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.

Tigers Are Not Afraid - had heard good things about this film so was anxious to check it out. once again, have to recommend viewing with JBB, as he adds so much context and color to the experience. it really makes a difference every time, but in particular with this film, which was highly personal to the director (who, we also find out, is a featured director in the upcoming season of True Detective). as JBB said, it combines real-world horror of the reality of collateral damage from the cartels in Mexico with fantastical/traditional horror elements. again as JBB said, it really does feel like a GDT film. the reality is really depressing, and can't say this hyper-reality helps that - it's a sad film - but damn is it very good and well done. i've always been vocal about how i hate the "kid saves the day" trope in horror films, and largely hate kids in horror period (i generally find them annoying and a lazy plot device), but in this film, a group of kids are the stars of the story, so this film without kids simply wouldn't exist. these kids in particular are believable at worst and really, really great actors at best. fascinating to hear how they went about casting and training them, courtesy of JBB. so far my favorite of part 1 of the new season as far as JBB commentary goes (not my favorite film, which would probably be Devil's Rain).

The Muthers - JB called it “junk food”, it’s more just nonsense. A relic of the late days of “-sploitation” films, it has elements of “blax” but doesn’t really go hard, elements of “women in prison” but doesn’t really go hard, etc. It tries to straddle the line and be incorporate multiple genres but it is just kind of ridiculous. A reasonable amount of laughs, all fully unintentional, however. JBB says it is the first and only film to feature four black female leads, so I guess there’s that, if you’re keeping score. Then we get unintentionally laugh-out-loud lines, like when the two lead pirates arrive at the coffee plantation (don’t ask) to look for one’s sister, the other lead already there asks, “Does she have black, curly hair?” Played totally straight. Later, one shot from a gun completely obliterates an obviously toy ship. JB and Darcy kept saying “half-naked women running through the jungle with guns”, yet the main lead wears a turtleneck for 80% of this film. None of it makes any sense. It’s really dumb.

Sharknado - JBB returns with this stinker of a film. i mean, it's definitely funny, but probably not how they wanted it to be. i didn't love it 10 years ago, and i liked it less this time. it's just silly but somehow not in a fun way.

Possession - while my earlier comments still stand, the new 4k transfer is great and really addresses most of the audio issues from the copy i had. also helps having subtitles enabled. not that knowing what was said helps understand the plot. it's a really wild movie. JBB's comments and insights absolutely enhance the viewing experience of this one. i have lots of questions, like what's the story with the guy with pink socks? what's with that bonkers ending? but this is a really good film.

Yup Possession is a classic. Are you referring to the French 4K release? I've been holding off on this as it lacks HDR and I did hear rumours that another edition may be in the offing soon (anything even tangentially 'horror' seems to get priority treatment when it comes to 4K).

not sure which was shown, but the title card stated it was from a 4k transfer, so i assume recent.

Rumor has it this was the last season of Last Drive-In. Like most streamers Shudder is cutting back on programming costs. Though again, just a rumor at this point.

Yeah, I don't buy that. AMC spends a lot of money on original content, and JBB is the main reason many people (including me) subscribe at all. Plus, the man hasn't really lost a step. Could do without Darcy most of the time, but will continue to sub as long as JBB is on. He should at the very least do a podcast, deep diving into a film each episode. Easy way to avoid the issue of not being able to get the rights to a particular film on Shudder. Similar model to Riff Trax, I guess. If he goes behind a paywall, he could show whatever film he wants. I'd subscribe to that. Most other content on Shudder is shit or available elsewhere, and their app has been horrendous since launch. I have no allegiance to Shudder, but as long as they renew JBB, I'm probably switching to AMC+ which includes Shudder, and now has the ability to show the "live" broadcast on air date of TLDI. If they can him, I'm out.

I suspect a lot of people feel the same way. I probably never would have even heard of the channel if not for JBB. But the execs running streaming services these days aren't known for making smart choices.

i took a break from JBB for a while so i have lots of JBB content for the halloween season. started watching again...

Amsterdamned - Kind of a nonsensical plot, and the absolute worst credits song ever, but that first kill dangling over the boat of boy scouts was great, and that boat chase scene - which seemed to go on forever - was incredible. Worth watching if just for that. And as usual, JBB is full of informative facts about the film, and that scene specifically, which greatly adds to the experience. Not a good film really, but very enjoyable watch with JBB.

Dark Night Of The Scarecrow - Watching this, I feel like I must have seen this when it first aired (it was a made for TV movie), because I definitely haven't seen it since it resurfaced in 2011, and some of the scenes felt familiar. Regardless, incredible cast here. Hard to believe they're really doing a horror-lite film. This was clearly the reason Larry Drake got the role of Benny in LA Law - his character is essentially Benny but a few years younger. Wild how many "mentally challenged" roles he's played while absolutely not being "mentally challenged". Kind of surprised he hasn't been "canceled" yet. This is really a way better film than it should have been, and has to be one of the great made for TV horror films (along with Magic and The Deliberate Stranger). Was a great era for made for TV films. Probably the best legit film JBB has shown in a long time. Definitely recommend.