Welcome to episode 51 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something greater than the sum of their parts.

This week we are exploring the amorphous world of the science fiction horror hybrid, with two movies that pit man against gelatinous monstrosities from inner and outer space.

First up, we have X the Unknown from 1956, an early entry into the horror market from British studio Hammer, This was directed by Leslie Norman and stars Dean Jagger, Leo McKern and Edward Chapman.

Then we jump forward to 1988 for the enjoyably goofy The Blob, from director Chuck Russell and co-writer Frank Darabont, and stars Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith, Donovan Leitch, Jeffrey DeMunn and Candy Clark.

Along the way, we will be discussing the careers of writer-directors Jimmy Sangster and Chuck Russell, unlikely parallels with Spielberg’s Jaws, shapeless monstrosities in the horror movie, the inspiration for and the production story of the 1958 version of the Blob, and much, much more.

References

The House that Hammer Built Volume 2, 1950 – 1954 & Volume 3: 1955–1958 by Wayne Kinsey

Hammer and Beyond: The British Horror Film by Peter Hutchings,

Hammer Films: An Exhaustive Filmography by Tom Johnson and Deborah Del Vecchio

Father of the Blob: The Making of a Monster Smash and Other Hollywood Tales by Jack H Harris

https://strasbourgfestival.com/en/interview-jimmy-sangster/

https://www.hammer-graveyard.org.uk/jimmy-sangster/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Sangster

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/21/jimmy-sangster-obituary

The Blob (1988) - Scream factory blu ray interviews, commentaries and extras

https://ia801403.us.archive.org/4/items/Fear_04_1989-01-02_no_ads/Fear_04_1989-01-02_no_ads.pdf

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0762727/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0751080/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blob_(1988_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blob

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_the_Unknown

Instagram: @thehorrordoublebill

email: thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com

youtube: @thehorrordoublebill

artwork by Justin Parker (IG jpkr_illustration.com)

Welcome to episode 50 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something greater than the sum of their parts.

Cannibal Man/The Week of the Killer/The Apartment on the 13th Floor (1972) dir. Eloy de la Iglesia, w. Vicente Parra, Emma Cohen, Eusebio Poncela, Vicky Lagos and Charly Bravo.

Ecologia del delitto/A Bay of Blood/Twitch of the Death Nerve/Carnage/Blood Bath (1971) dir. Mario Bava w. Luigi Pistilli, Claudine Auger, Claudio Camaso, Laura Betti and Anna Maria Rosati.

Recommendations

The Glass Ceiling (1971)

No-one Heard the Scream (1973)

Kill Baby Kill (1966)

Danger Diabolik! (1968)

Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970)

References

Spanish Horror Film by Antonio Lázaro-Reboll

Cannibal Man blu-ray edition (Severin Films)

Subversive Effects of Perversion: Sexuality and Social Construction in The Cannibal Man by Carlos Gómez

https://www.terrorweekend.com/2021/11/la-semana-del-asesino-review.html?m=1h

ttps://www.vanitatis.elconfidencial.com/famosos/2021-03-06/vicente-parra-galan-homosexual-amigo-sara-montiel_2977668

https://www.elconfidencial.com/cultura/2006-03-24/muere-el-realizador-de-cine-eloy-de-la-iglesia_741304

https://www.cageyfilms.com/2021/10/the-films-of-eloy-de-la-iglesia/

https://elpais.com/cultura/2006/03/23/actualidad/1143068408_850215.html

So Deadly, So Perverse Volume One by Troy Howarth,

The Haunted World of Mario Bava by Troy Howarth

Italian Horror Cinema, edited by Stefano Baschiera and Russ Hunter

A Bay of Blood blu-ray special edition (Severin Films)

https://www.davinotti.com/articoli/intervista-allo-sceneggiatore-dardano-sacchetti/55

https://www.sdangher.com/2022/04/06/speciale-reazione-a-catena-mario-bava-e-lecologia-della-critica-italiana/

https://cinepugno.home.blog/2020/10/10/interview-with-mario-bava-1970-1971/

Instagram: @thehorrordoublebill

email: thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com

youtube: @thehorrordoublebill

artwork by Justin Parker (IG jpkr_illustration.com)

Welcome to episode 49 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something greater than the sum of their parts.

Paperhouse (1988) Dir. Bernard Rose w. Charlotte Burke, Glenne Headly, Elliott Spiers, Gemma Jones

Candyman (1992) Dir. Bernard Rose w. Tony Todd, Virginia Madsen, Kasi Lemmons, Xander Berkeley, Vanessa Williams.

Recommendations

Shockheaded Peter by Heinrich Hoffmann

Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr

The Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz

The Books of Blood by Clive Barker

The Great & Secret Show by Clive Barker

Coldheart Canyon by Clive Barker

Night of the Living Dead (1990)

IvansXTC (2000)

References

https://filmfreakcentral.net/2022/08/bernard-rose-interview/

https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/interviews/mystic-nic-praise-nicolas-roeg

https://www.theotherfolk.blog/dissections/paperhouse

https://www.scifinow.co.uk/interviews/its-that-weird-thing-that-happens-when-things-arent-concrete-bernard-rose-remembers-paperhouse/

https://www.mikesouthon.biz/portfolio/paperhouse-highlights

Candyman by John Towson (Devil’s Advocates)

Candyman Special Edition 4k (Arrow Video)

https://www.clivebarkerarchive.com/blog/tag/The+Forbidden

https://www.clivebarker.info/salomeforbidden.html

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/jun/25/how-we-made-candyman-virginia-madsen-tony-todd-bee-sting

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/nov/09/tony-todd-star-of-candyman-dies-aged-69

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/oct/01/tony-todd-candyman-sequel-black-lives-matter-platoon

https://horrornewsnetwork.net/twenty-year-retrospective-of-candyman-with-virginia-madsen/

https://people.com/virginia-madsen-reveals-plan-candyman-prequel-mourns-tony-todd-8744052

https://www.movingpictureshow.com/?p=9402

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Rose_(director)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candyman_(1992_film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paperhouse_(film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clive_Barker

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_Blood

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Todd

https://flexiblehead.blog/2016/02/10/tony-todd/

Instagram: @thehorrordoublebill

email: thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com

youtube: @thehorrordoublebill

artwork by Justin Parker (IG jpkr_illustration.com)