IT (1990)

Tommy Lee Walace of Halloween III fame steps into the director's chair for this iconic television adaptation of the epic Stephen King novel. It revolves around 6 children in the town of Derry, Maine who are haunted by an evil cosmic entity that most commonly appears in the form of Pennywise, a sinister "dancing clown". Join us as we discuss this movie. We all float down here. 

Stephen King spent many years after Stanley Kubrick's 1980 adaptation of his book lamenting its existence because of how it deviated from his work. In the 1990s following the success of the 1990 IT miniseries he got his wish to help oversee what he considers a more "true" adaptation of his novel. Join us as we discuss the Mick Garris take of Stephen King's novel about a recovering alcoholic teacher/writer who is hired as a caretaker for a haunted hotel and brings his family with him during an isolated Colorado winter. 

Almost 40 years after the film adaptation of The Shining, we get a bit of a sequel/bridge between the Kubrick vision and Stephen King's novel. This 2019 adaptation of King's Shining sequel catches us up on how Danny Torrance's life has unfolded following the events at the Overlook Hotel. Dan must connect with a gifted child named Abra to help stave off a band of roaming vampires who feast of children that shine.

Our true first episode of 2026, we are going into the world of Stephen King... Kinda. This 1980 adaptation of classic novel definitely changes the story of the work it is based on. Stanley Kubrick's horror masterpiece tells the story of Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) who takes a new job as the caretaker for The Overlook, a beautiful hotel in the Colorado mountains where he, his wife Wendy, and son Danny will be left alone in for the winter. 

This week we are talking the Jon M Chu's adaptation of the famed Broadway play, Wicked is itself an adaptation of Gregory Maguire novel. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande anchor this retelling of the classic Wizard of Oz tale revolving around the life and times of Elphaba Thropp (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda the Good while attending Shiz academy as well as their first visit to the Emerald City of Oz. 

With Wicked: For Good coming to theaters this month, we are are going somehwere over the rainbow to talk about the 1939 adaptation of this book in L. Frank Baum's Oz series. The movie tells the story of a little girl from Kansas whose house gets caught in a tornado that takes her to the enchanted land of Oz. With the help of a Scarecrow, a Tin Man and a Cowardly Lion, she must get to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard who can send her back home. This movie is also anchored by legendary performances from Judy Garland as Dorothy and Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West respectively. 

For spooky season we are starting this year by basically re-making our own first episode of this podcast. We return to John Carpernter's 1978 proto-slasher. In 1963, 6 year old Michael Myers murders his older sister. 15 years after being locked away in a Sanitarium, Michael escapes and returns to his hometown of Haddonfield where he finds and follows a young babysitter. The film debut of Jamie Lee Curtis. 

This week we finally review some 2025 horror again. The follow up to Zach Cregger's 2022 horror film "Barbarian" takes us to the small town of Maybrook who's rocked by the sudden mysterious disappearance of nearly an entire elementary school class and how the shocking tragedy has changed the town around it. Spoiler heavy talk ahead so please watch this film before listening. 

This week we decided to review DC and WB's first attempt at rebooting Superman... Coming one year after Batman Begins, this sort of sequel to Richard Donner and Richard Lester's (respectively) original two films in the franchise sees the Man of Steel return to earth after a five year absence. Lois Lane has moved on in this time and started her own family, few people question why or how Clark Kent also disappeared from a hiatus himself, and we are going to the Lex Luthor well once again with eccentric billionaire villain now being played by Kevin Spacey. Your hosts will also spend some time explaining how we arrived here after Superman II and question why Bryan Singer chose to leave the X-Men franchise for this.

James Gunn officially kicks off the new DC Studios with his long awaited adaptation of the Man of Steel. This movie finally takes Superman out of the grim and gritty era of the Zack Snyder universe and brings back the wonder of the 1978 original with a Superman that is a much needed ray of light in a dark work. This is a SPOILER FILLED review so we do NOT recommend listening to this unless you have already seen this movie.