What if a dream could kill you? We revisit Wes Craven’s A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and the real-life sleep phenomena that inspired it. We explore how Freddy Krueger emerged from Craven’s own childhood fears and reports of mysterious deaths among Hmong refugees. We also get into the strange science of sleep paralysis, the folklore of the “Old Hag,” the phenomenon of the Hat Man, and the viral mystery of This Man, a face reported in dreams around the world. Shownotes...
May 08, 2025•26 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Blade Runner is more than a sci-fi classic — it’s a meditation on memory, identity, and empathy. We explore Philip K. Dick’s 2-3-74 mystical VALIS experience, the meaning of the Voight-Kampff test, and why the film still resonates today as a cinematic awakening. Shownotes
Apr 23, 2025•30 min•Season 2Ep. 9
From vodou to viral spores, zombies have always evolved with us. In this week’s episode of Film on the Fringe , we uncover the real roots of the undead—myth, science, and metaphor. 🧟 Highlights & References: The Last of Us and the real-world science of Cordyceps fungus White Zombie (1932) and the colonial legacy of the Haitian undead Vodou, slavery, and the soul in Haitian cosmology Clairvius Narcisse, Wade Davis, and The Serpent and the Rainbow Romero’s undead allegories: race, consumerism...
Apr 17, 2025•30 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Dr. Atom takes you behind the scenes of JURASSIC PARK—literally. After a personal story of working alongside the filmmakers, we explore the science of cloning dinosaurs, the truth behind amber-trapped DNA, and modern de-extinction efforts using CRISPR and AI. Then we dig into the 19th-century Bone Wars, Victorian dinosaur mania, and Arthur Conan Doyle’s THE LOST WORLD. Along the way, we follow a strange fossil trail into the world of young Earth creationism, Cambodian stegosaurus carvings, and f...
Apr 10, 2025•32 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Gremlins on the wing, goblins in the woods, and strange little beings at your window. From WWII aviation lore to Spielberg’s unmade alien siege story, this episode traces the evolution of mischievous trickster creatures through folklore, pop culture, and real-life encounters—including the night something came calling in Kentucky. Featured Films: Shadow in the Cloud (2020) Gremlins (1984) Poltergeist (1982) E.T. (1982) The Twilight Zone (Nightmare at 20,000 Feet) Amazing Stories (“The Mission”) S...
Apr 03, 2025•30 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Venture into the murky space between psychological manipulation and the supernatural. Today, we’re talking about The Quiet Ones (2014), a Hammer Films horror throwback inspired by one of the strangest real-world experiments ever attempted: the Philip Experiment. We’ll unpack how a group of researchers in 1970s Canada set out to create a ghost, explore Derren Brown’s Seance as a modern reinterpretation, and finally, discuss whether collective belief can actually influence physical reality. Showno...
Mar 27, 2025•31 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Let's explore The War of the Worlds — the iconic novel by H.G. Wells and the countless interpretations, adaptations, and conspiracy theories it inspired. We discuss: The 2005 Spielberg movie and the 1953 George Pal version The long-forgotten SEQUEL published only a year after the original The 1938 Orson Welles "panic broadcast" Wernher von Braun’s alleged warning of a staged alien invasion Project Blue Beam And finally, we ask: What would a real alien invasion look like? The War of the Worlds co...
Mar 20, 2025•31 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Let's dissect The Conjuring 2 and the real-life case that inspired it—the infamous Enfield Poltergeist. Was it a genuine supernatural event or an elaborate hoax that spiraled out of control? Join me as I explore how this case became one of the most documented hauntings in history. Ed and Lorraine Warren: Paranormal Pioneers or Masters of Mythmaking? Before discussing the Enfield case, I take a brief detour to talk about the legendary (and controversial) ghost-hunting duo, Ed and Lorraine Warren—...
Mar 14, 2025•30 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Enter the eerie world of artificial intelligence—from the sleek and unsettling Ex Machina to real-life AI developments that feel ripped straight from science fiction. We’ll explore the rapid evolution of AI, the ethical dilemmas that come with it, and some unsettling cases of chatbots behaving… strangely. Are we on the verge of creating a sentient machine? And if we were, how would we know? Shownotes...
Feb 28, 2025•32 min•Season 2Ep. 2
Explore the wild world of werewolves, from the cult classic Ginger Snaps to real-life sightings of “dog men.” We’ll discover the folklore behind our moon-dappled friends, look at how pop culture molded them into the creatures we recognize today, and figure out what exactly makes a man-wolf tick. Shownotes
Feb 15, 2025•32 min•Season 2Ep. 1
We discuss cancel culture, the masons, breakaway civilizations, secret moon colonies... and one fascinating, mythical "lost" film from the 80s that ties it all together!
Aug 04, 2020•1 hr 11 min
We review the documentary CALLING ALL EARTHLINGS. And then we do it one better by actually covering the material that should have been in the movie. This is the story of George Van Tassel, eccentric, contactee, engineer... genius? Did Van Tassel channel messages from our alien brothers and sisters and use the information to construct a time machine? Join us and find out!
Jun 17, 2020•1 hr 23 min
Is an advanced race of tall, albino-like extraterrestrials from Arcturus living on the Nevada test range? Has our government struck a deal with the aliens to obtain advanced military technology? Take a deep dive with us as we chronicle this fascinating, seemingly implausible story from one man who claims it's all true! [aka Magical Mystery Radio]
May 14, 2020•1 hr 32 min
We discuss several recent "documentaries" occupying the twilight zone between fantasy and reality. Are these films omens? Augurs of a dark future? Are we moving into a new dark age of superstition? Is the consensus reality of post-enlightenment reason vanishing in a post-modern haze of news and subjective reality? And why are the French f*cking with us? Oh, and John gets a visit from an owl. [aka Magical Mystery Radio]
Apr 18, 2020•1 hr 17 min
Is it real - or not? It has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction. We live in a time of "fake news" and "deepfakes", under a constant barrage of disinformation and propaganda. It's only natural that artists would reflect this blurring of the lines in their work. And there's no better place to practice this craft than in the conspiracy and paranormal genres. Join us as we discuss a few current examples of this emerging phenomenon - and some infamous ones from the r...
Oct 30, 2019•1 hr 41 min
We return to our roots and do a feature-length takedown - er, review - of the new(ish) documentary BOB LAZAR: AREA 51 & FLYING SAUCERS. Do we think there's life on other worlds? Almost definitely. Intelligent? Probably. That they've visited earth? Possibly. The they've visited earth sometime in the last century? Unlikely, but who knows? That Bob Lazar actually participated in a government effort to reverse engineer an alien spacecraft? Listen and find out! [aka Magical Mystery Radio]...
Aug 09, 2019•1 hr 53 min
We review the fascinating and disturbing documentary, HOLY HELL. The film chronicles the 22-year journey of former members who were trapped in the bizarre Buddhafield cult. Through personal archive footage and interviews, the film chronicles the rise and fall, not only of the cult itself, but of its strangely charismatic leader, Michel Rostand (aka Andreas). This is one of those "cautionary tales" of how cult leaders use time-tested techniques to manipulate and coerce vulnerable and impressionab...
Feb 09, 2018•1 hr 43 min
In tonight's podcast, we discuss a fascinating documentary on Netflix called JIM & ANDY: The Great Beyond , which chronicles the behind-the-scene antics of Jim Carrey playing Andy Kaufman - and his alter-ego Tony Clifton - on the set of Man on the Moon. At first glance this might not seem very paranormal, but the questions this documentary raises about the notion of the self, the other, etc., are nothing short of profound. JIM & ANDY is the extraordinary story of the meeting of the minds...
Jan 06, 2018•1 hr 47 min
We discuss DISCOVERING BIGFOOT, the new documentary by Todd Standing, a controversial figure in cryptid circles. Is Standing nuts? Is he sincere? Is he lying? Is he the target of an incredibly long and unlikely con? The movie is available on NETFLIX. Give it a watch. Let us know what you think. [aka Magical Mystery Radio]
Dec 30, 2017•1 hr 40 min
"The mainstream media's agenda is clear. They want you to believe that conspiracies don't exist, the world is exactly like they say it is, and anyone who disagrees is to be marginalized, mocked and shamed." Filmmaker Adam Green compiles an effective archive of cases proving an orchestrated effort to weaponize the term "conspiracy theory." From JFK to Iraq to 9/11... to Iraq... somewhere along the line it became wrong or dangerous or unpatriotic to ask questions. There are no wrong questions. Onl...
Sep 27, 2017•1 hr 57 min
We interview writer and historian Francis Richard Conolly, the filmmaker behind the explosive documentary and viral sensation, JFK to 9/11: Everything Is a Rich Man's Trick . Released in 2014, it has garnered rave reviews since its release and, probably more than a little consternation from the, "powers that be", as it explains and synthesizes a tremendous amount of information that the elite don't want you to be aware of, let alone understand. Clocking in at 3 1/2 hours, Everything Is a Rich Ma...
Aug 03, 2017•2 hr 10 min
CURSE OF THE MAN WHO SEES UFOS (2016) is the profile of a man who, well, sees UFOs. More than that, it's a human story about the things we cling to to give our lives meaning. Are the aerial lights Christo has followed since he was a child actually trying to communicate with him? Is he a tragic dreamer with a desperate need to seek reason in a seemingly random universe? Is he simply a man with eyes wide open? Who are we to say? [aka Magical Mystery Radio]
Mar 14, 2017•1 hr 24 min
ZEITGEIST (2007) is a phenomenon. It is a meandering, globe-spanning, time-trotting epic of free association and paranoia. Here we have the "real truth" behind Jesus Christ, Pearl Harbor, Viet Nam, 9/11, the military-industrial complex, the banking industry... Pretty much everything. Join us as we discuss Peter Joseph's oversuffed opus ZEIGEIST. [aka Magical Mystery Radio]
Mar 01, 2017•1 hr 58 min
Forget everything you thought you knew about cosmology. This film posits that our world actually IS the center of the universe, and that everything we've been taught these last 500 years is flat wrong. Yes, there is actual evidence for this theory. Is it conclusive? Of course not! But it does make for some interesting speculation... [aka Magical Mystery Radio]
Feb 16, 2017•1 hr 31 min
CONTACT (1978) is the earliest documentary we could find about Swiss contactee Billy Meier. It's full of great 70s footage of earnest researchers investigating the enigma that is Billy Meier. Was he in fact visited by gorgeous blondes from space? Could this have been yet another case of clandestine Nazi UFO technology? Is there really hard evidence for alien visitation? [aka Magical Mystery Radio]
Feb 09, 2017•1 hr 54 min
What if the bogeyman turns out to be real? That's the premise of 2009 documentary CROPSEY, written and directed by Joshua Zeman and Barbara Brancaccio. The filmmakers explore the origins of the urban legend they heard about as children, only to discover that there may, in fact, be some truth behind the tale. And the truth, as they say, is… terrifying. [aka Magical Mystery Radio]
Jan 26, 2017•1 hr 21 min
Hostage to the Devil chronicles Malachi Martin's life in America as an exile priest. Disillusioned with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, he broke from the Jesuit order and moved to New York City. There, he embarked on a second career as a writer and exorcist. This film - now on Netflix - presents a portrait of a complex man who struggled with his own demons as he battled the dark forces afflicting others. [aka Magical Mystery Radio]...
Jan 19, 2017•1 hr 51 min
Hypernormalisation is a nearly three-hour epic that leaps from subject to subject in a circuitous journey toward revelation. The film paints a vivid portrait of corporate control and increasing social insularity as it tries to make sense of our modern world's pervasive anxiety and uncertainty. In filmmaker Adam Curtis's world, we are minds in the matrix, doomed to feed the machine with our bodies and souls. [aka Magical Mystery Radio]
Jan 11, 2017•1 hr 56 min
CITIZENFOUR documents two journalists' secret encounters with Edward Snowden as he hands over classified documents that provide evidence of mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy by the NSA. [aka Magical Mystery Radio]
Dec 14, 2016•1 hr 31 min
"Two friends step into a crop circle. One emerges unaffected. The other decides to build a UFO with the help of an eccentric transsexual inventor." If that's not the greatest pitch ever we don't know what is. Adam and John discuss the 2014 documentary A FIELD FULL OF SECRETS. [aka Magical Mystery Radio]
Dec 07, 2016•1 hr 27 min
