Junasty Begins with Blood Feast (1963)

Summary

Dear Movies, I Love You

Episode Title: Junasty Begins with Blood Feast (1963)
Hosts: Millie De Chirico & Casey O’Brien
Date: June 2, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode launches “Juneasty,” a new month-long thematic series devoted to the infamous “Video Nasties” of the early 1980s UK—a collection of films banned for their perceived explicitness, violence, and depravity. Millie and Casey introduce the concept of the “Video Nasties,” delve into the cultural panic and censorship behind the phenomenon, and break down the roots and legacy of exploitation cinema. The main film discussion focuses on Herschel Gordon Lewis’ cult favorite Blood Feast (1963), regarded as a pioneering “splatter” movie and the oldest entry on the Nasties list.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Juneasty: The Concept and Curation ([02:00] - [11:32])

• Kickoff for Juneasty:

  • The hosts set the stage for a month exploring “video nasties”—films placed on the infamous UK banned list in the early home video era.
  • Millie: "If everyone’s disgusted and like, vomiting at the movies they have to watch this month… maybe we’ll stop. But hopefully we do this forever." ([02:25])

• Definition of Video Nasties:

  • Originated in the UK early 1980s; advocacy groups like the National Viewers and Listeners Association (NVALA) targeted home video horror and exploitation films for censorship.
  • "Back in the day, basically they were an advocacy group… they came up with a list of titles that police could actually go into video stores and seize these videotapes if they find them.” - Millie ([03:53])

• Comparison to US PMRC Censorship ([05:48]):

  • The Video Nasties campaign is likened to the Parent Music Resource Center targeting music they deemed offensive.

• The Counterproductive Result:

  • Censorship boosted cult interest: "By creating a list, it’s like, oh, that’s the list I want to check out." - Casey ([09:39])
  • Millie: “All these cinema shitheads like us were like, well, fuck, if these are banned, then let’s try to get them.” ([09:51])

2. Introducing Blood Feast ([11:17] - [12:07])

• Blood Feast (1963) was chosen as the first film because it’s “canon” in cult/exploitation circles and widely credited with inventing the splatter subgenre.
• Millie: “It introduced the world to the term splatter film, which is something we’ll talk about in just a second.” ([11:32])

3. Personal Tangents and Movie Diary ([13:29] - [39:09])

The hosts meander through tales of local American Legions, third spaces, and their recent watches.
Notable Film Diary Mentions:

• Only Yesterday (1991, Studio Ghibli, dir. Isao Takahata): Millie praises its tranquility and depiction of memory. ([23:16])
• Rouge (1987, dir. Stanley Kwan): A Hong Kong ghost romance starring Leslie Cheung.
• Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes—Japanese, one-take time travel microgenre.
• Pump Up the Volume: “As a podcaster, I should have seen this years ago.”
• Discussion of TikTok/Instagram film clips as unexpected resources for cine-discovery.

Memorable Tangent

• Casey's American Legion adventures, including a quarrelsome regular called “Lizard Boy” and observations on the slow disappearance of “third spaces.”
  • Millie: “Those places feel kind of like amber in time… You’ve gotta, like, bring it back.” ([17:47])

4. Blood Feast - Main Discussion ([39:25] onward)

Background & Genre

• Director/Writer: Herschel Gordon Lewis (“king” of exploitation; co-writer Allison Louise Downe)
• Genre: Originator of the “splatter” subgenre: “Explicitly gory and graphic… low-budget, super gory.” - Millie ([40:03])
• Splatter vs. Other Horror:
  • “There’s a little bit more of a reveling in the oopy goopy… almost like the oopy goopiness is the point.” - Casey ([42:09])
  • Modern terms like “torture porn” have roots in splatter.

Florida Exploitation Cinema ([45:54])

• Lewis made movies in a “lawless and crazy” Florida indie scene, casting local non-actors, prioritizing shock factor and nudity.
• Millie reflects on the “joy” of lo-fi collaborative filmmaking of the era: “People don’t do like that anymore. It’s so cool in a way.” ([51:01])
• Difficulty of historical research due to fleeting, undocumented productions.

Personal Connection

• For Millie, Blood Feast was “canon” in her introduction to cult and horror.
  • “I remember…my roommate in college, Blake…showed it to us one night. I was probably…18, and I was forever radicalized.” ([52:31])

5. Blood Feast—Plot Synopsis & Craft Analysis ([59:18] - [79:07])

• Plot Beats:

  • Killer caterer Fuad Ramses slaughters Miami women, collecting body parts for an “Egyptian blood feast” to resurrect goddess Ishtar.
  • Mrs. Fremont hires Fuad to cater her daughter Suzette’s birthday with an “exotic,” unforgettable menu.
  • Legendary for its over-the-top gore: leg amputation, tongue ripping, and a slow, gory finale.

• Amateur Craft as Aesthetic ([63:01]):

  • “There’s so much room in these shots…like, compositionally just nuts.” - Millie
  • “Never seen a shot like this where there’s so much space at the top of the frame.” - Casey
  • Noted for makeup oddities like Fuad’s “crazy gray, goopy, old man hair stuff.”

• "Exotic Catering" Gag:

  • The hosts joke about what “exotic catering” meant in 1960s Miami, poking fun at the American view of non-“white person” food: “Anything that isn’t meatloaf…” ([70:36])

• Acting & Production Anecdotes:

  • Many actors were unknown locals, seldom traceable today.
  • Millie shares memories of making splatter shorts in college using expired food from Kroger’s “date shopping” scheme. ([74:07])
  • Real-life implications of gore: “I could never make a movie like this…I’d be gagging and wanting to vomit.” - Casey ([72:13])

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the Video Nasties List:
  “By creating a list, it’s like, oh, that’s the list I want to check out.” – Casey ([09:39])

• On Splatter Film vs. Torture Porn:
  “The blood and goop is so fake that it doesn’t make you wince in the same way…” – Casey ([43:16])

• On Lo-Fi Chutzpah:
  “[Lewis and Co.] would walk into like a Starbucks…‘Who wants to be completely nude on film and get covered in like blood and rotting intestines?’ And people are like, I’ll do it.” – Casey ([50:40])

• On Blood Feast’s Style:
  “There’s something really odd about it…I want to say it’s because it’s not made well, to be honest.” – Millie ([92:53])

• On the Ending:
  “It kind of had this end of Texas Chainsaw Massacre moment of beauty…” – Millie ([87:50])
  “It kind of harkens to…Truffaut’s 400 Blows where Antoine Doinel is on the beach. I mean, I’m being silly, but it is kind of like that.” – Casey ([88:02])

• On Its Lasting Impact:
  “There’s beauty in the imperfection. It’s like a wabi sabi thing. And I feel like you get it.” – Millie ([89:27])

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6. Recommendations - Employees’ Picks ([95:21] - [99:27])

• Millie:

  • Blood Freak (1972, dir. Brad F. Grinter)
    • Another Florida exploitation oddity, even lower-budget than Blood Feast. “Vietnam vet, druggie, turkey farm, turns into a turkey-headed killer.”

• Casey:

  • Censor (2021, dir. Prano Bailey-Bond)
    • Psychological British horror set amid the Video Nasties era, centered on a film censor haunted by a past trauma. “If you want a little bit more insight into video nasties, but you also want a good movie, this is it.”

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7. Next Week’s Film

• The Beyond (1981, Lucio Fulci) – Another Juneasty video nasty selection, teased as “pretty gross.” Included is a story about a branded eyeball giveaway at a screening. ([103:07])

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Notable Episode Structure

• Opening Theme: Introduction to Juneasty and background on Video Nasties
• Film Diary: What hosts have watched lately, with stories and tangents
• Main Discussion: Background & analysis of Blood Feast (plot, style, impact)
• Recommendations: Themed film picks tied to the discussion
• Looking Ahead: Tease for next week’s episode

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:00] – Juneasty Kickoff & Nasties Background
• [11:17] – Blood Feast Introduction
• [23:16] – Film Diary Starts
• [39:25] – Main Blood Feast Discussion
• [63:01] – Analysis of Craft/Shot Composition
• [74:07] – Low-Budget Splatter Production Stories
• [87:50] – Discussion of Blood Feast’s Ending
• [95:21] – Recommendations
• [99:27] – Episode Wrap / Next Week’s Tease

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode is both a crash course and loving roast of cult horror: Millie and Casey celebrate Blood Feast’s unpolished but pathbreaking gore, situate it within the infamous Video Nasties scare, and connect its low-budget chutzpah to their own youthful filmmaking efforts. The tone is warm, jokey, and a little gross—perfect for equal parts film history, communal nostalgia, and body-part stew.

If you love cult movies, censorship histories, TikTok film discoveries, or just want an excuse to ponder "exotic catering," this Juneasty opener will satisfy your hunger for both brains and bizarro cinema.

Transcript

[Millie Decherico]

This is exactly right. What's up, y'? All? Summer's got a different tempo.

[Casey O'Brien]

Everything's a little looser, brighter. One plan turns into another. You hear something, you stay a little longer. Next thing you know, you're somewhere you didn't plan to be.

[Millie Decherico]

It's those in between moments. That's where the ideas hit.

[Casey O'Brien]

Conversations stretch out. Little memories sneak up on you. Sometimes it's just about what's in your hand.

[Millie Decherico]

That color, that chill. The new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks.

[Casey O'Brien]

Guava and passion fruit flavors with mango pineapple flavored pearls.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, that feels like summer before you even taste it.

[Casey O'Brien]

Funny how one small stop becomes the best part of the day. Start your summer rhythm with Starbucks.

[Millie Decherico]

Try the new Tropical Butterfly Refresher from Starbucks.

[Casey O'Brien]

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[Millie Decherico]

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[Casey O'Brien]

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[Millie Decherico]

Hello, Casey. How's it going?

[Casey O'Brien]

Millie, it's going great because we are introducing a new month, a new theme this month that I'm pretty excited about.

[Millie Decherico]

Me too. We teased it a little bit on our social media and previous podcast, but we are calling the month of June 2026.

[Casey O'Brien]

June Nasty, Volume 1. Honestly, we might do this forever, but we'll see how this goes. If everyone's disgusted and like, vomiting at the movies they have to watch this month and they they want us to stop, then maybe we'll stop. But hopefully we do this forever.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, maybe the National Viewer and Listener association will stop us from actually doing this podcast about video nasties. But yeah, so we were thinking, let's do something fun for summer. Let's do Something that spans across the entire month. And then, you know, I was kind of thinking, selfishly, maybe we should do something about cult movies or exploitation movies. And then I started thinking about video nasties, which I feel like is this very interesting pocket of film history that maybe some people don't know about. So we figured, why not give it a whirl, right?

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. Now there's a list, right? There's like a list of the video nasties. How many are on the list? It's like 70, right?

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, it's like 72, but then I've seen 84. And maybe they added some at some point and took some away. I don't remember, but it's at least.

[Casey O'Brien]

How many. How many of the 72 or whatever got on TCM because of you?

[Millie Decherico]

Oh, Jesus. I'd have to look. I mean, not many.

[Casey O'Brien]

I got not many.

[Millie Decherico]

Okay.

[Casey O'Brien]

I was just curious.

[Millie Decherico]

Well, because, I mean, this is the interesting.

[Casey O'Brien]

Because they're nasty.

[Millie Decherico]

Because they're very nasty. No, some of them actually are. I have to admit. I, like, look down the list. I've seen quite a few. Because I think if you're. If you look at this list and you've been into cult movies or, you know, horror for a really long time, like I have, you'll be like, oh, yeah, that one. Oh, that's not so bad. I. But, you know, I do look at some of these titles. I'm like, oh, yeah, that one's still pretty gnarly, actually. Maybe it deserved to been on that list at one point. But if. For those who don't know what a video nasty is, I was gonna quickly just kind of go into it a little bit. Please orient us into the month. So the term video nasty is something that was created in the uk, and it was kind of a term that was used in a very specific time, which was the home video era. So at the very beginning of the home video era, early 1980s in the UK, there was this kind of fervor to protect the youth or protect viewers from movies that were seen as sort of, you know, exploitative and violent and sexual and disgusting. It was kind of championed by this group called the National Viewers and Listeners association in the uk, which I think has a new name. I think they're called Media Watch or something like that. But back in the day, basically they were an advocacy group. And if you think about it like this, if everybody remembers, sort of in the same era in the 80s, the PMRC, which was called the Parent Music Resource center, and it was a advocacy group that Dealt with music, and it was spearheaded by Tipper Gore, wife of El.

[Casey O'Brien]

Were they trying to take. Were they trying to take down, like, Twisted Sister?

[Millie Decherico]

Oh, yeah, and your boy Prince and my. My woman Madonna. Like, a lot of these, you know, artists that were coming out on cassette, you know, cassette tape, basically.

[Casey O'Brien]

Please don't tell me they went after 2 Live Crew.

[Millie Decherico]

I feel like they did. I would almost guarantee that they did, but they came up with a list that was called the filthy 15. And it was basically a way for this parents Music Resource center to kind of come up with their own guidelines. Kind of like the mpaa, the Motion Picture, you know what I mean? Like, the people that come up with the ratings. Right. And yeah, it was kind of the thing where we probably remember this, where Dee Snider, the lead singer of Twisted Sister, went in front of Congress and was kind of, like, talking about how stup this was. And, you know, it was a lot of, like, heavy metal. Darling Nikki by Prince was on the filthy 15. Sugar walls. That was also written by Prince.

[Casey O'Brien]

I think this strap on Robbie Ray by Vanity might have been by Prince, too.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah. I mean, basically it was like Molly Crew and Prince, you know, and it was like, I don't know, sort of like this weird attempt, and this has happened so many times in the history of art to kind of censor things for people. And so the Video Nasty was kind of like the UK's version of being like, okay, we're gonna take all of these, you know, because we're in the video era, the home video era, where we can't control, like, what cassettes are going into people's homes, right? We're gonna go out there and be really proactive and just be like, okay. So we're gonna create a list of titles that police could actually go into video stores and seize these videotapes if they find them. And before they created the video nasties, they were kind of just like, going in there, going into video stores and just grabbing anything they thought was, like, salacious. I mean, I think there's a famous story about how the police sees, like, a video cassette of the best little whorehouse in Texas. And they thought it was, like, pornography or something. That's like, actually, it's a Dolly Parton movie, but that's fine. But, yeah, they created the video NASCAR's list to kind of give it. To give it a little bit more. Umph. So they could be like, these are the titles that if you distribute these, if you have them in your video store, if you exhibit these Then you're in big trouble. So, I don't know. It's just a fascinating idea. I think eventually this law kind of went out of fashion. I think it was probably in, like, the 2000s, actually.

[Casey O'Brien]

That's crazy. Yeah, but this feels so old. But it's not.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah. And I just, you know, it's just interesting because I think as a cult movie person, too, especially in the early days, like, pre Internet, it was hard to kind of get a grasp on, like, what version of something you were actually watching when you're just, like, out there in a video store. Or if you're, like, watching bootlegs, as I did when I was a teenager, I'm like, you know, things get passed around, and there's all these, like, different cuts of things based on where in the world you live, you know? And so there was all this stuff, like. I mean, I remember even when I was working at tcm, having huge emails with, like, a million people trying to figure out if the Suspiria version that we were running was an edited version or the director's cut, you know? And so it gets really complicated, and I feel like stuff like this, like, video nasties and any kind of attempt to, like, censor films kind of makes that worse because you're like, what?

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, I was just gonna. I was just gonna say it seems like it, like, backfired in a way that it, like, by creating a list, it's like, oh, that's the list I want to check out. It, like, makes people focus in on them more.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah. Oh, yeah. And that's exactly what happened is it became this thing where it's like, now all these, like, cinema shitheads like us were like, well, fuck, if these are banned, then let's try to get them. And now it makes it more exciting to try to get them. And it became kind of, like a quest for people to, like, watch all the titles on the list. And, you know, it's interesting, too, because if you look at the list, like, if you look at all 72 or all 84, whatever the number is, you see that a lot of these titles are within a really small. They were made and produced in a kind of small, you know, little bracket of time, which is why, for this month, we chose three movies that were all made in 1981, which is bizarre

[Casey O'Brien]

kind of unintentionally, but.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, but I mean, I think it goes to kind of underscore, like, the era that they were working in in terms of trying to ban these videos, because a lot of it Was, you know, happening in kind of the high exploitation era, which is why you're looking at stuff like Cannibal Holocaust and the Driller Killer and like, you know, Butcher Baker, Nightmare Maker, and you're not looking at like Human Centipede or anything that came, like, late, you know what I mean? So it's kind of that thing where it's like. That's. I think what also makes the video Nasties era unique is that it is kind of like bracketed off in this, like, perfect era for, you know, crazy movies. So.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, you know, amazing. Well, I can't wait to talk about it more as we get into the movie we're talking about today, which is 1963's blood feast, which I believe is the oldest movie on the list. Is that correct?

[Millie Decherico]

I believe so. And it's. We decided to start out with this one because it is kind of also, I would say canon, like cult film or exploitation film canon. It introduced the world to the term splatter film, which is something we'll talk about in just a second. But, you know, it was directed by Herschel Gord Lewis, which is one of the biggest names in cult film. So I don't know, we just thought it would be a good way to kick everything off with this historically important exploitation film.

[Casey O'Brien]

Absolutely. Much to come on this episode.

[Millie Decherico]

Yes, please, please stay tuned. It's gonna be a lot of fun. Gonna be a great month. You're listening to Dear Movies, I, you, movies.

[Casey O'Brien]

I love you, and I've got to

[Millie Decherico]

know if you love me too. Yes or no.

[Casey O'Brien]

Check the box below.

[Millie Decherico]

All right, folks, you are listening to Dear Movies, I Love youe. This is the podcast for those who are in a relationship with movies. My name is Millie Decherico.

[Casey O'Brien]

My name is Casey o', Brien, and

[Millie Decherico]

like we just said at the very beginning of this podcast, we are kicking off our June Nasty Month, which is basically an entire month of titles that were deemed video nasties in the early 1980s in the UK. And Casey came up with the term Juneasty, which I very much appreciate. I love an awkward smashing of.

[Casey O'Brien]

I couldn't figure what's the best way to spell it because I spelled it J U N A S T Y as one word because I didn't want to do J U N E dash A S T Y. I don't know.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, no, you did it perfectly.

[Casey O'Brien]

I did it perfectly. Good.

[Millie Decherico]

Okay, maybe there's an expert out there that knows better, but I. I say was perfect, so.

[Casey O'Brien]

Fabulous. Fabulous. Millie, I was going to tell you Something just very random. Let's go, if that's okay. So I've been going to our local American Legion lately, which feels like I've been going there to play pool with my friend Jake. And this is, like, where a, you know, veterans can go and drink, but it's open to the public as well. And you can. They don't serve hard liquor there, but you can, you know, if you become a member, you can get your own locker and you can bring your own hard liquor in, and they'll, like, mix it and stuff. So if you can imagine, the people in there are pretty turned every single night. And it's like the same people in there. I mean, it feels like Mo Bar in the Simpsons, where it's like the same people, same old guys just drunk all the time. But it's been kind of fun to kind of get in touch with the, you know, the local flavor. And I was in there recently. We're playing pool, and no one plays pool. Like, the pool tables are wide open. Wow. So I was in there with my neighbor, my friend Jake. And we're playing, and there was just this guy, really. And the bartender is funny. He's, like a young guy, and he's, like, charismatic, and he's like. Everyone's in conversation. It's like Cheers. It really feels like Cheers, where everyone's, like, kind of chatting and the bartender's talking about. He was talking about lizard people and crab people. You know, conspiracy theories involving lizard people and crab people.

[Millie Decherico]

Yes. My favorite.

[Casey O'Brien]

And this old, really drunk guy was in there and, like, was stumbling around, and the bartender's like, hey, Larry, you got to calm down, man. And he kept going, shut up, lizard boy. And so the whole night, you just hear. While we're playing. Well, you just hear in the background, lizard Boy. And then the bartender's like, larry, you better be careful. I'm going to send the crap people after you. And so it's been. It's been a real treat to go in there. I have. I will. I don't feel like I've been welcomed into the, you know, the greater culture.

[Millie Decherico]

Lizard Boy yet, Which is obviously a right of pass.

[Casey O'Brien]

Haven't been called Lizard boy yet. But I await the day to be God to be titled Lizard Boy. So anyways, if you do get called

[Millie Decherico]

Lizard Boy, we're going to have to have an emergency session of this podcast.

[Casey O'Brien]

Because it be emergency. Yes, yes. So anyways, it's been a real treat because it really feels like out of a sitcom. Yeah. Going in there, you know, And I'm not. It's not, I would say, a super friendly place to go into.

[Millie Decherico]

Oh, it seems very clicky.

[Casey O'Brien]

But it's cool, though, because, like, we'll go on Tuesday nights and they'll just be folk. There'll be a group of folk musicians, like, in a circle, just kind of playing music, jamming out. And they're not performing, they're just, like, practicing or, like, jamming in there. And it's like, really nice. Kind of feels like a pub in Ireland. So anyways, I've been. That's been sort of taking up my evenings lately.

[Millie Decherico]

Listen, that sounds great. I will tell you, like, many, many, many years ago, like back probably, like around when I graduated undergrad, me and my friend Brett Rakeshaw used to go to the Elks Lodge in his neighborhood and play bingo.

[Casey O'Brien]

Great.

[Millie Decherico]

And when I tell you, I. We walked in there as a bunch of fucking dumb young kids being like, oh, this is going to be great. Maybe we'll win. I never experienced bingo as seriously as I did at this Elk's lodge. Like, people had. I mean, it was crazy. They probably had like 20, 30 separate bingo cards.

[Casey O'Brien]

I don't know how you do that. How. And because it's so fast.

[Millie Decherico]

Oh, my God. But they, like, know. And they were just like punching their little marker and then they had like. Like a lot of people had, like, little trinkets to, like, bless their cards. So like little troll dolls and fucking, like, like Jesus statues and stuff. And I, like. Brett and I looked at each other like we are in way over our. And then I started thinking about it and actually when you told me now, just now that you go to the American Legion now, I'm like, those places feel kind of like amber in time.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes, 100%.

[Millie Decherico]

And I wonder if they will go away eventually. Because young people, I mean, these are places where people from like, what, the military or. I don't know, it feels like fraternal organization stuff, right?

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, they're fraternities.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

But I don't think people are becoming members anymore because it is associated with like. Yeah, like, veterans halls and like, American Legion is for, like, veterans of foreign wars, I believe. But yeah, I do feel like I don't know how these will maintain going forward.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah. Like, do you know? I mean, maybe you don't know. Maybe because people keep it secret. Like, do you know any Masons or do you know anybody that, like.

[Casey O'Brien]

No.

[Millie Decherico]

Goes to lodges or anything like that anymore? Like, people our age even?

[Casey O'Brien]

No, no one my age. I know some Knights of Columbus's which is like a Catholic fraternal organization.

[Millie Decherico]

My dad was a Knights of Columbus.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, well, that's what I was gonna say. And the youngest person I know in one of those is, like, 69, you know, so. Like it. But they're. But they're like this place feels like an extension of the old neighborhood. Like, it feels like. And so it would make me sad for it to go away. I just don't know. It doesn't feel like there's new blood being pumped into it, you know, but maybe that's my job. Maybe that's. Maybe I need to be dawned. You know, I need to be knighted, like the lizard boy or something. And I will be. I will become a part of this and keep it going.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, you have to. I mean, it kind of makes me sad because, you know, it's like.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Millie Decherico]

There's all this talk, obviously, in the, you know, social media era about how there are no, like, third spaces anymore. Like, people go to work and they stay at home, and then there's no place to kind of congregate.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Millie Decherico]

And it feels like, man, if the. The lodges are first on the chopping block for those third spaces, I mean, it's like. Feels like a place that's just gonna have ivy grow over it. No one will enter it again. So you've gotta, like, bring it back.

[Casey O'Brien]

I'm trying. I'm out there. I. But this place especially, I'm just like. I don't even know how it's surviving right now, to be honest. Like, it's like the same 10 guys going in every night aren't keeping that thing afloat. I just don't know. I don't know.

[Millie Decherico]

But maybe the. The conspiracy theory guys throwing down some checks and keeping it open for everybody. But once he's gone, once he.

[Casey O'Brien]

Crap.

[Millie Decherico]

Once he just ascends into the, you know, ninth dimension.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Millie Decherico]

What's gonna happen?

[Casey O'Brien]

So once he gets. Yeah. Accepted into the. Yeah.

[Millie Decherico]

By a chemtrail or whatever.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, anyways, I just wanted to. Wanted to inform you of what's been going on.

[Millie Decherico]

I love it. I love hearing so.

[Casey O'Brien]

Hey, everyone, it's Kal Penn. I'm the host of Irsay, the Audible and Iheart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project, Hail Mary, Massive sci fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone, very far from Earth. I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get

[Millie Decherico]

teary as I'm narrating some of these sections. And it's like, okay, yo, yo, yo.

[Casey O'Brien]

Is this indulgent? And I really thought about it. I was like, no. At this point, it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it. But there's places in this book that deeply, emotionally affected me. And I left it on the mic. That's great. Cause it served the story. People will say like, oh my God,

[Millie Decherico]

I cried at the end.

[Casey O'Brien]

It's like, yeah, dude, me too. Listen to Irsay, the Audible and iHeart audiobook club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Millie Decherico]

Hey, it's Rach. And if you're like me, you want treats that are simple and taste amazing. And that's why I love Johnny Pops. They're deliciously made with simple ingredients and no artificial dyes. Whether it's a quick snack for the kids or a sweet moment for yourself, Johnny Pops are the perfect treat. And there's a kind deed on every stick to encourage everyone to share a little kindness. So next time you're in the freezer aisle, grab a box of Johnny Pops and feel great about what you're sharing. Johnny Pops, A better pop for a better world.

[Casey O'Brien]

When you own your own business, you own every decision. Catch the red eye or take the

[Millie Decherico]

6am, make a new hire or promote internally.

[Casey O'Brien]

Celebrate a win with the toast at the gate or unwind at the lounge. Big props to this team.

[Millie Decherico]

Some decisions are a win win, like

[Casey O'Brien]

earning eight times points on Chase Travel,

[Millie Decherico]

Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business, the business

[Casey O'Brien]

card that gives back all you put in. Visit chase.com Reserve Business to learn more. Cards issued by JP Morgan, Chase Bank. Any member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply. Melee. We should move on to our film diary. We actually have some good ones this week. I feel like open, so let's open it up.

[Millie Decherico]

Lizards.

[Casey O'Brien]

Lizard. Lizard boy. I need help with this. Lizard boy. Millie, please go first.

[Millie Decherico]

Okay, so first log in. My film diary is a movie. So you and I have been talking about TikTok for the entire run of this podcast, right? Yeah, I'm highly influenced by it.

[Casey O'Brien]

Me too.

[Millie Decherico]

For better or for worse. Mostly for worse. But once in a while something pops up on my feed and then it makes me like go and search something out that's actually really cool. And I was like scrolling through and I saw somebody clip out something from this movie that I'd never seen, which is called only yesterday from 1981. It is a Studio Ghibli movie that was not directed by Miyazaki. The great director Hayao Miyazaki, who was probably most well known through Studio Ghibli. So this is one of the ones he didn't direct. And it was actually directed by and written by Iseo Takahata. And it is so great, dude.

[Casey O'Brien]

Oh, man.

[Millie Decherico]

I had never heard about it and had never seen it because I feel like the Miyazaki films get really promoted or they're really out there. Like, you know, most people that if you say, oh, Studio Ghibli, you're thinking, oh, it's like, you know, my neighbor Totoro or Spirited Away or, you know, stuff like that. Right. So this was kind of a hidden gem, I feel like.

[Casey O'Brien]

Totally.

[Millie Decherico]

And it is adorable. Like, it's. It's so beautiful. It's basically a movie about this woman. It kind of has like two time periods. It takes place in the 1960s when she's a small girl growing up in Tokyo. And then it cuts to, like, modern day where she is like an adult and she's like, working on this rural Japanese farm. And it kind of goes back and forth in time where she's like having all these memories of growing up as a little girl in Tokyo and then sort of later when she's now like made this transition to where she wants to spend her summers, like working on a saffron farm with all these older Japanese people and the lifestyle super peaceful. And she kind of meets this man that is out there working kind of like a farm worker, and they kind of have a, you know, a little bit of a friendship. And it's like, so beautiful. Especially the stuff that is happening in kind of like the rural part, because it's like, the art is just so peaceful and it's like there's no, like, you know how, like a lot of these, like, you know, anime movies or Japanese animated films don't have, like, music backgrounds. They're just. It's just dialogue and then nothing else. There's something that's like super ASMR and beautiful about that.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, tranquil.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah. And I, so. I loved it. I was extremely surprised by it. And it's on HBO Max right now, if you have HBO Max. So check it out.

[Casey O'Brien]

It looks beautiful. It looks beautiful.

[Millie Decherico]

Lovely.

[Casey O'Brien]

You know, you're talking about finding things on, like, TikTok. I find stuff on Instagram reels now too. And I think it's a great place for our shitheads. Our little Determined shitheads out there who are making these kind of like edits on TikTok and Instagram of movies you don't normally see. And you're like, whoa, what the hell is this? Yeah, I don't know. It's really, I think it's a great way into films too, because sometimes if you hear about a movie and you just see like a cover or some images of it, you're kind of like, I don't know if that's for me. But like seeing the moving image of a film can really get you. Even if it's only like 20 seconds, a 20 second edit. You're like, I'm interested in the visuals of this movie. I want to see it. I mean, I just put this is a very famous movie, but I put Satiricon by Frederico Fellini on my watch list because somebody on Tick Tock did a quick edit and I was like, the visuals in this look incredible. I need to see this. I haven't seen this before, even though I've heard of it.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, you know, it's, it's funny you mentioned that because I, I follow a lot of like DVD companies and also like, you know, film archives and stuff like that, and they, and they do a really good job of posting like little snippets of movies on their Instagram, for example. And it always gets me like, I'm always like, I gotta watch this and it looks awesome.

[Casey O'Brien]

The Eternal, Eternal Family streaming service, they have an Instagram account. And I'm always like, what the is this like all.

[Millie Decherico]

And.

[Casey O'Brien]

Or like things I've seen before. But it, that one really catches me a lot too.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, I, I used to. This a little bit. I used to do it more. I, I should post it more. But I used to always, like, when I worked at tcm, I was always like, you know, watching movies and stuff and I would always like, you know, clip out some of the like weird shit that I would see. Just like random things from like classic film. And I used to put them on my Instagram all the time. Don't sue me, whoever's watching. But I, I used to love doing that and. Cause I always think it's really funny too when people like, even their personal Instagram, when they're just like posting like a random funny snippet of a movie they're watching.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Millie Decherico]

So I want to do that a little bit more. Yeah, it's like what I sent you today. When we're from the movie that we're talking about today, there's a lot we

[Casey O'Brien]

could have sent each other from Blood Feast.

[Millie Decherico]

Oh, man. So many good moments. But I'll. Maybe I'll post that. We'll see what we'll see happens. But.

[Casey O'Brien]

All right, what's your next one?

[Millie Decherico]

Okay, so the other movie that I saw this week, again Terra Drome, which is the film series that the video store Videodrome here in Atlanta does at the Terra Theater here in Atlanta, they have. They did a month about liminal romance. So for those of you who are dumb, sort of like me, I have to admit, I do know the term liminal because I went to grad school and people use that term a lot in grad school, but kind of a.

[Casey O'Brien]

I only know that term because of TikTok. Back to TikTok.

[Millie Decherico]

There you go.

[Casey O'Brien]

TikTok University.

[Millie Decherico]

I know, educating the people. But I guess it's a month of movies that feature primarily all Asian film. Well, they all are Asian films. The whole month has been where people are kind of falling in love, but they're either in dreams or they're in time periods that are moving back and forth. So it's kind of a great idea. And it was. You know, I'm so wonderfully addicted to their curation because I feel like I know the guys at Videodrome. I used to work there. They have the best taste of movies ever. So I was like, fuck it. Like, I'll go to all of these site unseen. And this was a movie that starred Leslie Chung, who a lot of people know from, you know, the Wong Kar Wai movies or the Asian action films that he was in with in the 80s. Like, is he in A Better Tomorrow? I feel like he's in the movie.

[Casey O'Brien]

He's in A Better Tomorrow. He's in Days of Being Wild, Happy together.

[Millie Decherico]

God, I love him, by the way. Days of Being Wild is my favorite Wong Kar Wai movie. Really?

[Casey O'Brien]

Uh huh.

[Millie Decherico]

And I love that movie so, so much. He. Leslie Chung particularly, is so sexy in that film.

[Casey O'Brien]

It pisses me off a little bit because I try to dress like him. I. I went through a period where I was trying to dress like him in la.

[Millie Decherico]

Yes.

[Casey O'Brien]

And I would just look in the mirror and I would be like, pathetic. You can't do it.

[Millie Decherico]

You slapped your own face.

[Casey O'Brien]

You're not Dewey. Like, Leslie.

[Millie Decherico]

You're in like a. A downtrodden motel, smoking cigarettes, slapping your face in the neon light, being like, can't be this. Not even if I should. Yeah, no, that's my favorite Wong car. He is super sexy in it. He also. I mean, behind that movie is that he has problems with his Filipino mother, which is like, I can understand. But he's in this movie that I saw called Rouge from 1987. It also stars Anita Moy and they play. It kind of goes from. Again, Both the movies that I saw this week are about like time, period travel, but it moves from like a 1930s Hong Kong vibe to like a modern day, meaning the late 80s when this movie was made. And it's basically about this, I guess she's a sex worker in 1930s Hong Kong who falls in love with one of the men that shows up in the brothel or the home that she works in. And they fall in love and they have this like opium filled romance. It's very beautiful and sensual and sexy. And then, you know, of course, like, his parents find out that he's got a woman who is not up to their snuff, and they're basically like doomed lovers. But then what happens is that she turns into a ghost and she travels to 1987 and kind of befriends this young couple, this married couple, and she's like looking for her lost love because kind of in a Romeo and Juliet style, they, you know, both kill themselves for each other. But she's like looking for him and trying to like, go back to that world. And it's like, spooky. It's very interesting. Like the Hong Kong interesting ghost rules are a little different than I think think. You know, you would know as an American ghost person. But it was. It was great, beautiful, and I loved it. And it was like, again, another surprise where I just was like, I'm showing up. I don't know much about this movie and damn, I loved every second of it. So.

[Casey O'Brien]

Wow. Can you do me a favor? Can you go to the Leslie Chung Wikipedia page?

[Millie Decherico]

Is your face on it or something?

[Casey O'Brien]

My face is where Leslie Chung should be. Isn't that strange? I don't know why that is. Look at the picture that's on Wikipedia.

[Millie Decherico]

Damn, he looks like James Mason.

[Casey O'Brien]

It says that's a wax figure of. Of Chung.

[Millie Decherico]

What?

[Casey O'Brien]

Isn't that odd that his Wikipedia picture is a wax figurine of him?

[Millie Decherico]

Who did that? I wonder?

[Casey O'Brien]

I don't know. I find that very bizarre. It's not him. That's not a picture of him. That's a picture of a wax fig. I don't know.

[Millie Decherico]

I was gonna say, okay, the pictures are the pictures on the Wikipedia page or of a wax figure of him as the main photo. And then there's a picture of Leslie Howard Which I guess is part of his mythology. And then there's a picture of Wong Kar Wai and then a tiny picture of him probably like five, seven paragraphs down. Why would they do that?

[Casey O'Brien]

I don't know. I find that kind of upsetting.

[Millie Decherico]

Anyways, now I'm gonna look him up proper. Oh, the first picture that comes up. Jesus Christ.

[Casey O'Brien]

I know. His hair, incredible.

[Millie Decherico]

He has like a pompadour with a little thing in front of his forehead. A little dippy dip smoking a cigarette and a white under. Oh, Anyway, all right.

[Casey O'Brien]

Anyways. Okay, okay, my turn. Okay. I saw this movie called beyond the Infinite. Two minutes. And this is. Have you ever heard of this movie called One Cut of the Dead?

[Millie Decherico]

I feel like I have.

[Casey O'Brien]

So it was kind of a. It was a movie that came out In, I think 2017 that was kind of a big hit in Japan, which. It was like a low budget horror comedy. And it is this micro genre in Japan called nama naga mawashi, nagama washi. It's a micro genre and it's like low budget comedy, horror, slash, sci fi that are all one shot.

[Millie Decherico]

Oh, cool.

[Casey O'Brien]

And that's what One Cut of the Dead is. Okay, that's like a one shot zombie movie. And this is a one shot. I mean, it's not actually all one shot, but it looks like it is. And basically it's really cute. This cafe owner, he owns this little cafe and he's like an aspiring musician, but he owns this little cafe and he lives upstairs. And he discovers that if he looks at his computer monitor or like his TV in his room, the image that is on his computer, it's connected to the monitor in the cafe. So these two monitors are connected. But if he looks at his monitor in his room, he can see two minutes into the future in the cafe. Oh, it's just two minutes.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

And it kind of like creates all these issues and like, him and his group of friends try to kind of like exploit it, but it doesn't work. And it's really kind of a small, funny, interesting movie and they kind of like mess with time and I don't know, it was really fun and enjoyable. And it's only like 71 minutes, so we love it, really enjoyed it. And I'm kind of interested in this like micro genre. And I mean, it sounds awesome to like. I mean, it's like a lot of work to get to that point. But the idea of like filming for like two days because you just have it all in one, like one take that Sounds kind of nice. I don't know.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah. What made you want to see this? Did you hear about it?

[Casey O'Brien]

Trisha. Trisha found this one because she. She really liked one cut of the Dead.

[Millie Decherico]

Okay, cool.

[Casey O'Brien]

And yeah, I'm very into like low budget kind of micro genres and I think it's cool what they're doing. Yeah.

[Millie Decherico]

Awesome. This sounds amazing. Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. So the other movie I saw a very important film that I actually had never seen.

[Millie Decherico]

Whoa.

[Casey O'Brien]

Pump up the volume from 1990.

[Millie Decherico]

Wow. That's a big one. Big.

[Casey O'Brien]

As a podcaster, I should have seen this years ago.

[Millie Decherico]

I know. Don't. I'm surprised you work with Daniel Henderson and you. That didn't come out because she's a huge Christian Slater fan.

[Casey O'Brien]

I loved this movie. I thought it was even better than I thought it was going to be. And it sort of inspired me as a podcaster and an artist, you know, to be true and authentic in your art and what you're putting out there. And I also like in this movie that it kind of explores like the creative artistic Persona versus you, who you are in real life. Like the social Persona. Like, he's like this big, loud, crap ass radio guy on. On air, but in real life he's like, hey, how's it going? I'm Christian Slate. Like, he's like kind of a dork, you know, And I. But it is. Both of those are him, you know, And I don't know, I think that I like. I think that's an interesting concept. And yeah, I just thought it was, like, delightful and I loved it. I was. I was pumped up by Pump up the Volume. So everyone go see it.

[Millie Decherico]

You should think about maybe coming up with your own nickname. Because his nickname in the movie is what? Happy Harry.

[Casey O'Brien]

Happy Harry. Hard on, I believe. What would could mine. What could mine besides Lizard boy, but Lizard Boy, yeah, it would have to be something, you know, phallic. So, you know, what was it like something Casey cockering or something like that? There's something there. Let me workshop it.

[Millie Decherico]

Well, yeah, you need to take that to the lab. That would be. Yeah, you got a good start with the ring thing, so. Yeah, well, good for you. All right.

[Casey O'Brien]

But that's it.

[Millie Decherico]

Good.

[Casey O'Brien]

That's all I got.

[Millie Decherico]

Okay. Are we closing it now?

[Casey O'Brien]

Let's close it up.

[Millie Decherico]

Okay, bye.

[Casey O'Brien]

All right, onto our main discussion. Blood feast from 1963. This is directed by Herschel Gordon Lewis, the king Herschel Gordon Lewis. It's written, it's a screenplay by Alison Louise down with kind of the story idea. By Herschel Gordon Lewis. So the genre, it is a horror movie.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

But you could say that this movie invented a new genre, which is splatter.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

Now for you, what is the difference between that and like normal horror or other horror?

[Millie Decherico]

Right. So I feel like splatter film. Because when I was okay to back up just slightly when I was getting into cult movies back in the day, there was more of an effort, I think, to describe movies as splatter movies. Like certain movies. Right. I feel like it really is just sort of a micro genre, if you will, from horror that is kind of explicitly gory and graphic. But I also think at the same time that isn't exactly a catch all either. Because there are movies like for example, David Cronenberg movies that are oopy goopy as hell, but I don't think are considered splatter. Do you know?

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, yeah,

[Millie Decherico]

because I think splatter feels a little bit more rough around the edges than anything else. Because I've actually heard, you know, directors like George Romero describe his movies. Like I think he talks about dawn of the Dead being a splatter movie

[Casey O'Brien]

or something like that, which is funny. Cause I wouldn't categorize dawn of the Dead as that way.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, I think so too. And again, I also think that there are. I feel like it's a question of how shitty it is. Like I feel like low budget, super gory, like movies like Blood Feast would our splatter film. I feel like movies that are a bit more artistic or like higher minded with the gore, like I said at Cronenberg. Or even like Wuthering Heights, the Emerald Fennel movie or something like that. It just feels like splatter is low budgety, gross.

[Casey O'Brien]

I also think that there is a little bit more of a reveling in the oopy goopy. Like literally we're like, oh, we're cutting back to the goo again. Like it's like. It kind of like there's like an excessiveness to it where it's almost like the oopy goopiness is the point of the whole thing, you know. So that's why, like it's hard to designate a Cronenberg movie a splatter movie because it's not. It's almost like that's not the point of the Cronenberg movie, but like the splatter movies, it kind of feels like it is sort of the point in some way, you know?

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah. You know, the more that I think about it, it feels more like splatter fel. Feels a little bit more of an antiquated term because there are so many, like, offshoots of horror at this point that are a little bit more descriptive. Like, I'm using if. Actually, if you go to splatter film on Wikipedia, they do have a section where they talk about torture porn, and I feel like that is very specific. And I feel like I know exactly what movies you're talking about when you talk about torture porn. You know what I mean? Like the Saul movies and shit like that.

[Casey O'Brien]

But. And I can see how that came from splatter movies. Like a movie like Blood Feast, I could see how that could be an extension of it. But to me, blood, the. The blood and the goop is so fake that it doesn't. It doesn't make you wince in the same way that torture porn does.

[Millie Decherico]

Totally. You know, like, I mean, you think about another Herschel Gordon Lewis movie called the wizard of Gore, which is literally like, like, basically like a Grand Guignol, Like a fucking dude in a top hat and a cape, like, presenting you like, dismembered body parts, and you're like, okay, that's splatter movie. I got it. Theatrical, low budget, fucking crazy body parts. There it is. Yeah, but, yeah, I don't know. I mean, that's an. Actually, I don't know. That's a nice thought experiment, I think, to think about. Like, maybe we should ask, like, next time we have a filth elder on this podcast, like, if we can get like a Joe Dante or like, I

[Casey O'Brien]

don't know, like a Lloyd Kaufman.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, perhaps Lloyd Kaufman. Maybe we could ask him. What is your. What are your thoughts on splatter film and where the term has landed in the modern era.

[Casey O'Brien]

But it is interesting because as much as splatter films are a micro genre in the world of horror kind of outside the mainstream, you see its influence on mainstream films, you know?

[Millie Decherico]

You do? Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, I was just thinking about the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark where everyone's head is like, melting, gooey blood and stuff that in some ways is like splatter film effects to some degree, you know, in a very mainstream movie.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, you know, for sure, for sure. And I think that there's a lot of. I mean, there's a lot of current, like, horror that is oopy, goopy as hell that they're trying to present as more elevated horror, I suppose. But like, if you had made that movie in like 1969, you'd be a splatter king or queen.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, well, I. Maybe we'll get into this a little bit. No, we'll get it. I, I, I'll get into it. When we get into the movie, I have another topic to bring up, but let's move on to some other classifying things on this film. You know, there's not really any famous actors in this. Mal Arnold is in a few Herschel Gordon Lewis movies. Connie Mason, the Playboy model, Playmate, William Kerwin, he shows up places. But these aren't necessarily household names, I would say.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, you know, I plan to talk about this like kind of later in the episode, but, but you know, Hershel Horton Lewis comes from Florida and he essentially was a filmmaker that he started out actually as an advertising person in Chicago. I think he like went to school in Chicago and I think he taught class in Chicago. Like he was a teacher for a while. But then when you move to Florida, you know what happens? You get the urge to start being as fucked up as possible and start wanting to like scam people for their money. And that's what he was like. You know what? I'm gonna start making weird movies and I'm gonna, me and my buddy David Friedman, who is a, another very famous exploitation figure, producer and director, was like, let's you know, collaborate and make some fucked up movies and show some boobs and make a lot of cash. And that's kind of like what he did. And so there's kind of, there's been this tradition of Florida exploitation filmmaking that kind of happened between, I'd say like the 1950s and maybe like towards the mid-70s or maybe even a little bit later. That is such a fascinating world. A lot of weird Florida exploitation movies take advantage of the sunshine. There's a lot of nudity, a lot of like fucked up, weird things happening, but a lot of like saturated, beautiful colors and you know, it's like this,

[Casey O'Brien]

this crazy, a strange combination of things going on.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, but it wasn't just. Herschel Lewis is like other filmmakers too. And it's like I, I've been talking about this forever and I'm like, I don't know if anybody's done it yet, but if, if not, I kind of want to write a book about it

[Casey O'Brien]

because it is fascinating, Millie, you absolutely should because I, we recently watched the Herschel Gordon Lewis documentary made by Frank Hennan Lauder and it did feel like like no man's land or it was like just like the Wild West. Like people were just doing whatever they're filming on at like nude. Yeah, yeah. And like Pete and they had to be Naked while they were filming, like, the crew. Because it was like, I don't know, it's just like it just seemed lawless and crazy and they were just kind of doing whatever and he was kind of mate, like you said. He was kind of mate. He, he would make movies that sort of like he could see as that would make money.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

You know.

[Millie Decherico]

Yes.

[Casey O'Brien]

And that was sort of his impetus or his inspiration for a lot of this stuff, including Blood Feast. He wanted to make a horror, an outrageous horror movie so that people would go see it because it was so outrageous.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah. And like, this is during the drive in era, so, you know, it's like you're able to like, make a few bucks, like showing it to, like, teenagers who were like, nick and in the car. But like, I, I think necking. Yeah, necking. What a term that needs to come back too. Maybe it needs to come back.

[Casey O'Brien]

I feel like I learned what necking was when I was so young because I used to watch Happy Days and they would say necking.

[Millie Decherico]

It seems like a patently boomer term, but maybe, you know, necking in the elk's lodge or whatever the heck we can come up with. But I think to the original point of this whole conversation is that I think that that's why we've not heard of any of these actors. Because a lot of the people that are in these exploitation movies generally, but especially the Florida ones, are like, people that were doing like, community theater in like, West Palm beach, and they never made another movie. Like, the Florida exploitation world is filled with people, like, where you would try to look up people online and they're like, nowhere to be found. Like, there's no histories of this.

[Casey O'Brien]

I looked up Connie Mason, who was a Playmate, so I thought there would be at least something. There's like, nothing out there about her.

[Millie Decherico]

Listen, I, I, I've talked about this with other people. Like, when I wr that TCM underground book, man, I had the hardest time researching it because again, it is this thing where you're like, exploitation movies were made for like $5 by like, Random people who wanted to make money in the business featuring local actors. And then distribution goes out the window. You have no idea who owns the rights to any of this shit anymore. And so you lose a lot of history from it. And so it takes like, like really intense research to figure out Boots on the ground. Yeah. And that's why I really respect like, all these DVD companies or all these people that are working in like, archiving and restoration and bringing these up movies. To like Blu Ray. Because a lot of times they're calling people's fucking, you know, kids or grandkids and being like, hey, so your daddy was in a titty movie in Miami.

[Casey O'Brien]

I always think about that. I'm like, these are like regular people who kind of like. Like they said that in the documentary about Herschel Gordon Lewis too, where they'd like walk into like a Starbucks or whatever and be like, who wants to be completely nude on film and get like, covered in like blood and rotting intestines? And people are like, I'll do it. And then they went back to their, like, normal life after that. I mean, it's like crazy.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, I mean, there is a great joy in that. I mean, I don't know. People don't do like that anymore. It's so cool in a way, you know. But any to the point I think we were trying to make is that I feel like I've seen video of Mel Arnold as an old man talking about making Blood Feasts, but I haven't really seen many of these other folks, so I have no idea what's happening with any of them. They're probably all deceased, Rip Probably.

[Casey O'Brien]

But, you know, or in the retirement homes, you know, it's just the idea of that. Wouldn't you just want to talk to these people like, I don't know, know, saddle up to them during a bingo hour, you know, while they have their 30 sheets going at once and you try to interview them about Blood Feast? Millie, you know, we kind of got into it. But what, what's your personal connection to this movie?

[Millie Decherico]

Well, I mean, I don't think. I think. I don't have to really say much beyond what I've already said about this movie was totally, totally influential to me becoming burgeoning shithead slash exploitation fan. This was like canon. I remember distinctly, distinctly my roommate in college, Blake Myers, who I've talked about on this podcast before, the king of horror in my mind, actually, he had a series at the Plaza Theater here in Atlanta called Splatter Cinema. So there you go.

[Casey O'Brien]

There we go.

[Millie Decherico]

But he was my horror movie roommate and we used to make little fucked up movies together in undergrad. And he was like, I remember he had a huge clamshell copy of Blood Feast and. Amazing, I know. And he was like, showed it to us one night. I was probably like, just had turned 18 maybe, and I was like forever radicalized, you know, so film what I

[Casey O'Brien]

mean, Millie, you made. We need to see some of your fucked up college movies.

[Millie Decherico]

I don't think so. I think they would all be. I would be canceled. I said what I think would happen because it was. Because it was like, think about a bunch of kids in the 90s running around in the deep south making horror movies. Like, just probably like, like horrific violence and no rules and cussing and smoking, drinking. So I mean, I'd be like, I don't know. I don't have. I don't have kids or anything. But for everybody else, they'd be like, holy, what the is wrong with her?

[Casey O'Brien]

Like, you're saying this would destroy your legacy.

[Millie Decherico]

I mean, here's the thing. My legacy is so bad anyway. I'm like, how could it get worse? But it also is, like, so rough around the edges. And there was a lot of, like, we were going into, like, abandoned buildings and doing probably a lot of illegal stuff that was probably gonna put me on a. A watch list. But anyway, maybe if I find something that is kind of, you know, decent enough, maybe I'll. I'll try.

[Casey O'Brien]

But some of my more embarrassing film school movies, I think I was, like, so upset at how they turned out. Out that I, like, didn't destroy them was. But was neglectful. And I. I think I, like, lost the hard drive that they're on. So I'm like, they're like, lost to time.

[Millie Decherico]

You're like Marjorie Cameron, the artist that's like, burn all of her paintings because she didn't like herself in those.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. You know, I used to be that way. When I was a little kid. I would make a lot of art and then I would throw it in the garbage can in the backyard because I didn't want my parents to see that I was throwing it away because they tried and stop me. But I was like, this sucks. It's horrible. When I was like, in fifth grade.

[Millie Decherico]

See, we could. We. We are bereft of your great art.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Millie Decherico]

Meanwhile, I still have my stupid Braves fan fiction in a Rubbermaid tub.

[Casey O'Brien]

I wish I was like you. I wish I had kept everything. It makes me sad. Some comps for this movie, Psycho from 1960.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah. I feel like Herschel Gordon Lewis, specifically, I. I read an anecdote somewhere when I was. Was we were planning on this episode where I think that he was. A lot of people, by the way, a lot of horror people that we love were influenced by Psycho. I think it goes without saying, but I think Herschel Horn Lewis was sort of like, negatively affected by Psycho, where he was like, well, it didn't go hard enough. So I guess I should make my Own.

[Casey O'Brien]

He's like, I should have been able to see boobs and more blood in that shower scene.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, no, I think that's literally what he said. Like, I think he was like, you know what sucks about Psycho is that in show Norman Bates dismembering Marion Crane's leg and putting it in a pizza oven. And for that reason, I will enter the film business.

[Casey O'Brien]

Oh, and I had no personal connection to this movie. I never seen it before, so it's the first time watch. Not even.

[Millie Decherico]

You never even heard about it.

[Casey O'Brien]

I had heard of it, but I just, I. You know, it's one of those that was out there and I didn't quite know how to, you know, categorize it. So I'm glad it's become a part of my life and that Herschel Gordon Lewis has become a bigger part of my life.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

Improved it.

[Millie Decherico]

I'm not blaming you, actually. I. I was thinking about this. I was like, yeah, I don't know. I feel it's like ra. Like, if you're just a random film person, where the. Would you just be like, hey, guess what? Let's watch Blood Feast.

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, also, it is older too. I mean, it's from, like 1963. And so, like, I feel like a movie. Like, there's much more of the video nasty movies that sort of just came across my. I came across my disc more frequently than like a movie from, like the early 1960s, you know, so. And you also said Peeping Tom.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, I just threw that on there. It's another one of those, like, very early, like, films that inspired a bunch of, like, maniacs to make horror. And how could it not be? It's a. Have you seen Peeping Time? Have we talked about this? This?

[Casey O'Brien]

No, I haven't. It's on my watch list, though.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, I think you little bit more. I say the quality of Peeping Tom is better than Blood Feast. But isn't it the Archers?

[Casey O'Brien]

Am I making that up?

[Millie Decherico]

Classy. Classy boys.

[Casey O'Brien]

Wow. Classy joint. Yeah. Hey, everyone, it's Cal Penn. I'm the host of Irsay The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project, Hail Mary, Massive sci fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone, very far from Earth. I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get

[Millie Decherico]

teary as I'm narrating some of these sections.

[Casey O'Brien]

And it's like, okay, yo, yo, yo. Is this indulgent? And I really thought about it. I was like, no. At this point, it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it. But there's places in this book that deeply, emotionally affected me. And I left it on the mic. That's great because it served the story. People will say like, oh, my God,

[Millie Decherico]

I cried at the end.

[Casey O'Brien]

It's like, yeah, dude, me too. Listen to Irsay, the Audible and I Heart Audio Book Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Millie Decherico]

Hey, it's Rach. And if you're like me, you want treats that are simple and taste amazing. And that's why I love Johnny Pops. They're deliciously made with simple ingredients and no artificial dyes. Whether it's a quick snack for the kids or a sweet moment for yourself, Johnny Pops are the perfect treat. And there's a kind deed on every stick to encourage everyone to share a little kind deal. So next time you're in the freezer aisle, grab a box of Johnny Pops and feel great about what you're sharing. Johnny Pops, A better Pop for a better world.

[Casey O'Brien]

When you own your own business, you need to keep things moving. Need to book a last minute flight? Earn a $300 travel credit to cover that. Need to take a meeting before takeoff? Do it from the comfort of the Chase Sapphire Lounge by the club. Need to catch your breath before you board?

[Millie Decherico]

Done.

[Casey O'Brien]

Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business, the business card that gives back all you put in. Visit chase.com ReserveBusiness to learn more. Cards issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank. Any member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply. Okay, I'm gonna go move on to the synopsis here. Let's go, let's go. Okay, hold on to your butts, everybody, for this synopsis. Okay, so a woman, and she's returning home from somewhere and she's gonna take a bath. And she's got a book with her that she's reading in the bath. And that book is Ancient Weird Religious Rites, which right then and there, when I saw the title of that book, I was like, I'm in. This movie has got me.

[Millie Decherico]

What a great book.

[Casey O'Brien]

Just then, a killer breaks in and he kills her with a machete and he hacks off her leg and bags it. Flash forward. We're at a police station where we meet Detective Pete Thornton, played by William Kerwin. He's trying to figure out there's a Serial murderer out there. And he has an MO of, you know, dismembering people and taking their body parts with. With them. So they're trying to figure this out, okay? Elsewhere, a woman named Mrs. Dorothy Fremont, played by Lynn Bolton, she enters. This is. This is the second. This movie has me in its grips. She enters a storefront, and the storefront says, this is Fouad. Fouad Ramsay's Exotic Catering. Fouad Ramses is the name. Exotic Catering, okay? And she goes up, up to Fouad Ramsey, played by Mal Arnold, who is the killer. We see him in the previous scene. He is the murderer. But she wants to be the talk of the town. She wants a party catered for her daughter's birthday, okay? And she's like, I, you did catering for a friend of mine? Well, we need something that people are going to be chatting about. Something wild, something exotic. Will you please cater my daughter's birthday? And he's like, yes, I will. And I'm going to make an Egyptian feast, okay? Mrs. Fremont is also kind of hypnotized during this moment, but she's excited to be, you know, the talk of the town. But we learn when we go back to Fouad Ramsey's little lair in the back of his store that an Egyptian feast is a blood feast, which is a stew made of human blood and body parts that will be used to resurrect the goddess Ishtar. So there's a lot of information about you, but also, this movie is so goddamn slow.

[Millie Decherico]

I was gonna say that was Chief Fear of mine to be like, hey, we should watch Blood Feast. Is that Casey's gonna be fall asleep.

[Casey O'Brien]

Which, I mean, this movie is like, what, 67 minutes long. But it is a. It's a. It's a full 67 minutes.

[Millie Decherico]

This might be the first time in history that a 67 minute long movie is like, oh, man, is this. Could this be any longer? I don't know.

[Casey O'Brien]

Why? Well, something you pointed out in your notes is that in the police station, there's like so much headroom. You've never seen a shot like this where it's like a wide shot, but they're like. There's so much space at the top of the frame, it's insane.

[Millie Decherico]

I was like, I gotta pick aces bright about this. Because as a filmmaker, I'm like, I am so. You know, I only notice things as a film watcher. So as a filmmaker, you have a completely different perspective. There had like, I understand from film school that there you have to put Thoughts into the composition of a shot. Right? Because something is more effective at communicating emotions. Like, for example, a close up of someone's face is gonna be ultimately more compelling than a shot from the back of a room.

[Casey O'Brien]

You can barely distinguish the men in the frame, they're so far away.

[Millie Decherico]

So this is the one thing about, about Blood Feast that makes me laugh so much, is that there's so much room in these shots. Like, I'm like. And then you start noticing. I don't know if you noticed this, but like the cork board and the caliber on the back of the office. Like the. This is the police office, right?

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Millie Decherico]

Why is that up so high?

[Casey O'Brien]

Like, maybe. Maybe they picked the frame and then they needed to fill in the space. I don't. I truly don't know. I kind of. I kind of chalk all that stuff up to like, Hersel Gordon Lewis. I mean, they made this movie in like two weeks or something. Maybe less than that. I mean, they were moving. So I feel like there wasn't a ton of time to really, you know, after the first decision is made, they aren't really, you know, scrutinizing anything beyond that. But it's crazy.

[Millie Decherico]

I know. I just kept thinking because like, William Kerwin, the actor who plays the. The detective, the main detective, he's probably like 6ft tall. I was like, he could, if he stood up, he could look at board and be like, okay, here are the suspects in this. But then the other guy is, I feel like a little bit shorter. And I'm like, he's going to have to get on his tippy toes to look at his own calendar. Why is it like that? This is crazy.

[Casey O'Brien]

You know, sometimes when you go into a men's bathroom, I feel like they've measured the urinals for a really tall guy. Because sometimes when I go into the bathroom, the urinals, and I'm 5 7. Yeah, the urinals are too. Almost too tall for me to pee into. And so I'll have to be on my tippy toes. So I wonder if it's a similar situation where they were kind of, you know, they were sort of making every decision based on the height of the taller detective, you know, but.

[Millie Decherico]

And it just gets worse because you're like, the shot is so far away. There's also another scene, like, later in the movie where like, one of the victim's mothers is like, crying. And it's just from like the shot is from like way the fuck back. And you're like, I would sympathize with her. But this movie is not letting me because it's not being shot at a fucking place where I can feel that way. I don't know.

[Casey O'Brien]

It was just Akira Kurosawa. He liked to have the camera far away from the actors so that the actors wouldn't feel the presence of the camera when they were acting. And that's the way he would get the best performances, he felt. So maybe Herschel Gordon Lewis was using a little bit of that school of thought.

[Millie Decherico]

I mean, listen, Ozu is the same way. Like, he had very specific framing, and it felt very, like, far away. Which I think if you're a good filmmaker.

[Casey O'Brien]

Apologies, sir. Herschel Gordon Lewis, sir.

[Millie Decherico]

You're Rip King. Okay, I'm not suggesting. Or maybe I am. I don't know. I was like, this is crazy.

[Casey O'Brien]

It was funny in the documentary about him, though, when they were talking about all the movies he made. And like, later in his career, people would be like, people would make fun of him. They're like. And in this film, he actually tried to be a good filmmaker and it kind of sucked. I don't know what he was thinking.

[Millie Decherico]

Oh, my God, poor man. But, you know, I. Another thing that really cracks me up about Bloodface. And you notice this immediately, you obviously notice this because this is Fuad Ramses in a nutshell. The first of all, Fuad Ramses has the craziest eyebrows you've ever seen in your life.

[Casey O'Brien]

Mel. Arnold.

[Millie Decherico]

Arnold. I think that they were amped up, though. I feel like, yes, they really colored the men and made him real bushy. But then he also has this, like, crazy gray, goopy, like, old man hair stuff in his hair.

[Casey O'Brien]

It'd be something that you would put on a high school student in a play to make his hair look great. Like if he was playing an old man.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, it's like when they try to, you know, make a 12 year old into Abraham Lincoln or something. Like, what is this gross shit? And then it's not just him, there's other characters in the movie that also have the fake gray stuff. And I'm like, like, this is why we can't have 4k, because it really shows how terrible the makeup that is.

[Casey O'Brien]

That is. That is interesting where you, like, really weren't ever meant to see this level of detail. I think about that with TV shows that get rescanned at like, 4K, where you're like, I wasn't supposed to see all this stuff.

[Millie Decherico]

Oh, man. I mean, this is why everybody walks around in, like, hardcore drag makeup now, because the HD of it all is crazy. I mean, you and this movie, I think was. I mean, I watched this, by the way. I pulled out my standard deaf, old school something weird video DVD of Blood Feast.

[Casey O'Brien]

Amazing.

[Millie Decherico]

And I could still tell it was shitty, so it was probably shitty on the vhs, so it was always shitty, regardless of the. Of the upgrading that was done.

[Casey O'Brien]

Oh, my God.

[Millie Decherico]

I want to ask you one thing before we move on. What are your thoughts on exotic catering?

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, I mean, this was. There's more to come on this, but it seems that Miami at this time was totally taken by Egyptian culture. But exotic catering, I don't know. I. God help me what that even means. I have sort of a specific thought in mind, but. But like, are they like, serving snake or something? I. I'm thinking of like the scene in like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or something, but. And monkey brains and stuff. But I don't know.

[Millie Decherico]

Would you say if you were back in your salad days of la when you were running around town, like, trying to be an artist, but then also working at your restaurants and things like that? I. Can you imagine yourself fighting, like, being a delivery boy for an exotic catering company or doing maybe like, party down? Like, I could see you in a party down scenario and you were doing exotic catering.

[Casey O'Brien]

Exotic catering, yeah. Well, I mean, in this. You know what, it doesn't really get totally defined in this movie either, what exotic catering is. I would totally do this job, though. I would 100% do this job. I worked quite a few like, like, I don't know, you'd say like wine mixers at galleries and stuff. Pouring wine for people. I did stuff like that. Carrying around a tray. I did that kind of work all the time.

[Millie Decherico]

No. So if you were in 1960s Miami, you would definitely be Aaron Boy for

[Casey O'Brien]

Fu Wad Ramsey for Fruad Ramsay. I imagine I would be. It is also funny in like, Fouad Ramsey's Exotic Catering. Like, I was looking at the shelves of like, what food is on the shelves behind him and it was like, like Irish steel cut oatmeal. It's like, that's not that exotic.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, maybe. Maybe we ought to think of it in terms of if you were an extremely white person living in Florida in the 60s, like, what you would think was exotic food.

[Casey O'Brien]

I think it's like anything that, like a, you know, a person of color or like any country that's not a white person country, the food from there is exotic. Like Japanese food is exotic, you know,

[Millie Decherico]

it's like anything that isn't meatloaf. And, you know.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Millie Decherico]

American food.

[Casey O'Brien]

A tater tot hot dish, for example. Anything that's not that.

[Millie Decherico]

Oh, oh, okay.

[Casey O'Brien]

I mean, the names in this are just so funny. Like the Fouad Ramsey's Exotic Catering. The ancient, weird religious rights books. I mean, Incredible Incred. They get right to it. They don't have time to dilly down. Okay, moving on. We meet Suzette Fremont, played by the playmate, Connie Mesa, in It's her party that's being catered by Fouad Ramsay. And this is so. This really made me laugh in the movie where Dorothy Fremont is like, my daughter's just gaga over Egyptian culture, and she's taking an Egyptian culture class at night with her boyfriend, Detective Pete Thornton, who we have met earlier. They're all. They're just crazy for this Egyptian culture stuff.

[Millie Decherico]

Stuff.

[Casey O'Brien]

So that's a fun coincidence. Fouad Ramsey, he is out there and he is killing people and taking body parts. He kills a woman who was making out with her boyfriend on the beach. He also goes to another woman's apartment and kills her by ripping her tongue out. Now, one of the women who's been attacked, she survives even though she's got all the way, like, a completely wrapped head. It's like, good night, Mommy. Or like Eyes Without a Face Wednesday. Yeah, exactly.

[Millie Decherico]

Eyes Without a Face.

[Casey O'Brien]

Exactly. Exactly. Wrapped head. And they're like, who did this to you? And she says the word etar right before she dies. Now, Detective Thorton was just in a class where they were talking about Ishtar the goddess, but he can't quite. What is etar? Just he can't figure it out. Who is kill? And what does this have to do with all the killing? So. Oh, this is what I was going to say about this movie. I could never make a movie like this because. Not because of, like, what it's about, but, like, I would be so grossed out. These women have, like, intestines and, like, rotting intestines in their. Like, in their mouth. And it's, like, all over. And like, in the making of it, they're always like, oh, it was disgusting. It was rotting. It smelled horrible. And they're, like, handling all this, like, like, truly oopy, goopy, disgusting stuff. I just, like, couldn't be around that on set. Like, I just, like, it's so. Even though I like watching it, I don't know, I just would be so disgusted. I mean, do you have any, like, as when you were in film school or, like, do you. Would you ever have Any, like, interest in, like, oh, it'd be fun to make a movie like that. Like a splatter film.

[Millie Decherico]

Yes. In fact, that's what we used to make is splatter films. Which, which is why I was like, they should not see the light of. Because I definitely think that we were. Well, Blake used to always say. And I have to say, Blake went on to do the fake blood for the Walking Dead. So he knows a thing or two. Yes, he, he would always say that chocolate syrup was the best consistency for fake blood. Like if you were shooting in, like, black and white or whatever, but. Or I think people also say caro corn syrup or something like that.

[Casey O'Brien]

Sure, yeah.

[Millie Decherico]

But, you know, we were. I remember at one point, this is so. I, I, I don't even know if I even want to tell these stories because they're so fucking specific to living in Atlanta and growing up as a shithead kid. Right. So there used to be this thing at one of the grocery stores here in Atlanta called Kroger. I don't know if you guys have

[Casey O'Brien]

Kroger up there, but I, I'm, I'm familiar with Kroger.

[Millie Decherico]

So Kroger back in the 90s. And they, I think they stopped this partially because me and my friends, they would do this thing that said they had this rule that said that if you found something that was expired on their shelves, if you took it up to the front, you could get a, a good version of it for free. Wow. And so people figured this out and took advantage of it. And what would happen is you would show up up at kroger at like, 11:59. And then the minute it turned midnight, you'd run through the aisles, like, supermarket suite and just take her cart and go through food and see, like, and find an expired, like, carton of eggs, put it in your cart, then take

[Casey O'Brien]

the minute it expires.

[Millie Decherico]

Yes. Then take the, the version that wasn't expired and put it in your cart. And then they, they would put the expired shit in the trash. And then you would get. And it was called date shopping. And me and my roommates, including Blake, we used to go date shopping at Kroger all the time. And it would, it wasn't just kids. It was also like, what I, I do believe became, like, extreme couponer women who were taking advantage of it. So there was always this, like, dirty crew of motherfuckers who were trying to get free food every night at a Kruger at midnight. Right. And then they stopped doing it because it just, I mean, I that we're just giving out too much food, to be honest. So we used to bring back all this crazy food. Like, it was just, like, weird gallons of milk. And, like, there was one time a giant king crab, like, that we brought back because it would. Had expired. So we used to take this food and. And put it in movies. We used to, like, recycle the food. So I remember at one point, we were trying to make, like, guts for something. Like, wait, you would.

[Casey O'Brien]

Would you keep the expired food, too? Or this would be the new version.

[Millie Decherico]

The new version.

[Casey O'Brien]

But it was free. Okay, Free.

[Millie Decherico]

But it was, like, so much food at one point, and it just was also random shit. Like, bread. Like, bread is always expiring. Dairy is always expiring. So it's like, do you really need, like, 12 loaves of garlic bread? You know? And that's the thing, is that we used to take the food that we didn't eat and make and put it in the movies. And I remember we were, like, making a movie about someone's, like, organs getting stolen. Cause that was also another myth that was happening at the time that people were going to bars and then their kidneys would be missing. So I remember taking garlic bread red and mixing it up with, like, a bunch of, like, corn syrup and all this weird. And, like, we dyed it red, and we were like, here's someone's guts or whatever, like, gross. And we were, like, so disgusting. Putting it on people's bodies. Like, our other roommate, like, being like, here, put this wettened, gross garlic bread on your torso and. And put some in your mouth. Like, so.

[Casey O'Brien]

Jesus.

[Millie Decherico]

I mean, listen, there was no OSHA in our case, there was probably no OSHA for her Herschel Gordon Lewis movies, so.

[Casey O'Brien]

Oh, God, no.

[Millie Decherico]

And I can imagine being a Playboy model and being like, what am I doing with my life that I'm putting rotting meat in my mouth?

[Casey O'Brien]

That's the thing. I just could never make someone, like, if they were like. If I could see in their eyes, they're like, I don't want to do this, but we like them to do it. I couldn't be like, all right, we got to do it, and then be like, okay, I'll put the. The liver in my. Up my nose, you know? I don't know. It's just, like. It's so nasty. I just feel too bad. And it's like, I just would be gagging and wanting to vomit. This is. I just. I wouldn't be worth it.

[Millie Decherico]

This is why you haven't been canceled, because you Weren't making your actors, you know, eat raw meat and stuff this year. You're one of the good ones.

[Casey O'Brien]

But I feel like there are people. I would just need the. I would need the actors. I would be like, I need you to be like, like into this or else I can't have you on set, cuz I'll feel too bad, you know,

[Millie Decherico]

but then, but now it's like everything is so regulated that you would have an easier time with both like materials. But also just like, I'm sure there's probably like, you know, sea proof guards that go over your mouth if you're trying to put a, you know, piece of garbage in there or something like that. Like.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, I'm sure there's some sort of dental dam situation where they can like put the, you know, know, food in their mouth without it like actually contacting their.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, well, I'm just saying back in this day though, it was, it was pretty raw dog, wouldn't you say? Like.

[Casey O'Brien]

Oh yeah. Oh yeah. I mean I was see that, some of those shots, I was just like, oh God, they're like putting like intestines in their mouth.

[Millie Decherico]

It's disgusting. Well, that's, I think something that I was going to talk to you about later. The idea, so. Because, you know, obviously this is on a video nasty's list. So people looked at this and was like, this is gross. I gotta say, this is an oopy goopy movie still.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, it is. Oh yeah. It really revels in the goopy oopy goopiness. Totally.

[Millie Decherico]

Like we. You talked about this earlier about just the kind of theatrical presentation of the gore, you know, and that's kind of what it is, this movie. It's basically like Fouad Ramses ripping the woman's tongue out of her mouth. With which by the way, I don't even know. I don't know. I've never ripped a tongue out of anyone's mouth.

[Casey O'Brien]

It feels hard, but that scene takes a long. It really is like you see his hand in her mouth and then it's like, oh, he's got the tongue. Like.

[Millie Decherico]

And then there's this like creepy organ music playing. And then it's like a real juicy like closeup of it, like pulsating and like gooing and stuff. And it's real slow. And I was like, man, this still goes pretty hard. 1963.

[Casey O'Brien]

I can see how it established a whole new genre because it is kind of like, what are we doing? Why are we focusing on this gross goop so much?

[Millie Decherico]

You Know, and like I said, I think the color saturation too is so crazy. I mean, like, this was. It became kind of a signature of Herschel Gord Lewis to have it like the real high key, like colors. Because I think that was part of also his criticism of Psycho was that it was just like, well, you can't see any thing. Colors are all.

[Casey O'Brien]

It's in black and white, man.

[Millie Decherico]

It be great if this was in Technicolor and, you know, we could see the tongues and the arms. But it's like, you know, I don't know. I mean, that to me, I. It felt really still pretty hardcore by today's standard.

[Casey O'Brien]

So, I mean, you can see why this like, influenced John Waters work so much. For sure. All right, I'm going to move on to the final.

[Millie Decherico]

Let's go act.

[Casey O'Brien]

So Detective Thorn, he finally puts it together that Itar sounds like Ishtar because he is taking those damn Egyptian classes. So he should have put it together. So he calls his old Egyptian Prof. And he also discovers that Fouad Ramsay is the one who wrote the ancient weird religious rights book that's been like, left behind in a few murder scenes that people have been reading and happen to get murdered when they're reading it. So they go to his shop and they discover that there's all these mutilated bodies there. Then it dawns on him. Oh, shit. Fouad Ramses is catering my girlfriend's birthday party, which is like. You see him like, be like, oh God. Whoa, like in the movie. And it's so fucking funny.

[Millie Decherico]

How many Egyptians do you think are rolling around? And then it's like the. The most famous one who owns his own business. Like, it really took you 60 minutes to put this.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, we really saw his discovery in real time when he discovered that. So we go to the party. Fouad has arrived, which I will say he did not show up with any food. That would have said. That would have. That would have clued me in a little bit. That would made me suspicious immediately. He didn't bring any food. And so. But he's like, oh, Suzette, I want to make this more authentic. Will you come into the kitchen with me? And she does not know this old creepy man. She's like, okay. And he's like, okay, sit on the counter and lay down. I'm gonna do something. Close your eyes. I'm gonna do something to make this more, more, you know, authentic. And she's like, okay. And of course he's gonna kill her. But it's like, why is she doing this at all? It's insane. Then just as he's about to kill her, her mom Dorothy walks in, sees that he's about to kill killer and she screams. He runs away. The cops show up, they give chase. Fuad jumps into the back of a garbage truck to try to escape. The garbage man doesn't notice anything, that this is happening at all. And he just so happens to press the compactor and he kills Fouad Ramsey and crushes him to death. Now, Millie, if you were at a party, your own birthday party, and the caterer asked you to come into the kitchen and then lay down on the countertop and close your eyes, would you do it to make the food more authentic?

[Millie Decherico]

Hell no. That's like her first problem was I was like, I'm not laying down on no countertop for no old man with weird eyebrows. And he's. And he keeps saying it as the thing. He's like, you wouldn't make an old man sad by not lying down for me. Just me and you in the kitchen. And then he finds this like little pillow, this like little neck pillow. I'm like, where the fuck did you get the neck pillow? Like, you got no food but you brought the neck pillow for your sacrifice lady. I mean, it was just like insane, right? But she like, is like, oh my God, I don't know what I'm doing. Like, what? And he's trying really hard to get her to, you know, close her eyes so we can fucking slice her up

[Casey O'Brien]

and I kill her.

[Millie Decherico]

And it's like. It is funny that you mentioned that the food is nowhere to be found because he keeps saying, oh, it's in the garage.

[Casey O'Brien]

They didn't have the budget for like a large catering order or something. I don't know.

[Millie Decherico]

They had Casey o' Brien working for the exotic catering company. He, that's right, come out in his little bow tie and be like, well, it's right here. Like, I'm just, I'll. You know, he didn't have any other

[Casey O'Brien]

employees, so he was just by himself, I guess. But what were you going to say?

[Millie Decherico]

Well, and this is the other thing too. I mean, I don't. This is kind of implied, I suppose. I don't know if it is made specific, but like there are times where Fuon has killed somebody and then he dismembers their body parts and then he kind of puts them. I called it a little pizza oven.

[Casey O'Brien]

Kind of. It looked like a pizza oven.

[Millie Decherico]

Kind of looks like a, you know, a wood fire grill. Type of scenario. And I'm like that's the food, right? Is he serving the body parts?

[Casey O'Brien]

It is so unclear. Like I said, we don't see any food at all during this movie. I mean he has like a stew that he's like stirring but we don't really see the final, what the, that final, you know, recipe or how, how it would turn out in the end. And I suppose like he was going to take a body part from Suzette and throw it in the stew. But we're, it's very unclear, right?

[Millie Decherico]

Cuz he, he takes basically a woman's leg cut at the knee and puts it in the oven and then it comes out, it's like, you know, burnt like a little, you know, he's like oh. And I'm like oh, is he going to serve that? Is that the food? Like does he does that his thing? I could, couldn't figure it out.

[Casey O'Brien]

I think that would have been a fun thing to be like to, for the food reveal. For it to be all these different body parts, you know, in like catering dishes and stuff. But yeah, that, catering trays.

[Millie Decherico]

But I, I gotta tell you, that leg in the oven, see, that's pretty. I was like damn, that is gross. I don't know, I don't know if I need a full like two and a half minutes on this.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, no, they really, they really get in the there. I, there's something that really made me laugh while it was happening in this final part of the movie. When they asked Detective Thoron how he figured it out and then he just recounts the whole movie. It's like then this happened and then I did this and then I remembered I'm taking Egyptian classes and the name Ishtar is similar to Etar. And I was like, I can't believe this is in the movie. We, we, we just, we know that we just saw this like it was so strange. I've never seen anything like it.

[Millie Decherico]

Oh, it was like a full Scooby Doo moment where he's like, well then if it wouldn't be for this, then this wouldn't, you know, the other thing too. I gotta say, as much as we have sort of teased this movie a bit, I don't know if this is just me, but did you find like a kind of beauty in the last scene where Fuad is like limping on the beach and is like running away from the cops? It kind of had this like end of Texas Chainsaw Massacre moment of beauty like where it's basically just like his, him carrying Like a machete limping away, like, right before he goes the garbage truck. But it's kind of like the shot itself is actually kind of pretty. And I was like, huh, That's a moment of good filmmaking in Bloodface right there.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. I mean, it kind of harkens to, like, Francois Swat Truffaut's the 400 Belows where Antoine Duanelle is on the beach. I mean, I'm not. I'm being silly, but it is kind of like that.

[Millie Decherico]

I know. I know you're not. I know you're not. That's why I'm, like, laughing, because it's, like, so absurd. It's so absurd to say that. But I was like, actually, it is kind of a little French new wavy, if you think about it. Like.

[Casey O'Brien]

No, I mean, I. We laughed about the composition of that police station scene, but, like, there are parts of this where I'm like, this is kind of beautiful. Or, like, the colors are, like, interesting. And, like, the set design and, like, the costumes, I'm like, this is good. This is nice to look at. It really pales in comparison to, like, lowbudget movies that come out now. No offense to them, but they are just, like, not as elevated in their, like. Like, beauty for some. I don't know. I would. I was taken by it, like, watching it visually.

[Millie Decherico]

Casey, this is why I like you. Because I. I think as a exploitation person, you kind of have two roads. You could be like, the real road, where you're just like, man, what a piece of. Like, this is hilarious. And then you could be like, the other type, which I feel like is my type as people who are like, this is ridiculous. But I also find it kind of beautiful in certain ways, and there's something else going. And maybe it's imperfect, but there's beauty in the imperfection. It's like a wabi sabi thing. And I feel like you get it.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yes.

[Millie Decherico]

That's why.

[Casey O'Brien]

100%.

[Millie Decherico]

And I'm so glad that you thought that, because I was like, I'm gonna bring up this end of fucking blood feasting, and he's gonna be like, what a fucking weirdo. But, hey, you likened it to a Truffaut movie, so I'm happy, dude.

[Casey O'Brien]

Oh, fuck. No, it is funny too. Like. Like, you're used to horror movies like this, having kind of like. Like, oh, maybe, like, who knows what's going to happen? Even at the end of Psycho where you're like. He, like, is smiling, looking into the camera. You're like, ooh, the. The the evil is still out there. Or like it might return or like there's some sort of like lingering like o. Who knows, maybe more people will die after this. But this was a very final. He's killed in the. He is back. He's gone. No, he's gone. Don't worry about it. He's. He's very, very dead.

[Millie Decherico]

So, yeah, he gets decimated in the back of that thing and I mean there was a moment where I was like, I guess there is no fail safe buzzer that goes off of a human being climbs back of a garbage truck.

[Casey O'Brien]

But Jesus, Yeah, I. I hope, I hope safety measures have improved since then, frankly.

[Millie Decherico]

Well, like, I'd like to ask now your final thoughts. What did you think? Think? What was your. What Was your vibe? 67 minutes long, but ultimately good runtime. Right?

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, no, I think I was, I was very taken with it. I don't know if I necessarily. It doesn't make me necessarily want to watch a ton more Herschel Gordon Lewis movies, I guess. But I also would be. I also would be like, interested. Especially like, I think they're like. Was it 2000 Maniacs? Is that when that comes out of.

[Millie Decherico]

I gotta tell you, I. I feel like 2000 Maniacs is. It flirts with being a good movie. Like it.

[Casey O'Brien]

Okay.

[Millie Decherico]

It has a story. There's a little bit more going on in that movie.

[Casey O'Brien]

So. Yeah, I, I think this movie would like. It would be great. You know how like at parties you can like project a movie on the wall and it's just quiet in the background. This would be like a perfect like on. At a party or at. Because it is visually like, whoa, what the is going on there? And then like we said, it's like, are parts where I'm like, this is kind of beautiful. So.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, I feel like I, I loved it. Oh, good, good. I didn't mean to cut you off there, but. No, I feel like the title sequence too, like the whole blood, like Blood Feast written out in blood, it kind of drips. I feel like people have like not parodied it but have copied that. Like, I feel like there's. That's been something that you've seen in movies in some way day since. Yeah, this movie came out. Yeah. Well, that's good. That's good that you. It made you curious maybe to see more hdl, but. But I guess I wanted to ask like, did you think that this should have been a video? Nasty.

[Casey O'Brien]

Like, you know, I can see why it is. Certainly. I mean we were saying it's like from. It's an older movie, but it's still it. It's gross. I mean, it's like nasty. And so I think it totally deserves to be on the list. I'm thinking of other video nasty movies I've seen and I feel like this is up there with how goopy and gross those other ones are. So I think it totally should be. Yeah, they're on the video nasty list.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah, there's something about it and I have, like I said, I've seen this movie so many times. I haven't seen it in a while. It's probably been at least like five years or so. But like, there's something really odd about it. And I think it's because it's. I want to say it's because it's not made well, to be honest. And when you see something from the past that is as goopy, goopy, visually arresting and sort of like gnarly like this and that, there's like not much to do about it beyond that. It feels shocking still, like in that way where you're like, God, who the made this? This thing? This is crazy.

[Casey O'Brien]

And yeah, I think there's kind of a. You kind of. When you think about people in the past, you think of them as being more dignified and like polite society types. And this movie feels like kind of scary and weird because it was like this was made by like polite society. But it's like disgusting and subversive and gross. You know, it's like it's made by people that were like going to church or. I mean, I don't know if that's true or not, but it sort of feels that way. And like, I don't know, there's sort of a. A strange tension there while you're watching it that you're like, this is older and not made well and it's gross, like what was going on, you know? Yeah.

[Millie Decherico]

And it's also like there's this kind of high conceptness to it, which is. There's not much going on beyond this like, stupid story. But like the violence, there's no like real, real descript. Like, there's no real rhyme or reason to why Fuon Ramses is doing it beyond the fact that he's just like Egyptian and wants to like, do his stuff. I mean, I, you know, like the killings are brutal and really gnarly and gross and they focus in on the oopy goopiness of it. And that's really kind of it. So I don't know. Yeah, I Think I agree with you. Like I could see being a parrot in 1981 or something. Being like, my teenage son should not watch this movie. This is gross.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Millie Decherico]

So.

[Casey O'Brien]

Well, very good. That was great. I'm. I'm glad we're starting things off with a bang on our June nasty month.

[Millie Decherico]

Agree.

[Casey O'Brien]

So I'm really glad we were able to talk about this movie.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

All right, moving on to employees picks film recommendations based on the theme of the discussion. Millie, what do you got?

[Millie Decherico]

Well, my recommendation this week is kind of my own weird thinking. I mean, there is a thematic link in the sense that the movie that I'm going to recommend was also shot in Florida. It is also a weird low budget exploitation movie and I believe was actually directly influenced by Blood Feast in a weird way. But this movie title used to. I used to get these two confused all the time back in the day, cuz it's very similar. So the movie that I'm recommending is 1972's Blood Freak, which was directed by Brad F. Grinter. Okay. So yeah, maybe there's more of a connection here than I initially thought, but this movie is the lowest of the low budgets. I mean, this is. I mean you might have. They might have made it for like 500 bucks. I don't know. It. It is crazy. But essentially it's a movie about a Vietnam veteran who takes drugs and is wanders into a job at a turkey farm. And then the. There's people who are working on science experiments on the turkeys and then he accidentally e eats them and then he turns into a turkey or he sprouts a turkey head and kills people, I suppose. But it's like such, man, this shit is rough around the edges. I remember watching this back in the day around the same time that I saw Blood Feast and was like, wow, this is bizarre. Like, wow.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. Oh, that sounds good. So I'm putting that on my list. When I was in college. College, this isn't the same thing at all. But when I was in college, a bunch of guys I went to film school with, they made a feature film about a turkey that killed people. And it was called thanks Killing.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

And they made sequels after that.

[Millie Decherico]

Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

But they were like 19 and 20 when they made it. And it became kind of a big thing. I think it might have gotten into like a Troma Fest or something.

[Millie Decherico]

See, that's perfect. Because we. There needs to be. You know, I think we talked about. About this on an early episode about how there needs to be more Thanksgiving horror films.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah.

[Millie Decherico]

So blood Freak, I would consider one, but obviously people that, you know, have made one, I. There's obviously Thanksgiving, right? The Eli Rock movie. So we're getting there. We're getting there.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah. We need more. We need more. Okay. Mine is a little bit more tame. My film, Wreck. It's a movie from 2021 called Sensor, and I may have recommended this in the past, but it's a movie I really liked. It's a horror movie, and it takes place in 1985. It's directed by Prano Bailey Bond, who's a. A Welsh film director. But it's about. It takes place in 1985, and it's about a woman who works for the British Board of film Classification during the Video Nasty controversy. She's like a center Spencer, and she's kind of uptight, and people call her Little Miss Perfect. But in her past, she has a sister who disappeared when she was very young, and they don't know where she is. They think she might be dead. But one day, when she's watching a movie for censorship, she sees someone she thinks is her sister in one of these video nasties. And it's very creepy and suspenseful and. And surreal. And I. I really thought this movie was awesome. But it really also gives you kind of an insight into the video nasty, kind of what was going on. And there's like, you know, video stores that have, like, secret stashes of video nasties and stuff. And so if you want a little bit more info or kind of see what was going on, but you also want to watch a good movie, this is a good film to check out. 2021's sensor. Check it out.

[Millie Decherico]

Good, good, good, good. Amazing.

[Casey O'Brien]

Millie. That's our show. Wow. Wow. We feasted. I think today we did.

[Millie Decherico]

We definitely had a huge Egyptian feast. And my stomach is full. I can't have anymore.

[Casey O'Brien]

Absolutely. Well, that's our show. If you want to write in. If you've got a gripe, you've got a consensual grope, you have a film regret. We haven't had a lot of film regrets lately. I'd love to get some film regrets in here. Please write in to Dear movies. Exactly right, media.com or you can leave us a voicemail. Just record a voicemail on your phone. Please keep it under a minute and email it to dearMoviesExactlyRightMedia.com Also, please follow

[Millie Decherico]

us on social media. We are Dear Movies. I love you on Instagram and Facebook. Our letterboxdles are Casey Lee o'. Brien And Em Deco, by the way. You know, it's so funny. Cause I know you log like a good little letterbox boy. You rate and review all the movies you watch. And sometimes I'm like, we haven't recorded the episode yet. And I'm like, now I know what it's gonna be like when we record this.

[Casey O'Brien]

Oh, it's like a spoiler.

[Millie Decherico]

I mean, I don't know. We don't have to change up. I know you're a Capricorn. You have methods.

[Casey O'Brien]

Yeah, well, maybe I should. Maybe I should put a pause on. I'm like, oh, Millie's gonna be watching me like a hawk and I need to postpone my reaction to this, but.

[Millie Decherico]

Well, I mean, here's the thing. It's like I. I either I told myself that if I was going to do that, I wasn't going to because I did this during I saw what you did too, where I wouldn't log the movie until after we recorded.

[Casey O'Brien]

I should do that.

[Millie Decherico]

Or alternately, not rated or anything, which I know you don't want to do, so I don't know. But also we can have spoilers. I don't care. I'm good with it, so whatever you want.

[Casey O'Brien]

Maybe I'll do that. Maybe I'll. I'll. I. I like that idea. Cuz it's fun to surprise you with my reactions. Like. Like, yeah, if I like something or hate something, you know.

[Millie Decherico]

Sure, sure.

[Casey O'Brien]

I want to be fresh on the show.

[Millie Decherico]

I don't, I don't want to destroy your vibe.

[Casey O'Brien]

No, no, no, no. Destruction only creation. Continue.

[Millie Decherico]

Oh, yeah, sorry. And then if you want to listen to us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get podcasts, I think we're on every podcatcher. So rate and review the show. We would really appreciate it. Keep commenting on the Instagram, cuz y' all are funny and are saying funny stuff. So we love it. We love it.

[Casey O'Brien]

Before we get into the movie of next week, I just want to plug my previous podcast. Fart House has a new episode.

[Millie Decherico]

What?

[Casey O'Brien]

You can listen to it right now.

[Millie Decherico]

Oh my God.

[Casey O'Brien]

This is drop. Huge news for the fart heads.

[Millie Decherico]

Oh my God. I was a fart head. I've been waiting for this. Oh my gosh.

[Casey O'Brien]

I just realized that we called our fans on Fart House fartheads and we call our listeners on this. So interesting. They different meanings, but something to think about. But yeah, Patrick Mallon and I have recorded another episode and we're going to be doing that every once in a while. When we can. But we talk about the movie sentimental value. So you should check that out. It's an art house movie podcast.

[Millie Decherico]

Perfect. Super funny. Lots of vanderpump talk, which I love.

[Casey O'Brien]

Lots of vanderpump talk. Yes. Oh, we'll have to have Patrick on here sometime too, to take us through his physical media library.

[Millie Decherico]

I would love that. Honestly, I would love that. Yeah.

[Casey O'Brien]

So we'll. We'll make it happen. Millie, what movie are we talking about next week? So Juneasty.

[Millie Decherico]

Yes, second week of June. Nasty. We are going to discuss the film The beyond from 1981, directed by Lucio Fulci. Pretty. Pretty gross from what I remember. I actually haven't seen this in a while. I did see it. I remember back in the 90s when they played it, did like a midnight screening of it and they gave out eyeballs.

[Casey O'Brien]

Hell yeah.

[Millie Decherico]

Branded beyond eyeballs. So I'll just let that dangle if you haven't seen this movie yet. But, you know, awesome.

[Casey O'Brien]

I need to. It's been a long time since I've seen this one, so I'm excited to revisit. Revisit it. Well, Millie, this was great. Thank you so much for all of your knowledge on video nasties and all your knowledge on this movie. It was. It was great talking to you about it. I feel like you're really in your. You're in your bag with this stuff.

[Millie Decherico]

Thank you very much. I had a great time chopping it up with you and can't wait to do it next week.

[Casey O'Brien]

Hell yeah. See you then.

[Millie Decherico]

Bye. This has been an exactly production hosted by me, Millie de Chirico, and produced by my co host, Casey o'. Brien.

[Casey O'Brien]

This episode was mixed by Tom Bryfogel. Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain. Our guest booker is Patrick Cotner, and our artwork is by Vanessa Lilac.

[Millie Decherico]

Our incredible theme music is by the best band in the entire world, the Softies.

[Casey O'Brien]

Thank you to our executive producers, Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark, Daniel Kramer and Millie Di. Here's the truth. You could literally be adored by everyone and then come home and still get completely ignored by your own cat. It's classic cat behavior. But new Sheba Premium Puree is a lickable treat that changes all that. They're protein rich, made with bone broth, and have the smooth, creamy texture cats go crazy for. Especially when it's hand fed. Yeah, it's more than a treat. It's a fast pass to favorite human status. So feed your cat Sheba and go from totally ignored to truly adored in just 12 days guaranteed or your money back. Learn [e-mail] what's up cousin?

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