Oscar: Good evening ghouls and ghosts and welcome back to Falcon Entertainment! The podcast for all things entertainment, movies, games, shows, and all that junk! My name is Oscar Torres, and I am the host of this- and with me today I am joined by Rafael Magana and Edgar Mendoza. Do you guys want to say ‘Hello?”
Rafael: Hey guys, how you doing? It is me Rafael again, it’s nice to be back and I hope to talk about some cool stuff with you guys today.
Edgar: And it’s me Edgar and I’m excited since this podcast will be coming out around the Halloween season, this is our first Halloween during the COVID-19 pandemic so we’re excited to see how it plays out.
Oscar: That is not all we also have a special guest here joining us, why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself and what you do, special guest?
Jonathan: Hello, I am Jonathan Saragosa I am a film major, I want to write and direct films.
Oscar: Alright, this podcast is a special one since it is almost Halloween, you know everybody is getting ready for trick or treating, at least a few of them are. I thought what better way to start this episode of by speaking about the topic of horror. Now we all love horror, don’t we?
Rafael: Yeah man, definitely. One of my favorite genres.
Edgar: For those of you that discover this podcast around Christmas time, we are so sorry. This is a throwback to Halloween.
[laughter]
Oscar: So, the topic is of horror, and we’re going to be starting off with the question: “What is your experience with horror?”. We’ll start with Rafael and we’ll then move on from Edgar, Jonathan, and myself.
Rafael: Alright so uh, my first experience with horror was definitely something. I’m sure that you guys are all familiar with uh- Child’s Play the uh- Chucky movies? That series?
Edgar: [laughs] Nice.
Rafael: So, when I was a kid, I used to be terrified of that doll. Everything about it, it’s mannerisms… Looking back at it now you know, it’s funny, but as a kid, a doll coming to life and just following you around, was absolutely terrifying to me. So that was my introduction, eventually, I did get into it. My favorite movie that’s horror is Evil Dead, and from there it just spiraled and now I’d say that my favorite genre is horror. And yeah, I think it’s great, I’m really excited for Halloween this year. What about you Edgar?
Edgar: I will say, in the present, my experience with horror comes from the fact that I work in a mall. I work at Box Lunch, and our sister store, Hot Topic, was closed for renovations, so around the last Halloween season, all the Hot Topic audience started coming to our store… As a result, we got this influx of horror merchandise and whatnot, stuff that was like Nightmare on Elm Street, stuff I hadn’t seen myself. Friday the 13th, those types of classics. I remember seeing these things and being like “Well, I’m going to watch these movies so I can better learn how to speak with the customers”. A few nights of mental trauma later, I understood these things. And you know, I came from that experience with a new love for horror and the genre. You know once you push past those traumatic events, you start to love it. My personal favorite horror movie is Scream, which is tied with the 2018 version of Halloween. So I’m definitely a fan of slasher films.
Rafael: What about you Jonathan, what do you think man?
Jonathan: So, I grew up with Killer Klowns from Outer Space, that was my first introduction to Horror movies. For some time, that has always been my gold standard. It is just handmade – you just feel everything about it. I am just not a big fan of all the CGI. The slasher films are cool, but there’s something special about the practical make-up. Something about it feels more tangible.
Oscar: I can understand that. Practical effects and make-up are always better than CGI most of the time.
Jonathan: It’s one of those things where I feel that those two together need to work together so that they can complement each other.
Oscar: My first experience with horror was not a pretty one, I was a little kid and similarly to Rafael, I was terrified of Chucky. I didn’t like Child’s play, but I saw a little bit of it and I vowed not to – not to watch a horror movie ever again. But as I got older and wiser, I started getting into it more. I started by watching some Sam Raimi films, you know: Evil Dead, Army of Darkness. I went on to watch Friday the 13th, some of the classic ones. From then on, I got way more into it, and begun to watch the classic Universal monster movies. I love them a lot. I still have not watched Child’s Play yet; I vow never to watch that movie. I am still terrified of that.
Rafael: Yeah man, it is interesting that you brought up those original Universal horror movies because I used to think that they were super corny, but there really is like, a craft there. They were so ahead of their time. Like, when did these movies release, like the 1930s?
Oscar: Yeah the 1930’s I think.
Edgar: Such a long time ago.
Rafael: Like if you look at the subject matter in those movies, it is super corny. Like oh my god, no. You look at like; Dracula, Frankenstein, it’s all so cliché. Back then, this was really groundbreaking stuff. It was probably terrifying to the people back then. It still holds up now, in my opinion, they are great. Another thing that I did want to touch upon: Jonathan, you mentioned CGI and practical effects. How did you feel about the new IT movies, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2? I feel like that was a movie that blended them perfectly.
Jonathan: I really love Chapter 1 way more. It had a better balance between the two. I actually know one of the artists that worked on it, Mikey Rotella, super dope artist. That did really well, but IT Chapter 2 I feel like they leaned heavily more on CGI, and even then, I don’t think that the writing was on par compared to the first one. Even then, it’s best to watch them both together. Bill Hader killed it as Richie Tozier, that was the role that he was meant to play.
Rafael: Yeah man, I was watching some of the behind the scenes stuff, and you know Finn Wolfhard? The one that played the young Richie Tozier? He was like “Yeah we kinda had a say on who was gonna play the adult versions of us in the sequel, and I was like ‘Oh we gotta get Bill Hader on here”. He was the perfect fit you know? He played the role perfectly too. Spoiler alert for the ending, not gonna say what happens but you know that emotional ending? He killed it, man, it was great.
Jonathan: Yeah I don’t think people give him credit for his dramatic roles. Like if you ever watch the Skeleton Twins or Barry he does a really good job doing those crying scenes. Even just those emotional scenes where we don’t see him cry in. He showcases that conflict. That’s what comedians can-do man, comedians can show that drama.
Rafael: Speaking of comedians, do you guys want to talk about Jordan Peele and Get Out and Us? How he killed that?
Edgar: [laughing] Stop.
Oscar: One thing, going back to IT Chapter 1, one thing I liked about that film is how the effects looked really good. I loved the costumes, the different environments of each scene played out perfectly. I feel as if it’s one of the better Stephen King films, it’s up there with The Shining.
Edgar: It’s on the opposite end of the spectrum of the disaster that was Pet Semetary.
Rafael: [laughs]
Edgar: I hate Pet Semetary.
Rafael: I actually haven’t seen it, I want to watch it though.
Jonathan: Which one though? There’s two.
Edgar: The newest one.
Jonathan: Oh you haven’t seen the old one?
Edgar: I’ve seen the old one, and that’s why I don’t like the new one. I read the books too.
Jonathan: You know what’s funny though? A lot of people like the old one, but the new ones’s more accurate.
Edgar: See I like the new one, but when I think of Pet Semetary, I can’t help but feel like this feels like something that happened a long time ago, it feels like it should be older.
Jonathan: Yeah!
Edgar: It’s like if they made Scream in 2020, I’d be like there’s no longer that thrill involving the flip phones and stuff.
Jonathan: Well we’re getting a new Scream movie anyways!
Edgar: I’m excited. The anthology was good
Jonathan: It’s hard though. I really like Wes Craven so it’s gonna be really hard to go from Wes Craven’s vision to something new.
Edgar: That actually brings up something that I want to talk about too, I’ve noticed that Scream and like Halloween are a whole different type of horror from like the psychological horror of like Get Out and Us because I was rewatching Halloween and I was looking at the fact that there’s like, a certain thrill… It’s kind of sadistic when you watch a horror movie because part of you wants the person to get away and part of you wants to be entertained if you know what I mean?
Everyone: [agreement]
Edgar: There’s that period where the person’s running and you’re like… I kind of want them to fall…
Everyone: [laughs]
Jonathan: It’s gonna be like a Scary Movie scene…
Rafael: That’s the thing with horror movies though man, I feel like we should address that as well. Many of these protagonists, especially in like- the ’80s, you didn’t really care about them. You were just there to see them get killed, to be honest.
Edgar: Exactly.
Rafael: It’s hard to find a horror movie protagonist that you liked. Like for example, Ash, from Evil Dead for example. Or another example, what was her name, uh – Sidney from Scream.
Edgar: I love Sidney!
Rafael: Yeah, they’re very rare though. You don’t really care for any of the protagonists other than the ones that are purposefully written for you to care about.
Edgar: It’s true.
Oscar: The one thing that you can’t rule out about slasher films is the question “How will this person die”. One thing I like about Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street is just the amount of ways that Jason or Freddy can kill somebody, either from drowning or sending them into the dream world or getting ripped apart, that’s one of the many things I like about slasher films. Just the consistency in the different ways that people can die.
Edgar: We sound so sadistic in this episode…
Everyone: [laughs]
Rafael: I just want to say – go ahead, Edgar, go.
Edgar: I was going to say the only slasher protagonist I’ve ever cared about was Laurie Strode from Halloween.
Rafael: She was – Jamie Lee Curtis was a badass man.
Jonathan: Especially the new one. She went full Sarah Conner.
Rafael: That sequel, the sequel’s gonna be great man. I’m excited for it.
Oscar: Yeah.
Rafael/Jonathan: Halloween Kills right?
Rafael/Edgar: Yeah
Rafael: Yeah, Halloween Kills, it’s gonna be cool. When’s that releasing by the way?
Jonathan: It got pushed to next year.
Rafael: Gotcha…
Oscar: So moving on, we basically talked about like- our experience with horror. I wanted to talk about your guys’ experience with your favorite and least favorite horror movies. I’ll start. Pretty much like, one of my favorite horror films – I’m cheating with this but like, I got to say that the classic Universal monster films will always be my favorite. I love how the tension is for each of them. One of my favorites being The Creature From The Black Lagoon, the Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Invisible Man. Now those four are my go-to favorite horror movies. Although if I wanted to go for like aged horror, I’d go with Bram Stoker’s Dracula that one is one of the best Dracula films to date. I always have time to watch it if it’s on a channel or if I’m watching it on the streaming service. My least favorite film – I’d have to say the Child’s Play movies. I never watched them, I never cared to watch them only due to my traumatic experience.
Edgar: That’s fair.
Rafael: Yeah man, I feel you on that. Those movies terrified me. I said the Evil Dead earlier but let me give you a different answer. My second favorite is The Exorcist.
Edgar: Oh no.
Rafael: I think The Exorcist is like a masterclass in film making.
Edgar: Trauma.
Rafael: My mom uh, she told me a story of her watching it. She was born in 1970, I think it came out like in 1973 or something… Keep in mind we come from a Mexican household and we’re all very religious. That movie to my mom was like, Heresy. It was like the most terrifying thing on Earth. So, when I watched it, it was all hyped up, and I didn’t think that it’d live up to the hype, but it did. To me, a lot of things about that movie are like… you can get very deep into it, a lot of people say that it’s an attack on religion, but I see it the opposite way. This is a very pro-religion movie you know? Cause at the end of the day, the priest defeats the evil and wins and… that’s the way that I see it. The Exorcist just for the fact that there’s many ways to interpret it. That’s scary man haha. My least favorite, would probably have to be Jason X. The one where he’s in space.
Edgar: Oh what? That’s so bad.
Rafael: Jason X as funny as it is, cause they were just like, oh yeah lets send him into space… There were some good kills in there, don’t get me wrong, but Jason X was just terrible man. Like come on, how do we get to that point. Those are mine, what about you Edgar?
Edgar: My favorite is probably the newest Halloween, but I do like the previous Halloween, you know, the old one where they were in the hospital because I thought there were a lot of creative kills in that one. I’m darker than I seem [laugh] but my least favorite, and man… In terms of horror, do you guys remember those really stupid tremors movies?
Everyone: [agreement]
Edgar: It’s like, okay Oscar, do you know what Sharknado is?
Oscar: Yes I know what Sharknado is, I had to watch it as a bet with a friend in High School.
Edgar: Take like Sharknado, and put it on like crack, and that’s when you get Tremors. I like creative horror, it’s not even meant to be horror at this point I think, it’s just bad… How do I put this? When I watch a movie like that, and it takes place in a desert and God, I can’t think of what it’s called…
Jonathan: Westerns? You talking about Westerns?
Edgar: It’s like a horror movie, there’s like a bus involved, and there’s like a desert, I’ll think about it somewhat more later in the podcast… but like good lord. I don’t like any horror movie that just relies on murder for like it’s entire aspect of fear. That’s actually why Halloween is my favorite, because the music, it’s really in service of the film. Like when it peaks, I know someone’s about to die and that’s why I think it’s so clever, because music is so important to a horror movie.
Rafael: Yeah definitely, man. If you’re talking about like the, 2018 version really quick, do you remember that one long shot take when he’s just walking down the neighborhood?
Edgar: Yessss!
Rafael: That to me is insane, that it was all one shot.
Edgar: That was amazing!
Oscar: That’s one thing, I’d like to give the camerawork credit. One take of a scene could make or break a movie. For Halloween, one of my favorite scenes was that scene.
Rafael: Yeah man, that movie’s great. That’s a really good choice, the 2018 version was definitely a hit.
Oscar: What are your favorite and least favorite films Jonathan?
Jonathan: Well I’m going to sound super hipster, but I don’t actually have one. For me, picking a movie is based on a mood. Do I feel something adventurous? Then I’ll go for Monster Squad. Do I want some comedy with it? I’ll pick Shaun of the Dead.
[phone rings]
Jonathan: Anyways, if I wanna go classic and I feel a little bit conflicted then I’ll go with Creature from the Black Lagoon, but other than that it’s always, at least for me, based on the mood.
Edgar: You know what movie it was guys?
Jonathan: Which one?
Edgar: It was the movie with the killer tire. Please tell me someone knows what I’m talking about.
Everyone: [agrees and then laughs]
Edgar: It’s called Rubber [laughs]. It’s the tire that can make people explode.
Jonathan: Bruh…
Rafael: Oh my god…
Edgar: That was a legit movie, guys.
Rafael: Have you guys heard about that movie about the killer Thanksgiving turkey?
Jonathan: Yeah, Thankskilling?
Rafael: Thanks – it’s so bad man.
Jonathan: They came out with a third one, they skipped the second and went straight to the third.
Edgar: What????
Everyone: [laughter]
Jonathan: It’s free on uh, if you have Tubi it’s free. It’s horrible…
Edgar: What???
Jonathan: Like the opening scene is literally, it’s a woman’s bare chest.
Rafael: What’s the logic of like skipping the sequel and going straight to the third??? That’s hilarious.
Edgar: You’re supposed to fill the gap yourself.
Rafael: Yeah… [laughter]
Oscar: Yeah it’s like the zombie movies. Speaking of zombie movies, one series that I do enjoy is George Romero’s Dead series of films.
Rafael: Oh my god yes.
Edgar: I can’t get over the Turkey…
Rafael: Which one was your favorite Oscar? Which of the Dead films?
Oscar: I would have to say the, uh, there’s a lot. I would have to say either the first one or the one that they were in the mall. I don’t know which one that was.
Rafael: So the first one was Night of the Living Dead and the mall one was Dawn of the Dead. Dawn of the Dead is my favorite, it’s amazing.
Oscar: You watched the George Romero films right Jonathan? Which one was your favorite?
Jonathan: George Romero? I’d have to say the first one, Night of the Living Dead. Damn, there’s so many movies with “of the Dead” in the title that I’m genuinely confused which one was the first one. Nah, I genuinely enjoyed the first one though.
Rafael: That ending though man, that’s a dark ending. Yeah, there is a lot of subtext in that movie as well, there’s a lot of things you can dive into as well. That ending was a gut-wrencher though man, but that’s what made it so great.
Oscar: It’s one of the few films that like, involved a black protagonist being smart and doing smart things. It was crazy when you think about when the movie was filmed and blacks were being used as scapegoats, anger aggression, like putting out the “they die first” mentality.
Edgar: I hate that, I hate that trope. It was always like, yeah, the black guy dies first, and as a kid I was always thinking like, in reality, the Hispanic guy would die first. We’re the guys who are like “Oh, let me go check it out”.
Rafael: [laughs]
Edgar: I just hear you dying of laughter in the back, because you know it’s true. You know when you hear a noise, you’re like “Hey, let’s go check it out?”
Rafael: “Hey foo, you down to check it out?” [laughs]
Jonathan: That’s the thing though, we’re resourceful too. If we see something we’re running the hell out. We’re deep in the catholic mentality.
Edgar: When you look at any other culture, they’ll logically run like hell. But the issue with Hispanics that will get us killed is that we’ll go straight for the cross and the holy water.
Rafael: [laughs]
Edgar: And in those five seconds, they’re gonna get us.
Jonathan: Yeah man, we saw The Exorcist. That’s a tutorial guide on how to be a priest.
Rafael: I’m telling you, man, The Exorcist was serious business.
Edgar: I guarantee you, if there was actually like a murderer like in my house, my mom would be the first one to like, take a holy water and be like “Esto es la casa de Cristo!” (This is the house of Christ!). It’d just be like done man.
Rafael: Yeah man. That’s an idea for another podcast… but yeah Night of the Living Dead man. Way ahead of its time, great movie, rest in peace George Romero.
Oscar: When did he die?
Rafael: Uhhhh…. I think it was 2017? 2016? It wasn’t that long ago.
Oscar: Next topic here, next question here. What do you guys think makes a good horror movie and what do you think makes a bad horror movie?
Rafael: I guess I’ll start off?
Oscar: Let me go first.
Rafael: Go ahead!
Oscar: So, what makes a movie good for me is, it has to follow a couple of categories for me. Good effects, good camerawork, good characters, and good conflict. Any of those four is not that great. It can be either good, to okay, too bad, or to sh*t.
Edgar: Oh my god.
Oscar: That’s the thing, I’m not a very big CGI fan myself. It works, but at the same time I’m more of a practical effects fan, things like costumes, make up, special effects. The horror movies that does it a lot is Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street. Those films do it right and that’s why I like those films a lot, they don’t rely on CGI or too much gore. It has the right amount of gore. That’s what I like about it.
Edgar: Cool.
Rafael: I guess I’ll jump in next then. So, what makes a good horror movie to me is definitely the overall atmosphere and the themes that they explore in the movie. The best way for me to say this is… have you guys seen The Mist? The 2007 version?
Jonathan: Stephen King!
Rafael: Yeah, we’ve been talking a lot about Stephen King, I guess you can’t avoid it.
Edgar: That’s such a fire concept… I just love that.
Rafael: The concept of The Mist?
Edgar: Yeah.
Rafael: Yeah man… That movie man. Speaking of gut-wrenching endings.
Edgar: The giant creature gets me every single time. I’m like good lord!
Rafael: Dude, and you know how the majority of the movie takes place in that supermarket right?
Edgar: Exactly!
Rafael: It’s very like, claustrophobic. Movies that do that, like what’s another good one, Ummm… Evil Dead. It takes place entirely in that cabin. 10 Cloverfield Lane is another good one, and I like that movie just for the fact that they did so much in that little bunker.
Edgar: Oh my God, I just barely watched those, those are so wild.
Rafael: Dude, the ending of 10 Cloverfield Lane was insane!
Edgar: There’s a big ass ship! Sorry about spoilers, but lord.
Rafael: It starts off as like a psychological thriller and ends in… it just goes somewhere completely different.
Edgar: All those movies pull that, like at the end of the Cloverfield Paradox, where they just pull that giant creature out of their ass and ate the shuttle.
Rafael: That was the original Cloverfield character man, uh, Clover, I think they call it. The kaiju or whatever from the first movie. Yeah, going back to The Mist man, movies that do that atmosphere so well, so oppressive, so… it feels hopeless. That ending, spoiler alert by the way, if you guys haven’t seen The Mist you should, cause that ending is something else. So, when they’re screwed and then he has that gun, and he’s gonna decide… who was in the car with him? I know his son was in there but I don’t remember who the other person was. It was two people, and he puts them out of his misery because these creature outside were going to kill them. Then he sees that help was on it’s way and he had just shot his kid. That… was so oh my God-man. I remember being in shock the first time that I saw that. Things like that, things that just leave you awestruck… that’s what’s horror is all about man. When they explore those topics that you don’t even want to think about.
Oscar: Another example of that type of thing is The Thing. Has anyone seen The Thing?
Everyone: [agrees]
Oscar: What I like about the thing is the fact that it’s about 5-10 men stranded on a snowy base and they have to figure out which among them is a creature. An alien.
Rafael: Yeah man, John Carpenter man. The same guy that did the music for Halloween.
Edgar: Yeah I was gonna say, the same guy. The concept, of an imposter, I wanna talk about that, is so intriguing. Look at the way that that game Among Us right now is so popular. Which is basically just like The Thing, but for kids.
Oscar: Yeah, I never thought about that but it’s true, it’s like the thing.
Edgar: Think about that, is it not the same? It takes the form of you, like the Thing, so it’s an impostor that looks like a crewmate. They’re trying to accuse each other, the Thing can only be killed by fire, remember something permanent. So, that’s why they could only kill him through the airlock. That whole concept of “who’s the traitor among us?” has always been such a good thing for horror because that’s just how we are as human beings. Look at Scream too, Scream is known for “who is the killer?”. Everyone is suspicious, so like that concept alone: which one of us is capable of murder? Is such a good horror concept.
Oscar: Each character has to be smart. They’re thinking about who among them is a monster/killer. That’s what I like about the characters in The Thing, they try to find out who among them has turned. The blood scene, the one where they check everyone’s blood to see who is normal and who is not. That’s the thing that I love, they have to be smart, they can’t think straight in situations like that. It’s not just about running around or being scared, you have to use your brain for stuff like that, and that’s what I like.
Rafael: Yeah man. Those horror movies that just switch it up. Even if they don’t switch it up, they just bring a fresh new take on an established concept, I think those are the ones that stick with people. Yeah, that’s enough about me, what do you think Jonathan? What makes a good horror movie in your opinion?
Jonathan: What makes a good movie is how relatable the director can make the story just because it’s one of those things that’s like… horror is one of those things that happens to you in real life but it’s a lot more exaggerated. Even then it’s always about the score too the score is very important for it.
Edgar/Rafael: [agreement]
Edgar: I should probably touch on that, I feel like, without a score, a movie falls flat.
Oscar: I can agree. I personally feel that music is very important in horror. The fact that it needs to build suspense, you need to have a song that can help with that suspense. If the song doesn’t work, or you don’t have a song at all, it ruins the scene.
Jonathan: Well not even that, just compare any movie. Like action, you can go without the score cause there’s something happening before. It’s a bunch of talking about the score.
Rafael: You’re definitely right. It always comes back to Halloween, and John Carpenter, I don’t know why.
Edgar: I’m telling y’all this is why I chose Halloween.
Rafael: Can you guys imagine Halloween without that iconic theme?
Edgar: Oh the little piano notes?
Rafael: Yeah! Whenever you’d hear that little sound effect too, the little… I don’t know how to describe it to you…
Edgar: Oh, when it just drops and it gets really deep?
Rafael: Yeah! Whenever he just appears you’re just like “Oh, crap!”. That’s so iconic. I think that’s part of the reason why Halloween was such a big deal you know? That music. Anybody hears it, they know where that’s from. Most horror movies have followed as well, a good score is important for a movie. It can either make or break a movie in my opinion.
Oscar: What do you think makes a horror movie bad Jonathan?
Jonathan: I think if they wanna do it for something else, I’m trying to think of that dude that did Birdemic? James Wan.
Oscar: I’ve seen that film.
Jonathan: I have, I’ve seen the documentary too. He mainly did it because he learned from Alfred Hitchcock and he did it too and he wanted to copy him. I’m just like, he died when you saw it, dude. “I made this movie because I saw The Birds, and imma make a lot of money off it”. It’s just like to me you should only be a storyteller if you’re telling the story you want to get out.
Oscar: I agree. Horror movies are not also like- about people killing each other, it could be like stuff that you normally wouldn’t expect to see in any film. That’s what I feel horror movies do differently from any other genre due to how many differences you can see in each movie.
Jonathan: I feel like it’s just a commentary on other things too, I think the perfect example is Jordan Peele’s two films, Get Out and Us. It’s a commentary on white people and black people. The little subtle backhanded racism and remarks, and with Us it’s how our inner demons, ourselves, being our greatest enemy.
Edgar: I’m going to go ahead and hop in now with what I believe makes a good horror movie. For me, I like subtle twists, and I like misdirection. Going back to Scream, as you’re trying to figure out who Ghostface is (as a sidenote to listeners, if you call him Scream I will fight you, his name is Ghostface), well you all know how that movie plays outright? You guys have seen Scream?
Everyone: [agreement]
Jonathan: The main character is Scream right?
Rafael: [laughs]
Edgar: So, when you look at how Ghostface is murdering, there are little shots where, for example when you see when the guy is talking to the police chief, you see the shot of the boots, the little boots that he wears. Little stuff like that. I don’t know if you guys have noticed that when you watch the movie?
Rafael: Nah, never noticed. That’s really cool.
Edgar: Certain movements that some of Sidney’s friends do are replicated when Ghostface murders, so you’re like “Oh my God”, and the more you watch the movie the more you notice these things. Do you know how they make you think that it’s Sidney’s dad? Things like that seem very likely, that misdirection is what makes you realize that they at one point really had the killer, the misdirection. Anyone watching it doesn’t immediately know who the killer is, so throughout the movie, you’re left wondering. If it’s too obvious, you lose all interest in watching the movie. No matter how badly written the subsequent films were, cause they were bad, I still felt like these were interesting. Have you guys seen the second Scream? The one that takes place at the college?
Rafael: Yeah, I’ve seen the second one.
Edgar: Again, I was like what the hell? Billy Loomis’ mom? Where the hell are they pulling this from?
Rafael: Can we just talk about the ending of the first movie, the fact that there were two killers? I was like holy crap, I never thought of that!
Edgar: When they were passing around the voice changer, I was like Oh! That’s good!
Rafael: So good man. It’s funny cause every I see Scooby-Doo, I just think of Scream cause of Matthew Lillard.
Edgar: His range! No, but then I think about like- the twists that I like in Halloween! Going back to the original one, you should keep the original piece intact. There are a lot of scenes in the 2018 one, I really like the implication of when, oh my God what’s her name, Laurie Strode’s grandkid?
Rafael: Yeah, I know who you’re talking about.
Edgar: When she’s holding the knife when she’s in the back of the truck, and you’re like “oh!”. It’s those little implications that keep you thinking after. Do you guys know after the credits where you can hear Michael Myers breathing?
Jonathan: It still perplexes me how people got excited about a blank screen going: [Intense breathing]
Edgar: Go ahead and watch the 2018 one, and after the credits, you can hear Michael Myers breathing. That’s how you know that he’s alive. It’s something simple like that- that shows that they care about the movie that they’re making. Little touches like that show it. You look like at the fact that the deaths are really creative too. Michael Myers dropping the teeth too still makes me feel weird.
Rafael: [laughing]
Edgar: Like when I watch that movie before going to brush my teeth before bed I’m like Ewwww.
Rafael: Anything with teeth man… Nah.
Edgar: The death that still gets me and I flinch a little bit is where he stomps on the guys head, and it pops like a pumpkin and I’m just like: okay.
Rafael: That movie was brutal-looking back on it.
Edgar: So creatively brutal!
Jonathan: There’s a movie called Terrifier, and there’s a scene where he’s decapitating a head, it’s one of the most realistic things out there right now.
Rafael: Oh man, that movie the scene where he-man I can’t even say it – the scene where he has that girl hanging up and he cuts her in half through the bottom – oh man. That was one of the hardest things for me to watch.
Edgar: Alright Oscar we clearly have to discuss one of the greatest horror movies ever made: the Goosebumps movie.
Rafael: I unironically love that movie.
Oscar: Do you guys feel like horror mixed with another type of genre is considered a good choice in film making? For instance, The Mummy movies are action mixed with horror.
Edgar: Oh my God…
Oscar: I actually like the new Mummy movies, the Brendan Frasier ones I love. The new one I hate, but then there’s also like comedy horrors like Nightmare Before Christmas and Beetlejuice. Do you feel like horror mixed with another genre can be good?
Edgar: Beetlejuice is not a horror film.
Rafael: I got a question for you guys actually… do you guys think Jurassic Park is a horror movie?
Oscar: I feel like it is because it’s also leaving you in suspense and wondering “Will these characters survive or not?”. The thing is that the monsters in this film are like animals, they think and breathe and their one goal is to hunt and to eat. They won’t stop until they get what they want. That to me feels like a horror film.
Edgar: So my stance on this is, whenever I see the Jurassic Park t-shirt in the horror section in the store, I move them away. Jurassic Park is not a horror film. I get what people say about it, and I see how to an extent people can see it as a horror film, while I get that I feel like it’s so watered down by the whole “life finds a way” and the concept of playing God. Honestly, like the first Jurassic Park can be seen there but the franchise itself really isn’t horror. For example, look at the second one, that one was just Indiana Jones with dinosaurs. We don’t speak about the third Jurassic Park film. We don’t speak about it. The only good part was the ringtone we got from it, the Spinosaurus. That is still currently my ringtone. Jurassic World was good. Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom was ass.
Oscar: It was just like a copy of the second film.
Edgar: While I do feel it’s inspired by the horror genre, I wouldn’t call it a horror flick.
Rafael: That’s my stance as well. I know a lot of people who consider it a horror movie… what would be a good example.
Jonathan: A thriller? It’s a thriller.
Rafael: There you go, end of conversation.
Edgar: Now the ride at Universal, that thing is scary.
Rafael: I love the ride, oh my God. I can’t wait for theme parks to open up again.
Edgar: The new Jurassic World ride is scary as… The first time that you guys ride… Have you guys been on the new Jurassic World ride?
Rafael: No, I haven’t been on it.
Edgar: So spoiler, they do recreate a forest where the drop used to be. So to me, where I’m sitting in this boat with no chance of escape because I have a 300-pound woman to my right and a toddler to my left. I have no chance of escape! You go into a forest at this point and you hear dinosaurs growling I’m just like “Oh my lord…”.
Rafael: Yeah, that’s true horror right there! [laughs]
Edgar: It’s not even just like, that’s the beauty of theme parks too, there’s no winning here. Cause like during the drop, I either get flattened by the woman to my left, or I try to move away, and I squash a kid to the right. Which leads me back to the fact that horror, going back to movies now, should be dependent on the people viewing it, how they’re going to react. Look at the fact that, where do you assume they’re going to be watching these films? In a theater right? You look at the theater, and you assume like, I’m going to be jumping back in my seat, or I’m going to be holding on to the person next to me. It’s dependent on the audience. You look at some films, going back to the silliness that was Tremors or Sharknado, those are just silly movies. You want a horror film to make you feel like you’re watching it in the dead of night. So ambiance. Is what you should consider how the person is going to watch it when you make the film.
Rafael: Never thought of that. That’s a good point.
Edgar: Yeah, I’m not going to watch a horror film at 3 pm. So if I was a director, I wouldn’t want to watch it in broad daylight. Horror films become a comedy when the sun is still up.
Rafael: Real quick before we move on from this, my personal favorite director is David Lynch, I’m not sure if you guys know who that is. Mulholland Drive, there’s a scene in that movie where it’s in a diner, and it’s in the day time. I don’t know how he does it, I don’t what he does, but the sense of dread in that scene is terrifying man. One of the characters is telling the other character about this dream that he had. In this dream, he was basically describing what they were doing at the moment. They were in a diner, they were gonna check out, and they were gonna go to the back and there was gonna be a guy there who they were gonna see, and he was gonna scare the crap out of them. As he’s telling them about this dream, every little thing in the dream begins coming true, he sees the guy get up to pay and the score gets- gets so thick and the ambiance and feeling of dread. You know it’s coming, and the score and dread just keep making it worse. Keep in mind, this isn’t at night, in the movie it’s like day time, it’s like noon and it’s super bright out, but he still managed to make a scene that had me like “Ohhh it’s coming and I don’t want to see it, but we’re going to have to see it”. Yeah, I just wanted to throw that in there, David Lynch is the best.
Edgar: So, for listeners at home, this is the stine nerd, I just wanted to pose this question for you guys but, for me, my tale of a good horror movie is when I scoot all the way back in my seat, or the movie has to be so good, that you (listen, I’m not typing this part out lmao). That is the gold standard.
Rafael: Those movies are so rare though, that’s the thing.
Edgar: Personally, for example, the reason why I don’t like the Purge movies is that, I don’t feel horror, I just feel like “Damn, I want to do that too”.
Rafael: [laughs]
Oscar: Basically what every person wants to do during the purge is to destroy stuff and do whatever you want for 24 hours.
Edgar: Oscar, it’s 12 hours. The purge is 12 hours.
Oscar: Oh, really?
Jonathan: Yepppp.
Edgar: Yeah, Oscar, you’d be murdering in broad daylight [laughs]. You’re gonna be like “Nah, it’s purge season!” and the officers are gonna be like, “Sir, the purge ended 12 hours ago”.
Jonathan: You’re under arrest!
Edgar: Oscar didn’t even say no, he didn’t even deny it!
Everyone: [laughs]
Edgar: Oscar’s like, “Now for the special guests of my podcast: The kids in my basement”
Everyone: [bruh]
Oscar: Special guest! The shrunken head!
Jonathan: Special guest: The three kids and the parents that I killed with: How do you feel Antonia, Jason, and Blemson?
Edgar: Oh my god, that’s so specific! So, you look at the purge and like, when I see the purge, I don’t think of like horror and “oh my god, that could be me”, I’m not gonna lie if someone played the purge siren I’d be out the door before they told me that it was a joke. I feel like that’s not so much as like… while I like horror films, the one thing that I feel a horror film shouldn’t do is to offer you some form of stress relief, it should cause you more stress. When you look at the purge, and while I respect what they were trying to do with the horror genre, it gives you some satisfaction seeing that you can go out there with no laws and do whatever you want.
Oscar: Basically it’s what everyone would think about doing.
Edgar: Yeah, I should never think like oh I wish I was in this horror movie, I feel like a good horror film will make you feel like I wish this never happened to me.
Oscar: The thing is that I feel like a lot of people that would do crazy stuff like kill people for like 12 hours.
Edgar: What are you talking about? I’m here to rob the Panera! I’m not killing nobody!
Rafael: I’m just trying to get lit bro I ain’t trying to kill no one!
Edgar: Exactly! Yeah, no folks, I’m here to like… show me the nearest route to a free tank cause I want a free tank! The thing is, with the purge, they never say you can’t keep what you stole.
Jonathan: They don’t! You can keep it.
Edgar: This podcast just evolved into… How about, for those of you here for the movie part, we can end the podcast here. For those of you that want to stick around, for just Halloween stuff in general, we can always stick around.
Rafael: Yeah, I’m down with that too man. This is a good conversation.
Edgar: Oscar, so what do you think do you want to wrap up the movie segment and let people know, hey, we’ll be back, and for those listeners that want to stick around and listen to our purge fantasies and Halloween stuff, you guys can always stick around!
Oscar: Yeah I think it’s better to do that! So that will be it for this horror movie segment of Falcon Entertainment. I want to thank you all for listening, and again thank you to Edgar, Rafael, and Jonathan for joining me, I really appreciate it.
Audi0 edit by Rebecca Aguila
Transcription edit by Oscar Torres and Rafael Magana
