The Horror Returns - THR - Ep. #435: The Ritual (2017) & Never Let Go (2024)

Episode Date: September 26, 2024

It is survival horror week at THR as we fight to stay alive. Cool of the week includes Halloween Horror Nights, Gremlins, and Agatha All Along. Trailers are V/H/S/BEYOND and Sinners. The podcast spotlight shines on The Horror Comedy Hangout. Thanks for listening! The Horror Returns Website: https://thehorrorreturns.com THR YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@thehorrorreturnspodcast3277 THR Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thehorrorreturns THR Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thehorrorreturns/ Join THR Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1056143707851246 THR X: https://twitter.com/horror_returns?s=21&t=XKcrrOBZ7mzjwJY0ZJWrGA THR Instagram: https://instagram.com/thehorrorreturns?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y= THR TeePublic: https://www.teepublic.com/user/the-horror-returns SK8ER Nez Podcast Network: https://www.podbean.com/pu/pbblog-p3n57-c4166 E Society Spotify For Podcasters: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/esoc E Society YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/channel/UCliC6x_a7p3kTV_0LC4S10A Music By: Steve Carleton Of The Geekz

Regings victims, for those of you who delight and dread, who fantasize about fear, who glorify gore, welcome. You have found the place where the horror returns. Listeners beware. This podcast contains major plot spoilers. and the foulest of language. Join us in celebrating the old and the new, the best, and the worst in horror. Welcome back, everyone, to The Horror Returns.

Thanks for stopping by. We're seeing a lot of new faces out there in our social medias and got a lot of people writing into the show, which we love. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to get any feedback together this week, so we'll do a famed double wide next week. But I'm Lance, and with me as always, my co-host from the North, Brian, how's it going, dude? What's up, man?

And my co-host from the Gulf Coast, Philip. How are you, man? Good, man, I'm doing good. How you doing? I appreciate you guys grabbing all those hurricanes. Although this one's coming more toward us. Yeah, that one looks like it's about to hit you guys. I don't know what this golf hurricane bullshit is, man. I don't know, man. I got a couple of buddies coming in tomorrow that are supposed to be here at like 9 p.m. I wouldn't be too surprised if the flights are delayed, but we'll figure something out.

We'll play it by ear. Yeah, stay safe out there. Yeah. What else can you do, right? Yeah. All right. Well, so we were talking about whooping cough, but we're not going to make this a Hooping Cough returns episode, are we guys?

How's that for a segue? Oh, man. Well, all right. So I guess we might as well get on with the show because cool of the week. Didn't get a chance to see too much this week, but got to experience three of my grandsons in town

and my daughter. And man, when you live in Central Florida, as always, like I say, people like to visit. So we got a head start on horror nights, guys. I got I got to throw it out there. We got to get together for something. Texas Frightmare was awesome, but horror nights, if they're going to do the Vegas thing, like they're doing this, man, we can't say no. We got to keep our eyes on that. When that thing, you know, pops up next year, we got all meat there. Oh, for sure. One way or another.

We can knock out some haunted house reviews, too. Yeah. Yeah, they had some, they had some killer ones, man at Universal. So we, I was really shocked because everybody kept giving me all this nagged out stuff like, oh man, you know,

you're going to be lucky to get through two or three haunts and it's really crowded. The only problem I had was everybody besides me, like around 12, 12, 30 after we saw a big show,

they were all like, our feet are hurting. We got to go. And I'm like, are you kidding me? This thing's open another two hours. I wanted to stay. God damn it.

You got to hit up nap time in the middle of the day if you're taking on the parks. Yeah, that was missing from the equation. We checked out, let's see, I really wanted to do the quiet place house and didn't get a chance to. Did you have to be quiet in there? That's what I was wondering, dude. I was trying to figure out if they mess with you more like if you're going through giggling or yelling or whatever. I would think they would, you know. Hopefully I make it to that this weekend as well as in.

But we did see Ghostbusters. That one was pretty awesome. And I think my favorite haunt there was the monsters of Latin America. So they had like La Girona and it was a trip, man. Yeah, it was really awesome, dude. It was kind of like walking through a movie set, like really, really high production values. So it's kind of like everything.

Yeah, it's everything you hear about it, but like until you're actually there. And we did give away many, many coosies. So guys, you know who you are if you're listening. Thanks a lot. Send us some feedback we promised to read it on air next week. Absolutely promised. But met some really cool people. And I mean, horror fans, I think you guys would agree,

are like the coolest, most salt of the earth, you know, people that you would ever meet. Like, we're like anti-serial killers. So, you know, as much as typical. some crazies too for sure yeah there's three of them on this show you know there's the rest you know you know if anybody listen if you have a chance to do it uh check it out i know i know our buddy desman um checked out i don't i don't know if he made it this year but i know he uh he usually makes it out to the one in burbank and obviously pedro our man pedro he's a perennial he was

giving me a lot of tips and he's right i i made it through about six out of the 10 haunts. So I was quite pleasantly surprised. I was very disappointed that I didn't get to try any of the specialty foods because, again, you know, yeah, I've seen some of that. Yeah, dude, we had to get pizza and chicken nuggets and shit. What were some of the things you would want to try, Brian? Well, I would like to try everything.

If it's something I haven't tried and it looks interesting. What do they have? Same here, dude. I think they catered the first. menu to each hunt every year. Oh, okay. Interesting. Yep. Like specialty drinks too and yeah, like eyeball soup and shit. Yeah, man, I really wanted to try that dude, but

you know what? I'm going back this weekend. As long as the hurricane doesn't blow everything away, I'll be back. So, uh, you know, I'll report back. I wanted to do some, some walk-through videos, but I don't know. It's like it was kind of weird. Everybody was saying like there's signs at the door, no photography and stuff like that. But my son-in-law was like literally wearing a GoPro on his hat and nobody said anything to him. And he got like all the walkthrough. So not quite as noticeable. So maybe that's the route we take. I think so. I think so. But yeah, all right. So that's my cool of the week. I didn't. I mean, yes, I did see some movies, but it was mostly. like Star Wars episodes 1, 2, and 3 with the boys, and

I think we saw Inside Out a couple other movies. Oh, we saw some How to Train Your Dragon. I think we saw one and two. Those are fun. They are fun, man. I was shocked by how touching the story was in that first one, so

that's some good stuff, man. It's good stuff. Cool of the week, though. Got to be Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. Hopefully more to report next week. weekend, guys. Yeah. I'll jump in because I don't have a whole lot for Cool of the Week. I did have some college buddies come down.

One of them I haven't seen in 20 years. And so we got to hang out with his kids and stuff who are brand new to me. Nice, nice. And they're all like under the age of seven. So they were wild as shit. It was great. Oh, man. I totally get it.

And then another buddy who had his three kids down. and then ours and then dogs. It was chaos. And a lot of beer, a lot of barbecue, made some badass ribs. That was fun. We hooked it up and watched Gremlins as the first horror movie of the year, I guess, for October, even though it's not quite October yet.

Probably a little early for Gremlin's, but, you know, there were kids. I figured it was a fun one to put them through. And still holds up, man. I love it, movie. So is it Grimel? Yeah, that's what I got from my cool of the week. But yeah, and I went through the second Inside Out and didn't pay a whole lot of attention to it. It seemed right.

All right. I got two shows and a movie I forgot to talk about last week. Okay. Start with the shows. I checked out the first two episodes of Agatha all along. Oh. Was it super gay? you know like none of that stuff has like anything really i don't understand

and that like how they marketed it from what i understand it was from what i understand it was aubrey plaza that said the comment like sarcasticly maybe she said it to they talked about it on the geeks how she likes to say things just to say things well that's yeah she is sarcastic all the time i mean they're there they're there they're There is a gay character in there, but he was gay in the comics. Was it a musical, I guess is the question I'm asking. There was one song and two episodes. Okay, that's not bad.

It wasn't full-on. It wasn't Joker 2. Yeah. But I enjoyed it. I like Catherine Hahn as the character. It answered some questions. possibly answered the fate of Wanda.

If you guys remember what happened to her and Dr. Strange, too, at the end. Vaguely. Spraguelly. This old man's memory. Spoilers, everyone. At the end, when she got crushed by the mountain was collapsing,

she got crushed when it crushed a dark hold. Okay. This movie might have answered the fate of her. The reason why Catherine Hans, Agatha, is able to be freed. Oh.

And it's teasing another character. I won't spoil it, but hopefully we'll finally get this character. They were kind of teasing it in Wanda Vision, but it never happened. I'm enjoying it so far. All right. And it's right around, it's coming out right around the right time, because, you know,

it touches and it's about to be October. Yeah, that works, especially who I think you're talking about is going to show up. Starts with an M. That's the one. Yeah, they are heavily teasing it if you know the comics. And the second show I checked out was the first episode of The Penguin on Max. Oh, I didn't even know that was out yet. Got to add it to the list.

Only one episode out right now. I'm not going to sense you sound like you're interested in watching it, Lance. Big time. It's the Sopranos in Gotham. Okay. Oh. Oh, speaking of Sopranos and Gotham, I do have one more cool of the week that I watched last week and forgot to talk about. Yeah.

Prickin Tulsa King. Oh, I need a great show. I love the first season. What a great show. I love Sylvester Stallum, man. It's working for me. He's so perfect for that character. Yeah.

I like it. What else? Oh, and the movie I forgot to talk about last week was a slasher movie called All My Friends Are Dead. Yeah, I've heard good things about that. Isn't it? It's a foreign language film, isn't it? No, you're confused with the 17 other movies and shows called All My Friends Are Dead. That must be it.

They were heavily marketing because the only person I recognize is Jojo Siwa, the YouTuber. Yeah, I've heard her. Yeah, they were heavily spoilers. She's in a movie for like five or ten minutes. Uh-oh. Kid singer thing. Yeah. Ah, okay.

Okay, gotcha, gotcha. It's basically a group of young adults. They look, they're supposed to be young adults. Some of them look like they're in the 30s. Of course. As always, right? They're going to a music festival. They get a flat tire.

They have to get an Airbnb, and then somebody's killing them. Not nothing new with the story, but I thought some of the kills were pretty interesting. They would have been pretty fucking good if they didn't do that thing where you can clearly see they did practicals and then layered it with CGR. Oh, there we go again. If you get a nice throat cut, you can see that you can respect the practicals, but then they wanted the blood to fly everywhere and clearly the blood CGI. uh-oh so okay can't 100 record 100% recommend this but if you're trying to fit new movies into your 31 days it's it's not a bad watch it's just i'm really starting to hate when you can appreciate some of the practicals and then they just layer cgii effects on top of it and it just makes it look stupid yeah well there's a lot of those it's become the new cheap thing. Used to be cheap practicals, which are kind of fun.

Yeah. I'm just like, how cheap is CGI now? Where practicals are... Must be almost free, Brian. I guess. We should start making movies. Well, that's what I'm saying. We could probably download a program

and knock out some practical effects real quick. Yeah, right now, right? Get a eye to do it, right? Whatever. No, no. I wouldn't, I wouldn't be mad at us acting in it. compared to some of the movies I've seen where people are acting. And that's their occupation.

Right. So my cool of the week... We're going to throw some air quotes around occupation. My cool of the week, I'm going to give it to Agatha. Oh, nice. That was fun. All along. And I don't think it's going to be a long series.

I think it's going to be maybe six, six episodes, I think. That's probably for the better. Yeah, thank God, right? So they'll wrap it up right by Halloween, it sounds like that. Yeah, and you see Catherine Hahn's ass in this. Oh, she's gorgeous, man. I've got a crush owner. I really do, man.

She's like a young bet middler. I don't like. Huh, okay. Like, she's pretty. Right? Oh. I think I like her quirkiness, man. Yeah.

Yeah, just like her weird. Oh, she's funny. I like her a lot. All right. Hot is probably not the word I would go with. I wouldn't go that. Yeah, she's not, she's not one of those that we have to get a whole pass and like go out of our way, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

No, I'm not, I'm not striking down a name for that one. All right. Not that he gets Catherine on, though. She is very pretty. Would I? Yes. That's all we need to know, Phil. All we need to know.

All right. That's cool of the week. Brian, what kind of going into the Halloween month? What kind of horror headlines do we have? All right, thanks for the segue, Dracula. Let's see. But that's Vincent Price over here.

Max has canceled. It's Slashers series Pretty Little Lires after two seasons. Thank God, huh? I checked out a couple episodes of the first season. It's not for me. It's for younger people. that's okay you need those shows sometimes yeah it wasn't bad it just i didn't understand what it's the kind of show i would like watch with my daughter right right i would have questions

like what are these words they're using fetch are they saying she's so fetch or what ryan no stop trying to make fetch happen lance let's see cordney cox still hasn't officially signed on the screen seven and they're supposedly going to film start filming soon. Do you think she's doing anything else right now? Not that I know. She had that show on stars.

Yeah, no, I think she's had a couple of like little TV shows. One of them did pretty well. Or she was like a wine cougar or something. I don't know. necessarily know if she needs to be in this. Yeah. If it's the Sydney, if they're, because from what I understand, this is Sydney Prescott's story.

Right. And it's going to be like the end of that story. Hmm. I wouldn't hate it if they totally started over and did like a copycat killer with none of the original characters. Well, they're kind of, from rumors I've heard, they're kind of doing that with one original character. Mm-hmm. And that's Hayden Pantieri's Kirby. Oh, yeah, okay. Because she dropped that line that she's, you know, she was an FBI agent. Oh, that's right. She specialized in ghost-faced copycat killers.

Okay. All right. I can see how they would go with that then. But that spin-off is just a rumor. So. I don't mind seeing her in some more stuff. I'm kind of surprised she hasn't gotten more acting gigs, you know? well she i think she's took a break because she was having a family i know she's got a bunch of kids with that boxer was it Vladimir clitchko oh that makes sense big ass Russian dude well i you know once family life starts everything else kind of takes a back seat but i

she's always a really good actress to me yeah and i think i think i just read i think her brothers died or something oh wow that sucks she you know she might be taking a break again, I don't know. Let's see. David Cronenberg's The Shrouds will hit theaters this spring, Lance. Not, yeah, this upcoming spring. Your least favorite Cronenberg.

That's not, okay. How many of them other? It's on the, it's in the internet, Lance. It's on the record. Right. He says his son surpassed him. I know. I know, dude, but then he kind of like showed up as a recurring character on the new Star Trek.

series so you know he kind of redeemed himself just for that he got a few geek david kronerberg yeah oh yeah he shows up as like a it's like a kind of a mad doctor but he's like such a genius that they come to him for questions that none of the science officers can answer so it's an interesting thing like he's so weird i thought he was like an android or a hologram or something at first but not just like a super weird old doctor all right let's see hellboy three uh not hell boy three I wish it was Hellboy 3. Hellboy the Crooked Man.

Oh, that's right. Theaters this weekend. But if you don't want to see it in theaters, you can wait until October 8th. It'll be on VOD. Now, this is the one that has nothing to do with the Conjuring, or it is the Conjuring? It has nothing to do with the Conjury.

It's a new Hellboy. Weird. Oh, right. But I think I could be wrong. If I am, I'm sure somebody's yelling at me. I think it's a story from the comics. Okay. That makes sense.

Yeah, like maybe a series that they made into a graphic novel or something. Because I think Mike Magnola, the creator of Hellboy, I think he was really involved with the making of this one from a story point. Okay. Makes sense. I'm sure the fans will love that. Yeah. I mean, people aren't really high on this movie.

I'm going to check it out. I was like the character, Hellboy. Yeah. And the trailer made it seem like they were going more horror with it. I didn't hate the last one with David Harbor Yeah Did you guys see the Thunderbolts?

Do you guys see the Thunderbolts trailer? I don't think so. I don't think so. I've seen Captain America, the new Captain America trailer. It's like the Suicide Squad for Marvel. Oh, no, I haven't seen that. Look like it might be pretty good.

I'm sure it will be. Yeah, everybody loves a good anti-hero, right? Yeah. Let's see. A couple more things here. Freddie Prince Jr. officially joins the cast

as I don't know what you did last summer, legacy sequel. I thought we said that six weeks ago, man. I guess him and what's her face word talks. Gotcha. According to reports,

what the hell is her name? Jennifer Lovehew. There you go. Is this here you going to bomb? Because I can not explain to you how much I don't give a shit. And that's why I'm going to put it on the schedule. Of course.

Of course. I'm, I, in my heart, I agree with you, but I'm hoping for it to be one of those, like, surprise movies.

Yeah, that'd be cool. You never know. It'll all come down to story, right? Like, if it's a really, really good story, and it could be like a standalone movie,

and it just happens to be good, then we'll all, we'll all enjoy it. Kind of like smiled, Brian. This entire movie's going to be like, hey, hey, you remember. Yeah, you remember. Oh, that's it.

Literally, I get it. Ouch. Okay, I think we reviewed this trailer a couple months ago. A heretic with, what's his name? Oh,

Upalupa. Yeah. yeah he's just the umpalupa right now the little short upalupa what is his name god damn it help me out philip save save us man save us Hugh Grant Hugh Grant yeah I'm not sure which direction you're going to this did you really mean upa well for a second there I was going to go with oopalupa because I knew what this was talking about uh heretic uh... It's going to hit theaters November 8th.

I think this has moved up from its previous release. Okay. It looks intriguing from the trailer. Definitely looks intriguing. He looks super creepy. Hugh Grant's in a movie, sign me up right now. It's directed by the Writers of a Quiet Place. Hmm.

Okay. It's a good sign. Let's see. Damien Leon. Is it Leon? Lance? Is it Leon or Leone? I don't know.

He said the same thing. I don't understand. Well, tomato tomato. It's all good. The director of Terror Fire 1, 2, and 3 says he definitely has plans on bringing Art the Clown back for a 4

Terrifier movie. Sure. Why wouldn't he, right? Why wouldn't he? Yeah, that guy's going to keep going. Franchise. Mm-hmm. And lastly, even though I don't care, and I don't think anybody else cares, the bag man gets moved to September 27. This year's...

Who knows? Could be good, Philip. What is that movie? The thin band? No. Slender man. Slender man. The empty man.

The bye-bye man. The bye-bye man. I'm calling it. This is this year's bye-bye man. And that is the news. I guess that means it's time to hope the hurricane doesn't hit because we're about to take a little trip down to the trailer part. Brian is going to bring us the big, the small,

and sometimes the very, very weird. What's our first new trailer this week, man? VHSB armed. Just dropped their official trailer a couple days ago. This is going to premiere on shutter. October 4th and a lot of new directors on here that I never heard of, but a couple that caught my eye was Kate Siegel. Is that like, like Sons of Anarchy Kate Siegel?

No, that's Katie Segal. Oh, right. Okay. Kate Siegel is Mike Flanagan's wife and she's in all his TV shows. Okay, okay, okay, I got you. I confuse them all the time too, Philip. All right. Tell us no bad, man.

It's tough not to it. She is making her directorial debut in one of the segments, and the story is written by Mike Flanagan. So it makes you wonder, well, never mind. I'm sure she's really going to direct it, you know. I'm sure working with her husband, she's picked up some things. With a little help. Yes.

Doesn't hurt. You would think. You would think. Just in Long, along with his brother, Christian Long. Our directing segment. I'm down. And I do not recognize the other names, but that's fine. These could be some new horror directors that are going to make future hits.

So what did you guys think? Dude, this is the most I've ever been excited about a VHS movie. Yeah. Let me guess why. Well, it looks like it's aliens, which. Yes, it does. At least one second, right? The theme for the entire movie is sci-fi.

Yeah, so, yeah, totally sold. I like it. Plus, they've got, you know, the Justin Long, the Kate Siegel, the, you know, some of the, some of the people who are may not, may not be big names and directing, but they're still big names. And I think that's pretty cool. And just from the trailer, I think some of the special effects look pretty creepy as hell. So I'll take it. Dude, I'm excited about this one. What'd you take, Lance?

Man, I've got to where I really fucking love these movies. I'm typically not a huge found footage, you know, fanatic. But lately, there's been some that I've really enjoyed, and probably half of those have been, you know, VHS, the VHS series of movies. So I'm, like, super excited. Yeah, I know what you mean, Philip, that chainsaw scene with the head. That was cool.

That was a good camera angle. And y'all were talking about, practical. Everything looked practical, right? And like super low budget, like on purpose. Yeah. And yeah, dude, I knew they had you fill up when they showed those lights in the sky. Yeah. And I was like, okay, here we go. I was like, oh, a bunch of shorts about aliens where they tie it all together at the end. Fucking soul. I would not be surprised if that's exactly what they do. That's, hopefully it will be better than what Pedro thought of, Afray A-I-I-Dah, or however you call it, right? my bottom three movie of the year.

Yeah. That bad? You hated it that much, dude? It's so predictable. It was quite predictable. That's true. Well, but this is an, it's an anthology, so, you know, I mean, you don't like one. Just wait 10 minutes, you know?

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, but I'm a big fan of the series. I even like the, I admit it it's the worst one, VHS viral, the third one. Okay. and the problem with that one is a lot of the videos don't feel like it's found footage which kind of goes away from the concept i'm not sure if i remember which one that one is was that the one with the little harry potter guy with his wand and his cloak and oh yeah then it was like a mirror person in the mirror behind a tv or something i don't know you're right

that one was kind of forgettable but we're talking about it i like the skateboard one at the end That one was directed by Justin Vincent and Aaron Moorhead. Mm-hmm. Remember that one, Philip? I don't know that I saw that. It was all the zombies coming after him, right? Right, Brian? Am I remember remembering that?

They go to, like, Tijuana to film, like, a skate video, and, of course, they mess with some. A skate video and Tijuana. They mess with some, like, ritual. And they just happen to be having a donkey show over here. I don't know why. That was the... extended cut. We were just here to film a skate video, but look.

Right. Hey. But that's a good segment, Phil. You should check it out because they used actual the three skaters in the movie. They're the actual skaters and not actors. Oh, okay. That's cool. Because they wanted, they wanted them. They wanted them be authentic and they wanted to have someone that can do the skate stunts and if they fell down it would be okay with falling down. I'm going to have to check that one out, man,

because I really like the last few. I don't remember anything that y'all are saying from that one. I don't think I've seen it. Oh, okay. I honestly think the worst is that one we reviewed. Was it VHS 95? Yeah, there was one of those right in there where they came out with like three of them in a row. The CGRI.

It had like CGI, Medusa. Now, you remember that, Lance? Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Again, I kind of liked it. I mean, I can't think of a VHS that I have at least enjoyed watching it, you know? Yeah. And they're only like an hour and a half, right?

And they're always like four or five stories. So like Philip said, if you don't like it, kind of turn the page, right? Or fast forward the tape, right, a little bit. Yeah, they're like clips of videos that are all just stuck together. It's pretty awesome. And then they sort of bundle it into one thing. Yeah. And you end up always guaranteed there's going to be at least a couple standout directors out of the movie.

Well, even from the first one, I still remember the, you know, the lady, the vampire lady with the wings or whatever it was. Yeah, they ended up making a whole movie out of there. Yeah. I like that. That was a really cool segment. My favorite of all of them was the school that was the cult. I guess remember that one. Yeah, that was awesome.

Now, that director's gone on to do a lot of feature stuff after that, right? Yeah, he does some badass action movies, like, super violent. So we like them. I recommend the night comes for us on Netflix. Oh, who's in that one? A lot of the people from the raid are in that one. Okay. And the main character is the sub-zero from the new Mortal Kombat movie.

super violent I mean like people getting hacked up and bones broken I feel like I've watched it but I can't remember I'm gonna have to go check that one out maybe I've just scrolled past it a few times and been like I really need to watch this show yeah I don't think I've seen it either so that's a good one that's a good one to dive into I think yeah and supposedly he's

I don't know if they're still doing it but he's supposed to be directing the remake the train to Basin. If it ever happens. Kind of like Salem's lot, if it really actually happens. Yeah. This is like an American remake of Trained to Basin. Yeah, but they got, they hired him to be the director. That was the only way, reason I was okay with it,

because I know I've seen his movies and the violence he brings. Get the John Witt guys to do the action sequences, man. That is the only the best. fight scenes I've ever seen in a movie. All right. VHS Beyond hit Shutter on October 4th. October 4th, I think there's going to be a stacked day

with releases. I think so, yeah. Weren't there two trailers last week that were that day or close to that, I think, Brian? Yeah, I want to say yes, but I don't remember last week. Yeah, Pedro will remind you that neither do I, so there you go. That's a thing.

It was weird. You forgot we reviewed Abigail. I totally fucking forgot it, dude. I zoned on it. Now, is that one where, like, this week? I didn't see that until after. I think so. Something like that.

Yeah, you may not have been on that episode. We did Abigail with Let the Right One in. So I think you were on that one. Yes, that's right. But you might not have watched Abigail when we watched it. Yeah, I think I caught it like the next week or something like that. but we had done for have we done friday night we did it

almost 100% sure we did that one in the remake during the pandemic when we were just trying to find movies I thought we had I just wasn't sure all right David I know you're listening man so keep keep spinning those wheels dude you're gonna think of something we haven't seen listen I used to remember everything

not anymore I respect him trying to go with the with the theme. Mm-hmm. Yeah. All right. Final trailer. We talked about Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Cougler,

teaming up for a vampire movie. Heard nothing about it. Okay. Then Monday. Now I get it. Okay. Monday, they released the name of the movie. I'm like, okay, cool. They're getting somewhere with the movie.

Then Tuesday, they dropped the trailer, and I was like, they fucking already found this movie? Yeah. It's called sinners. And I'll start it off with this is going to be one of my

anticipated movies for next year. I think the trailer looked fucking fantastic. I'm glad you said it was vampires, dude, because I was struggling. Like, is this demons? And then they talk about, like, you know, witches, warlocks or something like that. I think Ryan Coogler, the director

said it's going to be, it's mostly about vampires, but there's going to be a lot of Southern Gothic, supernatural stuff. Makes sense, yeah, definitely. They definitely had the accents, right? The down south accents and stuff like that. And I have some theories, because

Michael B. Jordan's playing twins in this one. Oh, interesting. Yeah, that's interesting. There's a shot in the trailer where he's giving his brother hug, and then it flips to the other side, and it's his identical twin.

Oh, that didn't click. Yeah. On the poster, you know, both of them are on the poster. Okay. And one of them's kind of got like a sinister smile on him. I wonder if maybe one brother is a vampire hunter. And the other one is a vampire.

Now that would be a twist. That would be a twist. But I thought the trailer looked stylish and gritty at the same time. Mm-hmm. And I just liked everything I saw. And Michael B. Jordan looks like he's, he looks like he got bigger for this movie than he wasn't agreed. Well, I was going to, I was going to have a tough decision to make if it was about demons. But yet it had Michael B. Jordan.

So she was going to be like, ah. But now that you're telling me it's vampires, I know she'll go with me. I don't know why she doesn't like the demon stuff. Even if you think it's real, that's good. Catholic upbringing, too. Catholic upbringing. That's what I'm saying. even if you think it is real, it's good.

Be fucking scared. Remember why you are what you are, you know? Right, right. True, true. Just show her the video of Michael B. Jordan playing with puppies right before you go. There you go. What did you guys think? Yeah, it looks all right.

As long as they don't hit the racial angle so fucking hard, then I'm down. The Klan is involved in this movie. well there you go yeah I mean well that's what I'm saying but as long as that's not what the whole movie is about then I don't think it's I mean it still looks good

it's still it has got a lot of production value and stuff I you know I those movies kind of get old to me like everyone well it is a period piece so I know

so I'll take it though I mean it looks like it's good and then you throw the vampires and shit in there that's cool Clans, listen, if the clan is there and they're bad guys, that's awesome. I don't have a problem with that. I honestly think it's... As long as it's not the central focus and like they're trying to sell...

I don't be something. I honestly think the way they portrayed the poster, it just looked like one brother had more of like an evilish tone to him. And that's a good twist, right? I like that. Because I don't think we've gotten that before in a vampire movie, you know, that I'm aware of. So, oh, and he can impersonate the other one. like sneak in on his wife or something like that.

Yeah, that has some potential, man. You got to watch the twins. That's right. This is probably the closest thing we're going to get the blade. Apparently. And I love that last shot of Michael B. Jordan with the Tommy gun or whatever. Dude, Michael B. Jordan could pull off blade. Yeah, but see, he was already a marble character.

Yeah, that's true. The good Marvel character that they killed off. That's not stopping Robert Downey Jr. Apparently, huh? That's what I'm saying, dude. I put James McAvoy in as Wolverine. Let's go. Yeah, good point.

Good point. You might get it. I don't want to see Daniel Radcliffe. I wouldn't be mad at that either. Oh, as Wolverine? Yeah. He's short. He's short.

What's his name from the Kingsman? Oh. I've seen someone do like a kind of like a mock up picture of him. Okay. well and then that uh the uh the guy that played superman when oh henry cavil yeah cavaline when they showed him in the in the Deadpool movie i was like i you know what he's working that i like it yeah i was like if you guys are going to talk about how big he is shut up he looked good in the role yeah oh well i but wolverine is

roared out in the comics yeah but you still had that small group of people that want him to be that height, which they gave it to you a dead pole of a Wolverine. And it looks stupid. It was funny, but it looked stupid. We got the schick. Put Tyrian Lannister in there? What are we doing?

Jesus. The kid who plays Joffrey. How about that? Yeah. Well, that guy quit acting. I don't blame him. Yeah, no kidding. I think he was getting so much hate for his character. I bet you that dude couldn't walk down the street.

I think he's probably teaching tennis somewhere or something like that, right? Or he's a golf caddy. Who knows? All right. Sinners hits theaters March 7th. Okay. And that is it. I do recommend everybody go check out the Thunderbolts trailer.

Looks like a lot of fun. Thunderbolts. Thunder cats. What's his name supposed to... What's his name supposed to be making? Adam Wingard. Okay, there you go. Thunderbolts, not Thundercats, right, Brian?

Adam Wingard's supposed to be supposed to make Thundercats. No, are you serious? Yeah, but that ain't going to be a while because he's not doing Godzilla stuff because he's going back to horror. Although I don't know when the last time anybody

has ever gone back and watched Thundercats. It's pretty bad. Yeah, the dialogue is... Yeah, she's nerve, snarf. The dialogue is... pretty bad. I think the last time I watched Thundercats was when they tried to re-bath

the series, I think early 2000s. Yeah. I was on a Thundercat's soccer team, and I was like bored. Oh, that sounds cool, though. That's when I decided soccer sucks.

All right. So, listen or feedback, we're skipping next week. Oh, we still got a podcast spotlight, though, right? Yes, sir. Yes. Okay, cool. I'm just making sure reading the stuff I'm supposed to be reading. This week, we shine the podcast spotlight on the horror comedy hangout.

I'm an Orlando-based indie filmmaker and screenwriter inspired by my mother, a successful pastel artist. Interesting. I began as an actor and transitioned into filmmaking, winning awards for shorts like Unperfect and Saving Little Z. I've expanded into comic book series, and my upcoming projects, Black Forest, a Viking family, and The Guardian, an inspirational documentary, reflect my passion for storytelling and connecting with audiences through film and conversation. So check out the horror comedy hangout.

I like it. Interesting. And he's right down the road from where we live now, so... Get it. We're spanning the fucking United States, man. Okay. Yep, it is, right? Huh.

We need to get somebody on the show from, like, Maine or something, and then we'd, like, really cover the entire United States. Yes, great idea, man. From Maine and, like, Southern Cali. Well, we got Pedro. Yep. Yes, we do. All right.

And listener feedback will return double wide next week with all his horror nights adventuring. Lance ran out of the time. dig it out this week, but please keep them coming. So, yeah, Lance writes all the horror stuff. I just read it. Well, I don't write it. I don't write it.

I just copy it down for us. You guys, you guys write it. Our show intro and new logos come from Steve Carlton from the Geeks. Original skull artwork comes from Natsulani. If you'd like to help us out, please consider becoming a Patreon patron, and we'll let you pick the movies for a future show at any amount, and $5 a more a month. Also pick a commentary for a future bonus show.

And still, through the end of October, you guys have one month left if you really want to do this. If you join at the $5 tier and stay with us at least three months, you get six coosies, a T-shirt, and a pop the green of our choice. Wow. That's like a lot more than $15 worth of shit. So guys, just sign up and get some free shit. It's not the money.

It's the family. It's the family. You're giving us some ideas for future shows. You can listen to us trip over them. It'll be hilarious. Let's go. Yeah. You can come on the show with it.

Listen to me, try to remember which movies we covered and which we haven't. You know, that kind of shit, right? Let's see. A quick aside. We've covered a shitload of movies. All right. Hey, before we move on, I did one thing. Jay reached out to me the other day.

Oh, yeah, yeah. And yeah, he's asking, what are you guys doing for episode number 500? And he has a couple ideas, like, you know, getting a lot of people to call in and stuff like that. So we have plenty of time to work on it. But thanks for reaching out, Jay. We're thinking about it. It's a lot better than what we had for episodes four and three and two and one. Well, those don't count.

They're just on the way to 500. True. Yeah, true. But yeah, that would be cool to have people call in. Yeah. Live? How are we going to work that? We'll figure out the logistics.

We'll figure it out. You do some editing magic. Just get fucking ready. Let's go. All right. On to our featured attractions. It's Survival Week this week with the brand new Never Let Go. And 2017's The Ritual.

We'll start with the ritual. Rob would have loved this place. He's a good mom. The best of us. You know what they have, walking trails in England? Pubs. Come on, man, where's your soul? Ah!

It's twisted. It's twisted. All right, yep. Easy, easy. Look, we go south-west through here. We cut the journey in half. We're through the forest. Yeah, why not?

We should have gone to Vegas. Oh, you'd have found something to fall over in Vegas too much. mate. Now, is it me? Or is it really quiet in here? It's been gutted. Could be hunters out of here. Bait, possibly. Or it's the bit they don't show you in the nature documentary. It's a warning.

A group of old college friends reunite for a trip to a most dangerous country in Europe. Sweden. Is Sweden the most dangerous country in Europe? I don't think that's how that works. According to this movie. It is if you go in these woods,

encountering in Minnesota. I just seen that. just seen a trailer. I forgot what movie it was for, but there was a group of people and they were in some, some shit was going down and then they found another person and she was talking. She was like, she only speaks in gibberish.

Then another person was like, she's just, it's just Danish or something. Oh, boy. I don't know who this bitch is. All she says is goobab and geepigabin. I don't forget. That's basically what was happening.

And then somebody was like, she's speaking Danish. What are you talking about? That's funny. Incatering a menacing presence, they're stalking them. Director is David Bruckner, also known for The Nighthouse. And the Hellraiser remake. Oh, yeah. This is also good.

That's right. Yeah. Writers are Joe Barton and Adam Neville. The original tagline that was used when advertising the film was they should have gone to Vegas. But due to the massacre in Vegas that took place on October 1st in 2017, the tagline has now been changed to they should have gone to Ibiza. Well, there's that. Or Afghanistan, right, Philip? Also, fun fucking question. How much do we know about that guy? Nobody ever talks about that fucking shooting. We know nothing about him. Anyway. I don't know.

Weird shit. Weird shit. I know. They said he, played a lot of video poker all the time, right? And like, he got pissed off. He's crazy, then. That's my favorite game in the arcade, or the arcade. That's my favorite game in the casino, man. You can make your money last long. Okay.

All right. All right. Don't go shoot in Vegas. No, never. What did you think about the ritual? I really enjoy this one. It's a slow burn. It takes a while for things to get going.

but I appreciate that because it gives you time to, it allows you to get to know this group of guys. And I thought everybody did a fantastic job. I was rooting for some of them to survive, some of them, like the guy in the glasses that immediately gets hurt on the hike. Yeah, you kind of wonder why he's a part of the friend group at some points in this movie.

Kind of an outcast, huh? A weird dude? Yeah. I mean, I'm sure there's a lot of... Yeah. The whole time in this movie, I'm like, do you like, do you like this group of guys? Right. Right.

Yeah. Like, he seems upset. They seem upset. I'm like, why do you still hang out with him? I like the look of the creature, the monster. I thought it was very unique. Mm-hmm. I like that they showed it.

Yeah. Yeah. I like it was a graphic. build to show it you you only seen something in the background then you saw a part of it then you saw a little bit more each time that's how you do you got this then you got the full review reveal and I thought it was awesome I like the whole aspect of being in the woods kind of affected them having them each one of them that was kind of having different things going on with them like one was kind of

In the cabin scene where he was worshipping that headless statue, naked, and he didn't even know what he was doing. Yeah. Weird stuff was happening, huh? Then the one guy was constantly having nightmares in his sleep, pissing his pants. Then I don't even know the other guy was really affected the asshole friend. He had his one moment where he was kind of freaked out, but it seemed like everybody was getting a little bit more than him.

He sort of explains it at the end a little bit because he kept seeing like his own death, which is exactly what happened. Okay. Wow. What else? Yeah, it kind of gave me, it has the aspects of cabin in the woods, Evil Dead, Blair Witch, all kind of mixed in there, especially when you get to the cabin. Yeah, and then the weird people, like the cult or whatever. Yeah, I kind of wanted a little bit more of that because. The one lady does explain that the creature allows us to be here to live longer than people usually do as long as we worship it.

And I was like, oh, that's interesting. Let me get more of that. And then they're all dead. Right. Like, that could have been a really cool aspect. But I guess if you really delve into that, it would have turned it into like a four-hour movie. Yeah. Yeah, or a mini-series or something.

We could have done a miniseries. But it was cool. I was like, okay, I think I need to know more about these weird people. Yeah, and I like how they were all different. It was like, because one guy was speaking one language and then another person was speaking English. Maybe like they were all drawn there from different places. Yeah, because the monster had chose the main part of the group to be there because he marked him with those wounds on his chest. Because I guess his pain was greater than everybody's.

Makes sense, yeah. I could see that. So. And they were just kind of a long for the ride. So they get stuck in there as well. Yeah, that was crazy. It was good practicals too, with them being hung up into trees.

Yeah. Because that looked pretty cool. That was very cool. But, yeah, I enjoyed it overall. I thought it was a good one from a director that I know him from the VHS series. Which one did he do? Oh, Lance, you're pulling my horror card.

I'm trying, because I think he was also, I think he's done a couple of those, because didn't, didn't he do, like, a segment in, like, southbound? Yeah, he did that. I would say the one I know for sure, the one that we all liked, the one from the 80s or something, BHS 80, whatever. Yeah, a lot of these directors, I guess they start, like, you know, with these small.

segments in movies like that and then they go on to make bigger movies like the dude that did the we were talking about the cult one earlier that does all the all the action movies now so I guess it's a good way to get in you know is Southboundern anthology one yeah it is it is oh yeah I don't think I realize that I have you seen it no I've always scrolled past it and like wanted to watch yes check it out I think you like it man it's it's one of those anthologies with the through the through line one that's connected. Okay.

But yeah. That actually makes me, so you want to watch it more. The ritual. I recommend it. Lance, what do you think? Yeah, there was a lot going on in here, you know, for me, because you guys know, I'm a big folk horror fan and you know, Brian, you know I'm a big slow burn

fan. The only thing missing, I guess, really, that I've that I love to see in movies was a big musical number. Well, yeah, that's that too, man. God damn it. All right. Well, I'll try not to. Oh, dude, he would have been perfect, right? He would have been perfect as the asshole. No, I did. I like what you're saying, Brian. I like the buildup, the way they didn't like give everything away all at once. You know, then you've got the flashbacks so you can see that everybody's kind of got their own cross to bear. And I thought it was really bizarre when they, maybe you can explain it to me. I didn't totally quite get it. I mean, I understand there was that

incident, I guess, like at the convenience store that was haunting the guy. So, like, he would look and he would see, like, parts of the convenience store throughout the woods when he was in that one kind of like half-awake-dreaming type segment. But was there more to that than just simply, like, kind of a memory, or do you think the monster was, like, controlling him somehow and making him see that stuff again? I think it was a combination of the monster and the forest. Because I think that forest has like some kind of magical element to it. Because at the end when he escapes, he runs out to the forest and to the clear and the monster like doesn't cross like a specific area.

Okay. So basically the forest is like its own living thing, right? Like an entity. That's how I took it. Okay, so you guys think this monster was probably like one of many or something like that? Well, I could be wrong. I couldn't really understand a girl. Okay.

I think she said the, I really think I'm wrong, but it kind of sounds right. But I think they said the monster is a descendant of Loki or something like that. Yeah, he was like one of Loki's best. Oh, okay. I mean, it's still, I think it's still the windigo, but I think that's maybe where the windigo thing comes from. Yeah. All right.

So if you guys think it's possible, maybe there was some mushrooms involved that they didn't really show you the scene, but maybe these guys had some, Oh, yeah. Something from the woods that they ate. They never left the campground. Oh. Yeah. Maybe.

It was all a dream. Yeah, that moment where they did the little monument for their friend. and they all went to sleep in their tents. Yeah, they're still there. They're still there. Dreaming the whole thing up. Yeah. Yeah, so, yeah, I liked it.

It was a good unraveling. They, you know, they kind of slowly built up to it. Like, you got the folk horror element, which I love. You've got the Slow Burn part, which I love. What I was going to say, Philip, is they didn't do a musical number, you know, and Brian reminded me, Dane DeHon wasn't in, but, you know, can't have everything, right? Yeah, that's true.

Yeah, the creature was fucking amazing. Dane would do all of the shrooms. Well, unless they found a bag of a packet of brown-tower heroin or something, right? Push everybody out of the way. But going back to the asshole friend, he really doesn't seem the type to be doing all this stuff or even, like, partying or anything.

Out of his element, right? Yeah, he didn't seem to really want to be there in the first. place. Right. But yeah, I enjoyed it, man. I thought it was a nice little, you know, Netflix movie. And so it came out 2017. Wow. It doesn't feel that long ago. It seemed like it was only a couple of years ago. So I guess it has some staying power. Yeah. One of those movies that I, that was right, right at the time when Netflix kind of started getting into big budget stuff, but they weren't like full throttle. Like they are now over Kevin Hart and the Rock or in every other movie, you know? Yeah, this was like a...

Oh, wow. Netflix did this movie kind of a thing when it came out. Kind of what I was thinking, man. That was the impression I got. So, yeah, I'll give it a thumbs up, guys. I enjoyed it. Yeah, I've actually seen this movie probably three or four times at this point. I'm saying a lot, man.

Yeah, it's... I think it's pretty good, man. I really like the seriousness and the slowbarns. aspect of it. I like that the the creature is very slowly revealed you know, until

he actually is revealed and I like that they actually do reveal it, you know what I mean? Because this is one of those movies where you're like, are you ever actually going to see the thing? You know? Yeah, it's looking that way. Yeah, and then they do show him. So that was pretty cool. I like the ending, I think.

like it left me wanting a little bit more which is probably a good thing I would think so yeah and and and yeah I like I really enjoy this movie I like the the relationship between the guys they seemed like I even the asshole dude like I like that he was there um plus he was kind of little and chubby with glasses and was injured so you sort of wanted to feel bad for him, except that he was being such a dick. I didn't. I'm like, you fucking hurt yourself

walking on the trail for like five minutes. I know. God, what a wimp. As Pedro would say, the pusification of, well, not America, but the UK, I guess, right? How bad was he hurt? Because some of the friends, when they were, like, off to the side, they were, like, talking about maybe he's not as hurt as he thinks he is.

Uh-oh. So, like, this is some shit that he's done before. Yeah. Although, I mean, he obviously was hurt. Yeah. I agree he was hurt, but I don't know what degree, because he was running pretty fast at the end before they got caught. Yeah, that's a good point.

Fear does some crazy things to you, man. To turn you into the flash. But, yeah, I liked the kills. I like the practical effects. I like this random little group of people that popped up at the end that weren't really like they were i guess they were sort of alluded to and they like they didn't really need them in the story at all to make it work but and sometimes when they do shit like that they'll add some stuff in that doesn't need to be there and it just makes it more

convoluted but i think that this sort of added to the mystique of the whole thing and so i liked this weird little group of people that that showed up and i was kind of wanting more of them. Like, I need you to explain some shit, especially when they had that, like, hereditary scene in the attic. With all the, like, zombies. I was like, what the fuck

is happening? I know, dude. It wasn't Beatlejuice 2 all over the place, but it was kind of all over the place, right? Yeah, re-watching this, I didn't remember that scene for some reason. Yeah. Didn't see. I kind of, I kind of wanted a little bit more

because they all started, like, coming alive. Yeah. Well, so there's like two or three movies that are very similar to this and I always sort of get him mixed up. Like I was expecting him to come out and stab his best friend and I don't know where that movie came from, but I think that's the final scene in some other movie that's similar to this. And so I wanted to watch it again just to make sure. I know, you know, and I had kind of forgotten about that scene too. I was like, oh, well, there's just like a fucking tape recorder or some weird bullshit up there and then I forgot that they were a bunch of weird zombies

because it was like right right yeah a completely off the wall scene that didn't necessarily fit and then they didn't ever talk about it again it was like I mean I guess they sort of left you to ponder maybe these are the really really ancient people

who have I kind of yeah like I go ahead I'm sorry no you go ahead I thought maybe it was like like, because they said they never take the people out of the trees. Oh, yeah.

I kind of figured maybe the monster takes them eventually out of the trees and this is some of the people. I think you might have nailed it. Maybe. I do kind of like your idea that they might be kind of ancient. Well, because like some of the, like, there was that one guy who was, he was all like white and bald with dark eye. Like if they were going to get Dane to Honda play anybody, it would have been that guy. Yeah, I did. I kind of...

It looked like he'd been dead longer than everybody else. Yeah, I kind of wanted them to kind of maybe let us know how long some of these people have been there. Because he was speaking a language that didn't seem too familiar. Yeah. And he was like... Samarian, maybe, or something. And then you had the girl that gave us the information dumped. She spoke English.

Right. Mm-hmm. Which was weird. How long? Because she also spoke the other language. How long has she been there? Maybe they're aliens. Maybe they're aliens.

Maybe they're demons. That's possible too. I really, I do like these like mythical beast crypted kind of stories because, like, a lot of them, including the Windigo and the Bigfoot and the Yeti and all that shit, are like, there are stories and myths from. like every culture. Different cultures and religions. They have the same basic thing.

Maybe. Where did this shit come from? Maybe it is aliens because now I'm thinking that scene when he was making him bow down. And then it kind of looked up to the sky. Oh, that's a good point. Did a gesture to the sky. I mean, you could just say it was praying.

But maybe it was aliens. Well, yeah. And then you go back to like some old Bible stuff and they've got like giants and and what do you call them? Nephilim, like the angel human hybrids and stuff like that. Okay. They were supposedly like monsters and shit. So there's like stuff in there. To us they would be.

I don't know. It's it's it's it's it's it's cool to think about that shit. You know, like all these different cultures have the like the same thing. There might be something to it even though probably not. I'm not sure if I believe in any of the cryptids, but it's fun. I like looking into it. But yeah, good movie. All right.

Scores. Brian, what do you think? It's a strong movie. Good cast, good acting, good direction. Love the look of the monster. Love the lure. But I wish I would have got a little bit more of the lure. Yeah.

So I'm going to give it a seven and a half. Nice. Not a bad score. Yeah, they probably meant to do more movies after this one, I think, right? I mean, they definitely set it up that way. They could do it with any groups of people. That's the cool part. Well, they could have a different group in every movie. But, like, as much as I want to not like the ending, because it was, like, very abrupt. Mm-hmm. It also seemed like an ending where it was like, okay, that's the end of the story, figure it out. Yeah. You know? I kind of like that. I like that. I like that.

Yeah. All right. So what was your score, Brian? What did you say? Seven and a half. Seven and a half. Lance, what do you think? It's a seven, man.

It's a solid movie. Solid movie. It's definitely got some rewatchability. And, you know, now you guys have got me thinking about, you know, certain things that I wasn't even really thinking about when I was just enjoying the movie for what it was. So, yeah, it's probably already ready for another rewatch. It's, I guess it's open to interpretation, right? but I love the full core aspect. Yeah.

Yeah, very, very well done. Production quality was great. I like the special effects. Even though there was definitely some CGI in there, but that's okay. It wasn't distracting. Nothing that happened during the movie took me out of the movie. I'm going to even an eight, man. I really like it.

It's kind of more fun on the rewatch. All right. So we all recommend it. Yeah, for sure. Seven, seven and a half and an eight. All right. So go watch the ritual. It's on Netflix.

All right. And our brand new one. Never let go from 2024. Bless upon a town. There was a mother and her two sons. And nothing could hurt them as long as they speak. connected to their home. I know this life's been hard on you, boys, since the world end.

Don't feed the dog. We're not the only one starving. But the evil out there is clever. One touch without a ropehole is all it takes. A family that has been haunted by an evil spirit for years, their safety and their surroundings come into question when one of the children questions if the evil is real. That is the worst description.

That's not a good description. Yeah. Not great. Okay. I mean, at least they sort of give you some information, but it's like, those sentences don't even really go together. Anyway. All right. Director is Alexandra AHA, also known for Piranha 3D

and the Hills Have Eyes remake. Writer is Casey Coughlin and Ryan Grass Mark Romaneck was also attached to direct a movie back when it was called Motherland and Alexandra Aha, Ajah, I don't know, I'm sorry, took over directing duties a month later. Oh, they must have had some disagreements about the Motherland. He said that I will direct it, aha. Brian, what you think about

Never Let Go? I'm Completely on the fence On how I feel about this movie Oh no Are you? I thought For the most part

It was decently active I thought Hallie Berry did Okay job I thought they did a good job Of trying to Keep your mind On this this really happening Is it not really happening?

Yeah But by the end of the movie I kind of felt like I didn't get a 100% clear-cut answer until what was really going on. And not in a good way, right? I kind of felt let down. Oh, no.

Because the way, it did a good job, Lance, on making me think one thing and then making, okay, it's this other thing. Okay. And then as the movie, movie was going on, I was just kind of like, when this is over, I want a clear-cut answer. And I felt like I didn't. Well, I felt like I kind of did, but there was certain things that kind of made me think, well, maybe this other thing happened.

Yeah, I'm still not entirely sure what happened. Yes. And most of that is because I don't think that I like the answer that I got. Yeah. Okay. I thought the two boys did fine. one kid looked like a young

Jayden Smith Oh I guess he kind of did I didn't think about that Yeah Hallie Berry Yeah Hallie Berry I thought Did a great job I like

If this lady walked into a store And somebody was like I would be like Hey She kind of looks like Halliberry But I would not Right

You couldn't all Spot it It's being her for sure Yeah There's a time period that goes that it goes through Lance and her parents changes throughout the movie. Which is also weird. Well, I thought it was, well, we'll talk about the spoilers, but yeah, I'm, I don't, I don't know where I sit on this one because I feel, I really can't say too much.

Okay. Because it's going to be spoilers. Yeah. I thought the direction was pretty good. You're not going to crow us, are you, Brian? No, not this week. I thought direction was pretty good. This is something I'm not used to from Alexandria.

Was it kind of artsy, would you say? No. But it sure wasn't no Hills Have Eyes or Piranha 3D. Okay, okay. It was much more... Well, I can't say Hills Have Eyes was fun, but... Right. It wasn't as violent as Hills Have Eyes

and wasn't on a fun level as Piranha 3D. Okay. It's almost easier to compare it to like Halliberry movies. Like because, yeah, like if you would think about like the last few movies that she's done, like what? She had that one where she was chasing somebody in a truck. It was terrible. Oh, more action. And I was like, well, that wasn't great.

But then this one seems a little more like gothic to me. Yes. Perfect examples. Like that's where her acting is on this. Yeah, I agree. She wasn't bad, but it just... I just really... Just how the movie ended, I just don't know how I feel,

but I don't even know how I'm going to score it. Well, it's... It's one of those movies that, um, like, you're kind of wondering, like, they don't give you really any information at the start, and they just slowly leak information to you. and you have to figure out what's going on throughout the entire movie, right? And so you're guessing, you know, are they dead?

Are the other people dead? Are they in a dream world? Like, are there zombies? Like, what the fuck is happening? And so it sort of slowly leaks little things. And, but on, now the problem with movies like that is they are very suspenseful and they'll keep you pretty entertained in the first part of the movie. Yes. What people say about lost.

Right. But then you got to stick the landing. Got it. And that's the hardest part. And I'm not sure this one quite stuck the landing. I think I'm going to agree with you. I think it had a lot of suspenseful moments. I was on board through most of it.

And as we were getting towards the end, I watched it with my daughter and I kind of looked at her. And I was like, I'm a being fucking pissed off by the end. This thing is what I think it is. Right. But then they never really give you a clear cut answer either. Yeah. And I was kind of like, fuck you movie.

Uh-oh. Well. I think I know where my score is now. So, all right. So, yeah, I understand why you're irritated with that because I am too. and so that's that gives me hesitation i watched it earlier today so i'm still sort of processing but i think that halliberry did a great job i think the kids did a great job um they like they had me they they had me interested i was hanging on every word i was following the movie

like it was it was very entertaining and i like the way that it was going especially compared to a lot of the later Halle Berry movies lately. Yeah, they gave you rules. Yeah. Like bird box and white place. Okay. I'm like, okay, they're giving you.

Sort of. I'm intrigued, actually. They're mostly giving you everything that you need for the movie. Yeah. But like they started out with a rule, but then they didn't go back to that well at all. Like,

it, like, it, Like, they'll, they, at the beginning of the movie, after, you know, they had the, the introductory scene that sort of tells you how the tone of the movie is going to be and all that shit, but you still don't know what's going on. And I think that they wasted a scare in, in that very first scene, too. Agreed. Because I was like, I don't know what the fuck this is. Because they don't tell you anything about it. It just happens. And then, like...

as they're sort of layering onto it i forgot where i was going with that but like i i think it gets good but oh that's right so they they they like have this placard across the front of the screen like it's going to be uh from like zombie land right where he has his rules and so they like they plastered on the screen right it's almost like almost like title cards land yeah but it's the only time that that happens okay i see and it never came up again they don't do it again all right let me They did it like three times. Did they? Without the movie?

Okay. I remember those. All right, let me ask you all one quick question, and if it's spoiler, you don't answer it. But so was there ever a point where they kind of made it look like maybe she was off a rocker and might be a danger to the kids? Yeah, that was a lot of, I got. That was very abundant from the beginning. Okay. All right.

Neither of this. Yeah. Yeah, go ahead. A lot of the questions were like, not only. necessarily like why is this happening like what is what's going on but one of the big ones was is she just fucking nuts and she's

like holding her kids hostage because she's crazy or is something really happening all right and so you're kind of wrestling with that through the entire movie and I Hallie Berry does a great job of pulling that off and the kids do too I think they did great

so that's kind of how the that's kind of how the bird box sequel started, Mallory. Not Birdbox Barcelona, but the book, and same characters that you're following, and they made it look that way at the beginning. Like, is she really

crazy, or have they all gone, and no longer here? Right. Yeah, they did. I think they did a good job of, like, making you think, is she crazy, and then something else would happen. And then you're like, okay, maybe she is kind of crazy, but maybe what she's saying

is true. but then did that thing that you just watched actually happen or was it a dream sequence you know yeah there is that too yes movie magic right

even with the last line of the movie I'm just kind of like what the fuck does that mean I know a real cryptic huh I think they should they probably have alternate endings to this movie

I would think and I'm gonna like the ones that aren't the one that they gave us uh oh but I don't I don't hate the movie I think it was

overall it was actually really worth watching and I was kind of pleasantly surprised just because the last few like Halliberry lit movies that I've seen have been like kind of cheesy and this one wasn't it was good kind of paint by numbers right?

Yeah she's really like doing some acting in here Yeah. Okay. Like, yeah, she does a great job. It's not, definitely, she's not phoning it in. Yeah.

All right. Scores, Brian, what I think? Right now, it might change when we get into spoilers, but I'm going to give it a 6.5. Well, that's not bad. I thought you were going to say five. I want to say five, but I don't feel the movie deserves a five. See, and I was, I'm kind of debating back and forth, too. I think 6.5 is actually a really good score.

I'm going to go ahead and give it a 7, just because I think a lot of that, though, is because I expected it to not be awesome. Like, I forgot what movie we were watching. Like, I looked up to times. I went to the movie theater, and by the time I got to the theater, I forgot what the name of the movie was.

Yeah, this was not even on your radar to watch. Right. And then when it started, I was like, oh, this is that new one with Hallie Berry. I had no idea. Yes, they didn't watch the Trevor. Yeah. And then I was like, oh, this is that moon, new one with Halliberry. All right, here we go.

But then it was pleasantly surprising. I think I'm going to give it a seven. Spoiler talk. This is a motherfucking spoiler alert. You've been fucking warned. This is a motherfucking. Spoiler alert. You've been fucking warned.

This is a motherfucking spoiler alert. You've been fucking warned. Do you think it was all in her head? At the end of the day, everything you're seeing, do you think it was all in her head? Okay. I think the way that the movie presented it in that last line made it not all in her head. Yeah, when he said, the little boy said he always loved you more.

right hmm which is the thing that he said to him earlier in the movie so all right so they have to they have to the house keeps them safe

yeah the house is made from blessed wood the father built the house oh okay that's strange all right and it was what the house is made of allegedly is blessed

and keeps the evil out it's like an ancient wood yeah yeah and so and so they have to be attached to the house So if they don't have the rope around them that's attached to the basement of the house, Oh, I get it now.

Then the evil can touch them. Makes it. That's kind of interesting. If the evil touches them, it can get into them and possess them. Yeah, it can corrupt you to hurt others. And so you find out later on in the movie that the evil has touched her husband and her parents, and she murdered them all. And so the only people that are left. and they don't even really give you a time period as to when this is happening.

They do later. Yeah, they kind of do later. But like it looks like it's like old antebellum south stuff. Yeah. At the beginning of the movie, like it's, you know, fucking 1800s in New Orleans. Just to give you an idea of how much these kids know about the world. Like later she brings out a Polaroid camera.

Okay. They have no idea what the fuck it is. Right. And so I... explain what taking pictures is and stuff like that. Like I almost thought they were going to like the village route with it. Ah yeah, it sounds like that kind of a setup. Yeah. Because like she was secluded in this house in the middle of the swamp.

And, uh, and, but they had their entire lives, the kids at least, had, um, only gone to the edge of where this rope would let them go. And so they'd never come into contact with any other. humans. Okay. And everybody's dead except the kids and the mom. Yeah. And so we're kind of led to believe, like, that's one of the questions that the kids is, the, the kid is asking is, is there a bigger world out there? Are there more people that are still alive that are doing what we're doing? Like, what is, what's going on? Because we haven't ever gotten past how far this rope will let us go. Yeah. One kid is really curious about everything. He's constantly questioned. And everything. And then the other brother is like, no, our mama said this. We have to trust her.

She's been protecting us this whole time. Super obedient. Yeah. Yeah. He's he's like the older responsible brother, but they're twins. And then there's a scene where one of them gets, they have to take the rope off. Okay. And then she kind of saves them. They don't necessarily see anything so this leads you to believe maybe it's all in her head and then this kind of tells you how hard she is on them because she takes them into the house and then there's like trapped door on the floor well first there's this kind of carving on the wood and they have to put their hands on the wood and say this kind of like prayer and she has like she has a knife pulled down on him like to the ancient wood of the house yeah because if they react wrongly to the ancient wood of the house

Okay. It's like holy water on a demon, right? Even Lance, even when they go outside, when they tie the rope, they say like a prayer to the rope. Yeah. This is very fascinating. This is very fascinating. It's a cool world that they built. It's kind of out there.

I just, like, I want, I want more answers. Yeah. It lets it believe. Was it like, anybody out there? Was it what? Was it Mandy out there? like it would be good if you had something along with it oh maybe yeah but one of the things it kind of made me one of the things that kind of made me think was if she is telling the truth

maybe she's not telling them that she was touched by evil uh that's another thing that's why she gets okay yeah because throughout the whole thing she's having these hallucinations she's seeing ghosts in the woods yeah she sees she sees her mother Or are they hallucinations? Which her mother, if it's a hallucination or not, her mother's talking to her, her mother clearly was abusive to her. Yeah. And then she sees her husband comes in,

because she sits on a rocking chair, sharpening her knife at night on the porch, and her husband comes to visit her, telling her to, you know, let go, basically. How did I miss this move? God damn it every fucking time. It's just this. evil demon, like, trying to trick her.

And so she doesn't trust anything because everything is trying to trick her. And she's seeing this stuff all the time, but her kids can't see it. It almost sounds like a better version of the M. or the Shy Malun M. Knight's Daughters movie earlier this year. It's not shitty. Trap door in the woods. People come and whisper to her. I mean, I don't know.

Similarities to that. similarities to bird box but it sounds like it's its own thing too like the you guys are talking about praying to the wood and all that i've never heard of that it's not it's not a bad and then you got the added thing is they're slowly going hungry because they for it's because the rope only goes so far they're running out of stuff to forge and that's what i meant her look changes because throughout the movie as time goes on yeah her she's getting dark circles around her eyes she's She's getting skinnier. That's almost like the story of Jesus wandering through the desert, right?

With Satan tempting him all the way. There's a lot of shit in this. Yeah, that makes sense. Oh, man, I'm going to go check it up this week, period. Because you guys have me super intrigued. Because, yeah, like, it was a bad winter, and so all their little garden dies, and all the animals are gone. And so they're, like, eating tree bark at one point. Yeah. Just to kind of stay alive.

there's actually one scene this is the one that fucking really got me the dog the dog with you so no don't say it well they're all start no no no I'm not even gonna I'm not even gonna spoil it in the spoilers

but I'll set it up um so they they're out of food and the only option left while while this kid is questioning whether this shit is actually real or not. And the mom is like more devout than ever.

And they're all a little bit nuts because they're starving. She's like, we only have one option. We got to eat the dog. Rover's getting it. Yeah. He's got to heal. He could keep us alive for a few more months. You get to know Coda.

That's his name. You get to know this dog when you get to the same. Yeah. I think this movie, I think I would have been the high man on the totem pole with a score from everything. And just the scene and question that Phil's talking about, I think Holly Berry put in a good performance and the little boy

that's questioned everything. I think he did a good, he had a good performance in this scene. Yeah, they had some good monologues in there. Both boys and Halliberry. Yeah, like that. Yeah, because yeah, we're not really talking about the other one as much, but he

really played that like what everything my mom's saying is true. I got to be because even in the question with the dog He was like he was converted He was a yeah true belief She's she's like well your brother has a saying and The one that doesn't want to kill the dog is like

He's just going to go along with whatever you say Okay And of course he's just like We gotta do it Yeah And like the way that it's filmed When they're when they're giving these really impassioned speeches Like you can see the spit flying out of their mouth

else at some points. And it's like, man, these kids are really delivering some lines here. It was pretty good. You know, I'm a bummed a two, seven. Yeah. Really, the only,

the only, the only part that I have a hard time with in this movie is the very, very end. Like, the way that they ended it, they don't give you an answer. They sort of give you an answer as to whether everything was real or not. okay

it doesn't really make any sense it's the stuff with the other brother at the end that had the question on what was real of what what wasn't yeah the whole third act they went a little bit wild and they didn't really explain any of it

didn't rain it back in huh right like that like okay you're doing things that like you're gonna have to tell me why that's happening and they don't it's it kind of made me want to track down to like YouTube videos that are maybe people like don't I'm sure they're out there because I was like maybe I'm not understanding like I should or maybe it's just a bad third act I don't know

so sounds like it's got some rewatchability yeah I think it I think it was just I think they just stumbled on the landing yeah and you know okay and didn't quite hit that perfect fucking Olympic score Off the bar. That's hard to do, man. Hard to do. You gotta stick the landing. Oh, fumbled on the dismount. Yep.

I think we talked about it. Dog scene had me crying. I like the... Of course. I like the... I did like some of the special effects. It was a lot more creepy and less jumps carry, which is cool. Okay.

Yep. One scene in particular, while we're in spoilers, was the... like centipede demon like when okay so this kid so this is horrible all right so i'm gonna say what happened i know i like i know you got to see it and i hate to spoil it oh i'm i'm sold i'm i'm checking it out you guys could tell me everything in the movie i'm still like so the the kid that's like man i don't know if this is real or not yes one with questions the one with questions all of the ropes together to get as long as he can after after mom is dead by the way he She goes out to the shed to check on a noise.

He comes out and cuts her rope and is like, it's not real. I'm going to show you. Oh, no. Wow. Okay. Door shuts. She's freaking out because she's seeing demons, but we still don't know what the kids are seeing. Right.

And she grabs a piece of glass and slits her throat. Oh, so she commits suicide then. Yeah, because she's like, I'm not going to let this evil touch my kids. Right. And so she takes her own life. Sacrifice. But even at that point... Blood sacrifice.

Yeah. And at that point in the movie, you're still not sure whether it's just shit that she's seeing or if she's just crazy. Like, what exactly is happening? So they have like this little morning period. Then he gets all of the ropes together and ties them and goes out to look for some stuff because his brother's, like, sick and dying because they haven't eaten forever. And so he's, like, out looking for more food. and he comes across a fucking road. Like a paved road, like a highway.

Ah, and here goes. He doesn't know what a road is because he's like stomping on it. Okay. Like, what is this? Right. And he does a great job of that too, because like without saying any words, you can tell he has no idea what that thing is. It's weird, damn.

That's cool. And so he starts like screaming for help, goes back to the house, and then this hiker comes along. and even you're not sure whether or not it's a hiker or if it's the evil. Oh, fuck! And so he kind of starts talking to him a little bit, and I think he's believing him, because I think it's a hiker. I think, I mean, he still don't really have any answers, even though the movie's over.

Backpack and all that stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He was in, like, hiking gear and stuff. He looked like a hiker, right? Okay. And, like, the brother comes out with a fucking crossbow. and he's like all pale as shit and wobbling. They did a great job of baby because he's starving sick

and they did a great job in the way he looked. And so he's about to kill this hiker and the guy's like freaking out. He's like, listen, man, I got my car. I can help you guys out. I've got some food in my pack. Like, I just heard you calling for help. I'm trying to help.

And so you almost think he's going to get away. But then the brother shoots him. they steal all those food makes sense no makes perfect sense and then the daughter pops up the high daughter wow yeah once they start in the food they go through his wallet and they find his daughter okay and then she shows up but even this feels like is this really happening or not right because that's the point right right his daughter or not like when she so she gets there and uh it's because one of the kids hear some weird shit out in the shed

where dead mom is covered up with a tarp. So he goes out there and there's like some weird ghost shit bumping around or whatever that you see little glimpses of but nothing concrete. And then this girl pops up and

seems very odd and is sort of leading him out in the woods. And so he's trying to chase her ends up getting to the end of his rope, literally. and unties it and goes. He's trying to chase this girl. He's like, I know she's real.

Yes. Because he saw her in the wallet. Yep. And she's just looking for her dad. But now she's running away because she's scared of this kid. Wow. But then once he lets go to the rope, shit gets weird. Yeah.

She completely disappears. Yeah. And then some things happen. There's your answer to then, right? Some things happen and you're like, okay, maybe the mom was telling the truth. Right. Kind of.

Bab, that's like centipede thing that goes up a tree. Uh-huh. And at first it's like two hands climbing. And then another hand pops up. And then another hand pops up. Oh, Jesus. So it's got like six hands and it's climbing up a tree. It's not like something he can't see.

He's seeing it. Yeah. Are they both seeing it? No, it's just what I'm like kids. Okay, so most of the things observed, let me guess, are just one person observing him, right? Yeah, at that moment. So that's kind of telling also, right? So, yeah, because it also made me kind of think, is he having hallucinations because he was near death?

Oh, yeah. It's just his mind. As one would, right? Because at this point, this is the one that is the true believer who believed everything his mom said, and he's the one that let go of the rope to go chase this girl because he knew that she was real. And now she turns into this demon thing and they get inside him

and now he's got the demon. Then another thing that kind of popped in my head was maybe is this like mental illness that goes through the family? Yeah. Because this place was built by Holly Berry's father who taught her all this because

she reveals pictures that she led she led a different life. Yeah, she had like a big snake tattoo on her back and, like, tattoos down her forearm and stuff. And then, like, the picture that they showed, like, she was wearing, like, a blonde wig and bright lipstick and, like, a little cocktail dress. I'm like, was she, like, a hooker? What the fuck is happening? But they don't really answer that question either. Yeah.

Like I said, the movie does a good job. just kind of pulling you one direction to the next, but I still agree with Phil. Like, they did a great job up until that ending, or maybe even the whole third act. Yeah, and I don't even know that I would have been totally opposed to the third act, had that last little ending sequence not happened. So they sort of did, like...

Okay. Now, I can't remember specifically what happened. at the end of the fallen with Denzel. Yeah. But I haven't seen that in years. But they give you this little nod that the bad guy is still there. And so they didn't win like they thought they did. Like a nod and a wink type thing.

Right. Right. Yeah. And it really worked with that movie and they sort of tried to do the same thing here. But it's just like, well, now I have more questions. Gotcha Gotcha So I think they could have gone to something that was like definitively real

Like instead okay so the the house end up There could be an alternate ending then Yeah the house ends up burning down And the firefighter show up and save the and save the two kids And then the end is where they're like being lifelighted back But like because the hiker called 911

and then like as he was dying because he had an arrow through his stomach I felt like it would have been kind of cool to like bring the SWAT team in and then they have to deal with these kids and then figure out what's going on there so many ways you could go

yeah I don't know I think that there's maybe some different things that they could have done at the end. I don't know if I have a suggestion for them. But that's kind of the problem when you get into these sort of movies, where they're sort of leading you along the whole way.

Like you don't... If you're questioning everything up until the very end, you really got to stick the ending. And the whole movie hinges on that. Yes. You've got to have an answer. You've got to have that many questions, you've got to have an answer. Yeah, I don't think they quite stuck the landing.

Yeah, that's my biggest issue. Okay. But not bad. We have another movie that's going to compete for our time Friday. Asriel is coming out this weekend, I think, right? I'm hearing great things about that one. Okay, cool. Angels and Demons, man.

Let's roll. You know, if we get that hurricane leaving bad weather here so much that I can't get to horror nights, I guess there's at least a couple of movies I can go see. Yeah. Always look on the bright side. life, right? There it is. Yeah. No, you guys have me super intrigued, man. This is, yeah, this is one I got to check out. Way, way better than it had any right to be. I can understand that. Yeah, got it. All right, cool. Well, look, as always, we want to thank you guys for listening to another episode of the horror

returns. We would love to hear your feedback and ideas. Got another month going on that contest. Would you call it a contest? Don't call it a contest. What do you guys think? called a special offer. Patreon promotion. Special offer. There we go. There we go.

Promotion ending. Get it while you can. That's right. Oh man. Just check us out. Go to thehorter returns.com. Next week, we are going to what are we going to do

starting October month with could it be Satan? Brian? Yeah, that guy. So we're going to check out Rosemary's Baby. Oh, okay. Always.

Rosemary's Baby, as well as the prequel, Apartment 7A. So, Philip, until the horror returns again. Good night.