Rogues Gallery

Latest Episodes:

Case File 032: Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors) Mar 24, 2021

Show notes

We're re-opening our case file on the Springwood Slasher to investigate what might be the fan favorite entry in this franchise - A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors. Although the second film had been poorly received by fans and critics, its box office earnings proved that there was still enough interest in this property to warrant another installment. And who better to provide the necessary course correction the studio was looking for than the man who had created all of this in the first place? After sitting out the first sequel, Wes Craven returned with a bold new vision for where to take the series. A little too bold it turns out. The initial script he co-wrote with Bruce Wagner contained all of the foundational elements that wound up in the finished product, but with a MUCH darker tone. We explore Craven's original take on the Dream Warriors concept, why New Line Cinema didn't go for it, and how his departure from the project ultimately set the stage for this to transform into the movie we all know and love today. Other topics include: how Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont reworked the Craven/Wagner script in just eleven days, the fine line they manage to walk with the film's tone, New Line's initial concerns that the filmmakers might be going too far with the more humorous elements, how Dream Warriors set the template for subsequent sequels, what our dream powers would be, our favorite sequences in the movie, and much more! Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Play | Spotify Chris's Instagram & Twitter | Kristen's Instagram Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler Floating Cities by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3765-floating-cities License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Case File 031: Macavity (Cats) Mar 10, 2021

Show notes

Andrew Lloyd Weber's Cats was the first blockbuster musical and although critics were dismissive of its emphasis on spectacle over story, audiences lapped it up. The same cannot be said for the 2019 feature film adaptation. The movie took the internet by storm and led to a treasure trove of tweets and memes, but dodgy CGI aside - what exactly went wrong here? How did something so reliably successful in one medium utterly crash and burn in another? When dealing with source material that was so notoriously light on plot, it's understandable that the filmmakers would want to give this a slightly more traditional structure. Was expanding the role of the villainous Macavity the right move to achieve this? Let's get to work on our case file and find out. Topics include, the book of poems that inspired the musical, the financial risk it took to stage the original production, the record breaking runs on Broadway and the West End, the animated adaptation that never came to fruition, Tom Hooper's unorthodox approach to Les Misérables and how well those same methods worked on Cats, Macavity's plan to take out the competition, the rushed post-production schedule, the visual effects nightmare, and much more!

Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler

Peppers Theme by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4998-peppers-theme License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Case File 030: The Invisible Man (2020) Feb 24, 2021

Show notes

Kristen, Mike, and Chris open a case file on Adrian Griffin and investigate Blumhouse's remake of The Invisible Man. Topics include: the collapse of Universal's "Dark Universe" and how the failure of The Mummy paved the way for this reimagining of the classic H.G. Wells story, the "simpler=better" approach to the special effects, the decision to shift the focus from the title character to one of his victims, how effectively the opening scene essentially teaches you to watch the rest of the movie, your answers to Ultimate Match Up, our thoughts on the proposed sequel, and more!

Case File 029: The Grand High Witch (The Witches) Feb 10, 2021

Show notes

The 1990 film adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches remains a cult classic for those of us that grew up with it and a big part of that is definitely Angelica Huston's terrifying performance as The Grand High Witch. The film doesn't just traumatize its young viewers, though - it also empowers them. It's a world where even the most evil of forces can be conquered by the smallest of creatures. Not everyone was a fan, however, and Dahl himself wound up being one of its biggest detractors. He was so disappointed by the changes they made to his source text that it reportedly brought him to tears. That being the case, we can't help but wonder how he would have felt about the more recent adaptation that hit HBO Max late last year. Topics include: the banning of the original book, other actresses considered for The Grand High Witch, makeup vs cgi in the design of the title characters, the effect Angelica Huston had on 90s audiences, the setting of the 2020 version and the impact that had on the film's themes, the "limb controversy" sparked by the 2020 version, the post-production problems that delayed the release of the 1990 version, and much more! Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Google Play | Spotify Chris' Instagram & Twitter | Kristen's Instagram Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler

Case File 028: Sadako/Samara (Ringu/The Ring) Jan 27, 2021

Show notes

In 2002, Gore Verbinski's The Ring had American audiences terrified of their VHS tapes - but Japanese audiences had been relishing in this terror since the original 1998 release of Ringu. While both films featured a psychokinetic girl climbing out of a well and into our living rooms, they each took a different approach to exploring that premise.

Topics include: the reluctant horror novelist that spawned the series, Sadako and Samara's abuse at the hands of their parents, the remake's viral marketing campaign and its featured character we never met, how chain letters and memes inspired Gore Verbinski, the role parenthood plays in both films, Hans Zimmer's soundtrack, the resulting resurgence of J-Horror, and much more!

Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler

Case File 027: Max Cady (Cape Fear) Jan 13, 2021

Show notes

Gregory Peck headlined the 1962 film Cape Fear, but it was Robert Mitchum's portrayal of serial rapist Max Cady that scandalized audiences. In 1991, director Martin Scorsese's remake would push those boundaries even further thanks to Robert De Niro's more violent, more explicit, and more carnal interpretation of Cady.

Topics include: the novel that inspired the story, Cady's relationship to Bowden prior to the film, alternate casting choices, the Spielberg version of the remake that we'll never get to see, what sets Nick Nolte's version of Bowden apart, why the original film received an X rating, the Simpsons parody, and much more!

Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler String Impromptu Number 1 by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4425-string-impromptu-number-1 License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Case File 026: The Grinch (How The Grinch Stole Christmas) Dec 16, 2020

Show notes

On this episode, we're investigating two very different interpretations of Dr. Seuss' ultimate holiday meanie - The Grinch. Join us as we compare and contrast the classic 1966 TV special How The Grinch Stole Christmas with the 2000 live-action feature film adaptation. Topics include: Seuss' original inspiration for the character, his reluctance to sign off on screen adaptations, why the Grinch is green, how two different directors stretched this short children's tale to the required length, the different approaches to Cindy Lou Who, how the beloved dog Max came to be under the Grinch's care, Jim Carrey's hellish experience with his costume and his extreme coping mechanisms, the 2018 Illumination version, what makes us Grinchy, and more!

Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler Deck the Halls A by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3630-deck-the-halls-a License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Case File 025: The Gremlin (The Twilight Zone) Dec 02, 2020

Show notes

On this episode, we're investigating three different versions of one of The Twilight Zone's most famous stories - Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. We take a closer look at the classic episode from the original series, the concluding segment of 1983's Twilight Zone: The Movie, and the unique spin the 2019 revival puts on the premise with Nightmare at 30,000 Feet.

Topics include: the short story by Richard Matheson that the original episode was based on, why its most obvious shortcoming might be because of how closely it interprets that source material, the reason it's still the most successful version in terms of pacing, the manic energy of the 1983 adaptation, the pros and cons of the most recent version's reinvention, our favorite version of The Gremlin, why every revival of The Twilight Zone seems to struggle to recapture its spirit, and more!

Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler

Case File 024: Leatherface (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre) Nov 18, 2020

Show notes

With Thanksgiving right around the corner for those of us here in the States, it felt like the right time to revisit one of the most famous family dinners in cinematic history. Pull up a chair and dig in as we open up a case file on Leatherface from 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Topics include: the unimaginable circumstances this low-budget film was assembled under, the controversy it caused upon its release, how it's able to trick you into thinking you saw something so much more graphic than what's actually on screen, the aspects of this that none of the other entries in this franchise have been able to capture, where the series goes from here, and more!

Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler

Case File 023: Furiosa (Mad Max: Fury Road) Nov 04, 2020

Show notes

Oh what a day! What a lovely day! We're taking a look at Mad Max: Fury Road and opening a case file on one of our favorite modern antiheroes: Imperator Furiosa. Topics include: the setbacks previous iterations of this film faced during its two decade journey to the big screen, why the finished version may have benefited from those delays, behind the scenes tension between cast and crew, what the film can teach us about world building and visual storytelling, how it compares to previous Mad Max films, whether or not there's any merit to the argument that Furiosa overshadows our title character, how we feel about the recently announced spin-off, what we'd like to see in further sequels, and much more!

Chris & Kristen's Web Series: The Strange Case of Lucy Chandler

Unnatural Situation by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4567-unnatural-situation License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected