063 – The James Nguyen-verse with Conor Lastowka

Jen and Tim are joined by Rifftrax writer/producer and author Conor Lastowka to examine one of the only true auteurs in cinema. He’s James Nguyen, and he’s given us movie masterpieces like Birdemic, Julie and Jack, and Replica, as our guest knows all too well!

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Tim and Jen are both fans of Conor’s podcast with Rifftrax/MST3k alum Michael J. Nelson. It’s called 372 Pages We’ll Never Get Back, and it’s highly recommended to anyone who’s ever thrown a book across the room because it was so bad.

Rifftrax fans will also want to hear our Captain America episode with Bill Corbett!

060 – Truth or Dare: A Critical Madness

Tim and Jen tell you all about an unironically delightful slasher film made by a literal child! From 1986 and director Tim Ritter, it’s Truth or Dare: A Critical Madness! Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

Yeah I know I said on Twitter (@HYSTpod if you’re not already following us) that this would drop Sunday, but hey, I got it done a day early. Enjoy!

Tim Ritter on the set of Twisted Illusions in 1985
L’auteur Tim Ritter on the set of Twisted Illusions, 1985

For more homebrew chills and slashers, try our episode on shot-on-video horror from the 80s!

058 – UHF

UHF key art

Tim and Jen make the case for a socialist reading of Weird Al’s lone movie outing, UHF. Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

So did Current Affairs, as it happens.

Also be sure to read the oral history of the making of UHF at the AV Club!

For more iconic 80s comedy, listen to Tim and guest Mike Rosen discuss the immortal Jim Varney’s Ernest Goes to Camp!

057 – The State of Movie Exhibition, 2019

Jen and Tim ask Josh Lewis of the Sleazoids podcast (@thejoshl on Twitter) to provide his insight as a film programmer in a wide-ranging discussion of the dire state of movie exhbition.

Josh also joined us to discuss an evangelical nightmare of an exploitation film, The Burning Hell!

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

056 – Death Wish 3 with Will Menaker

The delightful Chapo dad joins us for Death Wish 3, possibly the simultaneous nadir and high point of the Death Wish series.

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

According to Danny Peary in his book Guide for the Film Fanatic, “when director Michael Winner complained that Death Wish III [sic] was given an X rating because it had 63 killings while the R-rated Rambo [: First Blood Part II, 1985] had 80 killings, the woman at the Ratings Board explained that most of those killed in Rambo are Vietnamese.”

Paul Talbot, Bronson’s Loose!: The Making of the Death Wish Films

For more Will, listen to our episode about the controversial Friedkin film Cruising.

053 – Interstate 60, Part 1

Have you heard of Interstate 60? It’s what we call a “Tim movie”—that is, a movie that only Tim seems to have seen. We go incredibly deep, even though the movie probably didn’t merit it. So much so that you’re getting a two-parter!

Interstate 60 was written by the guy who co-wrote Back to the Future and it’s tailor-made for dads who wistfully scroll through classics dot autotrader dot com on weekends.

Hear the whole episode at our Patreon and get access to more than 50 bonus episodes!

For Part 2, click here.