The Horror Double Bill
Welcome to The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something far greater than the sum of their parts.
Expect discussions on shared themes, directors. writers and atmosphere, as we explore what the films say about the time they were made and our fears in the present; including social history, folklore, censorship, and a love of horror in all its forms.
New episodes every Sunday.
📸 @thehorrordoublebill
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The Horror Double Bill
Episode 51: X - The Unknown (1956) & The Blob (1988)
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Welcome to episode 51 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something greater than the sum of their parts.
This week we are exploring the amorphous world of the science fiction horror hybrid, with two movies that pit man against gelatinous monstrosities from inner and outer space.
First up, we have X the Unknown from 1956, an early entry into the horror market from British studio Hammer, This was directed by Leslie Norman and stars Dean Jagger, Leo McKern and Edward Chapman.
Then we jump forward to 1988 for the enjoyably goofy The Blob, from director Chuck Russell and co-writer Frank Darabont, and stars Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith, Donovan Leitch, Jeffrey DeMunn and Candy Clark.
Along the way, we will be discussing the careers of writer-directors Jimmy Sangster and Chuck Russell, unlikely parallels with Spielberg’s Jaws, shapeless monstrosities in the horror movie, the inspiration for and the production story of the 1958 version of the Blob, and much, much more.
References
The House that Hammer Built Volume 2, 1950 – 1954 & Volume 3: 1955–1958 by Wayne Kinsey
Hammer and Beyond: The British Horror Film by Peter Hutchings,
Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography by Tom Johnson and Deborah Del Vecchio
Father of the Blob: The Making of a Monster Smash and Other Hollywood Tales by Jack H Harris
https://strasbourgfestival.com/en/interview-jimmy-sangster/
https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/jimmy-sangster/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Sangster
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/21/jimmy-sangster-obituary
The Blob (1988) - Scream factory blu ray interviews, commentaries and extras
https://ia801403.us.archive.org/4/items/Fear_04_1989-01-02_no_ads/Fear_04_1989-01-02_no_ads.pdf
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0762727/
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0751080/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blob_(1988_film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blob
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_the_Unknown
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youtube: @thehorrordoublebill
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