This week we pay tribute to the B-movie master himself Roger Corman with an informal discussion of the man, his work and his legacy. It’s another entry in our informal arc of episodes celebrating the underspoken icons of the genre.

So what is Corman’s legacy? He is responsible for the “Corman Film School” launching the careers of many industry heavyweights both in front of and behind the camera. He broke new ground for the independant filmmaker, credited with shaping modern Hollywood thanks to the foundation he laid leading up to Easy Rider. He was an accomplished guerrilla filmmaker, extending his influence to all those who had little more than idea to work with. He had the pulse of audiences throughout his career, from 50′s era creature features to bringing 60′s counter culture to the screen (biker flicks, acid flicks), to exploitation of the 70′s. He brought gothic horror to the screen with a succession of collaborations adapting the works of Edgar Allen Poe. He brought films to North America from legendary foreign directors such as Bergman, Fellini, and Kurosawa that might never have been appreciated. We’ll stop there in the interest of brevity but please join us as we express our appreciation for a true Hollywood
maverick – Roger Corman.

Schlock corner features a couple listener produced shorts in response to the callout for campfire tales. There’s the classic escaped killer at lookout point and a Pontypool-inspired drama that goes down during a radio broadcast. We wind things down with a quick take on Dark Shadows (2012) and a zombie movie recommendation The Dead (2010).

The Intruder:

Welcome to a very informal look at one of the genre’s unsung heroes Dan Curtis.

With the Tim Burton adaptation of Dark Shadows about to arrive, we take a look back through the works of the director / producer who worked primarily in the television medium beginning with his auspicious daytime drama where the introduction of supernatural elements and paranormal mythologies created a legacy still reverberating today (is there a Buffy without Dark Shadows?).

A stalwart advocate of the subdued, gothic approach to scares, Curtis productions were low on bloodflow (a necessity of network television), but delivered horror with class. His collaborations with great writers (notably several projects with Richard Matheson and William Nolan), and performers resulted in some exceptional if underappreciated works. We discuss the Kolchak films The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler, adaptations of the classics The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, Frankenstein, Turn of the Screw and The Picture of Dorian Gray, and other select favorites including Trilogy of Terror (Karen Black in four roles), Burnt Offerings, Dead of Night and more. The works of Dan Curtis may be low budget and constrained but he delivered suspense, drama and horrific tragedy with gothic sensability.

As well, we have initial thoughts on The Avengers, and discuss some random watches including Comic-con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope, The Tree of Life, The Expendables, Haywire and Immortals (yes, random).

Surprise MF – we’re back again!

After a couple of weeks worth of one off episodes, your globe-trotting hosts reunite in studio Tony to bring you a generous helping of the Horror Etc podcast. We catch up on some overdue housekeeping (a big thank you to some very kind listener contributions), discourse on the evolution of filmmaking technologies and cover some recent trailers, all in the course of covering a nice variety of recent watches.

Titles covered include Cabin in the Woods (a big-screen love letter to the genre that brings us all together every week), Atrocious, The Raven (which could also be sub-titled Atrocious), a cool little UK flick Kill List, an indie documentary made by a friend of the show Beauty Day, a good old people tearing each other apart in a bomb shelter movie The Divide, listener recommendation The Shrine, Final Destination 5 (or is it 3 or 4 or 7?), and that Tom Cruise hangin’-out-a-window-in-Dubai funfest: Mission Impossible 4.

It’s a packed 2+ hours with all sorts of genre goodness, and we’re happy that you can join us for the visit.

Ahhhh, we miss Doakes:

It’s a road trip with a bit of a twist this week, as Ted takes the week off and Tony heads to his first ever convention as a guest to screen and promote his new horror film and dream project, Terror of Dracula!

Hitting the road with actress Denise Wedge (who portrays Mina Murray), an insider’s view of a convention is presented along with additional perspectives from great Horror Etc friend Luis of Suspect Video. Over the course of their adventure Tony and Denise signed DVDs at their own table, offered a sneak preview screening of the feature to a Shock Stock audience, got to review an advance copy of their 3 page article in the newest issue of Fangoria Magazine (and found out that the guys who run Fangoria are horror fans like you and I)… and even attended the first ever Goblin concert in Canada followed by the after party! Interspersed into this program are conversations with some of the other folks involved in Terror of Dracula (Heidi Dennis, and another semi-regular of HETC Barry Yuen) as well as the film’s benefactor / producer, and ardent listener Bill Bossert.

We hope that this episode offers an interesting insight into the world of indie film production and promotion, as well as a different perspective on the whole convention experience. For more information on Tony’s film, check out the trailer / website at: www.newdraculamovie.com

Welcome to a very impromptu second annual Walking Dead season recap. Ted and Doug convened to have a discussion on the events that transpired this season and chose to set up the mic in the process, so what follows is a very loose one take episode. Rather than recap the show episode by episode we bounce around the total story arc landing on particularly memorable moments, character decisions and actions, address the criticisms lobbied at the show, and even do a bit of prognosticating for season 3.

Spoiler warning: listeners should be prepared for full and random plot spoilers throughout the show as we approached the recording as just a casual chat between fans of The Walking Dead. Was Herschel in the military? Just how evil was Shane? How dark will Carl go? Where is Merle? Is it possible to loathe Lori more than we do right now? All this and much, much more as we step once again into the world of the zombie apocolypse.

As promised here comes our second feedback episode this week. The whole story behind our feedback shows was in the blurb for part 1 so let’s get right to the point. We kick things off with some random chatter including a quick rundown of what is wrong with Mirror, Mirror. Ted’s inexplicable distaste for Kristin Stewart, the Total Recall remake and a few trailers.

Then it’s time to hand the reins over to the listeners with our reactions and comments to the subjects brought to the table including: more The Woman in Black, more foreign horror recommendations (including Shiver, the original Silent House, The Ugly, The Nameless), Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, lots of The Walking Dead and more interpretations of Martyrs. We have a great campfire tale starring one of your hosts, some Human Centipede thoughts and of course Gymkata!

Thank you all very much for the communication, it really is the highlight for us of doing the podcast. Keep the calls, emails, tweets or just kind thoughts coming – be a part of the show and help us maintain this awesome community.

We love your feedback. Each and every week we send out the call for commentary, opinions and recommendations to the listeners and all of you who participate via emails, voicemails, forum posts, twitter and facebook comments have shaped what we consider to be an amazing community of like-minded genre fans.

As a way of sharing the communication and helping to involve listeners in being part of the podcast we like to periodically put together a feedback episode with our own segments and responses. So there is the background, now it’s time to get to it. The first of two instalments this week includes commentary on a wide range of topics including The Woman in Black, Ingmar Bergman, Dexter and Argento. There is a book review of Robopocalypse, several foreign horror recommendations, video games and much more.

We bring to the table some thoughts on a pair of recent James Cameron re-watches and Anthony hits the con circuit. Thanks to everyone for the feedback, more coming this week.

A curse be upon you.

This week we take a look at the legends behind supposedly cursed films through history. Where does one draw the line between a series of unfortunate incidents and the intervention of an otherworldly force to derail or punish a production? Ultimately that’s for you to decide but we lay out the facts for each case that gave rise to the mythology. Particular films covered include Poltergeist, The Omen, The Crow, The Exorcist, Superman, The Twilight Zone, The Conqueror, Rosemary’s Baby, Atuk and many more. It was a fun discussion trying to separate bad luck from paranormal divination where we go off the script several times and Anthony digs deep into his bag of impressions.

The classic format returns as we enjoy an interactive schlock corner guessing the ABC’s of Monsters, and get casual chatting about a variety of subjects including a return to Hunger Games, The Horrible Dr. Hitchcock, the impressive list of foreign horror film recommendations received, and open a care package that arrived from a listener. The 2000AD contest concludes and we announce the winners – thanks to all who participated. Oh, and we’re now available on Stitcher.

So keep looking over your shoulder as it seems you never know when the forces of the universe may come for you, and please don’t direct your curses our way, we’ll promise the same in return.

The ABC’s of Monsters:

It’s loose, fiery and a little unhinged on the Horror Etc podcast this week, as Tony and Ted regroup after several hectic weeks of work and travel. In a return to the classic odds and ends From the Hip episode format, your hosts unwind and discuss an assortment of off the wall bits and pieces… from Video Nasties to Ken Dodd — golden showers to amorous encounters with goats (!!) A fun time is had by all. Hmmm, maybe it was the beer and port?

Films discussed in this episode include Island of Death, Night Train Murders, Silent House (2012), Fight For Your Life and Drive (a lot of schlock followed by a very impressive film). Upcoming trailers for Cabin in the Woods and Piranha 3DD also fall under the microscope… and Ted talks about having recently read The Hunger Games !? If you’re going to watch one film about teens fighting to the death with random weapons at the whim of a totalitarian government this week – make it Battle Royale.

Join us as we descend into the maelstrom of infamy and hilarity, on a unique and laugh-filled episode of Horror Etc!

This week we take a look at what makes an American Horror Story. One of the most challenging genres to translate to serialized television is horror and when one comes along it deserves our attention. It is a mixture of responses to what the inaugural season delivers but one thing is certain, it had ambition. The story of the broken Harmon family (Ben, Vivian and teenaged daughter Violet), and the trials they endure in their newly purchased “murder house” goes beyond the basic
premise and does some twisting and turning into surrealistic mystery territory channeling the works of David Lynch, Stephen King and many others. If for no other reason it is worth watching for the amazing character Jessica Lange delivered.

The show is structured with a spoiler free discussion of the show at large with our general reactions and recommendations, followed by a spoiler zone of rehashing some of the high (and low) points of the season. The seasonal anthology element of American Horror Story is particularly intriguing and it will be interesting to see where things go from here.

Official Spoiler Etiquette: