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Can a Horror movie blend too many sub-genres? Does a “kitchen sink Horror film” like “The Void” (2017) lack cohesion? Join the Triad of Terror — Jay of the Dead, BillChete and Lady Phantom — for Episode 006 of Horror Movie Weekly, in which we discuss these questions and others, including approaches to film criticism. We also give a brief tribute to Captain Spaulding himself, Sid Haig, to whom this episode is dedicated. Join us!
On Horror Movie Weekly, your late-night Horror hosts Jay of the Dead, BillChete and Lady Phantom bring you one recent Horror movie review every Sunday. (We’re defining “recent” as any Horror movie released within the last five years.) 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. Join us, and thanks for listening!
SHOW NOTES:
Introduction
– A dedication and tribute to Sid Haig
— More iTunes reviews: Thank you to Kitzy86, Pastor Matt (The Father), Jackson Rawlings (The Son), Shane the Maniac Cop, Coleman W2 and Maurice. We’re grateful for your support!
— Concept discussion about film criticism
— Jay recommends these two articles by Roger Ebert: Critic Is a Four-Letter Word and You Give Out Too Many Stars
The Void (2017) — Genre Classification: Horror / Creature Feature / The Weird / Sci-Fi / Cult / Fantasy
Premise: A group of people become trapped inside a hospital while they are under siege from hooded cultists and bizarre creatures.
Co-written and directed by Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski. Starring Aaron Poole, Kenneth Welsh, Kathleen Munroe, et al. Not rated. Runtime: 1 hour, 30 min.
Ratings and Recommendations: The Void (2017)
Jay of the Dead = 6.5 ( Rental )
BillChete = 6 ( Avoid )
Lady Phantom = 5.5 ( Low-priority Rental )
Next on Episode 007: Tusk (2014) — BillChete’s pick
Podcast artwork: Lady Phantom
Original podcast theme music: Jay of the Dead
Links for this episode:
Follow us on Twitter: @horror_weekly
Website: Horror Movie Weekly.com
Follow Lady Phantom on Twitter: @LadyPhantom74
Jay of the Dead’s film blog / solocast: ConsideringTheCinema.com
Jay’s HORROR-only content: ConsideringHorrorCinema.com
Pyles Digital Media Podcast Production Services: Email Natalie at HorrorMovieWeekly@gmail.com
It really was sad news about Sid Haig’s passing. Very nice tribute. I really give Rob Zombie credit for getting him in 3 From Hell for his final performance. His scenes in the first act were great and well-written. It was a great way to celebrate the character and Sid at the same time. I really enjoyed the discussion of The Void. It is also entertaining when everyone more or less agrees, versus opposing views on a movie (which is obviously also fun).
The Void is a film I had no knowledge of, so this was interesting. It draws most of it’s influence from Carpenter’s films. It reminded me of Assault on Precinct 13, Prince of Darkness and The Thing. Throw in some From Beyond and Hellraiser and you have The Void. The problem is, the movie is no where near the quality of those aforementioned films. The acting was pretty pedestrian here, with poorly portrayed versions of these trope characters. The effects were okay, but nothing special. The story was convoluted and poorly constructed. This results in a largely unsatisfying experience. I’ll give them credit for the influences because I love all of what it is referencing, but it’s like a 5/10 and a low-priority rental.
It’s interesting on Bill’s new rating perspective. If you can’t recommend a purchase, it’s an avoid. That does not leave you much room for flexibility. There are lots of films that I would consider quality and would recommend them, but do you need to see them more than once? That’s a tough perspective. I don’t think I could utilize that standard, but I respect it. FYI, I don’t give 10’s to films. I usually go with 9.5/10 for a film that I really think is exceptional. There is always room for improvement and I do not believe in perfectionism, especially for anything created by humans.
So, the next film is Tusk. Ouch. Bill is right. This is a love or hate situation with no in between. Guess which side I’m on. I’m not going to have much to say about the film, I don’t think. Perhaps more to say on Kevin Smith. It should be a very interesting episode. Have a great week everyone!
Thank you for your review, Sean. I always look forward to reading what you have to say about a movie!
Thank LP, I look forward to every episode of this brilliant podcast!
Hi Sean and thanks for all the comments you have left. We really appreciate it. And I just wanted to chime in with a little more info than was discussed on this episode.
My new stance and yes it is VERY new, a first time for me actually. As you may know I have covered Indie horror my entire career and always want to give as much credit as possible to these basically unknown films, directors and actors.
Jump forward the last few years I have been off the airwaves and my time, life and health has been much more a priority. Hence the new BUY IT or AVOID IT. There are SO SO SO SO SO many mediocre, average and blasé movies I feel even if a horror movie is DECENT (Rating from 5-7 approx.) it should be avoided in favor of the MANY MANY MANY great, excellent and downright scary films.
Our time is valuable and to arguably waste 90-120 minutes with something lackluster or average I just can’t justify it anymore, but that is not to say if I see something I value in these ok films it will definitely be mentioned as I always give credit where credit is due IMO.
Anywho, thanks so much for your support…and just wait for the TUSK review it is a great episode coming and can’t wait to hear your stance (good or bad), controversial films are always cool to listen to critics to see which “angle” they are going to take!
Take ‘er easy…BillChete
Hey Bill,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and elaborating on what you had discussed in the episode. Yes, when you stopped podcasting for a while, you do kind of speculate as to the reasoning for that. Life has a way of making your priorities change as life changes. Time waits for no one, and you do need to prioritize what it truly important. Yes, do we need to waste time watching mediocre movies? I’ll tell you, that I have watched seventy 2019 horror movies so far (I expect to see over 100 by year’s end), and even though this has been a banner year for horror with many great films, there are still a majority of lesser quality movies to sift through that will not make a best of list. However, you can only find the hidden gems by doing the work and finding them by watching them. It is the burden of being a film reviewer, amateur or professional.
I do consider you a legitimate film reviewer, so it is a little of a letdown that you won’t see as many movies, but we must take what we can get, and truthfully, your new standard is refreshing, when everyone else is more or less doing the same thing, even me.
I really enjoyed the Tusk episode. This has been a very good addition to my core podcasts, so I appreciate every episode!
Thanks Bill!