Ep. 071: #Alive (2020)

Horror Movie Weekly Ep. Ep. 071: #Alive 2020

Happy new year! It’s finally 2021! Welcome to Horror Movie Weekly, The Midnight Bowling of Horror Podcasts! In Episode 071, Jay of the Dead extends a warm and semi-musical welcome to two new co-hosts: Channy Dreadful and Mister Watson! This show also gets a new logo that’s somewhat influenced by the neon lights of midnight bowling and the hexagon, which Jay refers to as “the shape of Horror.”

After spending a little time getting to know Mister Watson and Channy Dreadful, your new, late-night Horror hosts bring you a Feature Review of the South Korean zombie flick #Alive (2020). We also have a free DVD give-away contest of the French Horror film “Inside” (2007). Remember, you’re always welcome to call and leave us a voicemail at (801) 215-9704. Join us!

Note: This episode was recorded on December 20, 2020 and released on January 3, 2021.

This weekly Horror movie podcast brings you one recent Horror movie review every Sunday. (We’re defining “recent” as any Horror movie released within the last five years, so now that it’s 2021, we’ll be covering Horror films from 2016 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. Join us, and thanks for listening!


SHOW NOTES:

Introduction
— Welcome to Horror Movie Weekly Episode 071
HMW Ep. 070: Top 10 Horror of 2020
— BillChete and Lady Phantom’s other podcast: MOVIES IN 4K
– Welcome to Mister Watson and Channy Dreadful
— Jay’s rendition of “The Song of Madman Marz”
— Horror Movie Weekly’s new artwork
— Getting to know our new hosts’ tastes in Horror:
Top 3 All-Time Favorite Horror Movies
Channy Dreadful:
1. The Exorcist (1973)
2. Scream (1996)
3. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Honorable Mention: Evil Dead II (1987)

Mister Watson:
[ All-time favorite movie: Ghostbusters (1984) ]
1. Evil Dead II (1987)
2. Trick `r Treat (2007)
3. Hereditary (2018)

– Channy Dreadful’s pick for this week: #Alive (2020)

[ 00:25:11 ] – Feature Review: #Alive (2020)
Genre Classification: Drama / Action / Thriller / Infected Zombie narrative / (Features some “Horror in the Daylight”)

Premise:
A social media gaming influencer, Oh Joon-woo, wakes up to a news report of a cannibalistic virus quickly spreading and infecting the world. Alone and afraid, Oh Joon-woo takes shelter in his apartment. After weeks of solidarity and on the brink of losing his mind, he soon discovers that he is not alone.

Ratings and Recommendations: #Alive (2020)
Jay of the Dead = 7.5 ( Strong Rental / Stream on Netflix )
Channy Dreadful = 7 ( High-priority Rental )
Mister Watson = 7.5 ( Rental / Stream on Netflix )

Contest: Free DVD Give-away – If you retweet the official tweet for this episode’s release, then you will be entered into a random drawing where you could win a free DVD of the French Horror film “Inside” (2007). To win, you must be 18 years or older, and you must live in the United States.

Next on Episode 072: The Hunt (2020) — Mister Watson’s pick

Original podcast theme music: Jay of the Dead


Links for this episode:

Links for Channy Dreadful:
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

Links for Mister Watson:
Twitter: @WatZeeParty
Podcast: The Wat-Zee Party Horror Show
Facebook: The Wat-Zee Party Horror Show/Horror Corridor

— Listen to Jay review “Hereditary” with AnDread on the Freaks and Psychos Podcast!

Jay of the Dead’s other podcast: ConsideringTheCinema.com
Jay’s HORROR-only content: ConsideringHorrorCinema.com
Ep. 037: Wat-Zee / Joe Pesci episode

— BillChete and Lady Phantom’s other podcast:
MOVIES IN 4K
Subscribe FREE in iTunes
Sign the Guest Book

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

Pyles Digital Media Podcast Production Services: Email Natalie at HorrorMovieWeekly@gmail.com


18 thoughts on “Ep. 071: #Alive (2020)”

    1. Lady Phantom… much love and thanks to you & BillChete! You two have my endless respect. Channy Dreadful & I will keep an eye on Jay for you two! 😉

    2. Lady Phantom— I will do my best to keep Jay in line for you hehe I will truly miss hearing you over on HMW but I’ll continue to support you over on Movies in 4K! Much love and happy new year!

      1. Thank you, he will need it. And of course, thanks for listening to us on Mi4K! A very happy new year to you too!

    1. Oh, you know I care. And sass you will keep getting. Remember, I have your phone number! Mwahahahahahaha!

  1. Great new hosts and really enjoyed the show. Keep it up. I gave “#Alive” 6/10 over on Letterboxd. I wrote that I didn’t like the main male character enough until the 3rd act, which I thought was strong. All the best and I look forward to “The Hunt,” which could make my Top 10 list or honorable mentions at the end of the year. Jackson and I are binge watching 2020 horror movies this week. Great job and I look forward to future episodes.

    1. Pastor Matt,

      Thanks so much for the warm welcome, my friend. I’m feelin’ the new co-host love! 🙂

      It’s funny… you and I have never spoken before, but I’ve followed your work for a long time, and I have actually podcasted with my son on several occasions… even going so far as to ATTEMPT to make him my permanent co-host on my old solocast! LOL. Didn’t work out, but I always love podcasting with him, and I love that you do the same! Much love, good sir.

  2. Welcome to the new hosts!
    Great show to start, replete with musical numbers, much to my heart’s delight, and you could hear the excitement in the air from all.
    #Alive was so fun, totally worth a watch. I thought the colors throughout were pretty gorgeous. It also had scary monsters that were fun to look at. I liked our inept protagonist, and could sadly relate, full acknowledgement that I will not fair well in the zombie apocalypse! Like Jay mentioned, I also loved the use of the drone, and would have loved to get more cinematic drone footage exploring the wider area. Mister Watson’s comment that this could have been a welcome sequel to the brilliant Train To Busan was spot on. Channy Dreadful made the excellent point about the continuity error with the lack of hair growth over time. I totally missed that, probably busy admiring the pretty pink walls in the background. Maybe there is some cutting room floor montage of the post apocalyptic self care/grooming process?
    I was happy to learn that you knew about The Night Eats The World from a 2018. I liked that one the best of the 3, probably because I saw it first, and #Alive, as well as Alone, both seem like they owe a small debt of gratitude to it. I particularly loved how the guy in The Night Eats The World entertained himself with playing drums and percussion. Since you are also musicians, I wondered if that aspect kicked you in the giggles like it did me? Lastly, about the movie you are totally not talking about, the ending of The Night Eats The World was more effective to me than either of the others, with realism through to the end, and less schtick-y action sequences overall.
    Thanks for the episode! I’ll be looking forward to future discussions from this new three-o.
    HNY, HMW!!

    1. Libby,

      Thanks SO MUCH for your kind words, and before anything, I’ve simply got to say that Jay’s song had me smiling ear to ear. I make music myself from time to time, and maybe one day, I’ll lay something down for HMW! LOL!

      I’m with you on the effectiveness of The Night Eats the World’s ending. Well said, Libby.

      I’m stoked that you enjoyed the show, and I look forward to talking with you more. Peace!

      -Watson

  3. So on this hexagon-horror deal, my first thought is coming from ‘The Shining’ (1980). The carpet patterns in the Overlook are hexagons, so that’s my starting thought on this topic.

    –Kaiju Nick confession for everyone: I’m one of those people totally obsessed with analyzing ‘The Shining’ (1980).–

    I’m wishing a warm welcome to the new horror hosts.

    And I’m looking forward to hearing our old horror hosts coming back guesting in the future on Jay’s podcasts.

    When you said, ‘Beehive’, Jay, my thoughts went right to ‘Spirit of the Beehive’ (1973 Spain); it’s not a horror movie, but it has a special connection with James Whale’s ‘Frankenstein’ (1931). And you did say ‘Beehive’, Jay!

    1. Great hexagonal observations, Nick!

      And thanks for the warm welcome. That means a lot, my friend. It really does. 🙂

  4. Great episode and nice new hosts!

    Looking forward to all the great content from Jay of the Dead this year!

  5. The only thing I preferred about the American version of the story was the “human sideplot” in the third act–but that’s because Donald Sutherland is freaking amazing! I agree that the US “actionfilmed” the tale, and it was just too over the top. I liked how unassuming and, frankly, “weak” the protagonist of #Alive is–even with his inexplicable skill development. 😉

    The Asian zombies are killing it. They are SO much more frightening than the US versions–the bone cracking, body contorting movements of this film and Train to Busan are just CREEPY! This is a great film–I strongly recommend I Am a Hero as well!

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