Voices in the Dark

It’s been quite awhile, and thank goodness Ashlee and Carolyn were at the ready to almost completely unpack the meticulously crafted balance of subtly and clarion call for the cumbersome nature of swallowing intersectional micro (and honestly, macro) aggressions in Mariama Diallo’s anticipated feature film debut, Master (2022). Our music folk razaq el toro has new music out!

Runtime 63 minutes Show Contents 0:00 Introduction 3:31 Know Your Enemy with Guest – Carolyn Mauricette 21:14 The New Slang: RENFIELD 52:22 The Other Side: Carolyn and Ryan talk further reading after Chris McKay’s film Thoughts from Your Host… Around this time last year, we were using this space to talk about EVERYTHING, EVERYWHERE, ALL AT ONCE. This year, we’re talking about RENFIELD. What can I say? Spring is a strange season for film. I will never stop wondering why that is – why studios think that this time of year should be devoid of quality offerings. Plenty of franchises have proven that titles released before the ground thaws can make bank. And the example cited above shows that films can still be remembered come awards time. So what’s the deal? So in the meantime, while we wait out the tabletop film and the video game film, we turn our attention to the undead and a great friend taking her turn in the guest spot. Grab your holy water and your warning signs of toxic relationships and join us, won’t you? Links mentioned in Episode 304 It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – “Kitten Mittens”: Carolyn’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome and thank you very much for listening.  Enjoy!

Becky and Cam are joined by writer, programmer and curator Carolyn Mauricette as they tackle the other two Pam Grier movies of 1973: Scream Blacula Scream and Black Mama, White Mama. Carolyn Mauricette is a Toronto-based Rotten Tomatoes approved critic, film writer, Programmer/Development Coordinator for the Blood in the Snow Film Festival and Director of Canadian Programming for the Fantasia International Film Festival. You can find her writing on her website View From the Dark and Hollywood Suite. She has written reviews and articles for the online and print editions of Rue Morgue Magazine and Grim Magazine and is a contributing author to The Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror Films and The Encyclopedia of Racism in American Films. Carolyn has produced talks on Afrofuturism for The Black Museum, Afrofuturism and Black women monsters for Fantasia Film Festival in 2020 and 2021. You can also hear her on Reely Melanated, a film podcast focusing on Black creators and performers, with her co-host Ashlee Blackwell.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Film critic Carolyn Mauricette (@vfdpixie) returns to talk about the dance inspired horror Climax. 

No Small Children, the band, the myth, the legend. I first heard No Small Children while looking for a cover of the “Ghostbusters” theme song for a recent episode. The NSC version of the song hit me like a crossed beam hit the Stay-Puft Marshmellow Man. I mean WOW. This band, No Small Children, they are amazing. Three teachers, two of them sisters, a blistering combo of women who simply define the words Rock And Roll. This episode is an interview with No Small Children, plus four of their incredible songs. One of the songs in the episode was writtien for the kids! I think gold stars are in order for the teachers, in this case. Also featured in this episode is a review of the horror film “The Tattooist” by Carolyn Mauricette. Carolyn is the co-host of the Reely Melanted podcast, one of the main foces behind the “Blood In The Snow” film festival, a Rotten Tomatoes apporved film critic, the creator of the “View From The Dark” blog and website and more! Don’t be tardy for this episode, I wouldn’t want you to get detention!

Runtime84 minutes Show Contents 0:00 Introduction 2:29 Know Your Enemy: Carolyn Mauricette 21:03 The New Slang: TEST PATTERN 1:07:36 The Other Side: Carolyn and Ryan talk further reading after Shatara Michelle Ford’s new film Thoughts From Your Host… I made passing mention of this in today’s episode, but it bears repeating: I’m happy for the way film in 2020/2021 is playing out. In years past, it was difficult for audiences to find their way to stories like THE SOUND OF METAL…or MINARI…or PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN. The feature we talk about today would certainly have a hard time finding an audience if it had to lure people to the end of the corridor to “Cinema 10”. Yet here we are: cinematic product choosing to keep itself in storage for another season while some bold voices grab the mic. Many of these titles are stories people who love film likely would have found anyway – but this year they are broadcasting with a stronger signal. They are drawing in audiences beyond the usual cluster of cinephiles and giving voice to a new batch of storytellers. It’s as though the grid has gone down in the city one night, and as we look up we can see entire constellations we couldn’t spot before. Don’t get me wrong – I would love to go back to before when I’d walk up to my neighbourhood cinema after dinner on a Thursday night and watch something silly with coffee and chocolate to give me that late-night caffeine boost. But all things considered…this is a wonderful substitute. I’m grateful for this substitute – truly, I’m happy with it. Links Mentioned on Episode 256: Carolyn’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank you very much for listening.  Enjoy!

Have you read any of the “Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark” series of books? As a kid? As an adult? Both? . These books, the Scary Stories series, made a HUGE impression on me when I read them a couple of years ago, as an adult. The artwork is terrifying and amazing. The stories are timeless and creepy, sometimes funny, sometimes disgusting. Always entertaining and fun, that’s the trick of these stories. They grab you and won’t let go. Just like some of the baddies in the stories? Oh, but the art, that’s the REAL kicker, isn’t it? The art in the Scary Stories books worms it’s way into your brain and takes up permanent residence. The original art by Stephen Gammell, that is. Sinister and creepy to the point you feel the art could jump out of the pages and say “YOU HAVE IT!!!”. Here’s what you’ll get in this episode – An in-depth look at Alvin Schwartz and Stephen Gammell. Three stories, one from each book, are dissected and analized. There’s a dramatic retelling of “The Hook”, as it was told to me, when I was a kid in the 1980’s. Then, in the final chapter of the episode, a brief look at the controversy that has plagued this book series for years and years. The Celluloid Catacombs with Carolyn Mauricette pops in to talk about the “Scary Stories…” movie adaption and some fiends of The Bobcast stop by to tell us how the Scary Stories have affected them over the years. Music of the episode by Vudu Sister, who are amazing and will delight you with their spooky sounds.

Welcome to the third and final (for now?) episode in the UFO Stories series! This one has five stories of UFO sightings, told by the witnesses themselves. Sarah Snallygaster, Miski Dee Rodriguez, Jessica Komassa, Davey Tilt and Mike Damante have popped in from the Ultraverse to tell their tales of strange lights and objects in the sky. Mike Damante is the author of the “Punk Rock and UFOs” series of books, so we’ll spend a little more time with him to talk more indepth all about UFOs, the recent Pentagon UAP report, Mike’s history with the paranormal and more! Carolyn Mauricette will fly by with another installment of The Celluloid Catacombs, this time talking about the parasitic alien thriller “The Puppet Masters”. The “Out Of This World” melodies in this episode are provided by The Ejected, Striker and Get Married and guess what? ALL THE SONGS ARE ABOUT ALIENS OR UFOS. Well, the Get Married song is a cover of The Misfits song “Astrozombies, so that counts, right? This whole Interstellar Episode is brought to you by Ethletic Shoes, the finest vegan, fair trade and sustainably sourced shoes in the land. Pop on that tin foil helmet and give this one a listen!

Film critic Carolyn Mauricette (@vfdpixie) returns to discuss Luce.

Film critic and Blood in the Snow Film Festival programmer Carolyn Mauricette (@vfdpixie) returns to the show to discuss Mati Diop’s Atlantics

A neglectful father attempts to reconnect with his young daughter by accompanying her on a train ride to see his ex-wife. What starts off as a simple journey soon turns into a harrowing fight for survival as a zombie virus rapidly spreads across South Korea. This week film critic and Blood in the Snow Film Festival programmer Caroyln Mauricette joins us to discuss Yeon Sang-ho’s Train to Busan, one of the best zombie films in the last decade. We also take time to highlight our short film picks: Waterborne by Ryan Coonan and Paranoia by Sandeepan Chanda, Nitesh Mishra, Amrita Mukhopadhyay, and Sunil Kumar Yadav. 3:28 Waterborne 9:17 Paranoia 19:00 Train to Busan

Show Contents 0:00 Introduction 3:34 Creature Comforts with Carolyn Mauricette 16:23 The Feature: THE BABADOOK (2014) 57:59 The Other Side: Carolyn and Ryan talk further reading after Jennifer Kent’s epic film Thoughts From Your Host… Life is moving very moment-to-moment these days, isn’t it? One minute, the world order tells us one thing…the next minute, it’s a new set of rules. Things are changing so quick, that it can all seem like such a blur. Take this show. Two weeks ago, when I invited my guest on, it was to talk about a new release. One week after that, we needed to turn our attention as the film was delayed. Even the way we recorded needed to be changed since it quickly became irresponsible to sit down together. This show was recorded Friday night, and as I sit here Sunday, things in life have changed again. Moment-to-moment. I’m proud of being able to do something like this right now. To put positive vibes out into the world and put my best foot forward. I never know what the next moment is going to bring, so I want to do my best for the moment I’m in. I hope everyone who reads this is doing as well as can be – if only for this moment. Links Mentioned on The First Dispatch: The night my mother became my very own Babadook (Dear listeners, that’s my crib on the left: Carolyn’s Creature Comfort – the make-up obsessed YouTube feed of Raw Beauty Kristi Kate Beckinsale’s Harvey Weinstein story. Carolyn’s Rue Morgue article on the special effects work in HEREDITARY Matineecast Episode 201, where Caroline Hinds and I discussed HEREDITARY Critic Noah Gittell’s personal reflections on trauma, grief, and depression after seeing THE INVISIBLE MAN Carolyn’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank-you very much for listening. Enjoy!

  Runtime 92 minutes Show Contents: 0:00 Introduction 3:13 Know Your Enemy: Carolyn Mauricette 17:37 The New Slang: US 53:17 **Spoiler Section** of US Review 64:61 The Other Side: Carolyn and Ryan talk further reading after Jordan Peele’s new film   Thoughts from your host…   Anyone who’s ever been a part of this podcast will tell you that I tend to keep one hand firmly on the tiller. There’s ground rules and guidelines that help me create a better show at the end, even if a lot of my returning guests have fun bending and breaking those rules and guidelines. Sometimes though, even I feel a desire to loosen up. Sometimes the energy in the room is so much fun that I find myself leaving more in…allowing more digressions…”colouring outside the lines” as the old saying goes. This was one of those episodes. My guest and I – both hopped up on cold meds – had so much fun discussing the symbolism and metaphors within the main film up for discussion, and with so many other films that we digress to. The result is a show that’s on the longer side – and gets VERY spoilerific – but was so much fun to unleash. Thinking back, I can’t help but be struck with how much I enjoyed the film up for discussion and so many of the others that get drawn into the fray. The funny thing is, so many times over, you will hear me say to my guest “This is your genre…”. And yet, with every passing year, I’m beginning to feel more and more a kinship with the genre myself. So pardon the occasional sniffle and the Tylenol-fueled laughing fits, and get ready to pull the new Jordan Peele movie apart thread by thread.   Links Mentioned on Episode 219:   The poster for DEATH LINE aka RAW MEAT   Carolyn’s presentation of THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS in Toronto Blood in The Snow’s Spring Tour line-ups for Ottawa and Kingston.   Carolyn’s Twitter feed can be found here. Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank-you very much for listening.    Enjoy!

Runtime 56 minutes Show Contents: 0:00 Intro 4:11 Know Your Enemy with guest Carolyn Mauricette from Rosemary’s Pixie. 19:39 The New Slang: COLOSSAL 40:26 Spoilers! Talk of the turn of events in COLOSSAL Thoughts from your host… So many dark clouds come with a silver lining. Just a few weeks ago, I had a podcast episode get riddled with technical difficulties. Nothing that’s ever happened to the show before or since, just gremlins in the works. The dark cloud was a “less than perfect” episode of the podcast that was published with a first time guest. But then there was the silver lining: A reunion of guest and host on a perfect spring afternoon over bacon, eggs, and french toast. A nudge towards a springtime release that might otherwise have been lost in the shuffle. A wonderful conversation, that otherwise might have been many more months or even years in the making. Bascially, from the ashes of one of my least favorite episode in a long time, comes one of my most favorite in a long time. Silver linings.   Carolyn’s Answers for Know Your Enemy, Round One: The First Film She Saw in a Theatre: THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG The Last Film She’d Watched: THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN The Worst Film She’d Seen: NURSE 3-D The Unseen Classic/Essential: EASY RIDER The Film She Wishes She’d Made: David Cronenberg’s CRASH   Thanks for tuning into episode one-hundred-seventy-six.   Links Mentioned in the Show: Blood in The Snow Film Festival   Carolyn’s Twitter feed can be found here.  You can subscribe to the Matineecast via iTunes or RSS Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank-you very much for listening. Enjoy!

Runtime 55 minutes Show Contents: 0:00 Intro 2:49 Know Your Enemy with guest Carolyn Mauricette, from Rosemary’s Pixie. 14:49 The New Slang: A CURE FOR WELLNESS 30:50 The Other Side: Selections for further reading in honour of our feature film Thoughts from your host…   Once in a while, you have a bad game. After a long stretch of shows without any particularly bad technical problems, the gremlins were in fine form for number one-seventy-two folks. So, apologies in advance for a truncated episode. It’s a pity too since as this show went along my guest actually talked me into the virtues of this movie a little more than I was apt to appreciate when we began! You’ll hear me mention it more than once as I try to tie the threads of this show together, but I’ll say it again here: I’m looking forward to getting my guest back on the show…and especially so now in the hopes that she talks up the virtues of another film!   Thanks for tuning into episode one-hundred-seventy-two.   Links Mentioned in the Show The poster for NURSE 3-D The Encyclopedia of Japanese Horror (which Carolyn contributed writing to) Women in Horror Annual (which Carolyn contributed writing to)   Carolyn’s Twitter feed can be found here.  You can subscribe to the Matineecast via iTunes or RSS Comments and feedback are welcome, and thank-you very much for listening. Enjoy!