Scary Effin Halloween Moments: Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
Rosemary’s Baby was a blockbuster when it was released in the late 60’s, and its brilliant conceit of putting gothic horror themes of Satan and his followers in the environment of the bright NYC apartment of a young couple was groundbreaking for the time. It paved the way for other urban horror hits like The Exorcist and The Omen, and was a profound influence on writers like Stephen King. The movie culminates in this scene when Rosemary, played by fragile waif Mia Farrow, discovers the true nature of her newborn child. Her plaintive question at the end reveals the horror of her progeny more than any make-up job could.
Scary Effin Halloween Moments: Carrie (1976)
Any kid coming of age in the 70’s was permanently scarred by the ending of this flick, based on the first published novel by Stephen King. Director Brian DePalma lulls you into a sense of calm with a tinkling soundtrack and a diffuse lens… and then gives you one hell of a jolt.
Speaking of Stephen King, I complained in Nerdstalking Podcast IT Review that that movie had too many jump scares. You can probably trace the lineage of the cheapest of all film frights to this moment in Carrie. Still, it’s fun to look back on a time when it wasn’t the overused trope it is today.
Creepy Effin Halloween Moments – Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
John Lithgow is one of those actors where, no matter how mediocre the film, he’s always interesting to watch. His segment in the film version of The Twilight Zone, based on the original series entry Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, was anything but medicore. It takes a real actor to out-hysteric William Shatner, but Lithgow somehow manages it as a harried aviophobic who keeps seeing a gremlin on the wing of the airplane he is flying in.
While the scene featured here occurs before the fireworks really get started, its weirdness serves to put both Lithgow’s character, and the audience, ill at ease.
Great Effin Moments in Film: Aliens (1986)
When it comes to great film moments, this one has an edge. As a fan of the original Alien (1979), I was wondering a couple of things when I was in the theatre watching this scene from the 1986 sequel. First, since the crew has woken up from cryogenic sleep and they’re gathered in mess eating a meal, is someone gonna start convulsing and you-know-what pop out? You have to wait for a full chest-bursting scene later (and they already kind of pulled the trigger on that earlier in the film, as well).
The other question they answer here is, as with Ash in the first film, is there a shady android among them? The answer comes in this great scene, where Bishop (Lance Henriksen) exhibits an otherworldly skill with a knife, at the expense of eternal whipping-boy Hudson (Bill Paxton).
Great Effin Moments in Film: Taxi Driver (1976)
Great moment in film: Time to wash all this scum off the street.
Ep. 023 Remembering Jim Carrey’s Funny Years
Remember when Jim Carrey was funny? We do, along with a breakdown of the Captain Marvel comic book character, and a discussion of why things always end up sucking. All in this detours episode of Nerdstalking!
Ep. 022 It, Aquaman and Cable’s Bullshit Origin
Where we descend into the sewers to examine the 2017 film adaptation of Stephen King’s magnum opus horror novel IT. We also dust off the grime of the Austrailian Outback as we recount our time on the Aquaman set where we traded beard grooming tips with Jason Mamoa, puzzle over the value of a non-canonical Joker movie possibly starring Leo DiCaprio as the Crown Prince of Crime, and Chad revels us with the backstory of Deadpool’s buddy Cable in a new segment called Bullshit Origin Stories, among other news.
The IT talk starts at 26:05.
Chad’s Thursday Video: Inferno from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Here’s the full length video for Inferno which played over the end credits of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2…
Nerdstalking Podcast Ep. 021
In this episode of Nerdstalking, we respond to a message from listener BlueIncandesence, who had some issues with our breakdown of the Wonder Woman movie in Ep. 20. Other topics we cover include Bill arguing against the existence of a god, the firing of Phil Lord and Chris Miller from the Han Solo, uh, solo movie, the 35th anniversary of the original Tron, the demise of Batman’s Adam West, and more. Then there’s a big SPOILER ALERT for our in-depth breakdown of Spider-Man: Homecoming, what we liked and disliked, and our favourite moments from the film.
Show Notes:
01:27 – We answer listener email about our Wonder Woman episode.
12:53 – Nerdly News: Chris Miller and Phil Lord canned from Solo, TRON anniversary, Hellboy reboot, the passing of TV’s Batman star Adam West, OMNI magazine reboot, Daniel Craig signs on for BOND 25.
32:35 – We start our review of Spider-Man: Homecoming.
40:29 – Spider-Man film as John Hughes comedy.
50:28 – Movie gives good MJ.
55:02 – The great Michael Keaton.
1:11:25 – Captain America as high-school health instructor.
1:16:02 – Tony Stark: Biggest douche ever.
1:24:16 – Peter Parker’s hilarious buddy.
Thanks for listening!
Spider-Man: Homecoming trailer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0D3AOldjMU
Chad’s Spider-Man theme song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89eHN9Uyzds
Michael Giacchino’s official theme song from Spider-Man: Homecoming – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeX8TkHN6mE
Connect With Your Nerdstalkers:
Bill Hunter – writer, and creator of video game history website The Dot Eaters
Chadwick Gendron – writer, musician and creator of the Canadian Culture Thing
Our Website: http://nerdstalking.com/
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