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Do you need an upgrade? We’ve upgraded Horror podcasting with Horror Movie Weekly, One Badass Horror Podcast, where three hosts review one Horror movie every Sunday. In Episode 041, your late-night Horror hosts, Jay of the Dead, BillChete, and Lady Phantom, bring you a feature review of Upgrade (2018). And Jay and Phantom have an epic debate over whether Leigh Whannell’s film has the structure of a superhero movie! Listen and weigh in!
Note: This episode was recorded on May 17, 2020, but released on June 7, 2020.
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
— Welcome to Horror Movie Weekly Episode 041
– Movies in 4K Ep. 002: 3 From Hell
— Considering the Cinema Ep. 026: 976-Evil and Midsommar and Ep. 025: The Wretched, The Other Lamb, Wake Wood
— This Tuesday listen to Land of the Creeps Episode 221
– Lady Phantom’s pick for this week: Upgrade (2018)
[ 00:05:22 ] – Feature Review: Upgrade (2018) — Genre Classification: Sci-Fi / Action / Mystery (and under debate: Superhero / Horror)
Premise:
Set sometime in the future, circa 2050, Logan Marshall-Green plays a mechanic who gets paralyzed during a street gang attack that leads to the murder of his wife. But as a quadriplegic, the mechanic is approached to test a cutting-edge technology, a micro-chip device that can restore his ability to move, in addition to a number of other very surprising “upgrades.”
Ratings and Recommendations: Upgrade (2018)
Jay of the Dead = 8.5 ( Buy it! )
BillChete = 7 ( Buy it! – Not Horror )
Lady Phantom = 9 ( Buy it! )
[ 00:39:35 ] – SPOILER SECTION: Upgrade (2018)
Next on Episode 042: The Wretched (2020) — Jay of the Dead’s pick!
Podcast artwork: Lady Phantom
Original podcast theme music: Jay of the Dead
Links for this episode:
Hear Jay, BillChete and Phantom’s Battle review of The Lodge
Considering Horror Cinema: Film Challenge: Three Decades of Theatrical Horror (1990 – 2019)
— BillChete and Lady Phantom’s new show:
Ep. 005: 2001: A Space Odyssey with guest Karl Huddleston
MOVIES IN 4K
– Subscribe FREE in iTunes
– Sign the Guest Book
— BillChete on Letterboxd
— Lady Phantom on Letterboxd
— Jay of the Dead on Letterboxd
Jay recommends both of his Top 10 Movies of the Decade shows on Considering the Cinema podcast:
Ep. 023: Dr. Shock and filmmaker Mack Robins
Ep. 016: Jason and MPW co-hosts
Don’t forget to check out our episode archive: HorrorMovieWeekly.com/archive/
Follow Horror Movie Weekly 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
Let the upgraded comments begin!
Love Upgrade, perfect blend of crime/sci-fi/thriller. Definitely horroresque and loved the grittyness of it. I thought the kills were phenomenal and look the of it was top notch. Also the otherworldly/robotic fighting looked great! 10/10 and cemented me looking forward to any Whannell and Green movies
Yay! Glad you liked it. It is a fantastic movie indeed.
Wow! Jay’s superhero argument is so apt! And also well-defended!
And Phantom, Deadpool received EXPERIMENTAL SURGERY to treat his terminal cancer which led to new increased abilities! Captain America was a victim of polio and was left with a sickly weak body until the Experimental Rebirth Process turned him into a superhuman.
Loved the film, great sci-fi, action, superhero film with a few horror elements.
In the case of Deadpool, as I’ve said before, he’s no superhero. In the case of Caps, his body was sickly, but he wasn’t sick anymore. Plus, it couldn’t be taken away. The serum’s effects were there to stay, and they only amplified what he already was.
I already commented that the similarities are there. But that’s all they are. This is no superhero movie.
Well said, Inbred Coop. You nailed it. And it turns out that my friend, Lady Phantom, is a superhero, too.
What’s her superpower, you may ask?
Denial. ha ha ha ha ha
-J
Nope. I’m just not in a hurry to label everything. The super hero genre may just be a construct to you guys, but for me it’s entirely different. It’s about love and ideals. It’s about doing what’s right. It’s close to my heart. As much as I like this movie, the ideal is just not there. If you can’t understand my way of thinking after this, you can’t understand me at all.
Bravo, Phantom!
I always admire the way you stick to your guns!
-J
Well, I guess we could all just compromise for the label “Super-Anti-Hero” since I’d imagine we can all agree that Deadpool is at least that.