135 | Tigers are Not Afraid

Director/Writer: Issa López

Stars: Paola Lara, Juan Ramón López, Hanssel Casillas

Rated: NR; Runtime: 1hr 23min

Released September 13, 2019; Available on Shudder

Synopsis: The film takes place in a Mexican city ravaged by warring drug cartels. When 10yr old Estrella’s mother disappears, she makes a wish to get her back. Her wish comes true, but not in the way she meant it to. Forced to flee in terror, Estrella joins a group of orphans who steal & scavenge to survive. When the children run afoul of Caco, the well-connected local sociopath, it’s clear that Estrella will need her other two wishes to survive. If only the wishes wouldn’t backfire in strange ways.

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Next up, we’ll be checking out the Netflix original, In the Tall Grass. That’s right, the Summer of Stevie rolls on. Meet us back here in two weeks to discuss.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

134 | It Chapter 2

Director: Andy Muschietti

Writers: Gary Dauberman (screenplay), Stephen King (novel)

Stars: Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, James Ransone, Bill Skarsgard

Rated: R; Runtime: 2hr 49min

Released September 9, 2019; Available in theaters

Synopsis: The gang is called back to Derry 27 years after they fought Pennywise by Mike, who never left town. He calls each in turn - Bill, Beverly, Eddie, Stan, Ben & Richie, & lets them know that the murders have begun again. Each member of the Loser’s Club makes their way back to town, remembering all the horrible things they had repressed in order to become functioning adults. Once reunited, Mike splits them all up again by sending them on a quest for meaningful artifacts from their pasts which they will use in a final showdown with Pennywise.

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Next up, we’ll be checking out the Shudder original, Tigers Are Not Afraid. You’ll need a Shudder account, your friend’s Shudder login info, or to sign up for their free trial, in order to check out the movie, but if you’re able to check it out, join us next time to hear what we thought of it.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

133 | Ready or Not

Directors: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett

Writers: Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy

Stars: Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Mark O’Brien, Andie MacDowell, Henry Czerny

Rated: R; Runtime: 1hr 35min

Released August 21, 2019; Available in theaters

Synopsis: Grace and Alex go to Alex’s game board baron family’s mansion to get married. After the service Grace finds out she must partake in the family’s tradition of playing a game at midnight on the night of their wedding. The game turns into something far more sinister than Grace could have anticipated.

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Next up, we’ll be heading back to Derry to check in with those wacky kids and their wacky clown friend. Yeah, that’s right…we’ll be watching IT: Chapter Two next. Join us, won’t you?

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

132 | Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Director: Andre Ovredal

Writers: Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman, Guillermo del Toro (all did screenplay); stories by Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton

Stars: Zoe Margaret Colletti, Michael Garza, Gabriel Rush, Austin Zajur

Rated: PG-13, Runtime: 1hr 48min

Released August 9, 2019; Available in theaters

Synopsis: It’s Halloween 1968 in the small town of Mill Valley, & young high schooler Stella & her two buddies, Auggie & Chuck, still love the holiday & all things spooky. When their act of revenge on the local bully goes a little too well they’re forced into hiding in the car of a mysterious young man named Ramon, who is running from his own demons. Together the teens explore a local haunted house, where they find a book of scary stories written by the long-dead recluse daughter of a powerful local family. Stella takes the book home, seemingly upsetting the spirit of the author, who begins magically writing new stories from beyond the grave featuring Stella’s friends & classmates as the characters. And when the characters in the stories meet a grisly end, so do their real life counterparts.

Illustrations from the Scary Stories books were done by Stephen Gammell:

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Next up, we’ll be reviewing the first full-length feature from our old pals, Radio Silence (V/H/S, Southbound). So check out the trailer and join us in a couple of weeks when we review Ready or Not! You can find our podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or most anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

131 | High Life

Director: Claire Denis

Writers: Claire Denis, Jean-Pol Fargeau, Geoff Cox, Andrew Litvack, Nick Laird

Stars: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche and Andre Benjamin

Rated: R, Runtime: 1hr 53min

Released April 5, 2019; Available for rent on Amazon, iTunes

Synopsis: In the future, death row inmates are given the option to volunteer for scientific experiments in space. The volunteers are misled about the nature of the experiment, as well as the fact that their trip into space is one-way. Robert Pattinson plays Monte, & when we meet him he is the only surviving volunteer on the ship. He’s not alone, though. We learn that the experiments were on human fertility in space, which were apparently successful, as there’s a baby there with him.

As promised, here’s a link to conceptual artist Ólafur Eliasson’s page.

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It’s finally time for some gd Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark! We don’t know about y’all but we are pretty dang pumped for this one. Join us as we discuss our childhood (and maybe adulthood) fear of Harold.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

130 | I Trapped the Devil

Director/Writer: Josh Lobo

Stars: Scott Poythress, AJ Bowen, Susan Burke, Rowan Russell, Jocelin Donahue

Rated: NR, Runtime: 1 hour 22 min

Released July 3, 2019; Available on Hulu as of July 26

Synopsis: A man traps what he believes to be the devil and then begins a descent into crazytown. Things escalate for him when his brother Matt (AJ Bowen) and his SIL Karen show up, uninvited and unexpected, for the holidays.

In this ep, we discuss The Twilight Zone episode, The Howling Man. You can check it out here.

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Next up, we’re takin a quick dip into SciFi territory with the A24 release, High Life. This movie is about living in isolation out in deep space, which is a notion that is scary enough for us to check it out for the show. So join us in a couple weeks!

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

129 | Midsommar

Director/Writer: Ari Aster

Stars: Florence Pugh, Jack Raynor, William Jackson Harper & Will Poulter

Rated: R, Runtime: 2 hours 27 min

Released July 3, 2019; Available in Theaters

Synopsis: A group of grad students from the US travel with their friend to his hometown in Sweden to experience their mid-summer festival. Among them is Dani, who has recently experienced a terrible tragedy, & her boyfriend Christian, who was considering breaking up with Dani just before said tragedy. Not only is their relationship on the rocks, this festival seems a little strange, too...

Various artists whose work was included in this film: Mu Pan, Ragnar Persson (he did all the art in the bunkhouse), and John Bauer.

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Next up, recent festival favorite I Trapped the Devil. Check out that trailer. Cool premise, no? Rent it on demand & meet us back here in a couple weeks to discuss.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

128 | The Dead Don't Die

Director/Writer: Jim Jarmusch

Stars: Everyone

Rated: R, Runtime: 1 hour 44 min

Released June 14, 2019; Available in Theaters

Synopsis: The story of the Centerville (“A Real Nice Place”) police force, who must deal (or not deal) with a horde of zombies who have overrun their town. The force is lead by Chief Cliff Robertson (Bill Murray) & consists solely of officers Ronnie & Mindy (Adam Driver & Chloe Sevigny). Together with some very colorful citizens they attempt to understand just what has gone wrong in their sleepy burg & whether or not any of them will survive.

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Next up, join us around the maypole as we review summer’s most anticipated film, Ari Aster’s Midsommar, and pray that our crops come in this year.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

127 | The Perfection

Director: Richard Shepard

Writers: Richard Shepard, Eric C. Charmelo & Nicole Snyder

Stars: Allison Williams, Logan Browning & Steven Weber

Rated: TV-MA, Runtime: 1 hour 30 min

Released May 24, 2019; Available on Netflix

Synopsis: Two former students at a prestigious music academy, Lizzie, a darling of the music world & Charlotte a has-been who left the profession years back, meet & hit it off instantly. Urged by their mentor, Anton, to perform a duet, the women find they have an intense connection that later leads them to make another connection back at their hotel. From there the two go on a wild ride of drugs, mutilation & revenge that is best not explained to the viewer in advance.

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Next up, we’ve got the zombie flick from Jim Jarmusch, The Dead Don’t Die. If you like zombies, star-studded casts, and Jim Jarmusch, you’d be crazy not to check this one out.

Theme music: "Secret of Tiki Island" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/