Long Legged Beasties

This week we take a trip to a winter wonderland that quickly turns into a psychological horror-scape in the deft directing hands of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. The Austrian duo, perhaps best known for their work on Goodnight Mommy, are once more exploring the dark recesses of motherhood. This time around they focus on the unhappy holidays of the Hall family and recent addition Grace Marshall, dad's new girlfriend/soon-to-be-wife. Throw into the mix a suicide, a death cult, and a lonely cabin in the frozen woods and you've got the makings for a doozy of a tale.

Director Colin Minihan explores the dark side of a married couple vacating in the woods in 2018's What Keeps You Alive. While the movie has its issues, the sheer power of the ending and Hannah Anderson as a black widow killer make it worth a watch.

One part '80s slasher classic, one part Sid and Marty Krofft Saturday special, with just a dash of Calvinball: Psycho Goreman is unlike any horror movie we've talked about before. Director and writer Steven Kostanski (The Void, The Editor) delivers a masterful piece of fun with this creation that stars, as the promo puts it, a little girl and a big psycho. Do yourself a favor: Go watch it, and then come listen.

This week's episode looks at 2019 Mi'kmaq horror film Blood Quantum by director and writer Jeff Barnaby. The movie takes the zombie trope and uses it as a pointed exploration of many of the social-political issues faced by the peoples of Canada's First Nation (and most certainly also seen by the United State's Native Americans.) It's a deft creation sometimes marred by its script and acting, but which still manages to carry a powerful message.

One part Tomb Raider meets Indiana Jones and maybe The Goonies, one part tour of Dante's Inferno, this week's horror movie is a favorite of both Long Legged Beasties co-hosts. John Erick Dowdle's As Above, So Below does an excellent job of luring the unsuspecting into a surprisingly scary tale of a descent into hell. Join us as we discuss the deeper context and proper category for this wonderful thrillfest.

Food, glorious food. Just, you know, eaten, stomped, and handled by dozens, sometimes hundreds of people before you. No, this week's horror film isn't about the Golden Corral, it's the surreal, sometimes stomach-churning Spanish hit The Platform. Join us as we discuss the many levels of horror, social commentary, and even humor found in this great film by director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia.

The latest from writer and director Bryan Bertino (The Strangers, The Monster) takes place across a week on a secluded Texas farm. The Dark and the Wicked is the sort of tense experience that revels in its creeping dread but still remembers to deliver a few shocks to punctuate the experience. In this latest episode, we discuss THAT scene, what the movie means, and -- of course -- what's powering its scares.

On its surface, His House is a taut tale of terror in a house haunted by enraged spirits. But scratch the surface and you discover a compelling examination of the experience of refugees, the lingering impact of their journeys, and the need to balance cultural identity with a requirement to assimilate. Director Remi Weekes' premiere feature is easily one of the best horror films of 2020.

In this season two premiere of Long Legged Beasties, we dive into 2019 Canadian horror-thriller flick Spiral. Director Kurtis David Harder delivers a fantastic examination of otherness in this timely movie that has a same-sex couple move into a small town with a sinister secret.

There's no debating that Gremlins is a holiday movie, but is it a horror flick? We dive deep into the furry little heart of the mogwai and his evil kin in this latest episode of Long Legged Beasties. Join us for a discussion of what a mogwai is, why snow doesn't impact them, if Gizmo could ever go full gremlin, and of course, how to classify this holiday classic.

What's a holiday celebration without the annoying in-laws, the last-minute mini-crisis averted, and -- oh, right -- the embodiment of ancient Austrian folklore hunting you down in the midst of a blinding blizzard? Krampus manages to nearly walk the same deft line perhaps first created by 1984's subline Gremlins. That isn't to say that the Michael Dougherty 2014 Christmas comedy horror isn't without flaws, but it is a wonderful bit of holiday horror.

Derided as a hodgepodge of mixed-bag dialog and a slightly scary, but not scary enough plot when it first hit in 2009, Jennifer's Body has - as of late - received a bit of redemption as a feminist horror classic of sorts. But not everyone agrees. Drop in and have a listen as we discuss the Diablo Cody-penned horror black comedy starring Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried. 

This week we fully embrace the holiday of the day (in the U.S. at least) with an ode to Thanksgiving via this sort of good, sometimes not-so-great horror flick Kristy. In it we see a college student, who decided to stay back for the Thanksgiving Day break, being hunted by a group of cybercult killers. Enjoy!

Billy Zane. Just let your eyes rest on that for a few seconds. Have you completely settled into the notion of Billy Zane, are you one with the Zane? Good, now, let's talk horror. Billy Zane -- there he is again -- stars in this often forgotten, typically maligned masterpiece of character-actor casting. In this episode, we talk about the Zane, about the people surrounding the Zane, and about the horror in which the Zane acts. It's a fun episode, about a fun movie, the horror-comedy ragbag that is Tales from the Crypt presents: Demon Knight.

Ba-ba-ba Dook! Dook! Dook! This week we are joined by Bernia Rao, director and writer of Killer Sofa, to discuss Jennifer Kent classic The Babadook. A wrenching tale of exhaustion, grief, and motherhood, The Babadook isn't just frightening, it is at times soul-crushing.

Trapped in the confines of a deserted gold mine town, women are paired up with bestial killers with names like Babyhead and RotFace in a sort of real-world battle royale for the super-rich. The Furies is a gruesome horror flick by Australian director and writer Tony D'Aquino and there's a lot to talk about. Join us!

There's something wonderful in the slapstick nature of Sam Rami's sort-of-remake of the original Evil Dead. Evil Dead II takes the same premise, the same horrific, creeping evil, and then injects not a little Three Stooges and Monty Python. The result isn't just groovy; it's glorious. Fortunately, we've got Josh Ruben, the talented writer, director, and co-star of Scare Me, onboard to help us walk through the genius in the gore.

They're here ... but this time they've brought along a friend. In this week's episode, we discuss horror classic Poltergeist with Chris Peckover (director of Better Watch Out). The movie -- which managed to scar an entire generation of children in the '80s -- isn't just Peckover's favorite horror flick, it also offers a masterclass in how to deliver scares without losing sight of character, setting, or storyline.

What happens when two Catholic school buddies grow up to run a reality exorcism show that is entirely faked? They get sucked into a real, nasty exorcism, that's what.  Director Damien LeVeck presents 2019's The Cleansing Hour, a clever take on the classic spinning-head, pea-soup-squirting demon-possession trope with a slow burn that delivers one heck of a twist. Join us as we break down the movie, how it works, where it fails, and -- most importantly -- into what category it should be dropped.

Ring (Ringu) has probably done more to shape the way people think about Japanese horror than any movie released before or after it hit the box office in 1998. In this episode, we discuss the Hideo Nakata classic, how it shaped horror, lead to a J-horror revolution, and why it still works so well.