028: The Hot Spot

Our Boxketeers are in dire need of a little spice after Spooktober, so we've booked a one way ticket to The Hot Spot. Dennis Hopper's ostensibly steamy 1990 noir packs an absolutely dynamite cast - what could be hotter than a film with Don Johnson, Virginia Madsen, and Jennifer Connelly? Well, as it turns out, lots of things, but we slog our way through all the linear twists at this thermal locale. We also talk about the joys of our Two Jacks (Nance & Nitzsche), and how every movie should really just be 78 minutes long. Check it out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc, and scope us at patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast

This week on the Box we've got working artists Kari Cholnoky and Dante Lentz on board, and we're unwrapping 1988's Phantasm 2. The dream-like logic of Don Coscarelli's legacy-spawning OG remains intact, but numero dos delivers More Guns, More Balls, and More Explosions. The 1980s were a heck of a time, no? We also take detours into the world of videogame rentals, cosmic horror, goo, and Star Wars (again, goddammit). Check it out on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc, and scope out Trauma Box at patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast

Trauma Box invites our buddy, musician Beau Wanzer on board for an extra spooktacular affair. While Beau is beloved for his chugging industrial beats - equal parts terrifying and absurdist - he's also a renown connoisseur of horror cinema, and he serves as our guide to the surprisingly fun Frankenhooker, Frank Henenlotter's 1990 cult classic. Frankenhooker delivers more slyly subversive laughs than jumpscares, and we are here for it. We also talk deep VHS box lore, Times Square history, and simple joys of watching brains with eyeballs in jars. Check it out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.

Spooky season continues unabated, and here at the Trauma Box we're teetering on the Edge of the Axe! The VHS box presents José Ramón Larraz's 1988 flick as typical slasher fare of the era, but the movie turned out to be a strangely brooding downbeat giallo, much closer in spirit to films of the 1970s. We also talk about cinematic depictions of car washes, jangly Californian country rock, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, and more! Check it out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc, and scope out our Patreon at www.patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast

'Tis the season for scares, and our Trauma Boxers are going gory this month in celebration of the Hallows and their eve. We're kicking off the spooks with a long-time favorite VHS box: CARNOSAUR. This 1993 jammer is Roger Corman's attempt to siphon off some of the tremendous juice that Jurassic Park was generating. But outside of the dinos and the presence of Laura Dern's mother Diane Ladd, the similarities are scant - Carnosaur is a deeply nihilistic flick, paranoid and punishing. We also talk fried chicken, Jeff Goldbum, and the shape of Clint Howard's head. Tune in on Apple Podcasts, Spotify. etc.

This week, to ring in October, star of stage and screen Sam Pancake graces the Traume Box with his presence. We regretfully watched the 1991 made for tv version of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, starring the luminous Redgrave sisters as two codependent hags jockeying for dominance in an empty Hollywood mansion. The experience was as disquieting as it sounds, but there were lots of fun diversions along the way. If you're in the LA area, go see Sam's hilarious and touching one man show in November: https://ci.ovationtix.com/36684/production/1291297?performanceId=11868574 Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Patreon, and dear God check out Sam's podcasts, The Monday Afternoon Movie Club and OhI The Horror!

What is a mausoleum but a box of trauma? This week, Tyler and Shawn exhume 1983's Mausoleum, a magnificent piece featuring the bountilful gifts of Bobbie Bresee and MARJOE GORTNER. Marjoe, for the uninitiated, was an ordained Evangelical preacher at age 4, who came to reject the church in his teen years, and the man's unusual talents are not wasted in the gutters of early 80s trash cinema. We've also got killer dance sequences, negligees, and ooze and goo galore in this week's episode, so check it out on Apple Music and Spotify. And don't forget to join our Patreon at patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast

Tyler and Shawn welcome Chris Miller aka Gunnar Haslam aka La Synthese Humaine (AND aka Shawn's co-host on the Base Camp Beta podcast) onto the Trauma Box this week for a treacherous dive into James Bond's verboten-era with License to Kill. Sometimes described as the "Cannon Group Bond" film, License to Kill sees the heritage franchise floundering with a brand of charmless, post-Temple of Doom nihilism, but we blast through it with a heroism that surely trumps that of Timothy Dalton's Bond. We also talk about the logistics of underwater fight sequences, cinematic depictions of imaginary Central American countries, and the oh-so-tempting possibility of Shia LeBeouf playing James Bond. Check it out on Apple Pocasts and Spotify!

Tyler and Shawn ring in their *twentieth* episode with a celebration of American Ninja! This absolute stone-cold staple of the video store shelves had somehow evaded both of our watchings over these many decades, and let us tell you, this omission was a real joy to shore up. We talk trash film history via Golan and Globus's Cannon Group, the ninja craze of the 1980s, Michael Dudikoff's sexy broodings, etc etc etc! Check it out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and don't forget to scope us at patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast

The Trauma Box drives Tyler and Shawn to the steamy streets of Two Moon Junction, Zalman King's (of Red Shoe Diaries notoriety) directorial debut. We're no longer in the land of the erotic thriller or the erotic comedy; Two Moon Junction is a film that can only be described as *erotica.* Expect sexy carnies with Fabio-grade pecs, a saxophone-rich soundscape, excessive Freudianisms, excessive-excess, and lots and lots (and lots) of Sherilyn Fenn. My goodness. Check it out on Apple Podcast/Spotify, and scope what we're up to on patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast