This Week in Horror History | Splatter Films & Supernatural Folklore

Some say, summer horror is supposed to be simple. You go outside, you find a little adventure, You let the heat convince you that the world is bigger, brighter, and safer than it really is. Then horror History steps in and says, actually, that cave keeps on going, that camp has a curse, that camera wants another picture, The dead are already under the floorboards, and somewhere very far away, the tall man is still waiting. This week, we're dealing with horror that changes the rules, a grindhouse landmark that pushed screen violence into a new era, a cursed camera video game, one of the great cave nightmares, a summer camp slasher with a supernatural bloodline, and a zombie movie so grimy it practically crawls out of the ground.

So keep your flashlight close, don't trust family rituals. And if you hear a metal sphere humming down the hallway, duck. Welcome back to this Week in Horror History, your weekly time machine through the creepiest anniversaries in film, TV, books, and games. I'm your host, Henrique Couto, and tonight we're delving into July sixth through July twelfth. Coming up a splatter film, Landmark reportedly begins Shocking Theoria, a psychological horror game turns an instant camera into a cursed object. Neil Marshall sends a group of friends into one of horror's worst caves, and Netflix brings r. L Stein's Street into summer camp slasher territory.

Then, right after the break, our Deep Cut spotlight Italian zombie bizarity with crumbling bodies, a cursed a state, and the kind of undead chaos that only Italian horror can provide. January sixth, nineteen sixty three, Blood Feast plays Peoria, Illinois, and horror history gets a whole lot messier. Herschel Gordon Lewis's infamous Shocker is often discussed as a turning point for screen gore. Cheap, straight to the point, outrageous, and built to make audiences react out loud. The plot is pure exploitation, an Egyptian caterer, ritual murders, and a plan to resurrect an ancient goddess, but the real historical is what it represents.

Blood Feast helped drag horror out of the shadows and into the grindhouse, where the promise was no longer just atmosphere. It was impact and it was a pretty moist, to say the least, tasteful, not exactly important, absolutely entertaining. Hell yeah. I had the fortune of meeting Herschel Gordon Lewis several times in my younger years, and he was one of the most warm, kind, friendly guys, super knowledgeable and you would never guess he had invented an entire genre of exploitation films, but he sure did. I got to play the violin live with him at Cinema Wasteland and a bunch of horror hosts while we were performing a song from two Thousand Maniacs.

It's one of my most cherished memories. So if you want to make your reservation for the Blood Feast, there are a few places you can see it. It's currently streaming on Indie Flicks with your subscription, or to rent or buy at Fandango, at Home, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video. July eighth, twoenty twenty two, Madison releases for PC, PlayStation and Xbox, and the Haunted House game gets a nasty little upgrade a camera that doesn't simply document the nightmare it participates in. It You play as Luca trapped in a house with a cursed instant camera and a ritual that feels like it's been waiting for you.

Personally, what makes Madison effective is how familiar the tools are. A hallway, a locked door, a photograph, a noise from another room. But the camera turns every look into a big risk because you don't see the haunting so much as develop it. Talk about combining ghosts and haunting with some serious nostalgia. If you want to play this game and get yourself spooked out, it's available digitally on Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch platforms, with VR versions also available. Might have to check that out because I have a VR, I basically never use Typical. May July eighth, two thousand and five.

The Descent opens theatrically in the UK and Ireland, and Modern Horror finds one of its most perfect pressure cookers. A group of women enter an unmapped cave system that premise is already terrifying before anything supernatural even appears. The darkness is close, the rock is tight, the way back becomes pretty questionable. Then the movie makes it even worse than Just as terrifying as spelunking is Neil Marshall's film works because the cave isn't just a setting. It's grief, panic, betrayal, and survival instinct, all formed into stone. By the time the creatures arrive, you already feel like the earth has swallowed you whole.

This is one of those movies. Man. I can't believe it only came out No. Five because in a way, I feel like it's always existed, because the first time I watched The Descent, I was hooked, I was scared, I was anxious. It did everything you want a good horror film to do to you. And I even liked the sequel, even though it's you know, it gets a lot of mixed reviews, but I liked The Descent too, So it's a damn good one. And if you've never seen it, you need to watch it. And if it's been a while, why not pop it on This week?

It's available to watch free with ads on to b Plex and the Roku channel, or of course, you can rent or buy it on Fandango, at home, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video. And I extra love the film for giving me an excuse to use the word spelunking. July ninth, twenty twenty one, Fear Street Part two nineteen seventy eight releases on Netflix, and the trilogy heads to Camp Nightwing. This is the middle chapter, but it knows exactly what flavor it wants to bring. Summer Camp, Cursed Town mythology, teen panic, and pure slasher energy filtered through R.

L Stein's world of Shady Side and Sunny Vil. It's not just a nostalgia machine. The movie uses familiar camp horror ingredients. I mean, you've got the cabins, you got the counselors, the rivalries, the killer, and the woods to build a bigger story about generation doom in Shady Side Horror is not random, It's inherited, and as a lifelong R. L Stein fan, I can't lie. I really enjoyed this series. In Part two hit all those nostalgia buttons super duper hard, So I enjoyed the hell out of it. Anything rl Stein I'm gonna dig on. In fact, I just found out that this October they're releasing rl Stein's Pumpkinhead two to be Original sequel to the to be original rl Stein's Pumpkinhead.

I can't wait anything with arl Stein on it. I wasn't a huge goosebumps kid because I was reading the fear Street books way too young, and Netflix taking Fear Street and making it straight up adult, I think was probably smart. Instead of trying to pander to modern teen audiences, they decided to make a film for the millennial who grew up enjoying those and now they're back regularly hurts. That's entropy for you. But if you want to give it a watch, if you haven't seen the fear Street series, it's on Netflix. Easy enough, Man, That was easy Tomorrow on Weekly Spooky Nature is Calling and it wants revenge.

In Branch Manager by Gary Dee up in Ontario, three exhausted telemarketers head deep into Algonquin Park for the kind of camping trip every overworked office drone dreams about cold beer, fresh air, no more ringing phones, no angry strangers hanging up on them, just good friends, a crackling fire, and a dark forest stretching out in every direction. But when the fog rolls in and something starts dragging itself through the trees, this weekend is escape turns into a nightmare rooted in something much older than mankind. The tent is shredded, the campsite torn apart, and somewhere in the black woods, branches are moving like fingers, roots are carving through the dirt, and the trees have finally decided they are done standing still.

Now one man has to survive a forest that listens for sound, feeds on vibration, and collects campers piece by piece, because in this wilderness, the bark is not worse than the bite. The bark is the bite. Branch Manager premieres tomorrow on Weekly Spooky, So make sure you're subscribed on your favorite podcast app. Bring a flashlight, watch your step, and whatever you do, don't make a sound in the trees. All right, my spookies, let's take a quick breather, then we'll come back and dig into July ninth, nineteen eighty one and one of my personal favorites in Italian zombie movies, Ancient Dead, a countryside estate, guests who picked the worst possible weekend to relax, and zombies that don't shamble so much as claw their way through the movie like they know exactly how rotten everything is.

We're back, spookies, so let's get into it for our deep cut spotlight. We're heading to July ninth, nineteen eighty one, Burial Ground releases theatrically in its home country of Italy, and the Italian zombie horror genre gives us one of its strangest and this is the perfect word for it, scuzziest Little nightmares. Directed by Andrea Bianci, the movie drops a group of people at a country estate, adds in ancient etruscan dead, and then lets the whole thing rot in real time. This is not, by any stretch elegant zombie horror. It's not George Romero's social commentary. It's damp and weird, badly behaved, and full of imagery that feels like they were pulled from a nightmare someone should probably keep to themselves during a leisurely breakfast.

And that's why Burial Ground belongs right here in the deep cut spotlight. Because it has the off center logic of a bad dream, a mansion that never feels safe, corpses that seem determined, which I can't imagine describing a normal corpse that way, and characters who keep making the kind of choices that only happen when a movie is committed to chaos. If ever, there was a horror film that poetically had dirt under its fingernails. It's burial ground boy howdy, And I haven't even gotten into the whole side element where there is a little person actor portraying a child that just makes the film feel even more surreal.

Everything about the film is disgusting and surreal and most importantly fun. And I have a four k uhd of this very film happily in my collection courtesy of Severn. They are a great company for getting the real obscure titles. Of course, if you want to watch this film for the first time or do a nasty revisit, it's available to watch free on two BTV and Plex, and of course you can rent it or buy it on Amazon Prime Video, Fandango at Home, and maybe even Apple TV. Now let's bust out the creepy candles for some horror birthdays.

First up, born on July seventh, nineteen forty nine is Shelley Duvall, unforgettable as Wendy Torrance in The Shining. She brought a raw terror as well as a believable exhaustion and heartbreak to one of Horror's most famous hotels, and considering what she put up with to perform to that level, I think she's more than earned her spot in horror history. Happy Birthday, Shelley Duvall born on July eighth, nineteen fifty eight. Kevin Bacon. We must never forget that one of his first film roles ever was as a slasher victim in Friday the Thirteenth, and later he was of course the hero in Creature Feature and personal favorite Tremors.

He's always been genre adjacent in the best way possible. He's even had a few TV series later in his career that were very in that thriller horror Space and I really loved that Amazon Prime series. He was on The Bondsman. That was super fun, but of course it got canceled and I'm still bitter about it. But regardless of all that, A very happy birthday, Kevin Bacon born on July eighth, nineteen fifty one. Angelica Houston Gothic royalty through the Witches, the Adams Family, and a screen presence that makes elegance feel dangerous. Seriously, if it's been a while since you watched the nineties Adams Family films, give them a watch.

And Jelica Houston is like a rebirth of Bella Lagosi, except as a beautiful woman. I don't know how else to describe it. She really owns every shot she's in in that film. Just an incredible actress and so happy to have her as a little piece of horror history. Happy Birthday, Angelica Houston and finally born on July tenth, nineteen twenty six is fred Gwynn, beloved as Herman Munster and quietly devastating in pet Cemetery as jud Crandall, the neighbor who knows exactly where the road should not lead. I love everything Fred Gwinn is in, but of course Herman Munster is highly beloved.

I just watched My cousin Vinnie the other day. Not horror, but Fred Gwynn is very very good in it, and I think jud Crandall is one of the most memorable characters in that original Pet Cemetery film. Just truly an incredible personality within the genre. Happy Birthday, fred Gwynn, Our then and now this week is horror. Squeezing people into Traps nineteen sixty three pushes audiences into the grindhouse and dares them to look away. Twenty twenty two traps players inside a house where every photograph feels like consent to be Haunted two thousand and five turns the earth itself into a coffin, twenty twenty one reminds us that summer Camp Horror never really dies, and nineteen eighty one lets the dead come up from the ground, angry, ancient, and deeply unpleasant.

Different eras, same warning. Once Horror closes the door behind you, the exit is never where you left it. And for our weekly recommendation. On July eighth, nineteen eighty eight, Phantasm two released theatrically in the United States. This is definitely a solid recommendation. The original Phanfasm is dream logic and funeral home dread. Phantasm two takes that nightmare and gives it a bigger engine, more action, more weapons, more silver spears, and more of Angus Scrim's tall Man walking through reality like he owns the deed to the place. It has that perfect eighties sequel energy in the best way, strange, fast, spooky, and still tied to that core Phantasm feeling that death is not the ending.

It's a doorway and the tall Man has the keys. I love all of the Phantasm films. Phantasm two definitely the big budget action movie. Theater Popcorn, one of the bunch still a hell of a lot of fun and I can't imagine you haven't seen it, but if you haven't, you need to fix that. It has all the big action and big gross outs you would hope to get for a summer horror good time, and it's available to rent or buy at Fendango, at Home, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video. Well, my spookies, that's your trip through July sixth to July twelfth, and horror history tomorrow Wednesday here at Weekly Spooky.

Don't miss our brand new story branch manager and there's always something spooky to enjoy every single day of the week here on Weekly Spooky. So make sure you're subscribed on your favorite podcasting app. And of course I'll be back here next week with more deep dives into horror history. So until then, remember our days are numbered because that's how we tell them apart. See you next week.