Imported Horror Barking Cat Studios

Last week, we saw the moon blot out the afternoon sun. It made us spiral out of control into a binge of cringe, frustration and the worst sequel you've never heard of. Grady unpacks Spiral (Japan, 1998), which begins as an also-ran sequel to Ring and descends into weird softcore porn. Marcus struggles with math in Spiral (Canada, 2019), a queer horror with a clever ending but a frustrating and unlikeable protagonist. Melissa is baffled by the upcoming American remake of Speak No Evil (Denmark & The Netherlands, 2022). Can she look at James McAvoy the same way ever again? Plus - The First Omen is the more satisfying Coke to Immaculate's Pepsi, a spinoff of the manga Parasyte hits Netflix and Late Night with the Devil finally hits Shudder.
Articles mentioned in this episode:
"I'm Afraid of Other People and Myself: Christian Tafdrup on Speak No Evil," by Isaac Feldberg for RogerEbert.com

Creepy convents, ghoulish nostalgia and full frontal science fiction - we've got something for everyone this week. We give an enthusiastic recommendation for Late Night with the Devil (Australia & United Arab Emirates, 2023) even though a movie theater fire robbed us of the ending, and we debate the Twitter crossfire about its brief use of generative AI. We unpack the chills and flaws of Immaculate (Italy & USA, 2024) and consider how personal religious experiences shape our contrasting interpretations of its disturbing ending. Marcus also gets nerdy talking about Lifeforce (United Kingdom, 1985) with Duane Barry and Jean Luc Picard. 
Articles Mentioned in this Episode:
"‘Late Night With the Devil’ Directors Explain Using AI Art in the Film, Say They ‘Experimented’ With Three Images Only (EXCLUSIVE)" by William Earl for Variety
"Immaculate star Sydney Sweeney explains that 'animatronic thing' and the gonzo, bloody ending" by Lauren Huff for Entertainment Weekly
"Let's Talk About The Shocking Ending of Immaculate" by Dais Johnson for Inverse

If we had a nickel for every time we watched a movie with a demonic feline this week, we'd have two nickels - which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice. This week, Grady and Melissa try to explain the fathomless House (Japan, 1977), an unspeakably weird cult classic from the nightmares of a ten-year-old girl. Marcus unpacks The Legend of the Demon Cat (China, 2017), which has a killer hook - a spectral black feline with a penchant for eating eyeballs - but uses it for historical fantasy rather than horror. Also, we swim with crocs in Rogue (Australia and USA, 2007) and plan a weekend double feature with Immaculate and Late Night with the Devil.

What would you do if a ghost joined you in the bathtub, or if a demon judged your sex life? Find out this week as we explore the occult with Extra Ordinary (Ireland & Belgium, 2019), jump from a super-scary procedural to a super-okay exorcism in Belzebuth (Mexico, 2017), act surprised when a record player skips in the short film Antikk (Norway, 2020) and get down with the sickness with short film The Plague (Uruguay, 2017). Also - is Satanic Hispanics the anthology to beat this year, and does a Netflix gnome movie really belong on Tubi?

Why do haters gotta hate? Was Lucio Fulci full of crap? Who would you bribe to slap a TV-MA label on a PG parody? Find out this week as we discuss the Mexican and Native American roots of True Detective: Night Country, Hammer fanfic and "action" in Wrath of Dracula (United Kingdom, 2023) and influential classic horror in The House that Screamed (Spain, 1969). Plus - we get some help from Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, learn why you shouldn't adopt a ghost and/or vampire and get distracted by Elmo's preemo slasher villian potential.
"How Mexico City influenced the icy Alaska mystery of ‘True Detective: Night Country’" by Bernice Vautista for the Associated Press
"True Detective: Night Country’s indigenous representation offers hope for decolonising television," by Agata Lulkowska for the Conversation

We've got something for everyone this week. Grady gets blood splatter on his shoes with The Witch Part 1: The Subversion (South Korea, 2018), a John Wick-y action horror that pulls no punches. Melissa watched the French short film 3:36 (2017) four times and swears she had a different interpretation every time. Marcus loved the raw ambition of Out of Darkness (United Kingdom, 2022), a Stone Age monster flick with spectacular drone shots.
Plus - Scandinavian disasters, Scottish killers wearing pig masks and campy desert monsters are all dropping on streaming this week.