New Horror Movies Ep. 138: Watson Solves an Age-Old Horror Avengers Mystery

you Hi, and welcome to Jay of the Dead's new horror movies, Haunting Your Headphones with 2025 Horror. This is episode... And I'm your host, Jay of the Dead. I know. know what episode it is okay because we record this and then you know how it is but this is jay the dead podcasting for pleasant grove utah and my nine esteemed co-hosts who comprise our team of horror avengers are dave dr shock becker

The Gill Man, Joel Robertson. Mr. Watson. Dr. Walking Dead, Kyle Bishop. The Southern Gentleman, Greg Mortis. Count Macula, Ron Martin. Dave Z. And Spawn of the Dead. Now, technically, y'all, this is our first review of a 2025 horror movie here on this podcast, with more to come, of course. But today, for this first review, I want to welcome... The southern gentleman himself, Greg Amortis. Hello, sir.

What is up, everybody? Jay, good to be back. This is 2025 movie, brother. Can you believe it? We're here. It's the start of the new year. Yes. And I know I sound like an old timer when I say this, but I remember when the ball dropped. For the Y2K year 2000, that was 25 years ago. Can I tell a little story? Tell it. In 2000, I was in this church.

At the time I'd been in that church for about started in 90, late 94, early 95, all the way up to 2000. And luckily I got out of it because I'll be honest, Colt, Colt, I'm just saying. But anyways, I remember on.

2000, it was 1999. And no, it wasn't Prince. But I remember we were in church doing prayer service. We were praying throughout the night because we, you know, 2000 was coming in and the end of the world was coming and we're all praying all night. And then I remember I said, it's midnight. night and we all looked up and said okay so then we went home so anyway that was my little story of you know the scare of 2000 oh man

Oh, that felt like we brought it in that we made sure nothing happened because we prayed it in. Right. Oh, well, thank you. OK, I get it now. And I believe we're going to hear more about that in your collectors episode. Right. Don't you talk about that with Macula about your. Stay tuned for that when that does drop. I cannot wait for that. Yeah, well, my one-liner about that night was...

I spent it with the love of my life. We were together. And you know what? She wanted to watch horror movies. So we rented horror movies. And that's how we brought in that new year. So very special. Oh, yeah. We did Faces of Death. We did a Friday the 13th. I believe it was part six. And then we did a Children of the Corn sequel for some reason.

I know. This is a death. Wow, Jay. That's awesome. Yeah, I know. Right. Yeah, that was pretty cool. But anyways. OK, well, I want to welcome our next. We have two special guests with us. And I'll see if she has any memories of the Y2K. She is the mysterious queen of horror podcasting. I want to welcome the Twisted Temptress. Welcome, Pearl. Hey, everybody. Since that was 25 years ago, you weren't even born quite yet, right? Because you're like 22 now, aren't you?

Now, do you remember that night, Pearl, when they brought in the new year to the year 2000? Yeah, I do. It wasn't the best of nights. Oh. Okay. It was one where me and my friends were all excited because, I mean, clearly 2000 is a big number. Long story short let's just say I spent most of the night in the bathroom holding two heads up.

And that's how it went. Wow. Always a nurturer. I love it. Okay. Well, that was good of you. And thanks for being here. I'm so happy you're here with us to discuss. another a werewolf uh movie because we just talked about werewolf movie here recently so this is cool and then we have one more special guest um he actually went to the theater last night it was uh

Me and Spawn of the Dead, who isn't here today because he's a little under the weather. And it was also our buddy Jackson, who does our website. But this man here is friend of the show, my brother from way back at the streets of Tucson, 1997, 98. I want to welcome Grizzly Gus. hey guys how you doing thanks for having me on i appreciate it so and i don't have any stories of uh the y2k i honestly can't remember what i did during y2k i remember it was such a big deal

And I honestly, if somebody said for $10 million, tell me exactly where you were. I'd be like, I'm out. So no stories for that. Although 2000 was the best year of my life. That's when I met my wife. We've been married for 24 years now. Well, congrats. That's wonderful. Absolutely. I can't forget that, or then I will be out. Brother, you know what's cool about that? You said the year 2000 was the best year of your life, and I feel.

1999 was the best year of mine. I love that year. That was such a good year. Good year for movies, too, by the way. Yeah. So anyways. All right. Well, welcome, guys. We are here. to bring you a special 2025 review. So without further delay, we're going to move into the show and we want to thank all the listeners out there for being here for Jay of the Dead's new horror movies, your new favorite horror podcast.

Okay, we've got Jay of the Dead here. I'm joined by Greg Amortis, the Twisted Temptress, and Grizzly. And we're going to review Wolfman 2025. This was released wide in U.S. theaters on January 17th. So just this past weekend as we record this, this is a Blumhouse production. But don't let that scare you away. No, I'm just kidding. I won't start. I won't start.

This was a new year, Jay. I know. And I actually like this movie. So good job, Blumhouse. So this was co-written and directed by Lee Wannell. And by the way, he co-wrote this with his wife, Corbett Tuck. Did I spell that right? For some reason, that name wasn't striking me. Yep, Corbett Tuck. Interesting name. This stars Julia Garner. You might know her better as Ruth from Ozark.

If you guys saw that, she was Ruth. She's a tremendous character in that. And then Christopher Abbott. This movie's rated R, has a runtime of one hour, 43 minutes. And I got down to the premise and that's where I... stopped my notes i just noticed i forgot to finish my notes darn it well anyways this This is, and correct me if I'm wrong, you guys. In fact, let's talk about this a little bit, if we could. Now, you all keep up with this stuff probably better than I do, but...

They have been trying for years now to kind of initiate a release of the dark universe, right? Where they want to bring back kind of revamping, remaking, reimagining the Universal Monsters films. But it hasn't been overly successful thus far. So, Greg Amortis, I would be very interested in hearing your general thoughts about that. Let's start there. Yeah, it was something, it was like in early 20, I want to say it was like 2013, 2014 when they announced.

the dark universe. And yes, super excited because, you know, I'm a big fan of the universal movies and you know, the monsters themselves. So I was like, this is going to be great. And then we got our first movie, which was, you know, the 2017, the mummy.

And it was a box office bomb, right? It just didn't hit the spirit. But what the dark universe was going to entail was all these monsters was going to be almost like a Marvel universe. So they were basically going to be movies like The Mummy, you know, Frank.

Frankenstein, Wolfman, but then they would intertwine with each other, too. So it'd be like a continual story. So, you know, you would have the Wolfman jumping over to, you know, Frankenstein and different things. And, you know, they would intertwine these to make this whole universe, which was a great idea. Let's be honest. It was an awesome idea. But let's just say Tom Cruise killed it. He just like. Oh, you're you're you're blaming Tom Cruise.

I've got to blame somebody, and I've got to blame that jackalot. So we're blaming Tom Cruise for that. But no, the movie just wasn't what they wanted it to be. And then we flash forward to 2020. with Lee Whannell's version of The Invisible Man, which I really enjoyed. Yes. Made my top 10 that year. I might have made my number one. It was top 10 for sure. Yeah, for me too.

Yeah, exactly. So, you know, then they were like, oh, OK, so instead of doing the intertwine, we'll do them as individual films. So that's what they've been doing. And we got Visible Man. Now we got Wolfman. And who knows where we go from here? I think I'm assuming probably Frankenstein.

I am so impressed with your mind and your ability to recall things like that. Like that was, that was spot on. Everything Greg just said was like basically what I found in my research. Cause I was brushing up, I got old man brain and that was very impressive. I don't know how you retain all that stuff. I know. It was just, yeah, it was huge because that was something that was so exciting because it's going to be universal revamped. And I'm like, oh, wow. And, you know, now we're, what, 1941.

even 1932 to now. So I was like, man, the cinematography or the practical effects are going to be way better. You know, it's just going to be just outstanding films. And then we got what we got. So sometimes I draw conclusions that are like Jay of the dead facts, quote unquote, which aren't necessarily true. So I'm just wondering if I'm just pulling us out of thin air. But my impression was that.

Much like DC, you know, the Universal folks, they saw the success of the Marvel films, how huge they were, and especially how financially robust the box office. the promising box office of building the Marvel universe together. I wondered if that played into, because that started in like 2008, I believe with Iron Man. I wondered if that played into inspiring these guys. to try to get this dark universe together. Any thoughts on that, guys and gals?

I don't want to hog it, but yeah, totally. That is exactly what happened without a doubt. When you start seeing success of any kind of market, then of course other people are going to piggy tail off of it. So clearly Marvel and DC doing what they're doing. DC. not as much as Marvel, but I'm sure that had a lot to do with it. I can't remember if... Was Dracula Untold as part of this series as well? No, it was. I was just going to say in 2014, that's when they were going to start that.

Okay, I couldn't remember or not. And I only bring it up because that was – I'm with Greg Amortis in reference to The Mummy was just terrible. And then Invisible Man was great. But I just – and I don't know if I'm kind of the odd man out with this Dracula one. I love Dracula Untold. I do too. Interesting. Okay. Well, I'm glad to hear that from you guys because my memory, and correct me if I'm wrong on this, my memory is that Dracula Untold came out.

And it got like kind of a medium reception, you know, but I thought... what I had heard was that they weren't necessarily pleased that it was going to be the launching ship. And then they're like, that didn't really work. So we're going to kind of sweep this under the rug. And then they tried to re...

redo everything with The Mummy. Is that kind of what you guys remember? I think the very, very first one was in 2004. It was Van Helsing with Hugh Jackman. They were bringing all the classic, like... horror like they had the frankenstein and wolfman and dracula in there they were trying to attempt to do the dark universe with that one really that's interesting okay i wasn't aware i didn't realize that actually that's

And I'm a big apologist for Van Helsing, by the way. I like that movie. I don't dislike it. It's fun. It's fun. But yeah, so we got two people in here who like Dracula Untold pretty well. That's good. PG-13 horror as well, everybody. I'm just saying, not a diss, not a diss. Anyways, okay, so then here we are. Here we are with Wolfman, and they're still trying to continue this.

But what's exciting to me is I have a lot of belief and a lot of faith in Lee Wano. I think he's a tremendous talent, and I like his writing quite a bit. And I love The Invisible Man. And I'm telling you, I was very skeptical on that movie. And I was immensely impressed. So to see that he was, you know. Co-writing this with his wife and directing this new Wolfman film, I was pretty hopeful. But we've seen the werewolf movies, you know, that for whatever reason, poor Wolfman.

Hasn't had a great track record overall. I mean, compared to other, it's not as prolific as like the success of vampire movies. But Pearl, I'll ask you, what do you think of the crop? of Wolfman-type horror movies ever since back to the original. What are your thoughts on that? Oh, I'm still waiting to be amazed by that one perfect werewolf.

There are some movies that have gotten perfectly the transformation, of course, like American War, Open London and all that. But, I mean, there's still that one thing missing, that one oomph that's like... god this is the wolf man this is you know what we remember from michael landon back then and all the way even i mean even jack nicholson when he came out and wolf you know they tried to kind of do that too and

There's just one thing missing. I mean, part of me wishes that they would keep all the, you know, CGI or even other stuff, but I would like the classic black and white, maybe, or even the hues that... came out like an Asperatu, you know, maybe it'll give it that extra creepiness. And they're missing something that's making it a dark universe. Yeah. Well, if I can ask you, Pearl, because I'm really curious about this.

Back in 2010 when The Wolfman came out, the Joe Johnston film that starred. Get this cast, everybody. Anthony Hopkins, for heaven's sake. Benicio Del Toro. Emily Blunt. I mean, when those came out, I mean, I had a lot of hope in that when I saw it. But then when I saw it, I was pretty disappointed, as I recall. How did you feel about that one? I was too. But see, that's...

That's the one thing that I'm always saying with a lot of movies. I mean, of course, it's awesome that they bring in the people that we do love. You know, we think Anthony Hopkins. We're going to be like, oh, yeah, this is going to be great. I want new faces. I want people that you would never think like, oh, my God, that guy played a great part, you know, and I think that's what they're missing. They're missing someone who already has like that.

maybe goth feel to him like maybe the attitude and something that he would normally you can see him walking by the street and be like ah he looks like a werewolf already looks like some imagine if he really was you know and I just think that's missing. Okay. So you're saying you don't necessarily want to see a bunch of star power where it's like, okay, everybody, this is Tom Cruise. We all know his face so well. We're not going to be able to.

you know, get past the fact that I'm looking at Tom Cruise. Is that along the lines or not? Yeah, basically, because when we see these actors, I mean... we pinpoint them to what we love the most. Like, you know, when I think Anthony Hopkins, I mean, I think of Gary Oldman's Dracula, or I think of parts of Atlantis, you know, I don't see him pass like... That sophisticated poet, you know. Do you think of Hannibal Lecter when you see him?

I actually don't. You know, even though that's not his greatest, I actually don't. I see what I see, what I like personally. That's so cool. You just illustrated your point and everything. That was impressive, Pearl. Very good.

And Gus, when we were hanging out for this movie, you were asking about the more recent Wolfman films. What are some Wolfman films that stand out to you, Gus? For me, I mean, I love the... the classics what got me into my all-time favorite has always been the american werewolf in london and and part of it was just obviously being so young and and you see this movie and then you have that famous transformation that

I think I've always been looking for, you know, and I always almost tie every transformation to that. Yes. You know, that transformation. And I don't know if it's fair just because. It was done so awesome, and the music. It was just a great movie all the way around. But you have those classics like The Howling. You know, Wolf and Silver Bullet, movies like that, that, you know, as a kid, I really enjoyed. But since then, I've always, you know, tried to find that one.

again that one wolfman movie and same thing i think that movie you know the wolfman with that great cast i was super excited for it and then boom you know got disappointed and it's been like that for quite a bit with the wolfman you know movies and um i'll just say i was pleasantly surprised with this one and i'll kind of get into to my reasons why, and I really enjoyed it. Okay, awesome. And then Greg, as we're rounding out this kind of setup here, I wondered if you would speak to...

Some of the more recent wolf type movies like what have you thought of the more recent treatments like within the last 10 to 15 years? Any of those stand out to you? Yeah. The movie Howl.

h-o-w-l is probably my favorite of the ones that's released in the last you know multiple years or whatever and that's probably one of my favorites for sure but then i don't know man they're just so hit and miss with me i'm not i'm not gonna say i'm the biggest werewolf fan because i'm not but i'm still kind of in that whole

1941 i want that original you know wolf man story and not necessarily a wolf movie and uh and we'll get into it with this one but i think that's where they kind of missed with the 20 uh 2012 or 2010 one with uh anthony hopkins was that one they they were going for the concept but they just missed it i just you know they just overshot it and i just felt like they

They kind of try to get too fancy with it, and it's not needing that. Sometimes it's not about how much glitz and glam you can put to it. Just give the story. And I just feel like they're trying to be too cute with it, man. Just give us a freaking wolf. man movie right and i'm gonna emphasize wolf man uh like that and that's what i'm looking for so are you are you insinuating grega mortis that you disapprove of the way that twilight for example

Turned the wolf characters into actual giant wolf dogs. But there was no man left. Because that bugged me. And I know we're not reviewing Twilight here. I'm just saying, though, it wasn't a wolf man or. Right. It just becomes a wolf. Yes. And I'm looking for a wolf man movie. You look at 1941, you look at. uh, at the way that they handled that movie. And we have an individual that is, you know, cursed with the curse, you know, he's become.

And so he what does he do? He transforms into a wolf man, but he never loses the man aspect of it. Right. Yes. Still a man, but he is a wolf man. These movies are missing it. They're giving us werewolves. They're giving us wolves, but they're not giving us a wolf man. That's what I wanted. And we'll talk about it once again. I'll just keep saying I'll keep talking about it. We'll get into it with the 2025.

Twilight. And Wolfen. Neither one of those are like werewolves or anything. Those are wolf totems. Okay, good distinction. But one last question, though, for Greg, though, in his sensibilities, does the Wolfman have to be really good at basketball? I was going to say, we are missing the Teen Wolf. That wolf wants to get the leading lady. He better know how to play some basketball, buddy. That's right.

Oh, I do want to say, I do want to shout out Ver, or Wer, W-E-R, for 2013. Did you all like that one? Did you dig that? That's pretty cool. And William Brent Bell. I'm going to throw out Bad Moon because of Michael Perry. We're going into the 80s, but yeah. I know, but you know what? I had to throw them in there because... Of course you do. Bad moon. Okay. All right. So here we are then. We're finally up to 2024. And now we've got a brand new Wolfman movie. That's right. Wolfman. That's right.

Grizzly Gus, let's start with you then. I know that you were, having seen this with you, I know that you were pretty pleased with this. Tell us your general thoughts. No spoilers. No spoilers. No, my general thought of it, I left. I'm very pleased with the movie overall. Like I said, I've always been looking for that. You know, that one movie that satisfies a lot of my youth love for the werewolf and the wolfman and really the wolfman aspect of it. And I liked the.

title and how it how it is broken up as wolf man and i think greg and mortis talked a little bit about that combination right sometimes we lose one or the other um and what i really enjoyed about this movie was this this family aspect and i think maybe i tied a little bit more to it just because i have four kids overall three my three oldest are boys and my youngest is my little girl

And so we all kind of, almost like a wolf pack, huddle around her and take care of her. And we just make sure that she's always safe. And to see that dynamic build between the father and the daughter within that movie really touched me. It was really good. And so that's what I'm saying. I think I might have seen it a little bit more. in that lens uh but i really appreciated uh that aspect of it and and then you know once you get into the the wolfman part

I really enjoyed it overall. It was it was good. Thank you. Absolutely. Yeah. So and forgive me, I skipped out on the premise. But yeah, basically, you have a family who is going up to this kind of. remote area, their family cabin or farmhouse or whatever. And yeah, there's some kind of creature out in the woods and threatening the family becomes very...

Very dangerous. That's kind of the gist. And I know that was a really crappy, lazy premise, but I don't want to go into a bunch of details about it. But that's, you know, so it is not I wouldn't say this is a. an exact um you know remake or anything um like from from 1941 even though it's kind of like carrying that premise forward um it's not exactly the same

plot story i mean what what say you greg do you do you think so or do you think lee one l went kind of a different fresh direction with this oh he definitely went fresh and and uh different and i appreciated that out of it because how are you going to improve off of perfection. I think 1941 is a masterpiece, so why touch it? I think he came in with a different story, and I love that about him. I think he told the aspect of it being from that family...

dynamic that I appreciated. It was a typical, or not a typical, but it's a family. They're having some marital problems. They've got a kid. All these different aspects and how the tragedy can bring families close. So he hit a lot of different avenues that I appreciated out of him. And I was loving that. But I think what he did, too, was he was able to catch that spirit.

of what i'm looking for in a wolf man movie like i wanted something um that was similar where if a scratch or a bite you know something happens right it's not necessarily we know in the original it was a It was a bite, and then we had the curse, the gypsy curse, those kind of things. This one has nothing to do with the gypsy curse by any means, but what happens, it happens. I thought, wow, okay, I'm digging this story.

I'm sure we'll get into some other stuff in a little bit, but just the story aspect of it, I really enjoyed where Lee went with it. I'm with you. Yes. And I think Gus was suggesting that too, that the fact that this has some heart to it, it's not just brainless, you know, it has some, there's definitely a dramatic component to it.

Just that poster, just look at the poster, and I love it. It's simple, but at the same time, it's deep if you've seen the movie. It's a really awesome, beautiful poster, man. I really enjoy what they did with that. I'm with you. Okay. The Twisted Temptress. What are your general thoughts on Wolfman? For me, I love the setting of it. I mean, the foggy dark forest is always a hit for me. Yes.

transformation brutal and i think um what was said prior hit it on the mark because i i really feel that animalistic or human it strongly showed how no matter what, you know, the protection of your offspring matters. And without giving too much away, I would say a little less hairy for my taste, but... I can see why. Yeah. Yeah. I love that you brought that up, Pearl, because I was going to comment on that as well. Like initially upon seeing this, I didn't know.

how I felt or if I loved the creature design and what we ended up with as the appearance of Wolfman. But over time and as I've thought about it the past... two days i'm like you know if we were to have a realistic like a set in reality type wolfman movie where this seems to be some sort of um you know illness or disease or something that's happening

And, you know, there was some sort of mutation because that's really what we're talking about with Wolfman is mutation, a mutant kind of effect in a way. It kind of rings true in the creature design. I mean, we definitely get a wolf man in this situation. And while it isn't like, you know. We're not talking dog soldiers in design or anything like that or the howling, but we're talking about some sort of...

abomination that comes with ferocity and monstrosity. So yeah, I was actually kind of won over. But yeah, initially, if you had shown me... pictures of, you know, what we're talking about from the Wolfman here. If you had shown me before I went in and saw how the movie was kind of built, then I would have been like... What is this? You know, so I think this is a perfect example of a movie that kind of demonstrates why, you know, sometimes the if.

production stills are leaked out or something, maybe we shouldn't put too much stock into those because without knowing how they get there, You know, it'd be easy to make assumptions and be dismissive about this. But honestly, I feel like what we end up with, while it isn't as classically werewolf looking as we might recall or expect.

I think it works. You guys have anything else to say about the design and what we're talking about here? I appreciated it. I really did. I liked the... hairlessness of the wolf himself because it fits the story now if it was a different like a werewolf movie I think it would be a different concept but for what this story is telling I think it's perfect

Okay. And Gus, were you going to say something? I was just going to say exactly what Greg Mortis said is I enjoyed the fact that they left this wolfman men. enough you know there's there was enough man in there because again again that relationship that that ties in and they build so well and that's one thing that i appreciated it is that they they build this relationship very well and i bought into it you know 100 and so when this transformation started happening um you saw the family

struggle with that and you saw him struggle with that as well and and it wasn't this american werewolf transformation but i'll tell you right now it's probably up there in transformation because of the effect that it had on me as a viewer you know and the family and those things so

Well, and I got a couple questions for you all. You can teach me something because I'm not by any means an expert in lycanthropy. Okay, so I'm not a werewolf expert. But Gregor Mortis was making a distinction between... wolf man and werewolves. Well, what is that distinction, Gregor Mortis? I guess I have to confess, I admit, I don't know what you mean there.

I don't think there's really a distinction. I think it's just the movie itself. I mean, a lycanthrope is a lycanthrope, right? I mean, so a wolf is a wolf, correct? Yeah. A lycan is a foreign animal, human-like. A werewolf, you get bitten. Yeah. And turned. There you go. So it's a bitten thing. So for me, it's not necessarily... I'm looking at it like, OK, there's a difference in mythology and all that. For me, it's just the story that's being told. This one didn't warrant a full blown.

American werewolf in London wolf at the end of the movie. Right. I think that would have totally made this movie cheesy and really overshot the moon with it. I think. 100% fit perfectly with the movie. It's like, this is where you had to go. Don't get cute. Don't get fancy. Keep it in the storyline. And they did. I mean, they really did. I was shocked. Keep your wolf in your pants. Yeah, that was.

He's got nards. Just keep them there, right? We know a little fan's got nards. Yeah, we don't need a CM either. Yeah. That's a whole different. Yes, which we have before. Unnecessary, unnecessary. but yes yes recently i might ask yes yes anyways um as far as the werewolf lore that's that's a pearl thing she's all into that i'm just as a movie watcher i watch it as Okay, if I'm watching American Werewolf in London, it warrants a full wolf. If I'm watching...

you know, the freaking 1941 universal monster. I'm wanting a monster. I'm getting that in this movie. It didn't warn it in this movie. They set it up as a certain direction and they went with it. Well, and to speak to what Gus was saying there, what kind of surprised me, and I actually think it was a stroke of genius.

And I don't I don't believe this is any sort of a spoiler or anything. It's just Lee Wannell, his approach to this is for so long. And I think Pearl said this, too, in her thoughts. For so long, we get this comparison. Anytime we see a werewolf movie, we're like, okay, bring on the transformation. Let's see how it stacks up to American Werewolf in London because how are you going to beat that? It's like Jaws with any shark movies that follow it. Can't beat Jaws.

So how are you going to beat this American werewolf in London transformation? Well, unless I missed it, which I don't think I did. But to me, it seems that in this film, the transformation, instead of it being like a... a 60-second gruesome, extremely painful ordeal. The transformation actually happens over time, and it's very painful over time, but it's not one CG fest or practical effects fest.

Anyways, it's not happening right in front of you in an instant. Is that do you all agree with that or not? Yeah, that was what I loved about it was it was a gradual thing. You see him start. slowly, I mean, I don't want to get too spoilery, but you see a slow decline. So it's like, wow, okay, we're on this route.

okay maybe that's the way it would take you know if you had a virus or you had a disease yeah i would imagine that's the way it would happen right we wouldn't get instantly a werewolf running around us you know the woods It would take time. So, I mean, I like that. I love it. It reminded me of The Fly, you know, with Jeff Goldblum, like kind of with his.

Becoming the fly, I mean, that took some time. And, you know, I think that was kind of interesting way to approach the fly. Whereas the 50s fly. Hey, easy, because we're probably getting that on Monsters in the Man. Good. I love that movie. I do. And, you know, I have to admit right here, that freaked me out when I was a little kid when I saw that, and it flipped me out, man. But anyway. With this transformation, yeah, that was really cool. Now, here's something I think...

And I won't go into, I'm not going to go into a lot of detail on this because I want people who haven't seen it to enjoy the surprise. But let me just say it like this and I bet you all will track with me. One of the great things about horror cinema. is getting a subjective point of view shot from the monster. And then we especially get that in like a seventies film slasher films. When the slashers came along, we would get the, you know,

through the monster's eyes and the breathing and the stalking and all that. And so I just love the subjective point of view shots that we get from this monster where we get to see from this. perspective, which I think is extremely effective. This is the high point of this movie for me. What say you all? I'm with you.

I loved that aspect. I think there was almost three versions going on of this transformation. Again, without getting too spoiler-ish, there was us as the audience watching this. The Wolfman.

And then the family scene, you know, their loved one. And it was just – it was done – I thought it was done very, very well. And it just really sucked you in. And it made you – appreciate and understand every aspect every angle of this transformation and that's something that i hadn't ever experienced um and maybe i just never caught on to to anything like that in any other the you know

wolfman or werewolf type movies, but this one really, you know, I really enjoyed that. That was awesome. Yes. And you know what else that reminded me of Gus? And this is kind of a weird out there, deep cut, but like even Cujo. In the film Cujo, as the dog goes downhill and starts changing, we even start getting some subjective perspective from the dog's point of view as his illness affects him, which is really cool. Greg and Pearl, what do you guys think?

have to say about the uh subjective point of view from the monster well me being me i'm always thinking on the side of the monster anyway of course that's awesome well like perfect example

Fright Night, my favorite movie. I know it went from werewolf to vampire. But Dandridge, he was just a vampire who wanted to be left alone. And look what happened. All he wanted was love. And what happened? He gets... you know burned out in the end still crying for the love of his life and it's like poor thing and that's all i can think of it's like poor guy all they had to do was leave him alone

Poor guy. Poor guy out here hunting people down. That poor guy. Well, see, and that... He would not murder him. Yeah. Well... See, people who know Pearl, and I know Greg is razzing her right now, but people who know Pearl, it makes perfect sense when you say that. Because I think somebody might assume...

Oh, okay, so she's just one of these crazy horror people who just loves monsters. But no, Pearl is... the epitome of someone who roots for the underdog and because monsters are tragic characters more often than not of course she's gonna have compassion And empathy and sympathy for them, won't you, Pearl? I mean, that just sounds like you to me. Oh, yeah, because I always want to figure out the monster and be like, is he a full monster? There's something in there.

past the monster. So I'm always going to be rooting for the monster. And especially if I look like Chris Randon or whoever. Let's put all the tacks down on the floor. It's just playing the character. You know what? It's just a little extra kudos. That's all it is. Oh, is that what it is? Yeah. Well, and I was going to say, Greg, I mean, it's very fortunate for you that she's this way, too, because, you know, she's willing to look past the monster and find out what...

makes you tick and love you anyway. Right. And, and because I look like Danny DeVito, it's okay. She still overlooks it. Well then see, if you're going to be the penguin, see, I'm going to have to like look behind that. Okay. Good enough. I like fish. Nice. All right. What else we got before we wrap up? You guys have any other aspects you'd like to talk about? What do you got there? I think.

Two things, and we won't go long into detail, but I've got to get this out there. That's right. You've got to go with Christopher Abbott, the star of this movie. Yes. Yes. That's funny, isn't it? I just had to do that. Yeah, man. And for all you newer Gen X or not Gen X, what is it? Gen Z. Gen Z's that know nothing about what I'm talking about. Go back and watch Abbott Costello and you'll get the whole thing.

So I thought the cast in this one was strong. I liked the dynamic when I first saw the trailer this month ago in the theater. I did not care for Julia Garner. I thought she looked way too young. to be a wife. I thought this girl is not married to this guy. There's no way, let alone have a child. And, but then, you know, flash forward after watching the movie, I take and recant everything I said. She, she was great.

And I got to give Matilda, man. I'm telling you, she, she was really strong as that. Done some dumb, stupid things that. Kids do dumb, stupid things. So she played her character well. But I thought the cast was well. And the last thing I wanted to mention was the cinematography in this movie. I thought they'd done a really good job with the feel.

of this movie is dark, which it would be in the wooded areas. I know I've heard, and Pearl knows this, we've heard some negativity toward they're so dark you can't see it. I know there's one scene in here and I won't spoil where it's at. If you want to talk about it off air, that's fine. But there's a scene where it was purposely dark because of something in the darkness. So, you know.

It's meant to be that way because we needed to see through the eye of a creature, and we did. I don't have any problems with the darkness. I mean, it's a dark movie because it's a dark area. You're in the wooded area. You don't have electricity. It's going to be dark. So I played with it and thought it was great. The cast, like I said, good. I just really thoroughly thought the movie was handled well. Is it perfect? No. There's issues, and you'll know when I get my rating.

Overall, we at least got a Wolfman movie, and I was pleased with it. Well, I'll talk about it when we get to it. Brother, I wasn't aware that people were complaining about that because I am a person who is... typically very sensitive to the lighting of films. But yeah, in this film, just making a distinction between how human beings can see... when it's dark versus how animals could see when it's dark there is a difference there so obviously

Yeah, depicting that on film is crucial. And it astounds me to hear that. But good points. Thank you. Thank you. Anything else you guys want to bring up before we wrap up? You know what? Actually, I do want to bring up one little thing. For me, because that's the way my mind works, the moment I started watching this, even all the way to the end, I literally did feel like I was watching like a dark fairy tale like Disney gave out or something because I even heard like in my mind.

the page you turn for the next chapter, like for a next story or something. Nice. It was satisfying enough to give me like, you know what? This is a dark universe fairy tale. Yeah. We could get a sequel. I feel like there could be something.

more, or maybe even a prequel more, because the story was not untold or finished, in my opinion. But I like that it's done as is, though, too. I'm sad by the way that it just is. I'm okay with it being done, but I could totally see this spawning something else off. No pun intended at all. I like what you said there, though, Pearl, because I'm about to be in a dark fairy tale, because honestly, I was thinking about this film earlier today, and I'm like, you know...

In a lot of ways, that really feels like a nightmare. And every once in a while, I'll say that about a horror film. And it's some of my highest praise that I can give. Like Texas Chainsaw Massacre feels like a nightmare. It's like this. And I'm not saying. nightmarish I'm saying this feels like a very scary dream I had where it's like oh my goodness I'm so glad I'm not in that dream anymore because that was so freaky but um

Yeah, the world that's created here, and since it was filmed in New Zealand, just beautiful. The woods here in this are beautiful, and the forest that's happening around it, and the setting really... there's this sense of place and dread. And once again, I've said this recently, When we were podcasting, I forget when and where, but I would have guessed this was filmed in the Pacific, the Pacific Northwest, maybe Oregon or Washington up in Watson's neck of the woods.

But no, yeah, New Zealand, and it just looks gorgeous. It was set for Oregon, so yeah. they nailed that part. Yes. Remember I pointed at the bridge part and I go, that looks so familiar because I used to watch, you know, Warrior Princess and that was in New Zealand. Nice. Nice.

And Greg, I got to – go ahead, Gus. Sorry. No, I was just going to agree with the filming aspect. Nosferatu – i kind of have a little bit mixed feelings with that but the cinematography there and some of the scenes that they showed were amazing and wolfman The film itself, I really – again, I can't say enough how much I enjoyed it, but I think Pearl hit it when she was talking about this and how it becomes this.

I don't know if it was you maybe actually, Jay, that talked about the nightmare that you don't want to wake up from or that you're happy that you woke up from. Right. You know, it's I yeah, I really liked those. The cinematography on this was just amazing. And that's one of the things that really drew me into that. Now, if they do a sequel, you know, that'd be or a prequel or something like that.

you know, I definitely go watch it, but I think it, for me, it's kind of like that Joker. It's just, just leave it alone. Yeah. Yeah. Let it stand on its own. Yeah. Yeah. It would be neat if this, and I mean, I hope it does well financially. But it would be nice if this ended up being just a special little one-off kind of film. But if it does well financially, you know they'll milk it for more. But Greg, I wanted to say to your comment about Julia Garner, who plays the wife, Charlotte.

I would have 100% totally been on board with you had I not seen her in Ozark. She is in Ozark. She is phenomenal. And that was the first time I really paid attention to her as an actor. And I didn't realize that I had seen her in other things. But in Ozark, she plays kind of a local townie in the Ozark. there and she was so convincing that I thought they literally just cast a local to play this character and they just told her here

Just be you, say things the way you talk, and just deliver these lines. That's how convincing she is. So after having seen what a powerful... performer she is. Cause then I saw her on a late night talk show and my mind just about broken too. Cause I'm like, what is she's just totally a completely different person. And that was a hundred percent of character. So I have a lot of faith in her, but yeah, she

looks very young in the trailer. And it's like, what is she like 14? How's she even have a kid? You know, like, yeah, that's totally, it may be the hair style that she's got going for. Or she just has a super young looking face. Yeah. Yeah. I'm with you. All right. Well, let's wrap up with final thoughts and ratings on Wolfman. And hey.

Ladies first, let's start with Pearl. What do you say? Well, I say definitely go check it out. The theater is worth seeing in the big screen. And I give it a 7.5. 7.5? See it in the theater. And once it's out on Blu-ray, is this a buyer rental? Well, honestly, more likely Gregor Mortis is going to buy it, so I'm going to just say it's here at the house. Okay, good. All right. That's awesome. Perfect. And Grizzly Gus.

I'm with Pearl. I say you definitely have to go see it in the theater. And the one that we went to was just amazing. The sound system was just, it was the best. And so I think that added. to the feel yes but overall you know if you want to just go see at least for me a really great wolf slash man you know, movie, one that really ties you in. And if you're a family guy or gal and have children, I think it'll even suck you in even more. You know, when you have a monster.

That is not only outside of your own home, but then what's the scariest thing, right? Is when the boogeyman or the monster is now in the home. Yes. And who that person can be and how can we get away from. from that evil. I mean, it was just a great, great movie overall. I gave it again, because of my emotional tie was at least from right now is a nine out of 10. Oh, excellent. Okay. So this is a, is this a buy for you then?

A hundred percent. A hundred percent. Buy it. All right. Good one. And yeah, our buddy, our web developer who does our website, Jackson went with us and he loved this. He was over the moon. I didn't get his rating, but one thing he said is that. Because we saw this in the IMAX theater there. And as Gus was saying, and he said, yeah, the sound design was just incredible for him. And he felt like we wouldn't have gotten near the experience if we had.

waited to watch this at home so i'm sure jackson backs you on the theater recommendation as well just said out there and spawn of the dead saw this with us he wasn't um feeling up for recording today, but he sends his love and he gave this a seven out of 10. He said, see it in the theater. And once it's out of the theater, he calls it a rental. Greg Amortis, what say you?

Yeah, definitely. I'm a big fan of the overall feel of this. So way back in 2020, The Invisible Man was my number six movie of that year. And this one right here is my number one movie in 2025. I love it. That is awesome. Yeah, well, it would be, wouldn't it?

I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a fun ride. I think everybody should see it in the theater and answer Pearl's question. It will be owned. We will absolutely own this when it comes out. Just because it's a monster film, it's a wolf film, I will definitely buy it. 4K, Blurry, whatever. We'll definitely own it. Overall, man, it's a fun ride. I'm giving it a 7.5 as we speak and could go up for sure.

garen darn tenue it will with future viewings my theatrical experience with Pearl was really good I love the sounds and the different things that you're talking about the only problem we had was they put it right beside the stupid wicked movie so you could hear them singing A lot of the times, and I'm like, I don't need to hear Wicked going on while I'm watching Wolfman. No. Oh, it irritated me so bad.

So when it was getting quiet, you would hear them singing these whatever stupid songs. Son of a witch. Yeah, exactly. That experience was stoked. I put that movie beside this movie and it just irritated the crap out of me. But regardless, man, fun movie. Definitely check it out in the theater. 7.5 and a must purchase on as soon as it drops.

Wow. Okay, cool. And then I feel like you guys are singing off my same sheet music. This is a 7.5 out of 10 for me as well. I love that it felt like if you were going to do... A realistic, quote unquote, a realistic werewolf movie. If this were to go down in our world, how would it be? How would it look? I think it would be pretty close to this. I love things set as close as possible in reality. And I got to tell you guys, I was freaking out. I got to warn. I got to just I got to say.

When a human is running on all fours like an animal, I lose my mind. I was like wanting to grab on to Grizzly Gus to save me. So scared. I love it. I hate. Anyway, so that scared me. That's my approach of vision. Scare, right? Yeah, yeah. Approach aversion. That's right. That's right. But yeah, like when anybody's running down on all fours, oh my goodness. Anyway, yeah, so 7.5 out of 10. See it in the theater.

And honestly, I think maybe I'm wrong. I think for most horror fans, I'm guessing this would be like a rental recommendation for them. But this is a buy for Jay of the Dead. So I'm going to buy it. So there you go. All right. Well, that's really. Really cool. So that's our review of Wolfman from 2025 and Ron Martin. We told you Lee Wan-El was good, brother. No, I'm just messing with him. We always bicker about Lee Wan-El and James Wan. It's James Wan that Ron goes after, actually.

But no, I think Ron actually has some respect for Lee Wan-El as well. So I love when Lee Wan-El is involved in the horror writing. So keep it up. Just don't be... Don't wake up finding yourself chained inside a dirty bathroom with him. That's all. That's all I'm saying. Okay, so I want to thank our special guests for being here. I want to thank Grizzly Gus and the Twisted Temptress. It was wonderful to have you all. Do you have any final thoughts or comments for the listeners?

I just wanted to thank you guys for having me Pearl. Thank you. And Greg Amortis. I'm always, like I said, I'm, I'm, I'm first a fan first and foremost. And so I appreciate you guys even, you know, taking the time to listen to what my my opinions are but you guys are awesome i appreciate it of course buddy thank you same here thank you for having me and I always love to end the year with a wolf talk and start the new year with a wolf talk. That's right.

Yes. Yeah. If people haven't heard it yet, you know what? And it may end up because we recorded it. I may just put it in this episode. Wouldn't that make sense to put it in the werewolves episode? So because that hasn't released yet, has it? I don't know what's going on. Gus, do you know, has our werewolves review released yet? Oh, did it? How embarrassing. Okay. So yeah, that is, there it is.

It's not the werewolves on the moon. Has it released? Let me see. I'm just looking here on Jay the Dead's new horror movies. It was in our Christmas one, huh? Uh-huh. That's where it was. Werewolves. There it is. So in our Christmas episode, episode 132 is where we reviewed werewolves from 2024. That was me, the Twisted Temptress, and Greg Amortis. And now we have this one. So anyways, thank you guys. It was wonderful. And listeners, hang with us. We got more to come.

All right, Watson, time to get underway now. Before we jump into it, I believe you have a little something special tonight, don't you? Oh, Jay of the Dead, I sure do. So something rather interesting and unexpected happened. The other day that pertains directly to the horror Avengers and the show. And so here we are everybody in the intro to this episode. And this is story time with Mr. Watson. I'll keep it fast. I'll keep it moving. Jay, the dead earlier this week.

I came home from a hard days of working. The rain was coming down in waves. The wind was relentless. There that day, blocking my driveway, were two gentlemen underneath a series of pop-up shelters doing some kind of construction project on my house. So I'm like, huh? So I parked down the street because my driveway is apparently taken. Say hello. to these two fellows. I'm like, hey guys, what do we got going on here? At which point the boss...

Man shakes my hand laughing and he goes, hey, we'll be out of your hair here in about 20 minutes. You're actually in luck today. You received a free upgrade to the gutters at the back of your house. And I'm like – You must have the wrong address. And he goes, that's exactly the problem. And I got to fake my address here. But he goes, so this is 123 Main Street Southwest, right? And I say, that's correct. And he goes, well, we were supposed to do this gutter project for 123 Main.

Street Southeast. That mistake is on me. So enjoy your free gutters, sir. And we laughed about it for a little bit and offered him and his coworker some beers. They declined. And anyway, it hit me that over the past seven years that I've lived at this residence, I have in fact gotten a lot. of this other one, two, three main streets junk mail. And I'd say in less than a handful of instances, maybe.

Three times max. I've gotten actual packages meant for that address. It's only about a 60-second drive to the other side of the highway. And so it's no big deal. Well, in the past, I've just dropped these parcels off on this person's porch and just gone my merry way. Well, the universe seemed to think that this address confusion was funny.

Because only two days later, Jay of the Dead, I receive in my mailbox something from Amazon. A heavy package, by the way. I'm like holding this thing like, how is this so small and dense? This is a bomb. But it's for this other 123 Main Street. So before even going inside the house, I hop back in my work rig and bring this box over to its rightful owner. And for the first time, I get to meet this individual. She is an elderly lady in her 70s. She was very happy that I brought her package to her.

I promise this is about to relate directly to the show. So just everybody hold hold with me for another minute. Oh, I thought this was a romance. I thought you're going to say you made sweet love to her. Well, listen, OK, here's the truth. We went to go see Hard Eyes together and we held hands and had a.

Tender moment. No, I wish that were the case. Listen, just between us, Jay, none of the listeners can hear this part here. This is just for us. Right. But we put the audience on mute. Listen, I'm just saying for 75 or so, looking good.

yeah okay so just that's kind of like what so was that blanche feel from golden girls you're like oh buddy like yeah it's like cross b arthur with susan sarandon and we are working let's go So anyways, well, and actually this is about to seem it's going that direction because as I'm about to leave, she says.

Don't you go anywhere. I have something for you. Come on inside out of the rain. So I go in. I meet her dogs. And she comes out in something a little more comfortable. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Because, brother, this is our horror movie.

start right here you're doing it again adult movies oh yeah so uh but except i'm not the pizza boy uh she's bringing the uh the well anyways but here's exactly what happens uh I'm fussing with the dogs and petting them, and she comes out from the nether regions of the house holding this box, and she says something like,

I'm very sorry I didn't give this to you sooner. I'm an old woman. I almost never leave my house. I hope none of this was time sensitive. I'm like, what? What's going on here? Well, inside this box is a pile of mail that I can see is meant for my – Main Street address. So I'm just like, oh, OK, well, you know, I thank her for this box. We actually exchanged phone numbers.

Just in case something like this happens again. No, but a very pleasant woman, very nice lady. And anyways, I go back home. Now, as I'm sifting through this mail, I can see immediately 90 percent of it's junk. Throw that all in the trash. But then. There in this non-junk pile, I spy some interesting pieces. There was a birthday card from my aunt that dates back to 2020. She wants me to stay safe from the pandemic. Just future me. I fared well. good yes

That seemed to be the oldest bit of mail that I came across. There were a few other things like that from family and friends just kind of for various occasions. Nothing that really concerns the show itself except for these two little pieces here. So here's where the rubber meets the road, Jay of the Dead. OK. Two pieces of mail here have to do with the show. The first is a Christmas card.

Sent to me by our very own Dr. Walking Dead. The card itself is black and it features a skeleton wearing a Christmas hat. Flipping the rock and roll sign. Very badass. Full disclosure, I've had a bit of a crummy week. So when I read what Dr. Bishop had written in this card, it truly lifted my spirits. Yes.

Would have been nice to have gotten this card back during the holidays, but it's almost like this mistake in mailing addresses was perfectly timed because Kyle wrote some very thoughtful and nice things to me, and I kind of needed that bump in morale right now. Yeah.

I just wanted to publicly thank Dr. Walking Dead, and I'll just say this right back at you, sir, and he'll know what I'm talking about. So that's just – that's a little aside. That's the opener. Here's the closer. Here's the grand finale, Jay of the Dead, and you're going to get tickled pink about this. So the piece of mail directly related to the show itself and all of its hosts and approximately one of its listeners.

This is what we're dealing with here. Now, what is this piece of mail, you ask? Well, there are a few places we could begin, but I'll start by saying that in mid to late autumn of 2023, I sent a small package to fellow horror Avenger Dave Z.

I dropped this little item off in the mail and then went about my life. Possibly about an entire year later. That may be how long we're talking. This item comes up in conversation on the show. Jay, I think you see where this is going, but we got to complete this.

This item comes up in conversation on the show. And basically the context was that this thing has gone missing and it's Mr. Watson's fault. Yes. So I hear this episode and immediately text Jay that despite the fact that, yes, I did indeed have this item in my possession for far too long. I haven't had it for about a year. So then in our group chat, we find Dave Z never received this package in the first place back in 2023. And now all this time later.

There in this box of mail that this 70-something-year-old woman gave me is an envelope containing the missing Jan Gell DVD. Signed by J of the Dead, Dr. Walking Dead, Count Macula, and Spawn of the Dead. I have it right in front of me right now. Oh, hallelujah. John C, it exists.

John C. So I don't know why it got returned to me. I was looking at it and I thought maybe I'd gotten Dave's address wrong, but it's all correctly written on there. It's his address. I don't know why. Did you have enough postage on there? postage is fine. Everything is, you know, checks out. I don't know why it got, you know, maybe it was, it could have been during a holiday rush. I think, no, because I feel like I said it around Halloween-ish. Oh my goodness. Anyways. Epic.

Yeah. So apparently, though, when they returned it back to me, they returned it to the wrong 123 Main Street address. So I'm southwest. She's southeast. And this old lady has had. Jan Gell in her house for a year and what, four months are we talking now? Oh, so long. Yes. Yeah. About October or November or thereabouts, I'd say November of 2023. So.

The missing DVD is back in my house sitting in front of me. I have it here at the podcast desk. And I'm ready to send this boy eastward to one of the boys and get this thing to John C. buddy it's back oh i love this because watson here's let me let me confess something this is so funny um so like a number of times like dr shock would be like

jay seriously what happened to that and i'm like honestly i don't know i think watson had it last but then i was like and this is the really funny thing i'm like But I don't know for sure if he lost it or what he did with it. But every time I ask him about it, you know, he seems like, I don't know. He's like, you know, cause, cause yeah, I remember one time you said that you, you sent it to Dave Z, but the way you said it, I almost didn't believe you. And I'm like,

Is he keeping this for some reason to play a joke on us like down the road? So I had no idea what could have possibly happened to it.

And I guess I owe you a public apology because we have razzed, well, all the Avengers at this point, I think, have razzed Watson so bad for this, guys. We have told... everybody that watson is the one that lost it and it wasn't your fault so i am sorry that's terrible listen but here's where i do deserve some of that razzing because i have had that i did keep the deliberately keep the dvd uh sitting next to

my Xbox with every intention of watching this thing before I sent it off. Just like, let me take a little piece because you can't... I don't think you can find this thing online without buying it. I've looked. And so I was like, you know, let me get this thing watched before I send it to the next guy. And I could never.

I could never do it. And so it became a personal challenge. And then I realized I've had this thing for months and months and everybody's making fun of me. I need to get this out of my house. And so I did. And then and so then it was like, OK, it's out of my hair now. I don't need to worry about it. Dave Z, it's your.

problem send it to the rest of the boys we don't need to worry about this as far as i was concerned john c had this thing back in 2023 and then yeah yeah sometime around you and joel had this conversation that was like oh yeah you know i guess we'll have to do this new jan gel thing and i'm like

Wait a minute. Or a year later in 2024 rather. I'm like, hold on. Wait a minute. So if Dave Z didn't have it, I'm almost like – and then Dave Z said he never got it. I'm like, so then I lost it. But how? It was dropped in the mailbox. That means that's not me.

That's USPS. That's right. United States Postal Service strikes again. Strikes again, yes. And believe me, you don't want to go in there with any volatile complaints because I think they're the ones with the guns when you walk in there. That's right.

That's right. Anyways, the mystery has been solved, and I even did kind of tease you when we were texting while I was stranded Thursday night at a job site with a dead vehicle waiting to be rescued. I'm texting Jay, and I did say, hey, when we eventually talk about – this little story time it's going to solve an old mystery oh that is here we are

Brilliant. Who should I send it to next, Jay? Who is the lucky guy? I got to send it eastward. It's already hit all of you Utah boys. Yes. So I could – I almost feel like it might be cursed to send it to Dave Z again. Yeah. just ball up the fist and just do it to overcome the universe. Yeah. It, uh, yeah. Any, anybody you want really? I mean, cause, uh,

Yeah, as long as – because the people who have had it have signed it. Unfortunately, I wish you had a reason to go see that little old lady because it would be hilarious to have her sign it as well. Oh, my God. I don't – I don't know if I have the gut. Oh, man. If I were drinking, maybe, but then I shouldn't drive. But you're so charming. You could probably get her to sign it. But I'm just that's so freaking funny. Hilarious. Brother, since she had it all that time. And then we'd have to.

Once John C. finally gets this thing, he'd have to take a picture of it so we can see it in all its glory with its signatures. Man, this is just epic, Watson. Well, let me work up the guts, but I do want to make sure that I get this thing out in timely fashion. True, true. You don't have to do that. I'm just being a nerd, but that's funny. Oh, that's such a good suggestion. That'd be such a cherry on.

top i'll see what i can do but no problems this lady did seem stand nice but standoffish oh okay okay i don't know i'd have to get like a hair uh in my craw uh and and would have to get like all right i'm you know i don't know you'd have to tell her a version of the story and be like i gotta tell you this funny story this is gonna seem weird but yeah anyways but anyways yes the mystery has been solved i have

this DVD in my possession. I don't even think I can get it watched. I want to be part of the club, but I don't know. It seems like I need to get this item out of my house. Post office right now, I don't think I have time today to do it. I will definitely get this out in the next couple of days and drop it with a bunch of postage and a prayer to the next guy. Love it. Love it so bad.

Brother, I'm proud of you. And by the way, just for the record, if you do choose to send it to Ron Martin, he has a new address, so I can tell you that. OK, that is right. I have his old address. I have all of the – you'll find this funny. For some reason, we've all kind of mailed things to each other at various points since we've started the show. And I have a pile on my dresser.

From pieces of mail of all – like cut out. Yes. Little rectangles of all the Horror Avengers addresses. Me too. Except I don't have Ron's new address. So I'm going to send it to one of the East boys because everybody else is East – Far East on the opposite side of the country. So it's – Between Ron, Dave Z, Doc Shock, and Joel. And Greg Mortis.

And Greg Amortis. And so they're all Easter guys. So see who gets it. It'll be a surprise. One of them will be receiving it. I should just kind of send it down the line. Probably go Dr. Shock and then send it down the line like when you say our names in the show. I think I may do just that. Although.

So after me is – or Gilman Joel is right before me. So after me would be Mackie. Let's see. Would be probably, yeah, Ron Martin. It's crazy. It's crazy. It's so wild. I saw this thing and was like, what is this? I wish you all could have seen my dumb – face when i saw this envelope and i'm just like there's no way i love that i almost this this makes it so much more special and i actually love this the outcome of this is is better than than if it had gone

smoothly all along that's hilarious yes john c you will have your dvd soonish and and the creepy thing about it john c it sat in this little old lady's house for a long time and she could have I mean, bless her heart, heaven forbid, she could have passed away and it would be in there with her rotting corpse. That would be weird. Just saying. And then when her family goes through stuff and saw Jane Gal, they'd be like, what the hell is this? Oh, my goodness. You made that.

Very dark, Jason. I know, I know. That's weird. Anyways, well, thank you. And once again, I got to apologize to you, Watts. I'm so sorry we rassed you. You didn't deserve it. You were not in the wrong. So. Just love you guys. Alright, J of the Dead here, and I am so happy to be joined by the first royal couple of horror. That is Greg Amortis and the Twisted Temptress. Welcome, friends. I love that. The first or first. What was it? The first royal couple. The first couple.

So, yeah, you're kind of like the president and the first lady, but also a royal couple of horror. I feel like I need to talk. in a more distinguished voice like jolly old way and then like instead of doing the princess diana wave i want to do like the chopping with the machete yes

That's right. I'm excited to be here. I cannot wait, man. I'm telling you, 2025. 2025 we got two movies already in that's right starting with a bang well so listeners we are very excited to be here because we've got a brand new 2025 movie to discuss with you, but for the genre classification, that's going to be a bit controversial on this one. So I know some people get sick of hearing us debate it, but I think...

On this particular film, we're going to have a really interesting conversation, and I'm so excited. The movie is called Presence, and that's not like presents that Pearl gets from Santa Claus. That is a presence as in a being is nearby kind of presence. This was released wide and... U.S. theaters on January 24th, 2025. So just this weekend as we record this review, in fact, as we're recording right now, it is Gilman Joel's birthday. So happy birthday to Gilman Joel.

Happy birthday, my crocodile friend, you. Happy birthday. Still got snow on the ground, both of us, which is rare. Wild. Yeah, it snowed in Florida for, wow. That doesn't happen too often, does it? Or Wilmington. Yeah, for that matter. Yeah, you got it too, man. Eight years. It's been a while. That's so crazy. So Presence was directed by Steven Soderbergh, who is a very reputable director, I think most would say. I mean, probably his most famous movie, if people don't keep up with directors.

I would guess his most known is probably the Ocean's Eleven remake with George Clooney and Brad Pitt. He directed Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen, but a bunch of other stuff. Typically not a horror director. I'll just say that, put that out there. But prior to presence here, his most recent film that I would consider horror was a movie called Unsane. Did you guys see...

Unsane. We did. That was last year, right? It's actually kind of older. It's like a few years old. And I'll tell you something. I know you guys are... You and Pearl are both friends with my Necromomacon. In Unsane, the horror premise that happens in there, my mom actually got... in this kind of a scenario that happens in Unsane. And if you all want to hear about it, we reviewed it and talked about it way back on episode 15 of Horror Movie Weekly.

Yeah, that appears to be, what is it, like a 2018 movie, maybe? Yeah, 2018. I was thinking of the movie with the girl in the cell phone last year. Oh. The one with the girl, the attendant at the gas station, and the guy chased her. Nightshifting? No, it wasn't nightshifting. Anyways, I had that mixed up. Oh, I got you. This one, I remember this one. It was really good. It was like an iPhone shot film, right?

Unsane? Yeah, I think you're right about that. Basically, the premise, she gets stuck in a mentally unwell asylum. I don't know what... people call it now but anyway she gets stuck in there which is p.s. one of my nightmares and and yeah the way my mom came to be my mom is not totally nutty maybe just a little nutty but the way she ended up in there

is very innocent. And wait till you hear that story. I hope people go back and listen to that if you haven't heard it. But anyways, blah, blah, blah. That's a Steven Soderbergh film, which I'd recommend checking out. Now, guys, the screenwriter for this movie... is David Koepp, who wrote the screenplays for, okay, get this, he's got some big hits and big misses, but Jurassic Park, The Lost World Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible.

Panic Room, Secret Window, We're of the Worlds 2005 with Tom Cruise, The Mummy 2017. Yeah, he also did a... the screenplay for you should have left that recent Kevin Bacon movie from like 2020 ish. And then I want to make an important note. I just want to emphasize this. This will come back around later. Stir of echoes also. Yeah, so anyway, he did that. And Presents stars Lucy Liu and Chris Sullivan.

And for me, at least, my most familiar I am with Chris Sullivan is from that TV series. This is us. I don't know. Anyway, he's Agnes. Yeah. What'd you say, Pearl? Sorry. I say come out in Agnes and I trapped the devil. Oh, yeah. Yeah, good. Very good. I'm not familiar with This Is Us. I know it's a huge TV show, but I just never watched that one. But I know of his face from that.

I had to stop watching that thing because I was watching the first season with my wife at the time, and they were ripping my... emotions apart I mean it is so manipulative I'm like this show is cruel and unusual punishment like some people like that stuff because of catharsis and all that but I'm like This show tries to make me cry every single show. Like, screw that. So anyway. Yeah, but he...

Yes, I love it. Okay, and then this has a runtime of one hour, 25 minutes, and it is rated R. And here's the premise. I'll just keep it real simple. A family moves into an empty house that already seems to be inhabited with a presence. Okay, now genre classification, we'll get to that.

That's a big point of debate. Now, to open it up to you two, because I really want to learn from these guys. And by the way, you guys recorded a YouTube video, a YouTube review of this, which I didn't watch it because I wanted to get your take. fresh and live and person sort of on the mic. So I didn't get any idea ahead of time of what you think of this film. But to me, there's no doubt if anybody's looked at any marketing materials like poster art, pull quotes, trailer.

I know some people stay away from all that stuff, but there's no doubt they're trying to market this and promote it as a horror film. So I'll just start with Greg this time. Do you think this is a horror movie? And tell us what you think of Presence. I don't. I feel like it's such a... If he situation is definitely got horror elements because of what's going on with the situation, I guess. But I've never felt it go full horror for me. I felt like it was more of a drama.

A little bit of thriller, but for me, it never quite hit horror for me. But now that's coming from somebody that's a little bit different when it talks about horror. So no, for me, I didn't feel like it quite hit the horror element. Okay. And Twisted Temptress, what did you think? Is this a horror movie to you? Coming from the eye of the beholder, yes. Oh, okay.

Well, yes, there's horror elements, but in my viewing, I see it as horror because I have a different viewing of it. Yeah, okay. I'll be honest, this is not... in my wheelhouse of films the genre so for me it's kind of outside of my normal so for me it doesn't really hit horror where Pearl is all about these type films so

it definitely hits in her horror side. Does that make sense? I always say this is not a Gregor Mortis film. Right, right. And I would have said... I would have guessed ahead of time that this probably wouldn't have been a Jay of the Dead film, but I'm actually... I'm a big fan of this, surprisingly. I'm going to shock you guys. That's the first time I've heard that. I know. I know. Because here's what's happened for listeners who aren't aware of this.

Dave Z is often trying to save me from myself, which I really appreciate because I have some friends in my life who do try to save me from myself. And when I said I'm going to see presents, he was trying to save me some money because he heard from a few different reputable sources, totally not horror. So he was just trying to give me the heads up on that.

And the reason, and I've heard that from so many places now, but the reason I'm like, yeah, but number one, it's Steven Soderbergh, who's a good filmmaker, and he doesn't typically make movies, but what if we get... a Steven Soderbergh horror film. That would be exciting. And they're promoting the heck out of this.

And they're pushing it as a horror film. Now, that doesn't always mean, because yeah, the marketing people, we've talked about this over the years, you guys. They kind of prey upon the loyalty. of the horror community because they know we'll support stuff. So I think they try to pull us in any chance they get in order to boost their bottom line. Maybe it's not so nefarious, but I really do suspect.

that it is a little bit manipulative that way. Um, it's that way because of Oscar nominations and awards. Is it, do you feel they tried to, you know, titter-totter on the side of the substance this year is going to be the prime example of getting five Oscar nominations. Is it really horror? For me, it was a horror movie, but is it a horror movie because it's getting these Oscar nominations?

Horror does never get right. So are filmmakers like Soderbergh doing that as he kind of like, let me tip my toe in it and maybe... I can still do a quote-unquote horror film, but I can do one that will get me a nomination, possibly. Do you know that, or am I just out of my element? No, that's interesting. Yeah, I mean, the thing is...

I mean, I'm with Pearl, actually, because what happened to me is I do feel that this has some chills to it. And I do think it's kind of a different breed of horror. I'll tell you, the Jay of the Dead from six months ago, if I hadn't had all this controversy and somebody just threw this movie at me and I watched it and I'd have been like, Jay, spit out a genre classification.

I would have said reflex action. Okay, supernatural, because yeah, we're dealing with a ghost, a ghostly presence. Drama, mystery, thriller. That's where I would have gone on it. Right. But... Change me. Change me. Well, the more I thought about it, I realized something very important about this film. And I promise I'll come back around to that in a minute. But I want to ask you guys something.

else before we get there. Because we're doing some serious analysis, listeners, okay? Do you guys believe, because I have this belief, that the cinema... And it's not just horror, but we especially encounter it in genre filmmaking when we're talking about westerns, talking about science fiction, talking about horror. When we have the classic genre conventions.

I feel like they are doing a blending of genres more and more where we're not seeing as many films where it's just like, that's a clear cut Western. That's a clear cut sci-fi. That's... clear-cut horror movie. No, they blend many of these elements into one film. I think maybe to try to have a wider appeal and pull in more audience. I think that's why they're doing it. But have you guys noticed, do you believe that there is such a trend or not? Pearl, what do you say?

I believe it is because it's like, for example, let's just say you're the movie, you're talking about it. Here you are asking Greg what does he think if it's a horror, and he don't, and I do. So in order to engage and have both of us agree and watch this movie, you got to give us both a little something. Yeah, interesting. That's very good. See, she's got the mind of a marketer.

Here's my take on it. I think what we're getting a lot of is filmmakers that are typical filmmakers like Soderbergh, who's not a horror director. We've already established that, right? And I think that they're used to doing a certain style film, whether it be television or whether it be, you know, movie or whatever. So they got a style. They got a format that they go by. And then they're like, hey.

i got this idea or somebody comes to him says hey do this movie right so let's make it a quote-unquote horror movie so Horror is different for every individual, correct? Yeah. So for me, let's say somebody tragic, you know, hopefully this has never happened, but say somebody has been through rape, right?

Now, for some people, they can watch a movie about rape and it becomes a drama, it becomes a thriller, it becomes a whatever. But somebody that has encountered that aspect of their life is a horror, right? It becomes horror because they've been through that.

I feel like filmmakers are hitting, and I think A24 has a big thing to do with this. I think they are a really big... reasoning behind the last few years of these type influx films coming in that are kind of are they horror are they not because of their you know their style of

We'll call it slow burn or they're tight films. They're hitting on different avenues. So are they hitting more drama, hitting thriller, hitting? They hit all those aspects. So I think filmmakers have become and I'm not going to say that that was even wrong. I'm not even going to say that. Scratch that.

Because filmmakers have been smart all their life. It's not nothing new, right? But I feel like filmmakers are going a different way in the late 2020s. I think they're coming into a different style filming. I think they're hitting a different format. And could it be streaming? Could it be water? I don't know. But for me, it just horror is in the eye of the beholder. So for me, something might be horror. Something might not be horror for Pearl or for you, Jay.

But does it make it a horror movie as a tagline? Like, is IMDb correct with saying horror? Now, granted, it's what, one, two, three, four to fifth. you know tag on this thing if you go psychological drama well psychological horror number two so i don't know man i don't know why it's that way i don't know why horror or whatever the society's making us go down this route or what what's happening

Is it a bad thing? No, absolutely not. I mean, more eyes on it, great. I mean, that's, you know, whatever. But I don't know. This movie just hits a little softer for me. And we'll get into it. Sure. No, absolutely. That was very insightful. I agree with everything that you both just said. I agree 100%. In fact, I think, Greg, what you were hitting on there is... I do feel like, and you almost said, because didn't you almost say,

They've gotten smarter and then you changed the way you were saying. See, I knew I knew what you were feeling, though, because I think that storytelling in the cinema has become a little more. sophisticated. And that's the word I'll use just because I think it's a little more complex and nuanced, which is why we're getting genre blends. Now, the purpose...

And we're talking from a film history perspective. The purpose of early film history, purpose of genre, is because they wanted to categorize and organize. the nature of films into certain categories or genres based on familiar conventions. Westerns had horses, guns, you know, swinging doors.

The Old West, all that stuff. Cowboy hats, blah, blah, blah. And then horror has its conventions. You'll have thunder, lightning, maybe gothic stuff. You might have... blood you might have gore but you might just have suspense and chilly creepy dead things and death and killing and blah blah all the things that we know and love and so I think that when you talk to like

an old school horror fan like of course we're not as old as joel today like we're not old like like that old man but i'm just saying like and we just We've established that Pearl is still in her early 20s. That's right. But we've been around long enough where when we walked into the video store, they did have... A full-blown, when they said the horror section, you walked into that section and those movies had those familiar conventions. Period. Right? And I think that's why we...

And I don't usually say coarse words like this, but it's the right word. I think that's why we bitch about it so much is because we are... I think maybe us old school fans are a little bit frustrated, or at least I am. I'll speak for myself. I'm a little bit frustrated that it seems harder and harder to find. That full-blown collection of familiar conventions. And so I personally, while it is more nuanced and more sophisticated in the current films and the way they're telling stories.

It frustrates me I don't like it and I resent it because it's watering down the genre I love. Now, I know there are things to admire about it. I mean, A24, you brought up a great example. A24. has told some phenomenal stories and the way they're telling it. I mean, some of those stories, they will stay with you and haunt you. I mean, it gets in your bones and it's creepy, but.

But man, I do miss the collections of conventions. But Pearl, what say you? I'm sorry I'm talking so much. I mean, I don't know. I get what you mean. But like the moon, I think it's just a phase. Okay. You know, I think like right now, because we're in a generation where we have to be severely careful. not to hurt anyone's feelings or any other matters of that. So now, like you said, they're talking more sophisticated. They're being more careful that...

They're mixing as much as possible, like I said, to gather the attention so someone can have some... cultural background to it or so someone can have a personal relate to it or you know they're just trying to capture everyone's eye in some way and still get their story in it but doing that they leave gaps So, you know, I just, you know, for now it's doing that until everything starts being okay later and then we probably get back what we love. Okay. Wow. Now that's...

Wow, what wisdom there, Pearl, because yeah, the fact that you said it's a phase, that is probably true. We probably will go through this hybrid blending phase, and I hope it is more of a phase. Yeah, in 20 years from now, it might be interesting to be like, oh, do you remember in the early 2020s how they were doing all that blending of genres? That was wild times, right?

It was, but I can hear Dave Z right now, and I'm bringing his name up because, you know, he's our persuasive one. And I can hear him right now because... Is this a good pattern that we're in that we're even questioning? Is this a horror movie or not? Right. Like we're going to it and we're already starting to show up. Do you think this is a horror movie? Well, obviously, if we're asking that.

we're in trouble, right? That means it is and it isn't, which that if you're a horror fan, a horror quote unquote fan, that's a problem, right? You want a horror movie or you want a thriller. You want to drama. You want to go into the video store. You mentioned that you want to go back to blockbuster and go in and you want to go into your section. You don't want to go in there and be like, Oh, is this worse? Where's.

Where's presents? Is it in drama, thriller, horror? I want to write the horror and say, I'm going to pick the presents out. It's going to be right there. But this movie. would not be in that certain section. I feel like it's going to be, you're going to look for it and say, where's it at? Yeah. I'm at one blockbuster and it may be in thriller and another blockbuster and it may be in another.

So to me, this is me speaking as a horror fan, that's a problem. I love that. We don't know the clarification right now. We're questioning, and Dave Z backed me on this, we're questioning, is this movie horror? But then that's why you have teachers behind you, the ones that do know what it's about and will inspire you to be like, you really want to see something that has this and this, and it might make you see this? Go to presence.

It happens to be on this aisle. This is true. But I consider myself to be a pretty good student of film. Yes. Quite a bit of horror film, so I'm pretty good about knowing what a horror movie is. And then this one, I'm like... It's going to be either way. So anyways, that's just my two cents on it. Daisy, back me. That's your two cents. This is my six cents. All right, Bruce Willis. I love that. That was awesome.

I picture Pearl being one of those people who does the knuckle sandwich thing. Does she ever offer you a knuckle sandwich, Greg? Every day. Slamma jamma. You ever do like those car rides and you walk by and be like, boom. Oh, I love it. Yeah. I'm telling you listeners, if you haven't had the pleasure to ride around with these two. I'm serious. You have never seen like, it's like two little siblings in the backseat. I mean, they are just hilarious. I love that. Okay.

Not everyone's going to accept us. We're going to be abandoned on some road. What happened? I will pick you up. I will always be. You just tell me. I'll come pick you up. Let's do it. But I might bring earplugs for when you guys start singing those really catchy, catchy tunes that get stuck in the head. Yeah, they do that to you too. Don't even start. But Greg, I love when you said that's a problem. Like the fact that...

You know, here we are, almost 30 minutes on, okay, well, what genre is this, by the way? Like, yeah, that is... I haven't even thought the movie yet. We're already 30 minutes in. So that's a problem. I know. I agree. I agree. And that's one thing that I lament. However, I think that in order – this is what I'm proposing. In order to navigate this –

or this phase of the moon that we're in. And whether it's short-lived or whether it goes on for a decade or so, I think maybe some additional terminology might help because... The fact is, and I promise I'm almost to the main point here, but one other thing I had to ask you guys about, and then forgive me listeners for belaboring. Did you two see... The 2024 film, What You Wish For. Did you guys see that one? I don't think so. Let me look it up real quick. Starring Nick Stahl.

What do you wish for? Yeah. I'm looking it up. If you haven't seen it, don't learn anything about it going completely blind because Watson, Kyle Bishop, and I... Highly recommend it. And I know that Kyle and Watson consider it horror. I didn't. And so it ended up on my movie podcast weekly top 10 of 2024 list. So I put it on my list over there. It's pretty high on my list.

And I haven't heard those two guys list yet, Watson and Dr. Walking Dead. But I bet you it's pretty high on their horror list. Anyway, that's definitely one to see. It's worth your time. It's an amazing movie. But the reason, and we actually have a great review of it. I don't think I've released it yet because I'm jackass.

Post-production note, Jay of the Dead here. I stand corrected. And in my own defense, I have actually released our review of What You Wish For. It was Mr. Watson, Dr. Walking Dead, and yours truly. Viewed that film in episode 122 of Jay of the Dead's new horror movies. It'll be linked in the show notes. It's a must listen. But anyways, like the big thing about it. And I won't spoil the review, but basically we all agreed.

that they're telling a horror story, but it's how it's delivered. And they just felt it was delivered horror. I felt like it was definitely a horror story, but not delivered in the horror tone. But this here... So now I'll get to the point. You guys are like, thank goodness this guy is just such a blah, blah, blah. Okay, presence.

is a horror story to me and a horror movie but I want to categorize it as a for lack of a better term maybe somebody can think of something better but I would call it unconventional Horror movie. Now, the reason that... I know it's like, duh, duh, Jay. But no, I'm saying unconventional on purpose because it's not using... the conventions that we're so familiar with, with genre. It's not using all of those. But here's my support on this.

And the reputable resources that our boy Dave Zia, he hasn't gotten to see this yet, but the reputable sources he was quoting, I'm going to push back against them. those people for saying not horror, because I think that number one, you have a haunting here. that is a result of a prior evil now i'm going to talk about the nature in order for us to review this film we're not going to give away um

any major plot points or anything. But I'm going to talk about the nature of haunting type ghost movie that this is just for the sake of us being able to discuss it. I just want people to know that. Is that okay with you guys if I just talk about the kind of haunting ghost movie we have here? Yeah, because it's very...

uh, spoilery to talk about this movie. It's one of those movies where you need to go in kind of blind on it. So yeah, I got you. Okay. Yeah. So I'm just going to do it like that. But, um, but yeah, so we've got though. And with ghost movies in general, we know that we have ghosts haunt because they're usually sticking around for a reason. They got something they're either...

upset about or mad about or whatever it is. And they haunt most often some sort of a prior evil has taken place. So they're back for vengeance or sometimes a warning voice. And that's a very common theme. And so this film here, Presence, I mean, if we dissected this, like the way this story, this ghost story is told and how it's built, it's along the lines of Crimson Peak. And I'm just going to do broad strokes in case you haven't seen it.

Because Crimson Pete, you've got a young woman. She goes into this gothic mansion where ghosts try to warn her about. a terrifying secret involving the living residents. Okay. So it's ghosts trying to warn people about some evil human beings, living people or, um, stir of echoes, which David kept also wrote a man. begins to see this disturbing visions of this ghostly girl she seems to be haunting but it's really to uncover

You know, the awful deeds of a real life living atrocity, right? We're moving down through here. So I wrote down some examples. What lies beneath? You know, we got a woman experiencing ghostly encounters to lead her to a secret about one of her family members. Lady in white, young boy, sees the ghost of a murdered girl. to help him uncover the true killer. The Sixth Sense, my favorite subplot line in The Sixth Sense. I mean, the ghosts all needed something there, but we have the young girl.

who died of an illness, right? And her haunting was to reveal something about someone living. So I'm trying to like paint a picture here without spoiling stuff. Woman in black.

2012 well of course it was an older film too but I'm just saying Daniel Radcliffe you know you got the vengeful ghost seems to be terrorizing but the horror lies and what the living has done so anyway it goes on and on the night house i mean so many have this structure so this film is is a structure where there's a prior evil

The haunting has a purpose. And it's one of these ghost movies where the monstrosity lies not necessarily where you might think. And I'll just leave it at that. But because of that, I think... Steven Soderbergh, and it probably is because of what Greg said earlier when you said people perceive horror differently or they understand it differently. And maybe it's a matter of, okay. Maybe he hasn't spent as much time in the horror section as we have. So when he's telling this very familiar ghost.

thematic sequence where ghosts are revealing the evil of the living or being warning voices. Maybe the way he's telling this is in his unfamiliar way. So therefore it's an unconventional horror movie. So that's where I am. But what do you guys think about all that? That was perfectly said. I mean, all the movies were spot on with the tone of this movie presence. So, yeah, I think you nailed it. That's definitely.

Yeah, without giving spoilers away, you nailed it. Perfect. Thank you. It also makes me think of American Haunting. The TV series? Or is that... Donald Sutherland. Oh, okay. Yes, yes. Sorry, for some reason when you said I thought American Horror Story in my mind. Gotcha, gotcha. Yeah. Nailed it. You nailed it with all the movies chosen for sure. Well, thanks. You guys are very kind. So, yeah, I mean, for somebody who is, and I don't know how else to say this.

this is just so reductive, but like quote unquote, a hardcore horror fan or, but that's, it's not even quite accurate, but, but someone who is like a conventional old school horror fan where you go in one section. Like, I think this is going to be very mild, very underwhelming in a horror sense. But Pearl... This did get under my skin. This did creep me out. Even though it is so subtle and mild, I think it's just told unconventionally. But...

Yeah, but it's probably because there's either something that seems that you can relate to, or it's, you know... you understand the part of the horror that's being told because you know and seen enough of these type of movies that you're like, okay, you know, I know where this is going. Yeah. Like I said, it's like the eye of the beholder. I mean, everyone has their view of what horror is. And, you know, some people this might end up being the scariest movie they've seen, you know.

In that category of this. Yeah, I could see that. I could see this being, for certain people, like a really thrilling, terrifying movie because it starts pretty... immediate right this is something that doesn't take long for we to know what's going on somewhat somewhat let's quote unquote But it builds through the whole movie. So you start getting more and more and more. And then by the end, we get the climax. So I think that certain viewers will get.

tent certain viewers will be on edge and think wow you know they just took me on a ride right you know i just went through a ride of of almost grabbing the white knuckle in the steering wheel so to speak you know Some people have that. Did I have that? Not necessarily, but I'll get into it when we break into it real good. I will say why I didn't. Kane?

But I can see people doing that. I can see people really definitely getting unnerved by this. Yeah, because like my sister, for example, she's 30 plus and she has her, I mean, to her... Shaun of the Dead is scary, you know, to her like those type of movies. Things like this type of movie, she'd be scared. She'd be...

knocking on my door and being like, can I sleep with you? Yeah. Yeah. You know, so that's why it's a perfect example. I mean, like, and I'll look at her like, really? I mean, want to watch The Exorcist or something? No. You know, so, I mean, the fact that she grew up in a horror, you know, family that we watched horror, you know, all my life, all her life. Yeah, this was scary.

Okay. I agree. I think there are definitely some people this will affect. Let me ask you guys a question about, and you'll get why I'm asking you this, but this is kind of just... Interesting to me. Did you guys see that film? I think it was from 2018 called The Clove Hitch Killer with Dylan McDermott.

Did not see that one, no. Okay. That sounds familiar. Yeah. I think we ended up catching that at the end of the year for our top ten. I believe I did see that one. I'm sorry. Yeah, it's really interesting. Yeah, and it's... It's not quite, excuse me, it's not exactly what you would expect from...

a quote unquote horror movie. And there are probably people out there that might debate whether that is, I think it is, but yeah, I mean, so in that movie, we've got a serial killer. Let's just, we'll just say it like that. I mean, the concept of a serial killer is freaky. I mean, that's a genuine monster right there when we've got a... a killer like the clove hitch killer who's uh taking out people the same way over and over right so i mean that that that's another aspect it's like um you know

What's the nature of our monster in the Clove Hitch Killer? Okay, well, we've got a serial killer. And I think it's rare that we would encounter a serial killer movie. somewhat rare where it wouldn't be horror. It'd be something else, you know, I'm just saying. So anyway, I think you guys will kind of get where I'm going on that, but, um, but that's interesting to me. Like the Clove Hitch Killer is a neat example.

So, okay. So I'm, I'm about ready to wrap up with final thoughts and ratings. If you guys are okay, do you want to, do you want to say anything else that's more in depth before we start to kind of. Wrap it up. I kind of do. I want to emphasize something here because, and this won't be spoilery. I think, because we didn't mention the cast. Let's give the cast, right? Yeah.

All right, so we got the main cast member, Rebecca, played by Lucy Liu, right? And we love Lucy Liu. I think she's phenomenal. Anything she's in, she's Lucy Liu. I said it in a YouTube video. Yes. She's a phenomenal actress, right? And then you got Chris Sullivan, as you mentioned, who I think is his performance in this movie was the highlight for me. I thought he was tremendous. I loved his character. I loved.

His compassion, I loved his mannerisms, his tolerances, his open-mindedness. This is a great character, right? Chris Sullivan really crushed that. Chloe is my second favorite in the movie. I thought Kalina Liang. Holy crap, dude, I'm in love. Like this girl rushed it. I'm talking. Yeah, I just I was into her character from go. And she's got some things going on that causes her to be a character to keep your eye on. And I really appreciated how we watched her from...

The moment we are introduced to her and then we follow her throughout, I thought the storytelling of her character was handled well. I thought they'd done well with that. I think it's believable. I think it was something that was needed to move the story along. I thought they'd done great. Right. So here was my one issue of this whole movie. And I told Pearl, now is this movie and we'll get into it when we get our ratings because of the fact that.

I'm talking about it today and we watched it yesterday. You know, this morning I woke up and I talked almost an hour of Pearl about the movie. So clearly it's like something in my head. Like, why am I still talking about this movie? You know, whatever. But here's the one issue I had, and it's Tyler, played by Eddie Medate. Now, that's the brother of Chloe, the son of Chris and Rebecca.

Now, this is his first acting role, okay? My issue with this character is it was unbelievable, right? Who talks and acts? the way that this individual talks and acts. Like it was too, to me, felt too forced. Overdone. Overdone. And I was getting out of the movie because of this performance.

And I think that has some immaturity, too, because I don't think he was the strongest actor. I think he did what he could do with the character. But at the same time, could a more polished character had made that? a little more believable or whatever maybe maybe not the the script that he's given is just to me i've never encountered somebody to have to do what he and say the things that he's saying like i've never encountered that

So for me, it was almost like a, I hope it's a spoiler, but almost like all of a sudden we had a Rob Zombie film jump in here. And I'm like, Where is this from? I'm like, what's going on? He's obnoxious for sure. But I guess the reason, so I agree with you. I think his ability to perform that and pull it off.

naturally or naturalistically, yeah, I think that it was a little bit tough for him to quite reach it. But I think his character is... credible that way because he is his mother's the mom is obsessed with her son like he's the apple of her eye she has a favorite kid and and she has spoiled You got incestual vibes. I know you did. Yeah, right. Well, it is weird. Yeah, because she's totally obsessed with her son.

And, yeah, and it's a neat dynamic in this family because the mom is just like, you know, the world for my son. And then, like, the mom isn't as close with her daughter. And so the dad. who seems to be a pretty decent guy. He tries to compensate by being a little bit closer. to the daughter, and then he butts heads with the son a little bit. So I think that this character could happen in real life if he were that spoiled, like he was such a spoiled little brat.

I'm just saying, if that would have happened in my neighborhood, that kid would have not survived long enough to be in this movie. This would not happen. You open your mouth like that. It's not happening. Yes. Yeah, that's right. He needed to smacked. I'm not. I felt like I couldn't believe it because it just felt too forced for me. So the whole time I'm like.

I don't want to say I'm sitting here like, oh, this guy's frustrating me so mad, so bad through this whole movie. It wasn't necessarily that bad, but it was almost like just give me more Chloe and let's forget about Tyler. And so but here's here's my overall take of that. I still feel that as I'm talking about it now with you, the movie, I'm almost changing my mind a little bit more as I keep chewing on this movie.

My YouTube video, and I want everybody to go check it out. If Jay will be gracious and post the link, great. If not, that's perfect. No, absolutely. It'll be posted. Here's the thing. That was a fresh right out of the theater. Just got done watching the movie. I'm like, this is my feeling about it. I still haven't necessarily changed it, but talking more with Pearl and just really listening to you talk here and then just chewing on it a little bit more, I'm like...

maybe there's a little more in this and I need to see this again. Like I, I really said I didn't want to watch it again. I was like, dude, this is probably, you know, whatever. I feel like I need to watch this one again. I feel like I need to go in and. Forget about Tyler for a minute and just really chew on the fat.

and see what's in here. So that's just my take. Acting was, Chloe was phenomenal. Her and Chris are the two best characters. Would you see what you just said, though? What? You said earlier if it happened in this neck of the woods. Mm-hmm. Try kids in California and Beverly Hills and see what kind of egotistic and fool of themselves. But there again, it doesn't relate to me because I've never seen it like that. We know how those California kids are, don't we, Greg? We do.

I can't relate to it because I've never experienced this so to me it feels fake but that's exactly because you grew up with a brother or you either You know, are the only child. Yeah. And we cuss like sailors, but we didn't do it in front of our parents. But it's also like brother and sister, you either love them or hate them. Right, right. and it doesn't you know it never works out like you know yeah

Yeah. All right, Jay. Sorry to hijack. No, no, no. That was good. I like the character assessment there. I think. Trying to keep it spolery, non-spolery, because I don't want to spoil it. You're right. Absolutely. Yeah, thank you. So, Pearl, did you have anything else you wanted to say before we start wrapping up with ratings and recommendations? You're welcome to.

No, the only thing I'll say is that the camera work was fantastic. Yes. The only thing I do want to give out is the 411 is if anyone has any type of motion sickness. that there will be fast movement on this or just aware. Yeah. I'm glad you brought that up. I was going to... I'm with you. I'm going to chime in on that in my closing thoughts, too, because my favorite aspect of the film is how the... the titular presence in this film, we are given the subjective point of view.

of the ghost so the camera which typically when you're watching a film like the camera represents us but we are seeing things from the presence point of view so So we are literally, not literally, that's not accurate, but we feel like we are, at least I did, I felt involved and pulled into this house with these people. Because the ghost, as the ghost moves around the house and looks at what's going on and listens and eavesdrops, I mean, obviously the ghost is invisible.

But the ghost walks around the room and gets up close to people, and that's us the whole time. We are the camera. And so what Pearl's saying is that there's a lot of movement with the camera. And I think that is absolutely fascinating. And it really affected me to have the perspective of the ghost. I thought that was super cool.

So that was like my favorite aspect. In fact, for final thoughts or ratings, I was just going to say, if I had like in terms of a horror movie, like, well, let me just say this. Even if you didn't feel it was a horror movie, I said this in our group chat. I'm like, well, even if it isn't a horror movie, I hope it's a good Soderbergh film, because it should be. I was expecting it to be.

But yeah, I just did my movie podcast weekly top 10. And if I hadn't considered this a horror movie, this would have made my top 10 over there on that. I would have booted off. you know, my bottom movie and I made sure that this made it on the list. But so I'm excited that this is a 2025. New horror movie for my book. So, I'm going to put it there. But yeah, just a heads up. I mean, obviously, because you've heard from our discussion.

that different people are going to definitely feel differently. And I bet you there are people who feel very strongly that this is not a horror movie, but I definitely, I definitely feel like it is. And I think it's special for sure. I actually love this movie quite a bit. In fact, you guys, I saw the late showing last night, 10 p.m. I was by myself in the theater. I was the only one. And I think...

Maybe that added a little bit to the chili. Was it in the small screening room? Oh, no. No. Because ours was in the theater room that's only got like eight sections. Yeah. Eight rows. Oh, yeah. Really a small, small part of the theater. Yeah. Well, my one theater, they've redone it and there's a lot of IMAX stuff. So they actually had it for some reason. It had the iMac speakers at least. It was really loud and it was good. But anyways, I'm coming in for presence. I'm coming in 7.5 out of 10.

I say I think this is worth supporting and seeing it in the theater. And the other thing, you know, I'm just going to say, while I don't think a lot of people would revisit this often. I would be open to purchasing this myself just because this is the kind of movie that would be fun to show to people who aren't necessarily into hardcore horror. Like if you've got friends.

who like creepy movies, but they don't want any gore or blood or craziness. This would be a great one for people like that. I think this is one of those that you could slip by non-horror fans. And I think you could get it in for them because it's a little, like we were saying, it's a little more mild. But, man, it's a good little chiller. You could bring Carl in on this one.

Yeah, yeah. Carl. And he won't be whining so much. No, I'm just kidding. But yeah, so I'm going 7.5 out of 10. See it in the theater. I think it's a rental for most people. But it's a buy for Jay of the Dead. So the Twisted Temptress, what do you say? Prior, I was at a six fight, but I do give it a seven. I do say it's a buy because I would buy this movie. Yeah, I would recommend it anyway. So I would want someone to see it at a theater to get.

that full effect of what this movie is because you can't get the same effect on streaming or video. Yes. Excellent. Thank you. So seven out of 10. Gotcha. All right. Greg Amortis, what say you? Yo. All right. So here. Yo, brother. Yo, brother. If you watch my YouTube video, you know what my rate was. Jay hasn't. He's graciously left that off. So here it was. For me, I don't blame you. But here it is.

I agree with you. The camera angles are awesome in this movie and it takes you immediately into it that way. And I loved that. Is it surprising? Is it like something that you're going to be like, I wonder if I'll catch that. Oh. You know, there's no doubt about what's going on in this movie within two seconds of this movie. You get it right away. Right. I did. So there's no surprise. It's a very brisk. hour and 25 minutes. This movie is super fast.

I almost wanted more and I sat and went into it. I'm thinking, why, Greg, you bitch about, sorry, you, you complain about two and three hour movies all the time. You finally get an hour and 25 and now you're like, I wish there was more to it. So it's a very quick hour and 25 minutes. So it's over before you even know it starts, honestly. All right. So that's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. It's brisk.

So camera angles are good. Acting is good as a as a whole. And the plot is OK. So my philosophy, I was a six to a six five when I saw this movie. And I said I would not purchase this. I figured I'd probably not go back and visit it. And but Pearl had mentioned on the video that she would buy it. So I was like, well, I'll buy it because she wants it. So either way, I'm right. That's how that works.

I refuse to buy this movie. Pearl wants it. Okay, I'll buy it. But anyway, now here's a couple things that I want to mention, and we'll close it. So Neon has released this film, is distributing this film. Do you know who Neon... has distributed in the past. Do you know what movies? I'll give you a little history. 2021's Nicolas Cage Pig. How about 2021's Titane? Nice.

It's one to be mentioned, I think. Long Legs from last year was a neon film. We also had the Moon Age Daydream, which is the documentary type movie of David Bowie. That was in 2022, which really... Really good. If you love David Boyd, definitely check it out. 2023's Infinity Pool is from Neon. Old Boy is from Neon.

Uh, so they, they, they've gotten a list of movies going. And if you start listening to the list I'm giving you, there's a trend, right? If you start looking at these films, Jay, they're not an A24, but. We got pig, titane, long legs. You get where I'm going? There's a vibe. There's a certain vibe with the films that they're releasing. There's others that I'm leaving off, but Immaculate from 2024 is a neon film. Yes.

And we know we love Immaculate if you've listened to anything. It's a 10. Yeah. Cuckoo. Cuckoo. Which I was not the biggest fan of, but that's a neon. Onora, which I want to see. Have you seen Onora, by the way? No. Okay, I want to see that. But anyway, so anyway, so they're coming out in 2025 with the Monkey Hell of a Summer is two of their big ones, I think. So anyways, to say that, I'm going to support Neon because I really like the vibe they're giving us.

Is this a horror movie? I told you, I don't necessarily think it's a horror movie. I feel like it's kind of weak. Is this a rated R film? Absolutely not. I don't know. The only reasoning with rated R may be the language. and a little bit of drug use. But other than that, this is a PG movie back in the 80s all day long. I don't see anything that warranted a rated R movie in this film.

Am I wrong? It's got a sex scene as well. But yes. But yeah, you're right. I mean, it's pretty mild even on. So, you know, to me, this is PG. This is not PG-13 minus the language. OK, so. Overall, I'm saying all that to say this. I was hell-bent on being between a 6 and a 6.5. I ended up going with a 6.5 on the video spoiler.

I say that after chomping on it and listening, you guys, I actually want to watch this again. I'm changing my mind with not needing to see this again. I want to see this movie again. I'm sticking with my 6.5. I'm not changing yet, Jay. I'm still there because I need to see this again. But listening to you and Pearl, and I can't quit talking about it.

Why I can't quit talking about this movie that's only an hour and 25 minutes long is frustrating me, but it means I need to see it again. So I'm really... That means the director did his job. He did his job. With all the other movies that you mentioned. Bottom line. He's mind effing everyone. He is. So I've got your exact, I'm glad you said that, Pearl, because that's a hundred and million percent right. This is a Dave Z scenario.

I'm talking about it. I'm thinking about it. Director did his spot because he is making me think about this movie. It is because everyone who's listening. Yeah, everyone who's listening. We walked out of the theater. It's funny. There was maybe 10 people in the theater along with us. Yeah. The movie stopped. Everyone was quiet. Yeah. Like, quiet. They were looking at each other. And even Greg's looking at me. And we're walking out. We're walking to the car.

sits down i can see the invisible question marks going on his head and then he turns around i'm like what and then he's like well and then that's when all the questions but i think People definitely registered, you know, they hear the word horror and they thought like, oh, we're going to get someone that's going to jump scares or scares or something. And there's multiple types of horror and people got to.

Real life that. I got to say this. There is like no jump scares in this film, really. There's not what I consider. Thank you, Soderbergh, that we are not getting these fake jump scares. These. cat moments that Dave, Dr. Shop, Becker hates. And we're not getting that in this movie. So thank you, Mr. Soderbergh. Thank you for making an hour and 25 minute movie.

It was more realistic. So, thank you. I will give him that. So, props. I'm almost wanting to go 7 now, but I'm going... Just go for it. No, I'm going 6-5 because I need to watch it again. I've got to watch this movie again. I will say, I will say for me at least, there was, I did jump toward the end. Yeah. Yeah. Very near the end. That did kind of make me jump. And I'm like.

why am I, why am I jumping about this? I mean, it was just so funny, but, but yeah, the film had me, but yeah, I agree with you. It's not like, you know, cheap jump scares everywhere. I feel like this is going to go. I really I'm saying this right now. When I rewatch this movie, I will let you listeners know and I'll let you know my my revised. Will it go up or go down? I'm.

I'm almost going to say this movie is going to go up a full point if I watch it a second time because I'm going into this movie knowing some more things and really understanding Tyler a little bit better. I need to get Tyler out of my head. Because I got to go into it with a different flavor. I'll say non-spoiler. I'll say if anyone wants to understand this movie, understand a certain lady who comes into the home. That's it.

We'll talk about that all for everybody. Yeah. And when you do revisit it, Greg, I mean, think about the various ghost movie types that I mentioned. Think about those and think about this in terms of those. I think that's... For me, because initially I was going to be like, yeah, truly I was going to be like, yeah, maybe not. But then I'm like, what?

Yeah, unconventional horror movie. But what lies beneath, I'm going to say it, is not a horror movie. I'm just saying. Oh, you don't think so? Oh, okay, see? Thank you. Not to me. It's not a horror movie. But this movie fits in that pocket. So there you go. We already went down that road. But I'm just saying, I will rewatch this. I don't know if we'll check. I wanted to go see a Nora.

But I don't think it's playing in the theater again until in February. They're going to bring it back for a brief moment. But it's not horror, so we don't – anyways. I think we'll go back and watch this one. I think we'll watch this one again in the theater. I need to sit down and chew on it. Plus, hey, we get to see Chloe again. Yes, absolutely. By the way, because I know you guys go to the movies of all genres. I'm just throwing this out there. I know Joel.

I think his family went today. We saw Flight Risk. I saw Flight Risk over the weekend with Grizzly Gus. And speaking of blending tones, it was so funny. It was a comedy. thriller just think about that right like it's really it's really goofy comedy not goofy goofy but like um

Topher Grace character, they leaned into him as a comedic actor. But at the same time, it's a thriller. And not horror, right? Flight risk. But that was... dumb fun and then and then yes and i i love him but and then i love carry on from netflix and i feel like it's probably gonna fit in kind of that it is exactly that yes and then and then carl huddleston from movie podcast weekly speaking of carl he just texted me he saw september 5th which is um not a horror movie but um

But that is, he said, that's 10 out of 10. So if you guys, I just thought I'd throw that out there for people in case they're curious. Not that this is a... This is a horror podcast, damn it. But I'm just saying. As you can tell, since we spent an hour on presents. But anyways. The Den of Thieves. Oh, yeah. Den of Thieves. Yeah. Fun.

Anyways, I want to thank my good buddies here, Greg Amortis and the Twisted Temptress, for talking presence with me. I'm really grateful that you guys saw it and that we got to chat about it. Yeah, I know. I wouldn't have been able to do this any justice just by myself. So thank you for being on here and for taking the time. You guys, you're the best. Absolutely. What a great time. Go see it. Go support Chloe.

I mean, well, what's her name again? Gosh darn it. I'm sorry. I missed her name again. Chloe is played by Kalina. Go see Kalina Liam. She's great. That's right. Yeah, listeners, once you see presents, let us know what you thought. All right, that just about wraps up this episode of Jay of the Dead's new horror movies. My apologies for the weird lo-fi post-production note and outro. Long story, but the short of it is...

I'm just needing to improvise this evening. So anyways, we'll be back to our normal audio quality in the next episode. But I just want to thank you for listening and for supporting Jay of the Dead's new horror movies. We have... 10 hosts and an official contributor. And so make sure that you check out the show notes for our episodes so you can find the links to our hosts' various podcasts because they have their other shows of their own. They have blogs. They have social media. They have books.

All kinds of great stuff. So I hope that if you're just getting to know some of these fellas and you're new to the show, that you'll check out their other work because it's fantastic. And we got a lot of talented people who contribute to this show. and I hope you'll support them by just seeing what they do as well in all their other endeavors online. But in the meantime, thanks for your patience on...

the episode releases, we got lots more coming to you. I can't even tell you. We've been recording all along pretty much. So yeah, there's definitely no shortage of Jay of the dead's new horror movies. So it's coming at you and on behalf. half of Dave, Dr. Shock Becker, The Gill Man, Joel Robertson, Mr. Watson, Dr. Walking Dead, Kyle Bishop, The Southern Gentleman, Greg Mortis, Macula,

Ron Martin, Dave Z, and Spawn of the Dead. We all want to thank you for listening to Jay of the Dead's new horror movies, The Ultimate Horror Podcast.