Episode 140 - Ninjas are Mammals

We decided to come racing into the new year, kicking and punching and shooting. Welcome to the wild and dangerous world of the legendary ninja! We start off with 1985's Nine Deaths of the Ninja, which stars Sho Kosugi as a member of an anti-terrorist force who hates watermelons but loves kittens.  His team is sent up against an evil group that includes Colonel Honeyhump and the father of the lead-singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers...it's as weird, and wonderful as you are thinking it is.  We follow that up with 1984's Ninja Busters, which stars no one, but is so full of innocent charm and goofy sincerity that it's almost impossible to dislike.  We enjoyed these movies on levels that you don't expect to find when you sit down to watch something with the word "ninja" in the title. Let us know what you thought of the show and also what you'd like to see us cover as we move into 2019. You can write to us at flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com.  You can also reach us on our Facebook page, on Twitter and even over at Instagram!

 

Episode 139 - Christmas in the Cave

Ho Ho No!!! It's that time of year again, so we have strung tinsel and lights all over the cave. Listen in as we raise a glass of nog and crunch roasted chestnuts as we discuss two twisted tales about that little old elf known as Santa Claus.  We start off with 1984's "Don't Open Till Christmas", from the team that brought us the movie Pieces, this yule log barely floats, but does feature a surprisingly high kill-count and a decidedly family-unfriendly amount of nudity. The film had a troubled past, but none of that excuses it's many flaws and missteps. Instead, turn your attention to 1980's "Christmas Evil". Now THIS is how to do a dark and twisted Christmas story. The story focuses on Harry, who LOVES the holidays and especially Santa. He is a special kind of crazy though, and we get to see the last part of his slide into insanity. This is good stuff and will have you wondering why you've waited so long to see it.
This is our final podcast of 2018 and we want to thank everyone for sticking around for so long. We will be back in 2019 with more weird and interesting movies, so keep writing to us with your thoughts, requests, suggestions, and nude photos. You can reach us at flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. If you'd rather, you can post a message on our Facebook page, or over on Twitter @cavewalls, or on Instagram.
Happy Holidays and New Years to All!

Episode 138 - Mermaids and Murderers

We focus on noted genre filmmaker, Curtis Harrington on the podcast this time. We start off with his first feature, 1961's Night Tide, starring a very young Dennis Hopper as a young sailor that falls in love with a mysterious woman who seems to leave a trail of bodies in her wake. We follow that up with 1973's The Killing Kind which features a bravura performance by John Savage as Terry, the son of legendary actress Ann Southern. Terry is finally out of prison for a horrific crime, and is finding his head full of thoughts of revenge. These are very different films, but both are compelling and worth searching out. The Killing Kind, in particular, was truly a revelation, but is packed with problematic moments and a list of trigger-warnings as long a mermaid's tail.
Let us know what you thought of the show and recommend other films for us to look at by writing to us at flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Get in touch! We'd love to hear from you!

 

Episode 137 - Cult Potential

With Julie gone this time, on assignment for "Action News from the Cave", we went for some older, weirder, more obscure selections for the podcast this time. Both films are focused on cults, but there's not a single blue oyster anywhere to be found. We start off with 1972's Enter the Devil, from director Frank Q. Dobbs. It is set in south-western US border town where strange lights and the sound of chanting are disturbing the locals. So they call in an expert who's studying strange cults to get to the bottom of things. This is a solid, but really low-budget production that exceeds it's budgetary restraints in truly impressive fashion. A well told, tight little story and surprisingly good performances ( for the most part ) really set this one at the top of the heap. We follow that up with 1975's The Astrologer ( also known as Suicide Cult ) which was the directorial debut of James Glickenhaus, who would go on to give the world ( and this podcast ) many more films. It is adapted from a novel about a top-secret government group called "Interzod" that studies the "zodiacal potential" of every person on earth, and follows their quest to discover the identity of the second coming of Christ...it is just as crazy as that sounds, and very compelling stuff. We recommend both films! Another thing we recommend is for you to write us a goddamn letter! You can send correspondence to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. If you're more comfortable with Facebook, you can leave us a message over there...you can reach us on Twitter @cavewalls or on Instagram @flickersfromthecave.

Episode 136 - What Scares You - Vol. 1

We are going to do a Halloween-themed series of shows, focused on each host's personal fears. The first focuses on Julie's fear of clowns! The rest of us totally understand her fear and we found two very disparate films that feature clowns. We start off with 1989's Clownhouse from convicted child molester Victor Salva...The conversation breezes through the film itself and then settles in to a conversation about Salva and the stories about groups of pedophiles who are in charge of Hollywood. We leave this unsavory topic behind and move on to a truly stellar film, 2014's Clown...all we can say is WOW! This was a great horror movie, and it's currently streaming on Netflix so check it out.
Let us know what scares YOU by writing to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also post messages to us on Facebook, tweet at us @cavewalls or follow us on Instagram.

Episode 135 - Everybody Whack Chang Tonight

Thank you Julie for this awesome pairing of 90s action movies! We start off with 1992's Rapid Fire, starring the late Brandon Lee in a totally fun tale of crooked good guys, and sneaky bad guys and lots and lots of breaking glass. It completely satisfies the craving for mindless action. We follow up with the surprisingly-good The Perfect Weapon from 1991 which stars Jeff Speakman as a total badass who settles a metric ton of hash as he punches, whacks and kicks members of the Korean mob for 90 minutes. It is a mountain of fun and we have now made a vow to throw more of his movies into the mix. If you know of other films starring these two, let us know by writing to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also post a message on our Facebook page or follow us on Twitter and Instagram.

Episode 134 - A Burt in the Hand

Our goal this time was to bid farewell to a legend. The world recently lost the ground-breaking Burt Reynolds and we could not let that moment pass without honoring him. We decided to celebrate Burt by focusing on two films where he was both the director AND the lead. We start off with 1985's Stick, which is based on a novel by another legend, Mr. Elmore Leonard. It's a tale of an ex-con, trying to get back on his feet after being released from prison. He gets wrapped up with some illegal goings-on that ends the life of his good friend and sets him on a circuitous path for revenge. With a great cast playing great characters, there are a lot of things to enjoy here. Even though the film is VERY far from perfect, we do recommend it with a few caveats. We follow that up with a movie that really made a splash when it was released in 1981, Sharky's Machine. Featuring a truly stellar cast and with some really impressive dialogue, this movie should've been much more satisfying than it was. We talk at length about the sexual politics of the movie and how it really makes it hard for the audience to pull for Sharky and we wish it had taken a different direction in certain areas. Overall, we still enjoyed it, but it feels like it was just slightly off the mark from being a masterpiece of police cinema.  Let us know your favorite Burt Reynolds movie by writing to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also leave us a message on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram...get in touch with us, even if it's just to say hello!

Episode 133 - Cave of Conspiracy

We delve into dark corners of the cave this time as we look at two films from the 70s that focus on conspiracy theories. We start off with a TV movie from 1970 called "The Brotherhood of the Bell" which stars Glenn Ford and many other big names. It borrows from the legends of the Skull and Bones group at Yale that has given us multiple US presidents. The movie had enormous potential but we disagree about how successful it is with capitalizing on it. We follow that up with 1973's "Executive Action" which we all agree was a far superior film. It depicts a possible scenario to explain the assassination of John F. Kennedy and it is chilling to watch the masterminds at work behind the scenes, plotting to murder a sitting president.  Throughout the episode we ramble...at length...at extreme length, so...brace yourself. Please let us know some of your favorite conspiracy theories by writing to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also post to our Facebook page, or message us on Twitter @cavewalls or even follow us over on Instagram.

 

Episode 132 - Proms and Trains and Terrormobiles

We ALL love Jamie Lee Curtis, and it was in the 1980s when she cemented her status as the ultimate "scream queen". We look at two films released in 1980 where she is the lead and where young adults and "teens" are carved, and sliced, and diced...We start off with Prom Night which is a familiar tale of a prank-gone-wrong and the eventual, bloody, revenge for that prank. A largely-great supporting cast, including Leslie Nielsen in a tiny role, help tell the tale. Genuinely engaging and very satisfying on every level.  We follow that up with Terror Train which Julie described as "Bloody Clue" which is really accurate if you're familiar with Parker Brother's classic mystery game.  A bunch of college students pile into an old train for a special New Year's Eve ride which turns into a game of cat and mouse as a mysterious passenger is killing off students, one by one, in revenge for a prank-gone-wrong ( sound familiar? ). This is another fun one, but the last 20-30 minutes are very intense with some truly haunting moments.  We loved both of these and recommend them highly. Please write to us with your own recommendations of other slasher films from the 1980s that you think more people should know about. Send emails to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also post messages to our Facebook page, or message us on Twitter, and please follow us on Instagram while you're at it!

 

Episode 131 - The Town That Dreaded Evictors

We happily ran back into the arms of legendary Arkansas film-maker, Charles B. Pierce this time on the podcast, choosing two of the films that he directed. We start of with "The Evictors" from 1979. With a great cast featuring Jessica Harper, Michael Parks and Vic Morrow, it is an effective tale of mysterious goings-on at a house in the 1940s. We follow it up with probably his second-most famous film "The Town That Dreaded Sundown" from 1976. With the incredible Andrew Prine and a fun cameo role by Pierce himself as "Sparkplug", this movie REALLY delivers some memorable moments as it tells the tale of a hooded killer called "The Phantom" that is stalking the back roads of Texarkana, claiming victims. We truly understand why this film has the excellent reputation it has. Let us know what you thought of the show by writing to flickersfrom@yahoo.com or flickersfrom@gmail.com. You can also post messages to us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!