188. The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971) & Witchfinder General (1968)

This week, we discuss two films from American director Jules Dassin. The first is Topkapi (1964), a heist comedy based on the 1962 novel The Light of Day by Eric Ambler. The plot follows a small-time con artist who gets roped into helping a gang of international art thieves steal an emerald-encrusted dagger from Istanbul's Topkapı Palace, while he is simultaneously forced to spy on them for the Turkish police. The second is The Naked City (1948), a crime procedural starring Barry Fitzgerald. Shot almost entirely on location in New York City, the film depicts the police investigation that follows the murder of a young model. Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:25) – Peacemaker season two, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, One Battle After Another, 28 Days Later, Brave, Sirat, Crossfire Topkapi  (00:16:00) The Naked City  (00:49:30) Coin toss (01:19:45)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films from Italian director Matteo Garrone. The first is Gomorrah (2008), based on the non-fiction book of the same name by Roberto Saviano. It depicts warring factions in a Camorra family in a rough neighbourhood of Naples. The second is Io Capitano (2023), which follows two cousins making the perilous journey from Senegal to Italy and the terrible hardships they must overcome en route. Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:32) – One Battle After Another, La Isla Minima, Peacemaker, Superman, The Insider Gomorrah (00:23:20) Io Capitano (01:01:00) Coin toss (01:26:20)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films about young women forced to become assassins. The first is The Villainess (2017), directed by Jung Byung-gil, starring Kim Ok-vin. According to Jung, the movie was inspired by La Femme Nikita, which he watched at the age of 10. The second is La Femme Nikita (1990), written and directed by Luc Besson. The film stars Anne Parillaud as the title character, a criminal who is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment before being recruited as a state assassin. Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:25) – The Long Walk, Titanic, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, My Life as a Courgette, Three Days of the Condor, Ponyo, Aladdin, Task The Villainess (00:33:50) La Femme Nikita (00:57:20) Coin toss (01:33:40)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two pioneering British folk horror films. The first is The Blood on Satan's Claw (1971). Set in early 18th-century England, it follows the residents of a rural village whose youth fall under the influence of a demonic presence after a local farmer unearths a mysterious deformed skull buried in a field. The second is Witchfinder General (1968). The film is a heavily fictionalised account of the murderous witch-hunting exploits of Matthew Hopkins, a lawyer who falsely claimed to have been appointed as a Witchfinder General by Parliament during the English Civil War to root out sorcery and witchcraft. Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – The Summit, King & Conqueror, Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping The Blood on Satan’s Claw (00:17:55) Witchfinder General (00:48:30) Coin toss (01:21:50)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films dealing with colonialism in Africa. The first is Cobra Verde, directed by Werner Herzog and starring Klaus Kinski, in their fifth and final collaboration. Based upon Bruce Chatwin's 1980 novel The Viceroy of Ouidah, the film depicts the life of a fictional slave trader who travels to the West African kingdom of Dahomey. The second is White Material, directed by Claire Denis and co-written with Marie NDiaye. The film stars Isabelle Huppert as Maria Vial, a struggling French coffee producer in an unnamed French-speaking African country who decides to stay at her coffee plantation in spite of an erupting civil war. Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life, Alan Partridge’s Scissored Isle, Barry season four, Robot Dreams Cobra Verde (00:14:20) White Material (00:42:50) Coin toss (01:08:25)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two New York police films from 1981. The first is Nighthawks, which follows Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams as a couple of undercover detctives tasked with taking down a ruthless international terrorist played by Rutger Hauer. The second is Fort Apache, The Bronx, which stars Paul Newman as Murphy, a veteran street cop who faces numerous daily challenges in one of the roughest neighbourhoods in New York. Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:25) – Weapons, Friendship Nighthawks (00:12:15) Fort Apache, The Bronx (00:46:25) Coin toss (01:12:35)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two crime films from director Richard Brooks. The first is Looking for Mr. Goodbar, based on Judith Rossner's best-selling 1975 novel of the same title, which was inspired by the 1973 murder of New York City schoolteacher Roseann Quinn. The film stars Diane Keaton, Richard Gere and Tom Berenger. The second is In Cold Blood, based on Truman Capote's groundbreaking 1966 nonfiction novel. It stars Robert Blake and Scott Wilson as two down-and-out criminals who murder a family of four in small town Kansas.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:25) – Weapons, Bring Her Back, Peacemaker season one and two, The Northman, Inception, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1, Licorice Pizza, Alien: Earth season one Looking for Mr. Goodbar (00:27:20) In Cold Blood (00:54:50) Coin toss (01:13:15)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films about people imprisoned overseas. The first is A Prayer Before Dawn (2017), which tells the true story of Billy Moore, a British boxer and heroin addict who spent a number of years incarcerated in Thailand in brutal conditions. The second is Papillon (1973), starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. The film is based on the autobiography of Henri Charrière, a safecracker sentenced to life imprisonment in French Guiana.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – Karen Pirie season two, Barry season three, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, King of the Hill season fourteen, The Naked Gun, Frozen 2, Aladdin, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight   A Prayer Before Dawn (00:23:50) Papillon (00:54:00) Coin toss (01:28:20)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two crime films set in Jamaica. The first is The Harder They Come (1972), which stars Jimmy Cliff as Ivanhoe Martin, a young man who, after failing to make it as a musician, becomes an outlaw. The film’s soundtrack is famed for bringing reggae to a global audience. The second is Yardie (2018), which tells the story of a young man named D who moves from Jamaica to London in the 1980s and becomes embroiled in the criminal underworld. Yardie was Idris Elba’s directorial debut.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:00:30) – Severance season one, The Accountant 2, When We Were Kings, Superman, Talk to Me, Happy Gilmore 2   The Harder They Come (00:31:50) Yardie (01:04:30) Coin toss (01:27:45)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com

This week, we discuss two films from American director John Sturges. The first is Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), which stars Spencer Tracy as a WW2 vet who uncovers a dark secret in a small desert town. The second is Gunfight at the OK Corral (1957), which retells the story of the infamous 1881 shootout featuring Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday and the Cochise County Cowboys in the town of Tombstone, Arizona.   Timestamps What we’ve been watching (00:01:00) – Jaws @ 50, The French Connection, As Tears Go By, Avengers: Infinity War Bad Day at Black Rock (00:16:00) Gunfight at the OK Corral (00:45:35) Coin toss (01:27:35)   Links Instagram - @callitfriendopodcast @munnywales @andyjayritchie   Letterboxd – @andycifpod @fat-tits mcmahon   Justwatch.com – streaming and rental links - https://www.justwatch.com