I thought, I thought it was great. Josh Brollen's great. Julian Gardner's great. Just all around. I, it seemed like it was an allegory that they didn't quite commit to.

This is my one problem with it that I was like. like, is this, does this mean a thing? And then at the end, I'm like, I'm not sure it did. Well, it's gotten, I've come to terms with it. Yeah, I felt the same way because I was like, oh, I think I would have liked it better if they had gone all the way with that. But then they leaned so hard into the twist that sort of upended the allegory. And it seems like what's next for this project is leaning even further into. the rejection of the allegory

that that kind of disappointed me because I think I would have liked it more but also it was really it was I left and I was very unnerved and I had seen it alone so I had no one to talk to about it it was it could have asked me to come with you

well you I wouldn't have been able to yeah exactly so you know face enough rejection so you just took over to Reddit and started posting but it was very scary happens by myself. Am I the asshole?

Yeah, recommend. I gotta see it. Is that streaming yet or no? You might be able to buy it or whatever. Amy Madigan is incredible. I know. Does she get Madigan? Oh boy. Does she?

No spoilers. Elliot, I also think it hits differently if you have children. That was my wonder about it. I know children are involved in it, so I wondered if that was the case. Yeah, it's, it's, I mean, also it seems like they're not, whoever wrote it maybe doesn't have children because some of the like age assumptions about like how old the kids should be and what they should be doing were like wrong, but all I know is that children shouldn't

play with dead things. That's good advice, yeah. It reminds me there's that scene in a boyhood and maybe this was based off of his real life. I don't know where they're hanging out overnight in an unfinished house and they're throwing circular saw blades into a wall and I was like, the main character is like 10 years old and he's doing this. This seems bonkers, but maybe that's how they do it in Texas.

I mean, that was back in the day. I was doing some crazy stuff. Yeah, you're not some post-un supervised. Back in the day, it's set in like the 1990s that part. Yeah, that's when we were. Yeah. Unsupervised kids? Yeah.

You didn't have dangerous stuff you did when you were like, yeah, you can go out in the middle of the night and spend the night, you know, at an abandoned house. Well, they don't know what they're doing if you're, like, staying over with someone. That's true, I guess. That's a good point.

I just know that... I have a distinct memory of us, like, starting fires beneath the porch of my friend's house. Like... That I would buy. That I would buy. My neighbor's two huge trees and let her roof on fire.

Yeah. That I would buy. Thankfully, we did not burn down the house, but we could have. And we shouldn't have been doing that. And that's why maybe it was, It wasn't a good idea to be so unsupervised, but who knows. Now, imagining a world where, Dan, you burned down someone's house as a kid and you blame it on the talking head song burning down the house.

And now David Byrne has to testify at trial that there's no supplemental messages in his music to get kids to burn down houses. Yeah. Multiverse, you know. Anyway, thank you, Hallie, for being here for Shocktober. And you know what? We haven't announced on the show our plans for November. Yeah, we got a new theme month. Well, we're trying a new theme month this year.

I don't know if it'll stick or not, but we're definitely doing it. Cool. Keeping your foot on the beach over here. So I'm just going to grip it and rip it, guys. We have a new theme month starting now and going on forever. It is called Movember, because you're getting Mo Flop House episodes. That's right.

Instead of doing two regular episodes and two minis, we're giving you four regular episodes. And what's that? They're not regular. No, in fact, we have a. cavalcade of amazing guests coming to join us. I can't wait to go over all this and hang out with all these cool dudes with attitude.

It's going to be a lot of fun. Ninja turtles? In a way. It's four episodes, so maybe. I will say this, our next episode will be a mini, and it will be coming out November 1st. So Movember starts after that, but...

Oh, okay. So it's sort of like shades into... So, yeah, we transition from Shocktober into Movember. Yeah. Okay. Well, anyway, you know, classic flop house blunder But we will have for Yeah, right in congressmen We call them funders because they're fun blunders, yeah

Yeah, but write them about other stuff Write them about all the terrible things That are happening in the world. Yeah. Tell them to stop. Please stop. So anyway, Hallie, thank you for being here. Anything you want to say here at the end

Or you just want to nod with that big grin on your face? Thanks for having me. Right back at you. You're welcome. Hallie, do you want to plug your what, substack? Yeah, sure. Yeah, check it out. It's called your local library.

It's called That Harts My Feelings on Substack. It's a great little read. The Slow Talkers of America sketch. I'll say genuinely that that hurts my feelings is when I see it pop up in my email, I immediately read it. It is the first thing, the only thing that I go to immediately when I go to immediately when I see it. And I always find the Hallie's entries to be both hilarious and also poignant. And they make me think about the world in different ways. Yeah, they're very personal. Very personal. I tell it all, you guys. So if you want to get to know me in that way,

I'll check it out. Okay, well, thank you for that plug. And thanks. Thanks. to Alex, our producer. He goes by the name Howl Dottie on the internet. Check out his music, his Twitch streams, his own podcast. Thank you to Maximum Fun. If you go to Maximum Fun.org, there are a lot of other great shows you can listen to. Informative ones, funny ones, ones that are both. Check them out. But for the Flop House, I've been Dan McCoy. I've been Stuart Wellington. I've been Elliot Kalen. Just remembering now to tell you that my book, joke farming, is coming. out very soon from the University of Chicago Press. I think you can pre-order it now. And we've been joined by... Oh, thank you, Dan.

I have, am, and will always be Hallie Hathland. Ooh. Ah! So, Hallie, you were telling us you went to a chapel rhone concert with a 10-year-old? Yeah, I did. I was hoping to, you know, I don't have a girl, so I glom on to my friends who have girl children, hoping that I can influence mold, shape them, whatnot. So it was my friend's daughter, but also my friend and another adult.

Three adults, one child. Three, wait, three women and a baby. Exactly. Well, three women and a little lady. We're really turning things around. It's a new era, ladies. This is our world now. Finally, women can take care of the babies now.

Sounds like you guys were H-O-T-O-G-O. We were. But then when we were getting us... I was like halfway through that, I don't know what you're spelling out, don't get it, I don't understand, yeah. But then when we were trying to drive out, it took a very long time. And someone had their window rolled down, and they were playing like a parody of that song

that was like, H-O-T-D-O-G-S, hot dogs are the very best. It was good. It was maybe better than the original. Maximum Fun. A worker-owned network. Of artists-owned shows. Supported directly by you.