AKA Halloween Retrospective #13.   In 2018, Howard, Dan and Spider-Dan began this podcast's epic mission to review every single film in the Halloween franchise. Now, the journey concludes as the three discuss 2022's Halloween Ends. Beware, the discussion includes a full summary of the film's story, including spoilers.   Introduction 00:00:00 Plot summary (spoilers) 00:04:27 Spoiler discussion with Howard 00:09:25 Spoiler discussion with Spider-Dan 00:34:50   Our next episode will be about the Amicus anthologies. For Patreon supporters, an early edit of this discussion will shortly be available on our Patreon page.   Works Cited Halloween (Compass International Pictures, US 1978, director: John Carpenter) Soundtrack music clip used: "The Haunted House" composed and realised by John Carpenter and Dan Wyman) Halloween II (Universal Pictures/De Laurentiis Corporation, US 1981, director: Rick Rosenthal) Halloween (Universal Pictures/Blumhouse Productions, US 2018, director: David Gordon Green) Halloween Kills (Universal Pictures/Blumhouse Productions, US 2021, director: David Gordon Green) Halloween Ends (Universal Pictures/Blumhouse Productions, US 2022, director: David Gordon Green) Soundtrack clips used including music by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies   Recommended listening: Our episode on Halloween (1978) with Spider-Dan and Steve Timms Our episode on Halloween II (1981) with Spider-Dan and Rob Stuart-Hudson Our episode on Halloween (2018) with Spider-Dan and Ian Winterton Our episode on Halloween Kills (2021) with Spider-Dan   Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme. To see a video version of our next episode, please visit our Patreon page and become a supporter Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended.   Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com

AKA Halloween Retrospective #12.   In 2018, Howard, Dan and Spider-Dan began this podcast's epic mission to review every single film in the Halloween franchise (then only 11 films strong). After several years away, Dan and Spider-Dan reconvene (with Howard chiming in via phone call) to discuss two recently-added entries in the series, beginning with 2021's Halloween Kills. Beware, the discussion includes a full summary of the film's story, including spoilers.   Introduction 00:00:00 Plot summary (spoilers) 00:06:04 Spoiler discussion with Howard 00:10:31 Spoiler discussion with Spider-Dan 00:26:54   Our review of the next film, Halloween Ends, will be released on Halloween itself this year, although for Patreon supporters, a video version of this discussion is already available on our Patreon page.   Works Cited Halloween (Compass International Pictures, US 1978, director: John Carpenter) Soundtrack music clip used: "The Haunted House" composed and realised by John Carpenter and Dan Wyman) Halloween II (Universal Pictures/De Laurentiis Corporation, US 1981, director: Rick Rosenthal) Halloween (Universal Pictures/Blumhouse Productions, US 2018, director: David Gordon Green) Halloween Kills (Universal Pictures/Blumhouse Productions, US 2021, director: David Gordon Green) Soundtrack clips used including music by John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies   Recommended listening: Our episode on Halloween (1978) with Spider-Dan and Steve Timms Our episode on Halloween II (1981) with Spider-Dan and Rob Stuart-Hudson Our episode on Halloween (2018) with Spider-Dan and Ian Winterton   Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme. To see a video version of our next episode, please visit our Patreon page and become a supporter Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended.   Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com

Paul and Chris discuss the ingenious late-period Hammer film Hands of the Ripper, which deals with the daughter of Jack the Ripper.   The next episodes of And Now The Podcast Starts.... will be released in time for Halloween, in which Howard and Dan will be joined by Spider-Dan to discuss Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022). If you'd like to have early access to these discussions, please become a Patreon supporter: the unedited videos are available at our Patreon page.   Works Cited Hands of the Ripper (Rank Film Distributors/Universal Pictures/Hammer Films, UK 1971, director: Peter Sasdy)    

To complement the discussion of the Amicus anthology film The House That Dripped Blood in our episode #111, we're proud to present another gem from the archives of A Very British Horror, in which Chris and Paul discuss the following film in that series, 1972's Tales from the Crypt.   Works Cited Tales from the Crypt (Metromedia Producers Corporation/Amicus Productions, UK 1972, director: Freddie Francis)

AKA Lee/Cushing, Howard/Dan #7 (Preview Version)   Howard and Dan reconvened in person for the first time since 2019 to record a new episode about a Peter Cushing/Christopher Lee film, and it's the 1971 horror anthology The House That Dripped Blood. This episode features only their conversation, but a more expansive edit - with illustrative music and other clips, as well as a specially-written comedy sketch, in keeping with earlier episodes on Cushing/Lee films - is being worked on and will be released to Patreon supporters at a later date.   Works Cited The House That Dripped Blood (Amicus Productions, UK 1971, director: Peter Duffell) Rigby, Jonathan. English Gothic: A Century of Horror Cinema (Reynolds and Hearn, 2005) Hutchings, Peter. Hammer and Beyond: The British Horror Film (Manchester University Press, 2021) Pagnoni Berns, Fernando Gabriel and Edwards, Matthew (eds - with a chapter by TD Velasquez!). Critical Readings on Hammer Horror Films (Routledge, 2024)   Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme. To see a video version of our next episode, please visit our Patreon page and become a supporter Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended. Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com  

In another release from the archives of the sadly-missed podcast A Very British Horror, Chris Denton and Paul Monk discuss 1989's occult horror, Warlock.   Works Cited   Warlock (New World Pictures, US 1989, director: Steve Miner)

Ian and Dan discuss this summer's controversial hit from Zach Cregger, as well as the director's previous film, Barbarian. Warning: nothing but spoilers for both, as well as No Country for Old Men and Midsommar.   Works Cited Weapons (Warner Bros. Pictures/New Line Cinema, US 2025, director: Zach Cregger) Barbarian (Twentieth Century Studios, US 2022, director: Zach Cregger) Hereditary (A24, US 2018, director: Ari Aster) Midsommar (A24, US 2019, director: Ari Aster) No Country for Old Men (Paramount Pictures/Miramax, US 2007, directors: Joel and Ethan Coen)   Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme. To hear our next episode early please go to our Patreon page and become a supporter Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended. Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com

We're back, folks - and welcome to Halloween season! We'll be releasing regular episodes throughout October and possibly beyond. One of the horror movie hits of year has been Ryan Coogler's music-led period piece, Sinners. Stella, Ian and Dan recorded a chat about it back when it was in cinemas, and that chat is now bookended by more contemporary reflection from Dan and special guest Spider-Dan. The episode is divided into spoiler-free and spoilerific sections, so if you haven't seen Sinners yet and wish to be surprised, take note of the following timecodes: 00.00.00 Intro, plot setup and spoiler-free discussion with Spider Dan and Dan 00.24.00 Spoiler-free discussion with Stella, Ian and Dan 00.39.50 Spoiler discussion with Stella, Ian and Dan (please note, this section also contains spoilers for the 2022 Netflix series Midnight Mass) 01.14.07 Spoiler discussion with Spider-Dan and Dan   Works Cited Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures, US 2025, director: Ryan Coogler) is now available for home viewing from YouTube and the usual platforms Black Joy, White Interruptions: Sinners and the Afrofuturism of Black Horror (Nicole Huff's article for Horror Homeroom as recommended by Stella) Spider-Dan and the Secret Bores (Spider-Dan's podcast - currently embarking on ShockPhobiaFest!)   Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme. To hear our next episode early please go to our Patreon page and become a supporter Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended.    

Another release from the archive of the wonderful and sadly missed podcast, A Very British Horror, in which Paul and Chris discuss the 1971 Hammer horror film, Vampire Circus.

AKA Omen Trilogy Retrospective #2   Back in 2023, Dan, Stella, Ian and Howard recorded a chat about 1978's Satanic sequel Damian: Omen II to follow up their chat on 1976's The Omen.  Ghosts (or demons) got into the machine, however, and caused most of the recording to be lost.  In January 2025, though, Dan sat down with friend of the podcast Steve Timms to get a fresh perspective on the film, while including some of the surviving comments from the rest of the team.  Will Dan and Steve agree with Howard that this example from the first golden age of the Hollywood sequel (released in the same year as Jaws 2 and the year before Rocky II) is a roaring romp, or with Ian that it's dull and deeply unmemorable?    APOLOGIES: Lots of us call it "The Omen II" when it's actually called Damien: Omen II.  We know.   MORE APOLOGIES: Sorry for our first new episode of 2025 coming out in February rather than, as first announced, January.  Sadly, it will be a while before we can get back to a weekly schedule, but we will be releasing bonus episodes now and then.   Works Cited   Damien: Omen II (Twentieth-Century Fox, US 1978, director: Don Taylor) is available on Blu-Ray from Scream Factory and is streaming on Disney+   Oliver Harper and Bad Movie Bible's commentary for the film is on YouTube Our episode about The Omen Our episode on The Unhealer (featuring an interview with Lance Henriksen) Our episodes on Halloween, Halloween III and Suspiria (featuring contributions from Steve)   Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme.   To hear our next episode early please go to our Patreon page and become a supporter Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended. Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com

Happy New Year!  But Christmas continues.  Here's another gem from the archives of the podcast A Very British Horror, wherein Paul and Chris discuss a (sort of) ghost story for Christmas, the BBC's 1975 adaptation of MR James' The Ash Tree, which is currently streaming on BBC iPlayer.  Coincidentally, it stars Edward Petherbridge, who also appears in The Exorcism, which we covered in the last  episode of And Now thePodcast Starts...   Works Cited James, MR, "The Ash Tree", Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, 1904. (Available to read on Project Guttenberg) The Ash Tree (BBC Television, UK 1975, director: Lawrence Gordon Clark) (BBC iPlayer)

AKA Missed Classics #13   Belatedly following up on our 2020 review of During Barty's Party, here we look at another 1970s TV play by director Don Taylor, 1972's socially-conscious Christmas ghost story, The Exorcism.  Ian, Kirsty, Stella and Dan talk the talk.   Works Cited The Exorcism is part of the series Dead of Night (BBC Television, UK 1972, producer: Innes Lloyd) is available on BFI DVD The Stone Tape (same credits) has just been re-released on Blu-Ray and DVD by 101 Films Beasts (ATV Television, UK 1976, producer: Nicholas Palmer) features the episode During Barty's Party and was released on DVD by the now-defunct Network, though you might still be able to find a copy - here's our 2020 episode about it Box of Delights: The Exorcism (2018 podcast in which John Dryden Taylor is interviewed about The Exorcism) can be found here Ghost Stories for Christmas: Woman of Stone (BBC Television, UK 2024, director: Mark Gatiss) is currently streaming on BBC iPlayer   Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme.   To hear our next episode early please go to our Patreon page and become a supporter Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended. Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com  

The visual media of cinema, TV and videogames are especially suited to depicting the strange visions and wonky logic of human dreaming, and the horror genre is especially able to take advantage of this.  Kirsty and Dan discuss some of the best examples, while Stella drops in to make some points, too.   Works Cited   Un Chien Andalou ("An Andalusian Dog") (Les Grande Films Classiques, France 1929, director: Luis Bunuel (co-writer: Salvador Dali) Meshes of the Afternoon (US 1943 silent/1949 with added music, directors: Maya Deren and Alexandr Hackenshmeid, who later changed his name to Alexander Hammid) Eraserhead (AFI Center for Advanced Studies, US 1979, director: David Lynch) Lost Highway (October Films, US 1998, director: David Lynch) Mulholland Drive (Universal Pictures US 2001, director: David Lynch) Rabbits (web series, US 2002, director: David Lynch) Twin Peaks: The Return (Showtime Network Television, US 2017, showrunners: Mark Frost and David Lynch) Jacob's Ladder (Tri-Star Pictures, US 1990, director: Adrian Lyne) Legion (20th Century Fox Television, US 2015-17, showrunner: Noah Hawley) The Big Lebowski (Polygram Filmed Entertainment, US 1998, directors: Joel and Ethan Coen) Dead of Night: The Exorcism (BBC Television, UK 1972, director: Don Taylor) - be sure to watch this before you listen to our Christmas episode, which will be available on Friday 20th to Patreon supporters and on Christmas Eve to everyone else   Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme.   To hear our next episode early please go to our Patreon page and become a supporter Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended. Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com  

Kirsty and Dan discuss Enys Men, director Mark Jenkin's unique sort-of-folk horror/art film hybrid set on a lonely Cornish island.  Beware, there are some plot developments given, although this very much open-to-interpretation film is fairly spoiler-proof. (Apologies, by the way, that the last episode was delayed by a day.  We've made sure this one's come out on time!)   Works Cited   Enys Men (Film Four, UK 2022, director: Mark Jenkin) - The trailer is largely dialogue-free so we didn't include it in the podcast, but you can see it here M3gan (Blumhouse Pictures, US 2022, director: Gerard Johnstone) - our episode about androids in horror     Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme.   To hear our next episode right now please go to our Patreon page and become a supporter Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended. Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com  

AKA Clark on Quatermass #2: The 1979 Novel   This is the second episode we've released in which award-winning author Simon Clark (@HotelMidnight) pops on to talk to Dan about their mutual hero, writer Nigel Kneale.  In the earlier episode they discussed Kneale's script books of the 1950s Quatermass TV serials; here they discuss Kneale's 1979 follow-up novel, Quatermass.  To preface this discussion, and with the kind blessing of our good friend Spider-Dan, we also present a re-edited 2022 episode from the splendid podcast Spider-Dan and the Secret Bores.  In this episode Dan discussed the 1979 theatrical film The Quatermass Conclusion, on which the novel was (sort of) based, and this chat gives excellent context for the discussion with Simon, so it comes first. Beware - spoilers for Quatermass/The Quatermass Conclusion (novel, series and film) and Quatermass and the Pit.   Works Cited   The Quatermass Conclusion (Euston Films, UK 1979, director: Piers Haggard Quatermass (Thames Television, UK 1979) - streaming on ITVX in the UK The Quatermass Xperiment (Exclusive Films/Hammer, UK 1955) - Dan and Howard's discussion The Quatermass Experiment/Quatermass II/Quatermass and the Pit (BBC Television, UK 1953/55/58) - Simon Clark on the script books Quatermass and the Pit (Twentieth Century Fox/Hammer, UK 1967, director: Roy Ward Baker) A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss (BBC Television, UK 2010, directors: John Das & Rachel Jardine) - currently available on Amazon Prime in the UK Shudder's folk horror documentary mentioned by Spider-Dan is Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched (Severin Films, US 2021, director: Kier-La Janisse) Spider-Dan appears throughout our Halloween retrospective series and also to discuss The Black Cat He is on BlueSky as @secretbores.bsky.social What We Do In The Shadows (FX TV, USA 2019-23, Creator: Jemaine Clement) is streaming on Disney+ - our episode   Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme.   To hear our next episode right now please go to our Patreon page and become a supporter Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended. Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com  

This year, Stella and Dan got to go to Manchester's Grimmfest together for the first time since before the pandemic.  Here they talk about the two films they saw, listed below. NB. 'The Lurking Gits' is a reference to a joke on Stella's other podcast, the excellent Murder Media.   Works Cited   Crumb Catcher (Doppleganger Releasing/Music Box Films, US 2023, director: Chris Skotchdopole) Delivery Run (Arctic Renegades/Jackrabbit Media, US/Finland/UK 2024, director: Joey Palmroos) Duel (Universal Pictures, US 1971, director: Steven Spielberg) - our episode Fargo (Polygram Filmed Entertainment/Working Title Films, US/UK 1996, directors: Joel and Ethan Coen)   Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme.   To hear our next episode right now please go to our Patreon page and become a supporter Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended. Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com

AKA Questions of Horror #6: What Makes Horror Beautiful? Kirsty and Dan discuss the beauty that can sometimes be found in works of horror - or, to use Kirsty's cooler phraseology, the aesthetic qualities of abjection.  Stella chimes in too.  And yes, Kirsty does comment on how much she is "enjoying sunlight", which is a clue that the main discussion here was recorded several months ago.   Works Cited The Cell (New Line Cinema, USA, 2000, director: Tarsem Singh) Hannibal (NBC Television, USA, 2013-2015, showrunner: Bryan Fuller) (our episodes on Season One and Season Two) Bram Stoker's Dracula (Columbia Pictures, USA, 1992, director: Francis Ford Coppola (our episode) Alice aka Something From Alice (First Run Features, Czechoslovakia et al, 1988, director: Jan Svankmajer) Men (DNA Films/Entertainment Film Distributors, UK, 2022, director: Alex Garland) (our episode) The Wicker Man (British Lion, UK, 1973, director: Robin Hardy) (our second paganism episode) Midsommar  (A24 Films, USA/Sweden, 2019, director: Ari Aster) (our first paganism episode) Antichrist (Nordist Film Distribution, Denmark et al, 2009, director: Lars von Trier) Dark (Netflix/Weidermann & Berg Television, Germany, 2017-2020, showrunners: Baron Bo Odar & Janje Friese) The Third Day: Autumn (Sky Arts et al, USA/UK, 2020, creators: Felix Barrett, Dennis Kelly) Crimson Peak (Universal Pictures, USA, 2015, director: Guillermo del Toro)   To hear our next episode right now please go to our Patreon page and become a supporter Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook   Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme. All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended.   Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com  

AKA Questions of Horror #5: What Are Our Favourite (or the Best) Horror Franchises? Ian, Kirsty, Stella and Dan ruminate on the above question, while Howard calls Dan on the phone to add his two-penny's worth.   Works cited I, Claudius (1976) is sadly no longer on BBC iPlayer The Woman in Black (1989) - rentable on Amazon Prime The Scream films and TV series (1996-2023 - hear our previous episodes on Scream V and Scream VI) The Child's Play franchise (1987-2017) and TV series Chucky (2021-2024): Martin Jameson's Chucky reviews from Season 2 for Sci-Fi Bulletin The Quatermass franchise (1953-1996) - Our episode on the 1950s TV scripts The Alien franchise (1979-2024) - Our episodes on Alien, Aliens, Alien3, Alien Resurrection, and Alien Romulus The books, films and TV series about Hannibal Lecter (1981-2015) - Our episodes on Season 1 and Season 2 of the TV show The Amicus series of horror anthology films (1965-74) - Our episode on Dr Terror's House of Horrors The Exorcist films (1973-2023) - Our episodes on Exorcist II: The Heretic and The Exorcist III   Artwork by Kirsty Worrow (Instagram: OneCrowLeft).  Music by Greg Hulme.   Socials: BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended. Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com

Happy Halloween! Welcome to our new regular series.  In this episode, Dan, Kirsty, Stella, Ian and even Howard all give their thoughts on the little-discussed British horror movie from 1973 whose name their podcast borrowed (ripped off). Beware that Dan frequently refers to cutting back to "the studio" as if he thinks he's delivering a 1980s regional news report.  Also please prepare for regular references to boobs and bonnets. Trigger warning: --And Now The Screaming Starts and its source novel, Fengriffen, contain rape scenes, which are discussed on the podcast. Spoiler warning: the discussion gives full details of the film's storyline.   Works Cited --And Now The Screaming Starts! (1973) - available on YouTube Threads (1984) - Available on BBC iPlayer and Tubi Case, David - Fengriffen and Other Gothic Tales, Valancourt Books, 2015 Scott, Manda - Any Human Power, September Publishing, 2024   BlueSky Mastodon Twitter Instagram (also on Threads) Facebook All clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (Commonwealth law) and Fair Use (US law) for the purposes of criticism and education.  No copyright infringement intended.

As a companion piece to our episode on --And Now The Screaming Starts!, here's an episode of the much-missed podcast A Very British Horror discussing 1972's Asylum, the previous movie made Amicus Productions and director Roy Ward Baker.  The show's regular hosts, Chris Denton and Paul Monk, are joined by our very own Dan, in hyper-enthusiastic mode. If you've never seen Asylum, it's great fun and someone has (probably dodgily) uploaded it to YouTube.  We recommend you watch the film before listening to this spoilery discussion. Many thanks to Chris and Paul for allowing us to host this.