Obviously, many of us film fans see movies in theaters througout the year, whether it be at a national chain or at an independent, arthouse theater - or both. Some of us are even hitting film festivals, special screenings, and for the truly unhinged cinephiles, film marathons. For these kind of events to happen though, there have to be some mad geniuses behind the scenes. Those people are film programmers, and they do so much for our the culture of our fandom; from tracking down film the best quality prints available, to figuring out who owns the rights, to actually making the screenings happen. A lot of times their success comes down to the sheer passion they have for these offbeat, awkward, or just downright strange and fucked up motion pictures that makes them want to pass that along to new viewers. In other words, helping new fans Discover the Horror!

One of those mad geniuses is Will Morris, who is one of the programmers for the world-famous Music Box Theatre in Chicago. Will has been programming The Music Box of Horrors a 24-hour horror marathon for close to a decade now, as well as programming their yearly January Giallo festival, and much, much more. We invited Will to come on the show to not only explain a little of what he does, but why. Get ready for a fun and wild ride.

Movies mentioned in the episode:

964 Pinocchio (1991), Abby (1974), Alleluia (2014), Aswang (1994), The Beyond (1981), Blood of Ghastly Horror (1967), Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (1974), Café Flesh, Calvaire (2004), The Carrier (1988), The Children (2008), Child’s Play 2 (1990), Class of Nuke ‘Em High Part II: Subhumanoid Meltdown (1991), Corruption (1983), Curucu, Beast of the Amazon (1956), The Demons (1973), Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972), Dr. Caligari (1989), Emaneulle and the Last Cannibal (1977), Ernest Scared Stupid (1991), Evil Dead (1981), Evil Dead 2 (1987), The Exorcist (1973), Fiend with the Electronic Brain (1967), Fuck the Devil (1990), Fuck the Devil 2: Return of the Fucker (1991), Ganja & Hess (1973), Ginger Snaps (2000), The Granny (1995), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), The House on Haunted Hill (1959), Last House on Dead End Street (1973), Mystics in Bali (1981), Nekromantik (1988), Jaws (1975), Jurassic Park (1993), Meet the Feebles (1989), Mirror Mirror (1990), Organ (1996), A Patch of Blue (1965), Possession (1981), Psycho a Go Go (1965), Of Unknown Origin (1983), [REC] (2007), Repulsion (1965), Roman Holiday (1953), Santet (1988), Sex Demon (2019), Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Snorkel (1958), The Tenant (1976), Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989), The Thing (1982), Torso (1973), Vaya luna de miel (1980), When a Stranger Calls Back (1993), Witch with the Flying Head (1982), A Woman’s Torment (1977)

Show Notes:

THe Mondo fanzine mentioned: https://www.instagram.com/themondomaniac

The Music Box Theatre - https://www.musicboxtheatre.com

The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre (1964), Crowhaven Farm (1970), and Cruise into Terror (1978)

With this being our 3rd episode covering these little television terrors, one would get the idea that there is a lot of teleplays, or TV-movies, out there that deserve our attention. And you would be correct! From the '60s into the early '80s, there was a plethora of amazing features being made for the little boob tube, not to mention a wide variety to talent behind them too!

Unfortunately, a lot of these titles still wander in limbo, never getting a legitimate release, some never even seeing a VHS release. While you can find a lot on YouTube, we're all hoping for a real legitmate release at some point. Until then, we do what we must to see some incredible films!

So grab your notepad because we're going to discuss 3 titles that are definitely worth your time, and hope to spark you to take a little further adventure into Made-for-TV Terrors!

Titles Mentioned in this Episode:

American Beauty (1999), Are You in the House Alone (1978), Bad Ronald (1974), Blue Velvet (1986), Bog (1979), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), A Cold Night’s Death (1973), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Crowhaven Farm (1970), Cruise into Terror (1978), Cult of the Cobra (1955), Day of the Animals (1977), Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978), The Disembodied (1957), Fiend without a Face (1958), The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre (1965), Grave of the Vampire (1972), It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958), Marnie (1964), Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), North By Northwest (1959), The Night Stalker (1972), Psycho (1960), Rebecca (1940), Red Dawn (1984), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Salem’s Lot (1979), Satan’s School for Girls (1973), Shanks (1974), Simon King of the Witches (1971), Slumber Party Massacre 2 (1987)

During conversations with serious film collectors, you might hear terms like inter-positive, or first negative, or even OCN, and have no clue to what they actually mean. Don’t feel bad because a lot of us are in the same boat. These are some of the many terms used when discussing the preservation and archiving of films, not to mention the amount of work that goes into doing just that. Plus, we’re not talking about the latest title coming from the MCU, but ones that were made for pennies a half a century ago, or longer, that got very little distribution, sometimes not even here in the states. But due to the thankless job (that we’re hoping to change) of some dedicated cinephiles, they are doing their best to bring those titles back from nearly being a lost film.

To help educate us on some of those terms, the processes, and just the sheer craziness of it all, we’ve asked Vault Manager and Archivist Oscar Becher from Vinegar Syndrome to do just that. While we’re not covering specific films for this episode, we're pretty sure you’re going to learn a thing or two, maybe be even amazed at hearing some of the processes that go into bringing you that nice and spiffy new Blu-Ray of one of your favorite films.

Titles mentioned in this episode:

Against the Grain (2023), Blood for Dracula (1974), Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle (1981), Dog Tags (1987), Enter the Clones of Bruce (2023), Flesh for Frankenstein (1973), Frankenstein (1931), Grindhouse (2007), Martyrs (2008), New York Ninja (2021), The Night of the Hunter (1955), No Tears for the Damned aka The Las Vegas Strangler (1968), Piranha (1978), The Playgirls and the Vampire (1960), Putney Swope (1969), The Rare Blue Apes of Cannibal Isle (1975), Singin’ in the Rain (1952), Star Wars (1977), Thriller: A Cruel Picture (1973), Voodoo Heartbeat aka The Sex Serum of Dr. Blake (1973)