Video Monsters

In-depth movie analysis podcast with hosts Nathan, Eric, and Dan where we take movies seriously, but we don't take ourselves seriously. Sponsored by Chattanooga Film Festival, and Central Cinema (Knoxville, TN)

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466 episodes
Updated June 20
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Episodes466

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Feb 28, 2019 · 1 hr 28 min
Five Deadly Venoms - 1978 (review)
Closing out our Kung Fu-bruary series for 2019 (which was picked by you, the listeners!), tonight's movie is Five Deadly Venoms (a.k.a. The Five Venoms)! And while I am genuinely a little sad that this series is over for now (don't worry...I'm sure we are going to discuss more kung fu movies in the future!), we are wrapping things up with another one of Chang Cheh's iconic kung fu films! While there might actually be less fighting in Five Deadly Venoms than there was in the other films we have reviewed this month, the character driven plot and the focus on the five individual fighting styles makes each fight feel unique and draws you in closer to each of the characters! So, join The Gargyle and The Chimerican as we discuss why we love Five Deadly Venoms as much as we do!! Since February is both Black History Month as well as Women in Horror Month, each episode in our Kung Fu-bruary series will start with segments honoring African Americans in cinema, as well as women in horror. For tonight's episode, we honor Eve's Bayou and Get Out in our segment on Black History Month. For Women in Horror Month, we honor Raw and Jennifer's Body. Also, as we've done on the last few episodes, we continue to highlight the Chattanooga Film Festival - April 11-14. There have not been any major announcements regarding CFF since our last episode. However, on the CFF Facebook page, they have been highlighting some CFF BFFs, including Brian Lonano (creator of BFF Girls and Gwilliam). So, we give a shout out to some of our CFF BFFs, Graham Skipper, Matt Mercer, and Kevin Sluder!! We love you guys and cannot thank the Chattanooga Film Festival enough for being the catalyst in our friendship!! And, as we have mentioned before, that is one of the things that we love so much about CFF...it gives you the opportunity to meet the people involved with making the films you see at the fest, as well as getting to know other cinephiles who are just as passionate about film as you are!! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music by Bensound.com
Feb 20, 2019 · 59 min
Men from the Monastery (a.k.a. Disciples of Death) - 1974 (review)
Continuing with our Kung Fu-bruary series (which was picked by you, the listeners!), tonight's movie is Men from the Monastery (a.k.a. Disciples of Death)! I initially picked this movie because of just one scene that a friend told me about during a monthly film discussion - I knew absolutely nothing else about this movie other than that one scene. And while it is certainly a memorable scene, this movie was so much more awesome than I expected! There are certainly some flaws (most notably, pacing issues and the fact that the plot does tend to get a bit lost in the action....the awesome, awesome action), but the impressive fight scenes, serious plot (once it gets around to it), and characters that you genuinely care about...it's no wonder why Men from the Monastery (while not perfect) is one of Chang Cheh's stand-out films in the Shaw Bros. catalog!! So, join The Gargyle and The Chimerican as we discuss why we love Men from the Monastery as much as we do!! Since February is both Black History Month as well as Women in Horror Month, each episode in our Kung Fu-bruary series will start with segments honoring African Americans in cinema, as well as women in horror. For tonight's episode, we honor Dope and Dayveon - two coming-of-age movies with drastically different tones (but, both awesome in their own right!!). For Women in Horror Month, we honor Slumber Party Massacre and Stacy Title, director of... among other things... Hood of Horror (for an additional tie-in with Black History Month) and The Last Supper. Also, as we've done on the last few episodes, we continue to highlight the Chattanooga Film Festival - April 11-14. Tonight, we highlight that Mallory O'Meara's book, The Lady from the Black Lagoon, is available for pre-order on Amazon! We also remind you of the programming that has been announced so far: Joe Bob Briggs, Everything is Terrible, Shock Waves Podcast, Junkfood Cinema Podcast, a screening of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and a presentation by author Mallory O'Meara. As a reminder, the CFF fundraiser to be able to provide classes and workshops for free during the festival is still going on! To donate, click on the following link: CFF Fundraiser GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music by Bensound.com
Feb 13, 2019 · 1 hr 39 min
Enter the Dragon - 1973 (review)
Continuing with our Kung Fu-bruary series (which was picked by you, the listeners!), tonight's movie is Enter the Dragon. While this movie is definitely more Westernized and almost feels more like a traditional James Bond film than it does a traditional kung fu film, it is undeniably a great action movie with one of the greatest martial artist of all time, Bruce Lee! So, join The Gargyle and The Chimerican as we discuss why we love Enter the Dragon as much as we do (spoiler alert: it might involve the fact that Bruce Lee smacks a cobra...)!! Since February is both Black History Month as well as Women in Horror Month, each episode in our Kung Fu-bruary series will start with segments honoring African Americans in cinema, as well as women in horror. For tonight's episode, we honor Blaxsploitation cinema for Black History Month. While problematic on the surface (in large part due to the use of racial stereotypes), Blaxsploitation cinema was an an outlet for many African American writers, directors, and actors/actresses to address themes of social injustice, as well as present African American characters as powerful individuals rather than just relegated to comic relief or overlooked side-characters. For Women in Horror Month, we honor all of the women who have been involved in the horror movies that we have seen in film festivals over the past few years (especially those who were able to attend the film fests as well). We list as many as we can remember, but we know that it is not an exhaustive list. We could have spent an entire month just talking about the women who have been involved in recent horror movies that we absolutely love! So, if we left you off of the list, we deeply apologize and we want you to know that most certainly have not left you out of our hearts!! Also, as we've done on the last few episodes, we continue to highlight the Chattanooga Film Festival - April 11-14. Tonight, we specifically address the programming that has been announced so far: Joe Bob Briggs, Everything is Terrible, Shock Waves Podcast, Junkfood Cinema Podcast, a screening of The Creature from the Black Lagoon, and a presentation by author Mallory O'Meara. As Eric and I both posted as soon as the announcement was made last week - the programming is like it is being tailor made for us and we cannot even begin to explain how excited we are about the Chattanooga Film Festival this year (and this is before any of the movies, other than Creature from the Black Lagoon, have been announced)!! As a reminder, the CFF fundraiser to be able to provide classes and workshops for free during the festival is still going on! To donate, click on the following link: CFF Fundraiser GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music by Bensound.com
Feb 6, 2019 · 1 hr 6 min
The 36th Chamber of Shaolin - 1978 (review)
Tonight's episode of The Gargyle Podcast kicks off our series for February which was decided on by you, the listener! Based on the results of our poll last month on whether February should be Fur-bruary (with episodes focusing on werewolf movies) or Kung Fu-bruary (with episodes focusing on, well, kung fu movies), our series for this month is Kung Fu-bruary!! As much as we love werewolf movies, we are actually really happy that the listeners decided on Kung Fu, as this is a genre of cinema that Eric does not have as much exposure to. So, kicking things off is one of the most iconic and classic Kung Fu movies, The 36th Chamber of Shaolin!! Along with some pretty awesome training and fighting sequences, this movie has a very powerful message of overcoming oppression, which drives the overarching plot of the film. So, join The Gargyle and The Chimerican as we discuss why The 36th Chamber of Shaolin remains a powerful film to this day!! Since February is both Black History Month as well as Women in Horror Month, each episode in our Kung Fu-bruary series will start with segments honoring African Americans in cinema, as well as women in horror. For tonight's episode, we honor Julie Adams (star of Creature from the Black Lagoon) who passed away yesterday - and Geena Davis for her role in The Fly. We also honor Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing - and Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror, a documentary which will soon be available on Shudder and which currently has limited theatrical release across the country, including a showing on Wednesday, 2/6/19 at Knoxville's own Central Cinema. GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music by Bensound.com
Feb 1, 2019 · 1 hr 14 min
The Fly - 1986 (review)
Wrapping up our New Year, New You series for 2019 is the movie that made us want to do this little series in the first place - David Cronenberg's The Fly from 1986!! Not only is this a perfect movie for discussing "New Year, New You"...not only does this film complete our coverage of the trinity of 80'ss body horror remakes of 50's sci-fi/horror films (The Fly, The Blob, and The Thing)...not only is Jeff Goldblum's portrayal of an anthropomorphized fly subtle, but brilliant acting... but this movie is a gut-wrenchingly tragic story of love, hubris, and succumbing to one's inner monster that still holds up today!! Eric and I differ pretty significantly on a couple aspects of the film. But, when examining the deeper themes and when taking the movie as a whole, we both agree that The Fly is an absolutely amazing movie!! So, join The Gargyle and The Chimerican as we bicker about some (pretty important) details while simultaneously praise The Fly as a masterpiece. GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music by Bensound.com
Jan 30, 2019 · 1 hr 41 min
Brazil - 1985 (review/analysis)
Next up in our "New Year, New You" series is the amazing Terry Gilliam classic, Brazil! As much as Eric and I love Terry Gilliam, this was actually a first-time viewing of Brazil for both of us. We initially picked Brazil because of the plot point of of the Tuttle/Buttle mistaken identity as the connection for "new you." But we had no idea just how perfectly this movie was going to work for the New Year, New You theme (while the mistaken identity plot point is what set everything in motion, it's a relatively minor aspect of the film)!! So, join The Gargyle and The Chimerican as we go into a fairly deep dive with our analysis of Brazil!! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music by Bensound.com
Jan 26, 2019 · 1 hr 2 min
Cam - 2018 (review)
As each year rolls around, most people take stock of their lives over the last year - evaluating changes that have occurred and making plans on how to improve in the upcoming year. And on The Gargyle Podcast, that means discussing movies in which the main character goes through some...transformations. So, kicking off our series of "New Year, New You" movies, Eric and I are discussing the Netflix original movie, Cam - the story of a cam girl who loses herself (or, does she find herself??) when her account is taken over by a doppelganger! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music by Bensound.com
Jan 19, 2019 · 2 hr 19 min
Goodbye 2018, Hello 2019
I'm a bit late in getting this posted, but here is The Gargyle Podcast's New Year episode!! Naturally, Eric and I kick off 2019 by talking about 2018. We had an amazing year of cinematic experiences (film fests, meeting new people, watching amazing movies...new and old), so in our year end review episode, Eric and I talk about some of our favorite films that we saw last year (not necessarily movies that came out in 2018), some of our top words of 2018, and our cinematic goals for 2019. As awesome as 2018 was (in terms of movies...there was plenty of other crap that totally sucked about 2018), here's to an even better year in 2019! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music by Bensound.com
Jan 16, 2019 · 1 hr 44 min
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - 2010 (analysis)
It's been a few months since the last Harry Potter episode, but Adam and I are back at it with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1! In tonight's episode, we discuss how tragic this movie really is, how awkwardly some scenes are handled, how Dolores Umbridge is sheer evil, and how problematic splatergroit is. So, grab your book of wizarding children's stories, your Mary Poppins bag, and say goodbye to some of your favorite characters as Adam and I dive into our analysis of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music by Bensound.com
Jan 3, 2019 · 37 min
The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate 2018 - part 2.7 - J.R. Mounts and closing thoughts
Since the entire episode of part 2 of The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate was too long to be distributed out to various podcast platforms, I am re-posting each section individually. The complete episode can still be found at anchor.fm/thegargylepodcast. The original episode description is below - but in this segment, special guest J.R. Mounts joins us to read us ‘Twas Ripe Before Crispmas: A Happy Hollandaise poem from Fried Pickle Noir, and then Eric and I discuss some alternate, holiday takes on various movies and provide our closing thoughts: Having not found the true meaning of Christmas...movies...by the end of part 1, The Chimerican and I used The Gargyle Signal to call upon the friends of The Gargyle to aide us in our quest!! And now, in the acceptable conclusion to The Gargyle Podcast's Christmas Spect-adequate, join me, The Chimerican, and the friends of The Gargyle as we find the true meaning of Christmas...movies!! If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check back soon for more cinematic reviews, analyses, and discussions on The Gargyle Podcast - where geekery abounds!! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music from musopen.org
Jan 3, 2019 · 41 min
The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate 2018 - part 2.6 - Jay Kay
Since the entire episode of part 2 of The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate was too long to be distributed out to various podcast platforms, I am re-posting each section individually. The complete episode can still be found at anchor.fm/thegargylepodcast. The original episode description is below - but in this segment, special guest Jay Kay joins us to talk about movies that are not Christmas movies, but still totally work as movies that fit with the holiday season: Having not found the true meaning of Christmas...movies...by the end of part 1, The Chimerican and I used The Gargyle Signal to call upon the friends of The Gargyle to aide us in our quest!! And now, in the acceptable conclusion to The Gargyle Podcast's Christmas Spect-adequate, join me, The Chimerican, and the friends of The Gargyle as we find the true meaning of Christmas...movies!! If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check back soon for more cinematic reviews, analyses, and discussions on The Gargyle Podcast - where geekery abounds!! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music from musopen.org
Jan 3, 2019 · 48 min
The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate 2018 - part 2.5 - Eric Pennycoff
Since the entire episode of part 2 of The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate was too long to be distributed out to various podcast platforms, I am re-posting each section individually. The complete episode can still be found at anchor.fm/thegargylepodcast. The original episode description is below - but in this segment, special Eric Pennycoff joins us for a review of Black Christmas: Having not found the true meaning of Christmas...movies...by the end of part 1, The Chimerican and I used The Gargyle Signal to call upon the friends of The Gargyle to aide us in our quest!! And now, in the acceptable conclusion to The Gargyle Podcast's Christmas Spect-adequate, join me, The Chimerican, and the friends of The Gargyle as we find the true meaning of Christmas...movies!! If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check back soon for more cinematic reviews, analyses, and discussions on The Gargyle Podcast - where geekery abounds!! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music from musopen.org
Jan 3, 2019 · 29 min
The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate 2018 - part 2.4 - gifts, Matt Mercer, & Anthony Cousins
Since the entire episode of part 2 of The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate was too long to be distributed out to various podcast platforms, I am re-posting each section individually. The complete episode can still be found at anchor.fm/thegargylepodcast. The original episode description is below - but in this segment, Eric and I talk about last minute gift recommendations for the cinephile in your life, Matt Mercer stops by to talk about Christmas-adjacent movies, and Anthony Cousins tells us about some of his favorite Christmas movies: Having not found the true meaning of Christmas...movies...by the end of part 1, The Chimerican and I used The Gargyle Signal to call upon the friends of The Gargyle to aide us in our quest!! And now, in the acceptable conclusion to The Gargyle Podcast's Christmas Spect-adequate, join me, The Chimerican, and the friends of The Gargyle as we find the true meaning of Christmas...movies!! If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check back soon for more cinematic reviews, analyses, and discussions on The Gargyle Podcast - where geekery abounds!! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music from musopen.org
Jan 3, 2019 · 39 min
The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate 2018 - part 2.3 - Kevin and Jen Sluder
Since the entire episode of part 2 of The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate was too long to be distributed out to various podcast platforms, I am re-posting each section individually. The complete episode can still be found at anchor.fm/thegargylepodcast. The original episode description is below - but in this segment, special guests Kevin and Jen Sluder join us to talk about non-traditional Christmas movies: Having not found the true meaning of Christmas...movies...by the end of part 1, The Chimerican and I used The Gargyle Signal to call upon the friends of The Gargyle to aide us in our quest!! And now, in the acceptable conclusion to The Gargyle Podcast's Christmas Spect-adequate, join me, The Chimerican, and the friends of The Gargyle as we find the true meaning of Christmas...movies!! If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check back soon for more cinematic reviews, analyses, and discussions on The Gargyle Podcast - where geekery abounds!! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music from musopen.org
Jan 3, 2019 · 54 min
The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate 2018 - part 2.2 - Christmas Horror and Gwilliam
Since the entire episode of part 2 of The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate was too long to be distributed out to various podcast platforms, I am re-posting each section individually. The complete episode can still be found at anchor.fm/thegargylepodcast. The original episode description is below - but in this segment, Eric and I discuss Christmas horror movies, debate which version of A Christmas Carol works the best as a horror movie, and special guest Gwilliam stops by to give his season's greetings: Having not found the true meaning of Christmas...movies...by the end of part 1, The Chimerican and I used The Gargyle Signal to call upon the friends of The Gargyle to aide us in our quest!! And now, in the acceptable conclusion to The Gargyle Podcast's Christmas Spect-adequate, join me, The Chimerican, and the friends of The Gargyle as we find the true meaning of Christmas...movies!! If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check back soon for more cinematic reviews, analyses, and discussions on The Gargyle Podcast - where geekery abounds!! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music from musopen.org
Jan 3, 2019 · 32 min
The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate 2018 - part 2.1 - Graham Skipper
Since the entire episode of part 2 of The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate was too long to be distributed out to various podcast platforms, I am re-posting each section individually. The complete episode can still be found at anchor.fm/thegargylepodcast. The original episode description is below - but in this segment, special guest Graham Skipper joins us to talk about his Christmas movie traditions: Having not found the true meaning of Christmas...movies...by the end of part 1, The Chimerican and I used The Gargyle Signal to call upon the friends of The Gargyle to aide us in our quest!! And now, in the acceptable conclusion to The Gargyle Podcast's Christmas Spect-adequate, join me, The Chimerican, and the friends of The Gargyle as we find the true meaning of Christmas...movies!! If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check back soon for more cinematic reviews, analyses, and discussions on The Gargyle Podcast - where geekery abounds!! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music from musopen.org
Dec 23, 2018 · 4 hr 44 min
The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate 2018 - part 2
Having not found the true meaning of Christmas...movies...by the end of part 1, The Chimerican and I used The Gargyle Signal to call upon the friends of The Gargyle to aide us in our quest!! And now, in the acceptable conclusion to The Gargyle Podcast's Christmas Spect-adequate, join me, The Chimerican, and the friends of The Gargyle as we find the true meaning of Christmas...movies!! Since so many friends answered our call for help so much more than expected, part two of the Christmas Spect-adequate kind of ended up being a little ridiculously long. So, to help out a bit, you can find the start times of each of the segments (along with the special guest for the segment) below: We start things off with (mostly) traditional Christmas movies, with Graham Skipper Christmas horror discussion, including debate of best version of A Christmas Carol - 32:41 Season's Greetings, from Gwilliam - 1:25:39 Non-traditional Christmas movies, with Kevin and Jen Sluder - 1:26:59 Last minute gift recommendations for the cinephile in your life - 2:06:43 Christmas-adjacent movies, with Matt Mercer - 2:17:36 Anthony Cousins' holiday favorites - 2:34:27 Black Christmas review, with Eric Pennycoff - 2:36:32 Movies that are not Christmas movies, but can still totally be watched during the Christmas season, with Jay Kay - 3:25:01 ‘Twas Ripe Before Crispmas: A Happy Hollandaise poem from Fried Pickle Noir by J.R. Mounts - 4:06:18 "What if?" segments (including what movies we'd like to see Christmas specials of, and 'Beginning, Middle, End') and closing thoughts - 4:12:14 If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check back soon for more cinematic reviews, analyses, and discussions on The Gargyle Podcast - where geekery abounds!! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music from musopen.org
Dec 21, 2018 · 1 hr 34 min
The Gargyle Podcast Christmas Spect-adequate 2018 - part 1
It's finally here...The Gargyle Podcast's first ever Christmas Spect-adequate!! In this first part of the internet's okay-iest Christmas special, The Gargyle and The Chimerican go on a quest for the true meaning of Christmas....movies. And by "go on a quest," obviously I mean discuss what actually makes a Christmas movie a "Christmas" movie, bicker over what movie had the best Santa and elves, and so much more!! So grab some Christmas fudge, put on your Christmas socks, and join us by the fire for the first part of The Gargyle Podcast's Christmas Spect-adequate!! If you enjoy this episode, you absolutely do NOT want to miss part two of the Christmas Spect-adequate, as it will be filled with fellow podcasters, indie movie writers, directors, producers, artists....and even more discussions and analyses as we search for the true meaning of Christmas...movies!! gargylereviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music by musopen.org
Dec 19, 2018 · 1 hr 19 min
Home Alone & Better Watch Out - analysis
In another holiday analysis episode, Eric and I take on two great Christmas horror movies - Home Alone and Better Watch Out! While Home Alone is clearly a comedy marketed to kids, you can't deny the horror themes and tropes that become apparent when you take a step back from the laughs and nostalgia. So, these two movies were paired together for this episode not just because of some of the surface-level comparisons and blatant references, but also because of some deeper themes driving the motivations of the characters. But, be warned...even though there are definitely similarities that can be discussed, these two movies have drastically different target audiences! Home Alone is suitable for the entire family, whereas Better Watch Out is violent and extremely dark and clearly meant for serious horror fans. Also, this episode contains major spoilers. While that isn't an issue for Home Alone (since it is almost 30 years old), I do strongly recommend that you watch Better Watch Out before listening to our analysis. So grab a pizza, tie up a can of paint, and put on a fake movie within a movie as Eric and I dive into our analysis of Home Alone and Better Watch Out!! If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check back soon for more cinematic reviews, analyses, and discussions on The Gargyle Podcast - where geekery abounds!! And you certainly won't want to miss the next episode as Eric and I present the first ever Gargyle Christmas Spect....adequate (it will be an "ok" Christmas special...) GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music by Bensound.com
Dec 12, 2018 · 1 hr 23 min
Jingle All the Way & Krampus - analysis
Christmas is supposed to be a time of kindness and being with the ones you love. Unfortunately, the season often devolves into an excess of commercialism, materialism, and people bickering about their differences rather than embracing their commonalities. And that is exactly why tonight's episode is an analysis of Jingle All the Way and Krampus. These two films are drastically different in terms of tone, style, and intended audience...but they actually pair extremely well with each other when it comes to discussing how we treat others during the holiday season! So grab some hot cocoa, your Turbo Man doll, and remember to always keep the fire hot as Eric and I dive into our analysis of Jingle All the Way and Krampus!! If you enjoy this episode, be sure to check back soon for more cinematic reviews, analyses, and discussions on The Gargyle Podcast - where geekery abounds!! GargyleReviews.wixsite.com/thegargyle music by Bensound.com