Nature Trail to Hell

In 1992, seven years before the Blair Witch Project, the BBC aired a fictional ghost-hunting program – but didn't tell the British viewing audience that it was all staged. The show caused a real-life panic over the paranormal events that it depicted. Jordan and Stefan visit this haunted house for the first time – will they also lose their minds with fear? Also, boy is there a lot of talk about gloryholes, for mostly very innocent reasons.

For many, this is the grandaddy of all found footage films. While not the first, it certainly kickstarted the raft of films that followed in it. This time, Stefan has seen it but Jordan has not. Let's get lost in the woods!

Jordan and Stefan watch the Unknown Dimension documentary on the entire Paranormal Activity series and discuss the pleasures and frustrations of this highly uneven franchise. Plus a preview of the upcoming bonus episodes. Spoiler: there might be even more found footage in their future.

The series reboots (?) with an pandemic-era streaming movie. And maybe, just maybe, with a whole new visual language, setting, and mythology. Jordan and Stefan try to figure just what makes a Paranormal Activity movie a Paranormal Activity movie. Does this one count? Let's find out.

Wait, I thought this series was about demons, not ghosts. What's even happening? 

Jordan and Stefan watch the fifth Paranormal Activity and wonder: who are the marked ones and will we even really know what that means at the end? Probably not, since this series seems to have the most confusing and contradictory lore of any series we've watched so far. But we'll find out!

The action moves to Henderson, NV...and brings with it the most inscrutable plot twist in the series so far. WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING? No, really, somebody explain it to us.

We've had two suburban Southern California homes, each with some demon infestations. For outing three, maybe we'll get another one? Only one way to find out.

Second film, higher budget, more lore – where does the Paranormal Activity franchise go after the runaway success of the first film? Turns out it's another house in suburban California. Twice as scary for 15 times the budget? Let's find out. 

We are BACK! And we're bringing some deep bass rumblings with us.  This season, we're watching all the Paranormal Activity film in all their found-footage-y goodness. What possessed us to do such a thing? We blame it on Tobi.

Jordan and Stefan watch Fido, a 2006 zombie comedy about a 1950s-style town in which zombies are domesticated members of society. 

Okay, okay, we've both seen this one. But we couldn't do a zombie series without Shaun of the Dead, one of the instrumental films in the 2000s zombie boom. Does it still hold up? Come on, do we even need to answer that question? Have a nice cold pint and join us for the debut feature from Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright.

This one's a bit of wild card in that it doesn't TECHNICALLY have zombies in it – but it does have the dead coming back to life, which is half the battle. This one is one of Jordan's favorites, but Stefan's only ever gazed lovingly upon its neon-green-tinged VHS box. Will this be one of Stefan's favorites too? Let's find out.

BRAIIINNNNNNNS! This tongue-in-cheek punk-rock take on zombies from Dan O'Bannon is arguably the first movie to establish that zombies eat brains (and not just flesh). In a stunning turn of events, both Stefan and Jordan have seen this one (so we're breaking the format a bit), but we still can't wait to dig into it. 

For the first of our bonus episodes, Jordan and Stefan check out Lucio Fulci's Dawn of the Dead "sequel" Zombie – or Zombi 2, as it was known internationally. As part of Dario Argento's deal with Romero for Dawn of the Dead (known as Zombi in Italy), as well as Italy's lax sequel copyright laws, he was allowed to release a follow-up to that film. Known for its wormy zombie head poster, this movie is notorious for its gooey, effective gore. Does it actually connect to the Romero films? Will it make Stefan squeamish as hell? Let's get to it.

Well, maybe we didn't like Diary of the Dead all that much, but maybe we'll like George A. Romero's final zombie film? About feuding families on an island? Maybe? Jordan and Stefan find out if this series goes out with a head-shot bang or a slow, shuffling whimper.

Romero follows up his return to zombiedom, Land of the Dead, with this found footage experiment. Will this stylistic experiment pay off with fresh new terror and satiric possibilities? Neither Jordan and Stefan have seen this one before – so they're about to find out.

Romero is back, baby! After an extended absence, the zombie maestro returns in the middle of an undead movie renaissance with Land of the Dead, starring John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper. Does he still have what it takes to compete in an incredibly competitive zombie landscape? Jordan and Stefan find out.

In this episode, our format gets irrevocably broken because Stefan actually saw this one in theaters (without ever having seen a single Living Dead film before). How will we ever recover? Well, Jordan and Stefan manage to discuss the film ANYWAY so THERE. This remake takes the mall location from the 1978 original and adds many Zack Snyder flourishes, such as slow motion and fast zombies. Stefan remembers liking it. What will he think now that he has context? Find out.

Ugh, don't you hate it when movies are in black and white? So old and GROSS. Instead, watch this updated version of the classic film, this time by makeup artist-turned-director Tom Savini and produced by Romero. How does it stack up against the original? Jordan and Stefan find out.