Make Your Own Damn Podcast (Lucas Mangum and Jeff Burk)

This week Jeff and Lucas look at the first of Lloyd Kaufman and company's sex comedies, the softball and sexy-time flick SQUEEZE PLAY! Plus, the many waves of feminism and the history of wet t-shirt contests!

PLAGA ZOMBIE is an independent horror movie short on resources but long on guts. Originally released in 1997, it launched a Latin American splatter franchise that's still going strong today. Jeff and Lucas take a deep dive into its goriest scenes.

Jeff and Lucas discuss the much-maligned cannibal subgenre, as well as movies containing cannibalism either through explicit depictions or inference. Cannibal Ferox, Blood Diner, Motel Hell, Silence of the Lambs, The Green Inferno, and Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea all get mentions. Ruggero Deodato is still the king. We like Joe D'Amato too. Umberto Lenzi, not so much.

Quite possibly the most problematic film ever made, Goodbye Uncle Tom is nonetheless a part of outsider filmmaking history and demands discussion. We took care to handle this discussion as responsibly as we could, given the content of the film and its troubled production.

Today, Jeff and Lucas discuss the much-maligned disaster movie genre. Like most much-maligned genres, we love it, and argue that it's a lot deeper and more interesting than its detractors would have you believe. 

Director Mike Dougherty followed up his Halloween masterpiece Trick 'r Treat with Krampus an old school monster movie set on Christmas. Jeff and Lucas rundown the film's plot, the production, and Christmas movies in general in this extra special Christmas spooktacular episode of Make Your Own Damn Podcast.

If you've ever owned a Troma movie on DVD or Blu Ray, chances are you saw this early-80s oddity. A minute-long public service announcement about the dangers of climate change (then called global warming), it features dancing children clad in sunglasses and leotards and an ominous message. It's a work near and dear to Troma president Lloyd Kaufman, and we try to determine why.

After Terror Firmer, it seems Lloyd and company aimed to up the ante in the offensive content department with Citizen Toxie. If so, this begs the question: did they succeed? And is there a point? We wrestle with this in our latest episode.

This week on Make Your Own Damn Podcast, Jeff and Lucas examine the late 90s slasher parody Decampitated, trans representation in Troma movies, and the meta horror subgenre.

Color Me Blood Red is the third film in cult director H.G. Lewis' "Blood Trilogy," which began with Blood Feast and continued with 2,000 Maniacs. How does it measure up to the others in the series? In Lewis' oeuvre, overall?  Jeff and Lucas examine this well-loved cult classic. We all know blood doesn't look like it does in these movies, and guess what? So did Lewis! It's an aesthetic. How much was he influenced by EC Comics? And in a callback to our Bloodsucking Freaks episode, we finally discuss the history of the Grand Guignol.

Made in 1976 by people mostly associated with the porn industry, BLOODSUCKING FREAKS is quite possibly the most notorious Troma movie ever, but is it any good? Listen as Jeff and Lucas deep-dive, dissect, and analyze this cult classic.

From IMDB, "Five friends set sail and their yacht is overturned by a strange and sudden storm. A mysterious ship arrives to rescue them, and what happens next cannot be explained." Vague? It's because you can't talk about 2009's TRIANGLE without spoiling it. Oops.

Due to the success of The Witch and Midsommar, folk horror has become a trendy subgenre in the past decade, but it has its roots in films made as early as the 1950s. While The Wicker Man (1973) is the most famous example, there are numerous, lesser-known entries as well. One such film is 1983's Eyes of Fire. Boasting some impressive visual effects and cinematography, it shares a plot similar to The Witch but was largely forgotten until recently. It's DIY horror cinema to its core, with all the baggage that brings.

Co-hosts Jeff and Lucas take on Troma's most nihilistic movie yet! With PTSD, cheesy 80s villains, family annihilation, and sets so grimy you can smell em through the screen, Combat Shock is a complicated, flawed, but ultimately interesting and worthy entry in Troma's catalogue. Plus, if you go far enough to the left, you get your gun rights back; Lucas gets candid about raising kids when you're mentally ill; and the important distinction between a horror movie and a horrific movie. 

In 2010, first-time director Srđan Spasojević unleashed his debut feature onto the world. A Serbian Film has been accused of going too far and has even inspired some to call for the filmmaker's arrest, but just how extreme is it? And more importantly, is it any good? Jeff and Lucas give you the lowdown on this notorious slice of extreme DIY cinema.

Known primarily for schlocky hits like House on Haunted Hill and 13 Ghosts, William Castle was the horror genre's equivalent to a carnival barker. His movies came with unique theater experiences that still resonate to this day.

Following the tradition of other A-list stars getting their start with Troma, Kevin Costner appears in this borderline softcore, beach party movie from way back in 1981. Jeff does not like this movie. He wants to fight it. He wants to fight Lucas for making him watch it. Kevin Costner once sued to get the rights to this movie. Why? You'll need to listen to find out.

Filmmaker and host of the excellent Talkin' Troma podcast stops by Make Your Own Damn Podcast, and together we round robin our 5 favorite Troma movies. Things get crazy and weird, as expected. 

In 1987, a group of Michigan filmmakers took to the wilderness to make a monster movie about something evil in the woods. No, we're not talking about Evil Dead 2; we're talking about the little-seen, DIY, slapstick creature feature Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo. Plus, indie horror comics, dubious origin stories, and the Michigan indie film scene.

Something Weird Video was founded in 1990 by Mike Vraney. Based out of Seattle, it takes its name from the movie Something Weird, which was directed by “Godfather of Gore” Herschel Gordon Lewis. In addition to distributing the works of Lewis, they’ve also distributed films by Doris Wishman (a prolific female director of sexploitation films) and Ed Wood (specifically, The Violent Years and Jailbait), as well as movies starring famed pinup model Bettie Page.

Something Weird Video specializes in exploitation B to Z movies. That Basket Case may have the highest production values of their distributed titles says something. But there is something incredibly charming about this little distribution company. If the appeal of exploitation movies is the possibility for us to see what they cannot see anywhere else, then Something Weird Video is every bit as important as Troma Entertainment, Grindhouse Releasing, Blue Underground, Vinegar Syndrome, and Unearthed Films. Their catalogue features everything from schlocky horror to softcore and hardcore pornography. They’ve made it their mission to preserve the sorts of films that mainstream companies wouldn’t bother taking the time to preserve. This doesn’t just include bizarre or shocking works, but also kids commercials, rare cartoons, and early films featuring all-Black casts. For this alone, they are a noteworthy company.

An 80s slasher movie with a Troma twist, Splatter University tells the age-old tale of an escaped mental patient stalking co-eds. Plus, the abortion conversation, dick stabbings, boob stabbings, and slasher movies where no character is safe.

Possibly the most polarizing figure in horror filmmaking, Eli Roth splattered onto the scene twenty years ago with CABIN FEVER. Jeff is a mega-fan, and in this week's episode, he argues for Roth's validity as a creator and personality. 

We're not sure there's ever been a music video project like NIN's Broken Movie. A faux snuff film intercut with videos for every song off the Broken EP but "Last" and the two secret tracks, it was one of the most sought out pieces of media of the modern era. It was leaked to bootleg sites in the mid-2000s (purportedly by Trent Reznor himself), it's never had an official release. We discuss it in depth in this trip down memory lane for two 90s kids who are now approaching middle age. If you like the show, consider buying a shirt: Melting Tee | Make Your Own Damn Podcast (bigcartel.com)

Hippies! Table saw bisection! Obnoxious laughter! IGOR AND THE LUNATICS has all this and more, but is it any good? Find out as Jeff Burk and Lucas Mangum dive into this little-seen bit of exploitation. Plus, I DRINK YOUR BLOOD and EASY RIDER are brilliant, we need to Twitter, and Zack Beins rules. Shoutout Rayne Havok. Shoutout Young Stepdad. 

Jeff and Lucas come back swinging with their top ten movies of the previous year. A lot of the entries may surprise you, but not as much as a plethora of internet issues surprised us this week. The gods did not want us to do a listicle, it seems, but we did it. We won. If you love the show, consider supporting us on the Patreon. 

Shot on a budget of only $25,000, The Deadly Spawn is an iconic 80s monster movie. As much as Jeff loathes 80s slashers, he loves 80s monster movies. Lucas likes both, big surprise. They dive into the making of this movie and highlight their favorite moments. 

Troma has long been known for making films designed to provoke their audience, but have they ever taken things too far? Has the studio that gave us Bloodsucking Freaks and Terror Firmer ever outdone itself? We're not sure, but 2000's Unspeakable certainly comes close to crossing those boundaries. A low-budget, transgressive affair, Unspeakable follows a grieving father as he stalks the streets looking for victims in hopes that spilling the blood of the city's marginalized will reunite him with his dead daughter...who he also happens to lust after. Unspeakable is a mean film without a doubt, but is it any good? 

Jeff and Lucas break their moratorium on guests to chop it up with semi-professional critic and filmmaker Scout Tafoya about everything from reexamining universally loathed movies, Rob Zombie, the dystopia of Disney/Marvel, Jodorowsky's legacy, Troma giving chances to filmmakers who wouldn't otherwise get noticed, and a whole lot more. Check out Scout on Vimeo or Patreon. 

THE SADNESS is quintessential splatter horror. Inspired by the controversial CROSSED comics, this Taiwanese rage-zombie flick serves as a stark contrast to elevated horror and monster-as-metaphor movies that dominate the box office and streaming platforms. 

When the populace of their city goes mad with sexually violent urges, a young couple traverses the carnage, hoping to find each other, but who is immune, and can they stay safe?

Now streaming on Shudder and rife with Covid-era paranoia, THE SADNESS has drawn comparisons to the likes of A SERBIAN FILM and CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST for its extreme content. 

In 1976, genre giants Samuel Z. Arkoff and Charles B. Pierce unleased the crime thriller THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN, a film that inspired a meta sequel/remake by the makers of American Horror Story, local controversy, and nightmares for co-host Lucas Mangum. We dive deep into this effective slice of regional filmmaking.

This week, Jeff and Lucas couldn't record, so we dug way back in the archives and found an old episode of a previous podcast where they discussed 1987's trailblazing but criminally underseen meta-horror film, Anguish. Directed by Bigas Luna, Anguish follows a serial killer who collects the eyes of his victims for his mother (played by Zelda Rubenstein of Poltergeist fame). Then, at about the 21-minute-mark, things shift in a BIG way. Caution: here there be spoilers.

Class of Nuke 'Em High 2 is a fun, over-the-top slice of 90s cinema. Can the same be said for Class of Nuke 'Em High 3: The Good, the Bad, and the Subhumanoid? Plus, Jeff Burk and Lucas Mangum talk all about horror franchises, the place of the Nuke 'Em High films in that canon, our favorite series, Halloween Kills, Final Destination and Saw, the campy brilliance of David R. Ellis, 15 Minutes of Shame, and Man, Fuck This House by indie horror author extraordinaire Brian Asman.

In early 2020, Lucas and Jeff recorded a pilot episode for a Richard Laymon podcast. The show never developed and the episode has been locked into the vaults until now. Enjoy the discussion exploring Richard Laymon's THE WOODS ARE DARK.

If you enjoy it, let us know! Maybe one day we'll do more. 

Jeff and Lucas sit down to talk about one of the most creative movies in recent years. Dave Made a Maze examines creativity itself while crafting something truly unique. Plus, it's got a wrestler in it, so Lucas gets to do a fun sidebar on Lucha Underground. We're switching to a biweekly recording schedule for the foreseeable future, but we still plan to post weekly content of some kind. Check us out on Patreon.

According to Wikipedia, "body horror" is "is a subgenre of horror that intentionally showcases grotesque or psychologically disturbing violations of the human body." The most famous purveyor of such films is the legendary Canadian director David Cronenberg, but he is one of many creators to work in this subgenre that traces its roots back to Gothic literature and remains more popular than ever. Plus, the difference between body horror and gore films, the prophetic narrative of VIDEODROME, Alex Jones is going down, and 5 body horror films you haven't seen.

On today's episode, Jeff and Lucas discuss SLEEPAWAY CAMP II: UNHAPPY CAMPERS. Jeff is unhappy that Lucas made him watch it. Lucas is unhappy that Jeff doesn't like slasher movies. Plus, connectivity issues, the evolution of the slasher film, and 90s crime thrillers. 

Jeff and Lucas finish their deep-dive on the Class of Nuke Em High franchise in this their 30th episode. Return to Return to Nuke Em High Volume 2 is Lloyd Kaufman and the Troma Team at their irreverent, frenetic best. Plus, getting screened at MOMA beats getting escorted at gunpoint from Cannes, meta is hard to pull off but great when done right, Lloyd Kaufman as Buffalo Bill cannot be unseen, and premium content on Troma Now.

One of Troma's most publicized titles, even decades after its release, A NYMPHOID BARBARIAN IN DINOSAUR HELL takes viewers in a post-nuclear fallout version of Tromaville, where all manner of mutants run rampant. Jeff Burk and Lucas Mangum take a deep dive into the cult hit, the low-budget production, and when it became the subject of clickbait outrage in 2010.

The Troma Team is proud to present SCREAMPLAY, the story of aspiring screenwriter Edgar Allen (Rufus B. Seder) as he arrives in Hollywood carrying his most valuable possessions: a battered suitcase and a typewriter. Edgar Allen’s best attribute is his wild imagination. He imagines scenes so vividly for the murder mystery he is writing that they seem to come to life…and they do! As mysterious murders pile up, and Edgar Allen must confront aging actresses, rock stars, and the police in the bleak setting of broken dreams in Hollywood. As the line between reality and imagination becomes more blurred, Edgar Allen convinced the only way to be a real writer is to suffer, is driven slowly mad. With an appearance by legendary writer, director and actor George Kuchar as Martin, SCREAMPLAY is the gritty suspense fest that takes Hollywood by the throat and strangles it!

In Stuart Gordon's catalog of H.P. Lovecraft adaptations, Castle Freak doesn't get the love and attention that others (most notably Re-Animator, From Beyond) do. Does that mean it isn't any good? Join us as they explore this mid-90s, straight-to-VHS splatter film, produced and distributed by independent pioneers Full Moon Features. Plus, we discuss the 2020 remake, Gordon's legacy as a creator, and reading H.P. Lovecraft before it was cool (and later became very uncool). It's probably got our most tangents per a single episode, but there was a lot to unpack. And we had fun doing it.

Last House on the Left, I Spit on Your Grave, House on the Edge of the Park, Promising Young Woman... what do all these films have in common? They're all part of the r*pe/revenge subgenre. Jeff Burk and Lucas Mangum discuss these films in detail, as well as list some of their favorites.

Female beauty standards! Bad surgery! Travelogue footage! Jeff and Lucas break down TromaNow original Under the Knife, directed by Josh Hoffman. Plus, medical horror tropes, Train to Busan, and hardcore punk band Fucked Up. 

Super-crack! Exploding hookers! Weird science! Frankenhooker is New York grindhouse trash cinema meets Universal Monsters, and we love it! 

This week, Jeff and Lucas discuss 2019's DEATH OF A VLOGGER. What's this hidden gem all about? Like a lot of underrated films, it's both of and ahead of its time. Our hosts dig into the nitty gritty details of this found footage creepshow. 

How have we done this show about DIY filmmaking and independent horror movies without doing an episode on a George A. Romero movie? No idea. We bring in Pennsylvania writer/director Mike Lombardo to get to the bottom of it, as we discuss the lesser seen vampire film MARTN. 

Jeff was wrong about Class of Nuke 'Em High 2. It might be the most underrated movie we've covered to date. Brick Bronsky rules! Lisa Gaye rules! Don't mess with squirrels!

Somehow Troma Entertainment has the distribution rights to the 1940s-style wedding farce Brian DePalma made in graduate school. And Robert DeNiro's in it! We have... very little else.

I DRINK YOUR BLOOD is quintessential exploitation horror. It was made specifically to compete with the graphic violence on display in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, it was sold as a double feature with I EAT YOUR SKIN, a film made almost a decade earlier and never distributed, and writer/director David E. Durston went on from it to make hardcore gay pornography before leaving filmmaking for three decades.
When a group of LSD-addled, devil-worshipping hippies terrorize the residents of a small town, a young boy exacts horrific revenge by feeding them meat pies injected with rabies. It isn’t long before everyone goes mad and all manner of carnage ensues.
The first film to get an X-rating by the MPAA for violence alone, and heavily censored upon release, I DRINK YOUR BLOOD is 1970s exploitation horror at its best.

There has never been a film like Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD. An attempt by Lloyd Kaufman and company to enter the mainstream with a crossover hit, Sgt. Kabukiman is a film that has a hard time deciding what it wants to be. Co-host Jeff Burk is not a fan. Lucas is much more forgiving. 

With one foot in Strangeville and one foot in Tromaville, we take a look at the 2009 feature from cult author/filmmaker/comic creator Kevin Strange. Together, we attempt to piece together the connections between it and Strange's other work and ogle some seriously impressive practical effects. Like what we do here? Want us to do more of it? Consider becoming a patron.

In this controversial film, punk filmmaker Lech Kowalski gives us an up-close and personal look at the life of a junkie in 1980s New York. Awash in pre-Guliani grime and featuring scenes of authentic heroin use, STORY OF A JUNKIE is quintessential exploitation cinema. It's an ugly and uncomfortable watch, absent of story or commentary. Instead, Kowalski opted to frankly document these scenes without judgment or additional context. Our take: smoke weed, trip hard, but avoid the hard stuff like the plague.

This week on Make Your Own Damn Podcast, Jeff and Lucas look at Troma's other killer kids movie. This one's got atomic hugs, body-melting, and a score by Friday the 13th's Harry Manfredini!

In the late 1980s, filmmaker Dean Alioto took to the woods of Connecticut with a troop of improv actors and his camera to shoot a microbudget SF horror movie. A pioneering work utilizing the found footage technique, UFO Abduction turned out to be a lot more than that. The film has circulated heavily in UFO circles as evidence of extraterrestrial activity, even after the Alioto himself acknowledged that it was a work of fiction.

In the late aughts, Virginia filmmakers Drew Bolduc Dan Nelson set out to film the post-apocalyptic splatter movie The Taint. An exploration of misogyny, violence, and sexual violence with some highly impressive Troma-esque gore, The Taint is the sort of B horror flick that would play well at a party. This episode was NOT sponsored by BlueChew.

Killer Klowns from Outer Space is over 35 years old and holds up brilliantly. Often named as a movie that's "so bad, it's good," we strongly disagree; this movie is smarter than a lot of people give it credit for. Great practical FX, a wicked sense of humor, and underlying social statements abound in this cult classic.

Sideshow and drag performer Bobby Lugosi crashes the show to talk about the queer cult classic VEGAS IN SPACE. A low-budget effort made over the course of eight years, VEGAS IN SPACE follows soldiers who must pose as women to search for missing gems on the all-female planet of Clitoris. The film was written by the late notable drag performer Doris Fish and released by the notorious Troma Entertainment. It hasn't been seen by nearly enough people, and that's a shame. Plus, genre fans critique ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW and GONE WITH THE WIND, imagination and effort can transcend budgetary restraints, our Mount Rushmore of queer creators, and the transcendent experience of drag shows.

For more information about VEGAS IN SPACE, click  bbbbbb   

From Troma's website: Childhood used to be about jumping rope and playing hopscotch…but in one little backwoods town it’s now about slitting throats and eating flesh! While visiting Tromaville, the DeWolfe family discover a terrifying secret. God-fearing parents panic as their children mysteriously disappear. Little do they know that only thing worse than their children disappearing would be them coming back! Lured into a cannibalistic cult, doe-eyed innocents are transformed into mindless killing machines. Parents and children face off in the most stomach-churning finale of mutilated flesh to bloody the screen!

We made it to 50 episodes and thought it all too appropriate to cover Troma's most famous movie, a movie as old as us and soon to be remade. We're talking, of course, about 1984's THE TOXIC AVENGER. With ripping limbs, head-crushing, and deep-frying of hands, this movie is a gory classic. It's also got a wicked sense of humor, social commentary that still resonates today, and a runtime that other superhero movies can learn from. We discuss our personal histories with the film, some behind the scenes stories, the upcoming remake, and how well THE TOXIC AVENGER might play to modern audiences.

During the pandemic, Benson and Moorehead made perhaps the best movie about the pandemic without directly talking about it. Cosmic horror, relatable characters, and tragedy abound in this low-budget nightmare.

In 2018, director James Gunn (writer of Tromeo and Juliet) was fired from Disney. They rehired him a year later, but during that hiatus from the largest entertainment company on the planet, he wrote and directed The Suicide Squad. Of all his movies done since entering the mainstream, this film most perfectly embodies the Troma spirit. 

In this previously Patreon-exclusive, Lucas and Jeff sit down with Kevin L. Donihe (author of Night of the Assholes) to discuss war movies and A24 fandom.

Exploitation and grindhouse cinema are not dead! They have only changed skins. On the 45th episode of MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN PODCAST, authors Jeff Burk and Lucas Mangum examine how exploitation subgenres of the 1970s have influenced the mainstream blockbusters of today.

In the summer of 1999, horror fans were treated to the now seminal THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT. Not even a decade later, the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY franchise launched and consequently generated a resurgence of films using the found footage technique. While these are the two most notable examples, a plethora of other movies--not solely horror--have employed found footage to tell their stories. The technique has a rich history, stretching beyond the medium of film and all the way back to epistolary novels such as DRACULA and FRANKENSTEIN. Plus, PETSCOP, THE SUN HAS VANISHED, and GEMINI HOME ENTERTAINMENT are prime examples of how the technique has evolved, the reason why this approach works so well, and a list of obscure found footage movies you probably haven't seen. 

Jeff watched THE BEAR and rewatched all the SAW movies. Lucas watched PSYCHED BY THE 4D WITCH and DR. STRANGE AND THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS. They're both probably done with the MCU for the time being, but they're here for a Hasbro cinematic universe, only if it involves Ouija boards and Furby.

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Lucas and Jeff take a look at the seminal DEF BY TEMPTATION, a historically significant and compelling work of NY low-budget cinema. It stars Samuel L. Jackson in an early role and cinematography from Ernest R. Dickerson (DEMON KNIGHT & THE WIRE). 

Mad God is a nightmare captured on celluloid. From the mind of special FX artist Phil Tippet, the film follows an unnamed "assassin" as they descend into hell and encounter all sorts of hideous monstrosities. A passion project in every sense, Mad God is the ideal entry point for genre fans curious about true arthouse cinema.

In 1992, the BBC aired a Halloween special starring its own anchors and featuring an excursion into a purportedly haunted house. The results led to Ghostwatch being one of the most controversial made-for-TV movies ever made. Jeff and Lucas unpack the movie itself and its notorious reputation.

Cannibalism, torture, rape, war crimes, and necrophilia. These are common themes found in underground cinema and extreme horror. Is it possible for art to go too far? What is the appeal of this vile content to seemingly well-adjusted fans? Authors Jeff Burk and Lucas Mangum attempt to unpack these questions and more as they examine some of the most extreme films ever made. This episode is one of self-reflection where they ask themselves why such material appeals to them. Plus, what are the political underpinnings of these films? Which films are more concerned with personal horrors? And what movie perfectly bridges the gap between the personal and the political? This is Make Your Own Damn Podcast's most intense discussion yet. You've been warned.

Previously a Patreon-exclusive, here's Jeff and Lucas talking about the Academy Award-winning EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE.

Sharks have been a staple of cinema since Jaws frightened a generation of swimmers way back in the summer of 1975, but few know just the extent of their involvement like author, poet, and marine biologist Susan Snyder. Jeff Burk and Lucas Mangum brought her on the show to discuss the depth and breadth of this subgenre and why it matters. 

It's warm in Texas and cold in Oregon, but Lucas and Jeff are determined to align themselves in holiday cheer to talk about 1980's Christmas Evil, a film praised by the likes of Joe Bob Briggs and John Waters. It's an early slasher, still glistening with 70s grime, and it follows the Taxi Driver-like descent into murder of a lowly toy factory worker. As a boy, Harry saw Mommy fucking Santa Claus and it made an impression. As a grownup, fed-up with corporate greed and naughty children, he takes up the mantle of Old Saint Nick and prepares to shower the nice with gifts and the naughty with death. Plus, the U.K. video nasty phenomenon, Stanley Kubrick and H.G. Lewis, Christmas horror movie recommendations, and Joe Pera Talks with You.

Troma movies are objectively not for children, but that didn't stop a children's cartoon based on The Toxic Avenger from airing in the early 1990s. Essentially, a series of 30-minute toy commercials, the show was part of a wave of R-rated franchises rebranding themselves to sell toys to kids. The result is... not great. We dove into the movie version, which is a handful of episodes mashed together to form one narrative. Interestingly, television royalty Chuck Lorre wrote the pilot!

There are few films with such an impact on mainstream cinema than 1987's Street Trash. It's our most requested movie and often mistook for a Troma movie (much to Lloyd Kaufman's chagrin). Its director has been the steadicam operator on such everything from prestigious films as Titanic and Terminator 2 to genre classics like Jason Takes Manhattan. His filmography is only the beginning. Street Trash is a problematic but special and undeniably entertaining piece of cinematic history.

A landmark film in the history of queer genre cinema, Killer Condom is a notorious entry from distributor Troma Entertainment's mid-90s revival. We've got a protagonist with a foot-long dong, prophylactics with sharp teeth designed by H.R. Geiger, mad scientists, and the grimy streets of pre-Guiliani New York. In other words, everything! Killer Condom is the rubber that rubs you out.

2023 is officially history. Hear Jeff Burk and Lucas Mangum spit on its grave.

"The first stage is hallucinatory. The second stage is glandular. The third stage is .... AHHHHH."

Body Melt is one of Australia's most bizarre genre films of the 1990s, perhaps ever. What do you get when you cross David Cronenberg, Troma, and the books of Edward Lee? Whatever you're picturing right now looks a lot like Body Melt.

On the 259th episode of SModcast, indie legend turned Hollywood darling turned cinematic outlaw Kevin Smith and longtime collaborator Scott Mosier read a bizarre want ad in which a homeowner was offering free lodging, so long as the tenant was willing to wear a Walrus costume. This led to an in-depth discussion about a hypothetical horror film inspired in equal parts by Stuart Gordon, David Cronenberg, and THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE. By the time of its premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, TUSK was no longer a hypothetical. The film has gone on to become Smith's most controversial to date, but here at Make Your Own Damn Podcast, we give it the reexamination we believe it deserves.

Paul Morrissey's FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN is a film that works on multiple levels: it's both a horror movie and a comedy, a gorefest and imbued with erotica, a marriage of New York arthouse and Italian sleaze. A new favorite for the show, it stars Udo Kier and bears only a few degrees of separation from Andy Warhol, E.T.: THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL, former president Donald Trump, Madonna, and Korn. It's a wild movie and historically significant to boot.

Jeff Burk and Lucas Mangum discuss the underrated 2008 horror movie THE CHILDREN. Have you seen this? What did you think?