Filmjitsu! The Podcast that wields films as deadly weapons

Jason Santo and Michael Merrigan
  • 4.6 (11)
  • Film Reviews
  • Biweekly

Two friends and unabashed movie geeks, whose relationship is based almost entirely on antagonism, assign each other horrible films to watch and review. This bad-movie podcast hits you when you're not looking right where the sun don't shine! Learn more at the website!

  1. 4d ago

    Episode 83: 2026 Halloween Series #2 - Blood Harvest (1987) and Bottom Five Horror Haircuts

    Part 2 of the 2026 Filmjitsu Halloween Series finds Jay cursing Mike with a viewing of 1987's Blood Harvest, a slice of Wisconsin-based indie-horror cheese starring the infamous ukulele-wielding pseudo-celebrity Tiny Tim as an unhinged oddball who spends a lot of his time lurking around a small town... in full clown makeup. Did this homegrown bit of no-budget madness offer Mike any frights for his favorite time of year, or did he yawn his way through his annual Snickers binge? Find out during the main review and then stick around as the guys count down their Bottom Five Horror Haircuts, featuring five follicular fiascos from some seriously frightening flicks! After that, the guys face off in a super-scary edition of Dueling Double Bills, seeing who builds the better double feature on the spot when assigned titles from the Random Movie Generat—um—Mangler! Finally, as always, we'll find out what cinematic sin Jay's going to have to endure for the next episode. So while you're carving pumpkins, putting together your costume or strumming a ukulele while dressed as a homicidal clown, put Filmjitsu in your ears and give this holiday some real horror! Have an opinion on something Mike and Jay said during this episode? Send them a voice message and be heard by clicking here!

    Episode 83: 2026 Halloween Series #2 - Blood Harvest (1987) and Bottom Five Horror Haircuts

  2. Oct 11

    Episode 82: 2026 Halloween Series #1 - Dee Snider’s Strangeland (1998)

    Halloween has come once again to Filmjitsu, and Mike kicks off this year's celebration of cinematic horrors by forcing Jay to endure 1998's Strangeland, the Dee Snider-penned slice of late-'90s nu-metal nastiness that also stars the Twisted Sister frontman as a deeply disturbed, heavily modified internet predator. But beneath the piercings, pounding soundtrack and general sleaze, is there actually something surprisingly thoughtful going on? Jay digs beneath the skin to find out! Then, the guys get under everyone's skin with their Bottom Five Body Modifications, a list that takes some decidedly unexpected turns before the boys celebrate the season with a horror-themed round of Dueling Double Bills! Finally, Jay reveals the next cinematic nightmare awaiting Mike as Filmjitsu's Halloween festivities continue for the next few episodes! Have an opinion on something Mike and Jay said during this episode? Send them a voice message and be heard by clicking here!

    Episode 82: 2026 Halloween Series #1 - Dee Snider’s Strangeland (1998)

  3. Sep 27

    Filmjitsu Episode 81: To the Limit and Bottom Five Endings

    This week, Jay subjects Mike to 1995’s To the Limit, a direct-to-video action spectacular starring Anna Nicole Smith as a former CIA operative caught up in an increasingly incomprehensible web of mobsters, assassins, government conspiracies and Joey Travolta. Did Mike find this Skinemax classic an overlooked gem of direct-to-video insanity—or simply one of the dumbest action movies ever made? And just how dangerous can a compact disc really be? After the review, the guys count down their Bottom Five Endings, covering everything from finales that completely botch otherwise good movies to endings that work perfectly and still make theguys feel absolutely miserable. Then it’s time for another round of Dueling Double Bills, where randomly generated titles are matched on-the-spot with ones from Mike and Jay's brains to create competing double features, before Mike reveals what cinematic horroshow (literally) awaits Jay on the next episode. On the podcast that wields films like deadly weapons, To the Limit finally answers an important question: sometimes the deadliest weapon can be a piece of antiquated home media. Have an opinion on something Mike and Jay said during this episode? Send them a voice message and be heard by clicking here!

    Filmjitsu Episode 81: To the Limit and Bottom Five Endings

  4. Sep 13

    Episode 80: Trap and Bottom Five Traps

    This week, Jay takes on M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap (2024), starring Josh Hartnett as a devoted dad, a serial killer and a man who picked a truly terrible night to take his daughter to a concert. Mike assigned this one after suffering through it in theaters, but did Jay hate it too? Or was this the rare act of cinematic revenge that somehow turned into a gift? Given Jay's love for the work of M. Night Shyamalan, the chances for the latter are high! After the review, the guys count down their Bottom Five Traps: schemes and setups that fail spectacularly, succeed in spite of themselves or are just plain stupid. Then they say goodbye to a true legend of stage and screen with a round of Kick Two, Pick Two celebrating four iconic Tim Curry performances. Finally, Jay springs one last trap on Mike: his next cinematic torture assignment for the following episode. Have an opinion on something Mike and Jay said during this episode? Send them a voice message and be heard by clicking here!

    Episode 80: Trap and Bottom Five Traps

  5. Aug 30

    Episode 79: Gor and Bottom Five Epics

    Jay sends Mike hurtling through an interdimensional portal and into the loincloth-garbed wasteland of Gor, an ’80s Cannon Films sword-and-sorcery “epic” about a nebbish professor transported to another world where he discovers he’s aces with a sword. With Oliver Reed chewing scenery, and enough sand, leather and exposed flesh to make Conan blush, Mike tries to determine whether Gor is the gloriously entertaining disaster its reputation suggests or simply a very long walk through the desert. After the review, the guys go big with their Bottom Five Epics before taking a moment to say goodbye to Phantasm icon and cinema’s most rogue ice cream man, Reggie Bannister. Then it’s back to battle for another round of Dueling Double Bills before Mike reveals the next cinematic punishment awaiting Jay. On the podcast that wields films like deadly weapons, sometimes the real fantasy is believing the movie might eventually get better. Have an opinion on something Mike and Jay said during this episode? Send them a voice message and be heard by clicking here!

    Episode 79: Gor and Bottom Five Epics

  6. Aug 16

    Episode 78: War of the Worlds (2025) and Bottom Five Products Placements

    Ice Cube once rapped “F*** tha Police,” but in 2025’s War of the Worlds, he has apparently decided the real problem is that the government isn’t watching people closely enough. Jay logs into this extremely online adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic and tries to determine whether its screenlife presentation, anti-surveillance message and handful of genuinely clever science-fiction ideas can survive a screenplay that asks one family, an Amazon delivery drone and a remotely operated Tesla to save the entire planet.After the review, the guys turn their attention to the Bottom Five Product Placements, celebrating the moments when movies stop pretending to tell stories and begin openly begging us to buy cigarettes, soda, toys, electronics and whatever else happened to help pay the production bills. Then Jay and Mike enter the cinematic battleground for another round of Dueling Double Bills before Jay reveals the punishment awaiting Mike for making him spend 90 minutes watching Ice Cube yell at a computer screen. On the podcast that wields films like deadly weapons, revenge, like an Amazon Prime order carrying a flash drive capable of saving humanity, is already on its way. Have an opinion on something Mike and Jay said during this episode? Send them a voice message and be heard by clicking here!

    Episode 78: War of the Worlds (2025) and Bottom Five Products Placements

  7. Aug 2

    Episode 77: Music of the Heart and Bottom Five Musicians

    It's time once again for Filmjitsu's most inexplicable annual tradition: The Streepening. For reasons that have long since been lost to history (and likely were never sensible to begin with), Jay again hands Mike a Meryl Streep movie proving that no matter how acclaimed the actress may be, there always seems to be another questionable stop on her journey to becoming a generational talent. This year's selection? Wes Craven's Music of the Heart.Yes, that Wes Craven. The mastermind behind A Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream traded slashers for string sections in this fact-based drama about a determined violin teacher trying to save a music program in East Harlem. Was this an unexpected hidden gem from one of horror's greatest directors, or merely a detour better left unexplored? Mike tunes his instrument and finds out. After the review, the guys count down their Bottom Five Musicians, celebrating those cinematic performances that hit every wrong note for reasons ranging from questionable casting to spectacularly misguided vanity projects. Then it's onto another round of Dueling Double Bills, where cinematic connections fly faster than violin bows, before Jay closes out the show by revealing Mike's next assignment.Will The Streepening ever end? History suggests that on the podcast that wields films like deadly weapons... probably not. Have an opinion on something Mike and Jay said during this episode? Send them a voice message and be heard by clicking here!

    Episode 77: Music of the Heart and Bottom Five Musicians

  8. Jul 19

    Episode 76: Hot Dog... The Movie and Bottom Five Clichés

    As it's the middle of summer, Mike, in his infinite wisdom, assigned Jay yet another winter-themed movie! Following his Hot Frosty antics, he uncorked Hot Dog... The Movie, a 1984 skis-and-skin "comedy" about a ragtag group of elite U.S. freestyle skiers going up against uptight Germans in some kind of world-class competition that apparently attracts the horniest people alive. Why Mike is obsessed with "hot" movies set in cold climates is beyond anyone's understanding, but the damage has been done, and Jay wades through snow boots and boobs to reveal whether he found this movie cool enough to turn off the AC this summer or if it just made the humidity that much more unbearable. After his review, the guys dig into their Bottom Five Clichés, unearthing a treasure trove of tropes so annoying they'd prefer never to see them in another movie while knowing full well they'll encounter them again the next time they hit play. Following that, they play another exciting round of cinematic mash-ups with Dueling Double Bills before Jay reveals what's in store for Mike on the next episode. Spoiler alert: it won't be another slice of cold cinema. As far as Jay is concerned, summer is the perfect time to serve up some scorching cinematic payback on Filmjitsu, the podcast that wields films like deadly weapons. Have an opinion on something Mike and Jay said during this episode? Send them a voice message and be heard by clicking here!

    Episode 76: Hot Dog... The Movie and Bottom Five Clichés
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4.6
out of 5
11 Ratings

About

Two friends and unabashed movie geeks, whose relationship is based almost entirely on antagonism, assign each other horrible films to watch and review. This bad-movie podcast hits you when you're not looking right where the sun don't shine! Learn more at the website!

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