Last Podcast on the Left: Side Stories – Movie Stories IV (August 27, 2025)

Episode Overview

In this special summer movie edition, hosts Henry Zebrowski, Ed Larson, and Jackie Zebrowski dive deep into 2025’s biggest (and weirdest) horror, thriller, and adjacent films, reflecting on summer horror as a phenomenon, dissecting the year’s standout movies, and indulging in signature comic asides. They riff on the meaning of summer horror, what actually scares them, the emotional resonance (or lack thereof) of onscreen events, and the beauty of lowbrow and campy cinema. As always, personal tangents, absurdity, and questionable taste are front and center throughout the conversation.

Main Themes and Purpose

• Celebration and critique of 2025’s summer horror movie releases
• Discussion of what makes a film a “summer horror” movie vs. just a horror movie released in the summer
• Tangents into favorite horror characters, canceled directors, low-budget schlock, and ongoing horror trends
• Debate about emotional impact in cinema, “good-bad” movies, and horror’s evolving future

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. What Is a Summer Horror Movie?

Timestamps: 10:06–11:10, 11:41–12:03

• The hosts debate whether a summer horror film is about the season when it’s released versus the vibe or setting ("movies that take place in the summer," "popcorn, hanging out, part of a cultural moment").
• Henry: “A summer horror movie…is a movie you’d want to watch in the summertime, like a tentpole sci-fi movie or a giant action movie…it’s way more about the popcorn and the hanging out and being a part of a cultural moment.” (10:50)

2. Standout Horror Releases of Summer 2025

Timestamps: 07:41–15:37

• The Monkey, Bring Her Back, 28 Years Later, Dangerous Animals, Companion, Final Destination: Bloodlines, Presence, Ugly Stepsister
• Each gets its moment and the hosts discuss strengths, weaknesses, vibes, and long-term legacy.
• On Dangerous Animals:
  • Jackie: “Jai Courtney is an amazing villain. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. It was like, is he the shark?” (12:07–12:26)
  • Ed: “The best part…the sharks were not the bad guys.” (12:36)

3. 28 Years Later: Technical Achievement and Narrative

Timestamps: 15:38–17:08, 22:44–24:47

• Praise for Danny Boyle using iPhones to shoot, world-building, and subverting audience expectations with the Ray Fiennes character.
• Henry: “This whole…city of the dead…it kind of like I went to the catacombs in Paris…best part about it is the peace.” (23:25)
• Ed: “After the attack, [Ray Fiennes] is just like, ‘you should go.’” (24:36)

4. Weapons, The Monkey, and the Modern Folktale

Timestamps: 25:16–31:19

• Discussion of “Weapons” as a modern fairy tale about family, evil, and the vulnerability of children in classic suburbia—plus the allegory for alcoholism.
• Debate about the rules of movie magic, research in supernatural horror, and "less is more" with ritual scenes.
• Henry: “We finally have movies where…they’re no longer treating cell phones and the internet like it’s a fad. You can still figure out how to make it scary—not just ‘why didn’t they just call on the phone?’” (25:16)

5. The Quality of Magic in Horror: Research and Mystery

Timestamps: 32:01–34:18

• Henry: “My issue with Long Legs…when you just have someone blanketly say ‘Hail Satan’…it just shows no one’s done any research—and that’s my pet peeve…Misuse of pentagrams and witch paraphernalia.”
• Jackie: “If you’re going to do a movie including it, it’s just lazy not to do any [research].”
• Praise for “Bring Her Back” and “Weapons” for conveying mystery and ritual without over-explanation.

6. Genres, Reactions, and What Makes Horror Work

Timestamps: 36:15–38:36

• Ed and Henry debate whether a horror movie needs to be “scary” or if it’s enough for it be “upsetting.”
• Henry: “If it doesn’t scare you at some point, the horror movie could be considered a failure.”
• Ed: “Just making me upset is fine.”

7. Good-Bad Movies, Schlock, and Franchise Fatigue

Timestamps: 47:59–54:19

• The hosts roast “War of the Worlds” (2025, with Ice Cube) for astonishing incompetence and green-screen mishaps.
• Discussion about “The Room,” Tommy Wiseau, and why Ed hates cult-status “so bad it’s good” cinema.
• Henry: “The movie takes place on a computer screen.…Ice Cube plays the same character as ‘Are We There Yet?’ but he works for the NSA.”

8. Canceled Directors, Iconic Horror Killers, and the Summer Horror Canon

Timestamps: 60:07–65:21

• Reflection on separating art and artist, the legacy of Roman Polanski, and uncomfortable favorites like “Jeepers Creepers.”
• Ranking of horror icons: Freddy, Michael Myers, Art the Clown, Pinhead, Leprechaun, and others.
• Henry: “Freddy’s been my favorite horror character of all time.” (64:14)

9. Summer Comfort Movies & Anthology Picks

Timestamps: 67:05–70:40

• The group discusses the comfort of 90s/early 00s schlock and TV movies: “Ghost Ship,” “Bone Collector,” “Fallen,” a guilty defense of Stephen King mini-series.
• Praise for anthology horror in summer: “Creep Show,” “Body Bags,” “VHS,” etc.

10. What’s Next in Horror – Wishes, Trends, and Closing Thoughts

Timestamps: 68:13–71:16

• Ed plugs "Jaws" returning to IMAX (August 29, 2025), and hopes for more big-screen vampire movies.
• Jackie: “I’m always down for more vampires. Watching Lost Boys last night…Yes, I suck and I…and I suck and I…”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Emotional Resonance:

  • Jackie: “How did I get all of the emotions and you got none of them?” (06:22)
  • Henry (dryly): “I suffer in silence. You’d never know I had problems.” (06:43)

• On Movie Tropes:

  • Ed: “Whenever people have to cut themselves in a movie, they always slice their entire palm of their hand…the most impractical place on your body.” (29:18)

• Weapons’ Impact:

  • Jackie: “It’s genuinely funny. I love the darkly comedic moments of Weapons. What a fun theater experience.” (30:19)

• Roasting “War of the Worlds” (Ice Cube):

  • Henry: “You can see the green screen on his glasses…it’s so bad.” (49:53)
  • Ed: “Just because you made a movie during COVID doesn’t mean you gotta release it.” (53:01)
  • Henry (on watching so-bad-they’re-good films): “This is how they make their money.”

• Legacy of Offenders:

  • Henry: “Roman Polanski is kind of indispensable in terms of being a sex criminal and artist…” (60:30)

• Horror Icons, Ranked:

  • Henry: “It’s Freddy and Pinhead…number three? Leprechaun—because of Warwick Davis.” (64:43)

• Favorite Anthology:

  • Henry: “Creep Show—the Creep Show movies are amazing. I love Body Bags.” (70:06)

• Anticipation for More Vampires:

  • Jackie: “I’m always down for more vampires. I suck and I...and I suck and I…” (68:49)

• On “Tales From the Hood”:

  • Henry: “It’s not a party movie...I have tossed it on a couple times in a party…Makes people really bummed out.” (61:41)

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Segment Description | Timestamps | | -------------------------------------- | ------------------ | | Defining Summer Horror Movies | 10:06–11:10 | | Summer 2025 Movie Rundown | 07:41–15:37 | | The Monkey, Bring Her Back Discussion | 25:16–31:19 | | Emotional Tangents & TV vs. Movies | 05:06–06:43 | | 28 Years Later Analysis | 15:38–17:08, 22:44–24:47 | | Rituals & Supernatural in Horror | 32:01–34:18 | | Megan 2.0, Franchise Fatigue | 47:59–48:49 | | Canceled Directors & the Canon | 60:07–65:21 | | Anthology and Comfort Horror Picks | 67:05–70:40 | | Thoughts on Vampires, Jaws, and the Future | 68:13–71:16 |

Additional Highlights

• Jackie’s new adult choir, grief, and shared musical moment on “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” (03:20–04:49)
• Ed’s boat memories and discussion about the “most dangerous animal: man” (14:33–15:15)
• Long-form, hilarious roasting of “War of the Worlds” (Ice Cube, green screen, NSA dad) (47:59–54:19)
• Ongoing shout-outs to horror personalities, old TV shows, and camp classics.
• Spirited debate about the best horror franchises and their entries, with hot takes on Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, and more.

Conclusion

“Side Stories: Movie Stories IV” is a freewheeling, knowledgeable, and irreverent ride through 2025’s summer horror landscape. The episode is peppered with sharp humor, arguments about genre definitions, and genuine affection for the medium’s classics, oddities, and future. With memorable riffs from the hosts and sharp insight into the evolution of horror, it’s both a celebration and a roast of the movies of the moment.

End with:
Jackie (on anthology horror): “I love anthologies…Body Bags is great…all of the VHS's. I’ve watched all the holes.” (70:07)

*For horror fans, pop culture obsessives, and the horror-movie-curious alike, this episode is a must-listen to know what’s hot, what’s weird, and what’s just so-bad-it’s-good in summer 2025.