Chewing The Scenery Horror Movie Podcast

Episode 39 is about a giant snake movie. There, we said it. Anaconda is a 1997 nature-run-amock movie starring J-Lo, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Eric Stolz (for a few minutes), Owen Wilson and a few “Red Shirts”. Oh, and don’t forget a giant, shrieking snake! How much weed did certain cast members smoke on set? All of it! Would Ice T do a better job than Ice Cube? Would a sock puppet do a better job than the mechanical snake? Are Jon Voight’s powers drawn from his scowly accent? Did J-Lo’s butt get a producer credit? The answers to these and many more questions are in this episode! Let us axe you sumpthin’….are you ready for the esophagus cam? Are you able to handle a barfed-up bait monkey? Well, put on that sympathy scowl, because Anaconda is coming at you faster than a reverse waterfall! Check us out on Instagram, where we are @chewingthescenery or easily find us on Facebook. Also, please rate, review and subscribe- it really does help us.

Episode 38 is about a 1987 vampire film called Near Dark. Maybe it isn’t a vampire film at all, since they refused to use the word in the dialogue or in promoting the film. Let’s just say the main characters enjoy drinking blood and all happen to have a severe allergy to sunlight. More importantly, it was excellent work from Kathryn Bigelow (director, co-writer) who had a great cast of actors. You might feel you’ve seen some of them together somewhere before. Perhaps in future husband James Cameron’s film Aliens (1986). Since your dear hosts really enjoyed Near Dark, be ready for a little bit of sidetracking. Will talks about how plastic surgery footage seems to blur out the wrong parts and how adorable kids are when they smoke cigarettes. Jolyon explains clotted cream and reveals that he ran across the most racist movie he’s ever seen. It has people blaming earthquakes on the sins of others. Richard admits to people-watching in order to assign them all back stories or figure out their celebrity loo

Episode 37 takes us to deep jungle of Mexico to explore “the Ruins” (2008). Wait, doesn’t that look a little bit like Australia? Well, that’s because it is! There are other secrets to this production, like the fact that big rocks aren’t necessarily the best medical instrument for amputating limbs. And that real Mayan temples have solid steps, not the tread and riser type, duh! Additionally, there are some pesky plants imitating cell phones, young people making bad decisions, bad guys making rash decisions, plants causing rashes, faulty rope hoists and a few other things you might find on Gilligan’s Island. Then we talk about the Santo and Blue Demon movies! This is crazier than a bird trying to steal your tacos! What Hillbilly movie wrestled Will to the ground, forcing his submission? How did Richard end up with foofy blended drink fatigue? What did Jolyon watch that had some mad scientist swapping brains around? Was Richard’s imaginary Mayan movie better than this “real” one? The answers are in th

Episode 36 is an honor for Chewing the Scenery. Judith O'Dea, “Barbara” from the original Night of the Living Dead” sits down with Richard for an interview. She talks about about how she got her start and of course, the 1968 film that changed it all. So, why did Barbara fall apart? Why didn't she take up arms and dispatch those ghouls? Did writer John Russo really know how big this little movie would become? The answers to these questions and more as we get to know this iconic actor and lovely person a little better.

Episode 35 finds your hosts discussing lost films. Considering that only 4% of all films ever made survive today, it’s no surprise that many films are lost for all time. Do some miraculously resurface? Why, yes they do and it’s exciting when it happens. Jolyon fancifully lists his top 5 most desired finds, including missing scenes of King Kong (1933) smashing into a poker game! Will admits to imagining a wild version of Return of the Jedi and warns you to stay off of Frankenstein Island (1981) because it sucks. You know what else sucked? The Six Million Dollar Man action figure. Your hosts harken back to the days when kids could play with explosives as well as dolls. Do Roman Candle fights and bottle rocket wars result in video store fires? You’ll find out in this episode! It’s time to hear the action-packed story of a seamonster with thrills, suspense and whatnot! Check us out on Instagram, where we are @chewingthescenery or easily find us on Facebook. Also, please rate, review and subscribe- it

Episode 34 is about a cult classic you must see. Spider Baby (filmed in 1964, released in 1967) is weird, surreal, creepy, sexual, disturbing and a whole lot of other adjectives. Whereas Interview with the Vampire made Will wonder how they change the lightbulbs in the ceiling of the movie theater, Spider Baby made him wonder how he’d missed seeing this film a long time ago. Richard gets to wondering how much Rob Zombie borrowed from this film (aside from the great Sid Haig). Jolyon reveals the existence of a sub-genre he calls the “Nudie Western”. You’ll hear birthday wishes to a trio of late, great horror actors and a pro tip on how to avoid the trouble of actually slanting the floor of your evil hideout. Who should play Michael Myers in the next Halloween movie? Suggestions fly like bats in the studio! Will the upcoming Misfits reunion tour be called “the Earlybird Special”? You’ll find out! So, put on your Necromancer Pants and get ready for a good time! Check us out on Instagram, where we are @c

Episode 33 brings us an excellent guest. Author and university professor Stephen Graham Jones sits in! Jolyon met Stephen at a signing for his new werewolf book, Mongrels and invited him to join us. The result is a great discussion of all kinds of werewolf books, movies and TV shows. Will Mongrels become a major motion picture? We hope so! How about “Bite Club” or “Surf Werewolves Must Die”? Maybe not so much. Are slashers killing sexually active people as a moral lesson or just because they’re naked and otherwise occupied? Listen and find out! Now, get your gas station comic books and spare jeans and get ready to wolf out! Buy Stephen’s book, Mongrels anywhere books are sold. Check us out on Instagram, where we are @chewingthescenery or easily find us on Facebook. Also, please rate, review and subscribe- it really does help us.

Episode 32 is an honor for Chewing the Scenery. Russ Streiner, “Johnny” from the original Night of the Living Dead” sits down with Richard for an interview packed full of information and insights about the 1968 film that changed it all. In fact, Russ promises that with the 50th anniversary of NOTLD on the horizon, he and the rest of the filmmakers and actors will have some “tricks up their sleeve” to celebrate it. So, why did Johnny have fancy driving gloves for a Pontiac LeMans? Why did Richard pay him 75 cents? What’s the Pittsburgh Film Office? The answers to these questions and more as we get to know this iconic actor/producer a little better. Now, check to see if there’s any of that candy left and let’s start whistling past the graveyard, because he’s coming to get you! Check us out on Instagram, where we are @chewingthescenery or easily find us on Facebook. Also, please rate, review and subscribe- it really does help us.

Episode 31 is an episode that is short, sweet and to the point. Brain Damage is fun, funny, crazy and tragic. What else can you say about this “cool eel turd character” and the hosts that cart him around to eat human brains? Sure, your hosts discuss things like how Jolyon is not the guy who makes yacht furniture and how artist people always seem to get paid in “exposure”, Thats not all. There’s also fun stuff like the idea of old, sleazy New York City being made into an amusement park “experience ride”. We won’t even charge extra for the pistol! Does domestication take the fun and sexiness out of witches? Would a bad toupee make the Aylmer into Trump? The answers to these and more questions are in this episode! So, turn on, juice up and go crazy….it’s one hell of a ride! Check us out on Instagram, where we are @chewingthescenery or easily find us on Facebook. Also, please rate, review and subscribe- it really does help us.

Episode 30 brings you to the place. You came of your own free will. It’s time to keep your appointment with the Wicker Man. What does this English film from 1973 do so right that the 2006 remake forgets to do entirely? Be good? Opinions may vary, but one thing is for sure- laugh for laugh, the original doesn’t have it over the remake. That’s Jolyon’s view on the hilarity that is Nicolas Cage on a rampage in a bear suit. Oh, and then there are bees….so many bees! Where the original has brilliant music and the talent of Christopher Lee, the remake has fiery flashbacks and the fighting abilities of Nicolas Cage. And lotsa yelling! Will calls the remake “dumb,dumb,dumb,dumb storytelling” yet has watched it several times. Do the people who attend the Burning Man festival know they’re totally copying the original movie’s aesthetic? We aren’t sure. Would James Franco make a good Gilligan? That’s a solid yes, as long as Nic Cage gets to play the Professor! Now rattle that pill bottle, check your epi pen

Episode 29 is about the very serious condition of Lycanthropy, also known as being a werewolf. Okay, not the condition itself, but movies about it. Werewolves have had a place in folklore for centuries, so it makes sense that our movies would welcome them. In this episode, Will pans a movie that hasn't even been made yet and explains how to spot a Canadian werewolf movie. Did Richard encounter hippie werewolves in an old mining camp, or were they just growing weed? You’ll get plumbing tips from Jolyon and find out which werewolf movie unwittingly gave us the earliest cinematic instance of “that’s what she said”. This episode feels like a one-way trip into Englishland, but not without meeting Glazed Donut Killa and Cruller Hand Luke. Are you familiar with the naked balloon thief? You soon will be! So, tie yourself to a chair, face that full moon and have an enjoyable listen. Check us out on Instagram, where we are @chewingthescenery or easily find us on Facebook. Also, please rate, review and subscribe-

Episode 28 is a bit of lighter fare….The Invisible Man. Don’t get us wrong- he’s a fiend and a murdering psychopath, but there is no gore. Richard and Will seem to think that vanilla is difficult to procure but Jolyon reads aloud an invisibility formula for all to hear. What will you do with the power of invisibility? Your hosts see your choices as fairly limited: theft, revenge, random acts of buttkickery, and pranks. And maybe haunting for profit. While Una O’Connor is the real horror of this film, other films contain things like invisible dogs and invisible Nazis. None of them ride a bike in the nude like Claude Rains, however. If you ever wondered what the old lady from Titanic looked like when she was young, you’ll see her in this film. Now, fix up a dose of Monocaine, bandage up your head and go charging headlong into this discussion of a beloved classic. Check us out on Instagram, where we are @chewingthescenery or easily find us on Facebook. Also, please rate, review and subscribe- it really d

Episode 27. The Exorcist. It’s remembered as the scariest thing you could lay eyes on. Your hosts say things like: “a really good movie, not terrifying at all” and “beautifully made but boring”. Is this because author/screenwriter William Peter Blatty and director William Friedkin contend that it’s not a horror movie? Although by today’s standards the Exorcist may not be particularly shocking, in 1973 there weren’t demon gods just wandering about, lopping off heads and selling cheap shirts. You had to work to be desensitized back then! What is it about Satan’s face that made Will laugh aloud in a theater? Are English demons more polite than American ones? Did Tim Burton decorate the desecrated statue prop? Was Ronald Reagan in a drag show? The answers to these questions and more in this episode! Your hosts jump around a bit, but that may just be muscle spasms. It’s time to saddle up the Wild West Buckaroo Bed and ride toward the Oscar for blasphemy! Check us out on Instagram, where we are @chewingt

Episode 26 is a milestone! We are halfway through our first year and having a good time. There might even be caramel popcorn crunching now and again. Your hosts discuss Haxan (1922) in as much detail as we can pull off, having been delayed a few weeks. The conversation begins with Pumpkinhead, Clint Eastwood fighting a giant spider, Film Noir icon Slappy Dan and the sexual overtones of how a butter churn is built and operated. Does all of TV and movies look like California to Will? Is Richard convinced that Shatner’s best performance was as the mask in Halloween? After noticing two rounds of Devil ass-kissing in this ambitious silent film, we discuss Satanic Panic and some tales of interest from back in the day. Were there really Arizona Witch Trials? The only way to find out is to listen! Now, behold as we drop the science like Linus on Christmas! Check us out on Instagram, where we are @chewingthescenery or easily find us on Facebook. Also, please rate, review and subscribe- it really does help u

Episode 25 has a special guest weighing in on a classic, Shaun of the Dead! Who knows each frame of this RomZomCom better than the guy who drew the comic book version, Zach Howard? He may be full of fire, but he knows his Shaun of the Dead and he knows his comics! The retreading of superhero stories is a hot-button issue, but you’ll see why. This movie has Will’s very favorite zombie defense weapon, the mug tree! Richard gets shamed for even knowing of Dracula 2000, but Gerard Butler seems to get away with having starred in it. Jolyon is called out for a peculiar recommendation in the Godzilla category, and is accused of having 4000 lbs of Godzilla porn. Is there a penis in Teen Wolf? Does a werewolf in a silent movie need a title card when he farts? The answers to these and many more questions await. Check us out on Instagram, where we are @chewingthescenery or easily find us on Facebook. Also, please rate, review and subscribe- it really does help us.

Episode 24 is a MUSIC SPECIAL featuring two bands near and dear to our hearts. "Wait, what? I like music, but you guys were gonna talk about Haxan (1922), what happened?” One of us was ill, but not as ill as the tracks we’re laying down from the MOON-RAYS and THE LIVING DEADS! Haxan is going to leapfrog over Shaun of the Dead, so it’ll all work out in the end. Or in two weeks. Meanwhile, the MOON-RAYS, who provide our incomparable intro music are showcased along with Rockabilly badasses THE LIVING DEADS! So, swing by the tiki bar, grab a cocktail and enjoy some great music! Check us out on Instagram, where we are @chewingthescenery or easily find us on Facebook. Also, please rate, review and subscribe- it really does help us.

Episode 23 is an epic one! Your fearless hosts take on another "Original vs. Remake” with Dawn of the Dead! The 1978 original is Jolyon’s very favorite horror movie and he’ll explain why. And while the 2004 remake has some good ideas, none of them compare to Will’s idea of wearing a dog pelt in the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse. Why is there a head in a cooler? Isn’t Lake Michigan a body of fresh water? And does Mall Jail reform jerks? Answers to these and more questions await! So, put your Zombabies to bed and loot yourself a bottle of the good stuff, because we’ve got this one by the ass! Check us out on Instagram, where we are @chewingthescenery or easily find us on Facebook. Also, please rate, review and subscribe- it really does help us.

Episode 22 was recorded immediately after we talked about the Witch. The big idea was to cover a bee movie and keep a light mood about it while getting our recording schedule back on track. So light was the mood that we all forgot how the 1966 film, the Deadly Bees ended. So, ignore the spoiler warning! After almost conjuring up Candyman, your hosts talk about television vomit. Would a television network use the slogan “Carroty Buckets of Sick”? Maybe they should! And what is a “stabbin’ cabin” anyway? You’ll find out! Jolyon explains how honey bees are “messengers of the gods” and Richard explains how all hornets are dicks. You are in more danger of getting punched by Muhammed Ali than getting stung by real killer bees, but this was the first movie that started it all. Will describes it as “a pleasant movie with some bee murders”. We think you’ll agree!

Episode 21 has your wicked hosts consorting with evil goats and bunnies. Yes, we saw the Witch (or VVitch, if you’d prefer) and are excited to talk about it! Jolyon provides some historical information about the persecution of witches in Europe as well as the New World. Richard talks about the 70’s Dream Team of Evel Knievel, Ali, Killer Bees, Bigfoot and KISS. Although this movie beats the pants off of the Blair Witch, we still discuss our memories of that old gem. Why did Jolyon have to avert his eyes? You’ll soon know. And what does Will think of another Purge movie? He’ll sum it up in two words! Gather round the bonfire, we’re gonna party like it’s 1630!

Episode 20 finds your dear hosts having stepped in it once again! Yes, we’re talking about a good movie. The 2015 sci-fi horror movie, Ex Machina has a somber tone but also stimulates your imagination. Hey, you know what else stimulates the imagination? The idea of battling zombies in nothing but boots, a Speedo and a backpack. Have you ever seen a greased pig contest? Will has! What does this have to do with a smart film about hubris undone by machines? Nothing! The movie is really good so we sidetrack a lot. Maybe dancing the Hustle in a movie is symbolic or maybe we’re just a bunch of cockeyed optimists, but one thing is for sure….if the sexy robots don’t kill you, the dehydration will! Check us out on Instagram, where we are chewingthescenery or easily find us on Facebook. Also, please rate, review and subscribe- it really does help us.