Optimism Vaccine – Details, episodes & analysis

THIS WEEK: See No Evil (2006) and See No Evil 2 (2014)

It doesn't get much worse than this, folks. We're exploring the origins of WWE Films via the limp, senseless misadventures of Jacob Goodnight. Will Vince McMahon's callous attempt to christen Glenn Jacobs the new face of fear succeed? Find out next Sunday at Survivor Series.

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THIS WEEK: Dee Snider's Strangeland (1998), Feardotcom (2002) and Cry_Wolf (2005)

We’ve traveled down Route 66 and across the Australian outback but one road remains: THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY. Join us as explore the dangers of chat rooms, cyber bullying, and haunted Flash websites.

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THIS WEEK: Caged Heat (1974), Crazy Mama (1975), Last Embrace (1979)

Before Jonathan Demme was hanging out with David Byrne and winning Oscars, he was pumping out exploitation flicks for Roger Corman and doing weird Hitchcock homages

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THIS WEEK: Dead Bang (1989), The Hot Spot (1990), and Harley Davidson and The Marlboro Man (1991)

While fans of nepo babies doing adaptations of Z-grade erotica might be crying out for more Dakota Johnson, real film heads know you can't beat the cinema of daddy Don. Sure you know him from the beaches of Miami Vice and the... nashy bridges of Nash Bridges, but what about the great movies Don Johnson starred in between those two hit TV series? Turns out DJ has a few tricks up his sleeve (we're not talking about his musical chops) and just might surprise you as a leading man and action film star.

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THIS WEEK: Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (1991) and Silent Night (2012)

Oh, wow. They just kept making these, huh? Once again the beloved Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise swerves into another totally unrelated story about how Mickey Rooney is a weird little creep who looks like someone tried to make an obese baby out of a sponge. And there's a robot this time and some Freudian MILF business going on. And hey! Did you know someone did a DTV "remake" of the original Silent Night, Deadly Night in 2012 starring Malcolm McDowell? Shocking Twist: It has almost nothing to do with the first film or any of the sequels. Merry Christmas, I guess.

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THIS WEEK: Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989) and Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation

After Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 was reduced to an underfunded clip show, you would think more sequels to the beloved holiday slasher would be unlikely. Shows what you know. As a testament to unexplained franchise resiliency, two more sequels quickly followed from the legendary Monte Hellman (with a twin peaks adjacent cast) and splatter god Brian Yuzna (with special effects from Screaming Mad George). Just for added fun, neither really has much to do with the rest of the franchise or Christmas. But hey, why would that matter?

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THIS WEEK: Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) and Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)

This year, you made it through David Gordon Green's Halloween. But can you survive three decades of Silent Night, Deadly Night?

Probably!

The first two movies are pretty great, actually. Find out why one is a stone-cold second-wave slasher classic and the other transcends meme-ification and a money-grab clip show structure to become something extraordinary.

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THIS WEEK: This Man Must Die AKA Que La Bête Meure (1969), La Rupture AKA The Breach (1970), Torment AKA L'enfer (1994)

Murder! Jealousy! Acid trips! Claude Chabrol sure knows how to hook you. He's also made roughly one zillion movies and they all seem to be pretty great. Guess we'll keep doing these episodes!

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THIS WEEK: Skinamarink (2022) and Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural (1973)

Turns out the scariest movie of 2022 is a zero-budget, Canadian horror film that trades cheap scares for foreboding liminal spaces.

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THIS WEEK: Blood Freak (1972)

This year, we have a lot to be thankful for. Shag carpet, wood panel walls, Pall Mall cigarettes, half-baked Animorph murder turkeys, cool drugs, and scar tissue from third-degree burns - the list goes on. Join us as we celebrate this joyous American holiday by watching one of the most foundational no-budget Floridian films of all time, Blood Freak.

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