ok, so joe bob is back! getting caught up...

Zombie (aka Zombie Flesh Eaters) - i don't know if i'd ever seen this or not. some of it seemed familiar, but i've seen moments and scenes so much on posters, soundtracks, etc., over the years that i can't be sure if i had ever seen the entire film. so, i enjoyed watching this. typical fulci quality, meaning yes there is an eye-gouging scene, and yes, there is terrible, poorly overdubbed dialog. but yes, there are also great kills and questionable zombies. some of the dialog/plot is pretty hilarious, and very evidently an italian's impression of what new york would be, specifically new york cops. but massive props for the guerilla film making in NYC, especially the final scene on the brooklyn bridge. as usual, joe bob added a ton of great background and insight. he also had the male lead on as a guest. fabio frizi's band was the "house band" on the new, awful "talk show" format and set. they were clearly miming, not actually playing, but fabio did sit "on the couch" for a good interview. so yeah, i liked the film, and JBB added a lot of enjoyment to it for me.

Witchboard - i remembered loving this film when it came out. i'm sure some of that was informed by nude tawny kitaen. but for some reason, i was mixing this up in my head with warlock, because i thought for sure julian sands was in this. i knew steve from days of our lives was the male lead, and boy is he hilarious. and driving a cobra, for some reason? JBB informs us that was because the director (or producer?) had just purchased it and "lent" it to the film (read: write-off i'm sure). also introducing stretch from road house in her debut as punk rock psychic that gets impaled on a sun dial. the movie itself is pretty awful, but quite amusing because of that. JBB was great, as usual, and we're back to the normal set/format for week 2, thankfully.

should be noted, shudder's app on apple TV still sucks ass. they still haven't fixed the transition from countdown to live, and if you launch a movie from "up next" on the apple tv interface, the audio from two movies will still play simultaneously. still no way to pause or rewind the live feed. now that AMC+ includes the live joe bob, once my subscription to shudder ends, i won't be renewing, will be moving to AMC+ to see if that's any better. it couldn't be any worse.

Don’t Panic - the first of two Mexican films JBB showed for May 5th. This is one I hadn’t ever seen, so was happy to check it out. Until I actually started watching it. It’s fucking terrible. Zero redeeming qualities. Should be called Don’t Watch. The song (sung by the lead guy) over the ending credits is pretty unintentionally hilarious, so that’s something. But not even JBB could save this pile of shit. So bad. The problem is, it doesn’t know it’s bad, versus something like Things, which very obviously knows its bad, so it’s a far worse sin to me.

The Devil’s Rain - have talked about this film on here before, but it’s such a classic and only gets better with repeated viewings. Yes there are plot holes, which JBB does a great job of explaining why. Joe Bob even had some nuggets of knowledge here that I didn’t know. A great movie with a great host and fantastic background info here. Absolutely check out this episode if nothing else.

The Babadook - yeah, eight years ago when i first saw it, i felt like something about it went over my head. Last night when watching it, i was having the same thoughts on it that JBB ended up having, which he explained at the end:

that there is no titular monster, it’s something the mother made up to deal with her trauma and guilt for blaming her son for her husband’s death. It’s something she - and by extension, they - have to work through and manage. There are potentially some issues with this analysis - toward the end, when Sam gets “pulled” up the stairs to his bedroom, then repeatedly flung against the wall. How does this happen in that analysis? My response - we’re seeing what she’s seeing, and she’s an unreliable narrator. That’s not actually what happened, but that’s how she saw it. The other issue - her black bile vomit. What is that if not supernatural? I don’t have a great response to this, other than the fact that she hasn’t eaten or slept in many days and her insides are reacting to this.

Still, I think it’s a solid analysis, and makes sense with that ending in a way nothing else does. I still don’t like that ending, but this at least ties things together. Regardless of analysis, it’s a very good movie, and I really, really hate that kid’s character.

The Beyond - Possibly my favorite Fulci. The thing I've noticed this time is the crazy foley work. Like, the footsteps on any surface are 10x louder than anything else, no matter the context. Crazy movie, which is what I love about it.

The Mutilator - still feel the same about this as i did here, but once again Joe Bob elevates the viewing experience tremendously. tons of great back story here, although nothing can justify that soundtrack. maybe the second-worst horror soundtrack of all time, and the mixing is atrocious, so it's very in your face and louder than dialog in parts. i will say one thing about that theme song - it fucking sticks in your head. i'm still walking around singing "we're going on a..." one interesting tidbit of info - apparently the original film makers have funded and started (completed?) filming a direct sequel, so that should be interesting.