The World's Only Podcast™ about bizarre, overlooked, and misbegotten media
Jen and Tim discuss a classic and sadly overlooked gem of British horror television, Dead of Night. The series dates from 1972 and thus, emerging as it did during a less enlightened time when it came to archiving, only three of the original seven episodes still exist.
For more British horror, listen to our episode on the controversial 1992 special, Ghostwatch.
Jen is joined by Mike Rosen to discuss Vile Pervert: The Musical. This slice of pure internet was made by Jonathan King, a music impresario and TV presenter turned convicted sex criminal. If you’ve been looking for the perfect mix of mobile phone video, Oscar Wilde, and sheer unfettered egotism, this will have to do. The entire movie is available for free on YouTube, if you’re a masochist or love demented music as much as Mike does.
Our other episodes about the, uh, work of Jonathan King may be heard here and here.
Jen is once again joined by Mike Rosen to suffer through Dan Aykroyd’s sole directorial credit, Nothing But Trouble! We have nothing else to say except that if you Google the Demi Moore picture we allude to, don’t do it at work.
For more Mike, try our episode on The Day the Clown Cried!
Jen invites author, artist, and asshole Mike Rosen on the show to discuss Jerry Lewis’s unfinished Holocaust, um, comedy-drama The Day the Clown Cried. Thanks to Flemish TV and Australo-German filmmaker Eric Friedler, enough footage from the notorious project has surfaced for us to discuss it. Shoutout to Friedler and the Library of Congress curator who were too important to talk to us.
Mike Rosen is the cartoonist responsible for the webcomic Guttersnipe. He also authored the graphic novel Malleus Maleficarum, available from SLG Publishing, and illustrated Misunderstanding Comics.
Jen welcomes filmmaker and burger expert Yfke van Berckelaer to discuss one of about three Dutch horror films, The Johnsons! Yfke provides an excellent survey of the Dutch film industry (it’s not just Paul Verhoeven!) and gives some background on the making of the film, which is a bit of an undiscovered horror classic.
Yfke is a Dutch genre filmmaker who lives in Los Angeles and is obsessed with everything that sparkles and yes, that includes the 80s. She also writes about awesome things for the cult magazine Schokkend Nieuws, and you can follow her burger adventures at www.burgerists.com and @burgerists on Instagram and Twitter.
And when in Los Angeles, be sure to visit Cinefile Video!
Jen welcomes special guest Paul Jay (Twitter: @pauljaycomic) for today’s episode, in which we discuss The Wizard of Speed and Time! We’re a little hard on filmmaker Mike Jittlov, perhaps unfairly— WoSaT producer Richard Kaye allegedly absconded with the film’s completion money, and Jittlov himself considers the project to be only 75% done.
Jittlov started as a math and language major at UCLA back in the 60s, but an animation elective awakened him to his true calling. His breathtaking, award-winning short films led to work at Disney, where he clashed with execs over his desire to be credited for his work. After The Wizard of Speed and Time’s drawn-out production period, Jittlov worked on some major film projects (including Ghost, in which he was responsible for animating the dark spirits that drag Tony Goldwyn to hell). Later, he spent the 90s making the rounds of conventions and screening his only feature for his devoted fans. He still lives in the LA area, and if anyone knows what he’s up to lately, please drop us a line!
Jen welcomes special guest Darren to discuss the art deco black-and-white flop, Under the Cherry Moon! What better tribute to Prince for a movie podcast than to watch the man’s directorial debut? Also discussed is the Dionysian, the epicene, and how much The English Patient sucks.
For the curious, here’s the art for The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak that caught our fancy:
For this episode, HYST welcomes its first guest! Darren Herczeg, CEO of DarrenCorp, is a filmmaker, performance artist, and gentleman of leisure. Watch his film Barbariana: Queen of the Savages here on YouTube.
Tim and Jen find themselves unexpectedly charmed and delighted by a combo of sci-fi, horror, thriller, and schlock: Split Second, from 1992! We discuss the wrong-headed marketing for the film and the delights of mini-guns and cigars shared by two dear male friends.
A hilarious trailer, probably for the video release:
What’s left to say about Ishtar? Even the title is a synonym for Hollywood failure. But is it fair to brand it a one-star fiasco? For the inaugural episode of Have You Seen This?, Jen and Tim dare to travel to Ishtar.
Drawing from New Hollywood chronicler Peter Biskind, Jen and Tim discuss Elaine May’s directing style (and missteps), the performances of Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty, and whether or not Ishtar is actually, you know, funny.
Read Peter Biskind’s post mortem of Ishtar, excerpted from his biography of Warren Beatty.