FROM BEYOND (1986) d. Stuart Gordon (USA)
DAGON (2001) d. Stuart Gordon (Spain)

After the cult success of Re-Animator, Stuart Gordon expanded his visceral, darkly comic take on H. P. Lovecraft with From Beyond (1986) and Dagon (2001). Working with writer Dennis Paoli, Gordon transforms cosmic dread into something immediate, tactile, and perversely entertaining.

From Beyond reunites Jeffrey Combs and Barbara Crampton in a story of scientific obsession and bodily mutation, featuring surreal practical effects—mutating flesh, overactive pineal glands, and interdimensional horrors.

With Dagon, Gordon trades lab horror for a decaying coastal nightmare. Set in a rain-soaked Spanish village, the film follows outsiders confronting an ancient sea cult, with grotesque makeup effects emphasizing rot, mutation, and dread.

Together, these films showcase Gordon's unique ability to make Lovecraft's abstract horror physical, grotesque, and wildly entertaining.

Join AC and his fantastic panel of guests (Nile Arena, Derek Bohtelo, Gordon Briggs, Craig J. Clark, Graham Skipper) as we celebrate the OTHER Gordon/Lovecraft adaptations, FROM BEYOND and DAGON!

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NILE ARENA has created cinema collectives, worked the film festival circuit, and lent his voice to podcasts dedicated to the silver screen. His literary/weird fiction journal, Success Stories, is available now at some of the places books are sold.

DEREK BOTELHO is an author, film journalist, playwright, and visual effects artist. Not one to rest on his laurels, nor do much about them either, he is currently writing his first novel.

GORDON BRIGGS is a devout cinephile, who also teaches Fine Arts courses at University of the Rio Grande. In addition to teaching, he publishes two film columns for his local papers. If you follow him on social media, he will give you two film reviews a day, every day. In his free time, Gordon enjoys cosplayjng super villains.

CRAIG J. CLARK watches a lot of movies. He started watching them in New Jersey, where he was born and raised, and continues to watch them in Indiana. He is a frequent contributor to Crooked Marquee (https://crookedmarquee.com/author/craig-j-clark/) and writes the monthly Full Moon Features column for Werewolf News (https://werewolf-news.com/category/full-moon-features/). He is not a werewolf himself (or so he says)

GRAHAM SKIPPER is a filmmaker and actor, best known for playing Herbert West in Stuart Gordon's stage production Re-Animator the Musical, as well as his roles in Almost Human, The Leech, Beyond The Gates, and Man Finds Tape. He has also directed the films Sequence Break and The Lonely Man with the Ghost Machine. Graham lives in Austin, TX.
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Keep Searching, Keep Exploring, and, most of all, Keep Sharing the Scare!

SESSION 9 (2001) d. Brad Anderson (USA)

Tonight we're talking about 2001's Session 9, director/co-writer Brad Anderson's exceedingly tense tale of a five-man asbestos removal team tackling cleanup duty at an inactive mental asylum. When lawyer-in-training Steven Gevedon (who co-wrote the intelligent script) discovers a collection of audio recordings of patient sessions, a haunting dual storyline develops between the events on the abandoned reel-to-reel tapes and the blue-collar crew's increasing stress with the job and with each other. In addition, the not-quite-dead building has a few secrets hidden within its dark corners.

Part character study, part haunted house tale, Anderson and his team adroitly foster an increasingly claustrophobic mood with clues and red herrings thicker than the dust from the moldering ceilings. Skillfully diverting our attentions with cinematic sleight-of-hand, Anderson plays his audience like a maestro, delivering one surprising payoff after another. The location shooting (within the abandoned confines of Danvers State Hospital) offers a palpable dread along with the mildew and grime of years of neglect.

One of the first features shot on High-Def 24p video, Session 9 is a wonder of economical independent filmmaking, floating its haunting sound design over oodles of B-roll to marvelously atmospheric effect. The fact that it works as well as it does is a testament to the players, with Scottish actor Peter Mullan a simmering kettle of repressed anger as the stressed-out crew boss, ably matched by David Caruso, who does the macho-aggressive stare about as well as anyone. Josh Lucas, Brendan Sexton III, Paul Guilfoyle, and Larry Fessenden round out the small and able ensemble.

Join AC and his incredible panel of guests (Jenn Adams, John W. Bowen, Cati Glidewell, Carl Lyon, Jordy Sirken) as we look back at Session 9, a rock-solid psychological chiller that continues to surprise and spook 25 years later.
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JENN ADAMS is a writer and podcaster from Nashville, TN. She co-hosts The Loser's Club: A Stephen King Podcast, The Lady Killers: A Feminine Rage Podcast, Murder Made Fiction, and The Girls on The Boys. She is a contributor and columnist for Bloody Disgusting, Rue Morgue and Dread Central and creator of the Strong Female Antagonist blog.

JOHN W. BOWEN has been a columnist, reviewer and feature writer for Rue Morgue magazine since 1999, and has also written sporadically for more (...cough...) "civilized" publications, including the Kingston Whig-Standard, The Toronto Star and Kingston Life Magazine. Born in Dallas and raised in Kingston, Ontario, he is also a professional musician and recovering strip club DJ.

CATI GLIDEWELL (aka The Blonde in Front) is a Chicago-based film critic, lifelong cinephile, film festival jury member, and a member of Chicago Indie Critics since 2020. You can find her on all social media platforms, as well as Post Mortem radio and Radio of Horror on YouTube.

CARL LYON is a veteran of Monsters at Play and FEARNET, and will occasionally slip his shackles and terrorize the villagers with his ramblings. He also likes LEGO.

JORDY SIRKEN is the horror-obsessed critic behind Jordy Reviews It (jordyreviewsit.com). Slashers, creature features, paranormal haunts, and everything in between, she's an avid fan of the macabre, and a HUGE enthusiast of practical effects. Since 2015, she's been reviewing genre films and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. You can follow her on Instagram and TikTok at @jordyreviewsit
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Keep Searching, Keep Exploring, and, most of all, Keep Sharing the Scare!

MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE (1986) d. Stephen King (USA)
NIGHT OF THE CREEPS (1986) d. Fred Dekker (USA)
CHOPPING MALL (1986) d. Jim Wynorski (USA)
TERRORVISION (1986) d. Ted Nicolau (USA)
KILLER PARTY (1986) d. William Fruet (Canada)

If you love horror with a little extra cheese on top, 1986 might be one of the most glorious years the genre ever produced. Tonight, we're digging into five low-budget cult favorites that prove horror and comedy have always made a deliciously messy combination.

MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE When Stephen King stepped behind the camera, he unleashed a full-throttle apocalypse where machines turn homicidal. Killer trucks, AC/DC, and pure chaos—this is '80s excess at its loudest and wildest.

NIGHT OF THE CREEPS Fred Dekker blends aliens, zombies, and slashers into one wildly entertaining cult classic. It's funny, gooey, and endlessly quotable—just remember to "thrill me."

CHOPPING MALL Jim Wynorski turns a suburban mall into a neon death trap as killer security robots go haywire. Laser blasts, big hair, and after-hours carnage make this a perfect slice of '80s horror cheese.

TERRORVISION Ted Nicolau delivers a goo-soaked blast of Charles Band/Empire weirdness as a suburban TV dish invites an alien nightmare into the living room. Loud, gross, and gloriously ridiculous, it's peak midnight-movie insanity.

KILLER PARTY Canuxploitation veteran William Fruet starts with college pranks before swerving into supernatural slasher territory. The tonal whiplash is half the fun in this strange and scrappy '80s oddity.

So jump in the time machine with our awesome panel of 1980s enthusiasts (Anish Jethmalani, Tim Palace, Dave James Parker, Larry Sternshein) and head back 40 years to a time when practical effects ruled, VHS boxes promised outrageous thrills, and filmmakers weren't afraid to mix genuine scares with a wink and a grin.
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ANISH JETHMALANI is Chicago Actor who has been on stages and screens for 30 years. You may recognize him from the horror flick Girl on the Third Floor with CM Punk. He is passionate Cinephile who contributed an essay on The Omen for the original HORROR 101: The A-List of Horror Films and Monster Movies. You can find him on letterboxed at https://letterboxd.com/ajet/

TIM PALACE is a lifelong Chicago-based genre fan with a particular devotion to the horrific. A committed collector of physical media, Tim has amassed close to 13,000 titles he's excited to share with his new terror tyke Oliver.

DAVE JAMES PARKER is a YouTube film reviewer, collector, and former indie actor who has been running the Mr. Parka YouTube channel and podcast ‪‪@mrparka‬ for over 15 years. In recent years he has started a deep dive into 1980s horror films where he often collaborates with horror journalist, podcasters, and authors to discuss an assorted mix of genre films. He has made appearances in notable indie horrors Headless and Applecart.

LARRY STERNSHEIN is a lifelong movie fan in Colorado and host of the movie memories podcast "Reel Early." Not only does he love talking about horror and action cinema, but is also a big pro wrestling fan.
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Keep Searching, Keep Exploring, and, most of all, Keep Sharing the Scare!