Horror Guys

About Horror Guys

Join Kevin and Brian for a weekly podcast episode. Every Friday, the guys release both a video and audio podcast episode that covers everything new in horror, along with a handful of great (and awful) movie reviews! www.horrorweekly.com (https://www.horrorweekly.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Brian Schell and Kevin L. Knights

Category

tv & film · tv & film

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 Dec 2018

Latest episode

11 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

410 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   11 Oct 2026

   Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Resident Evil, You’re Next, and The Earth Dies Screaming

   This week’s new release is “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma” (2026). We’ll also begin watching the Resident Evil series with “Resident Evil” (2002). “You’re Next” (2011) is up next, and finally is 1964’s “The Earth Dies Screaming.” All this, plus the latest issue of “Horror Monthly,” issue #61, for October 2026, is out now! Check out all the back issues, as well as our other books, with one easy link: https://horrormonthly.com (https://horrormonthly.com) Mainstream Films: 2026 Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma * Directed by: Jane Schoenbrun * Written by: Jane Schoenbrun * Stars: Jack Haven, Hannah Einbeinder, Gillian Anderson * Run Time: 1 Hour, 52 Minutes * Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone Sexual and psychological hijinks occur when the director who is going to reboot a classic horror movie franchise visits the camp where the first movie was filmed and tries to talk the final girl from the first movie into returning to acting. And of course she has to convince her agent that’s a good idea too. It’s weird and surreal and gets more so as the movie progresses, almost like being about horror and fandom than actually being horror, and it blurs the lines between fantasy and reality. We both agree it had good parts, and was interesting, but we were kinda bored for big chunks of it. Spoilery Synopsis We open on a movie set, and then cut to a young couple walking through a field. A crazy man with a box on his head, “LIttle Death,” kills them excessively. Credits roll as we see newspaper clippings about what a hit the movie, “Camp Miasma” was back in the days of videotape. There are numerous sequels and merchandising gimmicks. Nowadays, it’s considered a “problematic classic.” But now, there’s a new reboot in the works! Kris calls Mari, who talks about Thor, about the new remake. She gets to the strange little Hilton Inn and talks to the proprietor about borrowing a DVD player that he has to dust off. She watches Part VI of the franchise, and it is pretty awful. She eventually comes to Camp Tivoli, which is clearly closed for the winter. They do, however, have a building marked “Cinema,” so she has to check that out. At just about the point where she’s expecting a jump scare, Billy Presley, the star of the films, shows up. She just might actually believe that Little Death is real. He’s still waiting down at the bottom of the lake, and he always comes back. We then get a montage of them eating fried chicken… The two discuss how Camp Miasma isn’t woke enough for modern audiences, but if they hire a queer director like Kris, that makes it OK. Kris explains all about being polyamorous, which is new to Billy. It’s a long conversation, and after, Kris wants to leave. Still, it’s late, so Billy convinces her to stay the night. Meanwhile, out in the center of the frozen lake, something glows and starts to break free. The two women watch the original film, released back in 1980, and it’s clear that Billy still identifies with the younger version of herself in the film. We watch as the camp counselors arrive ahead of the kids and tell the legend of the Little Death. There was a weird mute kid there one summer who was a boy on some days and a girl on others. Eventually, the other kids just drowned him. We see Little Death rise from the cold dark lake. He immediately starts killing people and spraying CGI blood everywhere. LOTS of CGI blood. He kills all the counselors within a few minutes. Back in the real world, Kris and Billy continue watching the film. There’s a sex scene involving young Billy, and we see the killer approaching them. Just as the Little Death is about to kill them, the power goes out and the film stops. Then we stop as Kris takes her shirt off to seduce Billy, and it appears to work quite well. Kris has visions of Little Death right in the middle of sex, which she finds annoying. Kris wants to be the victim of Little Death, or at least that’s her fantasy, The next day, Kris does a video conference with the backers for the film. Kris reports that she’s pretty sure she’s signed Billy to be in the project, but the others aren’t at all impressed with that idea. They all expect a Little Death origin story, but she explains her concept for the film, and it’s pretty weird. [At this point, I’m looking to see how much longer this is]. The producers decide to… get back to Kris. Kris, on the other hand, finds herself suddenly in the Miasma movie, with all the original actors and characters. Then she goes back to camp to dance and hang out with Billy again.Billy talks about losing her virginity, and it was its own “Little Death.” Kris sees Little Death rise out of the lake to chase her. She obliges by stripping down to her panties and a shirt with no bra. Mari and Thor show up just in time to be killed. So does her agent and others as things get more and more over the top like she’s in a Miasma movie. As Billy and Kris make love in bed, Little Death approaches from outside and kills them both, which seems to be a romantically happy ending? Little Death creates the next film in the series, which stars Billy and Kris. We flash back over all the dead bodies of people that Little Death really did kill, as he walks back out into the lake until next time. Both dead girls wake up, their fantasies fulfilled… Brian’s Commentary It truly is the golden age of gummy candies. There’s so much product placement that it probably made a profit even before it was released. The in-movie movie, Camp Miasma, is a send-up of all the slasher films of the 80s, mostly the Jason Voorhees ones, but it’s far more over-the-top than those films ever really were. There’s also a lot here about washed-up actresses and ruined careers. Most of the outdoor scenes are clearly not real places, but it gives the whole thing a surreal side that emphasizes the weirdness of the camp setting. The visuals overall are quite nice, and the in-movie gore is excessively silly, but very appropriate. Much like the director’s previous film, “I Saw the TV Glow (https://www.horrorguys.com/i-saw-the-tv-glow-2024/),” this one is heavily LGBTQ and trans friendly. It’s kinda all over the place, storywise. The in-movie Miasma stuff is hilariously gory, but the wraparound story with Kris and Billy really drags and drags. It’s a weird one, but I have to say I was bored through about 35% of it. Kevin’s Commentary I too noticed the product placement. Lots of it and pretty obvious. I thought casting Amanda Fix as young Billy, AKA young Gillian Anderson, worked really well. Candy. There is so much candy in this movie. I’d call it at least interesting. The visuals and acting are great. But not a lot happened in the first half, and I thought the second half started dragging. I was longing for more movie within the movie. But the ending was intriguing. I’m going to go with I liked it more than disliked it. 2002 Resident Evil * AKA “Biohazard” * Directed by: Paul W. S. Anderson * Written by: Paul W. S. Anderson * Stars: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Ryan McCluskey * Run Time: 1 Hour, 42 Minutes * Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone A special military unit has to infiltrate an underground research facility where they deal with the undead, mutated dogs and people, and a protective computer system. And some amnesia in the mix just for fun. It’s heavy on science fiction, set in the future, and it plays out a lot like a video game for very good reason. The horror elements are there, and lots of action. It felt a little dated seeing it now, but it’s still well made and entertaining. And the ending leaves it wide open for the sequel. Spoilery Synopsis We are briefed on the events that led to the incident at Racoon City. We’re told that The Umbrella Corporation had become the largest commercial entity in the United States. They have products everywhere, including bio-weapons. Credits roll. We watch as a scientist packs up some samples and then releases a virus into the air system of the science base. The dogs used as test animals notice the smell first, but the people don’t. There’s a biohazard warning, and all the doors lock down. The gas is channeled into the rooms, killing most of the employees. The people in the elevator, on the other hand, are gas-free, but trapped. Somewhere else, Alice wakes up, naked, in the shower. She looks in the mirror and notices strange bruises. She’s alone, but finds some weapons in a locked vault. Suddenly, ninjas attack! One of them grabs Alice and demands a report, but she doesn’t remember anything. There’s a man there, Matt, who insists he’s supposed to be there. The whole group descends to the mansion’s basement, where there’s a whole secret subway station. On the train, they find another guy with memory loss. We can see that someone is following their progress through the security monitors. One explains to Alice and the other guy, Spence, that they all work for the corporation to protect the secrecy of the hive, where they are now. Alice, Spence, and all the soldiers enter the hive, the science base we saw earlier. “The Red Queen has locked onto us, she knows we’re here.” The Red Queen is the AI that controls the hive. The group comes across a room full of pods, and inside those pods are people. The group’s leader, One, walks ahead of the others and unlocks the doors. Turns out, it’s a trap, and that goes badly for four of the soldiers and One. A holographic representation of the Red Queen appears and warns them to leave immediately. Alice and JD plant the EMP device, which goes off and shuts down the computer. It also shuts down all the containment things in the building and opens all the doors. Turns out, all those scientists who died have become zombies; one of them bites Rain. A bunch of zombies attack, and there’s a great deal of shooting. After the fighting, mutated weird things start breaking out of the pods. Alice runs into mutant zombie dogs and one of the soldiers. She does martial arts on the undead security guard and remembers that she’s a trained fighter. Meanwhile, Matt, playing the corporate weasel (every movie’s got one one), sneaks off by himself. Turns out, he was here to spy on Umbrella and expose them to the press. Alice starts to think she might be the inside agent who was leaking the secrets outside. The group only has about an hour to get out of the building before the doors all lock and they’re buried here, forever. They have to turn the Red Queen back on to get the doors open. The queen explains all about zombies and how to kill them. Still, the numbers are overwhelming, and most of the soldiers die. Alice and Spence, along with Matt and the clearly infected Rain, are all that’s left. Alice gets a flashback showing her that there’s a cure for the virus. The blue vials are the virus; the green is the cure. Spence also gets his memories back; he’s the baddie who released the infection. Spence locks everyone in a room and returns to the train, where he hid the antidote. The Red Queen, on the other hand, has released the scary mutant monster in the same place. It kills him and then uses his DNA to mutate further. The group meets up with Kaplan, who didn’t die after all. They give Rain the antidote and get back on the train. Kaplan drives the train, at least until the big mutant gets him. Alice stabs the creature in the tongue, but then Rain turns into a zombie after all and attacks from the rear. Matt shoots Rain; Alice kills the mutant. Alice and Matt barely make it out of the hive before lockdown happens. Matt, who was scratched, starts to turn, but a bunch of scientists storm in and cart him away. Alice is also taken away for further study. Alice wakes up some time later in a lab, but there’s no one else there. Turns out, this lab has gotten infected as well. She breaks out of the Racoon City Hospital and sees that it’s gotten all post-apocalyptic outside. Time for a sequel! Brian’s Commentary The poor Umbrella Corporation gets the blame for all of this? The corporation was legally creating bioweapons for the government. Spence was the one who released it, with help from Matt, Alice, and Matt’s sister. There’s lots of shooting, jumping, kicking, and puzzles, almost as if this was based on a video game or something. It’s got a lot of action, one damned thing after another, but it never gets boring. The story is fine, although there really aren’t any surprises; the acting… well, it’s a videogame movie. The CGI mutant has not held up, but the rest is all pretty good. Kevin’s Commentary I thought this one still holds up pretty well overall for entertainment, but it’s dated looking around the edges. Like a video game, it keeps moving steady from one thing to the next. I’d recommend it if you’re in the mood for something fun and violent. 2011 You’re Next * Directed by: Adam Wingard * Written by: Simon Barrett * Stars: Sharni Vinson, Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen * Run Time: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes * Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone The family gets together for mom and dad’s anniversary at their huge house in the country. Home invaders crash the party and things get deadly and violent. It becomes a cat and mouse game, and we’re left wondering who is going to survive to the end. Home invasions have been done before, but this was an especially good one. We would recommend it. Spoilery Synopsis We open on a couple having bad sex. Erik goes off for a shower, and she turns on some music. He comes out of the shower and sees “You’re Next” written on the mirror in his girlfriend’s blood. He is, in fact, next. Paul and Aubrey arrive at the house next door to Erik’s, and the front door has been opened. They go in and start cleaning up. Paul goes to check out the upstairs, but is interrupted by Crispin, their son, and Erin, who have just arrived. There is, however, someone up there. Aimee and Tariq show up next, along with Felix and Zee. The next morning, Crispin’s brother Drake and wife Kelly arrive and annoy Crispin. Aubrey sends Erin over to Erik’s house to borrow some milk. She goes over there but doesn’t see Erik’s body. Dinnertime rolls around, and soon, the whole family is arguing. Tariq notices someone outside, and whoever it is out there shoots him in the head. The shots just keep on coming, and Drake gets it in the back as well. Panic ensues. They talk Aimee into running for help, and that goes very badly, very quickly. More screaming ensues as Aimee dies from a wire-cut throat. Aubrey goes upstairs to cry, but she’s attacked by a killer in a fox mask. Erin is also attacked, but fights him off. “You’re Next” is written on the wall. Kelly gets out the front door and runs to Erik’s house, where she runs into a sheep-masked man who finishes her off with an axe. Crispin decides it’s his turn to run for help. Tigerman breaks in through the window, but Erin beats him to death– and she’s sure he won’t be getting up again. Paul thinks this whole thing was an organized attack and that they’ve been watching the house for days, but then he gets his throat cut and can’t elaborate further. Turns out, the animal-men are working for Felix and Zee. Erin is still out there trying to find a way out. Sheepface finds the dead tigerman and freaks out; that was probably his brother or something. He runs into Drake, who still isn’t dead, but Erin runs him off before anyone else dies. Drake and Erin meet up with Felix and Zee to barricade the doors. Erin says she grew up in a survivalist compound, and she’s learned some weird stuff. Felix stabs Drake repeatedly with multiple screwdrivers, and this time, he’s really going to die. Erin jumps out the window and starts running through the woods. Sheephead steps on a nail trap which he finds annoying. Zee wants to have sex with Felix on the bed next to his dead mother. Erin hides and overhears Felix yelling at the killers for their incompetence. Erin stabs sheephead in the forehead, and he looks dead. She then sets out “Home Alone-ing” the house. Naturally, the fox-head comes in through the window instead of the booby-trapped door. Erin uses a flashbulb to distract him and then kill him. No more masked men, just Felix and Zee are left. Felix attacks Erin, who kills him very creatively. Zee simply gets stabbed in the head. Felix’s phone rings; it’s Crispin, wanting to know if the murders are done. Erin is just a bit unhappy that her boyfriend would set her up to be murdered. He goes inside and runs into Erin. He explains that there was a reason she was there; as a surviving witness. He knows they can work through this as a couple. Will she join him as an accomplice? No, she stabs him. Then she falls over; the cops have arrived and shot her. He opens the front door, which is still booby trapped, and gets an axe to the face. Credits roll. Brian’s Commentary We both would have insisted that we’d seen this before, but we hadn’t. It was probably since the movie poster looks so much like similar movies with home invasions by people in animal masks. Rich people, out that far in the country, and they didn’t even have a hunting rifle? I am skeptical. I do like that these killers aren’t mysterious, unstoppable forces. They’re just guys in masks, and, although not stupid, they aren’t super overcompetent, either. I did like this one. Kevin’s Commentary I suspected before the reveal that Felix was in on it. It seemed unnecessarily elaborate and drawn out though if he just wanted it to look like home invaders killed everyone else - they took their time doing it with missed opportunities to wrap things up faster. Crispin being in on it too caught me by complete surprise. The house where it was filmed was pretty awesome. It was kind of refreshing to see Erin break the trope of knocking down a bad guy, then running away and giving them a chance to get up and resume the chase. When she got one down, she made sure they stayed down permanently. I thought this was a very good one. I liked it a lot. 1964 The Earth Dies Screaming * Directed by: Terence Fisher * Written by: Harry Spalding * Stars: Willard Parker, Virginia Field, Dennis Price * Run Time: 1 Hour, 2 Minutes * Watch it: Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone Set in England, a small group of survivors are left after alien robots gas the planet and kill most of the population. It’s kind of interesting, but we both felt like more could have been explained and done with it. With such a short run time, they could have done a bit more to up the satisfaction. We’d both call it interesting and not bad. At least it’s a short watch. Spoilery Synopsis We open on a train derailment. A man at the station passes out. No, everyone passes out at the same time. The train crashes, a plane crashes, people are flopping down everywhere. Credits roll. A Jeep drives into town, and Jeff Nolan, the driver, is the only one who’s awake. He steals a radio from a shop window. He checks both it and the TV, but nothing’s on but static. A man and a woman come in behind him with a gun. Quinn and Peggy are locals, and they don’t know what’s going on. The others are not sleeping, they’re dead. Jeff was up in a plane, Peggy was in an oxygen tent in a hospital. Was this some sort of attack? Quinn suspiciously doesn’t say where he was. Violet and Ed introduce themselves. They were in a car crash and just woke up. They were fooling around in a lab that had processed air. This all indicates that maybe it was a gas attack. Men in metal space suits come into town, and Violet runs to them. One of them turns around, touches her, and she dies. They aren’t just men in suits. Two new people drive into town, Mel and Lorna. They slept in an air raid shelter last night when this all happened. The whole group explores a nearby army base and gets more guns and supplies. Then it’s back to the hotel where they all hang out watching for trouble and getting to know each other better. That night, one of the weird robots returns to town and watches Lorna through a window. Jeff watches it spying on her. Quinn sneaks out in the middle of the night and packs up some food to take with him. Virginia, who died earlier, gets out of bed and goes downstairs. Quinn shoots Virginia, who is possessed somehow. Quinn whacks Jeff over the head and then insists that Peggy leave with him. Peggy runs back to the hotel where they’d all been staying, but he’s right behind her. She gets caught between a robot man and animated dead people. Jeff arrives in his car just in time to save her by ramming the robot and shooting the zombified humans. Jeff and Peggy return to the army base for the others, but find that Lorna is in the process of having her baby. Jeff listens to the radio and hears the same sound that the robots are using. He thinks maybe the robots are using a local radio transmitter to control themselves. If they can find that transmitter, they might be able to disable all the robots at once. They soon find it, unguarded out in the woods. Back at the base, Quinn leads a group of robot men inside where Peggy and Lorna are. With no time to lose, Jeff positions the explosives and gets ready to blow up the tower. Boom! The tower falls down, and so do the robots. They all board a plane and head South. Brian’s Commentary It’s only 62 minutes, and the credits are quite long. Everyone just sorta falls over dead, there was no screaming as the Earth died. It’s a few days after the end of the world, but oddly enough, the power doesn’t go off and the gas pumps work perfectly. I guess the robots kept the power running because of their radio transmitter, maybe. Who was behind all this? The robots didn’t seem like the brains behind the attack. Also, that one little radio tower wasn’t controlling all the robots in the world, so there have to be a lot more out there. Kevin’s Commentary It’s said in trivia that the scenes in the opening of a plane crashing because the pilot passed out, and the car crashing into the brick wall for the same reason are recycled from “Village of the Damned (https://www.horrorweekly.com/p/men-fang-house-of-darkness-cloverfield?utm_source=publication-search)” (1960). My theory was that the invading robots were keeping the power going for their own purposes. I thought the setup and idea was interesting, but they didn’t do enough with it. It’s uneven and the pacing drags. Though it is only about an hour long, and that helps. I didn’t hate it, but I wouldn’t really recommend it either. A solid 5 out of 10 for me. Short Film: 2026 Short Film: Long Pork * Directed by: Iris Dukatt * Written by: Iris Dukatt * Stars: Lena Headley, Marc Menchaca, Zoe Cipres, Catherine Curtin * Run Time: 12:37 * Watch it: What Happens A butcher kills a pig, but the assistant gets squeamish about it. Later, the main butcher and chef talks to a friend and says “He shows promise.” The chef starts having flashbacks to her own dead daughter, and we see that they live in a strange, religious future that is very pro-birth. The new “Chancellor of Righteousness” comes in for dinner. They talk about fresh hogs, and he grew up on a farm. He wants to see the slaughterhouse in back, so she leads him on a tour. He’s all about the babies, very anti-abortion. The chef, on the other hand, has a problem with that… Commentary It took a minute to realize the cook they were referring to as him and was pregnant was a trans man. Still, in this future, abortions are completely illegal, and the situation is much more like “The Handmaid’s Tale” than it is now. This was written in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and it’s obvious where the filmmaker stands on that issue. I knew what “Long Pork” was even before the story started, which kinda spoiled where things were going for a bit. This one really stands out with excellent acting, music, and pacing. I want some of what they’re having! Contact Info: Email: mailto:email@horrorguys.com (mailto:email@horrorguys.com) Websites: https://www.horrorguys.com (https://www.horrorguys.com) https://www.horrormonthly.com (https://www.horrormonthly.com) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.horrorweekly.com/subscribe (https://www.horrorweekly.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

2. 

   4 Oct 2026

   The End of Oak Street, Black Box, Goodnight Mommy, and Ju-On: The Grudge

   This week’s new releases are “The End of Oak Street,” and “Black Box” both from this year. We’ll also look at a couple of classics, “Goodnight Mommy” from 2014 and the original “Ju-On: The Grudge” from 2002. Mostly good stuff! All this, plus the latest issue of “Horror Monthly,” issue #60, for September 2026, is out now! Check out all the back issues, as well as our other books, with one easy link: https://horrormonthly.com (https://horrormonthly.com) Mainstream Films: 2026 The End of Oak Street * Directed by: David Robert Mitchell * Written by: David Robert Mitchell * Stars: Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor, Maisy Stella * Run Time: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes * Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone The Platt family bands together for survival when their whole neighborhood is transported back to an era when dinosaurs were thriving. The title has a double meaning of the end of Oak Street and perhaps the literal end of Oak Street. They nailed the retro vibe setting it in 1982. The blood and gore is surprisingly tame considering the violence. Somehow they managed to avoid an R rating. The special effects are good as is the story, and we thought it was very entertaining. Spoilery Synopsis There’s a big block party on Oak Street, and Denise, Greg, Audry, and Brian Platt are all having a great time, probably because this is vaguely the 80s, when everyone was happy (Carl Sagan was alive and Chrysler was still a thing). Denise and Greg are having some martial issues because he’s working too many jobs. There’s a radio report of strange waves out in space. Denise has written a book, and the old lady who’s editing it shows her a weird plant in her back yard that she can’t identify that’s grown really fast. The kids and the dog have typical problems. That night, there are weird lights in the sky; only Brian and the dog see them. In the morning, nasty neighbor Mel comes over and blames the kids for piling hundreds of pounds of poop in his backyard. Later, the local bully, Kaden, chases Brian around the neighborhood. That night, the strange lights in the sky return, and everyone sees them this time. The power goes out and the rain instantly stops. They all hear screaming, so Greg goes out to investigate. When he returns, he warns them all to lock the doors before going back to bed. In the morning, the power is still out. The water isn’t working either, which is unexpected. Greg and Denise go out for a walk, and it’s very quiet– almost too quiet. They hear lots of unusual animal noises. Denise finds her elderly neighbor friend half-eaten in her kitchen, and there’s a full-on jungle in her backyard that wasn’t there yesterday. Greg, on the other hand, gets chased around the neighborhood by a dinosaur. They run home, and there is much screaming and panicking. Everyone hops in the car, but all the roads out of the neighborhood stop in forests, as if the whole subdivision was transported into a dinosaur-infested jungle. The camera pulls away, and we see that that’s exactly what has happened. They all rush home and start boarding up the windows. Greg admits that he was recently laid off and didn’t want Denise to worry. Denise’s book got destroyed when the basement flooded. The kids are terrified. Good times all around. The small dinosaurs hear something that scares them away. They talk about portals through time; could they be in the past? That night, they watch as Mel is torn apart by flying reptiles. We see larger dinos slowly moving into the area. Brian runs out after the dog, and Audrey runs out after Brian; the parents soon notice and go out again, looking for them. Something big attacks the car, so that doesn’t last long. Brian and Audrey run into Jeannette, the new kid at private school, and her parents have already been eaten. Greg and Denise find a portal that appears to lead back to the normal world, but it vanishes before they can do anything. There’s a lot of running around and being chased until Greg gets caught by a big one and eaten. There’’s a fire that’s coming, and it’s going to burn everything. They spot another portal, but it’s way across town. The group gets there without too much trouble and goes upstairs, where the portal is. Mr. Valcourt, the town’s librarian, is there with a shotgun. The elevated portal is blinking on and off, so they need to time their jumps. Jeanette goes through, no problem. Brian’s not so lucky and falls three stories to hurt his leg. They retrieve Brian and then go back to the roof, where they all jump together, even the dog. They wind up in 1982 in someone’s swimming pool, and the owner isn’t happy. Their neighborhood is still there, like nothing happened. It’s the night the portal came, in twenty minutes from now! Can they save all the people? Jeanette runs off to save her parents. Denise runs to a phone booth and makes a call. Turns out, she ordered a pizza from the company Greg has been working for, and that gets him out of the “transport zone.” The family watches as the lights cover the part of the city around their home and it all vanishes and is replaced with a chunk of dinosaur jungle. Two years later, a news report explains what’s been going on. Turns out, Denise called a lot of people, warning them to get out, and ended up being a local hero for it. She then wrote a book about the whole ordeal. Everyone’s got a happy ending (including TWO Jeanettes)! Brian’s Commentary The easy comparison here is the recent film, “The Last House (https://www.horrorguys.com/2026-the-last-house/)” (2026), which is similar in a lot of ways. “Jurassic Park” also comes into play heavily here. Ewan McGregor’s “American” accent is not great. Special effects for dinosaurs aren’t exactly new, but they are very well done here. Many are more birdlike, with hair and feathers, something scientists didn’t know about when Jurassic Park was made, but they added it here. The portals aren’t really explained in much detail, but we don’t need to know. The blood and gore is pretty minimal, but a lot of people are killed and eaten, so it’s borderline on the horror scale, but we’ll count it anyway because it’s pretty good! Kevin’s Commentary I know that it’s more scientifically accurate, but after growing up with all lizard dinosaurs I feel irrationally annoyed at some dinosaurs being depicted with fur and feathers now. I agree that Evan McGregor’s accent sounds kind of unnatural. At least it’s consistent. I thought it moved well and was entertaining. I’d give it a thumbs up. 2026 Black Box * Directed by: Steven Quale * Written by: Stephen Susco * Stars: Tom Brittney, Holly White, Betsy-Blue English * Run Time: 1 Hour, 25 Minutes * Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone It’s stuff on a plane. Flight 298 from New Orleans to Seattle encounters strange events in the air. Things go on for quite a while being weird and random before any kind of explanation surfaces. It’s entertaining, above average in quality, but overall neither of us thought it was really great. Spoilery Synopsis We get a cryptic message from a man aboard a plan that swears what we are about to see is real. He says it would be terrible if what’s on this plane makes it to the ground. We then see some found footage of the passengers in the airport before the flight. Black Box: Flight 298 comes on, and we hear the pilot talking about a hurricane and electrical disturbances just ahead, and then contact is lost. We watch the various passengers board the plane, not as found footage, and many of them seem obnoxious and rude. We also see a large crate being loaded “handle with extreme care.” Chen puts on a tin-foil hat to avoid the cosmic rays up there. The plane takes off normally, but before long, one man starts coughing. Another guy is a stereotypical privileged businessman-jerk. Jeremy is sad over a break-up, but he makes friends with Chloe, a little girl waiting for the restroom the sick man is camped out in. He then makes friends with Emma, one of the stewardesses. The sick old man sees a light outside the plane and starts yelling, “We’re all gonna die up here!” After a few minutes of panic, he grabs his chest and tries to open the door. He then coughs up a bunch of blood and passes out. Jeremy is a doctor, and it’s soon clear that the old man is dead. Suddenly, all the dogs in the hold start barking all at once. The copilot goes down to check, but it looks normal. He speaks to them, and they all get real quiet, real fast. Jeremey notices that the lightning outside is not normal; it’s red and green and moving. Jeremy and Chloe, the people who see the lights, start getting headaches. Their ears are bleeding. Or was it their contact with the sickly old man? Turns out, a lot of people on the flight have started feeling bad. The captain decides to divert to another airport. The pilot and co-pilot see weird lights in the sky, and it’s not lightning. They call to see if the military is testing anything tonight, and they aren’t since the weather is too clear. Our plane, however, is in a major storm. The pilot says it looks like a category five hurricane. The pilot and co-pilot stop responding for no obvious reason, and the plane might not have anyone flying. From outside, we see a special cloud surrounding and following the plane, and it’s full of lights. Suddenly, the turbulence stops; have they landed? Could they be on a black site for quarantine? Jeremy takes another look at the old man and comes to the conclusion that the electrical system blew up his pacemaker. They all hear footsteps on the roof of the plane. Something’s trying to get in. The door opens, and tentacles pull one of the passengers out. The businessjerk, who’s been hiding in the restroom, gets splattered in the face and might be possessed. A spider-like tentacle monster then comes on board and starts killing people. Things get weird at this point. The characters that we know hide in the cargo area, but they probably aren’t alone. The dogs have been taken over, as is the Air Marshal. Jeremy opens the door, and they see that they haven’t landed, they’re just sorta floating high in the sky. As they look for parachutes, one guy tries to open that big crate we saw earlier. Turns out, that’s Jeremy’s recently dead wife. They find the parachutes, but it’s not enough for all of them. They all record messages on their phones in case they die. Chloe hears her (dead) mother’s voice, telling her to open the door. She opens it, and the monster gets her. Emma jumps out of the plane with a chute, but Jeremy stays behind. Emma gets pulled back up and drawn back to the plane, but she does drop the bag of cellphones. The plane starts to move again, so Jeremy makes his way out of hiding. One of the alien bugs has taken over Jeremy’s dead wife’s body and they have a talk. She explains that this happens to most airplanes, as the aliens slowly possess one set of passengers after another. “We will have taken your world, one body at a time…” The pilot reports that everything’s fine now, no one is sick, and they’re ready to land. Jeremy comes out of the cargo area and sees that the plane is full of passengers, just like before. They all look normal. He kills the pilot and co-pilot and takes over the plane. He points it down and tries to crash it, but the auto landing system takes over and lands the plane safely. The SWAT team comes in and takes Jeremy into custody. He sounds like a lunatic, so no one listens to his warnings. Brian’s Commentary It’s a mix of stuff happening on the plane mixed in with found footage of… other stuff. Fortunately, the found footage bits are few and far between once the action starts. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the beginning that never really gets explained, but most questions are answered by the end. I was entertained, but it’s not great. Kevin’s Commentary It was feeling too weird and random for quite a while, but it does eventually explain things a bit. I wondered if it was going to go full found footage, but that was only something sprinkled throughout. It was pretty entertaining, but also pretty forgettable. Like eating potato chips. The details won’t stick with me. 2014 Goodnight Mommy * Directed by: Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz * Written by: Veronika Franz, Severin Fiala * Stars: Lukas Schwarz, Elias Schwarz, Suzanna Wuest * Run Time: 1 Hour, 39 Minutes * Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone Twin boys have moved to a big new house with their mother - who is bandaged and unrecognizable after facial surgery. But things seem off, and they get more so as the story unfolds and we get clues about what’s going on. It’s well made and acted, but it really drags. Kevin thought it was okay. Brian thought less of it than that. It makes lists of must-see horror films, but we aren’t sure why. Spoilery Synopsis After a creepy goodnight lullaby, we cut to two boys playing hide-and-seek in a cornfield. Elias and Lukas are twin brothers. Credits roll. A car drives up, and the boys run to meet their mother, who has returned home after surgery. Her face is all bandaged, and the boys are a little afraid of her. Mother makes dinner for Elias but ignores Lukas entirely. Is he real? Mother has new rules: she wants no noise at all and no visitors. She needs to avoid sunlight. The boys whisper to each other that she’s different, not like their mom. One day, the boys find a pit full of skulls and bones. That’s OK, because there’s a cat there they can play with. They take the cat home with them, but mother doesn’t see it. When night comes around, mother takes off all her clothes and walks through the dark woods. The twins collect giant cockroaches, and they put one in her bed that night, and she swallows it in her sleep. They boys go online and see that their house is for sale. They put a baby monitor in her room under the bed to spy on her. Mother talks about making him face it. They boys go looking for the cat, but can’t find it. When they do find the cat, he’s dead. Elias accuses the mother of not being their mother, and she gets upset at that. She punishes him but seems to ignore Lukas entirely. He dreams about cutting her open and letting out all the cockroaches inside her. Eventually, mother loses the bandages, looking like her old self, but the boys are still suspicious. They boys run away to the nearby town, which seems mostly deserted. They go to a church there asking for the priest to take them to the police for help, but the man simply drives them home. She talks to the priest, “It was all a bit much– the accident, the separation.” In the morning, Mama wakes up tied to the bed. The boys want to know where their mother is. This goes on for quite a while, as Elias torments her. He’s about to release her when he realizes the mole on her face is only drawn on; his real mother had a real mole. She says it was removed in the surgery. They torture her with sunlight through a magnifier to burn her. For some reason, the Red Cross stops by wanting a donation. Mother’s gagged and can’t make much noise, so the boys say she’s out. They decide to wait for her return. Finally Elias gives them a 50 out of mom’s purse just to get them to go away. They end up supergluing her mouth shut, but then they have to cut it open to feed her. Elias eventually cuts her loose to change the bedsheets, and she runs off. They’ve got the place booby-trapped, so she doesn’t get far. She promises to talk to Lukas again if he lets her go; “He’ll be alive again.” She tells him the accident wasn’t his fault. Lukas tells Elias that she’s lying. Elias sets the house on fire, and Mother is glued to the floor. She burns to death, so Elias goes to hide in the cornfield. Now he sees his real mother, right there with Lukas! Brian’s Commentary No one ever seems to notice Lukas, so we figured early on that he was imaginary, or a ghost or something. This question takes far too long to play out, and it becomes so obvious after a while. I’ve seen this on several “Top Horror Films” lists, and thought it ought to be pretty good. It was not. I don’t see the attraction to the film at all. The “twist” was pretty obvious, even early on, and the rest was pretty drawn-out and dull. Kevin’s Commentary There were enough clues given that I guessed early in the film that Lukas was dead and Elias was imagining him still alive. And it becomes more clear later. Well into the movie, Brian commented that he’s tired of boring horror movies, and I had to agree. This is mighty slow moving for the first long part. Things build very slowly for a long time. The finish livens things up a little. Those were the two pushiest and entitled Red Cross volunteers ever. I thought it was too easy to figure out what was going on too early and getting to the conclusion seemed like a bit of a slog. It’s well made, and I was impressed with the acting. But I give it low marks for entertainment value. 2002 Ju-On: The Grudge * Directed by: Takashi Shimizu * Written by: Takashi Shimizu * Stars: Megumi Okina, Misaki Ito, Misa Uehara * Run Time: 1 Hour, 32 Minutes * Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone IMDB.com (http://imdb.com) describes this as “A mysterious and vengeful spirit marks and pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides.” The order and timeline are strange and a bit hard to follow, with the focus changing from character to character in different sections. It’s jumbled and didn’t fit together for us as a plot. Neither of us get the appeal. We didn’t like it. Spoilery Synopsis We’re told that Ju-On is a curse of one who died in the grip of a powerful rage. Those who encounter it die, and a new curse is born. We open on blurry photos of a man torturing a cat with a little boy in the next room. Credits roll. At the Social Welfare Center, Rika gets a new case assignment. She’s only a volunteer, but the last guy just sorta quit without notice. When she gets to the Tokunaga house, it’s not very well maintained, and she gasps. She introduces herself to the old lady inside, but the old woman doesn’t have much to say. As Rika cleans up the house, she finds a torn-up photo of what she assumes is the old woman’s family. She goes upstairs to a closet and opens the door, where she sees a little boy hiding. The boy says his name is Toshio. Suddenly, a scary black ghost comes and leans over the old woman; Rika faints. A couple gets ready in the morning, and she sees him off to work, leaving her with an aging mother to take care of. It’s the same house, maybe a little earlier. The woman, Kazumi, sees Toshio and goes to investigate. There’s a jump scare involving a cat, and the next thing we get is the husband coming home from work. He finds Kazumi in a trance on the bed. We keep seeing the little boy behind him, but he keeps missing the boy. Another young woman comes in with groceries and speaks to mother, who does not respond. Meanwhile the husband is hiding Kazumi’s body upstairs. Hitomi finds him sitting on the stairs, they are siblings, and he keeps repeating “It’s not my child” over and over. He pushes her outside and heads back upstairs. Later, Hitomi calls Kazumi to ask about their elderly mother. She’s in the restroom of a hospital and sees the black ghost. She runs back to the security office and watches the creature on the security camera; it’s still there. She runs for it, takes the elevator to her apartment upstairs, and every floor she passes has the little boy on it. She keeps hearing the croaking sound the boy makes, even on TV. Turns out, the adult woman ghost is right there in her bed! Toyama comes to the Tokunaga house that we saw earlier. He’s Rika’s boss, and he finds both her and the old woman inside, nearly comatose. He calls the police, who also find Kazumi and her husband up in the attic. Mariko comes to visit Rika in the hospital. The police are very interested in hearing more about the child she reported seeing. She suspects that something bad happened at that house, and the police detective is evasive. Turns out, the families who lived in that house before the Tokunagas disappeared or were killed too. A man named Tokeo Saeki killed his wife there, and he was found later dead on the road. They had a son, Toshio, and yeah, it’s the same child. They go to talk to the former detective who was in charge of that case, and he’s not happy to be involved. Toshio’s body was never found– five years ago. Meanwhile, the bodies of people involved in all this keep stacking up. The former detective watches a video of one of the killings, but it’s a little too real for him. That night, Rika gets a visit from the little boy and the big ghost as well. Meanwhile, Toyama, the former detective tries to burn down the haunted house, but gets a vision of his daughter, Izumi. He spots the big ghost and goes crazy; she gets the other two detectives. Izumi wonders about her missing friends. She’s upset about something; someone suggests she might have ESP. The teacher at school has photos of all the students, and he has to go find Izumi’s. They go to Izumi’s house and find that she’s there, terrified. “The three of them keep looking in at me,” about her three missing friends. Izumi explains that she and her three friends went to the local “haunted house” on a dare. She got spooked and left, but the other stayed, and they haven’t been heard from since. Her photos are all cursed as well. Izumi’s three dead friends come for her that night, as do the other ghosts. Kayako talks on the phone while the old man behind her makes faces at someone she can’t see; it’s Toshio. Later, she meets up with Mariko to talk. She has lunch with Rika later, and Rika’s not quite right– she’s still seeing Toshio. She gets a call from Mariko, who is now at Toshio’s house. Rika rushes right over there. Mariko suddenly can’t find Toshio and goes upstairs looking for him. Rika arrives and finds footprints in the dust. She follows them just in time to see Mariko dragged into the attic. She finally figures out the secret to seeing the ghosts through her fingers. She then gets a vision of the man who killed his wife many years ago. He kills her. Brian’s Commentary I’m sure I saw this when it came out, but other than Toshio, I didn’t remember much about it. It’s confusing when the narrative jumps from one character’s point of view to another, as we’re not sure how the timeline works. Also, there are a lot of characters Maybe it was the subtitles, but I didn’t really understand a lot of this one. It’s highly regarded and led to many sequels, in Japan and Hollywood, so I’m gonna maybe just suggest that I missed something along the way. Kevin’s Commentary I thought this was hard to follow and dull. The story changes from person to person as the main character as we see different parts of the story at different times. And the rules are that the ghost kills or vanishes or makes a ghost of anyone who so much as visits the house, because it’s an angry ghost, or ghosts, holding a grudge. Unless you’re a security guard who never visited the house or had anything to do with it. I saw the US remake some years back and remember enjoying it. I didn’t care for this one a bit. Short Film: 2023 Short Film Juliette Wasn’t Invited Tonight * Directed by: Michael Lazovsky * Stars: Juliette Cacciatore, Linnea Quigley * Run Time: 5 Minutes * Watch it: What Happens Juliette wasn’t invited to go out with her friends tonight. She knows this because she’s watching them party on their social media feeds. She gets a text message from someone with a really weird avatar who wants to have a sleepover. The creature sends her a photo taken right outside her window… Commentary I guess turning on the light never occurs to people in horror films. Neither does calling 911 with the phone right there in your hand. We’ve seen this kind of thing before with cameras, phones, and stalkers, but it’s well done, shot in interesting ways, and never has time to slow down. It’s nicely done! Contact Info: Email: mailto:email@horrorguys.com (mailto:email@horrorguys.com) Websites: https://www.horrorguys.com (https://www.horrorguys.com) https://www.horrormonthly.com (https://www.horrormonthly.com) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.horrorweekly.com/subscribe (https://www.horrorweekly.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

3. 

   21 Sept 2026

   Bloodshine, Texas Chainsaw Massacre (and The Beginning), and The Slime People

   This week’s new release is “Blood Shine,” which we assume was a vampire story but isn’t. We’ll dismember and eat up two more Leatherface films, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003) and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” (2006). Finally, we’ll come up from someone’s bowels with “The Slime People” from 1963– yuck! All this, plus the latest issue of “Horror Monthly,” issue #60, for September 2026, is out now! Check out all the back issues, as well as our other books, with one easy link: https://horrormonthly.com (https://horrormonthly.com) Mainstream Films: 2026 Blood Shine * Directed by: Emily Bennett, Justin Brooks * Written by: Emily Bennett, Justin Brooks * Stars: Emily Bennett, Brendan Sexton III, David Call * Run Time: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes * Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone In an isolated country estate, a young filmmaker is held prisoner by a religious zealot. The beginning segment - about 16 minutes long - held promise, but things change after the opening credits. The two leads give it their all, but we both thought it was pretty dragging and dull. Spoilery Synopsis We open on a creepy TV preacher talking about how our bodies are cages. We cut to some guys working on a farm with cows; more newborn cows have died this year than have been born alive. The farm is failing, so the farmer lays off Keith, who’s obviously already broke. Keith’s truck breaks down on the way to another farm that was recommended to him – he’s not having a good day. Keith walks to a farmhouse to make a phone call. The woman inside, Clara, offers to call him a tow truck. She invites him inside; he does seem safe, at least. She’s kinda plain-looking, but the more he looks at her, the better she looks. They start talking about being lonely and alone. They touch hands, and we then get a glimpse of her and knife, and a trail of blood; she’s stabbed him, and now she wants him to stab her as well. He kills himself instead, even though she wants him to kill her. “You wasted it! You wasted all of it!” Credits roll. We cut to Brighton West showing off his latest new horror short. He’s got an actress there auditioning for a new role, and he Weinsteins her. Later, he calls the producer and promises to finish writing the promised film. He’s going to go off to the country to force himself to finish the movie script for “Craven IV.” The producer is skittish because Brighton’s had addiction issues in the past. At the cabin, Brighton meets Lucy, a neighbor, and avoids her. He ends up spending most of the evening at the local bar drinking. He admits to the bartender that he can’t find any inspiration here. Manny the bartender gives him directions to a nearby town where he’ll find some inspiration in a cave. Brighton goes out to the woods and spots Clara there, naked in the river. Suddenly, he’s knocked out by a falling branch. He wakes up at Clara’s house. They talk about being single, just as she did with Keith earlier, and he admits that no one is home waiting for him. Clara gives Brighton some drugged tea, and the next thing he knows, he’s chained up in a dark place watching a recording of the preacher telling him that he’s going to die. “In 26 days, you will die in agony.” We see that she’s got a whole videotape series about kidnapping and torturing for the cult. She beats, cuts, and shocks him daily after that. Eventually, Brighton takes the hint and starts cutting himself on command; it’s easier than getting beat up first. Brighton figures out that he’s not the first one held here when he finds a message, “She’s afraid of the dark.” There’s a long montage of torture, cult-speak, and suffering between the two. After a very long while, he sorta seduces her and trades places with Clara, chaining her to the floor in the dark. After a great amount of discussion, the two are soon cutting each other and putting their hands under each other’s skin. Eventually, it’s time. She hands him a knife and wants him to kill her, but he doesn’t want to do it. He does do it, and she thanks him before dying. The other cultists arrive on the scene, along with the leader. All the other characters we’ve seen in the film are involved. The leader pokes out Brighton’s eyes, but Brighton doesn’t mind; he smiles and looks at the sun. Brian’s Commentary It’s all about loneliness, isolation, and of course, cult murder. It’s well acted and looks good, but the pacing is awful and it’s really, really slow at times. It’s really all about the two characters bearing their souls to each other, but it’s actually all pretty boring. I was eager for it to end. Kevin’s Commentary The opening scene was so long, and with the main character being killed, it almost felt like two movies in one. Unfortunately, the first segment was really good, and I thought the rest of the movie dragged. The two leads were just acting their hearts out, but I thought it was pretty boring. 2003 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre * Directed by: Marcus Nispel * Written by: Kim Henkel, Tobe Hooper, Scott Koser * Stars: Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Andrew Bryniarski * Run Time: 1 Hour, 38 Minutes * Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone It’s a reboot of the 1973 movie by the same name. And while it is a sweaty movie with some grit, it doesn’t match the grimy feel of the original. It’s a polished modern (okay 23 years ago) horror movie. Though it is pretty well made and entertaining after a little bit of a slow start. In total, we liked it more than disliked it, but our attention wandered here and there. Kevin liked it a bit more than Brian did. Spoilery Synopsis We get a voiceover about the deaths of five young people thirty years ago. We get a video walkthrough of one of the murder sites. Credits roll. August 18, 1973, a bunch of teens in a van are out in the country. Erin, Morgan, Pepper, Andy, and Kemper are annoying right off the bat. They’re all coming back from buying pot in Mexico; they’ve got two pounds in the car. They almost hit a young girl walking in the road. The girl has clearly been into some bad things, so they offer her a ride. Kemper, the driver, doesn’t know where they are and drives her to the meat packing plant, where the girl kills herself in the back of their van. Most of the van people are asking “why did this happen to us?” The group stops at a gas station. The woman inside calls the sheriff, who offers to meet them somewhere else. They drive to an abandoned-looking factory, but there’s no sheriff there. They go inside the old factory, but they aren’t alone. They find a little boy who seems to be living there alone. They go to a huge old isolated house, and the man says they can call the sheriff from there. The sheriff finally shows up at the factory, and he’s a class act as he wraps up and takes the body away. Meanwhile, Erin and Kemper run into trouble with the old man in the house– oh, and Leatherface is there as well. Erin returns to the other three, minus Kemper, and they wonder what’s happened. She takes Andy back to the old man’s house, and he sneaks in the back door. They soon run into Leatherface, and Andy loses a leg. Erin runs back to Morgan and Pepper, but then the sheriff shows up to arrest them all for drugs. There’s a standoff between Morgan and the sheriff, and that goes badly for Morgan. Meanwhile, Leatherface takes off his mask and works on what’s left of Kemper and Andy. After, he goes after the two girls, now alone in the van, but he’s wearing Kemp’s face. She runs to a mobile home with two women inside; “He knows better than to bother us in here. He’s a sweet boy.” The sheriff and gas station lady are in cahoots with the old man and Leatherface, which is not at all surprising. They turn Erin over the big masked man, who puts her in the basement with Andy, who’s still not dead yet. He begs her to kill him, which she does. She then finds Morgan, who’s also still alive– at least for a little while. Leatherface chases Erin across a field, but he trips and injures himself. She runs to the meat packing plant, where the two play cat-and-mouse. Somehow, it’s hard to tell with all the superfast edits, Leatherface loses an arm. Erin runs outside and flags down a truck driver, who stops and picks her up. She freaks out and makes the guy stop– at the same gas station as before. Erin hotwires a car and runs over the sheriff repeatedly. She drives away with the kidnapped baby, right past Leatherface, who’s still out there. We get a voiceover discussing how the case is still open. Brian’s Commentary This just seems to take forever to get to anything. It’s a very sweaty, dusty movie, but it just doesn’t give the impression of dirt that the original did; it’s just a little too professional and polished. It was fine, but I admit I was checking my phone from time to time; it just didn’t grab me. Meh. Kevin’s Commentary It’s certainly a sweaty and wet movie. With water leaking into rooms even before it started raining. It was a nice touch bringing John Larroquette back for the voiceover again. He was an unknown at the time of the original. I thought it was okay, liked it more than disliked it. But the original was better, and is more rewatchable. This isn’t that memorable. 2026 Short Film: A Good Death * Directed by: Kaz Ps * Written by: Kaz Ps * Stars: Tracie Thomas, Jenny O’Hara, Stefanie Estes * Run Time: 10 Minutes * Watch it: What Happens Amalia is a “Death Doula,”someone who helps with terminal patients. She arrives at the house of a new client, and Tabitha, who answers the door, seems really eager to let her in. “There’s no such thing as unusual in this line of work,” she explains. She could be wrong. Commentary The only thing creepier than monsters is seeing old peoples’ toenails. Could it be elder abuse? Maybe, but not in the usual manner. I kinda figured this was the way the story was going to go, but it was well-executed, looked good, and even the special effects were fun. Nice! 2006 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning * Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman * Written by: Sheldon Turner, David J. Schow * Stars: Jordana Brewster, Matt Bomer, Diora Baird * Run Time: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes * Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone This one starts with Leatherface being born in 1939, and catches us up on what happened before the 2003 remake. We get to see how Hoyt became Sheriff and other fun things. Since it’s a prequel, we know some of how it’s going to end, but that didn’t stop it from being good. It’s well made, and we were both entertained. If you’re a fan of the 2003 reboot, you’ll probably like this one too. Spoilery Synopsis It’s August, 1939, and we’re at the meat packing plant. The woman working there grabs her belly and begs the boss for a break. She collapses, leaking blood all over the place and gives birth to a really ugly baby. Not long after another strange woman finds the ugly baby in the dumpster and takes him home to the house we saw in the previous film. “That’s the ugliest thing I ever saw,” says Charlie Hewitt. Credits roll. We forward to July of 1969. The meat packing plant is now closed and condemned. Thomas Hewitt, the big guy who works there, doesn’t want to leave the job. We cut to Chrissie and Eric messing around at the nasty motel pool. He’s heading back to Vietnam soon, and this is their last fling. Dean, Eric’s brother, is supposed to be going as well, but he’s not as enthusiastic about it. Bailey, Dean’s girlfriend, wants him to not show up for the draft. Back at the meat plant, Thomas returns at night and beats the manager with a hammer. He then picks up a chainsaw and goes home. The sheriff finds out and goes to Charlie, Thomas’s adoptive uncle, for help. Charlie shoots the sheriff in the back. Charlie then takes the uniform and “becomes” the new sheriff. Charlie cuts up the old sheriff and feeds him to the family. The four young people stop at a familiar looking gas station. There’s a whole bunch of sketchy looking bikers there, and the girls are eager to leave. Dean burns his draft card in the back seat; he’s not going. They run from a biker but crash into a cow, which is really juicy. The “sheriff” shows up and immediately shoots the biker. He terrorizes the group, then takes three of them away in his car, leaving Chrissie on the road alone. Monty shows up with a tow truck and takes the wreck with him, along with Chrissie, who’s hiding in the back. They all drive to the family home, and Tommy, AKA “Leatherface” takes the dead biker away for processing. Charlie tells the guys about how he learned to eat human flesh in the Korean prisoner of war camps. Chrissie flags down another biker and tries to talk him into helping her. Eric gets loose and goes into the farmhouse, threatening the old women inside. Sheriff Hoyt quickly regains control of the situation. Leatherface straps Eric down and starts measuring his face. Meanwhile, Chrissie’s biker ally arrives at the farmhouse with his gun. He shoots Monty. Charlie and Leatherface take care of him– with the chainsaw, Tommy’s first chainsaw murder! Leatherface then goes back downstairs and finishes off Eric the same way. All except for the face, which he has use of. Charlie gets Tommy to cut Monty’s wounded leg off with the chainsaw. “What is this?” “Surgery!” Tommy takes off both legs, just so that they’re even. Chrissie sneaks in and releases Bailey, who’s been tied up all this time. Charlie catches her and “invites” her to dinner. There’s a whole family dinner scene, which is pretty much required in a TCM film. Chrissie, Bailey, Dean, and Uncle Monty are all pretty much unwilling guests of Charlie and Mama. Tommy shows up and kills Bailey, right there at the dinner table. Chrissie gets loose and runs out of the house through the fields, and Tommy chases after her with the saw. She runs to the old meat packing plant. Meanwhile, Dean wakes up to see Bailey’s corpse sitting next to him. He helps Chrissie fight off the big man, but he doesn’t last long in the battle. Chrissie almost drives to freedom, but Leatherface is hiding in the backseat. With everyone dead, Leatherface slowly lumbers on back home. Brian’s Commentary This works backward from the previous film, bringing back most of the family that died in that one. Being a prequel, we already know who lives and dies, but it’s still very well done. It’s got good characters and pacing, and R. Lee Ermey really steals the show in this as the main baddie. I think I rank this one third, after the original two films. The ones in-between have been pretty forgettable. Kevin’s Commentary I thought this one was very good in the series. Interesting seeing why Monty is in a wheelchair, how Hoyt became Sheriff, and other prequel tidbits. It’s well put together and moves well. I liked it quite a bit. 1963 The Slime People * Directed by: Robert Hutton * Written by: Blair Robertson, Vance Skarstedt * Stars: Robert Hutton, Les Tremayne, Robert Burton * Run Time: 1 Hour, 16 Minutes * Trailer: Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone Slime people from underground isolate an area of California under an impenetrable force field dome and release a deadly fog in an attempt to invade. But a heroic group fights them off. It’s not the worst movie we’ve seen, but it was featured on Mystery Science Theater for a reason. It’s low budget with mediocre acting and dialogue, entertaining at points but clunky in the pacing. We’d recommend you pass on this one. Spoilery Synopsis We open on… slime people walking through the fog– and there’s a dead man. Credits roll. There’s so much fog that Tom can’t land his airplane. Los Angeles tells him to divert North, and they are very insistent. He lands anyway, and there’s no one anywhere in the airport. Professor Galbraith and his daughters drive up and say he needs to go with them. Lisa and Bonnie explain how the slime men arrived and wiped out all the military. The family had been staying up in their remote cabin and missed the whole invasion. Tom’s a sportscaster for the news, and he wants to go to the station to see if they have any footage of the slime monsters. He plays the newsreel, and sure enough, there are slime people invading Los Angeles. They came from the sewers, not from outer space. They hide in the fog, which they make somehow. The fog can harden at times, which is lethal. The group encounters a slime person and hides inside a studio. They run into Cal, a soldier. Cal tells them about the solid wall around the city that the fog made. Bonnie likes Cal, and Cal likes Bonnie, so we stop the story so they can flirt. Lisa takes care of the cooking and coffee while Tom and the professor theorize about the dome. Tom and Lisa get a bit romantic. And he helps with the coffee. Tom, Lisa and the professor run into Tolliver the shepherd at his cabin. He’s a bit whacky, and says he doesn’t believe the slime people are dangerous. They bring him along but refuse to include his favorite goat. Cal and Bonnie are in a separate car, and they all go toward the wall to investigate it. The temperature continues to drop, which is what the slime people are trying to do so they can live above ground permanently. Tom and the professor go into the woods toward the wall while the others stay behind. Then they just leave Tolliver behind as they head in. They try various chemicals to burn through the wall, but they don’t have much luck. After all this, Tolliver still thinks the whole thing is irrational and not real. Reality hits him hard. The group hides in a butcher shop, but the creature gets Tolliver. The professor figures out that plain old salt will break down the fog wall. Somehow, Bonnie gets caught by a monster and taken away. Tom and Cal go off to find her in the mist. They find a cave that the creatures are using as a headquarters and sneak inside. Cal finds Bonnie and leads her out as Tom fights with the slime men. On the way back to the butcher shop, the trio find the machine that makes the fog. But there are too many slime people around to get close. They all head to the wall with salt water solution in buckets that the professor says will get them through. But Tom wants to go take out the generating machine. After they battle the slime people, the wall machine blows up with a simple spear-throw, and all the fog immediately dissipates. All the slime men fall down dead without the fog to breathe. With the wall down, soldiers pour in, and all the good guys ride away. Brian’s Commentary Slow-moving mudmen with spears and magic fog conquered Los Angeles? Well, OK then. The really scary thing? Look at the prices at the butcher shop; three pounds of bacon for a dollar! The acting and dialogue are pretty horrible. The creatures are adequate for a movie of this period, but they aren’t very stand-out. Also, there’s a lot of fog to obscure the cheap-looking rubber suits. The pacing is really bad; I dozed off for a couple of minutes and didn’t miss a thing. There are a lot of scenes of driving and walking where not much else happens. Bleah. Dull. Kevin’s Commentary The Slime People have the technology to project an impenetrable force field dome and generate a massive amount of climate changing fog, but walk around carrying spears and knives like a primitive tribe. Very strange. Other than a fog machine and some people in rubbery costumes (which the trivia says took about half the budget), the effects are pretty minimal. The acting and dialogue are pretty bad. It’s not a terrible story, but the pacing isn’t steady or very exciting. I wouldn’t recommend it. Contact Info: Email: mailto:email@horrorguys.com (mailto:email@horrorguys.com) Websites: https://www.horrorguys.com (https://www.horrorguys.com) https://www.horrormonthly.com (https://www.horrormonthly.com) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.horrorweekly.com/subscribe (https://www.horrorweekly.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

42,892

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.4 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 72 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

77

Social presence

0

YouTube

76

Engagement

90

Contact Horror Guys

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Horror Guys