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Trauma Box

Tyler Stevens, Shawn O'Sullivan

Cheaper than therapy. Let the healing begin.

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18 episodes
weekly
Avg 1 hr
English

Episodes 18

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#18
Monday · 55 min
018: Deathstalker 2
Tyler and Shawn return to the nebulous space-time of the peplum, also known as the sword & sandals flick, a glorious cinematic domain that, typically, casually muddies grimdark Medieval tropes and Orientalist fantasy with a dash of magic and a dose of absurd masculinity. These films were essential VHS store shelf-fodder - unfortunately, Deathstalker 2 deviates from genre form with a heaping dollop of Police Academy-esque humor courtesy of the eternal troublemaker, Jim Wynorski. We also talk abou
#17
August 24 · 55 min
017: The Dead Pit
Tyler and Shawn fall into The Dead Pit this week, Brett Leonard's (of later Lawnmower Man fame) ham-fistedly Freudian asylum-centric zombie flick. It's a real hoot, and we talk about Italian aesthetics in American films, cinematic portrayals of mental health facilities, and the puzzles of digital reverb. Listen on Apple Music and Spotify, and check out our Patreon at www.patreon.com/traumaboxpodcast
#16
August 17 · 50 min
016: Candy Stripe Nurses
The Box goes bawdy again with Candy Stripe Nurses, a Julie Corman-produced sex comedy romp from 1974. This VHS box has haunted us for decades, and it delivers the goods in era-appropriate style with sass and grass galore. We talk American film history, LA culture, 70's sex-positivity, *and more*! Tune in at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.
#15
August 10 · 1 hr 20 min
015: Ghoulies (with Michael Guggino)
It's Ghoulies time! Perhaps *the* ur-frightening VHS box, few of our generation made it through the 80s without confronting the terrifying image of a ghoulie popping out of a toilet seat. Michael Guggino - musician, sound technician, and cousin-of-Shawn - joins us to plumb these depths, and we talk about farting on Ghost Hunter, the myth of the primal father, and of course, plenty of childhood trauma. Scope the latest episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc, and check out our Patreon where we'll
#14
August 3 · 1 hr
014: Murder Rock
Giallo-horror master Lucio Fulci makes a visit to the Trauma Box with his 1984 headscratcher Murder Rock. This Flashdance-indebted (?) giallo features more murder than rock, and it doesn't have all that much murder, but Tyler and Shawn roll with the many confusing punches. But really, what's not to love here? Hop into the Trauma Box this week for stylish interiors, sexy Italians, bizarrely inappropriate dance sequences, and a pretty shitty Keith Emerson score!
#13
July 27 · 1 hr 2 min
013 : The Osterman Weekend
For our thirteenth episode - lucky as ever - Tyler and Shawn tuck into the Osterman Weekend, legendary director Sam Peckinpah's final film. Its iconic VHS box - which features the feline Meg Foster wielding some kind of cyberbow - has plagued our Boxketeers for decades, and let us tell you, this one delivers the goods. And by goods, we mean bads. It's a muddled mess torn between the aesthetics of two decades and the ethoses of at least three genres. But! If you enjoy watching shadowy people watc
#12
July 20 · 1 hr 2 min
012: Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies, with Aerin Ercolea
Today we recruit friend of the pod Aerin Ercolea, musician, poet, and intrepid Trauma-Spelunker. She brings her past to the present via the greatest presence of the past: motherfuckin' DINOS. "Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies" is a dollar bin compilation of 1950s and 1960s monster movie trailers that was foundational to her childhood mythology. Sadly, it's a bit scant on the actual dinos, but hey, we still talk some amateur dinosaurology, the eroticism of humanoid troodons, Pittsburgh hoagies,
#11
July 12 · 1 hr
011: The Sword and The Sorcerer
Trauma Box takes our first peek into the vast world of Albert Pyun with a visit to his first feature, 1982's The Sword and the Sorcerer. Pyun is a figure that many Trauma Box listeners will be familiar with, if not by name then certainly via the iconic VHS boxes of his innumerable direct-to-video offerings. Pyun's ouevre typically evinces a fascination with martial arts and cyborgs, as seen in films like uh, Kickboxer 2 and Cyborg. But before Pyun found his true calling in that particular vein o
#10
July 6 · 1 hr 13 min
010: Darby O'Gill and the Little People
This week, in announcement of the launch of our Patreon, Trauma Box deviates from our standard-issue format to discuss one of Shawn's Foundational Childhood Texts: Darby O'Gill and the Little People. This quirky 1959 Disney flick features sumptuous production, ponderous pacing, and a smirking, decidedly-not-Irish young Sean Connery. Join for our in-depth discussion of generational Disney aesthetics, vintage special effects techniques, and of course, Childhood Trauma. And please do check out our
#9
June 29 · 52 min
009: Skin Deep
This week, the Trauma Box pops open with Skin Deep, a 1989 offering from the senescent Blake Edwards. Beauty is, as they say, only skin deep, and apparently so are bad movies. Skin Deep's legendarily ribald VHS box proves misleading, as the film contained therein lies much closer to Leaving Las Vegas than Revenge of the Nerds. Consider it a cautionary tale, with the moral being: never cast John Ritter (as much as we do love him) in a role written for Dudley Moore. The sex addict gags and boozeho
#8
June 22 · 57 min
008: Summer Job
Trauma Box goes bawdy this week, as Tyler and Shawn get tackled by Summer Job, Paul Madden's neon-swathed sex comedy from 1989. An unremarkable but admirably good-humored cast slog through third rate gags pulled from Police Academy and Porky's, and we're right there slogging through it with them. As if that wasn't decadent enough, we even get a performance from former ELO members moonlighting as OrKestra, and it's as middling and feeble as you might possibly imagine. You may well spend the film
#7
June 15 · 1 hr 45 min
007: Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Our Boxketeers become three this week, as artist Arthur Peña joins Tyler and Shawn to discuss one of his childhood video traumas: Killer Klowns from Outer Space. We dive deep into this foundational classic of VHS terror, covering oft-neglected topics like klown physics, confetti ontology, and, of course, alien sex. Inevitably, we will raise more questions than we can answer, but that's the name of the game here on Trauma Box. Scope Arthur's awesome work at https://www.arthurdpena.com/
#6
June 8 · 45 min
006: Breeders
This week, our intrepid Trauma Boxers brave Breeders, erotic auteur Tim Kincaid's 1986 direct-to-video grime-fest.The man behind Mutant Hunt, Robot Holocaust, and LA Tool & Die brings us seventy-odd minutes of unhinged post-C.H.U.D. NYC nightmare. It's a gross and grim affair, but oddly joyous in a Brecht-meets-Waters kind of way. At Trauma Box, we brave the bottom of the trash bin so you, dear listener, don't have to.
#5
June 1 · 47 min
005: Tomboy
Tyler and Shawn explore a different corner of the Trauma Box this week with 1985's Tomboy. A staple of video store shelves of yore, Tomboy's iconic cover had wedged itself in the psyches of both hosts. What did we discover upon viewing? It's Flashdance with none of the heart meets Porky's with half the wit - that is to say: it's pretty good! Join us this week for a bawdier-than-usual breeze through the Trauma Box.
#4
May 25 · 54 min
004: Xtro
The Trauma Box bites back this week with Xtro, Harry Bromley Davenport's offering from 1982, an impossibly grim and upsettingly British ode to ooze. Why do we keep watching horrific films with dead/absent fathers and animated toys? What the hell is our problem? And, more pressingly, what drugs was Harry Bromley Davenport on?
#3
May 18 · 52 min
003: Making Contact
Once again Tyler and Shawn open up the Trauma Box to investigate one of the great sources of childhood horror: the Ventriloquist Dummy. Is there anything scarier than an evil talking puppet? With 1985's Making Contact, Roland Emmerich (yes - the director of Independence Day) answers that question in a truly chilling fashion: by presenting us with a *German* evil talking puppet. A nightmarish perversion of Spielbergian childhood wonder-terror, Making Contact will haunt you for years to come.
#2
May 11 · 46 min
002: Squirm
This week, Tyler and Shawn writhe their way through the Trauma Box with Squirm! Jeff Lieberman's proto-Lynchian 1976 horror flick is a puzzling, downbeat musing on Georgian small-town affairs (think spaghetti-swilling sheriffs, worm farms managed by yokels, arch Southern belles, etc) that winds its way heck of a slithery payoff. Your intrepid Trauma Boxers should help this one go down as smooth as an egg cream.
#1
April 3 · 1 hr
001: The Exterminator
In our inaugural episode, Tyler and Shawn open up the TraumaBox with The Exterminator, James Glickenhaus’s 1980 opus horrificus. This grim viewing prompts us to explore post-’Nam generational trauma, Reagan-era projections of Big Apple deviancy, and our own relationships to depictions of masculinity in the Video Store of yore.

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