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The Octemberfest Podcast

Octemberfest Cast

It started with the Octemberfest, a 31 day binge of horror movies good or bad... but mostly bad. Now it has grown, or mutated, or infected other genres. Choose your own verb here... I'm binging all the things! Every month we'll tackle a slate of movies with a common element, be it theme or actor or protagonist's name, and try to break down the whole set into less than an hour of mockery and trivia. Except for Octember, we're still doing that crazy 100+ madness in Octember. Let the Fest of Fests begin!

octemberfest.substack.com

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Saturday · 34 min
Octemberfest 101 - Week 5 - The Traumatic 2000s
Mission Accomplished! Like Gee Dub at the start of the millennium, I haven’t really achieved anything, but I did what I set out to do this month. 101 years, 101 films, poured through my eyes and ears directly into my brainstem, pushing out useful information and filling my memory banks with additional useless facts and esoteric film trivia! Who needs to remember how to spell their name anymore? AI will assign us new names! Better names! Just ask Elon Musk’s children… This week we close out the season with twenty seven movies from the third millennia: Rage monsters on Mars, zombies on trains, vampires… in…. SPAAAAAACE! We get a month of dark, two days on an angry ancient greenhouse, sixth months of house arrest in New Zealand! By the end we’re haunted and Endless and Glorious… I hope this doesn’t lead to Obesession… I promise, this will make some sense if you listen to the episode… or maybe it won’t! I need a martini. Featured Films: * 2000 - Dracula 2000 * 2001 - Ghosts of Mars * 2002 - Eight Legged Freaks * 2003 - House of the Dead * 2004 - Dracula 3000 * 2005 - An American Haunting * 2006 - Severance * 2007 - 30 Days of Night * 2008 - The Ruins * 2009 - Zombieland * 2010 - Black Death * 2011 - The Tunnel * 2012 - John Dies at the End * 2013 - Odd Thomas * 2014 - Housebound * 2015 - The Lazarus Effect * 2016 - Train to Busan * 2017 - The Endless * 2018 - Hell Fest * 2019 - Velvet Buzzsaw * 2020 - Host * 2021 - The Night House * 2022 - Glorious * 2023 - No One Will Save You * 2024 - Shelby Oaks * 2025 - Abraham’s Boys * 2026 - Obsession This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
October 24 · 33 min
Octemberfest 101 - Week 4 - The Enigmatic ‘80s and Nefarious ‘90s!
This year’s genre journey has reached my personal favorite era, the heyday of direct-to-video madness. Pretty much anyone could and did make a movie during these decades, and while I didn’t watch anything shot on video this year (Things, anyone?) I did watch a whole lot of low-budget slop pushed out in plastic boxes with deceptive artwork and misleading titles primed to draw the eye of a passing future film nerd. The 80s and nineties deliver the whole stack: good, bad, and boring, but mostly what the VHS decades provide us is weird. This week I bring you kids broken by catching their parents getting freaky, the MTV generation’s answer to Willy Wonka, nightmares and lurking fears and just plain fears. Shadows and curses and evil genies and multiple books of the dead. It’s not just horror, it’s X-TREME! So grab your skateboard or BMX and do an ollie while slamming a Mountain Dew in day-glo shorts, ‘cuz we’re getting all the Gen X here. Featured Films: * 1980 - Nightmares * 1981 - The Beyond * 1982 - Mortuary * 1983 - Of Unknown Origin * 1984 - The Initiation * 1985 - Day of the Dead * 1986 - Neon Maniacs * 1987 - The Curse * 1988 - Killer Klowns from Outer Space * 1989 - Leviathan * 1990 - Arachnophobia * 1991 - Cast a Deadly Spell * 1992 - Spellcaster * 1993 - Night Terrors * 1994 - Lurking Fear * 1995 - The Fear * 1996 - Necronomicon * 1997 - Wishmaster * 1998 - Shadow Builder * 1999 - Lake Placid This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
October 17 · 29 min
Octemberfest 101 - Week 3 - The Screamin’ ‘60s and Savage ‘70s!
Censorship gives way to creativity in this era, and gods do I hate that there were times I missed the Production Code. Unshackled filmmakers go all out with the mind-warping madness as our time-travelling trial continues. The films are definitely more unique… mostly… even the one’s based on familiar stories. This week we’ve got curse bloodlines, vicious vignettes, hauntings and horrors. We’ve got Poe and Lovecraft, Gogol and Glam-Rock Goethe. Cosmic horrors! Ancient Curses! Zombies! Vampires! Killer bats! A goddamn bed that fucking eats people! Stop reading and listen to me try and untangle all this mess already. Featured Films: * 1960 - House of Usher * 1961 - Curse of the Werewolf * 1962 - Tales of Terror * 1963 - The Haunting * 1964 - The Gorgon * 1965 - The Tomb of Ligeia * 1966 - Die, Monster, Die! * 1967 - Viy * 1968 - Night of the Living Dead * 1969 - Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed * 1970 - The Dunwich Horror * 1971 - The House That Dripped Blood * 1972 - Vampire Circus * 1973 - The Legend of Hell House * 1974 - Phantom of the Paradise * 1975 - Jaws * 1976 - Creature from Black Lake * 1977 - Death Bed: The Bed That Eats * 1978 - The Evil * 1979 - Nightwing This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
October 10 · 22 min
Octemberfest 101 - Week 2 - The Forlorn ‘40s and Fiendish ‘50s!
Our historic crawl through a century of cinema continues! Listen along as I watch an endless stream of movies starring the same people in the same roles with different names! Movies so original you’ll forget which is which… almost all of these involve an evil genius. I guess we’re not the only era that is afraid of science. This week we see mad scientists making evil kites, trying to turn solicitors into supermen, and operating the least efficient eugenics program ever. We get things from other worlds, IT coming from outerspace and beyond the stars. Crab monsters, giant lizards, and invisible aliens. Also, I watched The Bat for the third time! Featured Films: * 1940 – The Devil Bat * 1941 – The Invisible Ghost * 1942 – The Boogie Man Will Get You * 1943 – Dead Men Walk * 1944 – Voodoo Man * 1945 – Dead of Night * 1946 – The Spiral Staircase * 1947 – Scared to Death * 1948 – Unknown Island * 1949 – Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad * 1950 – Orpheus * 1951 – The Thing from Another World * 1952 – Ghost Ship * 1953 – It Came From Outer Space * 1954 – Godzilla (Gojira) * 1955 – It Came From Beneath the Sea * 1956 – Forbidden Planet * 1957 – Attack of the Crab Monsters * 1958 – It! The Terror from Beyond Space * 1959 – The Bat This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
October 3 · 16 min
Octemberfest 101 - Week 1 - The Goring ‘20s and Hurty ‘30s!
Octemberfest returns! This year we’re getting historic, crawling our way from 1926 to 2026 one movie at a time. Each week I’ll be watching about two decades worth of films, then regurgitating my thoughts into a microphone for posterity! Who knows, maybe in 100 years someone will listen to this as part of a series retrospective on the rise and fall of podcasting… I’m at least as well produced as some of the garbage I watch… This week we’ve got bats, we’ve got cats, we’ve got ravens and wax. The early days were full of gaslighting and mysteries you’ll guess the ending of in about eight minutes, but what you DON’T get is sound for four years or color for pretty much the whole stretch, or one original film! Exciting stuff, right? Strap in for a month of horror, twenty years at a time… well, fourteen this week, but whose counting. Featured Films: * 1926 -The Bat * 1927 - The Cat and the Canary * 1928 - La Chute De La Maison Usher (Fall of the House of Usher) * 1929 - Seven Footprints to Satan * 1930 - The Bat Whispers * 1931 - Dracula * 1932 - The Old Dark House * 1933 - Mystery of the Wax Museum * 1934 - The Black Cat * 1935 - The Raven * 1936 - Revolt of the Zombies * 1937 - Love from a Stranger * 1938 - The Lady Vanishes * 1939 - Hound of the Baskervilles This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
September 13 · 25 min
CurryFest
To mark the passing of a strange cinema titan, I spent a weekend smashing Tim Curry films into my headholes. From the great to the good, the meh to the bleh, the talented Brit always upped the game. So come along and with him a fond “going home”. This time we’ve got board game based murder mystery, puppet piracy, an example of why Sylvester Stallone shouldn’t do Shakespeare, a really bad cartoon that is probably responsible for James Cameron’s Avatar, alien cross-dressers traumatizing white kids, the scariest villain put to screen in a PG movie, and another reason to dislike Tom Arnold! Featured Films: * Clue (1985) * Muppet Treasure Island (1996) * Oscar (1991) * FernGully: The Last Rainforest (1992) * The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) * Legend (1985) * McHale’s Navy (1997) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
August 31 · 22 min
FarceFest
We all know the best part of comedy is when some know-it-all asshole breaks down how and why things are funny, right? Well, this month I’m that asshole! Come and sit ‘round the fire while I rapidly move through a batch of spoof films, telling you which ones you should like and which should be cast into the sun along with all of the rest of the worlds’ evils! Featured Films: * Airplane! (1980) * Top Secret! (1984) * Hot Shots! (1991) * Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) * Scary Movie (2000) * Not Another Teen Movie (2001) * Disaster Movie (2008) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
July 24 · 37 min
AmericaFest
As if an episode on Independence Day wasn’t enough, I’m spoiling you all with a binge on real America movies, mostly produced by foreigners! This month we’ll dive into 60s nostalgia by the man who ruined the childhood of generations, explore the complexities and inconsistencies in making a comedy about CIA black ops during ‘nam, experience ninja magic, marvel at Marvel before the MCU, shine a light on an overlooked gem of brain-washing entertainment, sing some inappropriate songs, and get real depressed about the fallout of 80s corporate capitalism! Exciting stuff, right? Grab your sparklers and party hat and give it a listen! Featured Films: * American Graffiti (1973) * Air America (1990) (Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, not George) * American Ninja (1985) * Captain America (1990) * American Ultra (2015) * Team America: World Police (2004) * American Psycho (2000) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
July 4 · 1 hr
Independence Day (1996)
On this 250th anniversary of ‘Murika, we also celebrate 30 years of Roland Emmerich destroying the White House with a sky laser! Come experience our madness as we attempt to remember how to do this whole podcast thing and talk about bad science, poor planning, extraterrestrial anatomy and how owning a dog can protect you from extinction level events. Note, any audio disruption you experience is the result of an alien signal using our microphones to synchronize their devastating attack on miniatures of world landmarks. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
July 1 · 49 min
RealityFest
This month’s Fest features two movies I’ve been wanting to talk about for a while, two movies that surprised me with competence, and three movies I don’t ever want to think about again… so I’m pushing all my pain on to you! You’re Welcome! In this episode we have a telekinetic landscaper, a silicate-based android Natural Born Killer, the worst of the nineties, the videogame version of Needful Things, half of a movie with the grown-up and less charismatic incarnation of the kid from A Christmas Story, a robot aquatic rapist, and I honestly do not know. Enjoy some raw techno-sewage from the finest pits of 90s sci-fi sludge! Movies Consumed: * Lawnmower Man (1992) * Virtuosity (1995) * Ghost in the Machine (1993) * Brainscan (1994) * Arcade (1993) * Johnny Mnemonic (1995) * Tank Girl (1995) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
May 15 · 28 min
IslandFest
It’s time for another entirely arbitrarily themed movie binge! This time I decided to watch a whole bunch of movies that take place on or near islands, because why not? Sail with me as I navigate the savage seas of cinema, traveling from the south pacific to southern Asia, and beyond! We’ve got romantic brain injuries, animated earworms, surprisingly resilient children, aged aviators, hijacking hijinx, forgotten comedic oddities and dinosaurs! Turns out paradise ain’t all it’s cracked up to be… I need a vacation from my vacation movies… The Fest:50 First Dates (2004)Moana (2016)The Blue Lagoon (1980)Six Days Seven Nights (1998)Deep Rising (1998)Volunteers (1985)Jurassic Park (1993) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
April 29 · 25 min
420fest!
Pull on your tie-dye, crank up the Phish, light your incense… it’s 420fest! This month I experimental with the medicinal properties of marijuana… comedies. Most of the were fun! All of them would probably have been more fun if I were baked like a loaded potato! Instead I had to experience the stupidity of Punkstubble Ingress with a clear head… and it broke me. Listen and learn!Movies featured:Reefer Madness (1936) * Up in Smoke (1978) * Dazed and Confused (1993) * Half Baked (1998) * Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (2004) * Grandma’s Boy (2006) * Pineapple Express (2008) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
March 20 · 39 min
FridayFest!
sigh I should REALLY know better by now. The Leprechauntlet, The Final Destinationathon… running through an entire horror franchise is like offering your grey matter to a blender, but I keep doing it. Join me as I lose track of time, continuity, plot points and sanity by watching all 10 Friday the 13th/Jason movies in a week… and then spending another week trying to distill them into less than ten hours of scathing review! I need to watch something good now… where’s my copy of Ishtar? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
February 25 · 25 min
MegRyanFest!
It’s a new year, it’s a new direction. Given that DOZENS of people seemed to enjoy the Decemberfest episode, and I can’t seem to wrangle my co-hosts into spending six hours bitching about movies with me, I’ve decided to lean into my super-power: Sitting still for a full day and absorbing content!This episode marks the first of this year’s mini-fests, I’ll be picking a topic and watching 8-10 movies each month and wrapping them up Octemberfest style. Don’t worry, fan, I’ll still be doing the whole horror overload when the time comes… but for the off months, I’ll be spreading the love to other genres as well. This time, in honor of St. Valentine or something, I subjected myself to eight RomComs from the 90s (+/- a couple years) all starring Meg Ryan. So tune in to hear the most romantic man on the internet explain love as only a middle-aged loner can… A quick note, I forget to mention it in the cast but Nora Ephron (director of two of these flicks) wrote When Harry Met Sally… It’s a worthy fact. This week’s line-up: * Joe Versus the Volcano (1990) * Sleepless In Seattle (1993) * You’ve Got Mail (1998) * Kate and Leopold (2001) * Innerspace (1987) * IQ (1994) * Addicted to Love (1997) * When Harry Met Sally (1989) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
January 14 · 1 hr 54 min
Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006)
Oh boy, this one’s a doozy… A few months back the crew and I sat down to watch one of our favorite underdog flicks, Scott Glosserman’s quasi-mockumentary slasher Behind the Mask. We mixed it up a bit, adding a FOURTH voice to the cast, which was good fun but made this a real pain to put together… forgive any echo I couldn’t scrape out, I did my best. Strap in for almost two hours of four idiots talking about alternate realities, slasher tropes, determinism, and the ethics of homicide as a hobby! As always, this episode was brought to you by whiskey. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
Dec 25, 2025 · 24 min
Decemberfest '25
Happy Holidays! I have worked tirelessly in the movie mines to scrape together something a little different this time… the first ever Decemberfest Cast! With help from a co-hosting elf, who made a list I should have checked twice, I binged twenty Christmas movies to destroy my mental stability and rant about for your amusement… some of them weren’t the worst things I’ve ever watched! There are about 294,231,458 schlocky holiday flicks out there, so if this is entertaining to anyone I may subject myself to this again for your enjoyment next season! In the meantime, have a listen as I tackle some 80s comedy classics, some sewage culled directly from the butthole of an angry angry spirit, and some mediocre romantic comedies made to go directly to streaming! Also, I watched some musical special by a singer I’ve never heard of… Check it out, to make this misery worthwhile! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
Oct 31, 2025 · 39 min
Octemberfest '25: Week 4+ Round-up
Someone queue up the band, play the victory music, renew my subscription to Disney+… The binge is done! Another successful(?) year of cinematic masochism has been completed, and the total count is… 110 goddamn movies. What am I doing with my life… This week is a double episode as we tackle some wet stuff, some camp stuff, some CAMP camp stuff, some 80s stuff, MORE 80s stuff, MORE 80s stuff but with psychics, ALL the Destinations Final, Demons, Birds, Bad parenting, really weird stuff, some odd points of view, and the Ghostbusters. Who ARE you going to call? Wins of the Week:The Deep House (2021)Chopping Mall (1986)Waxwork (1988)Stagefright (1987)Demons (1985)Demon Knight (1995)Psycho (1960)The Birds (1963)Dreamscape (1984)Cobweb (2023)Longlegs (2024)Ghostbusters (1984)Ghostbusters II (1989) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
Oct 22, 2025 · 20 min
Octemberfest '25: Week 3 Round-up
Three weeks… 67 movies… still 10 days left… oh geez… This time we go back to the cold isolation of a research station from the 80s, wander some dangerous trails, play with kittens, spotlight three Italian directors, have a wild ride with Jennifer Connelly, and get stalked by killers. Some real weird in this batch. Wins of the Week: * The Thing (1982) * Hell House, LLC (2015) * Poltergeist (1982) * Deer Camp ‘86 (2024) * Devil’s Pass (2013) * Two Evil Eyes (1990) * Phenomena (1985) * Black Sunday (1960) * Bloody Axe Wound (2024) Honorable Mention: * YellowBrickRoad (2010) * Uninvited (1987) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
Oct 15, 2025 · 21 min
Octemberfest '25: Week 2 Round-up
Another week down, and a couple dozen more “films” to talk about. This week we’ve got weird Australian perverts, Mexican vacation films, evil genies, classic monsters, a visit to the dawn of film, aliens, ghosts, and a whole host of vampires. I think my eyes are bleeding… Wins of the Week: * 1408 (2007) * Get Away (2024) * Mary Shelley (2018) * Bride of Frankenstein (1935) * Son of Frankenstein (1939) * The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (1920) * Ash (2025) * Lifeforce (1985) * The Vourdalak (2024) * Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) * The Lost Boys (1987) * Nosferatu (2024) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com
Oct 8, 2025 · 20 min
Octemberfest '25: Week 1 Round-up
It’s that time again! The most anticipated and dreaded month of the year is upon us, Octember is back and with it comes Octemberfest, the traditional mad binge of horror fare. Over the next four or so weeks I’ll be cramming as many movies as possible into my eyeholes, good or bad, and then regurgitating takes into a microphone so you can hear my mind unravel! Also, maybe you’ll want to watch some of them? Not my business… This week I tackle grizzlies and ghosts and old gods, follow influencers into bad places, dig into some modern fare, and howl at the moon. Wins of the Week: * Hollow’s Grove (2014) * Lord of Misrule (2023) * Black Mountain Side (2016) * Deadstream (2022) * Nope (2022) * Sinners (2025) * Werewolves Within (2021) * Wolf Man (2025) * An American Werewolf in London (1981) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit octemberfest.substack.com

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