Open Mic Night of the Living Dead

We talk about some of our favorite spooky movies that might not make it on the usual seasonal lists. Plus the studio demo of Rachel's song Mother Knows Best.  

We wrap up our coverage of Ridley Scott's masterpiece, including SFX, characters and themes. Plus don't miss two brand new songs inspired by the film!
Barton, Michaela. “How ‘Alien’ (1979) Queered the Binaries of Traditional Gender.” Flipscreened. 18 August 2020. https://flipscreened.com/2020/08/18/how-alien-queered-the-binaries-of-traditional-gender/.
Brinkhof, Tim. “As Seen on ‘Alien’: H.R. Giger’s Biomorphic Nightmare.” Artnet. 26 April 2024. https://news.artnet.com/art-world/as-seen-on-alien-giger-xenomorph-2460983.
“Gender in Body Horror: Alien & Videodrome.” Movies: trash classics obscurities beauty. 26 April 2012. https://lastephens92.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/gender-and-horror-in-videodrome-alien/.
Giger, H.R. “More Press Reaction.” HR Giger. April 1998. https://hrgiger.com/alien4-press.htm.
Hall, Sophia Alexandra. “Forget Xenomorphs: The real threat in Alien was wage inequality and corporate greed.” Big Issue. 13 August 2025. https://www.bigissue.com/culture/film/alien-film-xenomorph-wage-inequality-ridley-scott/.
King, E.L. “Embracing Ellen Ripley and Alien’s Genderfluid Motifs.” Horror Press. 12 June 2023. https://horrorpress.com/editorials/4231/embracing-ellen-ripley-and-aliens-genderfluid-motifs/.
Windram, Dominic. “Feminism & Film: ‘Mainstream cinema woman’s body has come to signify the spaces of the unknown, the terrifying, the monstrous.’ (Barbara Creed).” LinkedIn. 19 April 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/feminism-film-mainstream-cinema-womans-body-has-come-signify-windram/.

We finally tackle Ridley Scott's masterpiece, Alien. We cover what makes it horror, the team of geniuses (genii?) who created the film, and discuss the impeccable vibes that make this one of our favorites. Make sure to check out part two next week!

After diving deep into Child's Play last week, this week we discuss selections from Brad Dourif's horror and horror-adjacent film and television career. He's been in a lot of movies. Plus a demo of our new duet, We Got This. 
 
Chapters00:00:00 Intro00:03:09 An Actor-Focused Encore: Why Brad Dourif00:06:38 The 70s and 80s: Laura Mars to Fatal Beauty00:12:47 Child's Play, The Exorcist III & the 90s Detours00:20:01 The Hazing and the Rob Zombie Era00:25:48 Wizard of Gore to Wildling00:31:00 Ginger Clown 3D, the Two Malignants & Six Degrees of Brad Dourif00:36:28 Song Demo - We Got This00:39:51 Losing Light

This week at the open mic we dive deep into Chucky’s introduction to the world in Child's Play (1988). Turns out the original pitch was way weirder than voodoo and a serial killer, and we still can’t get over how many hands it took to make a doll feel alive. We touch on what happens when every adult in a kid's life tells him he’s wrong, and debut our brand new duets inspired by what may not be our favorite film in one of what might be one of our favorite franchises. Stay til the end, friend!
 
Chapters00:00:00 Intro00:05:22 Intro: Distribution & Reception00:23:50 Let's Make a Movie: Filmmakers00:34:35 Let's Make a Movie: Cast00:47:06 Let's Make a Movie: Production00:51:23 Vibe Check: Cinematography00:57:58 Vibe Check: SFX01:03:04 Vibe Check: Music & Sound Design01:07:29 Story Time: Characters01:26:11 Story Time: Murder & Mayhem01:41:31 Story Time: Themes01:56:16 Open Mic02:09:09 Losing Light

Taking a brief break this week to talk about some of the movies we've watched recently, and whether you should watch it or not. Plus a shiny new version of one of our earliest demos.

It's that time of year! The mornings are getting crisp, the leaves are starting to turn, and the kids are back in school. Speaking of school, we do a lot of that in this week's episode. We're counting down our top school-related horror as we celebrate back-to-school season. What's your favorite scary school movie?