Time to go down to the basement. Take that VHS out of its sleep and get ready for some brights. Hello, everybody, and welcome to the Alone in the Dark podcast, episode 109, It Five. And I am always joined by my best friend and co-host, Matty. Matty, what's going on, buddy? Mike, what is up, dude? It is April. April, yes. Past the 20th.
Yes. Just passed by there, an old man houseman there. What was his name in that movie, by the way? I forget. Mr. Macon? He's just the cool sailor guy. You know what I mean? Yeah, he's pretty awesome. I just had my spring break two weeks ago, got to see some films. You just had your spring break. You got to catch up on some stuff. So, Matt, what have you seen lately?
So I told you about Heretic that I saw, which was the second half. Finally, I got to the end of that. Love that movie. So good. Whoa. Dialogue was really great in that movie. Yeah, really good. But then I saw Strange Darling. Okay. Which was interesting. Tell me about that because I don't really know too much about it. It's a really small, for a while, compressed movie in a big place in a hotel room. Yeah. chamber piece between two characters.
Definitely a sexual kind of a struggle, power struggle, if you will. Gotcha. Really interesting. Cool. It's worth a watch. All right. Kind of turns the tables a little bit here and there. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's pretty good. All right, good. Very cool. Decent. Nice. Heard a lot of things about it. I think I saw it on Max, maybe? Okay, cool.
Good. What have you seen? You saw the mother of all the movies people are talking about right now. Well, I saw Sinners, which was, I didn't see it in IMAX. So my friends are going on Sunday. I just showed you the text. Yeah, and they're going to see it. 70 millimeter. Oh, my God. I'm so jealous. But I am blown away, man. What's the director's name? Brian Coogler. Yeah, he's really good, man. He does such a good job. And I was telling you before, when we were out at dinner,
I know it sounds crazy, but I was getting like Lost Boys vibes. Is this Michael B. Jordan in two roles? Is this basically multiplicity? Is this Michael B. Jordan twice? No, it's Michael B. Jordan and I forget the other one. So it's not him playing two different characters? No, it's two.
another african-american actor but dude it's so good it's definitely worth seeing in theaters and you know i know it was getting some bad press because they were saying that you know it made like 60 million first weekend but they were they were saying like the budget you know
over that. And probably the marketing. Yeah, and the marketing. It was getting a bad rap for that, which it doesn't deserve to do. That's ridiculous. It made $60 million. It's huge. It's a huge movie. Horror movie? And honestly, Matt... I walked out and I'm like, they could do. with this, like sequels and prequels.
Really? So speaking of walked out, do you want to mention that movie too that you don't want to... Oh my God, I forgot about that. Why don't you mention that for a minute? Because I didn't see it. You went by yourself, right? Oh my God, I saw Hell of a Summer. Yes, which is... What's his name? Finn Wolfhard? Finn Wolfhard, yep.
And we were pumped on this trailer, right? Yeah, the trailer looked pretty good. It looked really good. Dude, I went by myself, and you were pissed. I was texting you, and I'm like, guess where I am right now? Yeah. And you're like, you son of a bitch. And I was like, sorry, I just had a night, and I just could go. It was kind of pumped from the beginning. I was like, oh, okay, this is a cool setup. You know, I'm into this. Yeah.
And then right after like the five minute mark, it just slowly started going downhill. After the five minute. Mike, I knew you basically, here's the sign number one. Sign number one, you were texting me in the movie. Yeah, I never do that. I'm like, what? No, exactly. So I knew something was amiss. And then by the end of it, what did you do? I walked out. You walked out. Not by the end of it. No. By midpoint. Midpoint of the movie. You walked out on this movie. And I went...
Guess I'm not feeling too bad about missing out on this one now. You really didn't miss much. It's really sad. It's a bummer. Because I appreciate what they were trying to do. Hell of a bummer. Yes. And their love of the genre. Like, you could feel it, but it just, dude, it felt like I'm a high school film teacher. Yeah. i felt like my high school kids in my advanced class could have done a better job than this like story-wise
So that's where it fell apart. The story and the execution, the acting wasn't terrible, but it was, the story was so bad and there were so many things that they were trying. It felt very fast too. Like there was no, like, you know, we always talk about like beats and like a, in a, in a film, there were no beats. Everything was just like, yeah. And the kills weren't scary at all. They weren't even suspenseful. There was no suspense. Yeah. So, you know, I'm curious. There's a camp film?
It was, I mean, it had so much going forward. The trailer really, you know, hats off to the people that create trailers for films because they really create an illusion because this movie looked good from the trailer. But for me to walk out of a movie. Well, speaking of trailers, Mike, the mother of all trailers.
I know what you did last summer, Matt. Yes. What did you think? I was talking to you about this at dinner. I really like the reverence they seem to have for the returning characters, Julie and... god damn it our brains and freddie prince uh um ray ray thank you so the way that the way that he walks up to the camera yes in that town meeting
of stuff has happened before and then the way julie is completely turned around and goes like i need you you know i need your help or whatever right right just then the way she turns around it's it's really well done Very cool. And the beginning was, I mean, basically it felt like. Oh my God. It felt like Scream from 2022. It did. A lot. But it was so cool. It was cool.
Cool to see the Fisherman Killer back. Yes. I just hope that I'm into the characters. That's what I'm worried about, this new group of teens. I mean, what did she say at the one point where she's like, She cracks a joke in the trailer. Oh, does she? I got to start drinking coffee. She says something. Damn it, I can't remember.
But it's so good. Yeah, she says, I got to start drinking. I got to start drinking or something like that. It's almost like a throwback to Airplane. I quit the wrong way to start drinking. It is. That's funny. I didn't even realize that. But yeah, I just hope I'm into the characters because... That'll make or break a movie for me. Of course. And that's why I love Thanksgiving so much because I really like those characters. Mike, you're not going to walk.
what you did last night. I hope not. What do you mean? I don't care what happens, you're not walking out of this movie. Oh my gosh. Because I'm staying, so you're going to have to walk home then. Yeah. Last thing I'll mention, I saw... Well, spring break. And that was, that was fun. Yeah. I saw it with my wife. She was like, so, so on it. Horror adjacent. Yeah. It's like more like a suspense thriller. Yeah. Chris Landon, obviously big fans. Love Chris Landon. But.
It was good. It wasn't great. I love the single location of this restaurant. Definitely worth seeing. If you haven't seen it in theaters, definitely check it out. Yeah, just support him. He does a good work. He's a great guy. So, yeah. So that's that, Matt. So we're going to get in and talk about this film, but let's check out the trailer first, Matt. Let's do it. I had this image of myself holding hands with a really cute guy. It's never about going anywhere really. For the freedom, I guess.
Are you awake? What are you doing? You're not gonna believe me, and I need you to remember what I'm saying. This thing, it's gonna follow you. Somebody gave it to me, and I passed it to you. Wherever you are, it's somewhere walking straight for you. All you can do is pass it along to someone else. I need to find him. What did he really do to you? I swear to you, this is just no game. If it kills her, it gets me and goes straight down the line to whoever started it.
Something happened. It's not what she thinks, okay? You don't believe me. Mom? No, it's me. Everything's okay. you know, or it could be a stranger in a crowd. Whatever helps it get close to you. So cool. That theme is ridiculous. It's crazy. It's crazy. I'm trying to think of when you saw this, but we're going to talk about the nostalgia of the film, Matt. Let's do that. Your grandma's basement? Be kind and rewind back to the time and place when you first experience this horror classic.
So Mike, I saw this in the theater. I did too. Did we see this together? I don't know. You were just motioning. I was just wondering. I'm remembering back, and I know clearly, distinctly, I saw this in the theater. Yeah. And I enjoyed this very much in the theater. You would think that we would know this. We probably did. 2014, right? 14, yeah, 2014. Yeah. This is 11 years. Since it was released in March. It was released in March. 2015 officially. Oh, okay.
Yeah. It's 2014. I think it was at like 12. It was a fantastic fest. Yeah. And in September of 2014, and then it went to Sundance actually in 2015 in January. Yep. And then it went wide. March of 2015 but definitely did not miss this one and I remember Pete the thing I remember most about
because clearly I don't remember seeing with you. Sorry. I know. Maybe we did though. People audibly gasping in certain sequences. Yeah. Yeah. I do remember that when I saw it. And we're going to come upon a couple. Yes. You're probably thinking of some right now. Oh, sure. Yeah. If you've seen the movie.
I mean, I just remember people literally like that and like, oh, like yelping. Yeah. Like just out of surprise. Yeah. So like such a good theatrical experience. Yes. I remember being just, it was kind of refreshing. It had been a while, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Anything special, notable that you want to mention behind the scenes of this film or things that you heard about it? No, I mean, we're going to be talking about the score later on, which is real.
Yeah. The tagline, I love. It doesn't think, it doesn't feel. it doesn't give up. Yeah, that's pretty good. Yeah, that's very good. So it just keeps coming. Yes. The couple things that I want to talk about, the director. David Robert Mitchell, yeah. David Robert Mitchell. He wanted to keep things vague so the audience would stay off balance. So it's kind of interesting.
There's like the time place of this film is kind of... Yes, it is hard to grasp. It's a little obscure, right? Definitely. I mean, it is literally hard to get your hands on it and figure out. Where or what? Right. Because there's older cars. Yes. There's newer cars. Yeah. I mean, it is Detroit where the, you know, basically the Ford family, obviously the cars factory. A lot of abandonment there. Of course.
But there's cell phones, so we know it's modern day. Yes. But then there's like weird futuristic things like, what's her name's like e-reader, you know, like the shell e-reader, which does. um and then they're watching there's like old televisions and old movies always playing on the there's a lot of nostalgia in this movie yeah It's interesting. So yeah, it is not a movie that is like firmly habits.
feet like in a certain place right time right it is ambiguous i think but like you said i think david robert mitchell is playing with all that yeah yeah so that you feel displaced right you know what i mean in a way, kind of like Jay and her friends. Sure. You know, you're just, you don't, you can't ever...
set it somewhere because then you're getting comfortable in a way. Like part of you, when you know where something is and when it's set and when it takes place, you have a level of comfort because you can settle into that or with your own experiences, you can feel what it's like to be there.
But if you don't know where you are, you're unsettled. So that unsettling feeling permeates the whole movie. Yeah, you can feel that theme throughout. Did you see this movie before this, The Myth of the American Sleepover? I did not see that one. I saw it. But I saw the one that he did after. Oh, which was that? Under the Silver Lake. Oh, what was that? Well, we'll talk about that later because I'm at the end of the episode, but man, that's...
Interesting. Horror or not horror? No, definitely not horror. Like this is horror. Okay. But an adventure. Oh, okay. Really seriously great. Because Myth of American Sleepover, I saw after it follows. No, actually, I saw that before. You did? I did. And it's weird. It's got the vibe and feel of It Follows, but it's not a horror film. But it's very ambiguous, too. It's just kind of strange. But you could tell he must have been a fan of it. of stuff he's kind of going well like slacker link
Yeah, right. Or like, I don't even know what, but the displacement, like that is, there's something so uncomfortable about that. And this movie is very uncomfortable. Oh, it is. It definitely is. From the jump. Yeah. I mean. We're going to get into it, but it takes place in Detroit, as you said. I know you and I were talking about this. And you said this movie has such a dour, like bleak. kind of feeling it does i think i think
I think David Robert Mitchell wants you to, and Detroit is part of that in a way. Well, he grew up there, so I know that's why he was going for this. But is this his impression of a city that's basically just in ruins? you know it used to be this mecca of right of you know of technology and innovation and all this stuff right and motown records came yeah but now you have it in this 2014
time, it just seems like a shell of its former self. And you feel that in the characters too, when you talk about it later as well. Just the way that they react and the things they say. They mirror the setting. And that's very reminiscent of Myth of American Sleepover 2.
just kind of down in the dumps and sort of like just going is that your is that your link later uh parallel i think so yeah okay yeah um all right so you want to talk about some of the settings now should we get into that sure all right let's do it an isolated farm or dark basement perhaps.
So we talked about Detroit. We talked about the kind of bleakness, but what are some of the standout locations? Well, the suburb in the very beginning, the very first shot, it's a suburb of Detroit, obviously. Yeah, but it doesn't feel like deserted. It feels middle America. Right.
You know, it feels like Haddonfield, Illinois, for all intents and purposes, right? Yeah, it definitely does. And especially the way the camera's floating down the street and everything. Oh, my God. There's so much Carpenter on this, for sure, yeah. You know what?
It does abandon some of it, I think, later on, but certainly the beginning feels Carpenter. After that, I want to say that I don't think it's slavishly kind of doing anything after that as far as the Carpenter homages and things. People really... When they talk about this movie, they're like, oh my God, it's Carpenter. I see that in the beginning. But once it gets past the beginning... I don't disagree. I see some of it still, but it's not like, oh my God, look at this carpenter.
oh, look, he's doing more. There's some Steadicam. It's just beautiful filmmaking for me. I'm not saying Carpenter, Carpenter. In the beginning, I am. But after that, I'm kind of like, okay, he's finding his own little thing. When we talk about scenes, I'll point out a few things. Oh, there's definitely some things for sure. But again, the suburban neighborhood? Yes, and her pool. You know what I mean? That plays a major factor in the storytelling.
Which is interesting. Water plays a major part. Water is a big thing because they're at the lake house. Exactly. They're in the swimming pool at the end. Well, the pool is like collapsed at the end. I mean, I don't know why, but it's like has to do with, I think. Well, that's her pool. I'm talking about the... The university swimming pool or whatever. Oh, the university pool, yes. Wait, but let me ask you a question. Is that an abandoned university? It seems to be because...
But why is that water so clear? I don't know. Someone's taking care of this water. Because my daughter, I watched this with my daughter, and she was asking me, she's like, was this a real school? Well, obviously it is, but like in the movie. I don't know if they're saying, because again, the ambiguousness of this. There's fences around it, and they have to break through the fences. So is this the University of Where She Goes, which is the...
University of Detroit. It's definitely not that university because they're commenting on the neighborhood and now it's like half. half mile or whatever. It seems like in the middle of an industrial park somewhere. It is. And there's just this swimming pool and that's indoor swimming pool. That's why I think the fence is all around it. Like an old YMCA building or something, you know, or like you said, a university or a high school, who knows? But like you said, it's, it's immaculate.
Well, the water's perfect. Close. I mean, not perfect, but it's well taken care of in some respect. Unless, like, nobody goes there, but, like, people swim there and they just keep the water. I mean, after the end, you wouldn't want to swim there, I don't think. No.
What other locations? That movie theater is a famous movie theater at the beginning. Yeah, so where is that? It's in Michigan, obviously, too. That is. It's a famous theater, and the one thing I read, and the reason why, what's the director's name, David? David Robert Mitchell, yeah. He used it because I think Dawn of the Dead premiered there. Really? Yeah, their big premiere was there. And it's one of the only remaining theaters where they have an organist who plays at the beginning.
Before the film starts. Yeah, and that's in that scene, which is kind of cool. It is. But again, the College of Engineering and Science is where that old lady comes across the... Yeah, which it's very much like to us, like a Brookdale or an Ocean Community College. It's like a community college, right? So had that feel. That was good.
And then you see Detroit, like when they go to a house in the middle of the city almost. Yeah. Broken down. Yeah. What's his name's house? Or the, the Hughes, like a fake house that he was like, like kind of hiding in or whatever. Exactly. Yeah. That was a kind of a creep. And then obviously you talked about, we talked about Hugh's house, but the lake house, which is kind of a, that's a cool spot. So that's obviously on Lake Michigan, which is humongous. It looks like an ocean.
Yeah, you can't see the other side of it. Yeah. But that was a cool desolate location that really set up. And then the parking garage, we forgot to mention again at the beginning. Yes. Very, very creepy. You mean where they're parked and have relations? Yeah, where they have sex. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, and it's got the weeds growing up and the cracks and the pavement and stuff. Yeah, and she's playing with the weeds. It's so cool. Yeah.
Yeah, I'm trying to think if we missed any other locations. Those are the major, like I said, the end scenes in the city. Yeah, in the city, yep. In the montage scene, even when he's driving around with prostitutes and things. Yep. And the swimming pool scene. Yep. but it really shows detroit the way it is now you know what i mean or or 2014.
Who knows? Well, actually, they could have built it up, you know? Alice Cooper's, one of his latest albums is Detroit Stories, and he loves Detroit. There you go. That's awesome. Good stuff. All right, Matt, so we're going to get into some of the scenes? Here are some scenes that will make your hair stand on end. They made Maddie's fallout.
so scenes mike we have to start with the opening yeah we have to yep i mean this is the brilliant brilliant setup of this movie is you get this carpenter ray stella who was who was his um steadicam operator for a lot um this is the way it floats yeah to me there's not to me i am such a sucker for a float Now, obviously, if it's done well, and the ones that have done well, the shine. Halloween. This movie, for sure. Yeah.
The mystery of the situation is perfectly laid out. It's perfectly executed. It hooks you. And you're disoriented. Yeah, you don't know what's going on. You have this girl that comes out of a house and she's running. Scantily clad. I'm dressed. But before the floating, the camera is on like a tripod and it's just turning. It's just panning around in a circle. Yeah.
It is. You're right. It gives you kind of a 360 of the neighborhood. Yeah, I love that. And it's so quiet. Yeah. And all of a sudden, like I said, this scantily clad woman comes out of a house. Yeah, in heels, right? Yeah. She's like a knight in heels. Exactly. Of course, we know how that scene ends eventually. With that startling jump scare. Yeah, the jump cut there. But you're saying as an audience member, I don't know what the hell...
I'm going to put my seatbelt on and I'm going to take this ride right now. Well, even before we get to that jump cut scene where we show her mangled on the beach, when she's on the beach and she's talking to her dad,
She's saying, dad, I'm sorry. I'm sorry to you. And like, you feel you're like, holy shit. Like, this is where we're going with this movie. Like, where is she going? What happened to make her say this? Oh my God. And then when we cut to that, that scene the next day and you see that you're like, fuck.
Like, here we go. Whoever did this, like it's coming. Yeah, exactly. It's not going to stop, whatever. Yeah. So yeah, it's that whole, what is it? Like about six minutes or so or four minutes. It's not that long, but it's fantastic. It's really like a masterpiece. It's very cool. It is. That could just be like a short film. I was just going to say the same thing. um so then we meet the characters right and then uh the the
The scene I'd like to talk about is when Jay is with Hugh at the movies. I call it the trade game. The trade game, yeah, which is so cool. That's one of my, like when there's touches, I know you love things. It's very Spielberg-ing, right? It is. But there's such a purpose to this game. Oh, absolutely. Just to set people up who haven't seen this recently.
So you scan a crowd. When you're in a crowd of people, you scan the crowd and you pick a person you'd want to trade places with. And you make a face like a story about them. And why you'd want to trade. And then she gets two guesses. So I love the scene. The thing about the scene is that on the surface, it appears, like I said, like a Spielberg scene, but then it quickly morphs into Hugh's heightened paranoia.
as if, as only he sees that girl in the yellow dress, right? That is, it comes from this, oh, look at this little, they're emotionally connecting. And then all of a sudden it becomes this paranoid nightmare.
sequence when he sees only he right sees this girl and you're like oh my god well it relaxes the audience yes of course yeah and then all of a sudden we're on edge you know as well but he has to get out of there and he's like i just need to leave you know what i mean yeah sorry hugh no second date buddy. Well, he does get a second. He does. Uh, I mean, I wouldn't have, I'm just saying if I, if Jay were, if I were Jay, I would, that would have been for me. Like, are you seeing people? I'm sorry.
Or an ex-girlfriend or something. You know what I mean? True. But the fact that she didn't badger him about that is kind of strange. Jay's a cool chick. But she's innocent, too. She is. She's on the verge, and that's a theme that we're going to talk about. Jay is on that verge of a child still and growing into a woman. And she's sort of stuck in between there. And I think the themes that he was going for with the story.
It's a perfect age for her to be in this movie. Yeah. So there's not a lot of deaths in this film. No. But the suspense and the tension we feel is huge. All about tension. So I think after that, the whole yellow thing, it's like when Hugh takes her to the parking garage. He passes on the curse, right? This is probably the pivotal scene, the end of act one type of a scene, right? It's the promise of the promise. This is the trailer.
So the way she's lying on her stomach, like you said, this is exactly what to piggyback on what you just said. She's reminiscing about the romanticism of her youth. She's dreaming about dating, falling in love. It's such a...
Like a youthful innocence, but then it so quickly gets shattered. Like in a moment where he's behind her. Well, he's caressing her and kissing her back. Yes, because he's on top of her. Exactly. And then all of a sudden... like what but before that what's creepy is when she's talking he's getting stuff out of the truck yes yes oh my god so the audience is aware that there's something off yeah what is he doing like why isn't he just with her
And it encapsulates everything I mean about how this movie doesn't let you settle into any comfort, right? So the second you have that beautiful wistfulness of her... brushing the little weeds in the cracks of the pavement, right? It's this beautiful image, like a painting, right? Yeah. An art museum.
And then suddenly, as he's going about his business, getting ready to do what he's going to do. And you're like, oh, my God. The tension is right there. Yeah, it's crazy. That you just talked about. Yep. So then she wakes up. He chloroforms her. She wakes up. Yeah, and she is tied to a chair. She's somewhere else. She pitches her the whole thing. Yeah. And he kind of, he's like, what's great is like when she wakes up, he's like in the background and he's like pacing.
It's a long shot, too. It's beautiful. It's a super long shot. And that's the one thing I read. He used wide-angle shots a lot in this movie because of that feeling of... space but like not knowing how what's in the background what's all the way out there and yeah yeah What's coming, right? Yeah. So he kind of lays out the rules. To a point, right? He doesn't give all the rules, because there's some stuff that are still not really known, right? And this is a...
dangerous type of a movie because you could easily paint yourself into a corner and like break your own rules in the movie like this. You know what I mean? This is tough. It's like back to the future. Yeah. Like with the timeline and the skewed time, like how much. It's so hard to like stay within these confines of these rules. And it's so easy for the audience.
why can't you just do this? You know what I mean? I think a lot of that came up, but you have to let all that go in a film like this. I think he doesn't, like you said, by keeping it vague. Yeah. he doesn't he doesn't deal with it too much no he leaves it open to interpretation exactly yeah So he lays out the rules, and then all of a sudden he's like, I need you to see it, right? Yeah. And he wheels the cart over. Yes, he does. And in the distance. We see who?
I think it's, is it someone she knows in this one or no? I don't think it's somebody she knows. No, it's not. You're right. No. But it's always, it's what's strange is it is always somebody, but they're like, something's like off. Like they're. half naked or yeah or something's wrong with their face or yeah there's like weird things happening you're right
So it's very zombie, but not like, you know what I mean? You could look at this movie and we'll say, wow, it's a zombie. Yeah. Cause they're moving kind of slow, right? They are. They're not sprinting. Right. So it's almost like a George Romero esque type of a thing where. It's following you, and it's like the steady persistence of death or doom or whatever it is that's coming. You can't stop it, right? Which is essentially if you stop to think about mortality.
Right. That's what it is. You know, you don't know when and where it's going to happen. Right. Like every final destination movie, like, or anything else, but it's coming. And sometimes you see it coming. Yeah. Sometimes you don't. Yeah. But in this case, he shows her. No, I'm going to show you, I'm going to give you a visual of what I am talking about so you understand. Right. And then he starts wheeling her away, right, from it.
It's a she at this point, isn't it? Yeah, it is. That's coming right at her. Right, yeah. And she's freaking out. Oh, my God. Because she's like, what the fuck is happening? She just woke up. You know what I mean? It's insane. She's disoriented as it is. Yeah. And the audience is completely in her shoes like, what is going on here? Yeah. Is it a zombie movie? Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. Is she going to bite into her head? Yep.
And she can become infected. It's like, you don't know at this point. Yeah. I wanted to ask you this because I think it's, I had this discussion with my daughter, so that's why. If you were in this situation and you had... Jay's situation. No, in Hugh's situation. Okay. And I had to pass it on. Yeah. Who would you pass it on to? You.
that's terrible no dude i don't know i mean it's hard to answer that question because whoever you say you're going to pass it on to is obviously somebody you have disdain for you don't like right but that's what i'm saying you gave it to somebody who was nice and right i mean like
Could he have given it to like a prostitute or not? I guess he was just so desperate, but like, could he get it to like a criminal or something? You know what I mean? Like he just wanted his life back. And I think he would just grab the closest thing. Yeah. You know, he wasn't, he wasn't a nice guy. I guess. He's not Paul, Mike. Right, right. That's true. He's not Paul. He's not. Yo, Paulie, drop my little bar of soap bowl, but not that movie, but it could be.
All right, so let's move on. So now we have kind of the setup here. We do. We've met Hugh. What other scenes? So the old lady on camp. Mike yeah well that's talked about this before right it's a great scene because you have the Halloween scene you have Jay sitting in the back of the classroom well you said the beginning Carpenter was over so obviously this is the next touchstone part where this is completely Laurie Strode in the class
looking out the window, seeing the old lady all the way across the quad. It's kind of a quad, right in the middle of the campus type of a thing. Slowly walking towards her. Again, the music starts pounding. And it's that Halloween. I said this before to you. Yeah. That Halloween too. Like so Halloween too. Yeah.
And then she appears in the part where she appears in the hallway. Well, that part's great. It's got to stop, right? Like, she's in a hallway. She's safe. There's a bunch of people around. And it just keeps coming at her. Well, the best part about that scene is she yells out. Those two girls behind her. That's true. React to her. And then we have another rule established because now we know.
she's the only one that can see them. She's the only one that can see them. Because they can't see her, but she can. And then at this moment, she's like, so Hugh really did see a freaking woman in a yellow dress, and what he was telling me is actually the truth, which is the most terrifying thing you could wake up to. So we have two rules then, because now once you have it... And if you've given it to somebody, you can still see it. Right. Yeah.
I don't know where he got this idea, but it's horrifying. Well, he got it from a nightmare I read. He had nightmares about seeing family members and stuff. slowly walking towards him. Like deceased family members? I don't know. It seems like that. He had a recurring nightmare and he wrote it down and then he sort of like... Pitched it more about the STDs and that kind of stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And changed it. Very unique take on it. But he was so taken from this.
inspiration you can draw from. That's pretty cool. Yeah. Nightmare. Jesus Christ. I don't know what scene you have, but I have like the most probably called upon scene in the whole movie. The tall man? The giant comes through the door. Right. It's incredible. First of all, the tension's already been ratcheted up to like a thousand after the window in the kitchen breaks. Yes. And Jay sees the semi nude woman coming at her.
Then when Yara knocks on the bedroom door and it's just her, right? Yeah. It's just her. Yep. Well, the other two were outside and she lets them in and they're like, what's going on? And then that's when Yara's like, hey, let me in. There's nothing out here. And the beautiful, again. The more I think about it. From the darkness, as Laurie's standing up by the top of the banister there. Michael Myers, all of a sudden, his face comes into... The giant comes from nowhere.
yep through the dark that's it yeah by the way stevie wayne everyone yeah we're watching a little fog on the tv for april and this scene is just I remember this was honestly in the movie theater the gasping the screaming yes that was a good one people lost their minds it was a good one yeah
It was like the thing was going to imagine like it was 3D, like just stepping into the theater. You know how tall this actor is? No. He's seven feet, seven foot 11. No. Yeah. It's like the tallest person in the world ever. It's a Guinness. Yeah. This, there's actually this actual seven foot 11 person. Yes. Yeah. And I think he has a brother who's also about that tall too. This is Mike's wonderful, deep internet research. No, yeah. Just, you know, just look.
So yeah, no CGI on his height. That's crazy. That is crazy. No trickery or anything. He wasn't standing on anything. So the lakeside, Mike, is the next part. where the entity takes Yara, I guess, takes her form. Yes, which is fucking awesome. Yeah, it is. It is, and it comes down to J, right? This is the actual...
Go ahead. You were going to say something. No, the way they set that up is great because they're all sitting on the beach, right? Yes. You don't see Yara, but you see the other two, her sister. Kelly. Kelly and Paul. And what's his name? Greg. Greg. Walks off to go take a piss. Yes. And then as Greg is like facing the other way, you see Yara walking towards him on the beach. Right.
And then you show Paul looking at the camera and behind Paul in the water is Yara playing in the water. Yes. So then you're like, what? And then you're like, fuck. And nobody notices Yara walking. And then all of a sudden. And it's strange because this is the part where you have physical contact with this entity, with this thing that's following. And it's kind of bizarre how they...
Show it. Right, because she grabs her ankle or something like that? Because it's almost as if the air, obviously, or something invisible. It's almost like an Invisible Man movie. Yeah, exactly, because they show the perspective of... her sister and paul you know what i mean and greg what they're seeing basically and yara but lifting up the hair yeah that's it it was the hair right that's the coolest part is when it's brilliant because they don't just go into like the thing attacking her
you see the hair get slowly lifted and you're like, damn, what in the world? And it's really cool how it's done. And then of course it actually attacks her. Right. And it goes nuts. So they run into that like little shed, right? Yes. The shed. And then Greg had found a gun earlier in the, in the scene and they take, she takes the gun out and she's shooting and yeah. And it takes the form of the tall man. It does. And... Once it busts through the wood there. So these are all versions of people.
That it's been following, I guess, right? Yeah, but it doesn't have to be people you know or seen before, but it can be because there's like all of a sudden there's a little kid whose head pokes through. Yeah. And that's one of the kids that was watching Jay in the pool earlier. Remember those two pervert kids that were like...
And she's like, I see you. And she's in the first scene. That's one of the kids that we're watching. How do you know that? I just know from watching it and recognizing it. And then I confirmed it by doing. I had no idea about that, but that's a good spot. So then she just takes off, right? Yeah. She runs and gets in the car and leaves everyone behind because she's out, but then she crashes the car.
Yeah. I mean, the guy on the roof, Mike, I mean, God, well, that's a great man on the roof. That's a great. just like what the oh because the way the car pulls away yes and then Yeah. Oh, it's just creepy. And she's the only one that sees it. Of course. And she doesn't say anything, I don't think, to anybody about it. She's not like there's somebody on the roof. No, but it's just like maybe drive faster or something.
But the breaking and entering and Greg. Oh, with Greg, the double Greg. This is like the second most brilliant scene in the whole. Because Jay's watching as Greg goes up to his own house, right? Breaks the window to go inside. Now, she knows that that entity is coming to get Greg. Nightmare on Elm Street. The first one? When she's yelling at...
Glenn? Glenn, and she's trying to wake him up. Yes, yes, yes. Dude, this scene is so nervous. It's a little bit reminiscent of that. That's a good call. A little? Yeah, yeah. She's knocking on the window. She's calling him from her room. Come on, dude. Yeah, she is. No, it's definitely got some nightmare. I could see that.
So she goes over as Greg's mom is like pounding on the bedroom door. Right. That, first of all, anytime you have a... But not pounding. Like it's like... She's knocking. She's knocking, but it's like kind of slow and soft. It's weird. Yeah. It's unnatural. The timing of it. the kind of metronomic, like slow tempo of it. It is, it's crazy. And then Greg opens the door and he's like, what the fuck, mom? Yeah, and then she launches herself out.
And then, oh, my God, what happens after this? But I love it. That is disturbing, though. It is. Poor Greg. Yeah. Well, poor Jay for what she's about to see. She walks and sees... It's a tangled mess that is Greg, right? Well, no, the mom is like thrusting into Greg. Because that's what I... We don't see... We've never seen how... it takes over the person that it gets to, right? Prior to this, we had not seen... But is that what's happening right now?
I don't know. I think she's just killing Greg. The other part of that is I wondered, you know, you could see the naked guy, you see the tall guy, the kid, right? Yeah. I'm wondering if...
This is the way like all of these people get inside the person so that at any given moment you could see any of these visions of these people that are part of this being, this entity. I don't know. There's just a thought. Right. I don't know. Yeah. But to me, it was almost like they were trying to crawl inside this. for this entity and any of the all of these bodies are somehow in there
And they can materialize at any given moment as that person. But we know they leave dead bodies. They do. Because the first girl, you know what I mean? They leave her for dead on the beach. You know what I mean? It's not like they... You mean... Oh, you mean the first girl in the very, very, very beginning? Yeah, the very beginning. Yeah.
But she's like thrusting. The mom is thrusting into Greg and there's like, she's like peeing on him too. It's like peeing. Yeah. I don't get the peeing vibe. Oh my God. There's weird like liquid all over her crotch, dude. It's very strange. I've got to watch this again. Yeah, you should. I kind of missed some of that because I was disturbed by it anyway. So maybe I missed some of the spewing. Yeah, you blocked it out, I think. I think I may have. There was spewing for sure.
So I mean, we can go to the pool of electrocution at the end, right? Toward the end. Sure. Because we're almost there anyway. Yeah. You know, daddy's back. Well, that's fucking cool. The way they reveal that, she's like, I don't want to tell you. She's talking to her sister. What's her sister's name? Kelly? Kelly, yeah.
I don't want to tell you who I'm seeing. Oh, yes. That's great. Is she in the pool at the time? She's in the pool. Yeah, she's in the pool, right? Because that's the bait. And then she sees the father walk in. Yeah, it's very... The audience does not. It's very the faculty, right? It has some of that in it, like Mary Louise Hutchinson. But she's like, I don't want you to... She's like, who is it? She's like, I don't want to tell you. Exactly.
And it's so emotional. It is. Because they hint at the dad. Yeah. The movie, they don't really talk about, like, a ton about it. There's a photo on her dresser, I think. Yeah. And they kind of zoom up on it. But what's great about this is they do that thing, like you said. the creature starts throwing all the electronics because they're trying to elect
They're trying to trap it in the pool and they're electrocuted. But the creature starts throwing all the stuff in and we get that invisible man kind of thing. But we see the things just lifting up and getting tossed in. So the coolest part is when they switch from... the perspective of everyone else to jay's perspective we can see it's the dad yes sort of make the connection holy shit but i like how they hold off on that yeah i like how
away me too just turns into a little bit of friday seven going on here with the oh yeah the way she lifts up the tv to throw with dr cruz by the way My heart is broken over Laura Parker. I know. I know. Rest in peace. Yeah. I'm devastated. My first Friday experience in a movie theater, 14 years old. I'll never forget it. Yeah. Yeah. But a little reminiscent of that.
TVs are just being thrown. It's so tense, this scene. It is. But like I said, it's the timing. It's what David Robert Mitchell would go... shows you he talks about what he's she's seeing i don't want to tell you and this builds up this mystery yeah but then when you find out it's emotionally shattering right right and then of course the dad is throwing in this
electron equipment my favorite shot in the whole movie matt is in this scene do you know what it is i don't after they shoot it and in the pool Jay sort of crawls up to look in the pool, and they're like, is it still there? Oh, yes. The blood, the red just fills the pool. Yes. And you hear this sort of rising score. really builds so cool man i love that because it's this cool overhead shot and you see jay's head
It is beautiful. Expanding. It's really cool. Yeah, it is. It is. And the ending of the movie. Yeah. Do you like the ending of this movie? I do, because it leaves it open to interpretation, but also leaves it open to... This could go somewhere. And I hear we're getting a secret.
Let's discuss this a little bit, because there's layers to this ending. Yeah. For sure. Well, Paul has it now. Right. Well, before the act... Well, we know that Paul sleeps with Jay. Yeah. Okay, so she passes it on to Paul. Right. We know this. Yeah. However... Before the actual last shot, right before the actual Paul and Jay in the neighborhood. Yeah. And the person you see around the corner and coming toward them. Right.
that's the neck they're next they're coming after them we don't know this for a fact we're not sure it could just be someone walking down the street because we do see paul in montage driving To these abandoned industrial parks. Right. Looking like Detroit's answer to some post-apocalyptic nuclear war site of some reason. And yeah, this is apparently where all the prostitutes do their business. Yep. I have questions, Mike, because here's my question.
We don't know. I mean, how many times does Paul go there? Now they're showing a snippet of it. He could go there. Every day for two months. Yeah. We don't know. I don't know. I don't believe that. We don't know, but, but he knows. He's like a very timid kind of guy. He is. I can see him chickening out. But he's also protective of Jay over anything. That's true. And he wants to distance. He wants to get as many versions away from them as they can get and from Jay, right? Right. So he would...
He would sleep with anything and try to pass this thing on and on and on and on to get this thing away from Jay. He doesn't care about himself. He's selfless. He wants to predict Jay. So I'm, that's one of my under unanswered questions is how many times is Paul actually going to these industrial parks? How many times is he picking up a prostitute and sleeping with them to kept passing? Or did he do it at all? And do they feel like, or did he do it?
What they did in the pool, they think that's it. And they stopped it. But is he then, if he does there again and again and again, Mike, is he then single-handedly responsible for pushing Detroit several spots up the... most desirable cities to live in America list based on the fact that he's wiped out. half of the prostitution ring of Detroit. Yeah, because that's true. They would be killing each other.
Right. If they're passing it on and passing it right. And the dirtbags that, you know. Exactly. That frequent prostitutes. So he's wiping out all, he's basically Dexter, like, times 70. That's true. He's taking out all the, you know, the. I never thought of that before. That's funny.
I don't know. It's just a theory. Yeah, that's good. Obviously, it still didn't work, Mike, because at the end shot, it is pursuing Paul and Jay seemingly at the end of this movie. We don't know that for sure. But who's exactly it? In the game of it here, who is it coming after, Jay or Paul in the end? If it's coming after either of them, who is it? It's Paul, because it goes after the next person in the line. So it would have to kill Paul to go after Jay. Unless Paul's still banging Jay.
Because now he's passed it on. Oh, that's true. Do you think you can pass it back? I don't know. That's like another rule. Interesting. I don't know. I don't have an answer to this. That's a great...
a great thing to think about. Because you're assuming at this point, because they are sexually active, they're dating. Right, so... So they just not, they just stank celibate? That doesn't even make sense. But you don't know that for sure. It could stay with the person... we don't know that we don't know but yeah i i but that's one of my i wanted to put that for sure because i think it it poses a lot of wow he's really there's a lot of layers to it here yeah
So, I mean, they could essentially be passing the curse back and forth when they're sleeping with each other every single time. Yeah, yeah. You know, who's it? That's what I wonder. Like, when that thing is coming at the end, you automatically probably say, yeah, it's Paul it's coming for, but you don't really know. Right, right.
Because every time they sleep together, he could be passing it on. It could be back and forth. Right? Because if he sleeps with Jay, the thing could be directly coming to Jay. Sure, sure. So you don't know. Anyway, imagine the confusion. I just thought of a shot. gag reel or something. They're disgusting. No, we screwed and that bounced it to you. No, no, no. It was on me, but then after you were on me last night, it kind of bounced back to you. I don't know. They need a notebook to keep tabs.
They do. Yes, definitely. Oh my gosh. It's good stuff. That is good stuff. All right, man. Great ending. We're going to take a little break. We'll be right back. So, Matt, on Patreon, we just did something really fun and special. Yeah. Tell everybody about it. I was honestly one of the...
11 years we've been doing this. Yeah. It was your idea too. Yeah. One of my favorite things we've ever done. So we're doing this thing instead of dinner in a movie, Mike and I are doing this new feature called diner in a movie. Yeah. And every.
Three months or so. Yeah. Probably three, four times, probably four times a year at least. Yeah, four times a year probably. That's our goal. We're going to be hitting a diner in New Jersey, somewhere in New Jersey. New Jersey's famous for diners. And discussing a movie. Discussing a movie. That our patrons pick. Yes. We're going to put a poll up and they're going to pick the movie and that's the movie we're going to be discussing.
In our diner in a movie segment. And like you said, anywhere around New Jersey, because New Jersey has hundreds of diners. You never know where we're going to pop up. Right, that's true. And we just did Happy Birthday to Mia's, the inaugural episode. We did. It was super fun talking about that film, ordering food, talking to the waitress.
You hear it all. It's like ASMR, you know, because we're chomping on. It is. You get to hear the clanging of the forks. Yes. Yeah. Us ordering. Yeah. Us paying. What we like to eat. All that kind of good stuff. The little kid that was staring at us in the next job. Yeah, that's true. That's in there as well.
It's fun. It was super fun. And if you'd like to hear it and consider joining us, it is on our regular feed. So you can listen to about 20 minutes of the episode. 20 minutes or so, yeah. And if you like what you hear, we also do a bonus episode every month. Uh, in addition to these diner in a movie. So, um, there's lots of good content on there and, uh, more to come. So definitely consider joining us over on Patreon. We'd love to have you. Patreon.com slash alone in the dark.
So Matt, let's talk about the characters, the meat and potatoes of this film here. Ready? Let's do it. All right, Matt, who do you want to start with? We got to start with Yara. Okay. So Yara's Kelly's friend. She is, she's a little out there. She's a sen- Quirky. Gaseous. Kind of cool. You said gaseous. I did say gaseous. She farts right in front of her friends. Absolutely. And Kelly and Jay's mom too, which is very strange. She's comfortable with her.
she is what's up with jay's mom alcoholic not a part of the film at all just Nondescript, right? Wallpaper. Yeah. Really. It's almost like Helen's dad. And I know what you did. That's a good, that's a great comparison. It's like, there's like, it's questionable. He's sitting there watching this ball game or whatever. Is he just, is he like regretting his life thinking he has the most terrible time? And it's like, belling some debilitating alcoholism? Or is he just exhausted from working?
And having two girls that are exhausting to him. You know what's interesting though? And running a store, you know what I mean? I could be wrong, but when Jay hurts herself, crashes the car, and wakes up in the hospital, I think the mom is in that room, asleep, with everyone else. I guess. I think she's there too. But she doesn't even have a line. But she doesn't even talk. No. Like it's very strange. Yeah.
Even your dog thinks it's strange. My dog is barking upstairs right now. So you talk about Kelly's friend, Yara. So now we're going to talk about Kelly, right? That's his sister? Yes. She goes everywhere, Jake. Wait, can we, before we jump off Yara, what is with Yara's shell? e-reader, phone? I don't know. Is it something that technology that's made up for this movie? Yes. Why though? For what function? I don't know. That is.
Like, what was he thinking? So if you interviewed David Robert Mitchell, this would be like question one. Yes. Not even like... about the rules or anything. I'm sure he gets it a lot. You think? Because I listen to a lot of podcasts, obviously, and everyone's always talking about this. I was going to say, if you're watching Entertainment Tonight or one of these big... No one's asking him these stupid questions.
Getting into the minutia of that. It's strange, but this goes with like, was he trying to throw us off with what decade this was or what time period this was? It's very weird. Yes. Again, that ambiguousness, that just unsettled. Well, it's the strangest when they're watching like a 50s movie on a crappy TV, black and white TV, and she's got this futuristic device. Maybe she's an AI bot. Who knows? Is she reading the Iliad or something like that? She's reading something very...
Very educational. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like the old kind of classic, like a college English lit class. Yeah, so I just had to mention that before we jumped off of Yara because it's very... It is. But Kelly goes everywhere Jay goes. Like, her only mission in life...
To be the world's greatest little sister. Yeah. She's a cool character. She is. I liked her character a lot. Probably two, three years younger than Jay. Yeah, a couple years younger. Because I think they're still in high school, and I think Jay is in college, I want to say. Yeah. But the fact that...
Right. And she doesn't even question this entity. She's just like, how can I help? Right. Exactly. Jumps in with both feet. I mean, that's how much, you know, she loves Jay and like looks up to her. I know my sister would never lie to me. Whatever this is, I'm in, I'll help you. And that's good. That's a good system. Yeah, it's incredible. She's cool. I really liked her character. Yeah, I did too.
He's thirsty for some loving. What do you think? Is he the McLovin of this movie? He kind of is. He just wants it, you know? It's pretty obvious. Nerdy, nebbish hero Paul. And I don't buy that shit. for a second, where in the end he's like, I want to help you. Let's have sex. But it is kind of sweet, though, in the middle of the movie where he offers to sleep over. to protect her well yes right and then doesn't kelly like no she's like no well mike the great thing about this uh affliction
Is that now Paul who's been terminally trapped in the friend zone with Jay? Yeah. He can't even get some now. No. He can't. I'm saying now he can. He can. It would be advantageous for her to screw him and pass on this thing, right? That's true, yeah. Even if it's only because she gets to pass. Who cares? Right, right.
But now Paul doesn't care. He's like, come on. I get to screw you. I want this disease. Whatever it is, I don't care if it's leprosy. My penis falls off. Just give it to me. He's thinking with his dick, for sure. It would be worth it for him. It would. He doesn't care. Like you said, it's the only thing he wants. No, this is all he wants. But I kind of like his character. His character's okay. No, I can relate. You know what I mean? Definitely can relate, you know? The guy doesn't get any?
Yeah, pretty much. In high school though, I'm saying. In high school, for sure. Oh God, I can relate so hard. Jesus. They're so soft. Oh, God. So Greg, Matt, can you say Johnny Depp, please?
Who, Greg? Yeah. Greg is some, this is the Nightmare on Elm Street part for sure. Yeah, he is definitely. The guy across the street or whatever. Good looking, you know, shaggy hair guy. You can look across, you can look at him across through your window. Yeah, he's cooler than everybody. You know what I mean? Like, he's definitely, you know.
He offers the group a ride, you know, go and find Hugh. He's a cool car, right? Yeah, he wants to help out. He wants to see what's going down. He's got his house by the lake. Yeah. Won't jump in my car, my old muscle car. My dad used to take me here. Yeah. He doesn't believe in the curse. No, he doesn't really believe it. Just wants to sleep with Jay. Well, he gets it, yeah. Which she's more than happy to do, of course. And Paul is so upset when that happens.
why couldn't you infect me? But Greg is in denial until it unfortunately is too late. Well, it's too late. He says, what the fuck's going on, mom? Well, then it turns into psych. And Hugh, we could mention, right? Well, Hugh is that scumbag. He's a scumbag, but he does kind of help them when they all go to his house and they find him eventually. Yeah, but Hugh's main role in this movie is to basically tell you how...
And give the main character, this is what you're in for. You know what I didn't like about Hugh is after he infects her and tells her the rules and he takes her back home, he just throws her in the street. Like he could have walked her back. But this is what I'm saying. You're like, well, yeah, he's kind of Mike. He literally romances her, pretends to be this cultured film guy, and even telling her this, playing this game with her. Right, I know. Like, oh, we're going to be like a...
you know, power couple. He leads her on big time. Yes. Only to pass this curse on to her. I know. I know. So he's completely duplicitous. He's disingenuous. Yeah. Screw Hugh. Yeah. That's what I'm going to get a t-shirt. Screw Hugh. I like it. I like it. There is a comedy moment in this film. You know when they're all sitting outside and he's kind of telling them the rules and everything again?
there's that girl that's walking up and he's like, do you see that? Do you see that? They're like, yeah. And he's like, oh, it's kind of a funny, it was a good little comment. I wish there were more comedy moments like that in the film, but there's not, there's not that many. No. But beyond that, they have Jay, right? Yeah.
Jay is Micah Monroe, Mike. Who had a better 2014 than Micah Monroe? She did this and the guest. She did the guest before this, right? Yes. I think she went directly from the guest. I listened to an interview with her directly from the guest to shoot this film. I mean, think about that. Those are two of the best movies of the year for me. 2014? Yeah. I mean, I know The Babadook came out. I'm still all the guests, and it follows over any of those two. Yeah, definitely. But she was 19, I think.
She's lovely in this movie. No, she's great. She's so cute in this movie. Yeah, very good. But she's old enough to look like she's an adult, but still young enough to look like she's 16. And I think exactly. It really works.
He really struck it. I mean, he struck it rich with her. Yeah, he got lucky. Because she's still got a lot of work now. She's still doing a lot of roles now. Oh, yeah, definitely. What was something recent? I'm trying to think what she was in recently, but she's got a bunch of movies that she's in. Oh, she was in Long Legs. Yes, she was. Yeah. But she's so good in this movie. She is. But again, it is.
of a role and a movie. Like, she doesn't get to, like, have fun and be the fun girl and the party girl and the Miss Personality. The closest we get to that is the scene at the movies, you know what I mean? Yes, it is. Yeah. So early on. Yep.
And she doesn't, she lost her dad. And, you know, you could just feel the sense of like, just even that moment in the pool. The mom doesn't speak. Mom doesn't talk to her. Mom's a mute. Drinks wine in the background. Apparently. Yeah. Yeah. She's got this sadness to her. Right. And it's like. But she's in school. She seems intellectual. She's trying, you know? She definitely seems like a girl who could majorly have mental health.
Right. But is just so strong as a person that she just seems to be managing. Yeah. And she's trying to get out of probably this town. She's probably trying to, you know, take some college courses and move on and move somewhere. I'll tell you what, for a movie that... Not heavy on character. Right.
These characters linger long after with me. Like now I'm thinking about it and as we're talking about it, there's a lot of depth to her. There is. Yeah, there definitely is. And it's not... so outwardly thrown at you and exposition at all. right, or explanations or any of that. It's just the way that she carries herself. The slight little nuggets of backstory that you get.
And the way she emotes and I mean, it's just, it's a, it's, that's what to me makes it startling performance. No, I agree. Because she's so good at conveying so much through so little. She, she does. And that's kind of incredible about this. Yeah. No, I like what she says.
She sort of like says those things like in the car where she's touching the grass. She's talking about, I imagine I'd be with some cute guy and we'd be holding hands. It's a good way to transition, Mike. You said you like what she said and then we talk about things that the characters say when we talk about her famous quote.
When I was little, my parents wouldn't allow me to go past 8 Mile, and I didn't even know what that meant until I got a little older. I thought maybe there was something dangerous, like a monster. His name is Marshall Mathers. You better lose yourself in the music the moment. Oh, he's on 8 Mile, man. He's cutting heads in the freaking club over there. Oh, my God. What are you reading, Yara? The Idiot. That's what she's reading, The Idiot. Yes, The Idiot. Is it any good?
I don't know yet. It's about Paul. And Yara goes, hey, I have an idea. And Paul goes, what? She goes, it got away. So that's like the humor you're getting in this movie is pretty much in that one scene.
And there's a little bit, like you said, in the grass, when they're sitting in the grass and that person's just stumbling across the campus. And that was very, that was very screened by the way, that scene too, because remember when they're all sitting in the water fountain, like it's definitely got a screen.
It has a vibe, yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Hugh, when he's explaining the curse, it's going to walk straight for you. If it catches you, it's going to kill you. Yeah. So speaking of Hugh, this thing, it's going to... Somebody gave it to me, and I passed it to you. Back in the car. It could look like someone you know, or it could be a stranger in a crowd. Whatever helps it get close to you.
Good explanation. Yeah. But then I want to go back, Mike, because I love the scene. Like we were talking about the movie theater. I mean, how happy that kid. Plus, at that age, you can go to the bathroom anytime you want. Total freedom. And she goes, yeah, he's probably taking a shit right now. Yeah. And he goes, exactly.
It's just great little throwaway lines, but they're cute. They're funny. But the kid that we were talking about was definitely way older than a kid that would take a shit in his pants. I know. Do you have Jay's line, the one I was referencing? Because I don't have it written down. I don't. Oh. The one where she's combing the grass or whatever? Yeah, yeah. I wish I had.
Only a couple of quotes. I don't, I mean, there's not, like I said, there's not a lot of memorable things in this movie where, you know what I mean? I think, you know, when... I mean, you could quote some of the stuff when her sister's like, who is it or whatever. That's great. There's some great lines there, too. Yes, definitely. But yeah, you're right. There's nothing really super memorable.
in this film I mean his speech like Hugh's stuff yeah yeah of course and you know some of the little things that Jay says in between there you know it's just kind of memorable and sort of themed All right. So ready to talk about some music? Let's do it. Did you hear that sound? No, not the screaming. From memorable tunes to stabbing synths and haunted strings, it's time to discuss the music from the film.
So there's not a single song in this movie, but the score is pretty cool. Disaster piece. Disaster piece. P-E-A-C-E. Yeah, Mike. You said it's pretty cool. I'm going to, this is a stun. Combining elements, obviously, there's definitely Carpenter-esque elements here. His early work is electronic music for certain. But somehow it's wholly original too. It's got its own thing going on. And anyone that's endlessly comparing this to Carpenter's score work is probably referring to the way that the...
The bass notes are sustained. Right. Like that's, you know, it's that boom, boom. Yes. It's like a rhythm. It is. It's that pulse. It's a pulse because something's coming. Right. So it's perfect for this movie. Because something's following. Right. And I think anybody who says, oh, this is ripping it off, is referring to the fact that it has that insistent pulse pounding. Well, it's like a footstep, right? Exactly, right? It's coming.
We discuss simplicity, Mike, and its power and effectiveness all the time on almost all of our podcasts, especially when we talk about music. If it could work as a music box melody, it's probably a great sticky tune. It's hard to get. And there's this track called Heal. which is just, I mentioned this before. It's a dead ringer for Halloween too. It's got that game game. Yes. Yes. The same leg.
throbbing pounding like when nurse karen is getting her face dunked in the oh yeah yeah in the hot tub yeah the scalding therapy pool thing it's right there has that same type of a music And he was known for video games, I think. It's an artist, right? He's an artist, but he did scores for video games. That's what he was known for. Prior to this, you mean? Yeah, prior to this. And then the director heard it.
I don't think so. No? Because the guest has a similar kind of a synthy... It does. I would be surprised. I don't think... I did a lot of research and that didn't come up, but maybe it... because you're right it's very similar right yeah i mean i don't know there's a lot of parallels I mean, people say carpenter, carpenter, carpenter, but I hear when I watch the geth,
I do hear some of these, not themes, but the electronic, especially when they get to the dance scene with the Halloween three masks. Exactly. Like all that stuff. Yeah. But I'm going to look it up, Mike. Yeah, check it out. Dying to know. Yeah. um i think it's cool that he sort of discovered him from video games if that is that where he nope was before he did not right steve moore yeah but you're right it's very similar yeah it is
All right. Well, that's fair. Good. All right. Cool. If you had to get a tattoo of this movie, what are you getting, Mike? Oh, geez. What would I...
i'm getting the giant the tall man yeah like just kind of like a him like coming out of the dark almost yeah to try to get that be difficult maybe but i think it'd be cool i think i'm gonna get the um i'm gonna get yara's shell e-reader no one people would look at that tone go what the hell is that what is that you're gonna go do you want me to tell you You sure you want me to tell you? You ever see it fall?
Did you see that future is a thing that Kooky Girl is reading all this? It's an invented technology. Mike, people, you would clear a room. Trying to explain what that is. I know. That's the point, man. I want to be alone in a room. I'm just kidding. No, honestly, I really don't know. I don't know what I would get for this film. I don't know if... I feel so uninspired. Would you get like the, the, the reveal of the girl in the beginning, like that image? Oh no. That's too, too gory, right?
That's why I would go with the giant. I would try to get that, just his face and just like kind of coming out of that. Yeah, it would be cool. The devil's eyes. Oh, Matt. You want to play a game, Matt? Yeah, sure. I got a game for us. Let's hope my music still works. It does. All right. Beautiful. All right, Matt. I'm ready. It's called It Follows Would You Rather. Okay. All right. So I'm going to give you two horror characters, and I want you to tell me.
Would you rather be followed by either one and how you would escape, okay? Oh, God. So, would you rather be followed by the Babadook, you mentioned him before, in a trench coat? Or Pennywise pretending to be a suburban dad. What? Yeah. So Babadook in a trench coat. Yeah. Surprise! He's going to pull it over. Pennywise pretending to be a suburban dad. Because they have to be disguised in some way, right? No, I'd rather be followed by the Babadook. All right, so how would you escape?
That's a great question. Kick them in the balls and run away? Probably. Okay. That's good. I like that. All right, cool. All right, you ready? Scenario two. Would you rather... Have Chucky following you at a walking speed but constantly talking trash about you. Or Samara from The Ring, but she can only move through public transportation. Okay, she can only take a bus. A car, a train. Yeah.
Yeah, I'd rather do that because I could go to some rural area that's not near any of that. Okay. And it would be hard for her to get to you. Probably. Okay. Directly, yeah. It would probably be hard for her to directly get to me. All right. I mean, that Chucky stuff would wear on me. a while. I know. It would just be annoying, right? Yeah. I agree. What would he say about you, by the way? Give me a knock on you.
like call hey cue ball hey he would be totally knocking you play a lot of pool there cue ball here's some here's some uh here's some wax for your head Hey, shiny head. All right, you ready? Scenario three. Would you rather? All right, you ready? Michael Myers, but in Crocs. Silent, menacing, squeak, squeak of the Crocs is your only warning. Or Ghostface, constantly trying to call you, but it's just heavy breathing.
You block the number. New one pops up. He's walking behind you at Target while you're shopping for headway. All right, I'm... I added that. I got to go Ghostface. Oh, okay. Because there's a lot of people around. I don't know. I might be able to get people to... helped me like take him out but michael myers you'd know when he's coming the squeak, squeak of the cross. Yeah, but I might be alone in a dark alley somewhere. I love you.
If I was in Target with all the lights on, I could just say, people, let's pounce on this guy. All right, that's cool. All right, last one. You ready? Yeah. You're going to love this one. Ready? These are two of your favorite characters in horror. Oh, I'm sure. Jason Voorhees wearing a Live, Laugh, Love hoodie.
Still has the machete. The hoodie just makes it worse somehow. So he's, you know, he's got the nice sentiment on his sweatshirt, but he's got the machete. Okay. Or Jack Torrance from The Shining, but quoting Frozen instead. Do you want to build a snowman? Echoes down the halls. I don't know. I think I might want... Jack Torrance. Really? Okay. I'd love to hear him, his rendition of singing. For the first time in forever. Could you imagine? Can you? I could. for the, um, Lloyd, let it go.
Let it go. Oh, my gosh. That's great. All right, Matty. Well, thanks for playing. I appreciate it. Bottoms up. Can't hold it back anymore. Dude, that's a fun game, dude. It was all right. It wasn't my best, but it's all right. It made me laugh, man. Okay, well, I'm glad it made you laugh. Everyone else is probably like, this is... I'm unsubscribing to this podcast. Just kidding. All right. So are we going to talk about how we feel about this movie? Yes, we should. All right. How does this
All right, Matt. I think I went first last time, maybe? I don't know. I don't know. I'll go first. All right. I have a feeling that my rating is higher than yours. Okay. Just based on our conversation today. Wow. Okay. And it's how well this movie is made. It's not this time I didn't base on their watchability factor because this, I watched this more than once. Yeah.
But I've only seen this about three times over the last 11 years. It's not compulsively rewatching. This isn't like every year I have to see this kind of thing. No, absolutely not. And I agree with you there. But when I watch it, I am so, so impressed by how... It's so sleek, but it's so smart. It's so vague. It's so many things, but it's so well-made. Like I said, the depth of character...
And Mike, what she pulls off in this movie by not doing that much is incredible. Right. And how much emotion it conveys without a lot. So I'm giving it all those things because I think it's such a well-made movie on the par of things that we've given three and a half stars. Okay. it does dread so well. It does.
It never lets you get comfortable, which is part of the reason why I think you're going to rate it lower. You don't like being in a state of perpetual discomfort like that. No, I don't mind. But there is an unease that permeates the whole entire film. Yeah, there is. It's so anxiety inducing. I don't think anyone particularly likes it.
staying in that state for too long. But very few films are like this. And I think David Robert Mitchell brilliantly puts the audience in that same headspace as the characters are in. Yeah. So for that reason, I'm giving it three and a half. Okay. Out of five. All right. i don't know if this is cheating matt we've done we we do halves right we do i just did can we do quarters Sure. All right. So as long as there's a justification attached. I'm giving this 2.75.
Is that okay? Okay. Well, it's okay as long as I hear your justification. This movie is a masterpiece. I will give you that. In suspense, in tension. 2.75 out of 5 is a masterpiece. Okay, but hear me out. Okay. there is something about this film that depresses me. Yeah. It's very dark. The character, the character.
There's like no hope for life. There's no excitement. And like, you know, you get that feeling and scream where everybody, it's like the teenagers and they're all sort of like. They're aspiring to do something or live. Right. And you feel like they. excitement in their lives these people these characters are like just getting by just scraping by they're scraping by yeah they're sitting on the couch watching like a shitty tv on top of another tv and like
Playing with some unknown shell technology. And the mom's drinking in the background and like, there's just no. excitement in this movie and it brings me down it does it does bring you down so that you talk about rewatchability like I watched this again for the podcast not for the first time since you saw it in the movie No, I don't think so. I want to know. Be honest with you. Is this the first time you've seen this since 2014? No, no, no, no. I've seen it since.
But I would say this is probably my third time seeing it. Okay, so it's the same as me, pretty much. It's like my third or fourth time, yeah. This is a fun movie to watch with someone that hasn't seen it. Yes, like your daughter. You watched it with Matt. Yeah, because you get a reaction out of them. And she really liked it. She did. She was like perplexed by it. She wasn't like, she was, you know, she was angry, you know, because. She felt bad for Jay. Yeah, exactly. Well, that's good.
But other than that, I'm not really going to watch this movie again unless I have a reason to, you know? So for that reading, for that reason, and the fact that it's so drab and so down. I just can't get over a three. You could have given it a two. So your 2.75 is the amount of respect you have for how well this movie is made. And I appreciate, like you talked about earlier, and I really like what you said, was that.
It's not ripping off Carpenter. It's paying homage to Carpenter. And that's why. Because I agree with that and I see. what he was doing and his love of the genre sure i mean even though he this is the only horror film he's I think so. And by the way, they are doing a sequel. They follow. They follow, and they're working on it, I think, this year. I hope so. I think Micah Monroe definitely signed on. I don't know if the other... Well, Paul. We even know if it's Paul anyway.
He could be doing his podcast. I wouldn't even know he's in the movie. Wait, he's right there. Hey, Paul. I wouldn't even know. If he just walked from behind the thing. Wait, you're in this movie? What? So anyway, I'm excited for that. I will see the sequel for sure. Oh, we're going. This time we'll remember if we go together. Exactly. That's so weird that we didn't remember.
But yeah, so that's why I gave him a 2.75. Okay. The 7.5 is the appreciation of him. That's fair. What would you pair this with? Yeah. Halloween 3. And you want to know why? I do. Why? i want to know what because mike around with the michael monroe halloween three tribute from the guest i'm where you going no i'm going with the men in black
Yeah, because they keep showing up. They're in the shadows. They're in the shadows and they just walk kind of slowly. They don't talk. You know what I mean? Yeah. So I would think that, for me, that would be a cool pair.
I have two. I have Under the Silver Lake, his other movie. Oh, okay. Well, his other. The one he followed this with, which is kind of his tribute to Homer. The one he followed this with? Yes, exactly. Well, it's his tribute to Homer's, like, Odyssey. Okay. Wow. Because he meets a whole bunch of, like, different... It's almost like, have you ever seen Scorsese's After Hours? No. With Griffin Dunn? No. It's a mid-80s movie.
It's a one-night movie in New York City. It just meets up with the most bizarre characters. That's like we talk about Linklater. Yes. That's slacker. Well, it is. It's also kind of a Dazed and Confused type of thing. It's a one-night. And I'm a sucker for these movies. Yes. I know a lot of people have trouble with Under the Silver Lake. It's a long movie. It's like two hours and 35 minutes, maybe.
and it's rambling a little bit, but it's really good. Oh, okay. It's just so odd, though. Right. You have to be in the mood for it, but I think it would just be a weird, cool double pairing. But the thing I most watch... um it's a final destiny you know it follows is basically final destination yeah in a way yes so you could say a final destination movie i'm picking
The Final Destination, which is my least favorite in the whole series, which is part four. It's called The Final Destination from 2009, I believe. The reason I'm picking that one, and it's my least favorite, but the reason I'm picking it is because you have a lot of pool scenes in It Follows. Right. In the beginning, she's floating in the pool. The whole end scene with her father's throwing the equipment in there.
And that's the final destination is the one where the kid gets sucked into the pool scene. I don't think I've ever seen that one. He gets sucked into the filter. Okay, gotcha. And then there's just gourd. Oh, my God. So it has that big pool scene. Yeah, yeah. So I thought thematically to keep with the water and all that stuff. Yeah, I like that. the best yeah that's good very cool so yeah excellent that's what i that's all i got there you go cool all right
So next month, maybe in our car ride up, we can pass a landfill full of deer carcasses. Maybe go to Madame Tussauds. What do you think? I think that would be great. Yeah, cool. Maybe. All right, guys. Thanks for listening. We will see you guys in May. We hope you enjoy your spring.
We've got some nice extra stuff coming up in May. We do. And jump over on Patreon, guys. Join us over there. Check out that diner in a movie and see if you like us and come join us on Patreon. Support the podcast, okay? Thanks, guys. Take care.