Hard Candy

Cate and Meg discuss colors, social justice, corny writing, and of course, our guy Patrick Wilson!

NQD is kicking off an all-new season focusing on the horror scream king Patrick Wilson! The modern horror icon stars in our first movie of the year: The Conjuring (2013). Director James Wan kicks off this horror movie franchise with Patrick Wilson alongside Vera Farmiga playing real-life paranormal investigator couple Ed and Lorraine Warren. They're skeptical of the haunting at the Perron house...until they get there. Discussion points include: 1970s sideburns, vintage real estate, mother/daughter relationships.

Don't say his name a third time! Tim Burton is back 30ish years later with the long-awaited sequel to Beetlejuice. Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, and Catherine O'Hara from the original are back too, joined by newcomers Jenna Ortega, Monica Bellucci and Justin Theroux. Beetlejuice is surprisingly helpful in this jaunt to get Lydia's daughter out of the underworld. Discussion points include: stitching fetishes, unnecessary B-plots, the excellent Catherine O'Hara.

Is this our silliest episode yet? You tell us! To cap off the 2024 year and our zombie season, we're bringing you Dead Snow. The 2009 flick Dead Snow delivers exactly what's on the label: a Nazi zombie campy horror movie. Come for the cheesy plot, stay for the copious blood and guts. Discussion points include: Nazi zombies (duh), snowmobile skiing, a disgusting outhouse rendezvous.

Planet Terror introduces NQD to yet another type of zombie: the biochemical-warfare induced mutant! Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror was released as one-half of the Grindhouse production alongside Quentin Tarantino's Deathproof. Arguably and demonstrably the more successful of the two, Planet Terror follows a ragtag group just trying to survive: a go-go dancer, her ex-lover, an unhappily married pair of doctors, the town sheriff, and the sheriff's BBQ-joint running brother. Discussion points include: tongue abscesses, campy quantities of blood, unnecessary director self-inserts.

NQD tackles their first Uwe Boll-directed movie, and it lives up to his reputation! House of the Dead (2003) is a zombie movie of contradictions - so much death, yet so very boring. A group of friends are going to a rave on a remote rainforest island, but quickly discover zombies are on the rampage. With help from the smuggling boat crewmen that took them to the island, a handful of ravers, and a harbor patrolwoman, the friends attempt to kill as many zombies as they can. Discussion points include: video game cut scenes, immortal Spanish priests, movie references or ripoffs?

The Girl with all the Gifts is a beautiful, thought-provoking zombie movie. We loved it and we think you will too! It's a criminally under-watched film, so make sure to add it to your rental queue! Melanie, a zombie-human hybrid child, escapes the military compound she's lived her whole life in and helps guide a group of humans across London. Discussion points include: alignment charts, military compounds, next-generation zombies.

Milla Jovovich, how we love you. NQD is bringing you the original 2002 Resident Evil, the very first in a five movie franchise. Special guest David Celarie from the horror movie podcast Knight Light joins us to discuss all of the gruesome action and play a special game! Jovovich fights off amnesia, zombies, and a shady tech company in this horror-action flick. Discussion points include: video game adaptations, memory loss, evil mega-corporations.

It’s World War Z, the blockbuster sensation filled with the fastest zombies we’ve ever seen.  Based on a global best-selling book, WWZ is an action-packed jaunt around the world with Brad Pitt at the helm as UN special investigator.  Discussion points include: plane crash scenes, traumatized spare children, unnecessary family plot. 

A remake that’s…pretty good! Dawn of the Dead is already a zombie classic, and while this version doesn’t update much, it does place us squarely in the early 2000s. Special guests High on Film’s Brad Davis and Chris Maxwell join us for this action-packed episode!  Before he was releasing cuts of DC movies, Zack Snyder directed the remake of Dawn of the Dead. Featuring the iconic mall setting and a creepy little zombie baby, it’s a modern classic!  Discussion points include: mall theft, power-tripping security guards, and the saddest chess game ever.