115 | Black Christmas (1974)

Director: Bob Clark

Writer: A. Roy Moore

Synopsis: A group of sorority girls alone in their sorority house during winter break start receiving creepy, obscene phone calls from some anonymous weirdo. The sorority sisters eventually realize they’re not dealing with some prankster when the calls take a very threatening turn and two women, including one of the sisters, go missing/turn up dead. With a suspected serial killer on the loose and no suspects, will Barb and her sisters live to see Spring Break?!?

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Next up, for our first episode of the new year, we’ll be reviewing and discussing the very recent Netflix release, Bird Box. We’ve mentioned the book a few times and Amy even joined our pal Sandra in a discussion of it on Sandra’s podcast, Genre Junkies. The book’s a great (and quick) read so be an overachiever and check out the book and movie before our next episode.

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Music courtesy of Peter Perfect. Check him out on Instagram | Soundcloud 

114 | Annihilation

Director: Alex Garland

Writer(s): Alex Garland (screenplay), Jeff VanderMeer (novel)

Synopsis: Lena (Natalie Portman) is a cell biologist & former soldier who is struggling to move on after the year-long disappearance of her husband (Oscar Isaac), a current soldier on a top secret mission. When he walks into their bedroom suddenly with no memory of how he got there & then just as suddenly starts to violently convulse, Lena is swept up into the secret mission. She & her dying husband are taken to a base overlooking an ecological anomaly that defies characterization, & soon a shocked but determined Lena has joined a team on an expedition into the dangerous zone from which her husband is the only one out of dozens to have returned.

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It’s the (alleged) most wonderful time of the year, so our last episode of 2018 is going to be holiday-themed. Hopefully you’ve seen this slasher gem already, but if not, get thyself a copy of the original Black Christmas post haste. We’ll meet you back here in two weeks to talk about it.

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Into/outro music courtesy of Peter Perfect. Check him out on Instagram | Soundcloud 

Other music this episode by Blank & Kytt, Mid-Air Machine, Bodysurfer and Asura. Check them out on the Free Music Archive

113 | Cam

Director: Daniel Goldhaber

Writers: Isa Mazzei

Synopsis: Alice (Madeline Brewer) is an ambitious young woman who has been rising in the ranks of cam girls on a popular adult website while trying to find the right way to tell her mother what her well-paying new job in “web design” really entails. She has built up a group of repeat customers who enjoy her theatrical shows as well as the illusion that she is in a special relationship with them. One day Alice attempts to sign onto the site & finds that she’s locked out & her email is no longer associated with her account. But what’s worse, when she finds that her account is live & checks it out, she’s horrified to see herself staring back at her, in her own room. Who is doing this to her, & why??

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We’re getting into December, folks, which can only mean one thing - best of the year lists are coming. We at Bloodlust Ventures want to make sure you’re properly prepared, so we’re circling back to a movie from early in 2018 that is sure to be on a lot of lists. Be sure to check out Annihilation if you haven’t already, & join us back here in two weeks to discuss. Bonus points if you’ve read the book & have listened to Genre Junkies’s awesome episode about it.

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Into/outro music courtesy of Peter Perfect. Check him out on Instagram | Soundcloud 

All other music this episode by Mid-Air Machine. Check them out on the Free Music Archive

112 | Suspiria

Director: Luca Guadagnino

Writer: David Kajganich

Synopsis: Susie Bannion, a Mennonite from Ohio, arrives in 1977 Berlin to audition at the prestigious Markos Dance Academy, run by her idol, Madame Blanc. When she wows everyone with her preternatural gift for dancing she is offered a spot in the company. Luckily, one has just opened up, as one of the other dancers has mysteriously disappeared. As Susie & Madame Blanc begin to forge a powerful bond, other dancer Sarah begins to suspect that her missing friend might not have been delusional when she said the teachers were a coven of witches.

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Music courtesy of Peter Perfect. Check him out on Instagram | Soundcloud 

111 | Halloween

Director: David Gordon Green

Writer: David Gordon Green, Danny McBride & Jeff Fradley

Synopsis: This Halloween picks up 40 years after the babysitter murders that killed Laurie Strode’s friends & left her permanently altered. Her coping mechanism turned out to be ultra preparedness, much to the chagrin of her daughter, who she brought up basically as a doomsday prepper. Daughter Karen now thinks of grizzled old Laurie as an embarrassment, & encourages her teenage daughter Allyson to stay away from her. But when a grey haired Michael Myers escapes from a transport bus (AGAIN), guess who comes running to granny & her panic room?

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If you’re anything like me, you’ve been dying to find out what a remake of Suspiria by Luca Guadagnino could possibly even look like. Well wonder no more, because the time is finally upon us. Go check out the new Suspiria & meet us back here in two weeks to discuss.

Music courtesy of Peter Perfect. Check him out on Instagram | Soundcloud 

110 | Hold the Dark

Director: Jeremy Saulnier

Writer: Macon Blair

Synopsis: Russell is a writer who chronicled his experiences with wolves. He receives a letter from a woman whose son has been taken from their small Alaskan village by a wolf. The woman, Medora, asks Russell to find the wolf responsible for killing her son & kill it, so that she will have something to show her husband Vern when he returns from the war.

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It’s finally time to go back to Haddonfield. Find out what we think of the long-awaited Halloween revamp next time.

Music courtesy of Peter Perfect. Check him out on Instagram | Soundcloud 

109 | Mandy

Director: Panos Cosmatos

Writers: Panos Cosmatos & Aaron Stewart-Ahn

Synopsis: Red, a recovering alcoholic lumberjack, lives a peaceful, quiet life with his love Mandy in the Pacific Northwest of the early 1980s. Mandy is a daydreaming metalhead & fantasy enthusiast who makes psychedelic drawings when she’s not working at a local gas station. One day while out walking, Mandy catches the eye of the charismatic leader of a bizarre Christian cult who incorporates psychedelic drugs into their worship. Jeremiah, the cult leader, is instantly besotted with Mandy & orders his followers to capture her, with the help of some Cenobite-like bikers. This leads the devastated Red on epic quest for revenge at any cost.

Here’s the documentary about real-life cult EnlightenNext, which Jamie mentioned on the show.

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Next up, the newest offering from Jeremy Saulnier, the fella who brought you Green Room & Blue Ruin. Tentatively looking forward to this one, but if too many wolves get killed it’s gonna be a ‘no’ from me, dawg.

Into/outro music courtesy of Peter Perfect. Check him out on Instagram | Soundcloud 

All other music this episode by Johan Johansson from the original score of Mandy

108 | What Keeps You Alive

Director/Writer: Colin Minihan

Synopsis: Jules & Jackie are a couple celebrating their one-year anniversary by spending the weekend at Jackie’s family’s isolated lake house. An unexpected meeting causes a rift between the couple, as one of them begins to discover that the other is not who she says she is, & may have ulterior motives.

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You’re gonna want to strap in for this next movie; you may find yourself blown away by any number of things: the EPIC score, the trippy camera work and use of color, or Nic Cage’s awesome performance as the axe-wielding husband (a self-forged axe, no less), hell-bent on revenge. Do yourself a favor and join us next time when we sit down to review Mandy.

Into/outro music courtesy of Peter Perfect. Check him out on Instagram | Soundcloud 

All other music this episode by Forest Swords

We briefly talk about the book The Indifferent Stars Above, by Daniel James Brown, which tells the story of one of the members of the ill-fated Donner party.

107 | Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich

Directors: Sonny Laguna & Tommy Wiklund

Writer: S. Craig Zahler

Synopsis: Thomas Lennon plays Edgar, a somewhat pathetic dude who is forced to move back in with his parents after a divorce. He decides to sell his murdered brother’s doll at a convention celebrating the 30th anniversary of the original puppet massacre, which turns out to be a very bad idea. As fans & collectors converge on the site of the murders, a mysterious force begins to animate the dolls once again.

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If you count yourself among the group of folks who love the movie Grave Encounters, then you'll want to join us next time as we discuss writer/director Colin Miniham's latest contribution to the horror genre, What Keeps You Alive.

Into/outro music courtesy of Peter Perfect. Check him out on Instagram | Soundcloud 

All over music this episode by Hudson Mohawke