This Week in Horror History | Freaky, The X-Files, DOOM & The Mad Ghoul - Nov 9-Nov 15

0:00 November has settled in, and suddenly everything requires a little more trust. You trust the headlights to reach the next bend. You trust the doctor holding the scalpel. You trust that the person wearing a familiar face is still the person you know. This week, horror history makes those very ordinary assumptions look terribly optimistic. A teenager gets a killer's body. An artist gets much too attached to his subjects, and a hospital develops a problem no malpractice policy could possibly cover. Meanwhile, hell finds a room in a handheld console, and a forgotten universal scientist decides another man's life is his to rearrange.

0:51 So check the mirror, read the consent form fully, keep both hands on your controller, and pray for the sun. to rise. Welcome back to This Week in Horror History, your weekly time machine through the creepiest anniversaries in film, TV, books, comics, and games. I'm your host Enrique Couto, and tonight we're talking about November 9th through the 15th. Coming up, Freaky turns a familiar body swap comedy into a very bloody identity crisis. John Carradine pulls the strings in Bluebeard. The X-Files takes an alarming appointment at a cosmetic surgery clinic.

1:44 And Doom brings its demons to Nintendo Switch. After the break, our deep-cut spotlight opens the laboratory door on the Mad Ghoul, where a trusted teacher has a particularly ugly lesson planned. Then come four birthdays and a roadside recommendation with no room to turn around. November 13th, 2020, Freaky opens in U.S. theaters, putting a slasher spin on the Body Swap movie. Christopher Landon directs, and he co-wrote the screenplay with Michael Kennedy.

2:24 Catherine Newton plays Millie, a high school senior who becomes the target of Vince Vaughn's serial killer, The Butcher. A mystical dagger changes the arrangement up. They wake up in each other's bodies, and Millie has... 24 hours to undo the switch. It turns into a terrific horror comedy trap. The person who looks dangerous needs help. The person who might be underestimated by everyone else has suddenly acquired a phenomenal and inscrutable disguise. Vaughn gets to play a frightened teenager navigating a very conspicuous adult body while Newton gets the frightening freedom of being mistaken for somebody harmless and cute.

3:12 The joke keeps changing who has the power in the room. Under the laughs, it asks a useful question in slasher films. How much of our survival instinct depends on recognizing the threat before it gets close? It's a really fun film, and I caught it during its pandemic-era theatrical run, where it pulled in about $ 18. 1 million worldwide against a reported budget of $ 5 to $ 6 million, so still a hit even as movie theaters were slowly but surely reopening. You can stream it right now with a Peacock Premium or Premium Plus subscription, and of course rent or buy it at the usual suspect's Amazon Prime Video, Fandango at Home, and Apple TV. November 11th, 1944. Bluebeard receives its U.S. release.

4:09 Edgar G. Ulmer directs John Carradine as Gaston Morrill, an artist and puppeteer in 19th century Paris. Jean Parker plays Lucille, a seamstress drawn into his world while a strangler's crimes frighten the city. A man who can make little figures move exactly the way he wants them to is already an unnerving enough starting point. This was a PRC production, but the creative pedigree reaches beyond its modest studio. The AFI catalog records Ulmer's account that Eugene Schuften, credited as production designer, actually handled the cinematography without that credit because he lacked the required union membership. AFI says his biography supports the account. That's a substantial piece of film history hiding behind a cheap thrill ride of a film. The attraction, though, is Carradine's mixture of refinement and menace. Art becomes a way to possess people, and the puppets make that desire uncomfortably literal. Be wary of any artist who prefers people only after arranging them. Reportedly, the production budget was about $ 170, 000, so pretty low, and unfortunately, I could not find any box office information, so I guess we'll have to assume it was a monster hit. And this is one that is highly underrated. The 1940s are kind of a dead

5:41 zone for a lot of kind of low-budget thrill-ride kinds of movies, but this one is definitely worth giving a watch. It's free with ads on Tubi, and of course you can rent or buy it on the usual suspects, Amazon Prime, Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at home. November 10th, 1996. The X-Files premieres Sanguinarium on U.S. television. Season 4, Episode 6 brings Mulder and Scully to a hospital where murders suggest that a plastic surgeon may be using black magic to extend his own life. Richard Boehmer appears as Dr. Jack Franklin.

6:25 If you were hoping for a reassuring medical drama, you've taken a wrong turn in your podcast listening. The clever part of the setup is the clash between two promises— Cosmetic surgery offers change through physical intervention, but witchcraft offers change through supernatural intervention. So put them together and the language of improvement becomes a threat whose body pays for someone else's better life. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson give that premise the familiar investigative frame. We follow evidence into a place that is supposed to be controlled, professional, clean, where the people with access are also the people everyone expects to trust. The monsters don't need a secret tunnel into this building. They can already get through via the staff entrance. This is a classic episode and definitely one worth revisiting. You can stream the entire series on Hulu.

7:27 It's in Season 4 of The X-Files, definitely one of their standouts. November 10th, 2017. Doom launches on Nintendo Switch. This anniversary belongs specifically to the portable adaptation of id Software's 2016 shooter developed for Switch by Panic Button with Bethesda and id. Doom takes the horror arrangement and hands the human an outrageous amount of firepower. The demons are relentless, the guns enormous, and standing still is generally a poor decision. Instead of conserving a few precious bullets while something hunts you, your push toward motion and aggression, it's It's a monster movie where you get to interrupt the monster in the most explosive way possible. Putting that experience into a handheld machine also changes the setting around the player. The Invasion no longer needs to stay attached to the living room television.

8:30 An alarming amount of hell can fit between just two small controllers. Of course, Doom is a classic, and this just kind of brought it on a road trip with you, didn't it? Now, of course, Switch is a bit older, and I don't know that there's any way to purchase this beyond buying a used copy and a used Switch, but I think it's worth mentioning any time there's a little Doom history, because it's really horror history. I mean, a video game that refuses to die almost as much as the boss battles in it. Tomorrow on Weekly Spooky, Trevor remembers a video game nobody else can find. In 1993, Puka Mauka Splash was worth abandoning his dream bicycle. His grandfather takes him and his dog to the mall, slipping past an enormous line. But something is wrong. Trevor sees men gathered around a fountain. His grandfather calls it Empty.

9:41 An ancient attendant wears a bag without eye holes. Children enter one at a time while their grandparents wait behind. Beyond a black curtain, buying a game becomes almost something else entirely. Puka. Maunka Splash by Alex Grass premieres tomorrow on Weekly Spooky. So make sure you're subscribed and remember, some memories stay lost for a reason. All right, spookies, let's take a quick breather. But after the break, we're heading to November 12th, 1943, and the U.S. release of The Mad Ghoul. A professor has an experimental gas, a student he can manipulate, and a romantic rivalry he intends to solve in the most gruesome way possible. The Mad Ghoul We're back. Let's get into it. On November 12th, 1943, Universal releases The Mad Ghoul in the United States. James Hogan directs, David Bruce plays medical student Ted Allison, and George Zuko plays Dr. Alfred Morris, the professor whose admiration

11:14 for his promising student has some extremely important limits. Evelyn Anchors is Isabelle. Ted's fiancée, a singer caught in the doctor's schemes. Morris experiments with a gas that the movie attributes to ancient Mayan knowledge. The gas produces a death-like state, and Morris uses it to turn Ted into an obedient instrument. A temporary restorative involves herbs and heart fluids. The professor's laboratory work quickly creates some very unpleasant business outside the classroom. The ghoul here isn't simply a stranger arriving from the cemetery.

11:58 He's a young man whose mentor has taken control of him. That makes it nastier than just another monster chase. The person who should be helping Ted build a future is methodically stealing it from him. Morris even exploits the student's relationship with Isabelle. Scientific authority and personal jealousy become the same weapon. At roughly 65 minutes, it's a compact detour through Universal's less famous horror catalog. You don't need another chapter of a celebrated monster's mythology in order to enjoy it. You just need one expert who believes his own desires justify treating another person as equipment. That's the part that carries it beyond the laboratory craziness. The biggest danger isn't what Morris has discovered. It's what he feels entitled to do with the discovery. A highly underrated film, in my opinion, and totally worth a watch if you like your horror a little... Black and white while being oddly gray in every other way. It's available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at home. Now it's time to bust out the creepy candles for a few birthdays in horror history. Starting on November 10th, 1967, when Michael Jai White is born... As Al Simmons in Spawn,

13:32 he brought a formidable physical presence to a comic book hero who was dragged straight through hell. A very happy birthday, Michael Jai White. Born on November 11th, 1962, is Demi Moore. From the creature horror film Parasite to the modern horror of The Substance, she's given the body plenty of frightening reasons to rebel. A very happy birthday, Demi Moore. Born on November 12, 1904, Jacques Tourneur, the director of Cat People and I Walked With a Zombie, who made Suggestion feel dangerously substantial, one of the early masters in the horror genre. A very happy birthday, Jacques Tourneur. And finally, born on November 13, 1953, Francis Conroy. Her many American horror story characters can make a quiet look feel just as threatening as a scream at the top of your lungs.

14:35 A very happy birthday, Francis Conroy, and all of our horror birthdays. For our then and now, this week's thread is permission. In 1943, a professor takes control of a student's body. In 1944, an artist's possessiveness becomes a nightmare. By 1996, the promise of physical improvement opens the door to occult exploitation. Freaky flips the threat into stolen identity, while Doom answers invasion by giving the player all the room they need to fight back. Different decades, different tools, one stubborn question. When someone treats your body as their opportunity, how do you get your control back? And for our recommendation, if you want to finish this week out with a smaller, meaner patch of darkness, queue up this Roadside Nightmare, released on November 11th, 2016, in select U.S. theaters. Queue up The Monster from 2016. Brian Bertino, the writer-director behind The Strangers, puts a mother and daughter on a late-night drive that becomes survival after a collision leaves their car disabled. Zoe

16:09 Kazan and Ella Ballantine play the stranded pair. Something in the surrounding woods has no intention of letting them leave. After all our stories about people claiming power over others, this offers another kind of frightening dependence. A child needs an adult to make the right decisions, and a parent has to act while terrified. The damaged car gives that relationship a brutally clear boundary. Inside is only relatively safe, and help has to reach them through the same darkness that contains the threat. Its appeal is the stripped-down situation.

16:50 A road, a vehicle that won't cooperate, two vulnerable people, and the distance between what they can see and what might be waiting. Save it for a night when you can give that small space your full attention. It's a great little thriller that'll make you a little more afraid to pull over on the side of the road. And it's available to buy or rent on Amazon Prime Video, Fandango at Home, or Apple TV. among many others. So go on, take a ride in the dark. Well, my spookies, that was your trip through November 9th to 15th in Horror History. I hope it added something interesting to your watch list, and if you have a friend who loves horror and history, send them this episode. It really helps out, and while you're at it, leave a rating on your favorite podcasting app like Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And make sure you're subscribed because there's more waiting right here on the weekly spooky feed, a fresh horror story every Wednesday, and then of course terrifying and true on Mondays. I've been your host Enrique Couto, and I'll of course see you here next Tuesday with more horror history. Until then, remember, our days are numbered because that's how we tell them apart.

18:11 See you next week.