Melinda Mock and Michael French of RetroBlasting fame answered our bat signal at the eleventh hour to join us for this special festive episode after our original guest had to drop out. And boy, are we glad they did! Yes, it's a bit cheeky of us to cover Tim Burton's snowy sequel to his blockbusting hit Batman (1989) on Movie Oubliette. It's dubious…

To mark the film's 40th anniversary, we revisit Peter Hyams' 2010 – a brave follow-up to a literal monolith in science fiction film history. In what was then called a 'belated' rather than a 'legacy' sequel, the film adapts Arthur C. Clarke's novel and features a stellar cast of Roy Scheider, Helen Mirren, John Lithgow, Bob Balaban and, returning f…

Actor, writer and producer Amanda Jane Stern – whose psychosexual thriller Perfectly Good Moment has launched on Tubi this month – joins us to discuss David O. Selznick's production of Portrait of Jennie. Based on a popular novella by Robert Nathan that Ray Bradbury said "touched and frightened" him, the romantic fantasy won an Oscar for Best Speci…

Dan and Conrad find themselves exiled to a leafy island that looks suspiciously like Queensland in this episode, where they explore Martin Campbell's No Escape (1994) – an airy, outdoor adventure set in the distant future of 2022. It stars Ray Liotta as the scarred military vet convicted for shooting his CO after he covered up a war crime, who team…

Happy Halloween! Duncan Skiles, director of the chilling The Clovehitch Killer and the forthcoming comedy thriller Neighborhood Watch, went trick or treating into the oubliette and brought back a Peeping Tom. This proto-slasher from Michael Powell, one half of the famous British duo Powell and Pressburger, emerged in the same year as Hitchcock's Ps…

Stuart Gordon's post-apocalyptic sci-fi featuring gladiatorial battles between giant mechs has to be one of Empire Pictures' most instantly recognisable titles, sitting proudly on video rental stores worldwide. Starring Gary Graham and Anne-Marie Johnson as the brave robot jockeys and Paul Koslo as their ruthless enemy, Robot Jox could be the brigh…

In our third and final bonus episode covering highlights from the Toronto International Film Festival, friend of the pod Joe Lipsett joins Conrad to review three haunted house movies from this year's programme: Steven Soderbergh's bold ghost P.O.V. mystery Presence, Karrie Crouse and Will Joines' dusty western Hold Your Breath, and Nick Toti and Ra…

For our second round-up reviews of horror films that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, special guest Joe Lipsett and I cover four more horror films. We start with two ghost stories: the frosty New Zealand drama Went Up the Hill, directed by Samuel Van Grinsven and starring Dacre Montgomery and Vicky Krieps; and the rambunctious …

Saurian cinema connoisseur Serge Bodnarchuk of Cold Crash Pictures joins Dan as guest co-host for a dinosaur sci-fi horror adventure from 1993. No, not that one. This is Movie Oubliette! It's the low-budget Roger Corman production Carnosaur, starring Laura Dern's mom, Diane Ladd, and Bryce Dallas Howard's uncle, Clint Howard! This adaptation of Joh…

Conrad is joined by Joe Lipsett live and in-person at the Toronto International Film Festival to give early reviews of the horror, sci-fi and fantasy films that premiered at TIFF this year. In this first bonus episode, we're looking at the body horror films on the programme: including Coralie Fargeat's The Substance (winner of the People's Choice A…

Vincenzo Natali (director of Cube, Splice, Haunter) introduces us to the little known sword and sorcery film, Conquest, directed by splatter gore master, Lucio Fulci. We deliberate over Mace's nunchucks, magical laser bows, bargain bin wolfmen and Ocron's wardrobe choices to decide whether Conquest is an ethereal journey into a ritualistic ruthless…

We're exploring the twisted underbelly of suburbia in Wes Craven's 1991 horror comedy The People Under the Stairs. Much like Craven's other non-Nightmare and non-Scream franchise-related outings, this one has remained hidden from popular consciousness despite a warm reception in the box office on its first release and an ardent cult following ever …

Joe Lipsett of the Horror Queers podcast joins us for a Long Weekend (1978), where bickering couple Peter and Marcia venture out into the Australian wilderness for a camping trip they might not live to regret. Colin Eggleston's psychological thriller, written by Everett De Roche (of 'Patrick' and 'Razorback' fame), won prizes on the festival circui…

Christian Bale backflipped out of the oubliette dual-toting pistols, so we're forced to contend with Kurt Wimmer's Equilibrium (2002) – a sci-fi action extravaganza set in a totalitarian state where everyone has to complete the Kolinahr ritual and avoid content creation of any kind. Also starring Emily Watson, Taye Diggs and Sean Bea (although, of …

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Danny Boyle's debut feature film Shallow Grave (1994) was eclipsed by Trainspotting (1996) and remains largely forgotten outside its native UK. But is the dark comedy thriller worth exhuming? Dan and Conrad pack up their hack saws and head for the woods to explore this slice of 90s Britain! Follow us on T…

Michael French of RetroBlasting joins us on a quest to Valhalla with Erik the Viking (1989) – Monty Python alumni Terry Jones' fantasy film starring Tim Robbins, Samantha Bond, Imogen Stubbs, Eartha Kitt, Mickey Rooney and John Cleese. This is the second historical adventure film from ex-Pythons we've covered this year that attempts to avoid treadi…

Dan and Conrad venture into Disney's 'dark era' again – this time with a sci-fi twist! It's The Black Hole (1979), the mouse house's answer to the colossal box-office and cultural phenomenon of Star Wars two years prior. And like all dark era flops, it uncomfortably straddles mature themes (an egomaniacal scientist determined to journey through a m…