Quiet Little Horrors

When you’re up for a bad time, Kiyoshi Kurosawa always comes through. We discuss the “tortured detective pursues a serial killer and finds an existential crisis” tale that is Kurosawa’s 1997 masterpiece Cure.

Strap in, there’s a lot to cover in director Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride! We like its moxie, but are mixed on its results. Highlights include: the modern depiction of Frankie, Jessie Buckley’s ferocity, and the unequivocal support for messy and mad women.

We haven’t covered many 90s horror movies because they tended to be not subtle or … good. But Stir of Echoes is something of an overlooked psychological horror gem, in a 90s, blue-collar, Kevin Bacon sort of way. Join us for a discussion about themes of social commentary ahead of their time, indie queen Illeana Douglas and how we definitely can’t afford a house in that neighborhood of Chicago anymore (it’s more relevant to the film than it sounds like, promise).

We tackle our first documentary with The Last Sacrifice, a sprawling look at the 1945 murder that inspired the story behind The Wicker Man and, by extension, the folk horror film genre and modern paganism. Like the doc, our discussion moves from the inciting incident and into why we think stories like these endure. Also, a moment of silence for never getting the opportunity to be 1970s witches.

In which we continue our Powell and Pressburger coverage and identity three primary life lessons: men should wear more shorts, don’t repress your emotions and thus lose your mind, and no colonialism. Let’s talk about Black Narcissus.

Ambition, Technicolor, fairy tales, how to be an artist in an unforgiving society, and terrible, terrible men. Let’s talk about Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes.

This episode is the all about the hallucinatory Technicolor, Japanese ghost story anthology film Kwaidan. We discuss the film’s theatrical style, the enduring power of folklore and why you probably shouldn’t marry strange women you meet in snowy woods.

Tio Guillermo finally got his passion project Frankenstein on the screen and we have thoughts. We talk about the adaptation’s cinematic legacy, the story’s historical origins and all the details of Oscar Isaac’s obsessive, villainous character study.

We close another year and our sixth full season with a list of our favorite episodes and films from 2025, as well as what we’re looking forward to in 2026. Thanks for listening and happy new year!