The Thriller Cabinet Johnny Restall

This month, host Johnny Restall is joined by writer, critic and speaker Rebecca McCallum to discuss the mysteries of Francis Ford Coppola's masterful 1974 thriller The Conversation, starring Gene Hackman and John Cazale. As the world of surveillance expert Harry Caul begins to crumble, everything is deliberately thrown into doubt. Can the viewer trust the protagonist? Can we trust the filmmaker? Can we even trust our own perceptions? Join us as we explore a paranoid classic that only seems to grow more pertinent with time...

This month, Johnny Restall is joined by writer and critic Nate Roscoe, who picks three favourite OVERLOOKED GIALLO FILMS. Join us as we try to define gialli by celebrating three slightly neglected films that both conform to and push against the conventions of the genre. We discuss THE FLOWER IN HIS MOUTH (1975), FOOTPRINTS ON THE MOON (1975) and I KNOW WHO KILLED ME (2007) - black hat, trenchcoat, and murder weapon of choice not necessarily required...

This month, host Johnny Restall is joined by writer and podcaster Tim Coleman to discuss Michael Mann's epic 1995 crime drama HEAT, starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Expect spoilers as they analyse this simple but slippery beast of a film. Is it the ultimate cops-and-robbers thriller or a bombastic, tragic melodrama? Is it secretly a Western? Is it a criticism or a celebration of machismo? Is there a secret brotherhood of mulleted villainy between Waingro and Nate? Find out by listening...

This month, host Johnny Restall is joined by the author and cinema enthusiast James Stoorie to discuss Unswinging British Thrillers of the 1960s. Together, they explore this beautifully drab sub-genre of suburban gothic, where kitchen sink meets crime and the grooviest parties are always happening somewhere else. Movies discussed include SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON (1964), BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING (1965) and OUR MOTHER'S HOUSE (1967) and be warned - there will be spoilers, along with tepid cups of tea and loneliness...

Film critic Johnny Restall discusses Joel and Ethan Coen's Oscar-winning dark comedy thriller FARGO (1996), starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare. Is it truth or is it fiction? Is it tale of good vs. evil or just a slapstick story about idiotic crooks? Is it a Scandinoir or a Columbo? Find out (sort of) by listening...

This month on The Thriller Cabinet, film critic Johnny Restall celebrates the 75th anniversary of one of the finest noirs of them all: Abraham Polonsky's subversive and scathing FORCE OF EVIL, starring John Garfield, Thomas Gomez and Beatrice Pearson. Expect corruption, politics and tragedy as he explores the film's fiercely moving excoriation of success, integrity, brotherly love and the capitalist dream...