This might be the one you’ve been waiting for… or maybe the one you’ve been dreading. Perhaps our longest episode of Horror Movie Weekly, here in epic Episode 179, Jay of the Dead and Mister Watson bring you an in-depth, spoiler review of the Academy Award-winning Horror film, The Substance (2024), with the Herculean help of special guest Kagan “The Fruit Brute” Breitenbach! During this episode, you will hear Kagan refer to this Body Horror movie as “The Cultural Horror Film of the Year,” while The Fruit Brute also refers to Jay of the Dead as “The Harvey Weinstein of Horror Podcasting”… As you might have guessed, this is indeed a “Mister Watson pick,” naturally. And we also bring you four our famous Micro Horror Movie Reviews! Join us — and if not you, then perhaps the younger version of yourself that emerges from the fluid of your spinal column.
Notes: Remember, this is a full-blown spoiler review of “The Substance.” Also, while this podcast is typically “clean” or “non-explicit,” this particular episode does have a bit of “salty language.” And finally, this episode was recorded on February 6, 2025, and released on August 12, 2025. All Kagan’s fault, of course.
You are welcome to email our show at [email protected]. You can also follow Horror Movie Weekly on X: @horror_weekly.
This weekly Horror movie podcast brings you one recent Horror movie review every Sunday. (As noted previously, we’re defining “recent” as any Horror movie released within the last five years or the current year; so now that it’s 2024, we’ll be covering Horror films from 2019 to the present.) And we always reveal next week’s pick at the end of every show, so you can watch along with us and be prepared for the following episode. Thanks for listening!
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SHOW NOTES
– Introduction
- Welcome to Horror Movie Weekly, Episode 179
- Jay of the Dead welcomes his best fiend, Mister Watson
- This episode is our last 2020 to 2025 coverage; next time we’re covering 2005 to 2015
- Watson welcomes special guest Kagan “The Fruit Brute” Breitenbach
Micro Horror Movie Review:
[ 00:08:10 ] – Milk and Serial (2024)
Mister Watson = 8 ( Stream Free on YouTube )
Micro Horror Movie Review:
[ 00:14:19 ] – Presence (2025)
Kagan Breitenbach = 8.5 ( Theater / Buy it! )
– Kagan also saw “Hellraiser” (1987) Remastered in the theater
Micro Horror Movie Review:
[ 00:21:41 ] – Blood Runs Cold (2011)
Jay of the Dead = 5.5 ( Low-priority Rental for Slasher Fans Only )
Feature Review: The Substance (2024) – Mister Watson’s pick
[ 00:28:05 ] – The Substance (2024) – SPOILERS!
Genre Classification: Body Horror / Sci-Fi / Drama / Satire / Comedy / Beastly Freak
IMDb Premise:
A fading celebrity takes a black-market drug — a cell-replicating substance — that creates a younger, better version of herself.
Ratings and Recommendations:
Jay of the Dead = 6 ( One-time Rental )
Kagan Breitenbach = 8 ( A Must-See / Buy it! )
Mister Watson = 8.5 ( One-time Rental )
Jay of the Dead’s pick for the next episode:
Black Mountain Side (2014)
Wrap-Up:
– Watson dedicates this episode to Dave Zee
– New coverage parameters: 2005 to 2015
Special thanks to website developer Jaxon Carroll and graphic designer Trump Widdop for their excellent work in helping Horror Movie Weekly to have a nice, new website. Thank you!
LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:
Find more of Kagan’s work here:
– Website: KaganBreitenbach.com
– Bloody Cabaret – Visual Album
Jay of the Dead’s NEW HORROR MOVIES podcast links:
Email: [email protected]
Voicemail: (801) 980-1375
Twitter: @HorrorAvengers
Subscribe via Apple Podcasts
Subscribe via Spotify
Subscribe via Deezer
Links for Mister Watson:
Podcast: Horror Movie Weekly
Twitter: @WatZeeParty
Podcast: The Wat-Zee Party Horror Show
Facebook: The Wat-Zee Party Horror Show / Horror Corridor
Links for Jay of the Dead:
Horror Movie Weekly.com
Considering the Cinema.com
Movie Podcast Weekly.com
HMW Twitter: @horror_weekly
CTC Twitter: @ConsiderCinema
Links for Channy Dreadful:
Check out Channy’s new Instagram: @ChantelSkates
Check out Channy’s TikTok
Channy on Facebook
Twitter: @ChannyDreadful
Jay recommends Channy’s Article on Cujo
Channy on Hereditary with Ron Martin on The Resurrection of Zombie 7 Podcast
Channy Dreadful Archives on The Resurrection of Zombie 7
Instagram: Strawberry Crush Creations
Link for Projectile Varmint:
No Bodies Horror Podcast
— BillChete and Lady Phantom’s other podcast:
MOVIES IN 4K
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— BillChete on Letterboxd
— Lady Phantom on Letterboxd
— Jay of the Dead on Letterboxd
Follow Horror Movie Weekly on Twitter: @horror_weekly
Website: Horror Movie Weekly.com
Follow Lady Phantom on Twitter: @LadyPhantom74
Thank you for listening to Horror Movie Weekly, One Badass Horror Podcast.
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I’m gonna ignore Jay’s slander of The Substance for the time being..,
But looking forward to the new scope of the show, and I’d like to throw something out for future consideration. This movie is woefully underseen and, to me at least, it’s really something special. Would love to see y’all cover Pieces of Talent from 2012.
Here’s the Letterboxd page for it:
https://boxd.it/6qWQ
I’m so glad you checked out Milk and Serial! That one was in my Top 10 of 2024. Jay, have you seen it yet? It hits the ground running! Watch to the literal last second.
I was excited that The Substance made its way to gen pop, but totally agree with the critiques listed, and it did not land in my personal Top 10. Buy I’m just happy anytime one of my normy friends wants to check out something remotely horror.
‘Milk and Serial’ was a good one. Thanks for the recommendation!