This Week in Horror History | Poltergeist, Psycho II & The Omen's 6/6/06 Curse

0:01 June arrives with sunshine, cookouts, school letting out, and horror crawling out from under the suburban lawn. This week, the scary stuff gets domestic. A motel reopens, a little girl talks to the television, a cursed child gets the perfect release date, and one night a year, the neighbors become monsters because the law says they can so close the blinds, check the TV static, and if someone says everything is safe, ask who benefits from you believing that? Welcome back to this week in horror history. Your weekly time is Ma Sheen through the creepiest anniversaries in film, TV, books, and games.

1:06 I'm your host, Enrique Kuto, and tonight we're talking about June first through June seventh. Coming up, Norman Bates comes home, Suburbia discovers the mortgage can come with ghosts attached, The Antichrist gets a release date, nobody forgets, and Blumhouse asks what happens when violence becomes a civic holiday. Then, right after the break, our deep cut spotlight shines on genetic engineering, parental failure, and the moment curiosity stops being science and becomes sin. June third, nineteen eighty three. Psycho two hits theaters and on this shouldn't work. You're following Alfred Hitchcock, bringing Norman Bates back after twenty three years and asking the audience to return to the motel, the fruit seller and the mother shaped shadow hanging over everything. But somehow Psycho two becomes one of Horror's great Wait, this is actually good sequels, and I really do stand by that.

2:30 Anthony Perkins makes Norman painfully human, a man trying to build a normal life while everyone around him treats sanity like a temporary costume. I'm happy to say that time has been very, very kind to Psycho two. It's a film that delivers in pretty much every way while not being a total copy of the original Psycho. Anthony Perkins is on point. The greenplay by Tom Holland, a man who would go on to direct both Child's Play and Fright Night, among many other films, checks all the right boxes, and then Richard Franklin's direction does the job well while not constantly trying to recreate Hitchcock, because who really can.

3:19 And it was a hit. It made about thirty four point seven million dollars at the box office on a reported five million dollar budget. If you've never given Psycho To a chance because you felt like there was no way it could live up to the original, and that is a fair concern, you really should give it a watch. And if you've seen it and felt like you were underwhelmed originally, a revisit is just what you need. It's currently streaming on Prime Video included with your subscription, or to rent or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home. June fourth, nineteen eighty two, Poltergeist arrives in theaters and the safest place in America suddenly looks like a very well appointed trap. It isn't a rotting mansion.

4:18 It's a nice family house with toys, snacks, television, and bedtime routines. Then the TV talks back, the closet becomes the mouth, a tree becomes a predator. The swimming pool becomes a grave. Someone built a normal life on top of something buried, then acted shocked when the ground had a memory. Poltergeist has every right to be a classic. Not only was it produced by the legendary Steven Spielberg, but it was directed by Toby Hooper from Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

5:00 There are a lot of people who try to claim Toby didn't actually direct the film, and I think it's scurless. I really think Toby did direct Poltergeist. I think Steven Spielberg had a lot of input, and from everything I've ever heard about Toby Hooper, he loved to collaborate and he was always open to suggestions, So I think that it was just simply a solid collaboration that made a monster hit. In fact, it made about one hundred and twenty one point seven million dollars worldwide on roughly ten point seven million dollars in budget, a major hit and one of the defining supernatural horror films of the nineteen eighties. So if you need to meet Captain Howdy for the first time, or just want to catch up for old time's sake, Poltergeist is available to watch right now on MGM Plus with a subscription, and of course you can rent or buy it on Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at home. June sixth, two thousand and six, the Omen remake opens. That's right, that's on six six six.

6:12 Because sometimes the marketing department gets handed a gift from Time itself. A remake of The Omen centered on Damien, the child who may very well be the Antichrist, arriving on the calendar's most obvious number of the beast. Gag. This is the studio kind of whispering to each other. Come on, you know you want to. The film is a slicker two thousand's version of the nineteen seventy six classic with Leave Schreiber, Julia Stiles, and Mia Farrow. And it's a perfectly formidable remake. I mean it often played with your expectations and awareness of the original movie, which that alone really helped make the film stand out. That and a very intense scene involving in embolism. Man, I still think about that one. But the real hook here, the reason it is horror history is because of the release date. Horror loves symbols, and this one turned a Tuesday release into an event. And I was there, my spookies.

7:21 I was there at the drive in movie theater the Dixie Twin in Dayton, Ohio, seeing the Omen remake on sixt' six o six, proudly ready to watch it. And it really did pay off, because about one hundred and twenty million dollars was brought in worldwide on a reported twenty five million dollar budget, so whether you want to revisit it or watch it for the first time. I have often said two thousands horror films are aging pretty well, so it's probably worth checking out. It's available to rent or buy on Apple, TV, Fandango at Home, and Prime Video.

8:05 June seventh, twenty thirteen, The Purge opens in United States theaters and turns one sentence into a franchise machine. For twelve hours, all crime, including murder, is legal. That premise hits before the film even begins. It's got home invasion, dystopia, political and social satire, and it's all squeezed into one very blunt nightmare, a rich family, a bloody night and the ugly question of who gets to feel safe when society takes the mask off literally and figuratively. This was a shockingly simple but brilliant concept that led to a huge franchise with I think we're at five total Purge films and two seasons of a TV series, a TV series that was highly underrated. By the way, I do really recommend checking that out, especially if you want to understand the Purge world a little bit more. The TV series dives deep into the dystopia and the realities Commercially, it was a rocket ship made around ninety one million dollars worldwide on a reported three million dollar budget. That is Blumhouse math at its most terrifying. So if you're ready for another Purge night, you know, to spice up

9:35 a date night or what have you. It's available to rent or buy on Prime Video, Fandango at Home, and Apple TV. This summer football season starts early last fall. Eddie Peewee Richter became a Strickfield legend when he helped take down a seven foot nightmare in a double zero jersey, a monster everyone now calls the Demon. But now it's June Camp. Redfeather has been turned into a college football training camp. The heat is rising and pressure is building.

10:17 Peewee is waking up screaming from nightmares of the night that Greg Branlake stopped being human. Only this time it isn't just a nightmare. The Demon is back, and he's stronger and crueler, and he has unfinished business with everyone who stood on that field when Strickfield High won the championship. Teammates are being hunted, bodies are dropping, and Peewee just learned the terrifying truth. This may have all started with a cursed jersey and a dead rival who never truly left the game. Tomorrow Wednesday is the beginning of our summer mini series titled Summer of the Demon, a brutal, fast moving, strickfield nightmare packed with football camp terror, demonic revenge, and the kind of monster you can never outrun. Part one kicks off tomorrow, so make sure you're subscribed. All right, spookies, Time for a quick breather. But when we come back, we're going into our deep cut spotlight, heading back to twenty ten. It's about brilliant scientists who create something impossible, then realize the real monster might be what they're willing to excuse because they made it. And we're back, so

12:05 let's get into it. Come along, spookyes. On June fourth, twenty ten, Splice opens in wide release and gives the week its strangest and stickiest nightmare. Adrian Brody and Sarah Pawley play Clive and Elsa scientists combining animal DNA. Then they go even further human DNA added secretly and recklessly. In horror, Just to see if We Can is basically the same as reading Latin from a book bound in human skin. What they create is Dren part experiment, part child, part creature, part mirror. And that's where Splice gets more uncomfortable than a simple monster made in a lab kind of movie. The horror is not just that Dren exists.

13:11 It's that Clive and Elsa keep changing what she is depending on what lets them avoid responsibility. Science, child, animal secret. Splice isn't really asking whether we should fear genetic engineering. It's asking what happens when human beings get godlike tools while still carrying human cowardice, jealousy, ego, and need. Dren's design is unforgettable. It's graceful, but innocent and always upsetting. The movie makes you care about something that shouldn't exist, then makes you sit with how dangerous that care becomes.

13:59 At the box office, Splice underperformed about twenty seven point one million dollars worldwide on a reported thirty million dollar budget, which is a hefty budget for a horror film, but as a deep cut, it is aged into a chilling cautionary tale where the laboratory is clean, the ethics are rotten, and the monster is born long before the creature hatches. It's truly a memorable film and absolutely a worthy deep cut. Unfortunately, the availability is not great right now. Your best option is to get a hold of a physical copy on Amazon or wherever you buy your physical media, and there were rumblings that it might be available on DirectTV if you're a subscriber, but otherwise I can't find it really anywhere. Now, let's take a moment to celebrate so birthdays in the horror realm, starting with one that is very synonymous with my childhood. Born on June first, nineteen seventy seven, is Danielle Harris, Halloween franchise survivor and Jamie Lloyd herself, a modern scream queen with serious slasher credibility and one of the best reputations with fans out there. A very happy birthday, Danielle Harris born on June fourth, nineteen fifty six. Keith David,

15:34 not to be confused with my confusion a few weeks back of David Keith, I know, I know, But Keith David is a phenomenal actor. He has that voice, that presence and genre immortality through the thing they live, Pitch Black and so much more. Keith David has the voice, he has the look, and In They Live, he brings the film together and manages to hold his own with Rowdy Roddy Piper, both in charisma and in physical fighting. So Happy birthday, Keith David. Now we're talking just straight up horror royalty because born on June sixth, nineteen forty seven, Robert England Freddy Krueger, full stop, What more do you need?

16:27 I mean, he's Freddy Krueger. And they tried another Freddy Krueger and it didn't work as well as Robert England because he has the theatricality, the cruelty, the humor, and he just pushes this mythicness about him. He's an actor beyond Freddy Krueger. But if we're talking about horror history, this is about as big as you get without playing Dracula or the Wolfman for the first time, and he has other great horror contributions, but come on, man, Freddy Kruger. Happy Birthday, Robert England. And finally, born on June seventh, nineteen oh nine, Jessica Tandy, elegant, legendary, and forever part of Hitchcock history thanks to her contributions in The Birds.

17:20 Happy Birthday, Jessica Tandy, are then and now. This week is horror moving into spaces that are supposed to be controlled. Psycho two says the past isn't dead just because the court says you're free and saying. Poltergeist says the dream house can still be built on a grave. The Omen says evil can be packaged, dated and sold like an event. The Purge says the real monster may be civilization with the rules turned off, and Splice asks the modern question, what if creation is easy, but responsibility is the part where not evolved enough to handle. For our weekly recommendation, if you want something vicious, funny, and deeply uncomfortable to pair with this week's horror history mood, give the loved Ones a watch. Released in limited US theaters on June first, twenty twelve, Sean Burns, Australian horror film takes the familiar teen nightmare of prom Night and twists it into something nastier, with rejection, obsession, captivity, family dysfunction, and one of modern

18:50 horror's most deranged special occasions. The setup is simple and brutal. Brent turns down Lola's inn to the school dance. Lola doesn't take it well. What follows is part torture horror, part pitch black teen movie, and part nightmare fairy tale with Robin mcleevy giving a performance that feels like prom queen and spoiled child and monster all fighting for the same crown. Give it a watch. It's available to rent or buy on Prime Video, Apple TV, and you guessed it, Fandango at Home. That's your trip through June first to June seventh in horror history. Don't forget tomorrow Wednesday. There's a fresh horror story for you as we begin our five part summer mini series with Summer of the Demon.

19:52 You're not going to want to miss it, so make sure you're subscribed on your favorite podcast app. And of course there's always something fun and freaky on Friday, a compilation of horror stories on Saturday and whatever on Earth Unknown Broadcast is so yeah, a subscription. That's a good idea, And make sure to come back next Tuesday for another dive through horror history with all the blood soaked nerding out you've come to expect and I would assume enjoy. So until next time, remember our days are numbered, because that's how we tell them apart. See you next week.