y Fright Night Time is here. Right, we're talking about... Well, greetings and salutations, Internet. It's your all- Once again, from Tri-State College, this is the Kill by Kill podcast where we're dedicated to celebrating... the least discussed component of any horror film, the characters. And we're going to unpack all the goriest details of 1988's Fright Night 2 in the hopes that untimely end is just the beginning of the jokes we might make at their expense. There's only one person I trust.
the gall darn opera on time. The one, the only, Gina Radcliffe. How are you doing today, Gina? I'm sorry, hang on. putting on my roller skates so that I can more efficiently attack people because I can't run very fast. This is true. People really underestimate the... power of roller skates, a famously stable apparati to attack people with. Yeah, apparently you could sneak up on people in roller skates? I did not know that.
If you get enough fog, around UCLA at the right time of night, especially something with a roof. something that will never refract that sound from the floor onto it a million times, you can totally sneak up on somebody. Yeah, y'all don't have acoustics or anything out there, right? Oh, no, no, no, no. It's all muffled by the Pacific Ocean's errand.
Well, UCLA is definitely not buffered by the Pacific Ocean and is well inland, nestled between the 10 and the 405. But that's neither here nor there, Gina. I don't want to scare you. But we are not alone. That's right. We have a special guest. You may know her as a writer and illustrator specializing in horror film-inspired imagery. Hers is... resident easel combines original illustrations with deep dives into micro genres like pregnancy horror women doppelgangers
space horror, fairy tale horror. She's done it all. She's doing it more. And she is the one, the only, Alicia Burbenik. How are you doing today, Alicia? And silent while you guys are like riffing on this hilarious movie. You do not have to be quiet. You do not have to be silent. You make your voice heard. I will not let you be silenced. How are you? I'm wonderful. I'm even better hearing that we're correct. Nothing does my ego.
Now, Alicia, we gave you a couple different horror comedies because we're doing a full horror comedy month. And we're rounding things out with... One of our vampire genre films that we were specializing here in season five. And I just, there's a lot of... vampire horror comedies out there. But because we had covered the first Fright Night, I felt like, okay, I think we need to
square the circle here and bring this back and see if this qualifies, where it qualifies on the scale of horror comedies. So where did you first see Fright Night 2? archive yes but i mean also in particular i've as a kid as we all do we see these movies in the vhs store we I saw Fright Night religiously as a kid. It was like one of the few. too though I only saw the cover of and it wasn't until you asked me to you know like Oh my god, I know. but I have never seen this movie. And...
There's kind of a reason you've never seen this movie, and we're going to get to it, but Gina, I wanted to check in with you. Did I also spring this on you, or had you been familiar with it from your past? Well, I know that I've seen it at least once. but the only I remembered it was for the same reason I think is the best part about it, and that is the comic relief scenes with these sort of minions of this.
lady vampire. I think this movie kind of divides up the best part of the original Fright Night. You know, you have Jerry Dandridge, Jerry Dandridge's sweaters. the sexual chemistry jerry dandridge has with anyone who is seen on camera that's far and away like the biggest thing you can take away from the original fright He's fantastic in that. How do you overcome such a massive shadow?
here when you've basically taken Chris Sarandon off the table in two ways. One, his character is dead. And two, he and the original writer-producer of the first Fright Night, they were working on child. while this...
So they're out. They cannot participate. But what you can do is maybe split up all the... elements of Jerry Dandridge and assign them to different characters and maybe you get the same result and I would argue that the sexy monster squad is far and away the best thing about this movie yeah oh definitely it's it's it's the same movie just you know all with a little you can set up like one evil ad you now have three evil heads
It's a cavalcade of evil heads. It's a buffet of evil heads, if you will. And so the other element here that should be noted in terms of the movie's background... is that the producer, Herb Jaffe, retained the rights to both the Fright Night name and the characters, as opposed to Tom Holland, for whatever reason. He managed to get that into the content.
But Columbia TriStar, who had produced the first film, have zero desire to make another one. It had done well, and it certainly made a ton of money and gained a lot of fans in its home video run. but it hadn't done Lost Boys business. And meanwhile, they couldn't make a sequel to Lost Boys. Because TriStar is not on board, the budget for Fright Night 2 goes from double the first one to a little underneath.
And as a result, Jaffe can't convince Tom Holland to leave Child's Play for this, which he also co-wrote. So then he brings on frequent John Carpenter collaborator Tommy Lee Wallace to help co-write the script and eventually direct. And just a reminder, Wallace is one of the original shapes from Halloween. He was a dead pirate in the fog. And he co-writes and directs Halloween 3, quite possibly the second best Halloween movie ever made. There's another reason.
you haven't seen this movie, and that is one of the producers and financiers of the film was murdered by his two sons. Yes, you may be familiar with this case. Ryan Murphy made a TV show about it last year. It's another reason why it just... It feels like it's of the moment. And so many people over the past two decades have tried to resurrect Fright Night 2. It's kind of become a cause. Because while it's not the greatest thing you've ever seen, it's good.
It is not a bad effort by any stretch of the imagination. There's one black hole of charisma at the center of it, but outside of that and the murder, it's good. Other than the murder. There's only two murders associated with this movie. Indirectly. If I buy it by Hollywood standards, that's nothing. Truly, I mean, you could swing a dead cat and hit a murder in this town connected to a movie. We don't judge upon it. But as a result, like all the finances behind it get in grid.
And it never really makes the jump to TV. And it certainly never makes the jump to Blu-ray until recently when Synapse announced that they had finally secured the rights to this and our beloved. Hello Mary Lou Prom Night 2, the thing I'm most excited about in the next two years. Correct. Let's dive into... Fright Night 2. Because here's the thing. Like this, I don't think this is a bad idea.
I think this is probably... the most rational idea you could come up with, which is to invert the dynamic of the first film. where you have Charlie in Fright Night being the believer who's seen something he can't explain, but he knows it to be true. He can't disbelieve what he's seen with his own eyes. It keeps being proven to him over and over again that his next-door neighbor is living with another man. Also, he's a vampire.
And so when sex workers start disappearing and they always end up at Jerry Dandridge's house, he's like, well, I'm going to put two and two together. Plus, I saw them carry in a car. And then you have Peter as the cynical non-believer who has, of course, made a career out of killing fictional vampires, but has zero desire. Or mental, you know, just why would you believe in real vampires until it's proven in front of his own eyes?
So to flip that dynamic, I think it's a worthy choice to be made. Does it work? I mean, Gina, your prognosis, I think, is apt. It's fine. Did this live up to any expectations you had put on it, given that you had an awareness that existed but had no preamble of, oh, this is this lost thing I've never gotten a chance to actually watch? went beyond I mean, it certainly won't be. Some of the gore and some of the special effects and the makeup, I really was very surprised at some of the effects.
of really fun people in this movie and I was just like just not expecting that so yeah it lived up to so I don't know that it's better than the original or the first part we should say but Yeah, but it had so many... it i think there's a rewatch ability to it and the sexy monster squad runs away with the film in terms of i want to see more of those people they actually gave me something that
is different than Jerry Dandridge, in the very least that it's not, they didn't just find another incredibly hot dude with a ton of charisma, because they're running around town like wildfire. but they found a different way to approach all those elements and deliver them to you. Whereas... The things that are carrying over, like I love Roddy McDowell. I don't know that Peter Vincent is giving a ton to do here. His character genuinely waffles.
Despite being presented as, well, I know vampires exist, and I rant and rave about it on my local, you know, horror host show. But when the guy who proved to me vampires exist and I helped kill a bunch with says, oh, vampires moved into your building. I'm like, right, kid. There's a bit of diehard, too, here. Like, how can the same bad thing happen to the same guy twice? And they do provide a reason. Revenge. Revenge makes sense.
But then on the other half of this, right, we're still dealing with one major problem. And my apologies. But William Ragsdale is not what I would call magnetic. No, no, he is a wiener in the first movie, and he's a wiener. a wiener with an implausibly hotter girlfriend than the one he had the first time around but she's the same also essentially where she wants nothing to do with horror and any nonsense about vampires. She's just like, nope, none of that. And also... too frigid.
He is this weird fucking horn dog who cannot turn that dial down. And you're telling me at college he is... manage to find another woman who does not want to have sex with him at that point you gotta go alright this is something I actually want for myself and I think you're very very attractive and you're obviously very smart but
is a component of a relationship that I would like to have. And so, possibly, they're not a good match. Yeah, I don't know how many more woman elbows him and says, Charlie! Yes? Or is that his thing? He wants somebody to constantly elbow him and say, no, that penis does not belong anywhere near my vagina, which is, of course, her right. She can absolutely insist upon that. It's just that how does he both find vampires and a frigid girlfriend twice?
The combination of those elements is so improbable. The frigidity, sure, she makes her own decisions for her own body. That I don't have a problem with. But in combination... vampires, that's a lot to take on. My believability index is just dropping. Do we also know or ever find out how long they've been together when this is taking place? You're asking for... from Fright Night 2. And it is uninterested from delivery. Yeah.
Yeah, I don't think it's even mentioned what happened to the last girlfriend. She survived. She's mentioned briefly during his psychiatry session. She's briefly seen with giant teeth, but her non-vampire self is not really... His therapy session with Dr. Pumbaa. That's right. In between rolling over logs to find bugs, Ernie Sabella plays the most mild-mannered vampire, spoiler alert,
Of all time. Also, sunlight is pouring into his office. Well, I feel like he wasn't a vampire the whole time. I think that... Oh, do you think he was turned? Yeah, I think that he was turned at some point. Like, I don't think he started... I don't think this was all some elaborate plan to kind of mislead him. I think the doctor started out just a person. And then was eventually turned into a vampire. I mean, again, that's conjecture on my part. I have no idea.
Well, there's very little plot rug to say that you're pulling it away from. Again, it's the original, but we've taken all the Hitchcock out of it. There's no discovery. We don't need to learn who Charlie is. Charlie has not changed, with the exception of... Deciding in the 11th hour. that he did not actually fight and kill vampires. It was delusion, and he was projecting, and then he keeps saying, mass hypnosis. Who was he? many people in that first movie. How does that work?
It's just him and Peter. They made a man explode in a basement. His girlfriend erased her giant teeth. And he's like, well, that's mass hypnosis. I don't think that's how mass hypnosis works. I don't think that's how anything works. And I'm just going to say it here. I know I'm projecting a little bit about this on the actor, but the character of Charlie... I tolerate in the first one. And I think the longer of my exposure to him, the less I like him and wish him to survive as a human being.
it is a tactical error in your, any movie, let alone a horror movie, to make your hero just, and this is like, just dealt with this with our Patreon movie, too. Well, last month's Patreon movie, which was Blood Beach, where you have another one where the hero is just like, am I supposed to be rooting for this guy? kind of a dink. Why would I want him to triumph over this?
It's like, didn't you like William Ragsdale before? What if he had a much bigger mullet? No, it's not making a matter. It really isn't. We're the only things going for him. What if the most fun thing... him, his character, which was being really into horror movies, was now gone because his doctor told him to not be into horror movies anymore. One might argue, what is he really into now? I mean... attempting to have sex with his girlfriend who does not like him.
So he's super into that because at one point he goes, after their date kind of goes south. He says, sorry things got weird. And she responds, all of our dates are weird, Charlie. That kind of says it all. They're really pushing the idea that she just is very... straight-laced, old-fashioned girl ago. Let's say she's probably 20 in 1989, and her idea of a hot date is going to the symphony. Which, I'm not going to degrade the symphony.
And that's fine if you like that. But the only reason Charlie agrees to it is because she's going to be there. That's not a basis for a solid relationship. When this movie ends with them, like, cuddling on a lawn outside of USA. It's not like... How the fuck do you... have in common outside of you survived a vampire attack. You're terrible for one another. Well, yeah, that's the symphony.
The symphony date comes after, like, when she basically says horror movies are stupid and you're stupid for life. And it's like, okay, but yet he is still attempting to go out on a date with her. Well, here's the thing about college that you might not understand, Gina. There's a lack of women around. And you certainly can't say, well, this isn't working out. Perhaps we should try different partners or people who aren't us.
And there's zero availability of other eligible women. We only see, like, two other women in this entire movie. One is a vampire, and the other one can't close her shades when she's coming out of the shower. That's it. Or walking home. Now, Alicia, you are an artist. Did you go to school for artistry? Is this a self-taught thing? Did you relate to wandering out of a dorm in the middle of the night amongst the fog of UCLA?
and trying to wind your way to a late night, I don't know, figure study class. I don't know what the fuck she's doing. you know you need any in the middle of the night. You went to school, a college in California, correct? No, I went to community college in California, in Glendale. It's still college. You still went to a college campus, no? Would a college campus in Los Angeles be there? that. dead at nighttime to a degree, this seems rather abnormal. I mean, they never really say exactly
where this is taking place. Like, you kind of assume it's the same town as the original. Because Peter Vincent still lives in the same building. It does not seem to take him very long to get there. So, you know, Charlie is, for whatever reason, living on campus, even though it's his same neighborhood. I don't know, maybe his mom sold that house. Yeah, I was going to say, like...
The way she was all on Twitter over Jerry Dandis, she was a lady who was ready to go out and enjoy her life as soon as her son got old enough to not need her anymore. She wanted to plant dynamite in Charlie's room. I gotta get out of this. She lives on... She's like, Charlie, just go to college. Oh, my God. got this cruise I'm going on. You need to... with a lamp, sir. When does it rage porn again? Never!
We sail the oceans. We're looking for the one piece. Just stop contacting me. You're on your own. He's going to college for trying to get laid, doctorate, or undergrad degree, whatever this is. It's kind of working, but also it's not really helped that they dress Charlie in the... blandest fucking outfits when he's not a junior member of a ska band with skinny tops.
They also put him in an all beige outfit with a coat that's tailored by a madman. It's not a trench coat, but it's certainly not a sport. Then paired with beige paints in a Kelly Green sweater? No. I'm sorry. Is this a Sears catalog? Turn the fucking page, Brewster. People were being experimental with outfits. Like, where is your Aloha shirt? I don't see a single person in an Ocean Pacific t-shirt. There's no fucking way this is taking place in 1988. Where are the Borg shorts, sir?
So maybe that... True, but what you don't know is that there's something super exciting about that bowling alley, Alicia. It has been the sight of multiple movies, some of which we've even covered on the show. some of which we haven't, but it was seen in Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and Teen Wolf, and my eighth birthday. I love that!
Montrose Bowl, baby. And it still exists to this day. I don't know how, but I hope it is never taken away from us. And I think this is its best usage, that scene, I think, is the highlight. 100%. And the main reason I realized that I had seen this movie before was when you see Charlie bowling, I'm like, is there a scene where someone bowls? And then I was right. And the fact that it uses In the Midnight Hour, which is such a fantastic song, and it's so iconic. I'm sure it...
is part of the reason. I assumed that that for a long time was the reason why you couldn't release this online or on a Blu-ray or whatever because that song must be so expensive. No, it was... Oh, it was the murder. Oops, it's the murder. And then like. Part of the charm of all of that is this sexy monster squad. We've been hiding the weenie on this. Let's get into him right away. You got the leader of the pack, Regine. She's exotic. She's gothic. She's into hair adornment.
She's played by Julie Carman, who has a pretty eclectic career. She danced on Broadway in Zoot Suit. She was in the original Gloria. She was in the Milagro Beanfield War. She was in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness, which I know, Alicia, you have a perch hand. Oh my God, she is just stunning. Yeah, I mean, you can see, she plays like a lot of different types of people. She really did not typecast herself. She worked a ton on television.
But, like, from Zoot Suit to Milagro Beanfield War to In the Mouth of Madness and this, this is not a straight line. She's not a type, aside from the fact that she's... Obviously, aesthetically, a very gorgeous woman. And then occasionally in this movie, they're like, we have a hair concept for you. And I'm like, please don't, please don't, please don't. And they do it anyways.
At one point, she has a poof in the upper right-hand quadrant of her head for reasons. I just, I don't quite understand. I think my best guess is that she's just supposed to be like a contrast, as much of a contrast as possible between herself and Charlie. Charlie's girlfriend at one point, she dresses like she's Amish for some reason. Like, there's one scene where she's walking across. she has got like like three layers on um and she's again she's very straight
She likes the symphony, whereas as Regine, she's coded as exotic, which means you can't really tell what race she is. And she's dark. The girlfriend's name is Alex. Alex is very blonde and blue-eyed. Regine's very dark. Regine is a performance artist. an exotic dancer without, like, the stripping. But, you know, she exudes sexuality, whereas, you know, Alex is very uninterested in sex, possibly at any kind, certainly with Charlie.
It's, you know, It's a typical, you know, man stuck between light. I think it's also a flip of the dynamic from the first film. In the first film, Jerry is the guy that Charlie wants to be. and maybe towards the end wants to be with. Jerry Dandridge. He's only human. The way that man wears a sweater on the dance floor? on. Like, I know we said a lot in that episode, but Jared Dandridge is so hot. Yes. he's hot and he's knowing and he plays weird games with you
get handsy. It's dangerous. Please get handsy with me on the dance floor. He'll just shove you up against the wall. He'll make a little proposition to you in a dark alleyway. You want to grab me by his throat? lift me up, they'd go right ahead. Do everything. Yes, I mean. This is the kind of fatal flaw.
that over the course of our fifth season here, I think we've really narrowed down on in terms of vampires. Because every movie kind of plays fast and loose with the exact mythology of what they can do, what they can't do. And that's all fine. Every movie gets to make its own rules. But the one thing that we've discovered throughout almost every vampire movie, and I would like to say, up until this film. was vampires are terrible planners. They just can't.
fucking plan. They're terrible at it. Jerry Dangers is like, hey, it's the mid-80s. We're at the dawn of the AIDS crisis. I'm going to move with my male friend to the suburbs. We're going to live in the same house together. And that'll be the perfect cover. No one will be talking about us. I was going to say, this will not draw attention to me in any way whatsoever. I will totally be able to get away with eradicating the local sex worker population under the cover of night and just...
leave headless bodies about town. And by the time they realize it, you know, it'll be 20, 30 years down the line. Who's to say, like, that's a terrible plan. Nosferatu, Orlok, terrible. I'm going to reach out to this lady on the dark mental web, and by the time I get to town, release a ship full of playgrounds.
and say, in three days' time, I'm gonna kill everybody you love, but if we have sex one time, and she's like, bet. Don't look out the window. Sex be so good, you don't know what time it is. And by the time it's over, my vital juices is gone. And he's just a husk. He's got tiny vampire legs. And all his vital juices be gone. And a little pancake butt.
All the juice of his butt. And we knew Orlok had a juicy butt previously. All the rats and cockroaches in his coffin were constantly talking about it. Yeah, I would argue that Regine is a... Because, like, what? Well, I was, because where does she find these people? Boink, boink, boink! Anyway, the sexy monster? She reached out to the hottest corners of the dark web and said, are you a freaky weirdo? Do you like to roller skate? Are you kind of a werewolf, but not? Are you full of bugs?
get together in one limo and hang out at the bottom of an elevator. I totally get why she chose a cool sort of androgynous. I get that. We all need that front. I am not sure why she chose Oogie Boogie and a goofball. Well, let's get to this. We fully explore them as individuals. Let's start off. with someone who roller skates and loves a blousy top, and that is Belle, the silent type. Belle, you know, bends gender like Popeye bends jail bars after a can of spinach.
You know, Bell is definitely the top. Bell is played by Russell Clark, who sadly passed in 2002, but acted in a bunch of TV and film projects. but was primarily known as a choreographer for TV, film, and stage, and especially music videos throughout the 80s and 90s, worked for artists like Beck. LL Cool J, Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan, Queen Latifah, George Clinton, David Bowie, and Celine Dion, amongst others. He was prolific. And I wish they were still here because they passed in 2002.
I did not read a lot about their gender identity, so I don't want to make a lot of assumptions. So I'm just going to generalize. Whether or not this was a choice they made for this or a choice they made for their lives, that's neither here nor there. I truly wish we had more Russell Clark in our lives. And I would say for 88, 89, a somewhat intriguing and... The choice to be the silent one of the group, but also choose the goofiest of mannerisms. Like, the roller skating.
The roller skating. Alicia, the roller skating. All I could think of was the scene in The Hunger when... Moe's character attacks someone on roller skates, and I'm like, wait! I? Because I thought that he didn't get a chance to turn him because he ran away. But I feel like maybe it's kind of a reference to that. sort of just making assumptions. I don't really... I can't really... I think once we get that Blu-ray release...
We'll start to get a more full picture of a lot of the motivations here. And I have to feel like somehow it's like, I want this person to glide. How can I get them to glide? I don't want them to fly because that's more of a dandridge thing. Maybe roller skate? Maybe they wear loose blouses? Maybe they have kiss after they took off their makeup hair? And between all those elements, you get Belle. moves on roller skates and be different than it is to just be dancing through a seat.
Yes. Yeah. I don't know. this looks kind of weird and confusing to this young woman. Like, why is there someone roller skating at me? And then you have John Grease, who's essentially... Still playing Laszlo Holyfield, but as a semi-werewolf. Well, yeah, and he was a werewolf in the Monster Squad. Which, again... I'm just getting like a sad and a- Is that meant that they hire him because of...
As opposed to me, to this day, I only think of John Grease as the guy for Miami Vice. He's frozen in amber for me. I mean, he's done many, many things. shows of this year yeah and for like uh you know the younger folk listening he's uh he was uncle reiko and uh napoleon I mean, he's been a ton. He's been a ton of things. But he is a reliably goofy presence in many, many things. And... Over the years, he's used that goofiness to sort of mask or camouflage this.
other evil side whether it's a monster from here or monster squad or evil like on you know white lotus or whatever he has this very unique energy And he doesn't get, like, whatever rope they're giving him here, he's using every opportunity he has to make his presence felt. Yeah, I mean, he's honestly, I mean, despite, you know, that he's actually, you know, a villain, he's actually... He's my favorite.
favorite character in the whole movie. I can see that. Yeah. Because he's bringing so much energy every time he's on screen. tactic of making people let their guard down around him because he seems like a complete moron. Like, absolutely horrible. despite the fact that he can crawl up walls like 1979 Dracula. But there's no laser sex for him. He just gets his nails snipped off by a windowsill and flies into a bunch of bushes.
How do you not notice the collection of eight giant werewolf talons by your windowsill at any point? Like, how did these get here? That seems noticeable. Wow. And then rounding out the fearsome foursome, you have Bosworth, who was designed to look like a football ne'er-do-well Brian Bosworth of football. This past Christmas, my son found this terrible movie, I think on Netflix or Prime.
That was like a holiday movie made for two dimes rubbed together real hard that Brian Bosworth was in. I'm like, oh, wow. Things have been rough for the Boz. but this particular character is your kind of Renfeld, as it were. He just, he eats bugs, but all the bugs are apparently juiced up. I mean, Brian Thompson...
has been known for many things. I think I know him best as the Buffy the Vampire Slayer monster specialist. Anytime they needed a giant monster, they just called Brian Thompson over and over and over again. Wait, you say you know him from that more than you know him from Cobra? Yes. I do know him from that more than I know him from Cobra. He's indistinguishable with Cobra because he combs his hair with motor oil and he becomes a completely different person.
You can't tell the difference between him before and after. He has black hair now. He can just slip through hospitals that are covered with police escorts. When I tell you that I saw him pop up in the... I forget which Coen Brothers it was, but their version of Macbeth a couple years ago. I literally did a Leo point. An axe murderer later in Macbeth. Now you have it all. You're moving on up, baby!
There's my other Brian Thompson thing that I'm kind of obsessed with. So, Gina, I have your answer, so I'll ask Alicia. Alicia, have you ever heard of a direct-to-video movie called Nightwish? familiar you know i've probably seen the cover but i haven't you probably saw the cover yeah he plays like a weirdo loon And it's... No, you're just kidding! Nah, I'm sorry. He turns into a monster at one point. And it's about four college students who get roped into an experiment on fear and nightmares.
But they have to go to this one abandoned mine tunnel to do it. And weirdly enough, Alicia, things go wrong. I need to see this. It's terrible. It came out on Blu-ray a couple years ago and I think I was the only person to order it. And I have not watched it yet because I'm somewhat fearful that it will not live up to my remembrance of how this might not be good. But it might be great. It is. So.
That's our main vampire group, although Bosworth is more of a Renfield-style muscle. He just sort of talks shit about... Louie, like, you know, every time Louie fucks up, he just says, oh, you're supposed to do it this way. You're supposed to bonder on the neck. Which I love. I just think that's funny. I'd watch a whole movie just them too. That's the thing. They're so much better than the movie that they're in. You can't really ask for better because...
When you're coming in the shadow of Jerry Dandridge, that's a lot to live up to. And I think they did such a good job of finding these other aspects. that aren't direct copies of Jerry. but reflections, reflections, and then just variations on the theme that go beyond what you were presented with. And that, you know, for whatever reason... Eugene is not super affected by crosses. And so that goes out of the thing that Peter, you know, that he holds on to. It's like, well, I can always use this.
No, not this time. And then Charlie's kind of taken out by this. slow turn that she manipulates him into to sort of possess him over time. He is rapture of her because she's been micro-feeding on him. You have Alex and like nothing's changed with her. In terms of the last girlfriend, this girlfriend, she's got a different hairstyle. She does that high bouffant. but then pulled back into a sharp braided pony with a scrunch that feels so 1989. You can just feel the Berlin Wall is about to fall.
Yeah, I can... Equinette. You know, I know that if I touch it, it's going to be real dry. I think... Part of this is like, it's like 10 minutes too long. I think if you tightened it up a little bit, it probably would be a little bit more fun. But I think they are trying to give Charlie a character. And unfortunately, I think it is the movie's greatest failing is that they over-invest in Charlie and under-invest in Peter.
And I think if the story were more balanced here about their reactions to the situation. I think you would have a more successful film overall. That being said, you come in for the foursome, you're going to get your money's worth. I do have a quick question, Patrick, because you do the deep dive. trivia and backgrounds about this.
the movies and prep for the show do you know is there any reason why they just didn't considering that the movie kind of the original ended with the suggestion that evil ed was still alive Do you know why they just didn't pick up that? He did not really like the script as it was at that point. And I think that was before Tommy Lee Walls gets a bomb. And he's also cast in 976 Evil, and he likes that better. Got it. And so he runs off to do 976 Evil and not this, and then they pivot.
They just start pivoting across the board. And it is that somewhat early development that doesn't go anywhere that sort of hamstrings them into having to find a different way to present these two characters. So part of it is I think they needed more time to develop it, but... because there's no real studio involved, and the longer you take to get a sequel to this,
the less the magic of the first one is going to work. I think at that time, at least that was the impression, they felt like they had to get this move. And so Tommy Lee Wallace knows how to make a sequel to a horror movie, despite how people received a season of The Witch at the time. It's a very, very good movie, and it's a cult classic, and I think you feel some of that vibe here. He's just...
He's good at imbuing a fun time. Right, right. And I do think that... in the absence of Evil Ed, who was a breakaway popular character from the first one, I think that they amped up the... the regime's headshot. And then with the dynamic between Regine and Charlie, you have like... He's under my thrall. I can reach out to him regardless of whether or not I'm in the same room. He can't fight against me because I kind of control him. And that works.
a degree. Then there's a sequence in which Regine takes over Peter's local horror show and begins the broadcast with a thing that everyone who watches a local horror show loves. interpretive dance, baby. all of the eagle shrieks. Exacto. She was like, I'm suddenly scared of my nails. Before we had saws that went through something metal sounds. That originated in like Top Chef. Whenever something goes wrong, that's a sound. We had eagles screeches. So that was our go-to.
That is an element I actually do think is somewhat successful. You can still tell like it's Tommy Lee Wallace joint. Because... He complicates Charlie's normal approach to this, and then he complicates Peter's normal approach to this. by making him a believer, but she doesn't ruin him like, I'm going to turn into a vampire. No, no, no, no. He has a greater fear than that. And that is, I'm going to take away your horror host job. I'm going to remove your ability to work in this town. I mean...
I think that's a good plan. This is a good plan from a vampire. It took a long time to get here, Gina, but I feel like, for me, until the end, This is a good plan from a vampire. I think that her specific plan is good. I just question her henchman selection. relying on Louie to do a lot of the legwork here. is a bad idea. Keeping Bosworth on the sidelines to just... Trying to keep Louie in line by sarcasm alone is not helping.
But they enjoy each other's company as a group. We see that when they go bowling, when they pump a dude's chest to fill up a beer mug with blood. This is good stuff. Oh yeah, like I said, that bowling scene is the highlight of the movie for me. And I will say, I don't know that Alex is a character that I'll stand for the rest of my life. but compare this to the original girlfriend in terms of what she's allowed to do here.
She gets to make her own discoveries. She actually examines the things that Charlie says are priority and goes, okay, there might be value in them. Learns from that, which... Saves the day when she stuffs Louie's mouth full of roses. Something that apparently is another thing that vampires can't stand. And it sends Louie a mouth exploding out the window. She kills a vampire on her own, Ernie Sabella, who apparently is very calm and rational about her.
Sure. He gets stabbed with a railroad tie. He's like, I didn't go all the way through. But I don't know why his death is so, it's more talky, but he doesn't explode. Everyone else kind of erupts in some way, shape, or form. I don't know why they ran out of money. this movie barely had any money to use.
Maybe this would be a good segue into something we discussed bringing up before the show. I feel like the big show-stopping... is wasted on, not wasted, because it's not the actor's fault, it's not the character's fault. wasted on a character who gets a bad Brewster's college pal Richie, I assume. Yes. Okay. He's played by kill by kill perennial Merritt Buttrick.
who we've previously seen in such cinematic classics as Death Spa. He runs the possessed computer system, possessed by his dead sister. who, despite being confined to a wheelchair, when she sets herself on fire, suddenly her legs work. If you've never seen the classic death spa, he might be known to you as being Captain Kirk's son in the...
Unfortunately, Merrick Buttrick literally died after making this movie and Death Spa. He would die one year later of AIDS-related complications. Constant reminder to the kill-by-kill audience. Fuck Ronald Reagan forever. I hope you rot in hell, motherfucker. was an interesting character actor, and he was fun and shit. And yes, I think he kind of gets the short shrift here. He's certainly not an evil Ed-level character.
then again, so much of that comedic business is pushed off to the monster squad rather than any of Charlie's friends. Yeah, it's his... is very clumsily edited down where you have like you know charlie and seeing this character being escorted to, you know, a party by Regine's henchmen, and meanwhile the audience is like, oops! Oh no, not Richie. It's like, Richie? And it's like, I fall asleep for 37 seconds? Who's Richie? And like, his disappearance.
gets the plot rolling. Like, you know, this, you know, Charlie's belief that he has seen him killed is what gets Charlie to finally start believing in Val. And it's like, okay, this would have much more dramatic impact if we knew anything about this character. And again, this is not a fault of the actor. It was probably not a fault of the writer originally, but it's very, very clumsy. He's just not established enough, and he's an actor who could do comedy very, very well.
He could do dramatics very, very well. You know, he's a good guy who we should have, you know, seen a lot more of. But I think elements, like, there's so much... set up it's trying to give to Charlie you know turning into a vampire by shades and Peter cowering in fear in his apartment And the one moment you should be getting more of him is when Charlie examines his neck.
And in a bit of gay panic humor, he's like, you picked the wrong guy, and he walks away. But it's all overshadowed by the sort of fearless vampire killer's homage. of Peter looking over his shoulder at a mirror and discovering that Regine and Belle do not show up in mirrors. It's a reliable system for him. So that makes sense. I will say, just not for nothing, it's just weird how many ways this movie and other movies we've covered sort of blend into one another.
But the dorm room exterior of Charlie's dorm is the same place from 10 to midnight. Oh, no. Oh, yeah. What do you use this for? Продолжение следует... You ever seen? Have you ever seen 10 to midnight, Alicia? Run. Do not walk. Saunter. Saunter slowly to see 10 to midnight. I will say that if you enjoyed the sleetiness of Max... You will probably enjoy this because I feel like there's a lot of... to that movie specifically but to that kind of movie where lying you know just leaving leaving
being asked to be assaulted or killed by some pervert being let on the streets by a bleeding heart judge. If you have ever wondered... What kind of slasher movie would canon films make? Oh, are they including Charles Bronson? Yes, they are.
That's 10 to midnight, baby. I gotta say it to believe it. It basically recreates Richard Speck's Murder spree Except in this case The dude is naked To add a little bit of extra Grime to it You know I say and it's and it's It is a movie that you will find guilty for finding entertaining, but it is very entertaining. You just cannot believe the movie that's happening is genuinely happening. And then you see Charles Bronson hold up a masturbation.
Just waving at some dude. What are you using this for? Jacking off? And you're like, all of a sudden. Your ghost pops out of your body, and flowers appear, and you get giant anime eyes. Yeah, and you're thinking, I hope this isn't the last movie I see before I die. I got ideas. And the other tidbit that has to be noted is that Peter's apartment is once again played by the Le Trion building in Los Feliz here in Los Angeles.
was designed during the French Chateau style period and still stands to this very day. I mean, Peter's making good bread on that, you know, that local access old horror movie hosting. Yes, and whatever town in, what was it, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana that they were in? Like, what French-style chateau apartment building do they have in Indiana? Listen, this is a movie of moments. Oh! And here's the thing, like, oh, when this happened, I'm like, well, we have to talk to Gina about this.
Because, Gina, we have another stellar cinematic psych hospital depiction for you to write about in your book. Yeah, you know what? We do. We do. We have, you know, just see the inmates. to wander around unattended. Violent criminals are allowed to mop and use the buckets as weapons against the staff. Oh yeah, now you mention it.
When he heard that there's a vampire killer who was just brought in, he is ready to party hard. All he is missing is a dirty white t-shirt and you have an Andrew WK. If you told me that was Andrew WK. The baby version of him, I would believe you. The Muppet Babies, Andrew W.K. Yeah, he was endearing. It's fun. I think this is above its fine for me to genuinely... There's things that I dislike about it, and it's not as good as the original, but I did want to do at least...
one horror comedy sequel, and one vampire movie. And so this kind of, you know, the birds to stone ratio on here was pretty high for me. So I took my... And I'm pretty happy. And yes, right now this movie is hard to watch, but I have a feeling it's going to become a lot easier to watch.
once that Blu-ray is released and I'm sure someone will license it on Shudder or one of the streamers at some point too. It'll be made available and I think this is worthy of people watching. Yeah, I will say if you... We gotta, you know, watch it right. There is a very, very good rip on YouTube that I watched. Let me be perfectly clear. I would not have expected a better version if I did actually. DVD. It was a very, very I'm pretty sure it's off of the same, my Blu-ray came from Argentina. So.
I'm pretty sure it's the same rip, which is pretty good. Like, it's not 4K. But it's HD, and the movie looks good. Like, Tommy Lee Wallace doesn't make bad-looking movies. He comes off the set of this into the It miniseries. He had a decent run. and I'm kind of sad it didn't end up in more stuff. Like he works consistently in TV through the 90s and onward and stuff.
but I do wish he was given more of a platform. He was obviously very good at this. I don't know that he would have been Scorsese, but he made solid motion pictures. Yeah, I mean, as far as a horror... I think I enjoyed it. I had fun with it. I do think that... 75 to 90% of his success rate goes to the supporting cast of these minions. I think that they are all interestingly... I was very delighted to see Brian Thompson pop up and not play a big, showy, monstrous character. He just sort of...
on everything, which I thought was very funny. Because that's the kind of undead minion I'd be. And, you know... So I think... I think that the choice to have this sort of androgynous minion, I think that was sort of daring. You know what I would say? I'd say if you like the movie Vamp, you would like this, because I feel like it lifts a lot. That's another, we need to cover Vamp on the show. Yeah, sure. Absolutely. The time for Vamp has come.
Any final words on 1988 slash 89? No one's quite sure. Vampire sequel, Fright Night 2. where Russell Clark did the choreography for BAM as well. Oh! Okay. That makes sense. That makes sense. I mean, the guy worked, so I wouldn't doubt that. That's so fucking iconic. I love it. Even more reason for us to cover fanbomb. but I think that brings us to something else we always cover, and that's choose your own death venture, or should I call it?
Choose your own undead venture, because more undead things die in this movie than non-dead things. I'm sorry, I passed out for a second. What was I talking about? Choose your undead venture. So you can, uh, I, if you want to choose your own death venture, you're pretty much stuck with being bitten on your way to class by a roller skating. And ruining your artwork with like your blood. creating new artwork. That's true. Why does it have to be destruction? That's an excellent point.
I'm a Philistine. It's truly bleeding life onto the page, though. It's a metaphor. The way we like them on this show, metaphor with an exclamation point at the end, like the movie Airplane. Top secret. Naked. Uh, so we have melted by holy water, uh, spear gunned in the heart fall about 12 stories up into a fountain. Tummy slashed open by nails. Mass bug evacuation. Melt inside a holy shroud.
or explode in refracted, reflected sunlight, plus Holy Eucharist coffin trap. And so, Alicia, you are our guest, so I choose you to go first. Oh, man. I mean, I'm going to. You want to be boogie boogie? I really, that's what I would pick. I would just be like, well, I saw them go in and now I'm seeing them go out. Like, I don't know.
Yeah, I mean, I guess if you're dead, you're not really digesting the bugs. They're just kind of filling you up. And I was surprised the most by that one. I just did not see that coming. So I would... I love this Yes, I agree. But this brings up something, Gina. I'm having a discovery in mid-conversation. My favorite kind. Is oogie boogie another type of death on this show? Of course, get bunked is when you're killed through something else. But if you're oogie boogie...
All of the contents of the bugs inside if you spill out. Are you talking like the guy in Prince of Darkness? Yes. We definitely have more than one Oogie Boogie. trend. We have two. You can be oogie boogie. I'm sure there's others we're missing, but those are like the two most obvious things ever. Address.
that have been oogie boogie. We've got oogie boogie. We've got the guy who's going to tell you something you're not going to like to hear in Prince of Darkness. And we've got Bosworth in Fright Night 2. That's three. So that's a trend, baby. Yeah, absolutely. Gina, what say you? Well, you know, I really appreciated that... Well, you didn't count the people who got killed in the bowling alley. and we have a drained over your pizza oven. I do like that this has a lot of creative vampire...
a little nod to the Lost Boys. So I think I will take, you know, I'm going to take that shroud. That shroud effect is so cool. Yeah. It's too lucky. mean about this? I think that's a pretty cool way to go. He gets a lip from within gelatin head and melts inside a shroud. That's amazing. clean up you could just like like scoop up scoop up my goop with the Yes, that's drip dry, baby. I had no idea that you could protect yourself from vampires with a blessed shroud. I had no idea.
I like to think of myself as somewhat of a vampire expert. It took Fright Night 2 to come up with this stuff. And that's where I think the inventiveness of a Tommy Lee Wallace really shines. Wait a second. That kid in Halloween 3 is Oogie Boogie 2. Of course! That's the ultimate Oogie Boogie. Look at the buggy himself! Holy hell! You don't understand. This is very exciting.
and then we proceed to drive them into the ground I mean Alicia you draw things for a living I think a collab between the two of us that we sell a Get Oogie Boogie shirt where we have four depictions of people having... Bugs erupt from their bodies. If we were to tell you If we were to say what do you think a dirty peanut is What would you What would you guess a dirty peanut is? Oh my god. Oh no, no, you're putting me on the spot.
That's another type of kill. You can guess anything. That's another type of kill. Like, any kind of gross. in a movie, like, someone who's, like, dirty and, like, just lives in, like, a hovel or anyone like that. This came up because Patrick could not remember the name of the character Pigpen from Peanuts. So he was like, you know, dirty peanut. You said dirty peanut. You did. You said dirty peanut. Yeah, I did say dirty peanut. Yeah, as
Now, any killer that kind of vaguely fits that description is a dirty peanut. Because I was thinking, kid, when you said peanut, and I was like, children of the corn? Like a bunch of dusty... Some of them would count. I would say Malachi might count as a dirty pig. Malachi is definitely...
Definitely not Isaac. Isaac is always very pulled together. Malachi looks like he's from Oklahoma in the 1930s. He's the physical villain of that. He gets his hands dirty. That other dipshit's just ranting and raving. hats you wear to, like, outdoor music festivals. Just Kubrick staring at everybody. It's like, oh, he walks behind the rose, he walks behind the rose. Yeah, get over yourself. I hate that kid. and talk about him.
I'm not here. Eventually, we're going to get to Children of the Corn, which is the only reason we're going to talk about it is to talk about Children of the Corn 2, which has the best wheelchair death. Oh, yeah. you know, that's a really good wheelchair death. Another thing we love on the show. Yep. Alicia, I hope you enjoyed this trip down our memory lane of a show you've never listened to before. And we're only sold to come on as a guest. But this is...
I have listened. I have to actually thank you for your Evil Dead 2013. Incredible. And I think I cried a little bit. So there was that. That movie's a catharsis. it's just as And you just never know when it's going to happen. Yes. I think about it often and I very much enjoyed that episode. Evil Dead Rise is going to be a difficult thing.
have happened, but we're going to have to confront it and see what happens there. Okay. The only person who hasn't chosen is me. We've already taken two really good ones. Yeah, I think I can't do this very good. and fall from 12 stories, because I cannot do heights. I think... I think Eucharist Coffin Trap? so rarely used. that she's so undone by the reflection of light legend style down an elevator shaft that she gets into a coffin and explodes. And then we get a close to...
a skeleton hug at the end of that. She's raging up for hugs. Now what you do, can you do an interpretive date? Yes. I can move my body, Jane. Okay. I won school body office with my ability to dance. I studied under the tutelage of special ed videos and digital under... music videos. I know how to dance. I know how to Roger Rabbit. I know how to do. This is something I know how to do. Don't count me out at this age.
I lost a little weight in my wits for ya. But, you know, I can move. I've been known to do it. I might not be as flowy. I might not be as skilled. I don't know that my local television audience who's tuned in to watch Night of the Living Dead is going to be enraptured with my flowy gown moves, but maybe. Who knows? He might not be able to like... Yes. That's in the eye of the beholder. But I do think deep down I have the emotional weight and wherewithal to interpretively dance like a vampire.
that just about does it to Josh Salas, does all of our artwork. Go to RevengeBodyMemphis at Bandcamp.com for this tune and all of our remixes. and go to Patreon for bonus content, extra episodes, and you can only get there. and find us on social media and, you know, shout us out, rate and review us on iTunes or talk back to us on Spotify. We love to hear what you have to think. Tell us more oogie boogies out there that we haven't covered yet. Alicia?
Tell us about what you've got going on and where people can find you. So that's exciting. Long time coming. You can find those in... And I'm on Instagram. Do it today. It's good stuff. Alicia was kind enough to send us a copy of the last issue, and I thoroughly enjoyed every page that I read. It's a beautiful look at, and I found the reviews and... conversation inside, engaging and fun to read. And I think people should check it out.
uh jana where can people find you on these here internets i write about movies and television and pop culture and I am but also a little bit on Blue Sky under Gina Does Things. Dude, today, people, check it out. Don't worry, folks. The body count will continue for myself, for Alicia, and for Gina. Bye-bye, everybody. Bye!