Episode 36 - Bad Decisions

Welcome to Haunted Ozark Theater … H-O-T … your “hot” horror podcast! In this episode we discuss the worst decisions in horror movie history. You know the trope; if they're being chased by a killer, they're going to make a bad decision. They frustrate us but we keep coming back for more!

Title Song: Hellfire by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) https://creatorchords.com Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Graphics by Jacob Hedges

© Haunted Ozark Theater 2026

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Welcome to Haunted Ozark Theater. H. O. T. Your Hot Horror Podcast. And today we're going to talk about bad decisions in horror movies.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

What are you thinking?

SPEAKER_01 0:35

There's what are you doing? Yeah, I mean, there's it's there's pretty much gonna be one in every horror movie. So we're gonna make a list of some of the worst decisions, and we're just gonna kind of talk about the idea in general because it's it's a funny, fun discussion point, and it's it's not unique to horror, but horror really leans into it. Yeah, yeah, they really do. The cliches. Um, but first, this day in horror history, uh, we're gonna talk about the birthday boy. It's Fred Gwen's birthday. Fred Gwen's Herman Munster. Oh, cool. Herman Munster. So I have talked several times about how much I love the Adams family. And you have said I'm a monsters guy that you're a monsters guy. So tell me, tell me about Fred Gwen, tell me about the Monsters, tell me about why you're a Monsters guy.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

The the main reason because when I was a little boy, my mom for some reason would wake me up early in the morning when she had to get ready for work, and it was on TBS. Okay, and it would come on first. Okay, and just their the vehicle they drove, the family style, uh, the the sun. I I mean, I don't know. I just gravitated. I love the Adams family, but Monsters was more appealing to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:50

That was your jam. Yeah, yeah. Fred Gwynn, I heard he was 6'5 without the platform. Without the platform, he was a big dude already, and then they made him even bigger to kind of be that Frankenstein-ish dad.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

But um I didn't I didn't know he was that tall.

SPEAKER_01 2:10

Yeah, I think he was approaching seven feet on the show with those platforms on. I think so, I think so. Wow. I mean, if you're 6'5 and you put on some platforms, forms, if right, you know, you gotta be pushing seven feet.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

Have you seen the remake or Rob Sombie?

SPEAKER_01 2:23

I was gonna ask you about that because it's not my favorite. We're both big Rob Zombie guys.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

I love Rob Zombie, it just was a I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

It didn't have much of a plot. Yeah, I mean it seemed it was it's the backstory then living on dead. I did appreciate that it kind of takes us right up to episode one of the monsters and you know sets the table. I did like that about it, but the movie itself felt very episodic, which I guess makes sense for a TV show, but it just seemed very disconnected for the movie. I that's how I felt I felt like we just kind of jumped from one plot point to the other, and there was no real thing threading. Yeah, there was no thread going through it to connect them all.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

That's that's it was kind of like I knew Rob Sandby loved the monsters. They said, hey, make a movie about the monsters, and yeah, I don't know, something got mixed up there.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Yeah, I mean it's it's got some good art direction and it's got some fun moments in it. And like I said, I I do appreciate that it's a prequel of sorts and it takes you right up to episode one of the show. So I'd say it's worth a watch, but it's yeah, I I don't see myself coming back to it a lot.

SPEAKER_02 3:37

Who's the bigger outcast? The monsters or the Adams family?

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Oh, that's a good question. They're both like, you know, misunderstood.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

And they're but why you love they're they're good-hearted people, they're both well-intentioned, and they they don't mean any harm, but they're just outsiders, yeah, you know. Yeah, and I think that's I don't know why I love them so much as a kid.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

Sure, yeah, absolutely. You know, my my love for the Adams family stems from first and foremost the the New Yorker cartoon. Right. Because I think I've told y'all before my parents had a coffee table book of all those uh little cartoons, and that's where I fell in love with them. And then when I got, you know, to see them come to life on on the on the small screen, you know, that was like just icing on the key.

SPEAKER_02 4:27

Now, Addams Family, of course, they had the two theatrical movies they've had in recent years some newer stuff come out. Wednesday's got our own show. The monsters had made for TV stuff. If I'm not they never had a big screen movie.

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Yeah, I think the Adams Family has had more legs, more because it said it's right. Yeah. But um and I love the Addams Family, don't get me wrong. But that's why I wanted to give the Monsters their due here, since it is Fred Gwynn's birthday, because like, hey, you know what I remember him most from? What's that?

SPEAKER_02 4:57

My cousin Vinny. Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

The judge. Yeah. The youpes. The two you yeah, no, good stuff.

SPEAKER_02 5:07

Good stuff. That's awesome. Happy birthday.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Well, we did a whole episode on rewatches last time. Do we do we have any rewatches to talk about?

SPEAKER_02 5:16

I did. I watched one last night. Okay, and you can debate me on this. After watching it again, it's not one I watch a lot, it but it's probably one of the greatest movies ever made. Okay. Silence of the Lamps. Oh, yeah. And watching it, it's horror. Oh, yeah. It's a horror movie. It is. If we can call long legs horror, we're gonna call Silence of the Lamps Horse Sun.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

We've talked about that a lot. You know, a lot of people will say it's not horror, or we say the horror fans want to claim it because of its critical success. But yeah, I I dare you to watch that and say that's that's not that's it's a horror movie.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

I picked one thing up watching this time, I've never noticed, and that's something that's really off-putting about Hannibal. If you go back and watch it, every scene he's in talking to Claire, he never blinks, and it throws you off. He does not blink. And I was like, that's what it because I was like, what is it about him that's making me so uneasy? Dude doesn't blink.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Yeah, yeah, okay. I'm gonna have to watch it again and look for that. Because yeah, I mean, that's that is like you said, that'll that'll uh kind of put you on edge, and and you might not even realize why you're on edge, right?

SPEAKER_02 6:25

And it one of the we're talking about bad decisions. Uh it's not on my list, but I'll say it right now when the two guards are he's in the building and they're why go in there? The whole movie he slot up with super tight security, and all of a sudden these two guys can come in to feed. I don't even like here's a granola bar. I'm gonna slide it through there. You're not getting anywhere near me, and so that I was like, what are you doing? Yeah, I get it, it's a plot to move things to get him free, but I was just like, come on, God, I'm not getting in there.

SPEAKER_01 6:54

And we'll get into this more here in a minute, but I I think that's a lot of the bad decisions are excused at plot devices to keep it. Yeah, but exactly.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

I can still ask, what are you thinking?

SPEAKER_01 7:06

Right, 100% I was yeah, no, I'm I'm with you on that. So I didn't re-watch anything, but I watched something that I had never watched before, and I'm not so sure if I'm gonna keep going. It's a sh it's a series. Um, True Blood. Oh, yeah. I'd never seen it before.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Came off the hills at Twilight.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

And I saw that it was on uh all the episodes are on HBO Max, and so I thought I'd give it a try. And I'm I'm three or four episodes in.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

Wasn't for me, and I will say that stories with vampires.

SPEAKER_01 7:42

I will say that they do a good job of um making you want to come and watch the next episode and see what happens next. They do a really good job with the little cliffhangers, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 7:55

I can't wait for Blade to show up. Just let's let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

But yeah, it's not, it's it's not my jam, that's for sure. It's not my jam. Um it was a big hit. It wasn't, but I think like you said, Twilight had just taken the world by storm, so this was what they were thirsty for. At least the vampires aren't sparkly in that one, I guess.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:18

Yeah, so I don't see myself continuing on with it. Um but now I know what it's all about. You try to. It's got some it's got some good like gothic stuff going on. Right. And um it's very um, it's very like you were talking about the sparkly vampire, you know, where Twilight just ignores vampire mythology altogether and creates their own mythology. True Blood has done, at least in what I saw of it, has done a good job uh of sticking to the established mythology and honoring the established mythology. They do, it's got some real janky TV CGI in it, you know, which comes to be expected. Is it HBO original? I don't know if it was originally on HBO, I'm not sure. It's on HBO Max now, so it probably did come on HBO back in the day. It didn't try to do anything new, which I uh again, I'm glad that they were like, hey, this is vampire we have hundreds of years of vampire lore. Why reinvent the wheel? Right. And I I was glad that they did that.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

What I remember most about True Blood is that from I can re I think I had a buddy who was big into it, but at the time I had another friend, and he was like, Will you watch this? Or a show called Dexter. And I was like, I think I want to try this Dexter, and I think I I went down the right. Love me some Dexter dude.

SPEAKER_01 9:48

Um, my wife just read the second and third Dexter books, and so she just told me, I think just yesterday or day before yesterday, let's go back and re-watch Dexter. Can't go wrong. So I think that's gonna be something that that we that we're gonna a journey that we're gonna embark on here pretty soon.

SPEAKER_02 10:05

I remember the first one I read a Dexter Dreaming Darkly, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:08

Yeah, there's a good book. Yeah, I've read one and two, and she's read now one, two, and three. So, and it's made her want to rewatch the show. So when when my wife and I first uh were dating, she had the Dexter theme song as her ringtone. So that's that went pretty far to impress me. Yeah, you knew she was the keeper.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

Yeah, yeah. Okay, well, you want to jump into this?

SPEAKER_01 10:31

Yeah, let's talk about bad decisions.

SPEAKER_02 10:34

How do you so I picked I've got a list of things, but some movies that really I love, but it really bugged me, and I wanted to talk about them. And I know you probably just like this, this, this, that.

SPEAKER_01 10:46

So yeah, I just kind of just thought back on ones that really stuck out to me and just thought. Okay, well, let's go. What's the first one that really sticks out to people? Well, the first one that I gotta shout out is Dairy in Jeepers Creepers.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Oh, okay. And I love it because That's exactly what I put, my number one.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

I love it because his sister calls him out on it.

SPEAKER_02 11:08

Which part are you talking? I'm talking about going in the well, yeah, down the pipe. Pipe okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yeah, he goes, he's like, I'm gonna go down there. And she's like, Don't go down there. Yep. And she even says, like, have you seen any horror movie ever? Like, this is not a good idea. Yeah, good, yeah, call the cops, don't go down there.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

So But in Derry's defense, I think the creeper was gonna get him either way. But do you think that do you think it did? Do you think it really put its scent off and his got a scent when he went down in there? Well, I mean, I think he sealed his fake when he went down in there for sure. So you think he could have lived if he didn't?

SPEAKER_01 11:46

Yeah, I mean, they were they had their little run-in on the road. And then he But I don't think the creeper was like, oh, I'm gonna get that guy until Derry really inserted himself into went down there to see the uh cathedral of bodies, yeah, yeah. So, but again, uh it's to me it's not like the most egregious bad decision in horror.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

But you're really like, what are you thinking?

SPEAKER_01 12:10

But the fact that his system calls him out on right that I that's I love that aspect of it.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

I love the the because we're the audience, we're we are like, yeah, listen to her.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

She's our yeah, she's our stand-in as an audience member. Yeah. And I also wanted to say before we get into it, that this is such a thing. Bad decisions in horror movie is such a thing. That if you'll remember, hopefully I'm jogging your memory, there was even a Geico commercial about this. Geico, the insurance car, the car insurance company, did a a commercial not too terribly long ago within the last 10 years.

SPEAKER_02 12:49

Is that one where the horror is guy is chasing her? Yeah, and they're like, should we go in the basement? It's the yes, it's the same. And the other girls like with the chainsaw.

SPEAKER_01 12:57

Why don't we get in the running car and drive away? No, let's hide behind the chainsaw house. And then even the killer's like Yeah, the killer kind of rolls his eyes. Yeah. So this is such an established thing that even Geico poked you in a commercial. I wanted to I wanted to bring that up before we really dive in.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

So that would have been, yeah, the main one in that. Don't go down in there, just keep driving, go call the cops or just forget that you've seen it.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Yeah. And go on. And he's even got a voice of reason in his ear.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

I don't know though, but I feel like you know, some young men and maybe even older men, like if you're with your sister, I can see that actually happening, though. The curiosity that kind of kills the cat.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:42

Speaking of letting this cat out.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

Well, so what you got on your list?

SPEAKER_02 13:49

My number two is Jaws.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 13:52

Seriously, why would you go in the water? Why would the mayor, after all that? Why didn't they shut down the beach? Yeah, why didn't they?

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

That's my number one thing. And the locals, you're gonna know about it, you're gonna hear about it, and you're still going out in that water. Come on, yeah. Come on, man. Yeah, I hear you.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

That's give come on, man. You know what I was looking at when I was doing my research, that was one that came up on a lot of people's lists.

SPEAKER_02 14:15

Well, there's just so many of these. Yeah, there's so many in these horror movies. If you would just listen to the people in common sense, you're gonna live.

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

But then we don't have good horror though, do we?

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:24

So that would that's my move the plot along. Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

It's gotta move the plot along. Uh, I'm gonna do one that is not, you know, super severe, but I still think it was one of those moments where I was like, come on, like, are you serious right now? And it's terrifier one, and they're in the pizza joint, and Art is staring at the girls.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Is she teasing him, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:55

Or she floating in like she teases him relentlessly. Well, she gets hers, though. She totally gets it. I mean, but that kill is it's one thing to to make a comment on the clown, but even her friend's like, don't do that, like stop. And she stays after him. I mean, she stays after him for a good long while, and she just will not let it go.

SPEAKER_02 15:21

And the look that art's given too during that is so creepy, yeah. Even to the point where she goes on and like sits on his lap and like takes a second with her, and he's like glaring into the and I remember the first time watching it, you're like, Yeah, she's gonna get it, but never in my sickest dreams. I'm like, this is how this chick's gonna die.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Well, I mean, he takes her apart in the most gruesome way. Yeah, and I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna say she had it coming, but at the same time, you kind of You poked the bear, didn't you? You kind of poked the bear, yeah. Yeah, you kind of poked the bear there.

SPEAKER_02 15:59

That's a really I forgot all about her kind of yeah, taunting taunts him.

SPEAKER_01 16:03

And she was no end. Don't do that. Yeah, don't do it, girl.

SPEAKER_02 16:07

What do you got? Mine's more on the funnier side on this pick, and uh, I don't know why it got brought back to my memory, but just when I first time I watched this, it's uh zombie land. Okay, and I love Bill Murray. And just why and I know it's comedy, it's it's zombies, don't take it too seriously, but he dresses up as a freaking zombie, and of course he gets shot, but I was just like, Bill, why would you Yeah?

SPEAKER_01 16:30

I love the explanation he gives for why he dresses up like a zombie, but then so get out and play golf, yeah. But then the um the but he's walking around as a zombie in the house. Well, yeah, and like he makes himself known to Tallahassee, but then the decision to go try to scare Columbus.

SPEAKER_02 16:50

You think someone might be like that's a bad idea. That's a bad idea, yeah. So that always just stuck up in my head, but I think it's hilarious.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

It's hilarious, and also I think it's very much in character for Tallahassee to not think it through too. Right. Tallahassee's like, yeah, let's go, let's go scare him. Like, I'm down. Like he might have even been the one who has the idea. Like, come on, Bill, let's go, you know. Um, another one I saw in people's lists is uh from Zombieland the idea to turn on Pacific Playland.

SPEAKER_02 17:22

Oh yeah. They get there because you're really advertising. Hey, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

There they they get there and they flip the switch, and all the lights and all the sounds come on, and it's just a beacon for zombies for zombies from miles around. And so um that was another one that was on people's lists of of bad decisions. Like you you brought them to you.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

Yeah, and I'm surprised because the is it what's he's got the lisp, yeah, and everything he does.

SPEAKER_01 17:53

But he wasn't there for that part. He wasn't the girls, yep. It was the girls who showed up and way to go, girls.

SPEAKER_02 18:00

Yeah, what else you got? My next one, and this is just common sense, and it starts from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Guys, don't pick up hitchhikers, don't pick up hitchhikers, and don't pick up from the remake when there are young girls walking down the road and they pull out a gun. I mean, dude, just crazy hitchhikes, don't pick them up. Yeah, they would all be alive if they wouldn't have picked up that hitchhiker. And there's even a sign at the beginning of the movie of Texas Chainsaw, the original, don't pick up hitchhikers.

SPEAKER_01 18:30

You're right, you're right. I will say that at that time in America, early 70s, it's far more common to pick up hitchhikers back then.

SPEAKER_02 18:39

And um I wonder if that stopped after this movie.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

I really do like that it I would think that this probably had a big impact on that.

SPEAKER_02 18:48

I would imagine you're out of luck, guys.

SPEAKER_01 18:50

Yeah. I'll bet you there's research about it. If they did research about people not going to the beach after Jaws, I bet you there's research about people going to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_02 19:01

That number dropping drastically.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

Yeah, yeah. But just, I mean, we wouldn't have takes a chance on Massacre without them picking him up. Right. No, 100%. But yeah, I think it was more common back then, but um, so I don't hold that one against them too much. Okay. But I mean, yeah, you especially like you said, there is a a sign that is they the camera clearly shows it the sign and and they ignored it. Kind of a foreboding sign, I think. For sure. Um another one that's that's not super egregious, but it is kind of stupid. And I love this movie. And we talked about this when we did our final girls episode, Jess in Black Christmas. Oh, yeah. Now she's maybe the first ever Final Girl, definitely one of the first Final Girls, definitely deserves a lot of uh respect and uh consideration for what she did for Final Girls going forward. She makes a really dumb mistake in this movie. She gets a call from the cops, she's downstairs. Yep, she gets a call from the cops, the killer's in the house, or the phone calls are coming from the house. She goes up the stairs yelling. Is somebody here? Is anybody here? Is anybody up here? Is somebody here? What were you thinking, girl?

SPEAKER_02 20:35

Yeah, and I'm yeah, drives you nuts, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_01 20:40

It really does. Jess, I love you. And you're an awesome final girl.

SPEAKER_02 20:47

And somehow you manage to make it out alive.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

But if the cops call you and tell you, the calls are coming, don't yell out your position.

SPEAKER_02 20:58

Get out of the house.

SPEAKER_01 20:59

Don't go out the house. Who is anyone there? All right, Jess, that was bad.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

Well, that really plays on another one I was gonna talk about. And just about everyone, they're getting better in newer movies, but if you watch a lot of the old 70s and 80s, when these and it's the young girls are getting chased. Yeah, what shut up, don't yell, don't give your position away. Advertising, yeah, like Sally, all through Texas Chainsaw Master. Shut up, hide somewhere. Yeah, he's got a chainsaw, he won't like he can hear you screaming, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Yeah, that just strikes me good. Sally was driven totally nuts. Yeah, she and I think a lot of people would be driven totally nuts after what she went through the family dinner. Yeah, crazy.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

How about that?

SPEAKER_01 21:44

What else you got?

SPEAKER_02 21:45

So, my next one, and man, it I don't know if you caught this because I know you've seen the movie. We've never really talked about it, not even off the show with Saul. Yeah, but you remember the end. He has an his hand, he's yeah, a couple of feet from it. He had a saw. He could use the saw to reach. And that's always killed me.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Wha what I mean, it kills me. Yeah. He's a doctor. He's got brains. Right. Right. Come on, man. I know. So that one really, really bugs me.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

But I think as an audience, we we had to have that payoff.

SPEAKER_02 22:22

And it's a payoff. It definitely. Yeah. Yeah, and dividends.

SPEAKER_01 22:27

Yeah. But at the same time, yeah, like that was that was it was pretty obvious.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

He could reach it, right? I'm not the only one.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

Right, yeah. Okay. No, 100%.

SPEAKER_02 22:38

That's one that bugs me in that movie.

SPEAKER_01 22:39

Yeah, 100%. I agree with you. Um, next one that I was thinking about is uh the purge. Okay. The original purge. So Charlie, the the son.

SPEAKER_02 22:54

Your dad is the He opens the thing, right? For the uh I always yell at the scream on the.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Your dad is responsible for these security systems. Yeah, he he sells them, right? Yeah. I don't know if he designed them or sold them or I mean you know the line of work that your dad's in, and you know the reason why you're taking it. The risk.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

He's yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:23

And your dad very confidently has said, like, we're gonna be fine because of this. We have this system in place.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

So what you're trying to do, the son killed his dad. The son because he dies in the end because of that.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

The son ultimately, you know, here's has grown up like this and here's all this, and then his humanity gets the better part of him, and he's like, I'm gonna open everything up for this for this poor homeless guy.

SPEAKER_02 23:52

He would have been out of luck.

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:55

Sorry, dude.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

Yeah, uh, he'd been a he would have been a stain on the sidewalk, but that's another house.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

Like, and they they break like my whole family would have been together. You're not leaving the room that whole night. I don't care if the daughter didn't like the sun down. You I this isn't a voting, it's I'm telling you we're gonna do this. 100%. But then again, you don't have a war movie. Right. So good, that's a good one. I forgot about the purge, yeah, because I always scream at that kid, you little idiot.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That one drove me nuts.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

Okay, well, here's one that might really drive you nuts. Okay, what about all the stupid people in all these movies who know Bloody Mary or Candy Man and still summon them?

SPEAKER_01 24:36

Um what are you thinking? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:40

That's my pet peeves.

SPEAKER_01 24:42

Now, Candyman, she was doing it for research. Yeah, she was like, I gotta get a story here, and I'm you know, I don't think she believed that it was really gonna happen. But she maybe a little bit, she dared to do it because she wanted she wanted to get the story, right?

SPEAKER_02 24:59

And when just not her, what about all the other like in the you know there's so many different versions of this exact same yeah? There's an episode in Supernatural with Bloody Mary, yeah, yeah, yeah. That always just but just if you want to live, don't do it. Just don't live.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Don't even play with it. Yeah, don't even even if you don't think it's gonna happen, just don't if you're interested in it, tell your friend about it, have them do it.

SPEAKER_02 25:22

If they die, you know. Use your friend as maybe tell someone you don't like about it.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

That's hilarious. That would be a horror movie, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

There you go. Yeah, what do you got? Uh I got one more on my list, but of course we can you know talk about more as they come to us, and and there's always the tropes that are kind of generic, like the like you were saying, the bloody Mary. Yeah, you know. But my last concrete one is uh Liv Tyler plays Kristen in The Strangers.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

Oh yeah. The virgin one's so good. She gets out. But she comes back for him, and she goes back. Wouldn't you? You wouldn't come back for your wife? Yes, you would.

SPEAKER_01 26:08

Well, are they are they a married couple?

SPEAKER_02 26:10

They're going through a divorce or fixing a breakup, they're really mad at it. But they love each other, right?

SPEAKER_01 26:14

I mean, even if you I didn't I forgot that they're yeah, I forgot that they're going through they're going through a hard time, let's say that. Yeah. I mean, I would hope that my wife would come back for me.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

I would wonder I'm go go free yourself, go get the law.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

I think I think that he was probably you know, if he was thinking anything, he was probably thinking good. She made it out. I hope she goes on and you know makes a life after this. But um uh and does she does she know for sure that he's okay in there?

SPEAKER_02 26:52

No.

SPEAKER_01 26:53

See, that's the thing is that's the other thing, is like I kind of was under the impression that in her mind he might already be dead or as good as dead.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

So why go back?

SPEAKER_01 27:05

So why go back? Yeah. She had a clear path to make it out of there, you know. And they weren't targeting them specifically. They, you know, the the famous line is because you were home.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

That's the scariest part, isn't it? You did with no rhyme or reason. We were just here, and you wrong place, wrong time, wrong thing.

SPEAKER_01 27:27

But uh, yeah, so I mean if they're if she got away, there's no reason to think that they would have had a reason to go after in the end. Yeah, exactly. She was scot-free, and she's like, I'm gonna turn around and go back. Yeah, yeah, go back into the house of orders. Yeah. Uh yeah, don't do that, guys. I think that was a good idea. Yeah, if you really love them, take off running. And I know, like, forget them, you know, we're when the whole premise of this episode that we're doing right now is you know, hindsight is 2020. So we can look back at every one of these decisions and say, you made the wrong decision. You know, but in that case, you really you really could have got away. Right, you know, you had your shot.

SPEAKER_02 28:08

But I wonder, like in real life, what would you do? Like, if that was really you, if that was your wife, you would have to be like, I died.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

I totally see what you're saying. Or you're totally if I thought if she were dead or I thought she was as good as dead, then maybe you run off. But as a husband, you're you're going back. Yeah, you're 100% you're going back. But like you made a good point, though. If the if my wife got out, I wouldn't want her to come out.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

Oh, yeah, Run.

SPEAKER_01 28:36

I would want to go. You know, go and get away. You you have a chance to get away, you need to go.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

I don't know, dude. I'm kind of spiteful. I'd be like, get back here, die with me. Never forgive me. Don't remarry. That's funny. Okay. One I wanted to ask you about, because this movie is up your alley. You've you've praised it a lot. And I'm thinking the same would have been true. I'm gonna see what you think. And this is Mark treating the locals with such disrespect in midsummer. But they were gonna die anyway. But like, why be such a douche?

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Yeah, he's really nasty. You know what I mean? Yeah, he's really nasty to them.

SPEAKER_02 29:20

No, I mean they were they were sacrificial lambs anyway, right? They were they were you know, they drugged them.

SPEAKER_01 29:28

Got me thinking, could he had a little better? I was I always wonder, would they have drugged them if he hadn't been such a jerk about it? Right. That's what I well. I feel like I always felt like that's why they drugged them.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

Because of him.

SPEAKER_01 29:44

Because of him. Wow. That's what I that's that's that was my takeaway. Okay, yeah. Um, I mean, obviously they were there for a reason, and the the cult was gonna see that reason fulfilled.

SPEAKER_02 29:57

No matter what, but I really loved them, right? Right, yeah. Do you think that would have stopped them? Do you think if if they would have been the nicest people and be like, wow, but we can't? You think they're like, no, they don't know.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

I think they would have integrated whoever was willing to be integrated. I I think really like ultimately, you know.

SPEAKER_02 30:15

If they would have served the cause, they could have stayed with them.

SPEAKER_01 30:17

Yeah, because they're always they were they talk specifically about we need some new DNA in this new blood. And so I think that you know, um obviously they chose Florence Pugh's character to be the one that to to integrate, but I think that if somebody else in the group would have gleaned some kind of interest, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:39

I think that how would you have shown that though?

SPEAKER_01 30:42

I don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 30:44

That's another good question for it.

SPEAKER_01 30:46

Yeah, she comes to the conclusion in a more organic way, and obviously they've been manipulating her and a kind of brainwashing her grooming, you know, groom exactly. They groom her, so she doesn't I don't believe she fully makes the decision of her own free will. I wonder what she's doing today there.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

Yeah, like how that turned out for it. You never know, but um we'll see for sure. Yeah, he was he was he was such a douche dude, and it makes it you're like, yeah, you're gonna die, and I'm gonna enjoy it.

SPEAKER_01 31:19

And it's it's it's fine to um it's fine to be skeptical, but he just had no respect. Respect, yeah. No respect.

SPEAKER_02 31:30

You know, that's that was his I wonder if that was just a thing from the director. Like, we want the audience to really want you to get what's coming. If that was the whole or just yeah, I could quite like that.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

American being rude, or it could be that, or it could be um we you know, we're gonna give each person you know a typical reaction. So one typical reaction would be to to be skeptical and disrespectful, right? So his character represented that or embodied that, you know. Gotcha. And because all the other characters have different reactions to this, you know. Yeah, some of them were very there was the one guy who was very like scholarly about it. Like, I'm gonna write notes about everything, everything, yeah. You know, and then there was Florence Pugh who was like, I don't really know what's going on, but I just need a distraction from yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_02 32:24

Who do did you identify who do you identify most without those characters? Who do you think you would have been most like?

SPEAKER_01 32:30

Um that's a good question. That's a good question. I I think if I were put in that situation, you know, if I if I didn't uh again, hindsight being 2020, if I didn't know how much danger I was in, I think I would have been like, you know, let's experience this. Right. And let's let's, you know, how many people got an opportunity to to live like this for for a week or whatever. It'd be something, wouldn't it? Yeah, yeah. Well they didn't yeah, they lived alright. I think, yeah. I don't think I would have survived. I'm sure they would have been like, yeah, this dude, you know, we're not turning him, but we're not letting him leave.

SPEAKER_02 33:12

Leave, yeah. He's gonna be part of the sacrifice. Yeah, okay. My next one, I know you love these movies, and I don't know why. Um, so it's leprechaun. All of the leprechaun movies, just give the leprechaun his gold back and he'll leave everyone alone. Don't know where it is, offer to help him. He seems like the kind of leprechaun. If he were like, hey, I'm gonna help you find your gold. Let's do it. He won't kill you. I never understood that. Give him his gold, yeah, and he'll leave you alone.

SPEAKER_00 33:40

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:41

Well, I think you know, the the one common thing about all of them is they're is they're they're a uh a commentary on greed. Okay, you know, is the is the is the main theme, I think, of all the leprechaun movies.

SPEAKER_02 33:56

In part two, if I it's been a long time since I won that masterpiece, uh they kidnap he kidnaps the girl and he wants to marry her, and they're using the gold as a bargaining chip, if I'm correct. Right. Right, and that was the reason for that. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 34:10

Yeah, absolutely. I can't believe I remember. But also, you know, these movies are so ridiculous and so far-fetched. So into the comedy, more so I think the horror.

SPEAKER_02 34:27

Part one, not so much, it'd kind of really be darker, but then two the rest.

SPEAKER_01 34:32

Yeah. And so, you know, I think the stupid decisions are like they go hand in hand with just the absurdity of it. You know, it's like we can have them make whatever kind of decision and it's gonna be forgiven because the premise is absurd.

SPEAKER_02 34:53

Well, the dude eats the gold coin and what the gold bucket comes out of his belly. I remember seeing that at scan, like, whoa.

SPEAKER_01 35:01

So yeah, there's anything goes when you're when you're just saying this this is just gonna be absurd, right? One way or the other, you know. At that point, anything goes.

SPEAKER_02 35:14

So don't help a leprechaun. That means if he if you take us going, give it back. Uh, when you go to new places, don't be disrespectful. Yeah. My next one is gonna be, guys, I'm gonna tell you, don't ever read anything in Latin. Right. Especially if it's covered with balled wire and tells you not to read. Yeah, don't read anything in Latin.

SPEAKER_01 35:33

Or if it's bound in human flesh. Uh and just that one always gets me. Yeah, and they they skewer that in Cabin in the Woods.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

Yes, they do.

SPEAKER_01 35:44

Um, she finds the the letters from the cursed letters from yeah, but it's like I forget the girl's name, but the one-armed girl, you know, they find her letters and they're reading the letters, but then when they get to the part where it's in Latin. Right. Um, the blonde girl, she's like, don't read that part. What do they do? Yeah. And then the the the guy who's like, he's a he's a football player, but he's also kind of uh an egghead. The guy who's on, he's the he's from Gray's Anatomy. Right. He's got a role in Grey's Anatomy as a doctor. But he's like, Oh, I read a little Latin. You know, I I can do this, just dis uh decipher that. And they're like, no, don't please don't you don't do it.

SPEAKER_02 36:31

The stone-aired guy cracks me up on that movie every time because he's making all the right decisions.

SPEAKER_01 36:36

Right, right. No, that's a great, that's a great point. What's the what were what were some other ones besides Evil Dead? What what was it? Well, you said something about barbed wire. What are you referring to?

SPEAKER_02 36:47

Well, in the remake, oh yeah, okay it's wrapped in barbed wire and he cuts himself with it. I'm pretty sure in the blood goes on and dude, you had every warning not to do this, and they got it really bad in that remake. Really bad. Yeah, that's uh was that Fady Alvarez's first? I don't know if it was first, that's the first time. I remember they were going hearing his name going, wow, this guy's great.

SPEAKER_01 37:11

Yeah, he he just I love that remake. It's great, it's totally different than the original. It's hardcore, it's metal. It's it's like uh I think when we did a when we talked about Evil Dead in the past, I think we said it's almost more of an homage than a like shot for shot remake. But he definitely was like, I'm gonna make this as scary and hardcore it's a good scary movie. Yeah, it is a good scary movie, and I I classify it as it's I know it has Bruce at the end there. The little cameo at the end of critics, yeah. In my mind, it's a different universe. That's not a Ash Williams universe necessarily. Why not?

SPEAKER_02 37:50

It just it's just a totally different thing, and it leads to you know um Evil Dead Rise and I know you're not a big fan of Dead Rise, but I loved it. I know I think it's good to me. I can't wait to watch it. I like them as I might go to the theater to see that.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

Yeah, I'm down to see that in the theater. I like them as horror movies, but I I just feel like it's a different universe.

SPEAKER_02 38:14

Well, you hold Evil Dead in high regards too. They're really special to you, so they're your babies.

SPEAKER_01 38:18

The first three and and the stars TV show are some of my favorites. Right. And so, yeah, that's why that's that's its own thing. And I totally get it. The other three are their own thing in my mind, and that's just how I kind of compartmentalize them. Yeah, no, nothing wrong with that.

SPEAKER_02 38:38

Yeah, my next one is it's you could teasing a lot of or turning around, slowing down, looking behind you. And it the biggest one I can remember, and I'm sure you remember this. I know what you did last summer. She's and it's the marching band, and she just stops in uh air. I remember being a kid in the theater, and people go, What are you doing? Go, go.

SPEAKER_01 39:00

She could have got away.

SPEAKER_02 39:02

I can get it.

SPEAKER_01 39:03

Yeah, she had her chance to get away for sure she did.

SPEAKER_02 39:07

And that happens in a lot of horror movies. They slow down, and you do don't keep running until you can't run anymore.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

Yeah. She um now I have seen some commentaries talk about her mental state in that moment. Okay, let's hear it. Well, they make some they really um one thing I liked about I Know What You Did Last Summer, and and we've talked about how it is some ways a scream clone.

SPEAKER_02 39:37

Oh, 100%. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:39

But one it's a rip-off. One thing I really like though is they they did more in terms of character development in I Know What You Did Last Summer than they do in in a lot of other slashers. And I didn't know this initially, but it's based on a book that was written in the 70s. Yeah. And so they might have had the book as a you know, a Bible, but essentially, to give them ideas for character development. But I think her name's Helen in the in that movie. But care Sarah Michelle Deller's character in that movie, she um, you know, they they they make mention that she had a rough upbringing, in spite of the fact that she's you know the beauty queen girl. She's had she's had it rough at home.

SPEAKER_02 40:29

And I remember her sister and everything, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:32

But also, they talk about the fact that you know, when she graduated that summer that they threw the body in the water, and she's like, I'm off to New York to live my dreams.

SPEAKER_02 40:45

Become an actress or whatever, and it doesn't work out that way.

SPEAKER_01 40:47

It doesn't work out that way. So a year later, she's back at home working for the family business, and all of her dreams have all of her dreams are down the tubes. And so you're saying that's why she stopped from a killer. Well, that's some of the commentaries that I've seen have said, like, she kind of just was like trying to say she wanted to die. Maybe a little bit. Well, okay. I now I'm not saying that that's my take on it. I'm just saying that I've seen some commentaries that that's what they as Gordon Ramsey was.

SPEAKER_02 41:20

She's given up.

SPEAKER_01 41:21

You donkey! You donkey.

SPEAKER_02 41:24

Well, I never thought about that. I just thought it was a dumb moment, but yeah, maybe she's just like, you know, I got nothing going on in life. I'm a loser in this town. I'm just so beautiful, life's so tough.

SPEAKER_01 41:37

Yeah, I don't think we're necessarily supposed to feel bad for her, but I think that that is one way to look at it, you know. And I hadn't thought of that either until I did see some commentaries when as I was researching for this particular topic. I saw some people say, Um, you know, well, why had she why'd she stop? Tell me. Let's think about it.

SPEAKER_02 41:58

You know, that's really deep diving in on that.

SPEAKER_01 42:00

Well I like to do my research.

SPEAKER_02 42:02

How about that? Well, okay. What do you think? Okay, my next one is being a parent, uh, did this drive you crazy when you watch this movie the first time? Because it drove me, and I've only seen this movie once or twice, and it kills me. It's the opening of a quiet place, and you leave the batteries out, and you know you've got little kids, and what do little kids do? They don't listen. Yeah. And you're telling me you're gonna leave batteries out that they could put into this to kill them.

SPEAKER_01 42:25

Well, the this the older sister takes the batteries out, and the little boy sneaks them back.

SPEAKER_02 42:35

Why even have but the parents knew? The parents knew about the batteries. Uh did they? I'm pretty sure the dad knew that's why he blamed himself.

SPEAKER_01 42:44

I don't think I always felt like the sister took the batteries out without the dad knowing, and then the little boy snuck them back in without the sister knowing. Is that maybe that's how I kind of interpreted it. But the bottom line is well, and this is why I kind of excuse it. I have five kids, so my kids you got a lot of kids. My kids sometimes my older kids watch the younger kids. I've experienced that before. And when that happens, you know, sometimes the older kid is bright enough to say, let's take the batteries out, but not they don't have the for the foresight to make sure that the little kid doesn't get their hands on the batteries again. Right. You know, so it was kind of a uh situation where I was like, Oh, I could see that how that happens, you know. Okay, I could see that.

SPEAKER_02 43:44

Well, you still blame yourself?

SPEAKER_01 43:46

Oh, yeah. I mean, I think that's the dad's gonna carry that weight no matter what.

SPEAKER_02 43:52

And he does in the movie, he played does a really good job, and at the end how he sign languages and I love you, and he sacrifices himself. Does a great job.

SPEAKER_01 44:00

Job in that and he he does resent it's although he blames himself, he does resent the daughter. He does, or at least he makes her feel right like he resents her, and that's sad. That that's a that's a big part of the movie is that kind of how it damaged the father-daughter relationship.

SPEAKER_02 44:19

And she, yeah, because she's filling with the whole movie because she she knows, yeah, 100%. Okay. Uh the last one I've got is in one of the last 20 years, one of the best horror movies, but it had one of the biggest moments like, what the hell are you people thinking? Barbarian. Oh, yeah. You've got a sex dungeon down in there. Well, let's go explore it. I'm okay, but I'm gonna have a SWAT team with me. Yeah, and I'm not going in there by myself.

SPEAKER_01 44:45

Or um Justin Long's character, let's see how far this goes. Because I can add the square footage onto my he's measuring, he's doing the calculations and stuff, and it's like, come on, buddy.

SPEAKER_02 45:00

But that movie just oh I love it. Barbarians, it's a classic bombing to me, but uh oh yeah, that always just gets me like why why?

SPEAKER_01 45:08

Yeah, no, I agree. Yeah, I always that always cracks me up, and I don't know if it's meant to be funny, but it always cracks me up that he's like, not only am I going down there, I'm gonna see how far it goes, and I'm gonna The greed.

SPEAKER_02 45:20

Yeah, greed takes over on Justin because he thinks about money. Now think about if we lived in a world where they made horror movies real and people used common sense, we wouldn't have horror movies, pretty not like we have, right?

SPEAKER_01 45:36

Right. It'd be totally different. It's again, it's it's we excuse it because it moves the plot along. Is it a cautionary tale in a way to be like, hey, don't learn from these mistakes? I think absolutely, I think so. Yeah, I think that's that's another justification for it. Is you know, it's every time that something like that happens, it's a lesson to be learned.

SPEAKER_02 45:56

So maybe horror movies are helping us stay alive stay alive longer.

SPEAKER_01 45:59

Maybe maybe this is why the human life expectancy is longer now than it's ever been. We've had a hundred years of horror movies to learn from. Hopefully, we're learning from them, huh? Well, that's gonna wrap this one up. Next week, I want to talk about movies inspired by HP Lovecraft. Okay, there's a ton of them out there.

SPEAKER_02 46:22

I've watched one last year. It's the the sound of color or the color out of space, yeah, with the uh it was uh trippy movie, dude. Yeah, it's a trippy movie. Yeah, I'm gonna look forward to talking about that.

SPEAKER_01 46:33

Um yeah, as I you know, we talk about uh we were talking about how Shudder has some of these like hundred greatest moments or whatever. Man, there's a lot of HP Lovecraft adaptions inspired by his kind of cosmic horror philosophy. So probably didn't even know about a lot too, right? Exactly. There's some where you're like I didn't even put two and two together there, but yeah. Or you just thought it was an original idea and it wasn't. It was it was uh adapted from HP Lovecraft.

SPEAKER_02 47:08

So often it is, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 47:09

So that's what I want to talk about next week. Uh we'll we'll do a deep dive on the stories of HP Lovecraft and the horror movies that they birthed.

SPEAKER_02 47:19

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01 47:20

All right, y'all enjoy your uh 4th of July.

SPEAKER_02 47:24

And yeah, don't be like the girl from uh I know we did last summer because it was 4th of July. Don't turn around. If a killer's coming after you, keep running, guys. Yeah, and you can listen to the next podcast because you're alive. Exactly. Don't blow yourself up with fireworks either. Be good, guys. Take care.