Cult Film School

Adrian and Dion head out to a cabin in the woods to discuss the new A24 limited series Crystal Lake (2026) in this "Extra Credit" episode. They both just finished watching season one, and get together to share their immediate thoughts. Will the prequel series inject new blood into the Friday the 13th world or make them reminisce about more fulfilling slasher stories?   Chapters: 0:00:12 - Welcome to Cult Film School Extra Credit 0:01:50 - Initial Thoughts on Crystal Lake 0:45:22 - The Verdict?   Connect with Adrian & Dion: Letterboxd ~ CultFilmSchool Instagram ~ @cultfilmschool  Threads ~ @cultfilmschool X ~ @cultfilmschool Facebook  ~ Follow Us! Send an Email ~ [email protected]  Don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Adrian and Dion are back, saying hello to their little friend. In this case, that friend is Howard Hawks' Scarface (1932) and Brian De Palma's remake, Scarface (1983). They discuss the "two Tonys" - Paul Muni as Tony Camonte and Al Pacino as Tony Montana - and the different contexts that give rise to these gangster films. They return to the key aspects of the films that make them both so effective, yet distinguished from one another. Come for gangster film morality tales, stay for lessons in machine gun etiquette and critiques of late-stage capitalism!   Chapters: 0:00:12 - Welcome to Cult Film School 0:11:59 - Scarface (1932): IMDb Plot Summary 0:13:55 - Forgotten film of founding gangster film trilogy? 0:16:06 - Howard Hawks & Howard Hughes 0:18:00 - Tony Camonte as Al Capone 0:19:24 - Scarface's opening as morality tale 0:22:05 - Paul Muni as Tony Camonte 0:28:18 - The gangster film genre 0:34:23 - Scarface supporting characters 0:41:34 - Female characters in Scarface 0:44:09 - Humour in Scarface 0:49:01 - "The World is Yours" and the legacy of Scarface 0:51:22 - Scarface (1932): Tagline 0:53:04 - Scarface (1983): IMDb Plot Summary 0:53:57 - Scarface production history 1:00:47 - Al Pacino as Tony Montana 1:04:48 - "Horror films by way of the western" 1:07:24 - Language, respect, and downfall 1:11:18 - Scarface supporting characters 1:15:16 - Female characters in Scarface 1:23:50 - Humour in Scarface 1:26:09 - Excess, style, and chainsaws 1:30:27 - What makes '83 a good remake? 1:34:42 - Scarface (1983): Tagline 1:35:19 - The Two Tonys 1:41:05 - Next Episode Preview   Connect with Adrian & Dion: Letterboxd ~ CultFilmSchool Instagram ~ @cultfilmschool  Threads ~ @cultfilmschool X ~ @cultfilmschool Facebook  ~ Follow Us! Send an Email ~ [email protected]  Don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Adrian and Dion return with an Extra Credit episode, testing their mettle - and tolerance for clip art - as they face the rest of the trilogy begun with James Nguyen's Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010): Birdemic 2: The Resurrection (2010) and Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle (2022). If they thought the Hitchcocksploitation of the first Birdemic was clear but questionable, what will they think of a filmmaker remaking their own films that attempt to remake Hitchcock? Films within films and Hitchcock trivia abound in the height of cinematic déjà vu!   Chapters: 0:00:12 - Welcome to Cult Film School 0:03:05 - Birdemic 2: The Resurrection (2013): IMDb Plot Summary 0:05:10 - A short production history of Birdemic 2: The Resurrection 0:06:09 - A good "so bad, it's good" sequel? 0:21:33 - An independent voice in Hollywood 0:34:24 - Birdemic 2: The Resurrection (2013): Tagline 0:35:47 - Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle (2022): IMDb Plot Summary 0:36:39 - When a sequel is really a remake… 0:38:18 - Is Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle the worst film we've covered? 0:53:13 - Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle (2022): (No) Tagline 0:53:59 - What is the lesson learned from Birdemic 2: The Resurrection and Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle?   Connect with Adrian & Dion: Letterboxd ~ CultFilmSchool Instagram ~ @cultfilmschool  Threads ~ @cultfilmschool X ~ @cultfilmschool Facebook  ~ Follow Us! Send an Email ~ [email protected]  Don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Adrian and Dion are back again, this time watching the skies for more Hitchcocksploitation. They discuss two attempts to rework Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film The Birds with René Cardona Jr.'s Beaks: The Movie (1987) and James Nguyen's Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010). How close do these films come to Hitchcock's natural horror, and what other kinds of horrors do they unleash on audiences? Adrian and Dion try to figure out the line between loving homage and rip off, and what these films are actually doing in mining Hitchcock's film. Hopefully one of them remembered the coat hangers.   Chapters: 0:00:12 - Welcome to Cult Film School 0:08:52 - Beaks: The Movie (1987): IMDb Plot Summary 0:09:55 - Why was Beaks: The Movie made? 0:17:52 - What kind of film is Beaks: The Movie? 0:21:37 - Hitchcocksploitation - Echoes of The Birds (1963)? 0:33:04 - Beaks: The Movie (1987): Tagline 0:33:37 - Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010): IMDb Plot Summary 0:37:11 - So, how did Birdemic become Birdemic? 0:39:58 - Hitchcocksploitation and Birdemic: Shock and Terror 0:45:31 - What kind of film is Birdemic: Shock and Terror? 0:58:43 - Birdemic sequels 1:01:46 - Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2010): Tagline 1:07:00 - Next Episode Preview   Connect with Adrian & Dion: Letterboxd ~ CultFilmSchool Instagram ~ @cultfilmschool  Threads ~ @cultfilmschool X ~ @cultfilmschool Facebook  ~ Follow Us! Send an Email ~ [email protected]  Don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Adrian and Al lose their minds as they veer off the beaten path in their mutual admiration for Dan Aykroyd's singular and eccentric comedy Nothing But Trouble (1991). While the film is universally maligned, the brothers' unrepentant love in their memories of the film is tested with the rewatch. Have oddities like Bobo and L'il Debbull aged well for them? Is the film still cinema magic, or have their memories betrayed them?   Chapters: 0:00:12 - Welcome to After-School SpeciAL 0:00:50 - Remembering Nothing But Trouble 0:06:31 - The Rewatch 0:31:42 - Rewind or Fast Forward? 0:35:11 - Outro   Connect with Adrian & Al: Letterboxd ~ CultFilmSchool Instagram ~ @cultfilmschool  Threads ~ @cultfilmschool X ~ @cultfilmschool Facebook  ~ Follow Us! Send an Email ~ [email protected]  Don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Adrian and Al are back to reminisce over Fortress (1985), the Ozploitation thriller about kidnappers in Halloween masks and a class of outback schoolchildren, a film with enough violence they certainly shouldn't have seen it as young as they did. But what will Adrian and Al think now of these children and their showdown with their captors? How will they now see that screen violence and, more importantly, what will they make of those kids constantly singing?   Chapters: 0:00:12 - Welcome to After-School SpeciAL 0:02:04 - Remembering Fortress 0:06:29 - The Rewatch 0:36:19 - Rewind or Fast Forward? 0:43:07 - Outro   Connect with Adrian & Al: Letterboxd ~ CultFilmSchool Instagram ~ @cultfilmschool  Threads ~ @cultfilmschool X ~ @cultfilmschool Facebook  ~ Follow Us! Send an Email ~ [email protected]  Don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Adrian and his brother Al revisit Wes Craven's Vampire in Brooklyn (1995), the horror-comedy where the only thing more mysterious than the creatures of the night is a film confused about what it wants to be. Adrian and Al consider whether the film's tone and high points of character comedy and horror set pieces have aged well, or if instead the film should be buried with a stake through its heart.   Chapters: 0:00:12 - Welcome to After-School SpeciAL 0:02:04 - Remembering Vampire in Brooklyn 0:06:59 - The Rewatch 0:36:52 - Rewind or Fast Forward? 0:38:25 - Outro   Connect with Adrian & Al: Letterboxd ~ CultFilmSchool Instagram ~ @cultfilmschool  Threads ~ @cultfilmschool X ~ @cultfilmschool Facebook  ~ Follow Us! Send an Email ~ [email protected]  Don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Adrian and his brother Al revisit Mel Brooks's Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), recalling the characters, set pieces, and quotable lines that made them fall in love with it years ago, but does it still hold that same hypnotic power? Under the circumstances, a rewatch would be normal, perfectly normal.   Chapters: 0:00:12 - Welcome to After-School SpeciAL 0:00:40 - Intro: Take Two 0:01:24 - Remembering Dracula: Dead and Loving It 0:07:20 - The Rewatch 0:34:14 - Rewind or Fast Forward? 0:37:00 - Outro 0:38:15 - Next Episode Preview   Connect with Adrian & Al: Letterboxd ~ CultFilmSchool Instagram ~ @cultfilmschool  Threads ~ @cultfilmschool X ~ @cultfilmschool Facebook  ~ Follow Us! Send an Email ~ [email protected]  Don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Welcome to After-School SpeciAL, a spin-off series where Adrian and his brother Al revisit the films of their VHS-watching youth. Together, they rewatch, re-evaluate, and often re-appreciate these nostalgic favourites, ultimately deciding whether each one deserves a "Rewind" (worth the rewatch) or a "Fast Forward" (leave it in the past).   Chapters: 0:00:12 - Welcome to After-School SpeciAL   Connect with Adrian & Al: Letterboxd ~ CultFilmSchool Instagram ~ @cultfilmschool  Threads ~ @cultfilmschool X ~ @cultfilmschool Facebook  ~ Follow Us! Send an Email ~ [email protected]  Don't forget to leave a rating and review!

Adrian and Dion are joined by Scott Glover, a friend of the show (and "Cult Film School's Personal Deviant in Residence"), to discuss two of his favourite 1990's Erotic Thrillers: Sliver (1993) and The Crush (1993). They go back to revisit the high point of the Erotic Thriller genre in the wake of Fatal Attraction (1987) and Basic Instinct (1992), discussing how these later films played with those genre touchstones, for better and for worse (but more for worse). Come for promises of lurid sex-drenched thrilling escapades, stay for questionable writing and directing choices.   Chapters: 0:00:12 - Welcome to Cult Film School 0:00:32 - Introducing Scott Glover 0:10:49 - Early Memories of The Crush and Sliver 0:15:11 - Sliver (1993): IMDb Plot Summary 0:17:01 - What is an Erotic Thriller? 0:18:53 - We Kill for Love: The Lost World of the Erotic Thriller (2023) 0:23:16 - How is Sliver an Erotic Thriller? 0:26:16 - "This film is Sabrina but with two perverts, right?" 0:28:40 - Silver's Different Cuts and Original Ending… 0:37:57 - Colleen Camp 0:39:28 - … And The Ending of The Novel 0:40:27 - A Failed Romance 0:44:34 - Director Phillip Noyce 0:46:37 - Surveillance Subplot 0:49:18 - The Music Choices of Sliver 0:56:14 - Golden Raspberry Award Winner 0:57:41 - Sliver (1993): Tagline 0:59:56 - The Crush (1993): IMDb Plot Summary 1:00:35 - How is The Crush an Erotic Thriller? 1:09:14 - Not Far Enough 1:14:33 - The Crush's Inspiration and Clunky Dubbing 1:19:25 - The Climax of The Crush 1:24:48 - The Crush (1993): Tagline 1:25:31 - Conclusion and Favourite Erotic Thrillers   Connect with Adrian & Dion: Letterboxd ~ CultFilmSchool Instagram ~ @cultfilmschool  Threads ~ @cultfilmschool X ~ @cultfilmschool Facebook  ~ Follow Us! Send an Email ~ [email protected]  Don't forget to leave a rating and review!