The MacGuffin

In honor of the release of Star Trek Into Darkness, Spencer and Greg discuss Simon Pegg.

When you’ve run the gamut on monsters like vampires and zombies, it seems logical that the next best place to go would be werewolves. The cool thing about werewolves is that they’re a more primal, unchained, and psychologically imbalanced kind of monster than the brooding pseudo-sexual vampire, or the decaying, decrepit metaphor for humanity that is the zombie. Werewolves are a Jekyll-and-Hyde archetype, and, as such, can play the range of terror from tragic to downright rampaging emotion. Like any good monster, though, werewolves are not just great because they exist—it’s their application to the story that makes all the difference.

Spencer and Greg give their DVD rundown for May 15th, 2012. In this episode they discuss The Grey, Chronicle, and Being John Malkovich Blu-ray Criterion edition.

A staircase spirals around, leading you down underneath the Experience Music Project Museum. You know you’re heading in the right direction because things have taken a darker turn. The lighting has the distinct color of red, and in the background you can hear the faint cries and screams of people in desperate need of some help. Off on the left wall from the staircase is a large black and white collage of nameless faces, all perfectly photographed at the precise moment they let out a horrific shriek. It goes without saying that the tone the EMP is going for at this particular point is to create some kind of descent into a hellish place. At the bottom of the stairwell are glass doors, and once a person walks through them, they enter a world of goblins, ghouls, monsters, and a whole bunch of other really cool stuff.

With the Halloween season in full swing, there is no doubt that people will be seeing their fair share of horror films and suspenseful thrillers throughout the month. For my double feature recommendation, I decided to go a little further back into the vault. I really dig older films, and I especially enjoy older horror movies. Maybe because of the fact that films in those days were restricted in what they could show. While there is certainly a place for gory movies in all of their bloody goodness, I also think there’s a place where tension, atmosphere, and suggestion can also share in the spotlight. With that said, I decided to recommend two films that delve wonderfully into those latter aspects. Those two movies are George Waggner’s The Wolf Man (1941) and Jacques Tourneur’s Cat People (1942).

Spencer and John discuss Jennifer Aniston in advance of Horrible Bosses, share some directors they want to make comebacks and give their DVD picks of the week.

Every Saturday night The Tomb of Terror opens, unleashing reviews of the obscure and the classic in horror cinema.

At one time, John Landis was on one of the best rolls of any comedy director. Following the cult success of Kentucky Fried Movie in 1977, he made the comedy classics National Lampoon’s Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Trading Places, and my vote for best horror film of all time, An American Werewolf in London. Then Twilight Zone: The Movie happened. We’ve all heard the story. Vic Morrow and two illegally-hired child actors were killed when a special effect went bad and caused a helicopter to fall from the sky. Even though Landis was acquitted of all charges related to the incident, it has haunted him his entire career since. He still managed a couple of hits after this incident, including the iconic music video for Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and the Eddie Murphy vehicle Coming to America. Unfortunately, his 90s output mainly consisted of failure (Beverly Hills Cop III) after failure (The Stupids) after failure (Blues Brothers 2000). Burke and Hare, which is playing as part of the 2011 Seattle International Film Festival, is his first narrative feature in twelve years and is also his best in nearly twenty.

Another MacGuffin Film Podcast Top 5′s segment. This time, Brandi and Allen share their thoughts after watching the films they assigned each other in “Top 5 Films They Should Have Seen.”

If you need a refresher, you can watch the Top 5 – Films They Should Have Seen (Part I).

An American Werewolf in London
1981; written and directed by John Landis

John: Werewolves are my favorite horror monsters and this is my favorite horror movie of all time.

The Scenesters (2009) is an inventive independent film written and directed by Todd Berger.  In a way, it’s almost too inventive, to the point that it’s kind of difficult to explain what kind of movie it is.  It’s part film noir, mystery, slasher film, pseudo documentary, love story, and comedy.  Despite the many genres the film takes and the utter implausibility of the plot, in its own nutty way, it all comes together in a film that is highly entertaining and watchable, there wasn’t a single moment where I wasn’t interested in what was happening on screen.  There’s a little bit of everything for everyone here to enjoy.