S7E1. Oh, that's tacky: Murder by Death (1976)

We're knee deep in spoof territory over here at Weirding Way Media so why not keep the trend going? Mike White and Chris Stachiw join me to talk about an old favorite of mine, Murder by Death (1976). Written by Neil Simon and directed by Robert Moore, Murder by Death is a send-up of whodunits with some of our more well-known detectives getting the parody treatment. The film stars James Coco, Peter Falk, Elsa Lanchester, David Niven, Peter Sellers, and Maggie Smith as some suspiciously familiar faces. Eileen Brennan, Truman Capote, Alec Guinness, Richard Narita, Nancy Walker, and Estelle Winwood round out the cast in this murderous farce. Of course we discuss the problematic portrayal of an Asian character by Peter Sellers, so be warned!

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

New Year, Two New Shows!

First up is my new venture with my old friend Ronald Dzerigian. In Cambridge & Wishon we discuss the obsessions from our childhood that have shaped who we are today. In this premiere episode we talk about Star Wars figures, Harry Houdini, Movie Monsters by Ormsby, Joseph Merrick, The Muppets, and the Alien Movie Novel.

Next up is the ten episode limited series on Police Squad! (1982) with my podcast buddies and Weirding Way Media big-wigs Mike White and Chris Stachiw. In the first episode we go back to Airplane! (1980) where the ZAZ team and Leslie Nielsen first worked together.

Hit the LinkTree on the right of your screen to find where these shows are playing. 

S6E2. Quid pro quo: The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Come and celebrate the four year anniversary of Wake Up Heavy with this Very Special Episode on a film in my Top Ten of All Time list. Chris Stachiw (The Kulturecast) and Mike White (The Projection Booth Podcast) join me to discuss Jonathan Demme's 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs. 

Written by Ted Tally and based on the novel by Thomas Harris, Silence stars Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee, Scott Glenn as Special Agent Jack Crawford, Anthony Hopkins as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and Ted Levine as Jame Gumb, aka Jamie Gumb, aka John Grant, aka Jack Gordon, aka Buffalo Bill. The film follows Starling as she matches wits with Lecter in an attempt to track down a notorious serial killer before he can kill and skin his next victim. The film was a huge financial and critical success and went on to win “The Big Five” categories at the 1992 Academy Awards.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

Begley on Begley Action Month at The Kulturecast

Sometime last year Chris asked me to program a month of shows for February 2022 over at The Kulturecast and I was both honored and excited to take a crack at it. I pondered a number of different themes: favorite director, favorite actor, only movies I've never seen, movies with people who share my birthday, etc. etc. etc. But then an obvious theme presented itself, which would also cover some of the other ideas I'd run through my head. Chris asked me early on, as many people do, if my name was pronounced the same as Ed Begley, Jr.'s, which I affirmed. This prompted him to mention his disdain for the film Transylvania 6-5000, which I had to admit I've never seen. This has since become a running gag between us, and so I thought, "Well, Ed's been in some great movies so I'll make Chris watch four of those." I then set about to pick four from the vast and varied Ed Begley, Jr. filmography (330 acting credits!).

I didn't necessarily pick films with big Begley roles (these are mostly bit parts) but they do represent films that hit childhood nostalgia, feature a favorite actor or director, and one that I'd never seen. 

First up is Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1971), one of Disney's Dexter Riley (Kurt Russell) films, which I absolutely loved as a kid. Mike White from The Projection Booth Podcast joined us for this episode. Enjoy!

Listen to "Now You See Him Now You Don't" on Spreaker.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

Next up is Cockfighter (1974), directed by Monte Hellman. If you listen to my show you've heard me talk about this one. A bunch. Ed Begley, Jr. plays Tom Peeples, a shiftless hillbilly who gets his comeuppance and then some! This time Chris and I are joined by Cullen Gallagher for a rollicking good time.

Listen to "Cockfighter" on Spreaker.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

Citizens Band (1977) was the "new-to-me" selection for Begley on Begley Action Month. Directed by Jonathan Demme with a stacked cast of Demme regulars and 1970s character actors (including WUH favorite Roberts Blossom) CB is a charming slice-of-life look at a small Nebraska town obsessed with CB radios. Ed Begley, Jr. plays The Priest, who believes in G-O-D and not in F-C-C.

Listen to "Citizens Band" on Spreaker.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

Hardcore (1979) our last entry for Begley on Begley Action Month is now here! Ed Begley, Jr. has a glorified cameo, but still manages to be memorable as "Soldier" in a "porno" within the film. Schrader's essay on Calvinism vs. pornography was one of my favorite new-to-me watches of 2020 and have wanted to chat about it ever since. 

Listen to "Hardcore" on Spreaker.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

S5E3. Deranged: Confessions of a Necrophile (1974)

Welcome to the second in a three-episode series on the early horror films of Alan Ormsby and Bob Clark. The series-long co-host is Mike White, from The Projection Booth Podcast, with Heather Drain, Chris Stachiw, and Samm Deighan joining us for one of the three episodes, respectively. Also included in each episode is a portion of an interview with Simon Fitzjohn, who wrote I'm Going to Kill You, a book on the films of Bob Clark. 

On this episode Chris Stachiw joins Mike and me to discuss Deranged: Confessions of a Necrophile, a very faithful telling of the Ed Gein story. Ormsby wrote the script and co-directed the film with Jeff Gillen (an Ormsby/Clark regular), with Bob Clark acting as (an uncredited) producer. As with CSPWDT and Deathdream Ormsby also supplied much of the special make-up effects, with help from a young up-and-comer named Tom Savini.

Roberts Blossom plays Ezra Cobb, a middle-aged mid-westerner who has been sheltered and coddled by his domineering religious zealot of a mother. When she dies, Ezra is left to his own warped devices and starts to lose what little he had left of his sanity. This leads to grave-robbing, morbid arts and crafts, and, ultimately, murder. With Clark regulars Leslie Carlson, as an intrepid news correspondent, and Marian Waldman, as a potential love-interest for Ezra.

Why yes, I have talked about Deranged before. Might be interesting to see what I said back on this early WDIRT episode.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

Guest Spot: Fear Street Trilogy (2021) on The Kulturecast

Listen to "Fear Street" on Spreaker.

Chris invited me back to The Kulturecast to discuss the new Fear Street Trilogy on Netflix. Having never read an R.L. Stine book in my life I figured I was the perfect co-host! Haha.

"We take another break before TV Movie Month with a trilogy of films that reinvigorates the horror genre and queer identity in the genre: Fear Street. Split into three films, they follow the parallel stories of Shadyside and Sunnyvale, towns torn apart due to a witch's curse. After the witch's curse begins again, a group of teens must figure out a way to stop the curse and save Shadyside. Wake Up Heavy's Mark Begley joins Chris to talk all about the films, the films they reference, and the kills."

Guest Spot: KCxWUH: The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do What??

I made another trip to the Kulturecast, but this time Chris has been so kind as to share the episode with me for the WUH audience. 

On this episode we discuss the latest entry in the Conjuring universe, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It (2021), as well as the previous entries, the Annabelle films, The Nun and La Llorona. All, or most, of the films are currently streaming on HBO Max.

WUHxKC: Poltergeist (1982)

The Kulturecast Crossover continues with this look at Tobe Hooper's 1982 horror classic Poltergeist. Chris Stachiw joins WUH to talk about the movie that traumatized him as a wee-one and turned him off of horror for years. We also delve into the sequels and the 2015 remake.

Our Crossover also includes an episode of The Kulturecast on the new Conjuring film, and its cinematic universe. Look for that episode soon in the Wake Up Heavy stream.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page