Genre Grinder Gabe Powers

FROM THE FROZEN WASTES OF THE ARCTIC TO THE DEPTHS OF THE AFRICAN JUNGLE, THE ARID DESERTS OF MEXICO, AND THE AMERICAN MIDWEST THEY CAME…

Welcome to part two of Gabe and Patrick’s look back at the biggest year in giant monster movie history. We’ve got a lot of big bugs this time, including Nathan H. Juran’s The Deadly Mantis, the wasps of Kenneth G. Crane’s The Monster from Green Hell, ocean mollusks of Arnold Laven’s The Monster that Challenged the World, and locusts of Bert I. Gordon’s The Beginning of the End. For good measure, we also talk about the really big bird from the antimatter universe seen in Fred F. Sears’ The Giant Claw and the mutated monster man of Gordon’s The Cyclops.
 
Remember to also check out part one, which covers Nathan H. Juran’s 20 Million Miles to Earth, Roger Corman’s Attack of the Crab Monsters, Jack Arnold’s The Incredible Shrinking Man, and Kurt Neumann’s Kronos. We recorded this in two parts and I apologize for a change in audio quality that occurs at the beginning and middle of this middle part. 
 
Here’s the full Letterboxd list we are working from: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/1957-giant-monster-movies/
 
00:00 – Intro and corrections
5:32 – The Deadly Mantis
25:24 – The Monster from Green Hell
43:16 – The Giant Claw
56:55 – The Monster that Challenged the World
1:17:43 – Beginning of the End
1:39:40 – The Cyclops
1:56:24 – Outro
 
If you are in a position to make the world a better place, please consider the following fundraisers:
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FROM THE FURTHEST REACHES OF SPACE AND THE DEEPEST DEPTHS OF THE SEA CAME ALIENS, MUTATED CREATURES, AND OTHER LARGE, SCARY ALLEGORIES!

Welcome to another patented Genre Grinder deep dive into a specific year where a specific genre peaked. This time, Patrick and Gabe are looking at 15 of 17 movies about gigantic monsters released in some capacity during the year 1957 (festival, roll-out, wide, et cetera). The other two are a lost film (Tokyo 1960) and one already covered on a different episode of Genre Grinder (Quatermass II). Not unexpectedly, the conversation carried on for some time, so the complete 15-movie discussion will be spread over three episodes.
 
In part one, following an intro to the genre and era, we’re covering Nathan H. Juran’s 20 Million Miles to Earth, Roger Corman’s Attack of the Crab Monsters, Jack Arnold’s The Incredible Shrinking Man, and Kurt Neumann’s Kronos. 
 
Here’s the full Letterboxd list we are working from: https://letterboxd.com/gabepowers/list/1957-giant-monster-movies/
 
00:00 – Intro: Why were there so many Giant Monster movies in 1957?
13:21 – 20 Million Miles to Earth and the cinema of Ray Harryhausen
42:47 – Attack of the Crab Monsters and the cinema of Roger Corman
1:02:46 – The Incredible Shrinking Man and post-WWII gender politics
1:26:40 – Kronos 
1:48:27 – Outro
 
If you are in a position to make the world a better place, please consider the following fundraisers:
Trans Lifeline: https://translifeline.org/
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/gaza-relief
Anera Gaza Aid: https://www.anera.org/where-we-work/palestine/gaza/
Donations 4 Abortions (state by state abortion funds): https://donations4abortion.com/
 

THE FIRST PODCAST ABOUT MOVIES THAT ACKNOWLEDGES THAT IT’S A PODCAST ABOUT MOVIES!!
 
Gabe (looks directly into camera): This is a podcast about making podcasts. The podcasters are also acknowledging you, the listener, directly. Yeah, you, Derek. Oh, and the fabric of the podcast is also haunting us and maybe killing you. And by you, I mean Derek. Anyway, join me and returning guest Jim Laczkowski as we look at the phenomenon of meta horror movies. We initially planned on covering José Mojica Marins' Hallucinations in a Deranged Mind (1978), Lucio Fulci's Cat in the Brain (1990), Julian Richards' The Last Horror Movie (2003), and Prano Bailey-Bond's Censor (2021), but the discussion ended up requiring comparisons to Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994), Dario Argento's Tenebrae (1982), and David Cronenberg's Videodrome (1983), and many more.

00:00 – Intro
07:01 – Hallucinations in a Deranged Mind, plus a primer on José Mojica Marins/Coffin Joe
18:56 – Cat in the Brain, plus a primer on Lucio Fulci
31:59 – Comparing Hallucinations in a Deranged Mind, Cat in the Brain, New Nightmare, and Tenebrae (plus Videodrome, Scream [1996], and the other Nightmare on Elm Street movies)
54:41 – The Last Horror Movie, plus Man Bites Dog (1992)
1:11:19 – Censor, plus a primer on the Video Nasties phenomenon
1:41:44 – Outro

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WELCOME TO THE HEADBANGERS’ BALL …FROM HELL!!
 
Can hard rock music really corrupt the youth? Will the lyrics raise the dead and turn innocent children into perverts and murderers? Is that a literal demon on lead guitar? Join Gabe and returning guest Justin Clark as they enter the pit to answer these questions and more. While Gabe spent the month watching several heavy metal and hard rock horror movies, the discussion this week pertains largely to four films – Krishna Shah’s Hard Rock Zombies (1984), John Fasano’s Black Roses (1988), Álex de la Iglesia’s Day of the Beast (Spanish: El día de la bestia, 1995), and Tetsuro Takeuchi’s Wild Zero (1999).
 
00:00 – Intro
08:38 – Hard Rock Zombies (and other ‘80s Heavy Metal Horror)
27:58 – Black Roses
45:21 – Day of the Beast
1:11:05 – Wild Zero
1:36:47 – Outro
 
Check out Justin’s review of Monkey Man here: https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/monkey-man-review-dev-patel/
 
If you are in a position to make the world a better place, please consider the following fundraisers:
Freedom Oklahoma Education Campaign
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund
Anera Gaza Aid
Donations 4 Abortions (state by state abortion funds)
 

LIONS AND TIGERS AND BEARS AND RATS AND…DUGONGS?! OH GOD!!
 
They’re cute, they’re cuddly, they’re out for blood. Join Gabe and returning guest Arianny Pilarte as they traipse into the sunbaked Australian outback, the darkest corners of Italy’s subway system, and dank Canadian sewers in search of the scariest and most insane killer animal movies released in a 11 year period between 1978 and 1989. This month’s batch of trash and treasures includes Colin Eggleston’s Long Weekend (1978), Russell Mulcahy’s Razorback (1984), Franco Prosperi’s Wild Beasts (Italian: Belve feroci, 1984), and Damien Lee’s Gnaw: Food of the Gods II (1989).
 
00:00 – Intro
06:38 – Long Weekend
30:33 – Razorback
1:00:00 – Wild Beasts
1:31:25 – Gnaw: Food of the Gods Part II
1:54:18 – Outro
 
If you are in a position to make the world a better place, please consider the following fundraisers:
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Palestine Children’s Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/gaza-relief
Anera Gaza Aid: https://www.anera.org/where-we-work/palestine/gaza/
Donations 4 Abortions (state by state abortion funds): https://donations4abortion.com/
 

THE GREATEST HITS OF A DECADE: VIETNAM, WATERGATE, ATTICA, MAN-EATING PIGS, SEEDY HOLLYWOOD, KILLER BRIDES, HOME INVASION, GANGSTERS, AXE MURDERERS, AND DEADLY GAMES…
 
After Night of the Living Dead (1968) and before the slasher boom of the early ‘80s, American horror went through one of its most creative and influential eras. But, for every Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Carrie (1976), and Halloween (1978), there were dozens of under-the-radar oddities that took years – sometimes decades – to be recognized by cult audiences for their unique contributions to American horror. Join Gabe and special guest Bill Ackerman of the Supporting Characters podcast and numerous Blu-ray commentary tracks look at six more underseen classics of the era.
 
Part 2 includes Marc Lawrence Pigs (aka: Daddy’s Deadly Darling, 1973), Christina Hornisher’s Hollywood 90028 (aka: Insanity and Twisted Throats, 1973), Jean-Marie Pélissié’s The Bride (aka: The House That Cried Murder and Last House on Massacre Street, 1973), Frederick R. Friedel Axe (aka: Lisa, Lisa and California Axe Massacre, 1974), Peter S. Traynor Death Game (aka: The Seducers, 1977), and Karen Arthur’s The Mafu Cage (1978).
 
Check out episode one here, and the original 2 part series here and  here.
 
00:00 – Pigs
19:20 – Hollywood 90028
40:39– The Bride
58:21 – Axe (plus Video Nasties and Kidnapped Coed)
1:16:55 – Death Game (and Knock, Knock and Little Miss Innocence)
1:37:19 – Mafu Cage
1:57:39 – Outro
 
And check out Christina Hornisher: Alone with that Obscene Image of Yourself by Marc Edward Heuck (The Projector Has Been Drinking blog), which Bill references during our discussion of Hollywood 90028.
 
If you are in a position to make the world a better place, please consider the following fundraisers:
Islamic Relief USE (Emergency Gaza fund) : https://irusa.org/middle-east/palestine/
Palestine Children’s Relief Fund: https://pcrf1.app.neoncrm.com/forms/gaza-relief
Anera Gaza Aid: https://www.anera.org/where-we-work/palestine/gaza/
Donations 4 Abortions (state by state abortion funds): https://donations4abortion.com/