Re-Animator (1985), From Beyond (1986), and Dagon (2001)

Bringing the works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft to the screen is not an easy task. Much of the horror Lovecraft talked about wasn't described or explained too much, leaving it up to the reader. But when director Stuart Gordon, producer Brian Yuzna, and writer Dennis Paoli got together to adapt Lovecraft's 1922 story "Herbert West - Re-Animator" for a movie, they changed cinema forever. Not only did they show us more than Lovecraft would ever dream of, they created a perfect blend of outrageous horror, gore, and bizarre imagery that would immediately put them in the horror history books.

The following year, they took another short story, From Beyond, first published in 1934, and showed even more strange, bizarre, and gooey things we'd seen before, going beyond then what the short story told us.

Then 15 years later, these three deranged creators returned to Lovecraft to take us to a fishing village filled with very unusual citizens, in 2001's Dagon.

While Gordon's filmography might not be filled with classic after classic, when he hit a home run, usually he was working with Yuzna and Paoli.

Films mentioned in this episode:

Black Gloves (2017), Color Out of Space (2019), Dagon (2001), Dust Devil (1992), From Beyond (1986), Halloween (1978), Hardware (1990), Lord of Tears (2013), Re-Animator (1985), Shrews Nest (2014), To Let (2006), Witching and Bitching (2013)

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978).

We've decided to take on a little twist here, doing an on-going series that we're calling Twice Told Tales. This is where we are going to compare two films, an original and its remake. This is not to say which one is better, but to highlight the positives of both, what we feel works, and the differences between them.

For our first episode in this series, we're going to tackle the first two versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. We're not discussing about the 2 later day versions for any reasons specifically, but wanted to concentrate on the two that are more well know, and obviously because they were the first two versions. With both of these titles recently being released on 4K, you might find yourself wanting to upgrade. Careful, there are spoilers here, but I'm sure any fan of any merit already knows of what we'll speak about. Enjoy!

Movies mentioned in this episode:

Alien (1979), Black Christmas (1974), The Birds (1963), The Body Snatchers (1993), The Brood (1979), Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995), Dead Zone (1983), Don’t Look Now (1973), Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920), (1931), (1941), The Golem (1914), (1920), (1936), The Fly (1986), Henry & June (1990), Invaders from Mars (1953), The Invasion (2007), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Lost Boys (1987), The Mummy (1932), (1959), (1999), (2017), The Phantom of the Opera (1925), (1943), (1962), (1988), (1998), Psycho (1960), (1998), Song at Midnight (1937), Suspiria (1977), The Thing (1982), The Thing from Another World (1951), Shock Waves (1977), The Stuff (1985)

Mother's Day (1980), Madman (1981), Pieces (1982), and Evil Dead Trap (1988)

When you’re talking about horror films with most non-horror fans, they usually are thinking about the slashers which they seem to encapsule all of that genre. But when us fans start to dig into that sub-genre, that’s when the questions arise, parameters seemed like they have to set, even though plenty of the films go out of their way to beyond said parameters. As if any were meant to stay between the lines!

Then you start to delve into when the sub-genre started, which can then start another round of questions and discussions.

To help get those arguments . . . we mean discussions started, in this episode we’re going to cover 4 different slasher films, granted, of varying types, but we feel still fits into the category of slasher films. And to help with this, we’ve invited Aaron Crowell, Managing Editor of HorrorHound Magazine back to join in the conversation.

Movies mentioned in this episode:

Amsterdamned (1988), Angel Guts: High School Coed (1978), The Bad Seed (1956), Beyond the Darkness (1979), Black Christmas (1974), Blood Song (1982), Candyman (1992), Don’t Go in the House (1979), Don’t Go to Sleep (1982), Evil Dead Trap (1988), Evil Dead Trap 2 (1992), The Exorcist (1973), Final Exam (1981), Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks (1974), Friday the 13th (1980), Frightmare (1974), The Girl in Room 2A (1974), The Girl Next Door (2007), Halloween (1978), Hatchet (2006), House on Sorority Row (1982), The Incubus (1982), It Follows (1914), Killer Party (1986), Lady Frankenstein (1971), The Leopard Man (1943), Living Doll (1990), The Lost (2006), Madman (1981), Maniac (1980), Mother’s Day (1980), Mother’s Day (2010), My Bloody Valentine (1981), Offspring (2009), Paranormal Activity (2007), Peeping Tom (1960), Pieces (1982), Psycho (1960), Rape Man (2008)The Rift (1990), Satan’s Blood (1978), Scream (1996), Slaughter High (1986), The Slayer (1982), Sleepaway Camp (1983), Slugs (1988), Sting of Death (1965), Supersonic Man (1979), Superstition (1982), Terrifier (2016), Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Thanksgiving (2023), The Thing (1982), Thirteen Women (1932), Tourist Trap (1979), The Woman (2011), You’re Next (2011)