Episode 2 of Ghoul Summer coming in HOT! On this episode your two favorite broken film nerds discuss the final film of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s career SALO, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM 

Besides a discussion of the film, fascism, and the changing standards of what constitutes “shocking”, Evan and Liam also get into less upsetting matters. Recent fun things, movies and anime, and just the best and worst aspects of life. Thanks for listening, tell a friend, and try not to give up this summer. Life is a nightmare, but maybe the fact that we are having it together makes it better? Maybe not. Join us next time for GUYANA: CRIME OF THE CENTURY

Welcome to the first episode of GHOUL SUMMER, a limited series where your friends Liam O’Donnell and Evan Vellela spend each week discuss some of the darkest corners of cinema. On this excursion into our bummer summer we kick things off with COME AND SEE. Anrelevant film as our own nation flirts with fascism, COME AND SEE is a brilliant and sober look at war. Great way to start the week!

1 movie a week, every Monday, all summer long. The world is a nightmare, and so are these films.

Will the survivors envy the dead? It is episode 8 of GHOUL SUMMER and on this truly stark episode we are delving into the font for so much dbeat imagery. The War Game from 1966. Despite how dark and bleak this documentary is, we both generally enjoyed it and spend some time thinking about it’s reception both then and now. Thanks for listening, tell a friend, have a great day despite, you know, all of this.

This summer? It never ends. Welcome back to another riveting and ultimately futile episode of GHOUL SUMMER! On this excursion into the dark we discuss Kapo (60) directed but the director of  The Battle of Algiers , Gillo Pontecorvo. I am like 90% cure I mispronounced Pontecorvo’s name every time I said it so please forgive my ignorance. Despite knowing full well what the format of our show is I continue to fail to write notes in advance thus my “what I am getting into” is, as usual, lackluster. Otherwise? Sick episode.

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There is a sickness poisoning America, and that sickness is known as Ghoul Summer. Sorry for the delay on this one folks, schedule has been a bit chaotic this week. Still, I managed to get our deep musings on films featuring REAL DEATH to you as soon as I could.

Evan and I, predictably, do not see eye to eye on this one. We would love to know what you think, hit us up with your prudish or ghoulish takes on this film. Thanks for being here, talk soon.

Our summer of pain continues as we discuss the faux news broadcast that is Special Bulletin.  

Folks who have caught Evan’s guest spots on Cinepunx know his affinity and affection for Nuke movies, and Special Bulletin is no exception. While it does lack some of the spectacle and brutality of similar films, it is still surprisingly effective and depressingly relevant. We spend time discussing the dangers we still face from the insane weapons as well as things that maybe bring us more joy than despair, but don’t worry, there is still plenty of bummer to go around.

GHOUL SUMMER LUMBERS ON, and this week Evan has picked a real doozy for us to discuss. You may not be familiar with 1983’s Angst but if you see it I bet it will stick with you. Of course we don’t dive immediately into the fun, and as part of our witty pre-discussion banner I pose the question “Do you prefer big or small coffee mugs?”” and I really and truly want to know.

There is something very grimy and desperate about this film, and I find it somehow fascinating and revolting at the same time. Join us for our discussion, let us know what you think, and invite a friend to our GHOUL SUMMER celebration!

Welcome to another HOLY and SANCTIFIED episode of Ghoul Summer, our summer fun excursion into the bleak dregs of cinema.

On this episode we take a look at possibly one of the quickest tabloid takes on a horrible tragedy ever put to film, Guyana: Cult of the Damned aka: Guyana: Crime of the Century.

This was new territory for me but Evan owns and kind of celebrates this film. Take a listen to see if I join up, and tell a friend about our scandalizing excursions into the cinemagraphic wastelands. On our next episode we will be discussing the very bleak German film Angst.

“And here we see two misplaced Philadelphia punk rockers of the 21st century, lost in the Pacific North West, participating in the ritualistic activity of voicing their inane opinions into the void known colloquially as ‘Podcasting'”
Hey welcome to a knew episode of Ghoul Summer, on this our 9th tedious episode we discuss the “classic” pseudo-documentary Mondo Cane!

Look, I usually like to keep our takes a bit of a surprise but really, you should know, we hated this movie. If you are tuning in looking forward to us waxing eloquent about the importance of this piece of trash, you have come to the wrong place. Sorry friends, it is what it is, but I wanted you to go in aware so you weren’t too surprised. Ok cool, thanks for listening.

Ghoul summer, your very own brigade of bummer, returns with a brand new episode, this time with a guest! Doug Tilley joins us as our Canadian language consultant to discuss Brigade of Death, a French tour de force of offensive shit. We enjoyed this movie a lot but did feel kind of bad about that, maybe? or maybe not!

Thanks so much for listening and please tell a friend to check it out!

The WHEEL OF PAIN has lead us to a less painful road as we discuss Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai  with friend of the show and charming gentleman Garrett Jansen .

REMINDER: you can find our master list of the dark and the light here!

For this episode we explore one of my choices, 1999’s classic crime, samurai, hip-hop movie Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai! Curious as to why I picked this movie for my life affirming list? Well, listen to the episode and find out why! Thanks so much to our buddy Garrett for joining and just being a joy of a guest. It’s nice to have someone on who laughs at our dumb jokes since we refuse to laugh at each others. I freaking love this movie and I was glad to get to discuss it.
For those wanting to watch ahead, our next episode we will be talking about 1974’s Cockfighter, a movie I am told is great but I walked out of at an Ex-Fest because the animal violence was a bit much for me. NOW I HAVE TO WATCH IT ANYWAY, THANKS EVAN

oK THANKS FOR LISTENING AND TELL ALL YOUR DEGENRATE FRIENDS PLEASE

Spin the wheel, take a chance, who knows what dreams you will find. Yes it is finally here, the inaugural episode of GHOUL ROULETTE, the podcast where your two goofy hosts spin the wheel of pain and see if what they find is bleak or joyous…cinema wise.

You can find the master list here!

Basically, in case you are very new to this, Evan and I have put together a list of 60 movies, 30 from each of us. Evan, as he is like to, chose some of the darkest movies he could think of. They actually span the range of bummer cinema, from the depressing to the gruesome. I, on the other hand, tried to pick movies that made me feel good OR others suggested as life affirming movies. Granted, some of these choices will seem weird, but the goal was not to rely SOLELY on the sappy and instead to also feature the fun and the triumphant.

For this episode the winds of fate have blown us to 1981’s Christiane F a German film depicting the true life story of a young women sucked into addiction in Berlin in the late 70s. It is a huge fucking bummer, but also pretty good? Check it out and let us know what you think. To be honest, as a lame dad this movie was a real trial for me, and I was a little worried that this was maybe too close to a D.A.R.E. movie but it is effective and really well done.
Anyway, thanks for listening, please tell a friend, and join us next time to see what the fates have dealt us on the WHEEL OF PAIN..and sometimes pleasure

All good things come to an end…and even ridiculous shit like this podcast gotta go. Thanks for joining us on this trip, we appreciate you very much! The summer may be over, but the Ghoul adventure will continue very soon. For now, enjoy me complaining about this movie and Evan admitting that it is maybe not great, but he still has affection for it. Sorry if this is late, today has been a mess and I am stressing about so much stuff. Still, it is nice to know that you may listen to this, remember something gross from this film, and maybe feel as bad as I do. Solidarity I guess.

Look out everybody, it’s another guest episode! On this awesome episode we are joined by John Hades who you may know from DEVIL MASTER, SCARAB, or FINAL RESTING PLACE. This dude rips and really is making music in Philly that much more sick, BUT ALSO He is an OG fan of the Coffin Joe movies which is exactly what we needed for this episode! Thanks John for joining us, you were just a joy to have as a guest, and folks please go check out his music. If you have never seen a Coffin Joe movie, maybe check those out as well.

HEY, IS SOMEBODY GONNA KILL THIS KID OR WHAT? Hey friends, welcome to prestigious episode 11 of GHOUL SUMMER, the podcast that explores bummer movies so you don’t have to, though you probably should. On this episode we discuss the possibly not so ghoulish Who Can Kill a Child? We are joined by the indominable Mike Dikk of THE FIRST SEVEN INCH CLUB, as well as KISSING CONTEST and just the internet generally speaking. Mike picked our 70s slice of exploitation after all kinds of shifting of films so if you watched the wrong thing in preparation of this episode, apologies.

Thanks again to Mike for coming on, check out his podcast, it rules. Thanks to all of you for listening and please tell a friend. Ok Cool.