2 Guys And A Chainsaw - A Horror Movie Review Podcast

We were less-than-impressed with Daniel Radcliffe’s first film after the Harry Potter series, but it may be good for those who prefer the gothic and predictable.

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The Woman In Black (2012)

Episode 5, 2 Guys and a Chainsaw

Todd: Welcome to another edition of Two Guys and a Chainsaw. I’m Todd. I’m Craig. And today we are on our third week of a Halloween horror and we kicked it off with a woman in black. Let’s say 2012, Daniel

Craig: Craig film, Daniel Radcliffe. Get your Daniels straight.

Todd: That’d be a whole different movie. I think that’s a good point. All right, this is a 2012 Daniel Radcliffe movie. Um, the first one that he did since Harry Potter. So this was kind of a, an interesting choice, a foray out of, uh, sort of the kid soup. Well, I guess from one type of supernatural fantasy into another kind of supernatural horror, I’m still taking place in Britain, still taking place in the Misty Moore’s of, uh, of castles or houses up on Hills and things like that.

So I guess it’s not too far out of his, uh, Ballywick after

Craig: all at that point, you know, there’s a lot going on that is actually really reminiscent of Harry Potter. Uh, you’ve got, uh, a train ride in the beginning to a remote location. You’ve got a, a big mansion covered in old timey portraits that I expected to start talking or moving about at any moment.

Um, so not too big of a leap, really, as far as. Tone is concerned, I guess,

Todd: I guess you got to play it safe when you’re taking your step out into the, into the real world. Again, it’s, it’s interesting. And, you know, um, when the credits came up, I didn’t know much about this film beforehand. When the credits came up, I noticed that it was a hammer horror production, right.

You know, hammer being the sort of quintessential British horror production studio that started out in the sixties, maybe even late fifties and then brought us. Great classics of Dracula with, with, with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing. Um, some of actually my favorite movies, just because they would come on on Saturday afternoons, you know, after the, during MUN cartoons were done or something like that.

And that was really how I got my horror

Craig: fix. Yeah. And you can see, I mean, I can see similarities between those kind of old-school films and this, I mean, it’s, it’s. Uh, very Gothic, a little bit slow paced. Uh, it’s a slow build. It focuses more on the suspense. You can see that in some of the earlier humor pictures

Todd: too.

Yeah. The slow pace of it was definitely something. Again, one of those things you don’t find as much there often. It’s not, it’s not really a modern movie. Uh, this movie. Reminded me a lot of the movies. My wife really likes the Vincent Price films, like the ed ground Poe movies that Roger Corman did, uh, the fall of the house of the usher, the pit and the pendulum especially reminded me of the terror.

Craig: I’m not familiar with it.

Todd: The terror was one that he shot after they had shot another one. You know, Roger Corman was really good about delivering movies under budget and under time. And he would often slap together a script real quick and take the actors that he already had under contract and the sets that he already had built and the crew that was still under contract and, and, and could be paid for another few weeks and he quickly whipped together another movie.

And sometimes that second movie would actually do better than the movie they were shooting before. Interesting. The terror was one that was actually Jack Nicholson. It was one of his first large film roles, um, that he cast him in. And it started out very much like this, uh, where this guy leaves his family and goes to this far off.

A place where there’s by the ocean, a large mansion of sorts that nobody goes up to. And whatever, of course, in his case, I think there actually was somebody living there in this case, Daniel Radcliffe’s character is coming in and there’s nobody living there. He’s actually settling the estate of a woman.

But you know, it was, it was with, with the water surrounding it, it just had the feel of about 15 either hammer, horror films or, um, AIP pictures. Roger Corman, AIP,

Craig: pictures that I’ve seen. Well, yeah, no. It’s as far as set pieces go, I mean, you were talking about, uh, the marshlands and whatnot. The film is beautiful to look at in that respect, the set pieces are gorgeous.

You know, you’ve got this big Goth...

Thanks to Hailee for submitting a request for this week’s tribute to Joel Schumacher, who passed away last year. Stylistically, Flatliners in some ways is the quintessential 90’s movie, including this ensemble of young up-and-coming stars at their prime. Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin Bacon, with even a Baldwin brother thrown in there for good measure.

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Flatliners (1990)

Episode 244, 2 Guys and a Chainsaw.

Todd: hello and welcome to another episode of two guys and a chainsaw. I’m Todd and I’m Craig. We continue our tributes, the reef this month by paying tribute. You to a director, who’s put out some very notorious films over the years, definitely made his stamp on cinema and has had a very, very interesting past.

His name is Joel Schumacher and he died of a heart attack last year. And today’s film that we’re reviewing is a request from one of our listeners, Hailey. She wanted us to do Flatliners. Now, Flatliners, I think is one of those films that Joel Schumacher did just before he started doing Batman movies, I think.

And. I believe it was Kiefer Sutherland that called this movie St. Elmo’s funeral or the breadth

Craig: breakfast club dies. Yeah.

Todd: And you can kind of see why this is, this is sort of like a nineties brat pack movie. It certainly doesn’t start any of the original brat pack, but it’s got Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts, Kevin bacon, Oliver.

What’s his name? Oliver Platt Pratt Oliver. Oliver Platt and one of the Baldwins. Yeah. And, uh, so you know, these guys, especially, um, this was a few years after Joel Schumacher did the lost boys and we have reviewed the lost boys in the spoon on the show before. And, uh, we had nothing but great things to say about it.

It was certainly his previous work with Kiefer Sutherland. I think that brought, that helped him bring Kiefer Sutherland back into this movie to do. A very good role. I think this, he said that the reason that he chose Kiefer Sutherland for this role was just his intensity coming through as sort of our main protagonist, if you will, of this, otherwise, you know, it’s, it’s a, it’s a ensemble film really.

Craig: Yeah, well, and, and Schumacher and Sutherland worked together several more times after this, too. I think that they must have had a really positive working

Todd: relationship. Yeah. You know, I, I’ve always known the name, Joel Schumacher. I’ve known that he’s done a lot of movies when I was going through his Uber guar man.

So many of these movies, um, were not only mainstream heads, but some of them have really left a profound impact on me. He did a Batman forever. Which, you know, Tim Burton did the first two Batman movies and Tim Burton really is credited, I think could be credited with bringing superhero movies really back into the mainstream.

After Superman. He just took Batman. The idea of the dark night. And really gave a style to that movie. And remember, God, remember that movie when it came out, it was huge. Oh my gosh. Yeah, it was an event and it was also a superhero movie, like we’d never seen before. And certainly Batman, like most of us had never seen him before on screen, dark and brooding.

And the style that he brought to that film was just incredible. Then he followed it up with Batman returns and Batman returns. He was given a hundred percent creative control over that. Tim Burton was, and it didn’t turn out so well for him. Um, it just wasn’t as popular. It wasn’t as highly regarded. It didn’t make as much money.

Although I think it’s a great movie, actually. I really like it. I do too. Then the reins were handed over to Joel Schumacher for the third one, Batman forever and yeah. Once again, he just added a whole new style to the franchise with Batman forever. Jim Carrey was the Riddler in that one. And I remember just really enjoying that, really enjoying the style that he brought to it that still had some of that darkness, but add a little bit of comedy and color to it.

I felt like. Anyway, it struck a pretty good balance. And I haven’t seen that movie in ages, but I do remember

Craig: liking it. I remember enjoying it at the time, but if we’re going to be honest, I feel like Joel Schumacher is kind of credited with killing the Batman franchise for the time. Certainly

Todd: was with the followup to that.

Right. Batman and Robin, which was. A nightmare of a movie. I mean, you’re right. Is, is actually put on the list as one of the worst films ever. I don’t think it deserves that,

Craig: but, but it was really goofy, like really goofy, you know,...

We head into the theater again to catch the latest horror flick everyone has an opinion about: A “New England folktale” called The Witch.

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The Witch (2015)

Episode 25, 2 Guys and a Chainsaw

Todd: Welcome to another episode of 2 Guys and a Chainsaw. I’m Todd.

Craig: And I’m Craig.

Todd: Today’s film was The Witch. It’s out in theaters now. Craig and I thought we’d go have a look at it and come back to you today and let you know what we thought. Craig, did you read anything about this movie before you went to see it?

Craig: Really nothing at all. I mean, I kind of had a basic idea of the premise. I knew it was a period piece, set in colonial New England and that it dealt with a witch. Yeah. That’s about it. That’s all I knew. And I’d I’d read some kind no. I didn’t read them. I mean, I saw headlines praising it. I didn’t really see anything, and I didn’t read into it because I didn’t want to know too much going in, but it seemed like what I was seeing out there was positive response. So Yeah. Looking forward to it.

Todd: It it the headlines I’ve been seeing have been almost on the same lines of it was writing a little bit of the reception of the Babadook

Craig: Yeah.

Todd: And, It Follows. Both of those got these glowing, it’s not your typical horror movie Right. Reviews. And so that made me a little hesitant going in here because I know that both of those films, I was a little disappointed in. Were were you?

Craig: I well, you know, especially with yeah. I was. And I think especially with, the Babadook, I think the problem was that I had seen so much positive stuff about it that I had really high expectations. And I I thought I thought it was good. I just thought I don’t know if it’s really worth all the hype.

Todd: You know? I mean, it’s different enough. And this movie so I intentionally much like you, I guess, I intentionally stayed away from those thinking that maybe if I don’t read too much about it and get too excited about it, it will turn out to, you know, move me in a way that I’ve never been moved. And? And, you know, it was, I don’t know. The movie is pretty slow. If I had one fault, I would say maybe it was a little too slow. Although, I’m not sure that you could do this movie any other way. Extremely slow burn, very depressing.

Craig: Yeah. Really grim from from the beginning on.

Todd: Yeah. Well, we might as well dive into the plot, I guess. Yeah.

Craig: And the plot itself is pretty simple. I mean, you start out, I I guess, in a Puritan courtroom, town meeting house or whatever, and it appears that this man is being tried or or sentenced or or something. And, they say that he’s a blasphemer or he I isn’t It’s

Todd: very unclear.

Craig: It’s yeah. It’s totally unclear. And he’s defending himself saying, no. I’ve never spoken anything but the true word of God. I believe in God. You all have no right to judge me. You’re false Christians.

Todd: Yeah. He he throws it right back at them, basically.

Craig: Right. And, when it comes down to it, I guess they basically just say I don’t know. I don’t know if they you know, if he hit with

Todd: He almost volunteered that he would be willing to just leave.

Craig: Yeah.

Todd: And they were like, well, okay. If that’s what you wanna do, go ahead and do it. And so he they said you’re vanished from the community.

Craig: Yeah. And so he takes his family. He’s got his wife okay. So the the dad’s name is William. His wife’s name is Catherine, and they’ve got 5 kids. Two older kids, Thomas and a daughter Mhmm. Caleb, a son, and they seem to be around the same age maybe. Is Thomas and the oldest, you think?

Todd: It seems like it. Yeah.

Craig: But close in age. And then there are twins who are younger, I would guess, maybe, like, 8, something like that Yeah. And, a baby, Samuel. And the twins are, Jonas and Mercy. They, I guess, just go and establish their own little farm kind of on the outskirts of town. Like, at one point in the movie, the dad says it’s like a day’s, ride to town. So they’re out kind of in the woods on their own, and that’s it. I mean, the whole movie focuses on what happens with this family out here on their own...

This week, we are delighted to be joined by another guest and devoted listener, Jules O’Brian, to discuss her choice of the 2022 Danish-Dutch psychological horror thriller, Speak No Evil.

Be warned, friends: The laughs may be bright and carefree, but the movie is about as dark as they come. We follow the harrowing journey of a sweet little family as they visit the home of another family they met while on vacation in Tuscany. This month, an American remake hits the theaters, and we’re dying to see if and how it shakes things up.

Jules is a comedian currently touring around the UK. You can find her current touring schedule on her website, or catch up with her shenanigans from the comfort of your own home on her monthly podcast, Avoid Excessive Cleavage. Thanks for joining us on the show, Jules! The pleasure was all ours.

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Speak No Evil (2022)

Episode 407, 2 Guys and a Chainsaw Horror Movie Review Podcast

Todd: Hello, and welcome to another episode of Two Guys and a Chainsaw. I’m Todd,

Craig: and I’m Craig.

Todd: And joining us today for the first time is loyal listener, Jules. Jules, say hi to the people out there.

Jules: Hello everybody. This is a dream come true.

Todd: We’re so happy to have you on, you know, you reached out to us and said that you were a fan of the podcast.

Now you’re based out of the UK, right?

Jules: That’s right. Yeah. I’m in, uh, I’m in Birmingham. So slap bang in the center of the UK and, uh, and yeah, I travel around all over the place. Cause my, my job is I work as a standup comedian. So yeah, I travel all over the country and I discovered you guys, Oh gosh, not very long ago, really probably only about.

I think probably about three months ago, and I think I’ve, I’ve listened to nearly, I’ve listened to more of the podcasts that you podcast episodes that you have recorded than I haven’t, if you know what I mean. So it’s kind of, it’s bordering on obsessive.

Todd: Oh, that’s So flattering, I have to say. I’m sure you have some very boring nights. They must be especially boring if you’re resorting to listening to us.

Jules: It’s fabulous. It’s great. Honestly, I’ll be driving down the motorway and, you know, it’ll be sort of a three hour drive or something, and I’ll be thinking, Oh, God, I just want to get home.

And I’ll be, you’ll be making me laugh as I’m driving. It’s brilliant. I absolutely love it. So thank you so much for that, for the entertainment. It’s been an absolute godsend finding you. Seriously, it’s Well,

Craig: you’re kind, I very much appreciate your kind words and I am like immediately charmed by your accent.

So, I’m blushing, I’m blushing. That’s a brilliant place

Jules: to start. I’m so pleased. Seriously, this is like a little party for me. I’m all set up. I’ve got a glass of wine. It’s fabulous. Oh, nice. I’m just having the best time ever.

Todd: It’s evening time for Craig and I’ve had probably six or seven beers, but that’s been over the course of like seven hours.

I, I I just got off a really long board gaming session with some friends, we’re really big nerds.

Craig: Oh my gosh, you and the board games. Yeah, this was I think, Todd, I think you may have a problem with board games. I may. It could be. It could

Todd: be. Well,

Jules: I love that you pick on Todd for the, for the, the board game situation, but I’ve just said I’ve got a glass of wine and that just gets to me.

Breezed over, that’s fine, that’s not a problem. Are

Todd: you kidding me? I would, I would bet 50 50 roll the dice that Craig has a mimosa in his hand right now, and it’s like early in the morning for him.

Craig: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Todd: Yeah, that’s right. Moving on, moving on. Anyway,

Jules: well,

Todd: we were so flattered that you reached out to us and so interested to chat with you, and since you’re no stranger to speaking into a microphone for Hours on End, we thought it would be lovely, lovely to have you on the show, and, uh, do Movie that you chose and you chose a few and I think it was more Craig that was narrowing it down with you But he and I chatted and I think we ended up among the three of us settling on 2022’s speak no evil direc...

Simone joins us yet again for a tribute to Mother’s Day, only a week late. This slow burn creep-fest really got under our skin and we enjoyed discussing its many nuances.

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The Eyes of My Mother (2016)

Episode 81, 2 Guys and a Chainsaw Horror Movie Review Podcast

Todd: Hello and welcome to another episode of 2 Guys and a Chainsaw. I’m Todd.

Craig: I’m Craig.

Todd: And today with us, one of our favorite special guests. Say hi to the people, Simone.

Simone: Hey, guys. Good to be back.

Todd: We’re really happy to have Symone back with us today. Actually, she suggested this week’s film in honor of mother’s day, which by the time you hear this will have already happened. But, Simone, what movie did you choose?

Simone: I chose the 2016 film, The Eyes Of My Mother. And this was a movie that I had, heard had come out in the states, but of course, living abroad, I wasn’t able to see it in the theater. And I picked it up in one of our favorite little knockoff DVD stores over here, and gave it a shot. And man, oh, man, was this this is a very drastic change from the last time I was on this show talking about the fly.

Todd: That’s right. No Jeff Goldblum in this one for 1. Unfortunately, no. Not really many men in this one not not many characters really, actually.

Simone: Yeah. A small cast.

Todd: Yeah. Craig, I knew nothing about this movie. Did had you heard of this film before?

Craig: I don’t think so. I don’t think I had heard anything about it, and I just watched it. I didn’t look anything up. I didn’t know anything about it. So I didn’t know if this was a new movie, an old movie. I had no idea. And so when it started and I could tell that based on the cinematography and whatnot that it was a Todd, film, I was a little bit surprised. And I would say that that’s a good way of of describing my feelings about the movie overall. A little bit surprised. It’s an interesting film.

Todd: It really is. Interesting is a good way of putting it. Yeah. I’m glad you picked it, Simone, because we try to do all kinds of different, you know, types of movies. Mhmm. And I was surprised because, it was all in black and white, first of all. I I thought when it started out in black and white, for sure, we were seeing a flash back, and then pretty soon it would change. You know? But this is a pretty interesting choice nowadays for a 2016 horror film to go black and white. It it kinda shows the director is going for, like, art house. Mhmm. You know?

Simone: A film noir kind of thing, if you will.

Todd: Yeah. It’s not, you know, a lot of the horror movies now that are coming out, it seems to be, you know, we’ve talked about this before, like a genre that’s kind of revived in popularity again. Mhmm. But there’s so many of them getting churned out that they’re just all so commercial. You imagine that a person really wouldn’t be putting out a black and white horror film unless they really interested in more than just, like, making money. You know what I

Simone: mean? And this is unconventional in the way that other horror movies of this day and age are going and that it’s not a remake, I believe.

Todd: Oh, yeah. It’s kind

Simone: of an original idea. And the black and white really works because, Craig, you had mentioned it’s modern, but when we were watching it, like, I couldn’t decide what modern era. Like, people didn’t have cell phones. The the trucks and the cars looked maybe a little old. So we were guessing maybe, like, eighties, early nineties.

Todd: Yeah.

Simone: But then because of the, like, remote location of where the set takes place in this kind of small town, that also could help with, you know, a town that’s maybe a little, bit behind in the times. Yeah. But I think black and white really works with this film because in in a lot of the scary movies, especially the remakes that we see, it relies so much on, like, blood and gore and everything’s, like, doused in the color red. But this movie was very effective and very creepy, and we know that there’s blood. We we see it happening, but I guess encased in black and white, it’s just something old timey and off. It’s very haunting.

Todd: It mutes the the gore and the blood quite a bit, doesn’t it? Yeah. I mean, there’s a point in this movie where there’s a big puddle of blood on the floor, and you’re not even sure...