416: Witchfinder General [1968] Movie Discussion

It’s finally time to scrutinize and interrogate our first Vincent Price film and it’s one where he, as a 50-something year old man, is playing a real historical figure in his 20s. Movie magic, aye?! Fair play to him though, it’s a cracking performance. We all thought Witchfinder General was going to be a campy horror/thriller à la Hammer Horror movies and other Vincent Price B-Movies, but we are (pleasantly?) surprised by how grounded and unflinching a portrayal of this insane time period it is. So come and listen to our discussion where: no-one can remember the word ‘cavalier’, someone describes the film as ‘an hour and a half of screaming’, we realise everyone in the English Civil War were just right bellends and we appreciate the plethora of fashionable buckles and doilies.

412: Freddie as F.R.O.7 [1992] Movie Discussion

Some of us here at SFFCH LOVED this film when we only had small, not fully formed brains decades ago. Somewhere over the years, the memories faded and it was lost to obscurity. But this week, like a terrible repressed memory, this film claws it’s way back to the surface and we must deal with consequences it brings. Freddie as F.R.O.7 is a baffling animated film that dares you to try and comprehend some of it’s wacky decisions, decisions that include: an unexplainable anthropomorphic frog car that’s in love with the main character, a Loch Ness Monster musical number, the use of the worst pop songs available in 1992 and using more stereotypes in one film than we have ever seen before.

411: The Small World of Sammy Lee [1963] Movie Discussion

This week we turn the big eye of SFFCH on The Small World of Sammy Lee, a British crime dramedy from 1963 about a cheeky chancer and his desperate attempts to raise a lot of money in a short time to not be beaten to a pulp. Will he succeed or succumb to his brutal fate? Come and find out in our discussion involving: being surprised at the production value of a strip club, wondering whether ‘background actor in a striptease’ is the best job in the world, pondering what happened to all that cool smoking that used to happen in films and lots of us all not understanding gambling.

409: Lair of the White Worm [1988] Movie Discussion

A film hasn’t ticked as many SFFCH boxes as Lair of the White Worm has in a while. Big actors before they were famous, laughable dream sequences, a ridiculous villain, cheap special effects, unplaceable accents, a peculiar theme song and the seemingly inability to settle on a tone between: comedy or horror, serious or wacky, gothic or modern, dark or quaint. It even adds some new boxes that we didn’t even know that we needed like: climactic heroic bagpipe playing, sleeping in a big wicker basket and taking the idea of snake charming to its extreme.

399: Asylum [1972] Movie Discussion

Spooky Season rears it’s ugly, burned, maggot-filled, decapitated head once again and we here at SFFCH are ready to vanquish it the best way we know how: make a damned podcast. This time our sights are set on the Horror Anthology Movie, a classic staple of the genre, with the 70’s British film Asylum. Re-animated body parts wrapped in brown paper, magical reflective suits, imaginary Swedes, murderous toys, maniacal laughter aplenty and a possible conspiracy we just can’t quite work out are what awaits in out spine-tingling discussion.

392: A Cock and Bull Story [2005] Movie Discussion

How do you adapt a novel to film where the story being told of the life of a man is constantly interrupted by meandering tangents and you barely get to his birth by the end of the story? Well, turns out you make a film where the film itself is being interrupted by meandering tangents of the people actually trying to make the film. A Cock and Bull Story is not your typical adaptation ,it must be said, but does this offbeat British comedy work for the Spoiler Filled Crew? Tune in to find out!

383: The Asphyx [1972] Movie Discussion

It may sound like some kind of cosmetic surgery for your derriere, but The Asphyx is actually a British horror sci-fi film from 1972 in the vein of Hammer Horror films from the time. Whilst it may have the look down but its certainly lacking a few elements. Elements like a decent script, actual effective horror and filmic staging. However, it’s intriguing yet highly illogical premise certainly raises the eyebrows slightly here at Spoiler Filled. Be prepared for: Ghostbuster references, unethical experiments, immortal guinea pigs, guillotine hi-jinks, unbelievable drowning accidents and one very lazy, old-man mask.

376: Shallow Grave [1994] Movie Discussion

Time to revisit past trauma again on the podcast by watching Shallow Grave, a film that was watched far too young by one of the crew (and weirdly unheard of by the rest of the crew) and now it’s time for some catharsis. And it turns out it’s alot tamer than is originally remembered in terms of gore and disturbing imagery, but alot more distressing in terms of horrible, unlikable characters. So much so that Keith Allen of all people turns out to be the most likeable one, even with having his penis unnecessarily on display.

213: SFFCH – Mean Machine [2001]

Ya know, we do seem to blow through a fair few sports films here at Spoiler Filled. And prison based films come to think of it. We may not claim to know much about football (or soccer, for those who like to be wrong), but we do seem to be able to pick a decent football movie. Mean Machine is a fairly formulaic movie, but it seemingly does the impossible and gets a good leading performance out of a ex-sports star! So come and listen to us: express our curious love for Vinnie Jones, need more info about camp bookies, not care too much about all the clichés and get enjoyment out of abusing Danny Dyer (but probably not in the way you’d expect).

Dir: Barry Skolnick
Wri: Tracy Keenan Wynn (Original), Charlie Fletcher, Chris Baker, Andrew Day
Cine: Alex Barber
Edi: Eddie Hamilton, Dayn Williams
Mus: John Murphy
Prod: SKA Films, Paramount Pictures
Cast: Vinnie Jones, David Kelly, David Hemmings, Ralph Brown, Jason Flemyng, Danny Dyer, Jason Statham, Omid Djalili, Sally Phillips, Jeff Bell
[Ep. 213, Rec 07/2018]

197: SFFCH – On The Buses [1971]

Ah, nobody does comedy quite like us Brits, aye? That dry wit, that surrealism, that misogyny… This week we take a look at the uniquely British tradition of making a feature length movie out of a popular sitcom format with On The Buses from 1971. Can the material hold up over 90 minutes? Does it still appeal to a modern audience? How often can Rich say ‘It was a different time’? Tune in and find out!

 

Dir: Harry Booth
Wri: Ronald Chesney, Ronald Wolfe
Cine: Mark McDonald
Edi: Archie Ludski
Mus: Max Harris
Prod: Hammer Film Productions, EMI Elstree, MGM-EMI
Cast: Reg Varney, Bob Grant, Stephen Lewis, Doris Hare, Michael Robbins, Anna Karen
[Ep. 197, Rec 03/2018]